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By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

The western Massachusetts farming community is made up of hardworking folks who generally work with family members or small crews, but who also keep tabs on one another through farmers markets, agricultural meetings, and other events. When a farmer experiences hardships, their peers care deeply and offer support when possible. Over the last few years, concerned locals have followed staggering and mysterious challenges faced by Danny Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm in Gill. Botkin is widely considered a regional hero due to his generous dedication to educating others about seed saving, four-season gardening, and other aspects of growing and eating organically grown produce. 

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

TURNERS FALLS — For the 22nd year, the Franklin County Boat Club’s Christmas in July boat parade and fireworks celebration will return on Saturday, July 26.

By CHRIS LARABEE

While the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board awaits feedback from the state on its proposed regional agreement, it is also preparing assessment models for the potential Great River Regional School District.

“Dont tread on me.” These words appeared on a flag in 1775 and were used as a rallying cry during the American Revolution and became a symbol of liberty, individualism, and defiance against authorities.

By AALIANNA MARIETTA

Barbara Yue traveled more than 7,000 miles from Shanghai to visit the Giving Tree School in Gill.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — Forty years ago this month, Gill resident Terri Rice remembers when the silence of anticipation broke inside Gill Town Hall.

In the 1800s there was a political group called, the “Know Nothings” party. The liberal Democrats of today are the “We Know Everything” party. Most have more degrees than a thermometer.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — Voters defeated a motion to create a new principal assessor role during the second part of Annual Town Meeting Monday night, a proposal that had some town officials feeling caught off guard.

By DOROTHY STORROW

Lately, the news has been filled with references to habeas corpus. President Donald Trump’s administration is actively considering suspending habeas corpus. Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution provides a right to habeas corpus. As citizens, we all need to understand this right in order to have informed opinions about what is happening in our country.

I appreciated in the guest column “Everyone is entitled to due process” [Recorder, May 16] that Republican lawyer Isaac Mass was taking a stand against the injustices of the Trump administration. However, when stating “… deporting undocumented foreign born criminal gang members without a hearing is unconscionable” isn’t he assuming these people are gang members just because Trump says they are? They never had a chance to challenge the charges against them. Mr. Mass should have referred to them as “accused gang members.”

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — The remaining financial articles for the second part of Annual Town Meeting will be taken up by voters next week, including a $5.17 million total budget for fiscal year 2026 that includes large assessment increases to the Gill-Montague Regional School District and Franklin County Technical School.

Summer is almost here, and with it will come deadly heat waves supercharged by the climate crisis. Yet in 27 states, it’s perfectly legal for utility companies to shut off electricity on the hottest days of summer for nonpayment, leaving individuals and families without air conditioning in extreme temperatures and threatening their health and safety.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — The Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee voted to begin the search for an interim superintendent within the next month as Superintendent Brian Beck announced his resignation, effective June 30.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — With $27,540 to spend before June 30, Gill Elementary School Principal Walter Huston says expansion of the Gill Elementary garden and the development of a garden at Sheffield Elementary is the name of the game. 

Hidden somewhere in the 1,000-plus page, “One Big Beautiful Bill” — among the tax breaks for billionaires, drilling and mining rights on public lands, and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP — there is also a golden ticket for Trump himself. It is here, in a section that reads, “No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued ...”

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

GILL — With a gleeful toss of 190 mortarboards, the Class of 2025 said goodbye to Northfield Mount Hermon School on Sunday, with a cheering crowd that included alumni who still think of the school as “home.”

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — Math Interventionist Veronica Hirst says when she works with students at Hillcrest Elementary School, she wants to help them understand what makes the number five, a five.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — John Ward will return to the Selectboard, having securing the seat in an uncontested race in Monday’s town election.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — Former Gill Selectboard member John Ward is seeking to return to the board for a three-year term in an uncontested race.

By CHRIS LARABEE

With its regional agreement sent off to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for a technical review, the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board is expecting to bring its new school district proposal to voters in the fall.