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By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – It seems Billy Goat Boats isn’t going anywhere, as the town’s Selectboard opted this week to award a request for proposal to the family-run watercraft rental business following a public and contentious leasing fiasco.The company owned and...

By CHRIS LARABEE

As money from the nationwide opioid settlement continues to be disbursed to Franklin County towns, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), in partnership with local boards of health, is inviting residents to share their input on how this...

By DOMENIC POLI

The Democrat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Massachusetts has teamed up with a Republican colleague from Florida to sponsor a bill aimed at making it easier for Americans to get medically necessary foods.Jim McGovern and John...

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM — Swift River School’s new PFAS6 filtration system seems to be working perfectly, and 190 students and staff members will drink to that.A little more than three years after tests of the school’s tap water revealed elevated levels of the...

By BELLA LEVAVI

The Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) now offers weekend fixed-route transportation. With additional funds from the Fair Share Amendment, all free routes will run through the weekend, providing much-needed transportation access in the...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — As debate continues over how best to develop solar throughout the state to help meet an ambitious net-zero emissions goal, representatives from Mass Audubon and Harvard Forest are touting a recently completed report that details how solar...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Less than a month after it began enforcing a longstanding policy restricting the use of anesthesia during colonoscopies and other procedures, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is pausing that action after physicians statewide lobbied the insurer...

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Heartbreak struck the UMass men’s basketball team for the second time in three games on Tuesday night at the Mullins Center.Clinging to a one-point lead with 12.5 seconds left after Rahsool Diggins’ acrobatic layup put the Minutemen ahead,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Even with less severe cases of COVID-19 than the past two years and a marked decrease since last fall in RSV, officially known as respiratory syncytial virus, a surge in flu cases is keeping Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s emergency department as busy as...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – Voters at the Special Town Meeting on Thursday opted to table a proposed animal bylaw until more people have had an opportunity to contribute input.Residents in Town Hall voted overwhelmingly to take no action on a warrant article prohibiting...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As the state considers the governor’s proposed $4.13 billion Affordable Homes Act — a comprehensive roadmap for affordable housing across the Commonwealth — a group of 16 western Massachusetts legislators are advocating for amendments to meet housing...

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — UMass freshman guard Jayden Ndjigue stripped George Washington’s Zamoku Weluche-Ume, Jaylen Curry picked up the loose ball, and sprinted the other direction – leading a four-on-two fastbreak.Instead of taking it himself, which he certainly...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Seven towns around Franklin County are re-examining their town accountant positions due to a change in policies with the current software system contracted through the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG).For nearly 20 years, FRCOG has...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The Mahar School Committee voted this month to name the football field concession stand after longtime varsity girls basketball coach and Booster Club member Larry Fisher.Booster Club President Charles “Joey” Verheyen approached the committee...

By GARRETT COTE

Josh Cohen stepped to the line with his UMass men’s basketball team tied against Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night. The Minutemen were trying to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season, and despite free throws being the weakest link in...

By EMILEE KLEIN

The final clumps of melting snow in the backyard are no indication of snow on the slopes.With the power of snowmaking, gone are the days when winter sports relied on Mother Nature to provide powder for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. Ski resorts in...

By CHRIS LARABEE

A trend of warm years further cemented itself in 2023, as Massachusetts experienced, on average, its warmest year on record, according to new data from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.The average temperature around Massachusetts for the year...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Less than 48 hours after a city-based no-kill rabbit shelter slipped under its capacity last week, the organization formed during the pandemic welcomed four new additions looking for homes.“We never stay below capacity (55 rabbits) for more than a day...

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

It’s been a series of close losses for the Massachusetts hockey team of late. The Minutemen fell to Cornell in a shootout and Clarkson in overtime during the Adirondack Winter Invitational at Lake Placid. In its return to the Mullins Center last...

By DOMENIC POLI and PAUL FRANZ

ORANGE – Four people were displaced Wednesday morning when a second-alarm fire damaged a house at 86 Mechanic St.The Salvation Army Athol Corps is reportedly assisting Donna and Kevin Sweeney and their sons, Sean and Nicholas, following the blaze that...