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By CHRIS LARABEE

For its work in closing the digital divide in Franklin County and the North Quabbin, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance has named the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) a 2024 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — There’s about to be a new sheriff in town.Christopher J. Donelan has announced he will retire at the end of the month, ending a 14-year tenure that saw the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction transform from a typical facility...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN and CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD – It’s been a week full of surprises for the family who welcomed Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s first baby of 2025.Agnes Coakley Cox and Nate Cox, both 38, arrived at the hospital on Dec. 31, as Coakley Cox prepared for induction....

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — With the support of a five-year, $7 million grant, three of Baystate Health’s hospitals are launching a substance use disorder treatment program, which will be based at Baystate Franklin Medical Center.The $7 million grant, awarded by the...

By ADA DENENFELD KELLY

Sales of kindling following this year’s “Break-athon” fundraiser are off to a slow start, says Greenfield Tae Kwon Do Center owner David Johnson.For the past 22 years, the “Break-athon” has allowed the center’s tae kwon do students to practice their...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Backed by a federal grant, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) is in the process of developing its own Road Safety Action Plan to serve as a guide for future traffic safety investments.To inform the plan’s creation, officials with...

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 ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Changing Lives Though Literature, an alternative sentencing option that offers those on probation reduced sentences upon completion of a 10-week literature program, is inspiring many of its graduates to pursue higher education.The program aims to...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Gov. Maura Healey signed the Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community (SAPHE 2.0) bill in late November on the coattails of a $4 billion economic development bond bill. Now roughly four years in the making, local health officials say...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Leading a roughly 100-person crowd across a two-day, 43-mile trek from Springfield to Greenfield, NEPM radio host Christopher “Monte” Belmonte raised more than $572,000 to end hunger during the 15th annual March for the Food Bank.Belmonte, dressed as...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GREENFIELD — Across Franklin County and the North Quabbin region, volunteers are preparing to dish out meals on Thanksgiving to ensure no one goes hungry on the holiday, regardless of their financial circumstances.Stone Soup Café meal and Day of...

By MARA MELLITS

Expanding access to methadone, a medication used to fight opioid addiction, is imperative in the effort to stop the nation’s substance use disorder epidemic, regional officials said.Their comments come in response to a recent study published by the...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GREENFIELD — In the days following the presidential election, local LGBTQ organizations began hosting support sessions to help foster community amid rising fears that a second Trump administration will rollback the progress made on rights and legal...

By DOMENIC POLI

Joshua Jay Dostis, better known locally as the politically charged jester Waffles T. Clown, died on Nov. 9. He was 83.Friends in Franklin County are mourning the loss of the New York City transplant and longtime New Salem resident who spent his final...

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — With a fist raised in the air, state Sen. Jo Comerford and dozens of advocates and business leaders, as well as state and local officials, rallied in support of the Northern Tier Passenger Rail Monday morning at the John W. Olver Transit...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The Wendell man who was convicted five years ago of violently ending his girlfriend’s life in 2017 will not get the chance to have the alleged murder weapon tested for evidence, a Franklin County Superior Court judge ruled on...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI and ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Bar and restaurant owners in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region are generally pleased after roughly 64% of Massachusetts voters rejected ballot Question 5 on Tuesday, a measure that would have gradually increased how much employers must pay...

By SAM DRYSDALE

The state’s top elections official anticipates record voter turnout in Massachusetts this November, exceeding the almost 3.7 million voters who went to the polls in 2020.“We have 1.7 [million] almost having already been returned, we expect more votes...

By DOMENIC POLI

A new Franklin County clerk of courts will take the oath of office in January and barring some miraculous write-in campaign, that person will be Benjamin Simanski.The first assistant clerk magistrate for the past 11 years, Simanski is running...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Gov. Maura Healey joined local and state officials outside the Franklin Regional Transit Authority’s (FRTA) offices Thursday afternoon to celebrate her administration’s $30 million earmark to fund year-round, fare-free transportation...