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By EMILEE KLEIN

FLORENCE — Morey Phippen and Brian Adams’ yard looks nothing like the traditional blanket of green grass associated with suburban lawns.Instead, bumblebees and butterflies bob and weave around her destined for the nearby foxglove, pink primrose, red...

By ALEXA LEWIS

A statewide proliferation in recent years of intoxicating, illegal hemp-based products — gummies, energy shot-like drink bottles and seltzers, to name a few — has raised concern among state officials and the cannabis sector alike.While these products...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Moments before state Sen. Jo Comerford’s Town Hall event at Greenfield Community College on Monday, members of a citizens group that was formed last year in opposition to a proposed battery storage facility in Wendell handed the state...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Thirty community leaders and stakeholders who recently convened at the Orange Innovation Center recommended addressing regional economic weaknesses and vulnerabilities by partnering smaller towns together and securing grants designated for...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Three local women are awaiting the arrival of a bronze plaque to be embedded onto the face of a new memorial stone installed to commemorate the former Memorial Hall building that stood for 104 years before being demolished in 1996.Pam Rand,...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — An organization dedicated to guaranteeing political distance between religious institutions and the government has not heard from town officials nearly three months after informing them of a complaint alleging special treatment of Mission...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Two bills inspired by the stories and concerns of Franklin County residents are working their way through the Legislature and are “on track to pass,” according to Sen. Jo Comerford, who worked with her constituents to get the pieces of legislation...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Seated at the 10-yard line of the James S. Woodward Athletic Complex, the members of Ralph C. Mahar Regional School’s perhaps smallest-ever class crossed into a different end zone of sorts on Friday evening.Fifty-six graduates moved their...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The third balanced budget proposal from Town Administrator Matt Fortier includes funding for the town’s two libraries, a stark contrast from the first draft that reflected Orange’s dire financial situation stemming from an estimated $338,000...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Protesters angered by Israel’s most recent deadly attack in Gaza brought a metal trash can and an American flag to the sidewalk outside Rep. Jim McGovern’s Pleasant Street office on Tuesday.As passersby honked in support or shouted...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

For the first time in his 27-year career in Congress, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern had his remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives struck from the record on Wednesday, after he criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump for his numerous...

By DOMENIC POLI

WARWICK — Police Chief David Shoemaker is reportedly fine after a driver allegedly struck him twice intentionally during a traffic stop on Tuesday before fleeing to New Hampshire, where authorities say it appears he has left the area.The chief was...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Nearly 500 members of the faculty and librarians are expressing no confidence in the leadership of University of Massachusetts Chancellor Javier Reyes stemming from the breakup of a pro-Palestinian encampment on May 7 that led to the arrests...

By DOMENIC POLI

Legislation drafted by a Heath native with the intent of recognizing those killed serving in the U.S. military has been introduced in both chambers of Congress.Keith Sherman, who now lives in North Carolina, worked diligently on multiple drafts of a...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

TURNERS FALLS — Area lawmakers are asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to limit the relicensing of FirstLight’s hydropower projects from 50 years to 30 years, and to mandate the company disclose more data to the public about its...

By DOMENIC POLI

ERVING — The town is one step closer to affordable housing on Care Drive after residents voted Wednesday to authorize the Selectboard to lease, convey or otherwise dispose of the property eyed for the development.Voters at Annual Town Meeting also...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Community Legal Aid, a nonprofit that offers free civil legal support to elderly and low-income residents in western and central Massachusetts, has expanded its Disability Benefits Project into Franklin County, a change that coincides...

By DOMENIC POLI

Looking to increase her department’s presence around the state, the executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism recently visited some of Franklin County’s tourism destinations.Kate Fox was taken on a whirlwind tour around the...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — Town Hall was packed Wednesday night with 102 registered voters eager to have their voices heard on a bylaw regulating battery energy storage systems, which was overwhelmingly approved. The Special Town Meeting warrant article was proposed...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Responsible for $135,000 in student debt, Amherst resident Ian Rhodewalt observes that during the yearslong federal pause in making loan repayments during the pandemic, he and his family were able to get a vehicle, replace a broken-down car...