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By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Oxbow Design Build co-founder Carl Woodruff referred to multiple bottom lines as the local business celebrates its 10-year anniversary: “We use environmentally stable materials and contribute to the community by creating affordable housing while also being a for-profit enterprise with competitive wages and benefits.” In addition to aiming for lofty goals, Oxbow delivers superb results for residential and commercial clients.

By SAM FERLAND

EASTHAMPTON — Mayor Nicole LaChapelle announced Wednesday she will step down next week after Gov. Maura Healey appointed her commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

By TOLLEY M. JONES

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was amended to include the Fugitive Slave Clause. This clause made it illegal for enslaved persons to free themselves through escape, and legally required them to be returned to their enslavers. In enshrining this in the Constitution, it also nullified state laws that protected enslaved persons from being returned to their enslaver if they reached a Northern state that abolished slavery. However, as Southern enslavers were unsatisfied with the resistance they encountered when attempting to retrieve their escaped slaves, the U.S. government attempted to mollify them with a stronger law. In 1793, The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. This law declared that any escaped enslaved person must be returned to their enslaver, regardless of what state in which they were recaptured, and that anyone assisting in their escape would be fined $500 and given a year in prison.

By SAM FERLAND

EASTHAMPTON — Greenfield Savings Bank held a groundbreaking event this week to mark the development of a new bank branch on Route 10, envisioned as a southern headquarters in western Massachusetts.

Plenty. On June 27, 2025, President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth changed the name of U.S. Navy Ship Harvey Milk to U.S. Navy Ship Oscar V. Peterson. Harvey Milk you will remember was a gay activist and the first openly gay person to serve on the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated on Nov.  27, 1978 by a fellow supervisor, Dan White. The back story on Harvey Milk's life underscores how egregious the name change is.

By TOLLEY M. JONES

On Jan. 1, 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation became law in the United States. It declared that “all persons held as slaves … shall be … forever free and the …Government of the United States … will do no act … to repress such persons … in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

By ANN DARLING

I’ve gotta hand it to Gov. Maura Healey. She’s running a sharp strategy to get nuclear power back in the mix of Massachusetts power sources.

By TOLLEY M. JONES

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Lily Bix-Daw, 25, heads to Dallas this week for intricate surgery to address idiopathic condylar resorption, a degenerative and debilitating condition affecting the jaw and many adjacent body parts. ICR would test anyone’s endurance and sanity, yet despite steep challenges, the Easthampton resident is on schedule to receive her BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst this spring, having pursued her degree while enduring staggering pain, disfigurement, and financial hardship.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

CHARLEMONT — Easthampton author Megan Tady invites the community to a literary après-ski party at Berkshire East Mountain Resort on Saturday, Jan. 25, to celebrate the launch of her second novel, “Bluebird Day.”

By TOLLEY M. JONES

By TOLLEY M. JONES

The silverware family in the sink swam in the Palmolive suds sea as I stood on the wooden step stool washing the dinner dishes. At 7 years old, I was too small to be able to reach the sink otherwise. My 9-year-old sister and I were responsible for...

By SARA WEINBERGER

 Saturday night, Dec. 6 … just as I crawled under the covers, I heard the buzz announcing a message. Reaching for the phone, I read what I never expected to receive: “The Syrian Emergency Task Force is proud to announce that the Syrian people have...

By OLIN ROSE-BARDAWIL

If you look at American public health data from the past few decades, one thing will be very clear: Americans are sicker now than perhaps at any time in our history.An estimated 129 million people in the U.S. have at least 1 major chronic disease,...

By JOE GANNON

While the shock wears off, again, from our presidential election, it is a suitable time to just take a breath before we decide — that is, lock down — our reaction.And we do decide our reaction. We will throw up our hands, rip out our hair, or just...

By TOLLEY M. JONES

This morning I stood in front of my altar and lit its candles, held a stub of palo santo to the sputtering flame, and even before I spoke I felt the tingling and buzzing in my shoulders and arms that let me know The Ancestors were already there...

By MARA MELLITS

For Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election is personal.“My mom fought for reproductive rights. I did. My daughter did,” LaChapelle said. “Now I have a granddaughter who’s 18...

By SHERYL HUNTER

Stephanie Marshall, Katie Clarke and Jenny Goodspeed formed the Boxcar Lilies back in 2009, drawn together by their shared love of three-part harmony and roots music. Accompanying themselves on guitar, claw hammer banjo, electric bass, and washboard,...

By NICOLE LACHAPELLE

 At a time when misinformation and disinformation are plaguing our elections, facts should matter more than ever.When it comes to who delivers results and resources for Massachusetts’s 1st Congressional District, it is an indisputable fact we are...

By DOMENIC POLI

WORCESTER — The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center’s executive director is being sued by a former co-worker alleging she has lost out on consulting contracts because of damaging information spread by her ex-colleague.Maura Geary is the first...

By TOLLEY M. JONES

 Oppressive regimes, governments, religions and family systems rely on silence to fester and thrive. Their weak and parasitic exoskeleton depends on a steady supply of hapless victims who either helplessly, unknowingly, or willingly remain within the...