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“It is up to us, in our time, to choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day.”“Let it never...

By THE REV. CINDY LAJOY

Have you ever wondered why God sometimes leads us on what seems like a long and winding road, just to end up mere steps from where you started? Have you ever asked God to answer your prayers in a hurry, only to find yourself waiting for a response for...

ORANGE — An Orange District Court judge sentenced Athol resident Gregory J. Batchelor to 18 months in jail on Wednesday following a conviction on four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old, according to the Northwestern...

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 DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — One of the five North Quabbin residents facing charges of kidnapping and other crimes stemming from an alleged incident last February has had nine of her charges dismissed while other charges, and all those of her co-defendants, remain in...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Various organizations and nonprofits around Franklin County and the North Quabbin region are opening their doors to the community on Thanksgiving, offering free meals and companionship.In Greenfield, Stone Soup Cafe will host A Day of Mourning and...

By DOMENIC POLI

You’ve possibly known a haunted house to be held in a school or an armory. But how about one inside a 15,000-square-foot Gilded Age brick mansion built for a sewing machine millionaire’s wife and eventually owned by a Masonic sisterhood called the...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — An Athol man recently pleaded not guilty to three sexual assault charges stemming from alleged incidents involving a young girl that occurred prior to the summer of 2013.William T. McBride, 59, of Brattle Street, was arraigned in Orange...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — An Athol man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, roughly an hour after 12 deliberating jurors found him guilty of killing 26-year-old Kelsey Clifford in 2019.Keith D. Hamel, 25, was convicted of...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The doctor who conducted the autopsy of Kelsey Clifford, the 26-year-old woman found bludgeoned to death outside the Athol Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2019, testified on Tuesday that the victim’s injuries are consistent with a claw...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The boyfriend of the 26-year-old Leominster woman who was beaten to death in November 2019 took the witness stand Monday morning in the trial of the Athol man who is accused of her murder.Kevin McGann spent a couple of hours in Franklin...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL — Members of the Athol Bird and Nature Club do more than watch birds in the wild. Sometimes, they rescue them. Club President David Small said he sends about a half-dozen birds to the Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Center in Conway each year.Now,...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — An Athol man has been sentenced to six to eight years in prison on child rape charges, three weeks after his plea hearing was suspended in progress to allow him more time to consult with his attorney regarding the essential facts laid out...

By DOMENIC POLI

ATHOL — State Police detectives assigned to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office are working with the Athol Police Department to investigate the unattended death of an Orange man.The body of Ralph C. Cloukey, 45, of Royalston Road in Orange,...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — A Springfield man formerly of Athol was arraigned in Franklin County Superior Court on Wednesday on more than two dozen charges related to the alleged sexual assault of two children.Jose Oquendo, 49, pleaded not guilty to seven counts...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Judge Mark D. Mason accepted guilty pleas and a joint recommendation in Franklin County Superior Court on Tuesday, sentencing a pair of Athol residents to two years’ probation for drug crimes.Mariah K. LaFountain, 26, and Bryce M. Cass,...

By DOMENIC POLI

The murder of 9-year-old Christine Jessop in October 1984 was one of Canada’s most infamous unsolved crimes for decades. She was found about 31 miles away from her home on New Year’s Eve of the same year she was killed. The girl’s family thought they...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL — In the face of calls for her expulsion, Darcy Fernandes this week mounted an impassioned defense of her tenure as superintendent of the Athol-Royalston Regional School District.The matter was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the School...