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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Concerns over possible cuts in federal financial support to the University of Massachusetts, and tax legislation being considered by Congress, is leading campus officials to call for various belt-tightening measures, including spending reductions of 3% and 5% in all academic and administrative departments.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — Recent cancellation of an $87 million federal grant to support construction of a low-carbon cement startup’s manufacturing plant in Holyoke is not expected to derail plans that would have that facility open by 2028, though the company is reviewing backup options.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Arrests at a May 2024 Gaza solidarity encampment, alleged discriminatory sanctions and reported failures to address anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian harassment is leading the Council on American-Islamic Relations to declare the University of Massachusetts a hostile campus for Muslim and Palestinian students.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Even though located at the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir that provides drinking water for millions of residents in and around Boston, Shutesbury has no municipal water supply and has spent almost $700,000 to address contamination from PFAS, or forever chemicals, in private wells.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — With family roots in the newspaper industry and many years serving as chairman of Newspapers of New England, Holyoke native Donald R. Dwight, who died at the age of 94 on Sunday, is being recalled for a life lived by the same principles that guided his commitment to locally owned, independent journalism.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A restructuring of the progressive New College of Florida by that state’s Republican leadership in 2023 prompted Hampshire College to offer students there a respite and opportunity to continue their studies in Amherst.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Federal officials are restoring the previously terminated student immigration statuses for 13 international students at the University of Massachusetts, according to information posted on the university’s federal actions page Monday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — People for Ethical Treatment of Animals will receive all videos, photos and other documentation associated with experiments involving marmoset monkeys in a University of Massachusetts laboratory, according to a settlement agreement announced Tuesday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Molly McGovern, the daughter of U.S. Rep. James McGovern and Lisa McGovern and sister to Patrick McGovern, died unexpectedly in Italy while visiting a good friend and his family, according to a statement the congressman’s family issued Thursday morning.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

For a town like Hatfield, annual road maintenance has become increasingly challenging over the past 12 years, as state Chapter 90 money declines even as the price of hot mix asphalt rises substantially.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Farms across western Massachusetts losing important grants, such as those that support produce getting from fields to schools and those that help protect the environment. The University of Massachusetts having National Institutes of Health grants stripped, as colleges and universities see their academic freedom impeded.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Federal authorities are revoking the visas and terminating the student statuses of four more international students at the University of Massachusetts, increasing to 10 the number of pupils at risk of not being able to continue their studies on the Amherst campus.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — University of Massachusetts officials are offering a series of rapid responses to help six international students continue their studies on the Amherst campus, even as their visas are revoked and their student statuses are terminated by the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Potential layoffs of educators at K-12 schools across the state next fiscal year, which Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page said could be catastrophic, is prompting his organization to ask the Legislature to take a three-pronged approach to addressing the problem — use Fair Share Amendment surpluses, find ways to increase corporate tax revenues and dip into the state’s reserves.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — More stringent oversight of spending on salaries, capital projects and various non-personnel expenditures at the University of Massachusetts, and both reducing graduate admissions in some departments and notifying some prospective graduate students that they will not be able to study in Amherst, are underway, according to a letter sent to the campus from UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Five years after its approval, legislation aimed at improving K-12 education statewide known as the Student Opportunity Act is not infusing school districts in western Massachusetts with much-needed additional funding as promised.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Though Massachusetts is not one of at least six states that will lose out on $500 million in food deliveries promised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the leader of the region’s largest food bank remains concerned about future cuts.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Alleging there has been antisemitic discrimination and harassment at 60 colleges and universities across the country, including at the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is warning of potential enforcement actions, according to a letter sent on Monday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Natural Resources Conservation Service office for Massachusetts, located at 451 West St. since 1980, could close as part of 748 lease terminations posted online this week by the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Less than two years since taking the helm as chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Javier Reyes interviewed as a finalist to become the next president of West Virginia University.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Over the course of two hours Monday, legislators sitting on the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism presented numerous pro-Palestinian exhibits — resources that educators might use in their classroom — drawn from a members-only section of the Massachusetts Teachers Association website.