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

A crumbling dilemma: Northampton weighs demolition of deteriorating E.J. Gare parking garage

NORTHAMPTON — Facing a form of self-perpetuating damage that Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra referred to as “concrete cancer,” the E.J. Gare Parking Garage needs to be either repaired or demolished — and neither option is cheap. The garage faces an alkali–silica reaction that is deteriorating its concrete, along with spalling and other forms of significant structural […]

Former Easthampton school aide sentenced for sexually assaulting students

NORTHAMPTON — A former Easthampton Public Schools paraeducator has been sentenced to five to seven years in state prison for sexually assaulting two 7-year-old students at Mountain View School. Troy Gray, 60, of Easthampton, assaulted the students between 2022 and 2023 while working as an aide in two of the school’s classrooms. Hampshire Superior Court […]

Guest columnist Krystal Kittle: Bill to boost early screening key for dementia caregivers

I study the people who hold families together when the signs of dementia appear: the spouses, adult children, friends, neighbors and chosen family who become caregivers, often without warning. In my work, I’ve learned that Alzheimer’s disease does not affect only the person experiencing cognitive changes. It reshapes the lives of caregivers who become responsible for helping someone navigate daily life, healthcare, finances, safety, transportation, housing and long-term planning. A caregiver might notice a loved one missing appointments, forgetting familiar tasks, or becoming confused in familiar places. By the time the situation becomes impossible to ignore, many families are already in […]

3-D-printed creations and new computers: IT program grows at Granby Junior Senior High School

GRANBY — Sen. Jake Oliveira reached below the humming 3-D printers and picked up Granby Junior Senior High School students’ latest creation. Two hexagonal web wings sandwiched a jack-o-lantern pod to create a Halloween TIE fighter, a seasonal play on the famous “Star Wars” spaceship. As Oliveira, D-Ludlow, and Rep. Homar Gómez, D-Easthampton, examined the figurine, the other design students in the room broke from their 3-D printing projects to admire the work. The state legislators saw and touched the results of their fight for Fair Share funding during an Oct. 8 visit to Granby Public Schools. In May 2025, the […]

Columnist Rev. Andrea Ayvazian: Steadfast, supportive ants a model for us all

I have never been very interested in ants. They were small and innocuous, they all looked the same, and I never wondered about their hills, colonies, queens or movements.  Until recently. Now I am in awe of ants. I want to be more like them and I want my community to be more like their colonies. Ants […]