South Hadley crash kills Chicopee teen riding e-scooter home from work

Leverett protects part of Robert Frost Trail with 27-acre conservation agreement

LEVERETT — A conservation restriction is being placed on 27 acres of a Two Mile Road parcel, ensuring that the Robert Frost Trail that passes through it will continue to be maintained and publicly accessible. The Select Board Tuesday approved Kestrel Land Trust holding the conservation restriction on the land that is owned by Gay Hapgood. Lee Halasz, a conservation manager for Kestrel, explained that protecting the land in this way means the trail, which extends about 26 miles from Hadley to Wendell, can be kept passable. The protected land also includes a large wetlands area with heron habitat, Halasz said. […]

Amherst Conservation Commission considers expanding hunting to more conservation land

AMHERST — The Conservation Commission is considering opening more conservation land to hunting as the panel continues revising its land-use policy and regulations. As the commission begins to look at contents of a 53-page draft that spells out how conservation land is used and how the public can access it, time is being spent on […]

Sports Briefs: Summit Run 5K returns to South Hadley this September

The Summit Run 5K is returning to Old Mountain Road in South Hadley this fall. The race is sponsored by the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club and will take place on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 9:30 a.m. Runners will compete on a course that climbs 800 feet up Mount Holyoke before ending at Summit House. Registration […]

Guest columnist Donald Joralemon: How to hike, how to live

Placerville, also known as Hangtown for its public executions during the Gold Rush of the 1800s, was the nearest town to my great-grandfather’s family farm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Charles Henry Rieber (1866-1948) was the last of five children and grew up balancing hard work, schooling that required miles […]

A ‘music utopia’ revisited: Pendrift brings its eclectic, unscripted sound back to the Valley

After debuting more than half a century ago, the band Pendrift will reunite this weekend. The group will take the stage at Outlook Farm in Westhampton on Sunday, Aug. 16, from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring guitarist and vocalist Al Fuller, drummer Chet Pasek, bassist Jim “Chetz” Keegan and keyboardist Steve Sienkiewicz. While it is […]