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By IAN RHODEWALT

 While it is true that President Joe Biden gave a historically disastrous debate performance, and the fallout in the following week put his chances of winning r-election in distinct jeopardy, we should not forget that he has been funding, abetting,...

SAMUEL GELINAS

HOLYOKE — The murder of six Israeli hostages on Sept. 1 is being felt by the Jewish community “in a very personal way,” said state Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Belchertown, with the impact of the murders reverberating all the way to the lawn of City Hall...

By CHRIS LARABEE

The number of homeless people in Franklin County has more than doubled in the last year, as the annual Point-in-Time count in January found 252 people sleeping in shelters or outside, compared to 104 in January 2023.Franklin County accounted for...

By STEVE PFARRER

After generating some local news in 2022 when scenes were filmed in a number of locations around the Valley, “Janet Planet,” the debut film by celebrated playwright Annie Baker, is set to make its debut in Amherst and Greenfield on June 27.The movie,...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Regional planning groups and local municipalities remain wary of the looming implications on municipal jurisdiction, should the state’s massive climate bill move ahead in the coming weeks with promises to reform the slow process of siting and...

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts has appointed Vanessa Pabón-Hernandez as CEO, effective June 17.A Springfield native, Pabón-Hernandez succeeds Donna Haghighat in the key role for the philanthropic organization.Under Haghighat’s...

By CHRIS EGAN

 I’m writing in response to Katy Eiseman’s recent column, “Must stop subsidizing wood-fired energy,” [Recorder, April 5]. We’re concerned that readers may have walked away with a misunderstanding of the issue, and hope this column will clear things...

Jewish Federation of Western Mass. offers scholarshipsSPRINGFIELD — The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts’ Jewish Endowment Foundation is inviting undergraduate and college-bound students to apply for its annual Common Fund and Springfield...

Applications open for Habitat for Humanity Projects Applications are available for two new Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity projects: a one-bedroom, one-story adaptable home in Greenfield and a three-bedroom, two-story home in Northampton.The...

By WENDY BERG and MARK REYNOLDS

The magnitude of global climate change has come home to us in Massachusetts. Last summer, flooding caused by intensive storms washed away roads and other critical infrastructure, destroying the crops on many local farms and in our community...

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — The Franklin County Community Development Corporation is expanding its work helping incarcerated and recently released individuals enter the workforce, thanks to a $155,000 grant from the state Executive Office of Economic Development’s...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article from the Western Massachusetts Solar Forum series. The first three forums took place in September, and another series of forums is in the works for this spring. AMHERST — Most experts agree solar...

By DON STEWART

As an inquisitive boy growing up in Amsterdam, he kept a menagerie of snails and toads and other small woodland fauna in his room, populating the glass terrariums he’d filled with mosses and ferns. Influenced by one uncle, an architect, and two others...

By EMILY THURLOW

A woman dressed in pajamas walks into a Cottage Street bar and challenges a random stranger to an arm-wrestling match.The circumstances sound like the set-up of a joke. It’s not.The woman is Rose Lynch of Easthampton, and over the next few weeks...

By SHEL HOROWITZ

Remember when the previous administration tore babies and children from their families’ arms and locked them in little cages? Bad news: Republicans in Congress and far-right activists, including that former president, are heating up even worse...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Though gender inequities continue, many women and girls have reported improved outcomes over the past 10 years, according to the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts.The nonprofit that provides funding to agencies working to increase...

By IAN RHODEWALT

My first union job, and my first strike for cost of living increases, was as a teacher in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Several weeks ago, trade unions in Palestine put out an urgent call of solidarity to unions around the world on on Oct. 16 to...

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD — Two days and 43 miles of walking later, more than $450,000 has been raised for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts — a number that translates to roughly 1.5 million meals for people in need, according to Executive Director Andrew...

By CHRIS LARABEE

CONWAY — With signs held high and loud chants, Conway Grammar School’s eighth annual mini Monte’s March signaled another year of thousands of dollars being raised for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.The elementary school’s march coincides each...

By DOMENIC POLI

Don’t worry, radio personality Christopher “Monte” Belmonte will still push a shopping cart 43 miles from Springfield to Greenfield to raise money to combat food insecurity. The journey will simply have a different name.This year marks the first March...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

An educator at Lander-Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, Andrea Olkin wants her youngest students to take pride in their identity as Jews and not have to live in fear or face the rising levels of antisemitism seen around the world since the Oct. 7...