Guest columnist Fred Beddall: Dark clouds over the farming future

UMass football: Minutemen preparing for season-opener against Rutgers

When the UMass football team travels to Rutgers for its season opener on Thursday, Sept. 3, coach Joe Harasymiak will have intimate knowledge of the opponent at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. The gameplan should be simple for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers went 5-7 last season and 2-7 in the Big Ten. The team […]

Markey taps online influencers as Moulton hits on age and tech

BOSTON — Influencers are taking to social media to vouch for U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in his reelection campaign — in both paid and unpaid ways — as Congressman Seth Moulton continues to use the 80-year-old incumbent’s age as a talking point in his attempts to unseat Markey. When Markey faced a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III in 2020, his campaign got a boost from a network of young and very online supporters, a base of social media cred and support that came to be known as the Markeyverse. This time around, Markey seems to be looking to […]

Easthampton weighs competing bids for historic Town Lodging House on Oliver Street

EASTHAMPTON — The two candidates seeking to claim ownership of the city’s 136-year-old Town Lodging House made their bids to city officials last week for why they deserve to steward the land for years to come. Discussion of what to do with the Town Lodging House, located at 75 Oliver St. and vacant since 2022, reignited […]

South Hadley's $3.5M override vote draws little buzz ahead of Tuesday's election

SOUTH HADLEY — In stark contrast to last spring’s failed Proposition 2½ override that sparked intense debate among South Hadley residents, a second, smaller override request set for a vote on Tuesday is drawing far less reaction. Besides a few lawn signs and the occasional social media post, the conversation about the town’s $3.5 million […]

Sealed for a century, Plainfield doctor's office reveals 1800s medicine

PLAINFIELD — Less than 200 years ago, Western medical practices still followed a 1,500-year-old textbook. When diagnosed with an illness ranging from seizures to pneumonia, patients could be bled. Medicine cabinets were loaded with herbal concoctions. Did they work? It was unclear. Want to live a healthy life? The prescription was simple and surprisingly familiar: […]