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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

NORTHAMPTON — Food and other necessities can be found at the Goshen General Store on Route 9. For low-income individuals in Goshen and surrounding communities, the Hilltown Food Pantry, at the nearby Town Office Building, distributes food every...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

ERVING — Athol Community Elementary School Principal Shannon White-Cleveland is being tapped as the next Erving School Union 28 superintendent, overseeing four K-6 elementary schools attended by children in Shutesbury, Leverett, Erving, Wendell and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A temporary worker in the Holyoke City Clerk’s Office brought on to deal with the influx of mail-in ballot requests for the presidential primaries is ensuring that 2,700 or so ballots are already in the hands of those who want to cast their votes...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A call for an increase in federal money to support homeless services and programs related to substance use disorders, and for keeping unhoused individuals from being targeted by federal law enforcement agencies, is coming from the House...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — Restoration of a 1.4-mile section of the mostly gravel Dudleyville Road from Moore’s Corner to the Shutesbury town line could cost at least $2 million, and possibly as much as $4 million, according to a draft evaluation recently completed...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — On his first day at Shutesbury Town Hall, a week before officially being sworn in as the Police Department’s first K-9 officer, Charlie provided a calming distraction for a stressed and flustered resident who had come to the town...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — An historic guideboard on the town common since 1837, helping travelers to navigate to Massachusetts communities both near and far, is temporarily absent from the green as a restoration project begins.Last Tuesday morning, the wooden...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Prohibiting PFAS from consumer products sold in Massachusetts remains an objective for Sen. Jo Comerford, who sees a recently advanced legislative bill to protect soil and farms from such contamination as an important first step to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — After a series of amendments and nearly three hours of discussion and debate, a new wetlands protection bylaw is in place in Shutesbury, adopted without a sentence that some interpreted as giving developers veto power over certain...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

BOSTON — On her 26th birthday on Nov. 30, 2018, Eliza Harper died from an accidental opioid overdose on the living room couch in her South Deerfield home, despite being in recovery for 10 months.Her then 14-year-old brother, Jackson, was the first to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

The slight uptick of influenza B cases countering a decrease in influenza A infections across Baystate Health’s facilities, including at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, is no cause for alarm, according to the health system’s chief of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

ERVING — Gateway Regional School District’s curriculum director, the principal at Athol Community Elementary School, and the director of assessment and accountability for the Westfield Public School District are the finalists to become the next...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — A Special Town Meeting that includes a revised wetlands protection bylaw to replace one adopted in 1987 is being postponed to next week due to Tuesday’s snowstorm.The seven-article warrant, which also has various spending items, will be...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — The chair of the Conservation Commission has stepped down, a decision she said stems from alleged personal attacks and interference by elected and appointed officials at Town Hall.Miriam DeFant’s decision came just days before the Jan. 16...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — Yankee Candle is occupying a nearly 360,000-square-foot building at 142 Elm St., formerly used by C&S Wholesale Grocers as its Hatfield South site, according to the property owner.FoxRock Properties, a commercial real estate company based...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — A shelter for unwanted and homeless pets established on Montague Road in 1995, creating a small campus for the adoption of dogs, cats and other small animals, is currently closed, and it’s possible that the site may not reopen.The Dakin...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A charge against an Amherst woman who allegedly threatened a newspaper journalist in summer 2018 has been dismissed after more than a year of court cases, jail time and mental health evaluations.The misdemeanor charge of threatening to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Entering the University of Massachusetts campus this week, students, employees and visitors are greeted with large electronic signs reminding them that parking will be restricted this weekend.The billboards are a visible reminder to the...