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By GREG VINE

ATHOL – A number of area first responders and town officials will gather next Monday at Athol Town Hall for a hazmat tabletop drill overseen by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).The drill is being facilitated by Athol Fire Chief...

By GREG VINE

PHILLIPSTON – The Selectboard decided at its Wednesday meeting to approve a revision to Phillipston’s personnel policy relative to paying overtime to town employees.The change, however, affects only members of the Fire Department.Some town officials...

By Mike RocheHuman beings are generally not big fans of change.That trait plays itself out countless times in our personal lives and in the things that make up our society. Walk into a retail store and you are faced with a choice to follow the...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL – At one time or another over many decades, there has been a Newton in charge of either the Police, Fire or Public Works departments in Royalston.Now, Geoff Newton, the town’s building inspector, is getting ready to retire his clipboard. He has...

By CHRIS LARABEE

ATHOL — A reimagining of the Lord Pond Plaza, several floodplain management and numerous other climate-resiliency projects are slated to begin as millions of dollars in Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program grants head to Franklin County...

By SAM DORAN

LEXINGTON — Gov. Maura Healey signed off Thursday on a new veterans’ benefits law that she touted as “a big deal,” while Veterans’ Services Secretary Jon Santiago told a packed town hall that the Holyoke Veterans Home had been awarded licensure by the...

By MIKE ROCHE

As the details of the gun law passed in Massachusetts, which took effect on Aug. 2, are brought to light, it is obvious that this law goes beyond controversial to being — not just to this writer, but to everyone who is a responsible gun owner — an...

By DOMENIC POLI

Scant internet access, inadequate public transportation and other barriers could pose additional problems for Franklin County residents during an emergency, according to a recent report published by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.The...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — As frustrations between House and Senate Democrats mounted Wednesday night into Thursday morning, House Speaker Ronald Mariano decided to take his hospital oversight bill and a prescription drug bill that the Senate has prioritized off the...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — The chances of the House and Senate reaching a stoppage time deal on clean energy permitting and other climate-related policies are slim, negotiators from both sides said shortly after midnight as the sniping and finger-pointing began.“I was...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL – Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced recently that the Town of Athol has been awarded a Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] of $950,000 for an infrastructure improvement project along sections of South and Freedoms streets.The grant...

By SAM DRYSDALE and CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON – Lawmakers approved a compromise veterans service bill Thursday morning after deploying a rarely used legislative technique to fix apparent errors in the accord they initially filed.The House voted just before 5:45 a.m. to accept a sweeping...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

Massachusetts cities and towns would be authorized to open overdose prevention centers, under a bill the Senate plans to take up on Tuesday.The legislation’s supporters say the sites could be a powerful way to crack down on the devastating impacts of...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Representatives went five for five on approval of animal safety and treatment bills Thursday, mounting a late-session push for greater dog kennel oversight and a ban on the use of certain exotic mammals in traveling shows.The House approved the bills,...

By Colin A. Young

BOSTON — Without a single Republican vote, the Massachusetts House and Senate sent the governor a massive overhaul of the state’s gun laws late last week, crossing one of the most significant items off of the Legislature’s rest-of-July to-do list.The...

By GREG VINE

PHILLIPSTON – July 18 was supposed to be the final day for Phillipston Administrative Assistant Melanie Jackson, who had submitted her resignation.Instead, she will remain in the role, but with the new title of chief administrative officerSelectboard...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

The shock waves from the shooting at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday have continued to reverberate across the country, including in western Massachusetts.Local politicians reacted to the shooting, which resulted in the death of an...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Lawmakers from both parties signaled Tuesday they share a government watchdog’s concerns about upheaval at the Cannabis Control Commission, but Democrats who wield decision-making power stopped short of indicating what kind of response they might...

By SAIJEL KISHAN

President Joe Biden’s trio of legislative packages designed to revive U.S. manufacturing prowess is already helping regions from upstate New York to West Virginia. To the frustration of its local development agency, one that’s getting left behind is a...

By GREG VINE

PHILLIPSTON – Phillipston Det. Sgt. Sean Sawicki has been chosen to assume the role of police chief while the Selectboard continues deliberations on four applicants for the position interviewed Thursday.The Selectboard spent more than six hours...