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By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – To look at them and hear their origins, it doesn’t appear that ironworkers Ed Jordan and Jimmy Costello have much that would bond them.Jordan was raised by a loving family in a tough, Black neighborhood of Boston. Costello grew up in the...

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

GREENFIELD – A man formerly of Athol will spend the next 25 to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty on Thursday to 27 counts of sexual crimes involving three minors.Jose Oquendo, 51, appeared in Franklin County Superior Court to accept...

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 DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL – If you go to Wendell Old Home Day on Sept. 21, understand that that’s not a Salvation Army volunteer you see and hear ringing a bell on the town common. That’s Kathy-Ann Becker – and she’s actually the town crier.Once the trusted messengers...

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 DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Orange Elementary and Ralph C. Mahar Regional school committees obliged their town’s Selectboard on Monday by revisiting the budgets they’re proposing at the Annual Town Meeting but only Mahar voted to further trim costs as asked.Because...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Authorities are investigating an estimated $338,000 in fraud against the town, which has left Orange in dire financial straits and could result in the closure of its libraries, town officials discussed Thursday.The fraud involves the town...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – Residents are encouraged to attend or tune in to Thursday’s Selectboard meeting to have their voices heard on the possibility of removing all funding from the town’s two libraries.Orange is in dire financial straits and Town Administrator...

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 DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – Richard Sheridan, a longtime public servant whose Selectboard tenure ended in January, died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack on April 29. He was 78.Selectboard members on Wednesday held a moment of silence for their former colleague and...

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 DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Spurred by a state Supreme Judicial Court opinion that pointed to inconsistent verdicts, the Franklin County Superior Court judge who oversaw Joshua Hart’s murder trial in 2018 has taken under advisement a defense attorney’s motion to set...

By DOMENIC POLI

ERVING — Employee compensation and real estate transactions are expected to be the most discussed topics at Annual Town Meeting on Wednesday, according to Town Administrator Bryan Smith.Articles regarding private property are clumped at the end of the...

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 DOMENIC POLI

WARWICK — It took nearly 35 years, but the human remains found just off Route 78 in Warwick in 1989 have been identified as belonging to Constance (Holminski) Bassignani, who was 65 years old at the time of her murder.The Northwestern District...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Selectboard has voted to designate the Orange Armory as surplus property, the first step for the town in ridding itself of the 111-year-old structure.The armory, located at 135 East Main St., has fallen into disrepair. The Selectboard...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL – Residents are being summoned to Town Hall on Wednesday to have their voices heard on a bylaw proposed to regulate battery energy storage systems.A Special Town Meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m., with two articles on the warrant – one...

By DOMENIC POLI

Though they lay dormant now, the former Wilson’s Department Store in downtown Greenfield and the former depot store and post office in Wendell were once bustling hubs of thriving communities.On Friday, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and Director of Rural...