My Turn: The Spirit of 76

From Global to Local: Plastic Pollution, Part 2: Eliminate it we must

How can we reduce toxic plastic pollution, given it is everywhere and in everything from the peaks of the highest mountains and deepest depths of the sea to our internal organs, other parts of our body and breath? I ask this rhetorically given we must reduce plastic and quickly before we humans are overwhelmed by […]

GCC to expand HVAC training program

Greenfield Community College has been awarded an $810,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to expand its HVAC training program, which will train 40 students and offer entry-level and continued training cohorts.

North Quabbin Notebook: June 1, 2026

Athol Savings Bank donates to 1794 Meetinghouse NEW SALEM — Athol Savings Bank, a division of Cornerstone Bank, has donated $1,200 to 1794 Meetinghouse Inc. to support its upcoming summer concert series. The funding will support a lineup of performances throughout the summer season, continuing the 1794 Meetinghouse’s mission to offer accessible, high-quality arts programming […]

My Turn: Your tax dollars are funding the patriarchal family — courtesy of Trump

“One in three Americans are under-babied,” said Trump’s Medicare and Medicaid chief Dr. Oz last week, echoing J.D. Vance’s contempt for childless women as “cat ladies.” Guided by evangelical supporters, the Trump administration is eroding longstanding civil rights laws protecting women and girls in education and the workplace, restricting access to contraception and abortion, and […]

Bus driver charged with involuntary manslaughter for crash that killed five, including Greenfield family of four

Jing S. Dong, 48, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after driving a bus that killed four members of the Doncev family in a crash on Interstate 95. The local community has raised more than $56,000 for funeral expenses and transportation costs.