
Tariffs hit home for small business
HADLEY — Before 2,000 cases of V-One Vodka produced in a Kamień, Poland, factory can be unloaded from a cargo ship, set to arrive in Port Elizabeth, N.J., next week, company founder Paul Kozub will have to pay the U.S. government an $8,000 fee.

Dave’s Hot Chicken plans advance in Hadley; used car dealership eyed across from Hopkins
HADLEY — Recent demolition of a former bank at 5 South Maple St. will make way for a new building housing a fast-food restaurant specializing in Nashville hot chicken.

Sports

Shawn Durocher beginning first season as Amherst Golf Club head pro
Shawn Durocher spent her weekend mornings and afternoons wheeling a small gas grill behind the clubhouse at Amherst Golf Club, where she would cook hamburgers and hot dogs for those playing. She was in high school and needed a way to make some money, so Amherst’s head golf professional, Dave Twohig, hired Durocher – an Amherst native – to handle grilling duties.




Opinion

Guest columnist Tom Waskiewicz: Roots of wisdom — How small farms preserve their way of life in western Massachusetts
Small family farms are more than businesses; they are a way of life, shaped by generations of experience, sacrifice, and resilience. Every field plowed, every seed planted, every harvest gathered carries with it the wisdom of those who came before. But there’s no handbook for passing down this knowledge. Instead, it happens in the quiet moments — side by side in the fields, in conversations at the kitchen table, in the habits formed over years of hard work.




Arts & Life

Resonating through generations: Lady Pills releases new concept album, ‘Renowned in the Roaring Twenties’
A recording artist is connecting her family’s western Massachusetts roots to her new album.