From Other Sources: News for and About Amherst. This Week: Local News Roundup
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We have not done a “From Other Sources” in a while and there is a lot to catch up on. I have assembled some articles, mostly local, from the last few weeks that we were unable to cover in the Indy and that I think are worth reading.
Featured Story
Appearing in the Boston Globe this morning (8/22), and apparently not yet covered anywhere else, is this story:
about the Healy Administration cracking down on homeless shelter management across the state after a complaint from a resident of Jessie’s House in Amherst. That resident, the mother of an infant, said that she was forced into a sexual relationship with two shelter workers who represented themselves as ICE agents and who threatened her with deportation. (Note: this article is behind a paywall).
Are Paywalls An Obstacle?”
Here at the Indy we support several other publications with our personal subscriptions and we encourage our readers to do the same as they are able. And for this feature, we try to post articles that are not hiding behind a paywall. But sometimes an article worth reading IS hiding behind a paywall, and subscription to the source is just not feasible. For such instances there are workarounds. Check out some possibilities here.
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Local News Roundup
Bungling of Forced-sex Complaint at Amherst Shelter Leads Healey Administration to Rein in Agency That Serves Homeless by Dierdre Fernandes (8/22/25). The Healey administration has temporarily stopped housing additional families with a homeless shelter operator in Western Massachusetts while it investigates allegations that an employee forced a woman at an Amherst facility into a sexual relationship and threatened her with deportation if she crossed him. A second worker for the Center for Human Development, one of the state’s larger operators of homeless shelters, is also accused of sexually harassing the same woman, a mother of an infant. Both workers were fired in July. (Boston Globe)
Two Arrested As Peace Activists Continue Campaign Against Northampton Military Contractor by Dan McLynn (8/22/25). Demonstrators aimed to prevent L3Harris employees from entering their workplace early Wednesday morning, calling attention to the company’s ties to the genocide in Gaza. (The Shoestring)
Landform Observatory on Mt. Pollux to Highlight Pioneer Valley’s Deep Geologic History by Carrie Healy (8/22/25). While there’s a new observatory in the works in Amherst, Massachusetts, it’s not aimed at looking up. It’s a landform observatory.On a recent hot summer day Thomas Johnson, founder of the Friends of Mt. Pollux, and NEPM’s Carrie Healy walked up to the future viewing area of the observatory to learn more about this special place. (NEPM)
Delegation Fights USDA Office Cuts. McGovern Worries that Amherst Office Could Close by Scott Merzbach (8/22/25). U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern and several colleagues are criticizing a proposed reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which could include closing a Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Amherst and other sites throughout New England. With a memo from Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins released on July 24 that suggests the shuttering of USDA offices and various streamlining initiatives, McGovern, who was joined by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., in leading the delegation in calling out the plans in a letter to to Rollins.“This wrongheaded move, done without consultation with or even notification to Congress and without the consultation of key stakeholders, will significantly impact farmers and Americans who rely on modest federal nutritional assistance to feed their families,” states the letter, which was also signed by U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal and four other Massachusetts members of Congress, as well as those in Congress representing New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Floral Affairs Spreading Its Stems With New Location in Amherst by Aalianna Marietta (8/21/25). Seventeen years after opening Floral Affairs in Greenfield, owner Becky Guyer wants to continue capturing messages in the petals of her flowers by expanding her business’ reach with a second shop in Amherst.According to Guyer, the previous owners of Knowles Flower Shop at 172 North Pleasant St. approached her about buying their 900-square-foot property. The sale went through on July 1 and Floral Affairs opened the doors of its second location on July 22.“It was right time, right opportunity,” said Guyer, a Bernardston resident. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
UMass’ Lacreuse “Monkey” Lab Closes Down by Bella Ishanyan and Kavya Sarathy (8/16/25). In late July, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Lacreuse Lab posted a statement on its website that the lab, which studied cognitive decline and sex differences in aging using non-human primates, is shutting down .The lab had been spotlighted by a four-year-long People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign. The animal-rights organization also announced the closure in a press release stating, “VICTORY! Miserable UMass Marmoset Laboratory Closes Following Four-Year PETA Campaign.” The university confirmed to the Daily Hampshire Gazette that the marmosets were euthanized in May 2025. (Massachusetts Daily Collegian)
Amherst’s Mill River Park to Host Bigger than Sports Pickelball Tournament by Garrett Cote (8/21/25). Bigger Than Sports is back with another tournament, and after several basketball and flag football events, this time they’re shifting gears to pickleball. In collaboration with UMass fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa, Bigger Than Sports will be hosting its first-ever pickleball tournament on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m. at Mill River Park in Amherst.Bigger Than Sports is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering high school student-athletes in lower income communities to reach their full potential outside of the playing surface — preparing them for life after high school sports, whether that’s in college or the workforce. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Amherst Considers $750k Wastewater Treatment Study by Scott Merzbach (8/20/25). A $750,000 study to determine upgrades needed for modernizing the town’s aging wastewater treatment plant is expected to come before the Town Council for action in September. The Finance Committee Tuesday voted 4-0, with two resident members also in support, to endorse a proposal from Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring to hire a consultant to put together a plan for overhauling the plant, which came online in 1979. Located in Hadley at the edge of the University of Massachusetts campus, Bockelman said there are challenges ahead for the operation, even as the town has invested $3.3 million in a gravity belt thickener that helps to remove water from the sludge. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Lawyers for Amherst School Counselor Press to Keep Arbiter’s Decision by Scott Merzbach (8/20/25). Attorneys for an Amherst Regional Middle School counselor fired for alleged anti-trans actions and making inappropriate comments related to gender and sexual orientation are asking a Hampshire Superior Court judge to uphold an arbitrator’s decision reinstating her to her former position.Fired in November 2023 for conduct unbecoming a teacher or staff member, the result of an in-depth Title IX investigation involving three educators at the school, Delinda Dykes is scheduled to be back on the job next week, even as the school district is attempting to get a stay on the arbitrator’s July ruling.In a filing on Monday, a week before Dykes’ expected return, attorneys James A.W. Shaw and Nico J. Marulli of Segal Roitman LLP of Boston ask that a judge reject the district’s emergency motion, filed Aug. 6, observing that the schools have already paid their client $123,010.79 in back pay the arbitrator ruled was owed her. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Construction Progresses on Shutesbury Library, Fall Opening Anticipated, by Scott Merzbach (8/19/25). The cedar siding is complete, windows and doors are in place and solar panels are going up on the roof at the new Shutesbury Library under construction at 66 Leverett Road. Inside, where lighting, bathroom and kitchenette fixtures are in place and electrical and plumbing is complete, walls are being painted and floors are being installed, along with the installation of window shade boxes. A little over a year since the Aug. 2, 2024 groundbreaking on the 4,400-square foot, $8.98 million building, work is nearing the finish line, though officials say weather delays caused by periods when it was too cold and too wet, design adjustments and some supply chain issues mean that there is no formal date for opening yet. (Amherst Bulletin)
Amid Staggering Demand for Food Assistance, New Federal Law is Poised to Worsen Hunger in Western Mass by Olivia Petty (8/17/25). Food assistance organizations are bracing for spikes in already-record numbers of residents seeking help as new SNAP cuts follow the expiration of the pandemic welfare state. (The Shoestring)
Despite Federal Cuts to Higher Ed, Mass. Free Community College Presses On, Transforming Students’ Lives by Mara Kardas-Nelson and Diti Kohli (8/17/25). Until recently, Michael Hannigan figured he’d never go back to school. When he was in his late 20s, he’d enrolled in community college to study farming, an interest he developed when he worked on tobacco farms growing up in Western Massachusetts. Hannigan was the first in his family to attend college. To support himself, he worked as a janitor at University of Massachusetts Amherst.Balancing full-time work and school was difficult. After a semester, he dropped out, owing more than $2,000 in unpaid fees. It took years working as a dishwasher and a janitor to pay it off. “Whenever I thought about going back to school I knew that if, for some reason, I got overwhelmed with work and couldn’t go to school, I’d accrue that debt,” Hannigan, 43, said. “It’s one of the things that dissuaded me from going to school again.”Hannigan is now president of the Greenfield Community College student senate, president of the college’s permaculture club, and two classes short of graduating with a degree in farm and food systems. With straight As, he hopes to transfer to a four-year college next year. (Boston Globe)
Valley Bounty: ‘It’s Just a Joy’: Plum Brook Farm Preserves Farmland and Grows Delicious Fruit by Lisa Goodrich (8/15/25). Plum Brook Farm in Amherst sits on a parcel of land protected through the Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program. From 2004 to 2022, Bob and Sally Fitz operated Small Ones Farm on the parcel and grew tree fruit, berries, pumpkins and garlic using techniques that were gentle and friendly to both earth and people. The APR program helped transition the land to its current stewards.APR is a voluntary program that permanently protects farmland from development and preserves it for use in agriculture. Through a blend of federal, state, and local funds, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) can pay farmers for a permanent deed restriction to retain the land for farming. This helps farm owners access the financial value of their land with a one-time payout, and it lowers its value in future sales, which helps keep farmland more affordable for both beginning and experienced farmers. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith Colleges Named in Early Admissions Suit by Scott Merzbach (8/13/25). Three Pioneer Valley colleges – Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Smith – are among 32 higher education institutions named in a class-action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court on Friday alleging that early admissions policy constitutes an anti-trust violation and exacerbates inequality among student admissions.The lawsuit, filed by two students at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, a student at Vassar College in New York and a student at Washington University University in St. Louis, say the decision to continue early admissions policies by the colleges named contributes to an inflation in price students pay as well as to inequality by favoring wealthier students.Because early admissions are not legally binding, the plaintiffs argue, the schools mutually agree not to compete for students, resulting in a conspiracy that keeps tuition prices high among schools and favoring students from wealthier backgrounds who can afford to pay. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Major Conservation Deal Protects Nearly 2,900 Acres of Forests in Region by Scott Merzbach (8/12/25). In a second major transaction coordinated by the Kestrel Land Trust within the last year, a New Hampshire timber company is acquiring 2,864 acres of forested land across 10 towns in Hampshire and Franklin counties from W.D. Cowls Inc. The latest deal by The Lyme Timber Co., on top of almost 2,400 acres it purchased last fall for $20 million, continues ensuring that woodlands next to existing conservation land are protected, and more forests are secured for permanent public benefit. W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones praised Kestrel and Kristin DeBoer, its executive director, for helping the company, based in North Amherst, imagine and achieve its forest conservation goals.“Over the past 20 years, we’ve conserved over 10,000 acres of forests together,” Jones said. “That’s a legacy we’re proud of.” (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Amherst School Officials Submit Plan to Boost Learning Time by Scott Merzbach (8/4/25). School district officials are proposing revisions to the schedules at both the Amherst Regional High School and Middle School to ensure students are receiving at least 990 hours of structured learning time, as required by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.While the specific changes under consideration aren’t yet public, Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman said late last month that a corrective action plan was submitted to the state agency.Herman said the district is awaiting a response as to whether the proposal will pass muster and bring the district into compliance after the agency determined high school students this past school year fell nearly 100 hours short of the required 990 hours of structured learning time. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Bigger Than Sports: How Amherst’s Ian Waite turned a dream into an ESPY Award by Gazette Staff (7/14/25). Ian Waite fell to the floor, his body numb and his surroundings suddenly still.The 2023 Amherst Regional High School graduate and rising junior at Lynn University in Florida had just learned of life-changing news. Waite was selected as the winner of the 2025 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, which is presented annually at the ESPYs by former tennis legend and pioneer of women’s sports herself, Billie Jean King. Last summer, Waite founded Bigger Than Sports, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering high school student-athletes in lower income communities to reach their full potential outside of the playing surface — preparing them for life after high school sports, whether that’s in college or the workforce. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)