Business Briefs: Nov. 28, 2025

A discovery two centuries in the making: Smith College lab finds tiny organism living inside amoeba shells, a scientific first

Researchers at Smith College discovered a microscopic flagellate species living inside the shells of shelled amoebas, a symbiotic or parasitic relationship previously unrecorded in 200 years of study.

Greenfield Community College lauded for clean energy workforce development

Greenfield Community College received the 2026 Clean Energy Workforce Development Champion Award from the Alliance for Climate Transition for its initiatives in preparing students for careers in the clean energy sector.

Valley Bounty: Making people smile around food

Peter Hadley delivered newspapers on horseback on weekends as a child. His family garden gave him an appreciation for fresh food and green, growing things at a young age.  Hadley’s food journey began in Amherst as a pastry chef and included stints in Boston and Cape Cod, adding experience as a restaurant owner and a […]

My Turn: Mass shootings: another troubling side of manhood

Are we angry enough yet? Haven’t our hearts been broken enough times? Are we ready to act now? How many more children do we have to lose? These are just some of the questions in the aftermath of more children being gunned down at another school, this time in Bend, Oregon, on Oct 15. By a 16-year-old boy. Are we so numb that it barely registers? Do we just go back to watching the game and following the midterms? We can’t. It’s madness if we do. If we care at all about the families of those slain in Oregon, including a […]

Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Franklin Tech's great athletics influencer

Good morning! Conway’s Jimmy Recore wrote that someone was missing from last week’s story about the blossoming of interscholastic athletics at Franklin County Tech. “Ray Willis deserves more credit than he ever got for scratching out varsity sports programs in those early days,” wrote Recore, who was a freshman at Tech in 1976 and part […]