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By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Dozens of people convened at Memorial Park over the weekend, and are planning to gather again next Saturday, to protest the federal government’s wide-ranging cuts, perhaps most notably those involving the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Seven positions were poised to be eliminated in Ralph C. Mahar Regional School’s fiscal year 2026 budget until the teachers union agreed to a change in the insurance deductible amount to save enough money to spare two of those jobs.

By DOMENIC POLI

The Franklin County Fair Museum’s chilly confines are filled with posters, brochures, ribbons and other pieces celebrating the history of the cherished event that started as a cattle show 177 years ago. But in December the museum added to its collection a first of its kind – an antique silver pitcher that made its way home from England, having been bestowed upon one of the Fairgrounds’ founding fathers on Jan. 3, 1863.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — A Connecticut businessman has purchased two local dealerships from McGovern Automotive Group, though he decided to close one of them due to a perceived lack of feasibility behind a manufacturers’ request to relocate the business.

By DOMENIC POLI

SPRINGFIELD — A U.S. Marine veteran pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing benefit payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs and submitting a false Purple Heart application to the Marine Corps through his congressional representative.

By DOMENIC POLI

A clause in the new state gun reform law preventing 18- to 21-year-olds from carrying certain firearms has gun enthusiasts, including those in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region, asking a rhetorical question: Is there an age requirement for the Bill of Rights?

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Selectboard chair has received numerous complaints from people who are unhappy the sidewalks outside their homes have not been cleared following snow and ice storms, and he used last week’s meeting to clarify that sidewalk clearing is not the municipality’s job.

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM — The 1794 Meetinghouse on South Main Street typically lies dormant during its offseason, with the occasional passing vehicle or woodland creature providing the only soundtrack. But that silence was broken Thursday afternoon by the welcoming sound of the concert and theater venue’s piano on the stage.

By DOMENIC POLI

EAST FALMOUTH — Recently retired Franklin County Sheriff Christopher J. Donelan is one of two Cape Cod police academy leaders who have been suspended, pending an investigation into “inappropriate conduct” between staff and student officers.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The town is using grant money to task the Franklin Regional Council of Governments with conducting a slum and blight inventory to determine if Orange qualifies for Community Development Block Grant funding for infrastructure upgrades and other improvements.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Selectboard will look slightly different at this week’s meeting, as a write-in candidate unseated the vice chair during Monday’s annual town election.

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM – The nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to increasing public awareness and appreciation of the Quabbin Reservoir and watershed is soliciting donations to help restore a stone arch bridge erected the year after the Civil War ended.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The Friends of the Wendell Free Library have agreed to fund $25,000 associated with replacing the damaged play structure removed from its property in September 2023.

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM – The town’s Planning Board hopes to vote on the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art’s site plan application next week, after the institution’s attorney adds specific language pertaining to indoor events, fencing and event setup.

By DOMENIC POLI

ASHFIELD — The town’s Board of Health unanimously adopted regulations restricting tobacco and vape product sales following a concise public hearing this week.

By DOMENIC POLI

Experts predict the steel and aluminum tariffs set to go into effect March 12 will have a negative trickle-down effect, and local businesses are bracing for the impact the Trump administration’s move could have on their bottom line.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Ralph C. Mahar Regional School could save $125,208 in the fiscal year 2026 budget by cutting two full-time positions.

By DOMENIC POLI

TURNERS FALLS — The Franklin County Technical School Committee unanimously approved a draft $16 million budget for fiscal year 2026 last week, which, if approved at Annual Town Meetings, would constitute a 2.8% increase from the current year.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The citizens group that formed in 2023 in opposition to a now-withdrawn proposal for a 105-megawatt battery storage facility has started a crowdfunding campaign to defray legal costs for the town, which is appealing the state attorney general’s rejection of a battery energy storage bylaw.

By DOMENIC POLI

TURNERS FALLS — When 19-year-old Lee Evers was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps to serve in World War II, he was chosen from a few thousand men to become a pilot. He showed his commanding officer a letter from relatives, terrified he would be killed, and his superior instead made him a radio gunner with the V Bomber Command.