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Keyword search: Amherst MA

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A New Hampshire timber company has closed on a massive land buy of nearly 2,400 acres in seven communities in Hampshire and Franklin counties, acquiring five parcels for more than $20 million from Amherst-based W.D. Cowls Inc.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — On the cusp of celebrating his 100th birthday in January, Edwin D. Driver, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts and one of the first two African Americans ever hired to the faculty at a flagship state...

By ZICHANG LIU

AMHERST — University of Massachusetts Amherst professors Chang Liu and Xiaojun Wei have discovered a new method to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — “forever chemicals” found in water, soil, air, food and other consumer products — thus...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — The past few weeks have been tough for climate activism, and longtime climate activist Bill McKibben, who makes his home in Vermont, is feeling the heat.This year will be the hottest year on record, breaking the record-setting temperatures...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As someone who takes care of and cleans buildings on the University of Massachusetts campus, Sun Chong’s workload doubles when her colleagues call out sick or leave university employment.“They don’t hire people, so then we have to cover each...

By CHRIS LARABEE

With bodies of water receding and brush fires throughout the state, it was clearly a dry fall for the Pioneer Valley and new data analysis confirms the season was historically dry for western Massachusetts.Preliminary National Weather Service data...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In preparation for a change in presidential administrations at the federal level, international students, faculty and staff on University of Massachusetts immigration sponsorships, who may be traveling abroad during winter break, are being...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A $100 million fund to support the health and resilience of the Connecticut River watershed, including money that would go toward improving aging flood controls and dikes and upgrading water and sewer systems, is being sought by area...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

After the presidential election victory of Donald Trump on Tuesday, many Democrats — including in Massachusetts, where residents favored Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris by a large margin — may be left scratching their heads as to how...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Massachusetts’ three resort casinos are largely having a positive impact on the state’s economy, even as a downturn in business for restaurants and bars in and around Springfield may be attributed to visitors who are playing the slot...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Better understanding of how certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often simply called PFAS and known as “forever chemicals,” negatively affect public health and cause assorted maladies, is leading to state and federal laws and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A longtime pledge by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the state Legislature, contending this will provide more transparency and accountability to legislative proceedings, is coming before voters at the November election, after she was unable to...

By CHRIS LARABEE

AMHERST — With 30 years of work in the valley and around the world, the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding is welcoming people from around the region to celebrate three decades of community-based work.To highlight the nonprofit’s work, the Karuna Center...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As a graduate of the School of Public Health & Health Sciences Kinesiology department at the University of Massachusetts, doctoral student Petra Ypsilantis is aware of the separation and lack of cohesiveness among the school’s six...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A steep drop in the number of Black students in the Class of 2028 at Amherst College compared to the preceding year’s incoming class, and less racial diversity in the first-year class, is likely a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Giving the Demonstration Response and Safety Team at the University of Massachusetts an expanded role in promoting safety, education and deescalation at protests, clarifying the campus land-use policy by defining structures according to...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Compared to her small high school in Southampton, N.Y., UMass’ large rural campus is a major change for freshman Bebe Willemse, yet once she arrived on campus last week, she couldn’t stop smiling.“I’m excited for really meeting a lot of new...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — After a spring semester that came to a close with the arrests of 134 students, faculty and community members at a pro-Palestinian encampment, and nearly 500 faculty members and librarians subsequently taking a no-confidence in Chancellor...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts union representing 1,500 campus employees is calling out the administration for “authoritarian” actions and cracking down on free speech after learning that two student leaders of the Students for Justice in...

By DOMENIC POLI

With many Franklin County and North Quabbin towns lacking bylaws specific to food trucks, some municipalities are looking to neighboring communities to find models that have proven successful.Randy Crochier, cooperative public health service program...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Some of the 134 people arrested at the pro-Palestinian encampment in May at the University of Massachusetts have been prohibited from stepping foot on the Amherst campus for two years, based on trespass notices signed by UMass Chancellor...