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By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Department heads voiced frustration last week about potentially having to sustain 15% budget cuts as Orange once again grapples with financial woes.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — As the Greenfield Redevelopment Authority drafts a request for proposals for the former First National Bank building on Bank Row, potential uses range from a boutique hotel to a concert venue.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

COLRAIN — To the delight of students at Colrain Central School, the Busload of Books recently rolled to town.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — The Montague Soapbox Derby will not return for 2025, due to members of the Soapbox Planning Committee not being available to plan the race this year.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The Ashfield Rod and Gun Club is holding its Spring Youth Fishing Derby on Sunday, May 18. 

By RYAN AMES

Catrina Tobin put together a magnificent performance in goal for the UMass women’s lacrosse team in its 19-10 loss to Princeton during the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament on Friday in Baltimore, Maryland.

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — The White House’s top-line discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026, released on May 2, proposes the slashing of two line items that, if approved, could significantly alter Community Action Pioneer Valley’s services.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN and MADISON SCHOFIELD

Franklin County arts organizations are worried about the future funding landscape after hearing about cuts the Trump administration is proposing to the National Endowment for the Arts.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Housing took center stage during a more than three-hour meeting Thursday, as City Council voted against the zoning amendments in a citizen’s petition to regulate accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and approved an amendment to increase the maximum building height in the Central Commercial District.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Federal funding cuts to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service that were announced earlier this month would have serious implications for public media viewers and listeners in western Massachusetts, local experts say.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

COLRAIN — Residents will decide the outcome of contested races for town clerk and library trustee in this year’s town election on Tuesday.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The 15th running of the Western Mass. Mother’s Day Half Marathon in Whately will commence on Sunday, with a large field of runners expected to participate.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

ROWE — Residents will be asked to approve a $4.88 million total budget for fiscal year 2026, $175,000 for planning library renovations, and provisions that seek to create a Rowe-Charlemont Fire District and preserve historic buildings in town during Annual Town Meeting.

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

SHELBURNE — In a two-night session that saw votes on 39 warrant articles, Annual Town Meeting voters adopted a nearly $6.24 million budget for fiscal year 2026, approved a new bylaw regulating short-term rentals, and set parameters for large-scale battery energy storage systems.

By HANNAH BEVIS

The floor of Interskate 91 South is often filled with young skaters teetering around the track, but the athletes on it now are sure on their skates, focused and ready to battle. Two jammers sit poised, their bodies coiled in anticipation; in front of them, two bunches of blockers gaze at them intently, trying to determine the best strategy for locking them down. For a second, there’s quiet. Then a sharp whistle slices through it and the two skaters explode forward, trying to duck and weave between a mass of bodies to escape the pack and rack up points for their team. Their teammates and fans yell and cheer from the sidelines, their voices echoing around the rink, but skater Lilith of the Valley (government name: Lisa Andras) doesn’t hear any of it.

Good morning!Any inclination Vladimir Putin might have of brokering a peace deal with Ukraine would likely be helped by his need to show off the Russian hockey team at next year’s Olympics. The Russians have been excluded from international hockey competition since the invasion more than two years ago.

By ALLEN WOODS

Nearly all social thinkers (including the artificial ones of AI) emphasize that functioning, peaceful societies must agree on a group of shared meanings for communicating. These include gestures (a handshake, hug, tip of the hat, tap on the heart, etc.), images and symbols, and spoken and written words. They are “the glue that holds society together, enabling individuals to understand each other, cooperate effectively, and build a cohesive and vibrant social life.”

By DOMENIC POLI

Stefan Maier decided to pull out all the stops in 1993.

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

(This is part one of a two-part series about the literary work and life of Ashfield resident Hilary Sloin, who died in 2019.)

By MICKEY RATHBUN

In the Orchard Arboretum, a little-known public garden in South Amherst, a living work of art is making its debut this spring. “I call it a daffodil ribbon,” explained Richard Waldman, a retired landscape architect from New York City who conceived of the project two years ago and has finally brought it to fruition.

By GUSTAVO ATENCIO FLORES

According to Megan Bent, gallery manager of Worcester’s Open Door Gallery, “expanding upon the communal understanding of what disability is” is the main goal of newest exhibition, “Shared.”