Changes afoot for UMass football ahead of NCAA transfer portal window

With local efforts underway, Massachusetts begins kratom crackdown

Deerfield joined other Massachusetts municipalities in banning kratom products, just days before an emergency order came from the state's Department of Public Health.

Relief in sight for Amherst’s aging DPW ‘Barn’

AMHERST — Inside the main vehicle bay at the Department of Public Works building, often simply referred to as the “Barn,” a puddle on the concrete floor that developed from a recent rainstorm has nearly dried up, even as the underside of the roof in a nearby storage area remains soggy — with tiles were […]

Healey wades into Quabbin community water issues

Quabbin watershed towns that have long pressed eastern Massachusetts for funding and a seat at the table for reservoir decisions just got a major ally — Gov. Maura Healey.  A drought this year has exposed the reservoir’s shoreline, and residents of the western Massachusetts towns that surround and protect the Quabbin are experiencing their own […]

Northampton schools adopt ICE 'safe zone' policy

NORTHAMPTON — The School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from all six Northampton Public Schools, declaring them “safe zones” amid what members called real fear in the district’s immigrant community. The School Committee unanimously approved a resolution, titled “Ensuring Northampton Public Schools as Safe Zones Free from Immigration Enforcement,” […]

Guest columnist Karl Meyer: Trump’s attack on voting rights — A path to dictatorship

Donald Trump is looking a bit desperate. He’s now zeroed in on the Constitution’s voting rights with his Save America Act. He’s again calling into question our record of free and fair elections — long the envy of the world. Yet his rumor-laced lies seem to have a nation of would-be voters where he wants them to stay until this November: everyone, everywhere, divided, fraught and worried. Congressman Jim McGovern is among the officials repeating fears Trump will use ICE, the National Guard and his Capitol-attacking thugs to commandeer elections and outcomes. Yet none offer up bold plans to stop him. […]