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By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — A long-awaited culvert replacement near Lake Wyola, this year delayed due to significant rainfall and wet weather in the spring and summer, is expected to commence in the coming weeks, after the Select Board recently approved installation...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — On his travels around Northampton, city resident David Edwards sees people he once went to school with or worked alongside whose lives have been upended by poverty, now living on the streets or regularly relying on the help of social...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Even as a number of states have moved to prohibit gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors through legislation and policy changes, a University of Massachusetts Amherst economist has co-authored a report showing that hormone...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is seeking a legal review of the potential transition of state employee positions that handle University of Massachusetts advancement and fundraising functions to the private UMass Amherst Foundation.The auditor...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — PFAS contamination from using treated sludge as a fertilizer, leaving the so-called forever chemicals in the soil and groundwater, has forced the closure of dairy farms in Maine and impacted more than 50 farms in that state.While similar...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — Twice facing the trauma of eviction and once making a vehicle home for herself and her four children, as well as living inside a mold-filled apartment, Shaundell Diaz of Springfield brings firsthand knowledge of homelessness.Now the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A panel known as the Select Committee on Pesticide Reduction in 2019 issued a report to the Northampton City Council urging municipal leaders to consider eliminating the use of pesticides.“If deemed absolutely necessary, any pesticide...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Unions representing the Advancement division at the University of Massachusetts are taking their appeal for keeping 100 or more workers from losing their state employment to Gov. Maura Healey, asking her to intervene in the ongoing situation...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — On Earth Day in 2022, University of Massachusetts Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy announced an ambitious goal to make the Amherst campus net-zero for carbon emissions, prioritizing sustainability throughout all of its operations.A year after...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — A.J. Hastings stationery and newsstand helped to anchor downtown Amherst for 108 years before closing last year. Wilson’s Department Store was a centerpiece of Greenfield’s retail scene for 137 years until it shuttered in early 2020.While...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — National Soccer Hall of Fame goalkeeper Briana Scurry, a 1993 University of Massachusetts graduate who led UMass to a Final Four that year, will be the keynote speaker at the UMass commencement next month.Considered a trailblazer for African...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — A Boston architect, working with a civil engineer and landscape architect, is beginning the process of developing a floor plan and a site plan for the $6.4 million, 5,490-square-foot library to be constructed at 66 Leverett Road.With...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Amherst has unveiled a new seal featuring the spire of the Old Chapel and a new brand mark designed to give the flagship Amherst campus its own identity within the University of Massachusetts system.The...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A $20 million donation that is the largest cash gift in the history of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts will go toward attracting and retaining top-tier faculty, supporting research and enhancing...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Gail Gunn has been part of a team that has brought giving to the University of Massachusetts to record-breaking levels, yet near the end of her career the longtime UMass employee is feeling betrayed by administrators.She contends that the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — It’s the kind of record that a community doesn’t want to see their local hospital break, but that’s exactly what happened Saturday when alcohol consumption among college-age people contributed to a record number of ambulance arrivals over a...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Smoke drifting into New England from wildfires in the western United States last summer, tracked by sensors in Holyoke, Greenfield and other area communities, gave residents real-time information about its causing poor air quality.The...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A new state law that was approved last week will expand and codify rights for foster parents, and better protect a child’s welfare, according to a state advocacy group.The Children’s League of Massachusetts said the Foster Parents Bill...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — A shelter for unwanted and homeless pets established on Montague Road in 1995, creating a small campus for the adoption of dogs, cats and other small animals, is currently closed, and it’s possible that the site may not reopen.The Dakin...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A charge against an Amherst woman who allegedly threatened a newspaper journalist in summer 2018 has been dismissed after more than a year of court cases, jail time and mental health evaluations.The misdemeanor charge of threatening to...