signBy SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — With the presidential election approaching, an Amherst Regional High School junior recently organized a local women’s march to honor late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and support the ROE Act, legislation that would enshrine abortion rights in Massachusetts.
The women’s march Saturday in downtown Amherst was one of an estimated 250 across the country as part of the National Women’s #CountOnUs March.
“With the sad passing of RBG, I wanted to build momentum to inspire young women, the LGBTQ community, and especially those in marginalized communities, to get involved and get out the vote,” said Emily Grybko, 16.
Grybko, class president and the high school’s student representative to the Amherst School Committee, said she also wanted the event to show opposition to President Trump’s policies.
“It’s incredibly disheartening to hear so often that women’s rights are under attack by this current administration,” Grybko said. “That was something I kept in mind during the planning of this march.”
People held signs and volunteers distributed materials concerning the ROE act, and State Rep. Mindy Domb dropped by, which Grybko appreciated due to her hope for more women leaders.
Grybko said she anticipates staging a second march prior to the Nov. 3 election.
A $34,051 grant received from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, based in Chicago, will assist the town administer elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This grant program will help us operate safe elections by investing in priorities that would otherwise be challenging to accomplish,” said Acting Town Clerk Sue Audette, such as securely opening voting sites, setting up a drop box for ballots and installing hand sanitizing stations.
In addition, 500 masks for use by poll workers and election officials were recently donated by Affordable Interior Systems of Leominster, which also started a non-profit program Sew the Masks to help fight COVID-19. An additional 400 face shields were donated by Smith and Wesson.
The Northwestern district attorney’s office is holding Drug Take Back Day at 16 locations in the region from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Unused, unwanted and expired drugs can be provided to law enforcement officers, many using a drive-through format.
“Over the years, we have heard many stories from people who were grateful to have a place to finally dispose of their drugs safely,” Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said in a statement.
Some of the local sites include Wildwood School in Amherst, and the police departments in Hadley, Pelham, Leverett, Deerfield and Sunderland.
The Board of Trustees for the Jones Library at its Oct. 15 meeting voted unanimously in favor of a renovation and expansion plan for the Amity Street building, and is making a formal request that the Town Council approve this plan by the end of April 2021.
By moving forward, Amherst will be in line for a $13.9 construction grant from the state’s Board of Library Commissioners. The project includes an expanded children’s room, space for teenagers, improvements to the special collections and English as a Second Language rooms and having the entire building handicapped accessible.
The library is one of four major capital projects the town could soon undertake. The others are a new fire station in South Amherst at the Department of Public Works site on South Pleasant Street, a new or expanded elementary school and a new DPW headquarters, once an appropriate site is identified. The Elementary School Building Committee, recently formed by Town Manager Paul Bockelman, begins meeting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Three committees have new members following Town Council’s approval of Bockelman appointments.
For the Design Review Board, Thom Long of Heatherstone Road will be the Planning Board’s representative. On the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, Paul Goulston of Middle Street and Nathaniel Larson of Summerfield Road were reappointed to three-year terms, with Becky Michaels of Evergreen Lane given a three-year term and Lucas Hanscom of Bay Road named to a two-year term. And for the Cultural Council, Matt Holloway of Maplewood Drive will serve a three-year term.
MONDAY: Public Art Commission, noon, and Local Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., both via Zoom.
TUESDAY: Agricultural Commission, 7 p.m., via Zoom.
WEDNESDAY: Personnel Board, 9 a.m., via Zoom.