AMHERST — Legislative bills aimed at protecting forests and older trees across Massachusetts are being supported by the Town Council at the urging of two Amherst sixth graders.
The council recently endorsed a request from Eleanor Rasche and Macey Pariseau, students in Tim Austin’s class at Fort River School, and sponsored by District 2 Councilor Patricia De Angelis, to back bills H. 912, “An Act Relative to Forest Protection,” and H. 1002, “An Act to Increase Protection of Wildlife Management Areas.”
“We think deforestation, especially on public lands in Massachusetts, is a really big problem,” Macey told the council.
“The solution would be pretty much protecting public forests and wildlife, and how we would do that is the two bills we are supporting,” Eleanor said.
The resolution, adopted unanimously, states that “forests are a vital part of Massachusetts, providing us with cleaner air, filtering our water, preventing erosion, and contributing to the character of our commonwealth” and also notes climate change becoming irreversible and the impact on species including the blue-spotted salamander and the little brown bat.
Gov. Charlie Baker, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano, members of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and State Sen. Jo Comerford and State Rep. Mindy Domb will receive copies of the resolution.
A daylong Juneteenth, sometimes referred to as a second Independence Day, takes place Saturday in town center and in the Mill District in North Amherst.
Events that celebrate the day 1865 when Texans were informed they were free from slavery starts at 10 a.m. at West Cemetery, continues at the Bangs Community Center and then moves onto the Town Common in the afternoon with food vendors, before a fashion show and artwork concludes the day in the Mill District.
A walk-in COVID-19 vaccine coincides with Juneteenth from 10 a.m. to noon at the Bangs.
Two Amherst Regional High School graduates attending college in the fall are earning awards at the 30th annual Latino Scholarship Fund of Western Massachusetts ceremony on June 22.
Adriana Feldman, who will go to Wellesley College, and Brandy Hernández, who will go to Boston University, are among Hampshire and Hampden county students being honored.
The event also features a keynote talk by Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, former mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with performances by artists including Yolandita Monge, Olga Tañón, Martin Espada and Christian Santiago.
“The celebration honors those who have inspired the Latinx community, and those who will become our future leaders,” Myriam Quiñones, board president of the Latino Scholarship Fund, said in a statement.
Planning Board members Douglas Marshall and Janet McGowan will remain on the panel if the Town Council acts on a unanimous recommendation from its Community Resources Committee.
The subcommittee is advising reappointment because, in a memo, the committee writes that both “have served the Planning Board excellently, have not completed full three-year terms, have shown dedication and willingness to put the work in required to serve on the Planning Board, and have grown into the position with respect to the questions they ask.”
Interviews were done with six candidates for the positions, though the committee informed the Town Council that there was inadequate diversity in racial identity. “In order to fulfill our diversity goals for applicant pools, the entire council must continue to work to recruit candidates that represent those goals,” the committee wrote.
The public is invited to join University of Massachusetts astronomers at the UMass Sunwheel on Sunday at 5:15 a.m. and 7:45 p.m.
The standing stones will mark the sunrise and sunset of the longest day of the year.
With the expiration of the state’s emergency orders for COVID-19, and the town also lifting similar orders, there is uncertainty about whether public meetings will be allowed to continue in remote fashion via Zoom and similar platforms.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman said if legislation allowing remote meetings to continue is not passed soon, town officials will revert to having meetings in the Town Room at Town Hall, with likely capacity limits and face coverings required.
MONDAY: Town Council, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY: Community Resources Committee, 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee, 10:30 a.m., and Community Resources Committee, 5 p.m.
