News
Local restaurant owners react to proposed ballot question to increase service wage, create tip pool
By TANISHA BHAT
Franklin County restaurant owners have mixed feelings about a proposed ballot question that would increase service wages for tipped workers and allow businesses to create a tip pool for all employees, supporting the concept but worried about the...
Montague Notebook: March 29, 2024
Sustainability event set for April 17TURNERS FALLS — The Brick House Community Resource Center at 24 Third St. will host a spring sustainability event in collaboration with Just Roots on Wednesday, April 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. Families will cook and eat...
Gun law negotiators close House-Senate talks
By SAM DRYSDALE
BOSTON — Lawmakers tasked with negotiating details of a major firearms bill left their work open to the public last week — a move that broke from opaque traditions on Beacon Hill. A week later, those negotiators moved to close their meetings to the...
New Salem man faces charges after striking school bus in Barre
By DOMENIC POLI
BARRE — A New Salem man faces charges after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 and colliding with a school bus filled with students on Thursday.Cedric Cooley, 32, was arrested after the collision and...
Orange Public Libraries director to resign, effective May 3
By DOMENIC POLI
ORANGE — The director of the Orange Public Libraries has decided to close this chapter of her life and step down after eight years in the position.Jessica Magelaner, who heads the Wheeler Memorial Library at 49 East Main St. and the Moore-Leland...
Four Winds School in Gill to close
By MAX BOWEN
GILL — Having struggled with an ongoing drop in enrollment since 2020, Four Winds School plans to close at the end of the academic year.Four Winds Director Hattie Adastra said the enrollment troubles began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, the...
Short-term rental bylaws heading to Town Meeting in Buckland
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
BUCKLAND — Residents will vote whether to approve bylaws regulating short-term rentals, such as Airbnb or Vrbo properties, in the commercial and residential districts at this year’s Annual Town Meeting on May 4.If passed, the bylaws would establish a...
Easter egg hunts, festivities abound in Franklin County
Editor’s Note: The following is a collection of Easter egg hunts and festivities available in Franklin County. Know of an event that isn’t listed? Feel free to send details to news@recorder.com.BernardstonThe Farm Table restaurant, 219 South St., will...
North County Notebook: March 29, 2024
Kiwanis Club hosting chicken pot pie dinner fundraiser for Pioneer seniors BERNARDSTON — Instead of cooking the night before Easter, folks are invited to take part in the Bernardston Kiwanis Club’s next meal in its fundraiser series, which will raise...
South County Notebook: March 29, 2024
Deerfield building permits will soon be available online DEERFIELD — Beginning April 1, licensed contractors, property owners and business owners will be able to apply for, pay for and receive building permits online.Once the online system begins,...
Consumer Corner: With spring weather comes spring scams
By ANITA WILSON
Just like crocuses and daffodils, new scams emerge around this time of year.Warmer weather brings out individuals who knock on your door with offers to make repairs to your home, driveway or yard. They might say that they have materials such as...
‘There’s nothing we can’t fix’: Busy Bee Computers opens in Greenfield
By DOMENIC POLI
GREENFIELD — Business has started buzzing at Busy Bee Computers at 22 Federal St.The family-run venture opened in mid-January and patriarch Doug Ely said he has carried over most of the extensive clientele he built up while operating the business out...
Real Estate Transactions: March 29, 2024
ATHOL 667 Brickyard Road. $288,000. B: Johnathan Sibley. S: Tammy A. Bush. 34 Exchange St. $380,000. B: Vargas & Son Properties LLC. S: Lloyd K. Brooks. 146 Fredette St. $175,000. B: Norberto L. Mateo. S: Louise R. Sherman Estate and Daniel J....
Greenfield health officials eye stricter tobacco regulations
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
GREENFIELD — The Board of Health is drafting new tobacco regulations that, if approved, would increase penalties for businesses caught selling tobacco products to underage customers, and would put loopholes used to sell flavored tobacco products up in...
DCR sees booking surge at state campgrounds
By DOMENIC POLI
It seems people from all over are anxious for spring to arrive as bookings at the three state camping locations in Franklin and Hampshire counties are filling up fast.The state Department of Conservation and Recreation reports that at least 756 total...
PHOTOS: Frontier students consider future career paths
Greenfield Police seek robbery suspect
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
GREENFIELD — Greenfield Police are looking for the individual who allegedly robbed Call’s Corner Store on Conway Street on Tuesday night before fleeing the business with its cash register.According to Deputy Police Chief William Gordon, investigating...
Parking, future city projects dominate listening session with Greenfield businesses
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
GREENFIELD — Local entrepreneurs shared their views on an array of topics impacting business during a listening session with the mayor on Tuesday, with a focus on parking downtown, construction and future economic development projects.As attendees...
Driver taken to hospital after Interstate 91 rollover in Bernardston
BERNARDSTON — A man was transported to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Vermont on Wednesday morning after the vehicle he was driving rolled over in the area of mile marker 54 in Interstate 91’s northbound lane.According to a post on the Bernardston...
Latest plan for Whately Center School opts to retain town ownership
By CHRIS LARABEE
WHATELY — With the rejection of two reuse proposals that involved selling the building, the future of the Whately Center School is now back in the hands of the town, as the Selectboard opted on Tuesday to let the school’s Visioning Committee flesh out...