Guest columnists Bob Durand and Emma Ellsworth: Make nature a priority — Vote 'yes' on Question 6

Chesterfield, Williamsburg clerks urge voters to hand-deliver mail ballots ahead of Nov. 3 election

CHESTERFIELD — The office of Secretary of the Commonwealth says it has seen no unusual problems with mail ballots arriving on time, but town clerks in Chesterfield and Williamsburg are urging caution anyway. Clerks in the two towns plan to issue notices advising residents to consider hand-delivering their ballots to town offices rather than mailing them. They fear the U.S. Postal Service may not deliver them in time to be counted in the Nov. 3 election. Chesterfield Town Clerk Sandy Wickland cited a couple of instances of ballots arriving late during the Sept. 1 primary election, despite being postmarked on time. […]

Amethyst Brook Spanish teacher recognized with excellence award

AMHERST — An Amethyst Brook School teacher who embodies the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in both the classroom and the school community is this year’s recipient of the Roger L. Wallace Excellence in Teaching Award. Miguelina “Meg” Hernandez, a fourth-grade Spanish language teacher in the Caminantes dual language program, earned the acclaim from […]

Easthampton School Committee, City Council seek monthly finance reports as auditing backlog lingers

EASTHAMPTON — A backlog of financial work is delaying city officials from producing figures for the current fiscal year, numbers School Committee members hope to receive soon to help inform upcoming union negotiations. In what officials described as a first-of-its-kind meeting, the finance subcommittees of the School Committee and City Council met Sept. 29 after […]

‘Born to be free’: Kimaya Diggs shakes hands with destiny in album release of ‘Green’ at the Academy of Music

I meet Kimaya Diggs in a verdant field. Her eye shadow is the color of the sky; her brown eyes blaze against bronze skin that glows already. Jet-black curls, parted in the middle, cascade towards her collarbone. At 5’10”, she is commanding, elegant. We sit on the bike path behind Eastworks in Easthampton, a location […]

What’s the story? As the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop celebrates 10 years, founder Joy Deva Baglio takes us back to the beginning

Joy Deva Baglio can’t pinpoint the moment she decided to be a writer. The widely published author and founder of the Pioneer Valley Writers’ Workshop grew up with a library of children’s books and fairy tales, and one day, she needed to tell a story. It was only natural; the words, as vital as breath, […]