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By MATTEON PANGALLO

At Shutesbury’s 290th annual Town Meeting on May 31, our small Massachusetts town approved a $7.7 million budget for FY26. Payments-in-lieu-of-taxes for state-owned land, including the one-third of our town taken by the state for the Quabbin watershed area, cover less than 5% of that budget. Residential property taxes will pay for 73%, which is a much higher portion than is covered by property taxpayers in most towns.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Police Chief Kristin Burgess has been placed on administrative leave, according to a message sent to the community by the Select Board on Friday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Even though located at the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides drinking water for millions of residents in and around Boston, Shutesbury has no municipal water supply and has spent almost $700,000 to address contamination from PFAS, or forever chemicals, in private wells.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Prioritizing purchase of zero-emission vehicles, supporting municipal decarbonization by 2050 and opting into the state’s specialized energy code, while enhancing the existing safe community bylaw and adopting a town spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, are among articles voters will decide at annual Town Meeting Saturday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Police Chief Kristin Burgess is taking a leave of absence from her position overseeing the department, according to an email sent by the Selectboard to residents Thursday night.

By ALEXA LEWIS

HOLYOKE — Unperturbed by the rain that pelted their colorful signs, dozens of impassioned community members hailing from cities and towns across the region gathered in song and frustration to protest state clean energy siting practices they think will be more harmful to the environment than helpful.

By DOMENIC POLI

SHUTESBURY — A man was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield on Monday after the 18-wheeler he was driving careened through the intersection of Daniel Shays Highway (Route 202) and Prescott Road, crashed through a guardrail and rolled onto its side.

SHUTESBURY — Incumbent Selectboard member Melissa Makepeace-O’Neil earned a fourth, three-year term in Saturday’s town election, turning back a challenge from write-in candidate Tom Siefert, according to unofficial results provided by Town Clerk Grace Bannasch.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — A steep increase in what Leverett will pay into the Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools’ fiscal year 2026 budget is being supported by the Selectboard, even with concerns from board members about the process used to arrive at the town’s assessment.

Many letters have discussed outrage at the state logging large tracts of forest in and near the Quabbin and in state forests and elsewhere. This letter is to address one reason why we should select some large tracks of forest to be never logged or managed. The logging of forests keeps the forests young. Old forests, very old forests are required to generate a growth of fairies. People think fairies are mythical creatures but this belief itself is the myth. Fairies are real, but only occur in very, very old forests. The life cycle of a fairy begins in the cracks and crevices of very, very old tree bark in very, very old forests. The fairies emerge and then sprout wings and fly around. But unlike a caterpillar becoming a butterfly or moth, the fairy does not fly to reproduce. The flights of fairies express the joy of the forest itself. Fairies do not have reproduction the way we are used to thinking of it, birds and bees etc. Fairies represent a final step in the life cycle of a mature forest. A forest feels joy when the trees within it feel joy. Once a forest truly feels joy, can these flying tree parts emerge and fly about. And then we can study them properly. But a forest only feels joy if it is left alone for a very, very long time — perhaps 600 years?

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — In a change from customary practice, Shutesbury will hold its town election and Annual Town Meeting on separate days, a little over a month apart.

By BROOKLYN TRUEHEART DEMME

I grew up on the safe side of town with educational access and expectations of gainful, dignified employment. Selling harmful addictive substances was not a consideration I needed to make to provide for my family. Moreover, the mobility and security afforded by my skin color and privileged class background have allowed for me to safely visit and learn in some dangerous places which residents can not easily leave.

When I was five and got my own library card, I enjoyed being entrusted with grown-up responsibility as much as I enjoyed the “kerchunk” sound of the machine checking out my book. I didn’t know this was my introduction to civic engagement.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — While no ban on motorboats on Lake Wyola is being contemplated, a serious accident that injured a boater last June has prompted a review of the current bylaw governing use of the 128-acre body of water, which some residents say should be modified to enhance safety, while others say safety is largely a matter of personal responsibility.

DEERFIELD — The registration deadline for “Engaging with the Legacies of Northern Slavery,” a one-day conference slated for Saturday, April 5, from 9:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., is approaching.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — Have you ever looked back at a crossroads in your life and wondered if you should have handled something differently?

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Hayley Bolton, who for the past six years has led senior centers in Amherst and Bernardston, is poised to become Shutesbury’s town administrator in April.

President Donald Trump and his minions have only proved their callous disregard for human beings under the false claim of efficiency.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Construction of a new track and field at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, at a cost of $4.11 million, is expected to begin in late June.