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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Two Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service positions to remain vacant for the next year and the continued lack of directing emergency dispatch calls to these responders is alarming advocates for the unarmed police alternative.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst residents are petitioning the Town Council to push back on Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions that might lead to immigrants being held against their will and possibly being deported from the United States.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A sense of community and belonging at the Jones Library and the lasting memories at the building are as important to Emily Wang and her family as the books they regularly access there.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Just after Memorial Day, the first round of testing to determine the E. coli levels at Puffer’s Pond revealed the bacteria in the water exceeded acceptable state standards, requiring the temporary closing of the site for swimming.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Despite both written and oral appeals from advocates for the town’s unarmed community responders, two positions in the department will go unfilled for the next year after the Town Council approved a $103.3 million fiscal year 2026 budget for town, school and library operations.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An initial meeting to collect feedback from residents about the town charter adopted by voters seven years ago, putting in place a council-manager form of government, takes place Wednesday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — An acting officer in charge is overseeing Shutesbury Police through the end of June, with the current police chief on administrative leave.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Like their peers at the other elementary schools in Amherst and Pelham, students in the band and orchestra at Crocker Farm School took the stage at the Amherst Regional Middle School for an annual spring concert in early June, showcasing their musical talent and the instrumental music education they receive.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, through its private transportation provider Highland Electric Fleets in Beverly, will continue to electrify school buses through a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As a divided Finance Committee recommends the Town Council adopt the $103.3 million fiscal year 2026 spending plan brought forward by Town Manager Paul Bockelman, members are preparing a letter to school officials advising them that a portion of the elementary school budget is to be considered a one-time gift.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

By SCOTT MERZBACH

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff in the Amherst-Pelham public schools is renewing a call for action, first delivered to the Amherst Regional School Committee more than a year ago, that includes a 10-point plan for addressing racism against Black employees.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A regular presence at Amherst Town Hall for 20 years, Town Clerk Susan Audette recently retired after more than four years overseeing town elections and vital records.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

EASTHAMPTON — Recalling an incident in the city’s public schools in which a Jewish child was targeted with Nazi salutes and taunts and opted to remove the Star of David on his person out of fear for his well-being, a former Easthampton city councilor told a legislative panel that the strategy school officials used in response was to “delay, deflect, deny and delegitimize.”

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A used car business that can display up to 10 vehicles for sale at a time will be allowed to set up at a 1.4-acre parcel at the corner of Route 9 and Goffe Street.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Black military service, music, education, artistry, entrepreneurship and civil rights will be part of the fifth annual Ancestral Bridges’ Juneteenth Legacy Celebration on Saturday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With the Finance Committee advising the “worst is yet to come” for the town’s aging sewer system, members are unanimously supporting steep increases to the town’s proposed sewer and water rates.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — Recent cancellation of an $87 million federal grant to support construction of a low-carbon cement startup’s manufacturing plant in Holyoke is not expected to derail plans that would have that facility open by 2028, though the company is reviewing backup options.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A new two-year contract with a private ambulance service, with an option for a third year, will mean emergency medical care at the Advanced Life Support level for Hadley residents will continue to be provided by Action EMS Ambulance.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Even with several residential developments in the pipeline or under construction in Amherst, including some aimed at providing homes for low- and moderate-income individuals and families, the town is looking at creating new opportunities for addressing a continued housing shortage.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — After concluding her valedictory remarks reflecting on the last weeks of senior year, Daniella Sherman suggested taking a final high school selfie, which she did by taking out her cellphone and posing alongside her five fellow valedictorians and the full 190-member class on stage at the Tillis Performance Hall at the Bromery Center for the Arts.