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By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — As the deadline for Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra to a submit a budget proposal for the city draws near, an entrenched battle over the city’s public school budget is coming to a head.The Northampton School Committee defied the mayor’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The Iron Horse Music Hall begins its long-anticipated opening of concerts and shows on Wednesday, although its owners are still anxiously awaiting approval from the state on when it may serve alcoholic beverages at its venue.Despite...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — On a scenic, warm May day, Bob Melnik leads a contingent of Northampton High School students outside the school and down a flight of stairs toward a small charcoal smoker grill to check on its contents. Inside the smoker are nearly a...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

A plan unveiled by Senate Democrats on Monday to make community college free for all in Massachusetts starting this fall has the potential to have a big impact for prospective students across the state, including here in the Pioneer Valley.The...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The public got an up-close look at the future Community Resilience Hub last week when officials opened the downtown building currently under renovation for public viewing. A rendering of what the exterior of the former First Baptist...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Auto dealerships close to downtown are now banned after the City Council’s recent decision to adopt new zoning that councilor’s say better aligns with the city’s ideals of sustainability.Though the zone change approved at the council’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HOLYOKE — After more than 30 years of serving on the force, Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt has announced he will be retiring from his post, effective the end of July.Pratt, who has served as chief since 2021, announced his resignation at a press...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — In September, the city launched an experiment to try to create an alternative to police responses to address issues of mental health, homelessness and social inequities in the city.The Division of Community Care, which opened its doors...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — After nearly a year of inactivity, the ValleyBike Share program is poised to roll again throughout the Pioneer Valley.After Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra teased an announcement regarding ValleyBike on Monday, the city announced Thursday it...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When she was a student at Williams College, Yvonne Hao recalls traveling to Northampton with friends to eat at local restaurants, shop at thrift stores and attend concerts held by the local music scene, although she isn’t quite sure of...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — People living at a homeless encampment behind the closed Speedway gas station on King Street were told by police that they have until Monday to leave the area and find elsewhere to go.The encampment, situated between the gas station and...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Amid the annual commemorations of Earth Day, Pioneer Valley eatery La Veracruzana is launching a new kind of takeout container meant to be given back after it’s used. The restaurant, which is known for its Mexican cuisine and has three...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

The Northampton City Council is changing its meeting time from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m, effective for its next meeting on May 2 and for all council meetings going forward.The council recently approved the change, with councilors agreeing that starting...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The day before Thanksgiving in 2016, Northampton resident Bob Wood got a life-changing call — literally. A 42-year-old woman in Pennsylvania had recently died, and her liver would be a perfect fit for Wood, now 68 years old, who...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The second annual Runway 5K to support the Easthampton nonprofit organization Treehouse will occur Sunday, after the group turned a scheduling mishap into a positive partnership opportunity.Treehouse officials originally scheduled the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — A new exhibition at Smith College shows how one of the school’s most famous and acclaimed alumnae may have drawn much of her creative inspiration from a freshman botany course.Sylvia Plath, whose 1963 novel “The Bell Jar” proved to be a...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HOLYOKE — George Timmons knows just how much a difference a college president can make in a student’s life.As a senior at Norfolk State University, a historically black university in Virginia, Timmons faced the possibility of not being able to...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — A joint meeting between the Northampton City Council’s Committee on Legislative Matters and the city’s Planning Board heard public comments on a petition to ban further automobile dealerships near the city’s downtown, an issue that...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The city is accepting bids from developers for the former Hampshire Registry of Deeds building at 33 King St. with a minimum bid of $2.5 million required for the downtown property.The building is located on a 1.46-acre parcel next to the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — For Francisca Kan, the horrors of the Holocaust and the Second World War could be felt even as a young child.Kan was born into a Jewish family in Hilversum, the Netherlands, in the year 1937. Her father ran a successful bicycle factory,...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — An emotionally intense meeting Thursday over the school budget for the city schools ended with the School Committee bucking the recommendations of the mayor and superintendent and approving at least a 14% increase in spending next year.A...