‘It’s just stuff’: Fire took his workshop. Illness took his leg. Neither has stopped Cummington builder Stephen Yoshen

UMass researchers land $1.3M grant to study possible second internal body clock tied to memory

AMHERST —For a decade, University of Massachusetts researchers Margaret Stratton and Eric Strieter have been locked in a friendly rivalry over whose protein is more important. Stratton champions a memory-related enzyme called calcium-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK II), while Strieter favors a family of regulatory proteins called ubiquitin. The debate took a turn when Johnathon […]

Garcia's Mexican Restaurant in downtown Amherst closing after five years; Little Petroni's to open on University Drive

AMHERST — As Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar, operating from a prominent location at the north end of downtown, closes after five years, a vacant building on University Drive will welcome a new eatery. The 40 University Drive site will become Little Petroni’s, a restaurant specializing in Italian-American classics. It will be run by the […]

Judge mulls bail for Northampton man accused of possessing child sexual abuse material

NORTHAMPTON —  After a bail hearing Monday afternoon, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Charles Groce III is considering whether to set bail for the Northampton man who spent six years on the lam in Ecuador after being charged with possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Northampton Police began investigating Jude Demeis, 55, in 2019 after he allegedly […]

Guest columnist Michael Fenton: My record speaks for itself

I write in response to the Aug. 30 guest column by my opponent, the incumbent on the Governor’s Council from District 8.  My name is Michael Fenton and I am a partner at a law firm with offices in Northampton, an adjunct professor, and an eight-term city councilor from Springfield. I am running for Governor’s […]

Seven area towns to get $1M in state energy-efficiency grants

Seven Hampshire and Franklin county towns will receive a combined roughly $1 million in state Green Communities grants to fund energy-efficiency projects, including new heat pumps, windows and an electric vehicle. The grants, part of $8 million distributed statewide, will go toward projects in Plainfield, Goshen, Easthampton, Amherst, Leverett, Sunderland and Deerfield. Plainfield will use $96,368 for a new heat pump at Town Hall and energy-efficient windows at the library and police station. The heat pump will replace an aging oil furnace, said Planning Board Chair Peter Lapointe, who added that the total cost of the pump will be in the […]