Editor’s note: As part of the Greenfield Recorder’s end-of-the-year features, we are publishing in two parts our choices for the top 10 newsmakers of 2025. They are listed in no particular order.
Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust
Health insurance became a recurring topic of conversation in 2025 after the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust (HCGIT) announced a rate increase this past summer. Members of the HCGIT voted to approve a mid-year rate increase of 20% that took effect in October, after having already increased the rate by 18% heading into fiscal year 2026, to accommodate increased expenses from medical claims and pharmaceuticals, particularly weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic.
The decision was made to help the trust cover expenses and rebuild its reserves, which had dropped from $20 million in January 2024 to less than $5 million by July 2025.
Since then, member towns have worked to navigate paying the mid-year increase and prepare for further anticipated rate hikes for FY27. For example, Shutesbury held a Special Town Meeting to approve increasing its health insurance budget by $124,000. Whately voters also approved transferring $111,000 of free cash to cover health insurance costs at a Special Town Meeting in November.
Other communities opted to pursue other insurance providers. Leyden, alongside the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Pioneer Valley Regional School District, joined the state-backed Group Insurance Commission last month.
Franklin County towns are expected to continue discussions on insurance through 2026 as they plan for further rate increases for FY27.
Six Town Regionalization Planning Board
The Six Town Regionalization Planning Board made headlines during the late summer and fall as the towns of Montague, Gill, Leyden, Bernardston, Northfield and Warwick prepared to vote on a regional agreement as part of a proposal to merge the Pioneer Valley and Gill-Montague regional school districts. The proposed Great River Regional School District would combine the two regional districts, while also incorporating the independent Warwick School District, which educates elementary-age students.
Although the anticipated fall vote to create the district was postponed, per a recommendation from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, public information sessions were still held for residents.
Sessions were held in all six towns with mixed feedback. The Pioneer and Warwick school committees voted not to recommend regionalization, while Gill-Montague opted against taking a vote on the matter.
Key players in the regionalization discussion have been Planning Board Chair Alan Genovese, Planning Board Vice Chair Greg Snedeker, Pioneer Superintendent Patricia Kinsella and the three school committees.
As the regionalization agreement has yet to be voted on, the board is seeking support from legislators for special legislation that would allow the six towns to hold special elections to ensure as many residents as possible can vote on regionalization, and to align procedurally with Montague, which, under Massachusetts General Law, must have an election because of its representative Town Meeting structure.
FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.
The federal relicensing process for FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s properties at the Turners Falls dam and Northfield Mountain Pump Storage Station through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hit several important milestones in 2025.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued a Water Quality Certification for both hydroelectric facilities last April after much back-and-forth between residents, municipalities and state agencies over the contents of the certification.
With this state certification in hand, FirstLight was then able to move on to the next phase of relicensing as FERC created a draft environmental impact statement for the projects that required a public comment period. Residents pushed back on the draft statement during public feedback sessions in July, and legal appeals to MassDEP have been filed by local organizations, including the Connecticut River Conservancy.
Both projects owned by FirstLight have been operating under a provisional license since 2018. Concerns from community members stem from water flow in the Connecticut River, habitat preservation for aquatic life and transparency with the public about FirstLight’s operations, among other environmental and procedural concerns.
The final draft statement has not been released yet, though a January date was floated over the summer by FERC officials.
Social service agencies
While the day-to-day interactions of residents and their government may be with local municipal boards and officials, federal cuts to grants, changes to social service program eligibility and a prolonged government shutdown impacted residents in 2025.
While cuts were announced throughout the year, the local impacts came primarily from the delay of funding to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program due to the government shutdown and the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut Medicaid eligibility and stoked concerns of a Baystate Franklin Medical Center closure.
In July, Baystate Health’s chief financial officer said the Greenfield hospital is not at risk of closure, despite cuts of around $1.1 trillion in health care spending from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
This clarification from Baystate was spurred on by the release of data from the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina, which identified 338 hospitals labeled at risk of “financial distress and even closure, conversion or service reductions” because of the bill’s $500 billion Medicaid cut. The data was compiled at the request of Senate Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Ed Markey.
Then, in October and November, the largest government shutdown in United States history impacted Franklin County residents, who experienced delays in getting their monthly SNAP allocation. More people found themselves seeking assistance from food pantries to make ends meet. Similarly, Community Action Pioneer Valley experienced delays in getting heating assistance funding to residents following the shutdown, even once funds were released by the federal government.
Lee Evers
Lee Evers of Montague is as active as ever.
In 2025, Evers turned 102 years old with a birthday bash at St. Kazimierz Society in Turners Falls in February, making the front page of the Greenfield Recorder. Then in May, Evers took flight with a group of fellow veterans as part of an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to celebrate his service to the U.S. in World War II. Evers made the front page then, too.
In August, Evers had the chance to hear the Glen Miller Band 85 years after he interviewed Miller himself in 1940 when he was 17 years old, bringing his adventures to the pages of the Life & Times section.
Finally, in December, Evers graced the pages of the Recorder for a fourth time when he was recognized as the oldest resident of Montague.
Evers has been in the newspaper before 2025, but this past year was a special one for him.
