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By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — Battered by storms, ice and snow for two centuries, it was only a matter of time before the South Congregational Church’s post-and-beam steeple needed more than cosmetic repairs. That time came this spring when Wilcox Builders of Hatfield...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HADLEY — Elements Massage studio in Hadley closed recently after it was issued a stop-work order by the state for operating without workers compensation insurance.The state Department of Industrial Accidents ordered the studio at 379 Russell St....

By JAMES PENTLAND

HADLEY — Hampshire Mall, a major commercial property on Route 9 since its opening in 1978, was sold at a foreclosure auction Thursday for $7 million.The buyer was Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas and Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.,...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A Hampshire Superior Court judge has denied convicted killer Cara Rintala’s motion to reduce the 12-to-14-year prison sentence she’s serving after being convicted last year of manslaughter in the killing of her wife in 2010.Rintala...

By JAMES PENTLAND

PELHAM — A teenage driver died Monday evening after his vehicle crashed into a tree off Daniel Shays Highway (Route 202) and caught fire, authorities said.Joseph Tucker, 19, of Essex was brought by helicopter to Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, where...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — After weighing recommendations from defense and prosecuting attorneys, a Hampshire Superior Court judge sentenced a Northampton man to 2½ years in jail on numerous drug distribution charges at a change-of-plea hearing Wednesday.Before...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HADLEY — With cheers and flowers, thanks and praise, the 20 members of the senior class and their families celebrated graduation on May 29 at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School’s eighth commencement, held in the school’s...

By JAMES PENTLAND

EASTHAMPTON — Hampshire County’s longtime emergency service workers were recognized and roasted and medical teams were honored for life-saving efforts over the past year at the recent annual EMS awards dinner.Receiving 50-year service plaques and...

By JAMES PENTLAND

BELCHERTOWN — A Granby man pleaded guilty Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to motor vehicle homicide and reckless assault charges stemming from a motor vehicle crash that killed his longtime partner and the mother of his child last July, the...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A Connecticut man who shot and tried to kidnap a Hadley farmer in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison and three years’ probation after admitting guilt in the case.Marc A. Veturis, 29, pleaded guilty before Hampshire...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — UMass plans to triple early college enrollment over the next five years, giving 2,000 high school students a head start on their college educations, university President Marty Meehan said Tuesday in his annual “state of the university”...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — Tony Creamer began his career in luthiery upstairs at 49 South Pleasant St. in 1969, and he’ll be ending it there, too, when he closes the Fretted Instrument Workshop on April 1. “I will have completed 53 years in business,” he said last...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Area organizations are welcoming grant awards that will boost the supply of fresh, local food available to those in need and provide support for local farmers.“We’re really thrilled to have been selected,” said Lev BenEzra, executive...

By JAMES PENTLAND

Forgotten and gathering dust in the attic of a North Adams apartment building for more than a century, a mural that’s a part of eastern European Jewish immigrant history may soon see the light of day again.If it does, it will be thanks largely to the...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Local leaders are reacting favorably to legislation filed last week by Gov. Maura Healey that would give municipalities the authority to increase local option taxes on meals, lodging and motor vehicles.The state’s Democratic legislative...

By JAMES PENTLAND

BELCHERTOWN — State utility regulators have given a green light to municipal aggregation in Belchertown, allowing residents and businesses to act as a bulk buyer of electricity supply.Aggregation typically helps to keep electricity rates down and can...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A long-running case against two men accused of conspiring to defraud the University of Massachusetts through an environmental remediation company in which they both had an interest ended Wednesday with the men admitting to sufficient...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — An Amherst man was sentenced Thursday to six to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to rape of a child and five other charges.Kemal Banatte, 44, will serve five years on probation after he...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A Hadley woman charged with animal cruelty in 2022 after nine cows and 22 goats were seized from the Amherst farm where she was keeping them will spend five years on probation after pleading guilty Friday to three counts in the 35-count...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — An Amherst man who tried to kidnap a toddler from a downtown home during a break-in in March 2021 was sentenced Monday to eight to 10 years in state prison.At a change-of-plea hearing before Judge James Manitsas in Hampshire Superior...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — As farmers continue to recover from July’s floods with the aid of community support, two government-sponsored funds are gearing up to issue their first checks.With donations pushing the Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund beyond $2...