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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A consolidation from three elementary school buildings to two is expected to mean some savings for the school budget beginning in July 2026, but Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman is cautioning the spending reductions may be limited.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Heavy traffic, possible delays and road closures will be taking place around the University of Massachusetts campus, both in Amherst and Hadley, starting Wednesday, as students move out and then the undergraduate commencement is held late Friday afternoon. 

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — A condemned home at 320 West St., subject to a demolition order from the town, is heading to a foreclosure auction later this month.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Sunday afternoon fire at a four-story, nine-unit apartment building in downtown has displaced at least 24 residents, mostly college students, and closed a few businesses.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With the $4 million plan to construct a new bathhouse at War Memorial Pool considered cost prohibitive, town officials are working with architects to come up with a less-expensive, long-term plan to either rehabilitate or replace the 1950s-era building.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — A first step toward getting to an around-the-clock fire and ambulance service comes at annual Town Meeting Tuesday, where voters will be given the opportunity to weigh in on adding close to $500,000 to the department’s operations, a week before a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override is on the town election ballot.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A sprinkler system, renovated bathrooms and a freshly painted exterior at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, a rebuilt outdoor performing arts venue at Buttery Brook Park in South Hadley and theatrical lighting and sound equipment for the Northampton Community Arts Trust’s Hawley Street building are projects being supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Plans for bringing a 7 Brew Coffee drive-thru shop to the edge of the Mountain Farms Mall parking lot continues to move forward, with a main worry from Planning Board members centered on the possible impacts on the shopping center’s perimeter road.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst officials are renewing appeals to residents to step up to fill numerous vacancies on municipal boards and committees.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The National Endowment for the Arts has stripped funding for two well-known Amherst organizations — Amherst Cinema and Restless Books — saying that the mission of those nonprofits is out of alignment with Trump administration priorities.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — A general contractor that handles residential and commercial construction could move its offices from downtown Amherst to a new building on a commercial parcel on Church Avenue.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst may be 90 minutes from the nearest ocean, but oysters are taking center stage at the town’s newest restaurant, where demand for the delicacy has been high since opening day on April 1.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — After the conclusion of business hours next Wednesday, May 14, the main branch of the Jones Library at 43 Amity St. will close to patrons for the next 18 or so months, beginning the process for renovating and expanding the building for the first time since the early 1990s.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — With family roots in the newspaper industry and many years serving as chairman of Newspapers of New England, Holyoke native Donald R. Dwight, who died at the age of 94 on Sunday, is being recalled for a life lived by the same principles that guided his commitment to locally owned, independent journalism.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Each year, in the months leading up to the development and release of the budget for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, representatives from the four member communities gather together at the invitation of school officials to discuss school funding at one or more “four-town” meetings.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

PELHAM — A citizen petition seeking to strengthen the town’s Safe Communities bylaw, which instructs police officers and town employees not to inquire about a person’s immigration status, comes before annual Town Meeting Saturday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — For those who live in the Orchard Valley section of South Amherst, the Nigerian Dwarf goats Walnut and Peanut have become a familiar sight in the yard at Jade Alicandro’s home.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A fight between students at Amherst Regional Middle School last week that prompted a shelter-in-place order when parents got involved in the incident and staff members were injured, is prompting educators in the Amherst-Pelham schools to request district leaders take a series of steps to improve safety.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Town Manager Paul Bockelman is proposing sizable increases in water and sewer rates, which if adopted would add $211 to the $1,033 annual bill for an average homeowner.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A $103.3 million fiscal year budget that goes most of the way toward meeting the spending requests from the Amherst and Regional school committees, while leaving six full-time and one part-time municipal positions vacant and assorted Jones Library staff positions unfilled, is being delivered to the Town Council.