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By Mike Roche

By GREG VINE

ATHOL – In November, officials from more than 100 municipalities, community and business organizations, cultural and educational entities signed on to a letter urging state transportation officials to support the Northern Tier Passenger Rail.Athol...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Running consistent passenger rail service for 140 miles through northern Massachusetts communities to connect North Adams and Boston could attract hundreds of riders per day, but would also require hundreds of millions of dollars in up-front capital...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Leading a roughly 100-person crowd across a two-day, 43-mile trek from Springfield to Greenfield, NEPM radio host Christopher “Monte” Belmonte raised more than $572,000 to end hunger during the 15th annual March for the Food Bank.Belmonte, dressed as...

By Mike RocheIt is time for this writer to turn the page on his hunting activities from upland hunting to deer hunting. It has indeed been a great ride this “bucket list” fall, beginning with a trip to northern Vermont for the upland opener on Sept....

By MAX BOWEN

Powerful storms hit the western Mass area Tuesday evening, leaving hundreds of homes without power into Wednesday afternoon, according to National Grid.According to Torry Dooley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boston office,...

By TANISHA BHAT

Ben Clark, the owner of Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, received $120,000 from the $20 million Natural Disaster Recovery Program created last year after he lost the entirety of his peach crop and 70% of his apples and pears due to sudden cold...

By SAM DRYSDALE

As House Democrats eye the expansion of its public drinking water service area, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is considering whether the communities where that water comes from should finally get to reap the benefits of the...

By XINYI YANG

Anna Smith has applied three times to a state program that provides rental assistance for families — before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic — with the intention of “saving her two kids and her life.” What she didn’t anticipate was such a bleak...

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

The groundhog predicted an early end to winter: did that also mean an earlier start to maple sugaring? Apparently so, according to several maple sugarers in Franklin County.“This is the earliest we’ve ever started,” remarked Chip Williams of the...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As the state considers the governor’s proposed $4.13 billion Affordable Homes Act — a comprehensive roadmap for affordable housing across the Commonwealth — a group of 16 western Massachusetts legislators are advocating for amendments to meet housing...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article from the Western Mass. Solar Forum series. The first three forums took place in September, and another series of forums is in the works for this spring.AMHERST — Most experts agree solar energy is...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Ask almost any conservationist about an Endangered Species Act (ESA) success story and they will tell you about the bald eagle.“Growing up, I would have never seen a bald eagle in western Massachusetts,” said Jeff Collins, senior director of...

By MADDIE FABIAN

For farms across western Massachusetts, the effects of climate change were tangible during the 2023 growing season.At Red Fire Farm in Granby, co-owner Sarah Voiland said that after the May frost event, the farm’s full harvest on multiple acres of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

An educator at Lander-Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, Andrea Olkin wants her youngest students to take pride in their identity as Jews and not have to live in fear or face the rising levels of antisemitism seen around the world since the Oct. 7...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the third of four articles from the Western Massachusetts Solar Forum series taking place in September.AMHERST — At Joe Czajkowski Farm in Hadley, not only does the broccoli field produce fresh vegetables, but rows of solar...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the second of four articles from the Western Massachusetts Solar Forum series taking place in September.AMHERST — At the site of the old Mount Tom Station coal-fired power plant stand around 17,000 solar panels generating enough...

By HANNAH BEVIS

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Greenfield hockey team’s Western Mass. Class C tournament game against Southwick was almost a carbon copy of their first two matchups.The top-seeded Green Wave enjoyed a pair of 7-0 victories over the Rams during the regular...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Thanks to $30,000 from the federal Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, the Franklin County Community Development Corporation will provide microloans and trainings to business startups, federal officials announced Tuesday.U.S. Rep....