My Turn: This is exactly who we are

'The beet goes on': Stone Soup Cafe's annual Harvest Supper returns to Greenfield Common

Stone Soup Cafe is scheduled to host its 21st annual Harvest Supper this Saturday, Aug. 22, in Greenfield to celebrate local agriculture and raise funds for its community programs.

New law addresses library material challenges

Gov. Maura Healey signed S.3241, "An Act Regarding Free Expression," into law to establish formal processes for challenging library materials and protect librarians from harassment amid rising book censorship trends.

UMass football: Minutemen continue to fine-tune defensive identity

AMHERST — Practice No. 15 of fall camp is in the books for the UMass football team. The Minutemen finished up a somewhat chippy session at sunny McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Wednesday morning. Linebacker Tyler Martin met with the media following practice. As a redshirt junior, Martin registered 103 tackles last season. He was 31st […]

Columnist Judy Wagner: Gifts of a summer

Given the daily, even hourly, headlines, I could easily write an entire column on the cruelty, corruption, and betrayal of the lawless, erratic, cowardly and contemptible administration in Washington. Instead I will write about gifts. August can swamp us with too much: too many cucumbers, zucchinis and little tomatoes; too much heat some days; storms that seem especially intense; a few too many events, gatherings or visits whether planned or spontaneous. August’s bounty both arrests our attention in the present and draws us toward what’s next. Any fall crops to seed? Any canning supplies needed? Our California grandkids have already started […]

My Turn: Leadership that moves us forward

I first met Lora Wondolowski when she, as president of the Greenfield City Council, supported turning a vacant downtown parking lot into housing. We met to process our surprise that a ballot initiative had been snuck in at the last minute to block housing in favor of an abandoned parking lot, and to strategize; we had 60 days to defeat the ballot measure.  I watched Lora go to work: she collaborated with other community leaders and housing advocates, they canvassed, wrote in the paper, went on online forums and explained that a housing study had just come out from the UMass […]