Ferry Street shut down in Easthampton after sinkhole reveals water pipe failure

Prescription on a plate: McGovern Medicare bill targets post-hospital care with medically tailored meals

When patients across Hampshire and Franklin counties finish treatment for chronic illnesses like heart disease or diabetes, their medical care often encounters an immediate obstacle once they step out the clinic door: the time, cost and physical toll of preparing a specialized diet.  While traditional Medicare routinely covers home health aides and physical therapy following […]

Chesterfield to hold master plan session Thursday

CHESTERFIELD — Town officials are offering residents a chance to win gift cards as an incentive to complete the town’s master plan survey. A public meeting on the ongoing master plan will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at Town Hall, 403 Main Road. Once completed, the plan will serve as a […]

Guest columnist James A. Lomastro: Sustained attention works; try it on nursing homes

In January 2002, investigative reporters in Boston revealed that a Catholic archdiocese had kept moving a priest, John Geoghan, from parish to parish after learning what he had done. What followed taught Massachusetts something that applies far beyond churches. A single exposé did not change the institution. Sustained attention did: roughly 600 stories that year, […]

Emily Dickinson metal silhouette goes missing in Amherst

AMHERST — A metal silhouette depicting the likeness of Emily Dickinson, in conversation with fellow poet Robert Frost, is missing and presumed stolen from its boulder at the Gates lot in downtown Amherst. Part of the sculpture known as “Poetic Dialogue,” the silhouette was installed in 1996 at the corner of Main and Lessey streets. […]

Lawsuit prompts Amherst to consider changes to ADU bylaw

AMHERST — Officials are considering amending a town bylaw in light of a lawsuit over a recent Zoning Board of Appeals determination that a Newell Court accessory dwelling unit is too large to comply with town zoning. A few weeks after the Land Court lawsuit was filed, both on behalf of the Newell Court developer […]