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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A large mixed-use development next to the University of Massachusetts, providing both market-rate and affordable housing, can proceed to the next phase of municipal review after receiving Zoning Board of Appeals variances that will allow the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Local Tibetans will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising on Sunday, beginning a march at 9 a.m. from the steps of Amherst Town Hall that will take them along Route 9 in Hadley to Northampton City Hall, and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A search committee for identifying the next superintendent for the Amherst, Amherst-Pelham Regional and Pelham schools can begin screening among 10 individuals who have applied for the leadership position.“We believe there are many strong...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Already having an active Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination lawsuit against the Amherst-Pelham public schools, a middle school teacher recently brought concerns about a hostile work environment for herself and other Black staff...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Town Council is calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, approving a controversial resolution Monday that demands an end to the Israeli military siege in the Gaza Strip, the release of hostages and detainees on both sides and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — More money available to support the Amherst elementary schools budget should preserve the instrumental music program, as well as two special education instructors, one at Wildwood School and another at Crocker Farm School, next school year,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A proposed $34.81 million fiscal year 2025 budget for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, necessitating cutting 10 teachers and professionals between the high school and middle school, is facing opposition from parents, students and staff,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Business partners who are opening two restaurants in Amherst this winter are on the hook for nearly $500,000 in both restitution and penalties related to child labor, sick time, wage and hour and payroll record violations at their Plymouth...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — New traffic patterns into and out of Fort River School will be in place in the coming weeks as a contractor undertakes initial site work for the new three-story elementary school to be built on the same site at 70 South East St.Town...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A food and diaper drive and a series of talks aimed at fostering mental wellness in the Amherst community are part of a recently launched Kindness Campaign by the town’s health and recreation departments.Starting on Feb. 29, or Leap of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Amherst School Committee could decide in May when the town’s sixth graders will move to the Amherst Regional Middle School, and whether they might be accompanied by sixth graders from the other three towns that make up the current grades...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

All Leverett and Shutesbury residents have access to high-speed Internet connections, following the municipal build-out of broadband over the last decade or so, but a small portion of households continue to opt against becoming subscribers.In...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A continued challenge for some prospective students and their families in accessing federal financial aid applications, and a corresponding delay in relaying the information from these forms to colleges and universities, is raising...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A large commemorative wooden cake in the field between the Leverett Library and Leverett Elementary School will be lit up in Leverett for the first time as night falls on March 5, exactly 250 years after the town officially separated from Sunderland —...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Older adults with dementia or memory loss, along with their care partners, are invited to participate in a new monthly memory cafe opening at the Hadley Senior Center.Connections Cafe, which is free for both residents and people from around...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — An initial phase of stabilizing the early 19th-century Phelps Farm, a farmhouse that became part of the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum in 2022, could depend on support from the town’s Community Preservation Act account.The...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Significant local and regional interest in an Amherst Town Council resolution advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war is prompting the meeting to discuss, debate and possibly vote on the matter to be moved to the Amherst Regional...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Even with Amherst officials signaling a commitment to increase the town’s financial obligation to the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, around 20 staff members, including classroom teachers and paraeducators, could be eliminated at the middle...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst’s public schools, municipal government and town libraries are in line to get spending boosts in next year’s budgets that go beyond initial projections, potentially staving off recently announced cuts that could be made to elementary...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Appeals for more documentation of a historic performance space in a downtown building, possibly used by an Amherst College fraternity in the 19th century, are being made before the three-story brick structure is razed.The rear ell at 45...