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It has become even more evident recently how careless so many local drivers act. As a driver of a big truck it always amazes me that I get cut off at speed, have to deal with cars that put on their turn signal as they’re starting to turn, and wait at...

By Emilee Klein

BELCHERTOWN — After nearly a year of waiting, Belchertown finally has a town manager.On March 8, Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation to create the first-ever town manager, replacing the long-used town administrator form of government. The change,...

By MARIANNE GAMBARO

 I would like to thank Joseph Blumenthal for his March 7 letter “It’s OK for people to have more than they need,” responding to Jon Huer’s Feb. 27 guest column [“When giving is only false charity”], which disparaged philanthropists. I had been...

With all due deference to Gerald R. Ford, the uber-long UMass FBS independent football experiment/nightmare seems over. The 2025 season will find the Minuteman team still competing in an FBS conference, the Mid-American Conference, but the MAC...

DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN

A poll published in The New York Times on Sunday, March 3, found that nearly half of voters now strongly agree that Joe Biden is “too old” to be president, more than twice the number of voters who strongly agree that Donald Trump is “too old.” People...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — The town this summer is likely to become the latest to follow a growing trend in the region of outsourcing emergency communications to regional dispatch centers.Staffing shortages for dispatchers and $7.6 million in upcoming radio...

I was stunned to read the caption accompanying the Gazette’s (Feb. 17) photograph on page A3. Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, it said, were lining up “for a free meal,” adding that basic supplies in Gaza are running short “because of the war between...

By Emilee Klein

BELCHERTOWN — The town has signed off on the largest project yet in its long-desired efforts to redevelop the former Belchertown State School — a 100-unit mixed-income residential complex that also includes converting an old administration building...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

BELCHERTOWN — All of the UMass students who were arrested during a sit-in protest against the war in Gaza on Oct. 25 have had or will have their criminal charges converted to civil infractions, with those who accepted the lesser charges already...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In a region where most businesses are small, with 20 or fewer employees, having an organization to advocate on their behalf, market them and assist them through unforeseen challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic is critical, says Amherst Area...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Since Arcpoint Brewery partners Chris Peterson, CJ Eldridge and Dave Pare began their mission to open a brewery and taproom several years ago, all three men were determined to put it in Belchertown.Following their slogan “brew with...

By Emilee Klein

BELCHERTOWN — Donna Buxton hears every day that many Belchertown residents have no idea that a 108-unit residential development may be built on the old state school property off State Street.Prior to the creation of the Economic Development...

By JAMES PENTLAND

BELCHERTOWN — State utility regulators have given a green light to municipal aggregation in Belchertown, allowing residents and businesses to act as a bulk buyer of electricity supply.Aggregation typically helps to keep electricity rates down and can...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — A Belchertown man who stole more than $114,000 in disability benefits over 16 years was sentenced last week in federal court to 10 months in prison and three years of supervised release.Kenneth Pontz, 59, was previously convicted in...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Ever sat in a vehicle during a trip from New Jersey to western Massachusetts? How about while in labor?Well, Belchertown resident Christy O’Donnell has, and the result was Brooke Lynn Huyler, the first baby born at Baystate Franklin...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

BELCHERTOWN/SOUTH HADLEY — A new Jabish Brook Middle School in Belchertown and a replacement building for Mosier Elementary School in South Hadley are continuing to make progress, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s board of directors...

We gather here today, Minuteman football devotees, in these venerable pages to eulogize yet another season of gridiron grief. Autumnal pigskin pipe dreams spawned by hallucinatory optimism conjuring touchdowns, two-pointers and tackles are, once...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — For almost 25 years, a property at 163 Montague Road has served as a sanctuary for dogs, cats and other small animals, ensuring that otherwise unwanted and homeless pets would get love and attention, and eventually be adopted.Now, more than...

By DR. DAVID GOTTSEGEN

While watching our favorite show, “The Bear,” I noticed that many commercials are for drugs. And what are the No. 1 and No. 2 ads? They’re by companies calling themselves “ForHims” and “ForHers.” They advertise websites that reach “real doctors,” for...

Congratulations to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The UMass football/athletic program has earned national recognition.Tom Fornelli, a writer for cbssports.com, on Nov. 29, 2022, ranked the bottom 25 NCAA football programs. Calling UMass...