Athol committee focuses on minor private road repairs for draft bylaw

East-west rail gets $130 million federal boost; Boston passenger service targeted for 2030

SPRINGFIELD — Connecting western Massachusetts to Boston through a passenger rail system took a major step this week with the securing of $130 million in federal funding, Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday. Healey traveled to Springfield Union Station to announce the funding alongside U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and many other state and local legislators, after […]

‘They are not a statistic’: Survivors of domestic violence share their stories

Local advocates and survivors gathered in Greenfield on Thursday night for an event titled Voices Carry: Honoring Domestic Violence Survivors to offer support and remembrance for those affected by domestic violence.

Nearly $923K conserving land in four Franklin County, North Quabbin towns

Franklin County and the North Quabbin region received $922,750 in state grants to conserve hundreds of acres of land and increase public access to nature preserves.

Proposed census rules would exclude noncitizens and snowbirds, experts say

BOSTON – U.S. Census Bureau proposals would exclude a large noncitizen population in Massachusetts, change whether the state’s “snowbird” population is counted, and cause “severe inaccuracies” in population data in 2030, a local research expert told lawmakers Wednesday.  One lawmaker said the thought of the impact that would have on the state was “flabbergasting.” The bureau […]

Friends of Quabbin to celebrate stabilization of Keystone Bridge

Overview: Richard Martin, superintendent of Franklin County Technical School, is set to retire after 35 years in public school education, 17 of which were spent at Franklin Tech. During his tenure, he developed the animal science and aviation maintenance technology programs, and secured $11.4 million in grant funding to support the growth of the school. […]