Photos: Holiday spruce-up at Thornes

PopUp Bagels opens first WMass shop Friday at Hadley's Mountain Farms Mall

HADLEY — PopUp Bagels, a national bagel chain, will open its first western Massachusetts location Friday at 7 S. Maple St. in the Mountain Farms Mall complex. The shop opens at 7 a.m. with a four-hour celebration featuring a live DJ and merchandise giveaways. PopUp Bagels sells its bagels unsliced, in bags of three, six, 12 and 30. In what the company calls a “Grip, Rip and Dip” experience, customers tear off pieces and dip them in cream cheese or butter schmears. The bagels are not designed for sandwiches. The shop offers five styles of bagels: plain, everything, poppy seed, salt […]

Tattered American flags draw community attention this Veterans Day in Granby

GRANBY — Residents flagged several worn, tattered and fallen star-spangled banners ahead of Veterans Day, prompting the town to discuss maintenance for the patriotic symbols moving forward. Granby flies American flags from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. Town Administrator Ron Aponte said the flags are typically replaced as their condition deteriorates, but the town recently […]

Area Briefs: South Hadley to hold conversation about new school project

South Hadley schools to hold community conversation SOUTH HADLEY — South Hadley Public Schools will hold an community conversation on Nov. 19 about the $115.3 million Mosier Elementary School building project. Officials at the meeting will discuss the latest designs and plans for the proposed school building. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. with a […]

Guest columnist John Paradis: Hegseth unfit to lead and must go

By Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s definition, I’m a weirdo. I have Taylor Swift friendship bracelets, I dance to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” and I embrace and openly celebrate my LGBTQ+ family members and dear friends.  I’m often eccentric, quirky, and can be unconventional at times.  I also wear dog tags that indicate my Unitarian […]

Speaking of Nature: A bitter rivalry: American vs. Asiatic Bittersweet

As the deciduous trees slowly lose their leaves, they start to reveal long-held secrets. At first the most obvious secrets are the nests of birds that you may have spent the summer looking for. Skillfully placed in areas that are thick with summer foliage, the nests become obvious once the veil is dropped, and it […]