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By RUDY PERKINS

 Both the Iranian government’s bombing of Israel and the Israeli government’s bombing of Iran are extremely perilous for the Middle East and the United States. That is why the dangerously one-sided U.S. congressional resolution, H.Res. 1143,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Ericilda Xiomara Herman, a superintendent of a school district in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, will be the next superintendent for the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools, pending successful contract negotiations.Citing...

AMHERST — A near-unanimous Town Council this week confirmed Police Capt. Gabriel Ting as Amherst’s next police chief.Six days after Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he would name Ting, a 27-year veteran and interim police chief since last May, to the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Amherst Regional School Committee has agreed to a new budget proposal for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools next year that is nearly $500,000 less than a spending plan approved in March. The new budget means smaller 6% assessment...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A new retail store carrying assorted Amherst College merchandise, as well as school supplies, tech accessories and snacks, is open at 45 South Pleasant St., as demolition of a building immediately to the south, and removal of an attached ell to the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A foundational skills reading program, known as Magnetic Foundations, is being piloted by eight teachers in the four Amherst and Pelham elementary schools as the focus of an elementary literacy curriculum review this school year.Mary Kiely,...

By CHRIS LARABEE

In 1994, a new movement began to grow out of the Pioneer Valley, Berkshires and Hudson Valley, as a group of organic farmers banded together to form a cooperative educational program for farm apprentices.That year marked the birth of the Collaborative...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A fire station, possibly combined with a new community center, or an affordable housing development are among the concepts unveiled for the front portion of the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course on West Pomeroy Lane, the 150-acre town-owned site where...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Holyoke Civic Symphony has titled its 2023-2024 season “The Brass Menagerie,” not to be cute but to highlight a series of concerts dedicated to celebrating the family of brass instruments: the horn, the tuba, the trumpet, and the trombone.On May...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — From their own journeys in Europe and across New England and the Northeast, and their experience in the hospitality industry, a Northampton couple is creating a market featuring wines, pantry staples and fresh local produce in downtown...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A lone $42.7 million bid by a general contractor for expanding and renovating the Jones Library building, coming in more than $7 million over cost estimates, could be putting the entire project at risk.“We are disappointed to have received...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The tiny number of emergency dispatch calls directed to the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service since mid-December, when the department began taking 911 calls, is prompting worries by members of the Community Safety and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Quincy-based temporary shelter that includes transitional housing, along with a resource center for people to find jobs, medical care and permanent homes, is being eyed as a model for how Amherst might redevelop the former VFW site at 457...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A townwide cleanup day, organized by Amherst’s community participation officers and University of Massachusetts work study students, is taking place Saturday.Rain or shine, volunteers will fan out in town to remove trash and debris beginning...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A revised plan for investigating bullying and stopping such incidents at the Amherst-Pelham regional schools is raising concerns for some members of the Regional School Committee, who see the changes as taking a backward step.“This new...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Fire Chief Walter O. “Tim” Nelson, who has led the department since early 2010, will retire from the position at the end of June, bringing to a close a more than 43-year career in fire services in which his emphasis has been on helping...

By MICKEY RATHBUN

The word “herbarium” sounds a bit quaint, even antiquated. We may think of Emily Dickinson’s herbarium, which she created during her year at Mount Holyoke in 1847-48. Although she had begun studying plants at age 9 and was helping her mother in the...

By JOSHUA ROSE

A few months ago, headlines flared that Peter Kaestner had seen his 10,000th bird species. This could have been anticlimactic, as Kaestner has been renowned for years among birders for traveling worldwide and seeing more species than anyone.However,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Temporary Police Chief Gabriel Ting, who has led the department since last May and been a member of the force for almost 27 years, will become Amherst’s permanent chief, pending approval by the Town Council.Ting’s appointment to serve a...

We were excited to read the March 22 Gazette article “Libraries turning the page: They’re still in the business of books, but embracing new role as community ‘third space,’” because reporter Maddie Fabian eloquently described what we have anecdotally...

As a retired performing arts teacher, it is always disheartening to learn that whenever there is a budget crisis such as in Northampton, the arts are the first to be cut.Missing from the ongoing discussion is the positive effect a performance has on...