Sports Briefs: Amherst youth baseball heads into Koufax playoffs as top seed

PETA urges Friendly's to add vegan ice cream during Florence protest

FLORENCE — In an effort to sway the franchise Friendly’s to begin offering vegan ice cream options, activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) parked a refrigerated truck outside the business Thursday afternoon, handing out free vegan ice cream to those walking by. As residents passed the “iScream” vegan truck, they were […]

Discovering harmony in community: Easthampton's 'Vocal Voyagers' create music in the moment

Most vocal performance groups perform songs that are already written, but a musical gathering in Easthampton creates new, unique work on the spot every single time they meet. Vocal Voyagers, an improvised singing group led by musician Glenn Smith, recently met for its spring series at Pure Life Studios, located at 116 Pleasant St., room […]

Weather whiplash: Why record rain couldn't break the drought

In May 2025, Massachusetts had its fifth wettest May on record — a deluge that arrived after six straight months of significant to critical drought across the Connecticut River Valley that fueled wildfires across the state and region. The state declared the drought over in all but two areas. Relief, it seemed, had arrived. A […]

The drought you can't see: Behind another summer of water restrictions is a drought measured below the surface

Nothing about the Massachusetts landscape indicates a lack of water. The terrain looks lush and reservoirs remain full, but precipitation tells a different story. Two years of below average rainfall has depleted groundwater and shrunk stream levels, setting off an official drought declaration. Municipalities, as a result, have implemented mandatory water conservation efforts, but the […]

First-of-kind heat pump coming to UMass campus

AMHERST — An industrial heat pump described as among the first of its kind in the United States will be installed at the Central Heating Plant at the University of Massachusetts using a $7.35 million state grant awarded this week. The award announced Thursday as part of $23 million in grants will support 45% of the project costs of nine large-scale projects that will replace fossil fuel systems. The grants come from the Department of Energy Resources Leading by Example Decarbonization Implementation Grant Program. In the case of the flagship campus, the money will support the installation of a 5-megawatt industrial […]