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By ALEXA LEWIS

Despite a recent increase in precipitation, the Connecticut River Valley region has been designated as experiencing critical drought conditions, which will continue to persist until sustained precipitation over a much longer period of time is able to restore water table levels.

By ALEXA LEWIS

NORTHAMPTON — Amid cuts comprising about 82,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees and form emails being sent en masse to federal employees asking for five weekly bullet points justifying their work, William Cutler is just trying to care for veterans and get to retirement.

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — Varshini Prakash no longer believes that we can “stop” climate change as she did when she was an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, when she was staging sit-ins and protests to pressure her school into divesting from fossil fuels.

By ALEXA LEWIS

NORTHAMPTON — Commemorating the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, a handful of activists with Massachusetts Peace Action stood outside U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s Northampton office on Monday afternoon to demand peace negotiations. This standout mirrored another held by the organization at the same time in Boston.

By ALEXA LEWIS

During the last election cycle, voters in nearly a dozen legislative districts — including the district that includes all of Southampton — voted in favor of a nonbinding ballot question instructing their state representative to support a single-payer health care system in the state.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Just a few days before a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas began last Sunday, more than 120 Valley residents eagerly tuned in to a virtual presentation by authors and friends — one Palestinian and the other Jewish — who for some time have sought ways to find common ground and bridge the divide between their peoples.

By ALEXA LEWIS

TikTok users around the region were greeting the looming U.S. ban of popular social media platform TikTok with emotions ranging from sadness to anger to skepticism, with many arguing that a government ban constitutes a limit on free speech.

By ALEXA LEWIS

A statewide group that for years has pushed for a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts is buoyed by the fact that voters in nearly a dozen legislative districts during the last election cycle, including the district that includes all of Southampton, voted in favor of a nonbinding ballot question that instructs the representative of their district to vote in favor of a single-payer system of universal health care.

By ALEXA LEWIS

NORTHAMPTON — This winter, it may seem like everyone knows someone stuck in bed with a stomach bug.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Hunched against the cold in a warehouse filled with freshly picked vegetables, a farm laborer sat down for lunch. But her mind was somewhere else.“I’m feeling scared, because when I go out, I’m not feeling safe to walk to the supermarket. I’m worried...

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMPTON — After a “rigorous” search process, the Easthampton School Committee has selected longtime Springfield Public School District educator Michelle Balch as the district’s new superintendent.The committee voted unanimously to offer the...

By ALEXA LEWIS

ATHOL — The Easthampton School Committee kicked off a series of interviews Tuesday night among finalists for its permanent superintendent post. Cynthia Kennedy, currently assistant superintendent of the Athol-Royalston Regional School District, was...

By ALEXA LEWIS

The 15th annual March for the Food Bank with Monte Belmonte will once again traverse the 43 miles from Springfield to Greenfield over Monday and Tuesday.The march has become known not only for the creative costumes donned by marchers pushing decorated...

By ALEXA LEWIS

While many families are gearing up for their holiday feasts, a large number of Massachusetts residents are struggling to put food on the table. Amid unusually high prices and the conclusion of many pandemic-era supports, local food banks and survival...

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — When Ann Becker told local public health nurses about a new program that will provide them with support and mentorship, she said she got one common response: “It’s about time.”Becker, clinical associate professor and program leader at the...

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — As rural western Massachusetts watches its populations steadily age, reliable, accessible health care only becomes more important. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, workforce shortages in the industry have been more pronounced than before,...

By ALEXA LEWIS

Mass Audubon has received the largest federal grant in its 128-year history — $25 million to protect 10,000 acres in the Connecticut River watershed, which will include projects in Pioneer Valley municipalities up and down the river.The funding from...

By ALEXA LEWIS

Voters will decide on Election Day whether to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts, a controversial ballot initiative known as Question 5 that could change the landscape for the restaurant and bar industry and other jobs where...

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — “Growing up poor, all I’ve ever wanted was financial freedom,” said Beatrice Rogers, a third-year psychology and holistic health major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But that freedom might be far away for Rogers, whose college...

By ALEXA LEWIS

Without greater investment in salaries for faculty and staff at community colleges in Massachusetts, a free tuition program launched this summer to great fanfare may be “doomed to fail.”That’s the alarm some education leaders are sounding as they call...

By ALEXA LEWIS

CHICOPEE — Imagine waking up to find that electronic technology has stopped working.Cellphones are down, traffic signals are dark and navigation systems are offline. The infrastructure behind modern life would be completely shut down, eventually...