News

Petition to improve South Deerfield intersection makes progress

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Months after two residents gathered more than 220 signatures, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will take a look at how it can improve the intersection of Routes 5 and 10, North Main Street and Mill Village...

Horse burial prompts questions in South Deerfield

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — After a horse burial raised neighborhood concerns on Kelleher Drive this summer, town officials were unable to take any direct action to address the matter, as Deerfield lacks bylaws regarding the burial of farm animals.The burial...

Frontier School Committee declines to dedicate volleyball court to longtime coach Sean MacDonald

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Citing precedent set last year, the Frontier School Committee has declined to dedicate its volleyball court to longtime coach Sean MacDonald, who retired after the 2023-24 school year, capping off 21 years and a whole slew of...

Hadley Select Board to discuss retirement of town administrator at Wednesday meeting

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Hadley Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan is poised to retire in December after more than four years serving in the role.Brennan last week submitted a retirement letter to the board, citing “recent medical issues” as a factor in departing.In...

Around Amherst: Hike for Hunger feeds Survival Center needs

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Hike for Hunger, a fundraiser being held for the fifth time, is the the Amherst Survival Center’s major event for Hunger Action Month, underway throughout September.Beginning this week, people are encouraged to register their hikes, paying a...

CPA panel approves $3.8M for 1888 Building rehab

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — A request to use $3.8 million in CPA funds for the 1888 Building’s renovation will go before voters at an October special Town Meeting after the Community Preservation Committee unanimously approved the spending on Aug. 26.The town...

Program to mark closing of Ancestral Bridges exhibit at Amherst College

AMHERST — A closing celebration for the Ancestral Bridges exhibit at Amherst College’s Frost Library, on view on the mezzanine level since the fall of 2023, took place Tuesday afternoon.Attendees discussed the future of the Ancestral Bridges...

Amherst council adds newcomer Kluttz to Planning Board

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Over the objections of some Town Council members with concerns about the process leading to his appointment, a new member is joining Amherst’s Planning Board.A divided Town Council confirmed Lawrence Kluttz of Dana Street on Aug. 19 to serve...

Valley Bounty: This farm grows friendship: Connie and Bill Gillen encourage pick-your-own at Sunset Farm in Amherst

By LISA GOODRICH

Sunset Farm in Amherst is a neighborhood farm that emphasizes the social aspects of farming in community. Owners Connie and Bill Gillen grow vegetables and flowers on 10 acres, within walking and biking distance of the University of Massachusetts...

Area briefs: Rep. Sabadosa town hall; Positions open on Holyoke School Committee; UMass dining best again

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Amherst has once again been recognized for its exceptional campus dining experience, earning the No. 1 spot on The Princeton Review’s list of Best Campus Food for an eighth consecutive year. The achievement...

Stranded hiker saved after 4-hour rescue at Bare Mountain

Staff Report

AMHERST — A woman who got lost while hiking at Bare Mountain at the Holyoke Range, stranded near the edge of a cliff, was safely rescued following a nearly four-hour effort Saturday night, according to the Amherst Fire Department.At 7:49 p.m., the...

Plumber Frank Marchand’s real job: Lifting others up until the end

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — While a nine-year battle with colon cancer and more than 130 chemotherapy treatments would keep most people from working their day job and giving back to the community, Frank Marchand opted to look on the brighter side.Even as he...

Search-and-rescue dog is Sunderland Fire Department’s newest member

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — The newest member of the Sunderland Fire Department meets all of the criteria: he’s specialized in search-and-rescue operations, he works well with the public, and to top it all off, he’s a very good boy.Ranger, a 4-year-old German...

Emily Dickinson Museum beings reconstruction of Carriage House

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Emily Dickinson once said: “They say that ‘home is where the heart is.’ I think it is where the house is, and the adjacent buildings,” and soon her homestead will see one of those adjacent buildings revived.The Emily Dickinson Museum spent...

A new beginning: Thousands of UMass students descend onto campus during move-in week

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Compared to her small high school in Southampton, N.Y., UMass’ large rural campus is a major change for freshman Bebe Willemse, yet once she arrived on campus this week, she couldn’t stop smiling.“I’m excited for really meeting a lot of new...

UMass Chancellor Reyes affirms support for freedom of speech, peaceful demonstration

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — After a spring semester that came to a close with the arrests of 134 students, faculty and community members at a pro-Palestinian encampment, and nearly 500 faculty members and librarians subsequently taking a no-confidence in Chancellor...

Centuries-old Dudleyville Pond Dam in Shutesbury being removed following years of safety warnings

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

SHUTESBURY — Wednesday marked the end of an era for residents living along Montague Road who said goodbye to a dam that dates back to the early 1800s.The Dudleyville Pond Dam, affectionately known as Brown’s Dam by property owner Lois Brown, was...

Judge overturns Belchertown police chief’s denial of firearms license to resident

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Saying that Police Chief Kevin Pacunas’ decision to deny a firearms license to a resident earlier this year was “overly broad, vague and therefore arbitrary and capricious,” a judge last month ordered the town to grant the license.In...

State’s new housing law to trigger zoning reset for accessory dwellings

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In a town like Amherst, where a significant number of rentals are offered for local college students, accessory apartments, featuring a kitchen, bath and sleeping quarters, have long been allowed by a matter of right, so long as one of the...

Demolition approved for Amherst’s Jones Library project

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As long as two windows in the existing building are preserved and reused and the original 1928 building is protected from damage, the demolition of the 1990s addition to the Jones Library can proceed, based on a recent Amherst Historical...