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By Line search: By SCOTT MERZBACH

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Service, sacrifice, the commitment of veterans and active military service members from across Massachusetts and support from their families should always be recognized, says retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — MCAS English language arts assessments showing seven in 10 Amherst Regional High School 10th graders are meeting or exceeding expectations and a more than 50% drop in behavioral referrals at Pelham Elementary School are among signs of progress being made under the district’s state-mandated Student Opportunity Act Plan.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Being enacted for the first time during construction of the new elementary school, Amherst’s Percent for Art program will continue to bring in around $250,000 for a public art installation, after members of the Town Council rejected cutting this spending, citing the importance of promoting public art in the face of hostility from the White House.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — CRESS Connections, a new program of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service, is bringing together the unarmed public safety professionals with local youths to build more meaningful relationships.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A sewer backup that caused wastewater to enter a Hadley apartment building on Greenleaves Drive Wednesday morning temporarily displaced more than 30 residents, and likely will force most first-floor tenants to seek other living arrangements for several days.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — Luke Longstreeth, a lifelong resident who runs a Hadley landscaping and property management business and offered to bring the perspective of a younger generation to town politics, narrowly earned a seat on the Select Board over incumbent Diana Szynal, who was completing a second six-year stint on the board, according to unofficial town election results Tuesday night.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Incumbent Select Board members Molly A. Keegan and Randall E. Izer turned back a challenge from political newcomer Philip W. Shumway at town election Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — An ongoing effort to modify town zoning, possibly along a section of Route 9, to encourage more affordable housing and possible mixed-use developments, will be the subject of a community forum Thursday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools’ $37.08 million budget for fiscal year 2026, recommended by the Amherst Regional School Committee, won final approval Monday, with the Amherst Town Council unanimously agreeing to the town’s $19.74 million assessment.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With markers in their hands, students and staff from both Fort River and Wildwood schools throughout the day on Monday inscribed their names on a beam that will become part of the entrance canopy at the town’s first new elementary school building in more than 50 years.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An inexpensive way to turn disposable forks, knives and spoons used in the school cafeteria and other recycled plastics into filament for the school’s three-dimensional printer is the purpose of a prototype machine being built by Amherst Regional High School students.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Year-long delays on demolition are being imposed by the Historical Commission on two Amherst College-owned residential properties, though college officials have permission to raze a dilapidated estate on South Pleasant Street, as soon as its history is professionally documented.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Enhancing the commercial tax base on Route 9 and protecting farmland throughout Hadley are goals shared by both candidates running for a one-year term on the Planning Board at town election Tuesday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A three-way race for two, three-year seats on the Select Board pits political newcomer Philip Shumway against incumbents Molly Keegan and Randy Izer at town election Tuesday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A $1 million National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to the Jones Library two years ago is being canceled by the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In separate trips to the plaza outside Hampden Commons on the University of Massachusetts campus Wednesday morning, sophomore Grace Altman hand-delivered an upholstered headboard with outlets, and a rug and ottoman, furnishings she had in her Southwest Residential Area dorm room.

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 Select Board to residents Thursday night.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — Voters at town election Tuesday will decide a three-year seat on the Select Board in a race between incumbent Diana Szynal, president and CEO of the Springfield Regional Chamber, and Luke Longstreeth, co-owner of a Hadley landscaping business and a Hatfield Fire Department captain.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Falling ceiling tiles, locked bathrooms with broken stalls and a class schedule that regularly drops a guided academic study and advisory period are among concerns Amherst Regional Middle School student leaders are bringing to the Regional School Committee.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Bradley James Driscoll, 26, of Amherst, will spend the next five years in prison for distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A barn preservation program aimed at protecting iconic and historically valuable barns across Amherst is being introduced by the Historical Commission.