19+ hour, 54+ min ago   (713+ words) GREENFIELD — With a new mascot, performance and feature calling back to the fair’s history, the 177th Franklin County Fair celebrated both a future of fresh thrills and the county’s past traditions. “It helps bring the community together,” said Tony King of…...

21+ hour, 31+ min ago   (943+ words) BELCHERTOWN — Nuclear energy is often presented as one piece of an “all-of-the-above” strategy for addressing climate change. But at a book talk last week at Belchertown’s Clapp Memorial Library, author Linda Pentz Gunter argued that nuclear energy is too expensive,…...

3+ day, 17+ hour ago   (272+ words) MONTAGUE — During a program titled “Forest Fires in Massachusetts: Myths and Reality,” a panel of environmental experts will explore questions about the practice of prescribed burning on state land and take attendees on a walking tour of the Montague Plains…...

4+ day, 15+ hour ago   (659+ words) Greenfield Recorder We’re writing in response to Al Norman’s Aug. 19 opinion column, “Seeing the forest through the trees.” A great irony is that, in arguing that Greenfield residents lack appropriate focus on larger tracts of forest in favor of street…...

4+ day, 21+ hour ago   (1033+ words) For Gloria Steinem, a renowned feminist activist, organizer, reporter and author, Smith College wasn’t just a school — it was “an enormous refuge.” “It was the first time that I felt free,” she said in a 2007 oral history. Steinem’s alma mater…...

5+ day, 16+ hour ago   (695+ words) GREENFIELD — One hundred and seventy-seven years is a long time to keep a tradition going, but for the organizers of the Franklin County Fair, the event is a piece of local history, and putting it on each year is a…...

5+ day, 20+ hour ago   (617+ words) Speaking of Nature: An unbeatable record — this time it’s serious Greenfield Recorder Today’s story starts on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 29. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, but every fiber of my being thought that it was quite reasonable for…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (681+ words) Greenfield Recorder For much of American history, community happened in places that were neither home nor work. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg called these gathering spots “third places.” They included diners, barbershops, coffeehouses, libraries, local parks and community halls. These were informal…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (1041+ words) The Frontier School Committee probably has enough college degrees to wallpaper the superintendent’s office, but smarts can’t beat common sense. In June the committee voted 7-2 against relocating a plaque that memorializes Greg Belanger to a more visible location under a…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (713+ words) SOUTH DEERFIELD — Ahead of the Oct. 6 ballot vote on the proposed new building at Franklin County Technical School, about 40 Deerfield residents gathered to hear from a panel of town officials and Franklin Tech representatives on the ins and outs of…...