‘We’ve been begging for this’: Education leaders voice relief over revival of commission to review school funding formula

L3Harris, with Northampton plant, lands historic $4.7B Patriot missile contract

NORTHAMPTON — The defense contractor L3Harris Technologies, which operates a manufacturing facility on Prince Street, has secured a $4.7 billion, seven-year missile manufacturing contract with Lockheed Martin. The multiyear contract, according to a press release published on L3Harris’ website last week, will facilitate the production of propulsion systems for the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor […]

Amherst Regional High School launches Saturday 'attendance buyback' program

AMHERST — An initiative to address absenteeism by encouraging Amherst Regional High School students to participate in a new Saturday morning program is among proposals for educational improvements this school year. Known as an attendance buyback initiative, Principal Marc Gomes, who began his tenure at the school over the summer, said he wants to ensure all students are getting to the state-mandated 990 hours to graduate. “In order to hold students accountable and to hold expectations, we want to give students the chance to buyback any days that are unexcused,” Gomes told the Regional School Committee last week. Under the proposal, the […]

Building the future: UMass celebrates $125M Computer Science Laboratories

AMHERST — Inside a room at the Physical Computing Makerspace on the University of Massachusetts campus, a 3D printer is fabricating a chalk case that a teaching assistant will use to carry writing utensils. The case’s design started as a computer file, drawn up nearby by Bennett Gillig, a UMass graduate student pursuing a master’s […]

Columnist Dr. David Gottsegen: A portrayal of Parkinson's and problem with paraquat

I have a good friend named Sue Cairn. Though I am an avid hiker, I have trouble keeping up with her on the trails — even though she wears a helmet and knee pads and poles when she and her husband Rich go on treks in the Valley, or New Hampshire, or the Alps. Sue […]

Galvin defends ballot questions as a 'safety valve' amid reform push

BOSTON — As lawmakers weigh reforms to the ballot question process, the state’s top election official called it a “safety valve for democracy,” and said “you might change some of the procedures, but you shouldn’t change the concept.” The House passed a bill in July to expand disclosure rules for ballot question campaigns and impose new requirements around paid signature gathering. That version was an expansion of a bill the Senate passed in January to require more public reporting on ballot question fundraising and spending. The House bill calls for a special legislative commission to review the entire initiative petition process […]