Feeling the heat: As winter nears, soaring energy prices have residents bracing for bigger bills

Voters demand transparency, but lawmakers may limit reach of Question 1

There was no mistaking the will of the people on Question 1. Voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure on Election Day, with more than 86% backing an expansion of Massachusetts’ public records law to include the Legislature and the governor’s office. It was the widest margin of any of the nine ballot questions in an election in which nearly 1.17 million people had cast ballots before polls opened. Over the summer, the state Senate passed a bill promoting transparency and public access in state government. But, concerned about the separation of powers and the lengthy litigation that could follow from passing […]

UMass field hockey receives bid to NCAA Tournament

The UMass field hockey team’s season continues on after it received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament during Sunday’s selection show. The Minutewomen will travel to Harvard on Friday for a first-round regional matchup against No. 6 Yale. Two seasons after reaching the Final Four, UMass returns to the NCAA Tournament after going 18-2 […]

Easthampton leaves associate planner job unfilled amid budget crisis

EASTHAMPTON — A monthslong vacancy in the Planning Department is putting more work on the plates of other staff members, with no current plans to fill the position. The position of associate planner has been vacant since July after previously being held by Dillon Maxfield, who was hired as planner for the town of Charlton […]

Guest columnist Steve Fox: A feeling of genuine hope, even for skeptics

I have two good friends who are eternal optimists. Part of it, they say, is due to their Hampshire College backgrounds, but it seems more than that.  The glass is always half-full for these two, even when we meet to watch football every Sunday and my New York Giants are trailing late in the second […]

Hadley property tax bills to rise $781 as Select Board keeps single tax rate

HADLEY — A homeowner living in an average single-family home, assessed at $510,723, will pay nearly $800 more in property taxes in the coming year, according to information provided to the Select Board at its Nov. 4 meeting. At the annual tax classification hearing, the Select Board voted unanimously to set a single tax rate of $12.21 per $1,000 valuation, following a presentation by Principal Assessor Cheryl Hollway and Jeff Mish, who chairs the Board of Assessors. If that rate is approved by the state’s Department of Revenue, the average single-family home, which has increased in value from $475,929 to $510,723, […]