AMHERST — Many of the Town Council candidates running in contested races are expected to be at Bowker Auditorium on the University of Massachusetts campus Tuesday evening for a forum being organized by Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honors society.
Running from 6:30 to 8 p.m.,the forum will be moderated by student members of the chapter.
Paul Musgrave, associate professor of political science at UMass, said this will be an opportunity for students to understand how the democratic process works.
“Pi Sigma Alpha recognizes and supports excellence by political science majors, and this is a natural extension of the group’s work,” Musgrave said.
A similar event in advance of town elections would have been held two years ago, as well, but the continued disruptions of the pandemic prevented that.
The questions asked are likely to focus on decisions made by the Town Council that impact students.
“Students and the university community are affected by what happens in the town, and the town in turn is affected by students and the university community,” Musgrave said. “Since the councilors will represent many students who live in the dorms and throughout Amherst, it seems like a good idea to facilitate the two groups meeting whenever possible.”
More information about the forum is at umass.edu/social-sciences/events/amherst-town-council-candidate-forum.
Additional candidates forums led by the League of Women Voters of Amherst start Thursday night and continue Oct. 12.
The Board of License Commissioners is giving its blessing to the concept of Food Truck Fridays that may allow food trucks and lunch carts to set up for late-night service in downtown Amherst.
While just an idea at this point, Licensing Coordinator Steven McCarthy said he approached the Police and Fire departments, as well as Town Manager Paul Bockelman, about having a dedicated area to set up on a closed Pray Street.
That street is mostly isolated from residential neighborhoods, and is near both the Spoke and The Spoke Live, a new nightclub, along with several mixed-use buildings.
“It’s just an idea for now, but we’ll see if it can move forward,” McCarthy said.
The commission allowed food trucks to set up late at night on the North Pleasant Street side of Kendrick Park last spring.
Tenants are expected to begin moving this week into East Gables at 132 Northampton Road, a 28-apartment building developed by Valley Community Development.
Of the small studio apartments, more than one third are reserved for people who have experienced homelessness.
A ribbon-cutting event last week marked the project’s completion, with speakers including local elected representatives and Community and Economic Development Assistance Corp.’s Lional Romain.
Needle felting will be the focus of a workshop at the Jones Library’s Woodbury Room on Saturday from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
A teacher from Pop Up Art School will show participants how to bring a blue owl to life using a barbed needle and wool roving to transform loose wool fibers into a solid piece.
The workshop is for people 18 and older, with all materials provided. To register for the program, made possible by the Friends of the Jones Library and Woodbury Fund, email programs@joneslibrary.org.
A Stopping Stones memorial markers ceremony was held Sept. 23, a partnership with the Ancestral Bridges Foundation and the Porter Phelps Huntington Museum in Hadley.
The event was a remembrance of six people who were enslaved during the 18th century at the Porter Phelps farmstead.
“Acknowledging and learning about this difficult past is necessary to live responsibly in the present and strengthens our collective.”
A recording of the two-hour event is available on Hadley Media at youtube.com/watch?v=VuWlx-d0PEI.
MONDAY: Town Council, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY: Solar Bylaw Working Group, 4:30 p.m.; Amherst Regional School Committee, 6:30 p.m.
