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By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — Federal civil rights officials are investigating the University of Massachusetts for allegedly dragging its feet over complaints of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian harassment on campus amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.An official...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A South Hadley man pleaded not guilty in Hampshire County Superior Court on Monday to charges stemming from thefts from businesses in Northampton and South Deerfield.Steven Skea, 64, is accused of breaking into two businesses and making...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Four years after reports of veterans’ deaths at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke began to grow in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the legal cases against the home’s former superintendent and medical director came to an end at a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — The recent settlement of a lawsuit filed by home sellers against the National Association of Realtors may make little difference to real estate transactions in Massachusetts, area professionals say.In the lawsuit, home sellers in states...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts plans to triple early college enrollment over the next five years, giving 2,000 high school students a head start on their college educations, university President Marty Meehan said this week in his annual...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — In the face of the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza and stepped-up settler violence in the West Bank, one grassroots group of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis is striving to provide an alternative to the government’s dominant...

By JAMES PENTLAND

Forgotten and gathering dust in the attic of a North Adams apartment building for more than a century, a mural that’s a part of eastern European Jewish immigrant history may soon see the light of day again.If it does, it will be thanks largely to the...

By JAMES PENTLAND

AMHERST — Almost a third of Republicans say they agree with former President Donald Trump’s claim that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country,” a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst poll has found.The poll, which also questioned...

By JAMES PENTLAND

Although the National Weather Service canceled its winter storm warning for Greenfield and other parts of Franklin County, the region is still anticipating 1 to 3 inches of snowfall on Tuesday.Per the National Weather Service’s most up-to-date...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — The dream of east-west rail service in Massachusetts came a step closer to reality this week with the appointment of a director for the project.Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced Tuesday that Andy Koziol, currently the state’s rail and...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — Dozens of area health care professionals rallied outside the federal courthouse Tuesday to demand that U.S. Rep. Richard Neal join their call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.Speakers representing the interfaith Healthcare Workers...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Looking to strengthen and better coordinate the work of animal welfare professionals in Hampshire and Franklin counties, the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office is launching a task force to share information and provide training.A...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HATFIELD — Working from a foundation laid down by the business it bought at 4 Linseed Road last year, Harrison Diesel Solutions is building a name for itself in the field of heavy equipment maintenance.Husband and wife Drew and Ashley Harrison began...

By JAMES PENTLAND

FLORENCE — Fresh off his attempt to set the world record for distance traveled in a pumpkin boat, Dave Rothstein is celebrating a different kind of world championship — in snow sculpting.The Florence resident and his four-man team — Team Mexico — took...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A long-running case against two men accused of conspiring to defraud the University of Massachusetts through an environmental remediation company ended this week with the men admitting to sufficient facts and being placed on...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A flyer since her teens, Fly Lugu flight school founder Fredrika Ballard was remembered this week as a consummate professional who worked hard to support opportunities for women in aviation.Ballard, 53, of Southwick, was killed Sunday...

By JAMES PENTLAND

WASHINGTON — Pushing for action at the federal level to assist homeowners who are afflicted by crumbling foundations, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has filed legislation dubbed the Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams and Disasters Act.Co-sponsored by...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A coalition of cannabis businesses is suing the U.S. attorney general over the federal government’s prohibition of pot cultivation, manufacture, possession and distribution, saying it penalizes activities that are legal under state...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — A Greenfield man facing eight criminal counts in relation to an alleged hit-and-run in which he dragged a state trooper was ordered held on $100,000 bail at his arraignment Wednesday in Holyoke District Court.Michael J. Williams, 45, is...

By JAMES PENTLAND

Twelve Massachusetts farms, including five in Franklin and Hampshire counties, will share in $4.7 million in Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) funds announced Friday by the Healey-Driscoll administration.The Massachusetts Department of...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Along with five other Massachusetts counties, Hampshire and Franklin counties have been declared a disaster area by the U.S. Department of Agriculture due to losses caused by flooding from July 9-16.Gov. Maura Healey and the state’s...