What’s in This Issue?

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ANALYTICS
Numbers in parentheses indicate change from the previous week.

Number of Unique Page Views:
Last 30 days: 87,290 (+19,082)
Last Week: 32,459 (+12,639)

Number of Unique Sessions
Last 30 days: 43,914 (+3816)
Last Week 10,971 (-1595)

Number of Active Users
Last 30 Days: 25,775 (+ 3019)
Last Week: 6796 (-1868)

TOP FIVE MOST-READ ARTICLES IN THE MONTH OF APRIL
1. I-91 Overpass Standouts Planned Across Three States by Amherst Indy
2. What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene
3. Updated: Hands Off Massachusetts – Mobilization Against the Trump Musk Agendas, Saturday April 5 by Art Keene
4. The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
5.Town Council Defeats Proposal to Rescind Borrowing for Jones Library Expansion: Paves the Way for Town Manager to Sign Construction Contract by Maura Keene

TOP FIVE MOST-READ ARTICLES LAST WEEK
1.I-91 Overpass Standouts Planned Across Three States by Amherst Indy
2.Letter: We Disavow Jeff Lee’s Letter to NEH/DOGE by  Mickey Rathbun, Maria Kopicki, Ken Rosenthal, Anita Sarro, Peggy Matthews-Nilsen, and Arthur Keene
3. Letter: Correcting the Gazette’s Misrepresentation of My Letter to the NEH by Jeff Lee
4.The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
5. AG Acknowledges “Fair Concerns” but Denies Bid Protest of Jones Library Building Project for Now by Maria Kopicki

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?

ARTS

• What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene

BUDGET

• Town Manager Submits His FY26 Budget to Town Council
• No Decisions by Town Council on Reparations Committee and Long-term Fiscal Sustainability Task Force by Maura Keene
• Long Division: The Growing Battle over Public School Budgets in Western Mass by Divina Cordeiro (for The Shoestring)
• Cuppa’ Joe with Paul: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget

CAMPUS

• I Scream, You Scream: 11th Annual UMass Food Science Ice Cream Competition Set for May 8
• Award Winning Creative Director David Korins to Be 2025 Commencement Speaker at UMass Amherst

CLIMATE / ENERGY /ENVIRONMENT / NATURE

• Opinion: Energy Independence Needed to Keep Us Safe by Darcy DuMont

DEMOCRACY

• Dear Reader by Art Keene
• Consultant Advises Committee to Get Started on Charter Discussion by Anita Sarro
• Can Border Agents Search Your Elecronic Devices? It’s Complicated by Esha Bhandari, Nathan Freed Wessler, Noa Yachot (for the American Civil Liberties Union)
• The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
• Photos of the Week: Hands off Our Students Standout at Kendrick Park by Kitty Axelson-Berry

DOWNTOWN

• Amherst Artisans’ Downtown Market Launches This Week

EVENTS

• Amherst Artisans’ Downtown Market Launches This Week
• Emily Dickinson Museum Hosts Ribbon Cutting for Carriage House Reconstruction
• Celebrate Community Storytelling at Ancestral Bridges New Community Space
• I Scream, You Scream: 11th Annual UMass Food Science Ice Cream Competition Set for May 8
• Cuppa’ Joe with Paul: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget
• Award Winning Creative Director David Korins to Be 2025 Commencement Speaker at UMass Amherst
• What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene

FEATURES

• Dear Reader by Art Keene
• Photos of the Week: Hands off Our Students Standout at Kendrick Park by Kitty Axelson-Berry

HISTORY/ HISTORICAL PRESERVATION

• Amherst Historical Commission Introduces Barn Preservation Program
• Emily Dickinson Museum Hosts Ribbon Cutting for Carriage House Reconstruction
• Celebrate Community Storytelling at Ancestral Bridges New Community Space

HOUSING

• Amherst Community Homes Project is Underway by Meg Gage

ISSUES & ANALYSES

• Long Division: The Growing Battle over Public School Budgets in Western Mass by Divina Cordeiro (for The Shoestring)

LIBRARY

• Town Manager Submits His FY26 Budget to Town Council
• Jones Library Building Committee Reviews Progress on Expansion Project by Maura Keene
• Town Manager Disobeys AG’s Admonition Against Signing Contract While Bid Protest Under Investigation by Maria Kopicki
• Town Manager Signs Contract for Jones Library Expansion by Maura Keene

OPINION

• Opinion: Energy Independence Needed to Keep Us Safe by Darcy DuMont
• Opinion: It’s Past Time to End the War in Gaza by Russ Vernon-Jones

PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY

• Police Intervene to Quell Altercation at Amherst Middle School by Art Keene
• Town Manager Submits His FY26 Budget to Town Council

RESOURCES

• Can Border Agents Search Your Elecronic Devices? It’s Complicated by Esha Bhandari, Nathan Freed Wessler, Noa Yachot (for the American Civil Liberties Union)
• The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene

SCHOOLS

• Town Manager Submits His FY26 Budget to Town Council
• Police Intervene to Quell Altercation at Amherst Middle School by Art Keene
• School Committees Raise Concerns Regarding “Portrait of a Graduate” Program by Maura Keene
• No Decisions by Town Council on Reparations Committee and Long-term Fiscal Sustainability Task Force by Maura Keene
• Support the ARHS Sene-Gambian Scholars Program with a West African Meal by Maura Keene
• Long Division: The Growing Battle over Public School Budgets in Western Mass by Divina Cordeiro (for The Shoestring)

SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

• No Decisions by Town Council on Reparations Committee and Long-term Fiscal Sustainability Task Force by Maura Keene
• Opinion: It’s Past Time to End the War in Gaza by Russ Vernon-Jones

TOWN GOVERNMENT

• Town Manager Submits His FY26 Budget to Town Council
• Jones Library Building Committee Reviews Progress on Expansion Project by Maura Keene
• Town Manager Disobeys AG’s Admonition Against Signing Contract While Bid Protest Under Investigation by Maria Kopicki
• Town Manager Signs Contract for Jones Library Expansion by Maura Keene
• Amherst Community Homes Project is Underway by Meg Gage
• School Committees Raise Concerns Regarding “Portrait of a Graduate” Program by Maura Keene
• No Decisions by Town Council on Reparations Committee and Long-term Fiscal Sustainability Task Force by Maura Keene
• Consultant Advises Committee to Get Started on Charter Discussion by Anita Sarro
• Amherst Historical Commission Introduces Barn Preservation Program
• Cuppa’ Joe with Paul: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget