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By DOMENIC POLI

Editor’s note: To mark the start of a new year, the Athol Daily News is publishing stories about what Franklin County residents can likely expect to see happening in their communities in 2025.

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM — Town officials are working to determine ways to improve safety along Route 202, the site of numerous crashes over the years.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — There’s about to be a new sheriff in town.Christopher J. Donelan has announced he will retire at the end of the month, ending a 14-year tenure that saw the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction transform from a typical facility...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Selectboard voted unanimously last week to enter into a $3.6 million contract for the construction of a water tower at the Orange Industrial Park, after the pulp and paper company poised to benefit from the structure wired the town...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — Recent receipt of $25,000 as part of the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget is driving renovations forward at the 466 Wendell Depot Road site slated to become a historical museum and gift shop. Wendell Historical Society President Ed Hines...

By DOMENIC POLI

ATHOL — Walgreens has announced it will permanently close its location at 1640 South Main St. at 3 p.m. on Jan. 27.A sign posted on the front door states customers’ prescription records are available at all Walgreens locations, including the one at...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin area has opened a second office in the Health Center Plaza in Orange, with the plan to fully open by Jan. 1.The current location on Wisdom Way in Greenfield morphed out of...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The citizens group that formed last year in opposition to a now-withdrawn proposal for a 105-megawatt battery storage facility held a virtual forum this week to shed light on local permitting and the role of municipal power in the wake of...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — LaunchSpace and the central Massachusetts-based Workers Credit Union have teamed up to educate 16- to 24-year-olds on personal finance in the event they want to start their own businesses.“It’s something that LaunchSpace has always really...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The water tower proposed for the Orange Industrial Park is a go, after voters at Monday’s Special Town Meeting opted to accept land from Seaman Paper and to accept or take land from Power Fund Partners for its construction.Seaman Paper,...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – There were no injuries resulting from a fire caused by the ignition of combustible materials near a pellet stove’s flue pipe early Sunday morning, the town’s fire chief said.James Young said his department was dispatched to a reported...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — A Special Town Meeting is asking voters to address two warrant articles pertaining to land acquisition for a crucial water tower, which officials believe will take up the bulk of public discussion on Monday.Town Administrator Matthew Fortier...

By DOMENIC POLI

Want to break bread without breaking up the family this Thanksgiving? Try leaving politics at the door.This month’s presidential election was particularly polarizing and the internet is rife with stories of people planning to skip holiday gatherings...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — A Selectboard meeting on Wednesday grew heated after the vice chair expressed outrage over a perceived lack of communication relating to two upcoming Special Town Meeting warrant articles seeking to acquire land to build a water tower at the...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — A battery energy storage bylaw that voters overwhelmingly approved in May has been rejected by the state Attorney General’s Office for failing to comply with procedural safeguards embedded into state zoning laws.Wendell residents voted 100...

By DOMENIC POLI

Joshua Jay Dostis, better known locally as the politically charged jester Waffles T. Clown, died on Nov. 9. He was 83.Friends in Franklin County are mourning the loss of the New York City transplant and longtime New Salem resident who spent his final...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The Wendell man who was convicted five years ago of violently ending his girlfriend’s life in 2017 will not get the chance to have the alleged murder weapon tested for evidence, a Franklin County Superior Court judge ruled on...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Four Orange Fire Department members are slated to be honored this month for their actions during a fatal fire last year.Lts. Phillip Dupell and Jason Rushford, firefighter/paramedic Nino Rodriguez, and Tim Matthews, who is now an acting...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Town officials have set a goal to remove the expansive asbestos and brick pile at 16-36 West River St. before the new year. The debris was left in the wake of an arson at the former cereal factory, which was burned down by three juveniles on...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Coin experts across the region are sounding the alarm about an influx of fakes manufactured in China and infiltrating the U.S. market.Chinese-made counterfeits of collector and circulating coins are more rampant than ever, according to...

By DOMENIC POLI

A new Franklin County clerk of courts will take the oath of office in January and barring some miraculous write-in campaign, that person will be Benjamin Simanski.The first assistant clerk magistrate for the past 11 years, Simanski is running...