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By DOMENIC POLI

It seems people from all over are anxious for spring to arrive as bookings at the three state camping locations in Franklin and Hampshire counties are filling up fast.The state Department of Conservation and Recreation reports that at least 756 total...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – The director of the Orange Public Libraries has decided to close this chapter of her life and step down following eight years in the position.Jessica Magelaner, who heads the Wheeler Memorial Library at 49 East Main St. and the Moore-Leland...

By CHRIS LARABEE

With two new members on its board of directors, the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding is looking to continue its international work, while also expanding on its mission right here in the valley.In recent weeks, the international and domestic...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – No, this is not a joke.The Revival Wheeler Mansion’s bed-and-breakfast is slated to open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for 4 p.m. on April 1.“It’s a long time coming,” said owner Cynthia “Sinde” Butler, who purchased the North Quabbin...

By EMILEE KLEIN

HOLYOKE — Sonia Mendez never imagined how writing could give her a second chance.She attended her first creative writing workshop while incarcerated, and spent most of the class clowning around, joking with the class facilitator and poking fun at the...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL – The Selectboard is waiting to hear from Town Counsel before taking a stance on a potential bylaw submitted by a citizens group formed last year in opposition to a 105-megawatt battery storage facility proposed for the center of...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Farming is already a tough field to make one’s living. Throw in three consecutive years of extreme weather and personal burnout and you’ve got a recipe for what is shaping up to another difficult year for valley farmers, as they prepare their fields...

By DOMENIC POLI

By DOMENIC POLIStaff WriterResidents have until Friday to submit their input regarding the process by which clean energy projects are permitted in Massachusetts.An online survey is soliciting public comment on how the state should protect health,...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — UMass plans to triple early college enrollment over the next five years, giving 2,000 high school students a head start on their college education, university President Marty Meehan said Tuesday in his annual “state of the university”...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In film, literature, paintings and other forms of art, palm trees and warm climates are almost always the settings depicted for slavery in North America, from the plantations of the American South to the transatlantic ships transporting...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SPRINGFIELD — More than 2,400 current and former Yankee Candle employees are eligible to split $1.2 million from a class action lawsuit brought forward by an employee alleging the company failed to pay workers for “thousands of hours of work” due to...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Before acclaimed environmental activist Catherine Coleman Flowers said one word about herself at the outset of a talk at UMass on Thursday night, she expressed gratitude to marginalized communities across the country who trusted her to share...

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD – At the Joint Committee on Ways and Means’ fiscal year 2025 state budget hearing, held Friday at Greenfield Community College, the focus was on statewide education and local aid.At the regional level, though, legislators, school officials...

BY BELLA LEVAVI

GREENFIELD — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has accepted the relicensing application for FirstLight’s hydroelectric dam in Turners Falls and pump storage facility in Northfield and area residents now have 60 days to submit comments on the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A continued challenge for some prospective students and their families in accessing federal financial aid applications, and a corresponding delay in relaying the information from these forms to colleges and universities, is raising...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

SPRINGFIELD — Local activists, organizations and representatives from western Massachusetts’s congressional delegation are urging the U.S. federal government to extend a pandemic-era program that covers internet costs for more than 55,000 low-income...

By EMILEE KLEIN

With the state dealing with catastrophic consequences of climate change, the debate around forest management continues to make headlines as Massachusetts policymakers discuss the best way to maximize carbon sequestration in forests.Trees and other...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

ERVING — Athol Community Elementary School Principal Shannon White-Cleveland is being tapped as the next School Union 28 superintendent, overseeing four K-6 elementary schools attended by children in Shutesbury, Leverett, Erving, Wendell and New...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — Almost a third of Republicans say they agree with former President Donald Trump’s claim that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country,” a recent University of Massachusetts poll has found.The poll, which also questioned respondents...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Tourism contributes more than $1 billion in annual economic impact across Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties, according to a recent study released by the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.The study was the first of its kind...