What’s in This Issue?

Welcome to our Table of Contents. You can also receive a listing of all new items in the Indy each week by dropping us a note with your contact information at amherstindy@gmail.com. The subscription is free and will deliver to your inbox a listing of all new content, each Saturday at 6 a.m. We promise that we will not share your email address, nor will we send you any additional emails to clog up your inbox (except in the case of truly urgent breaking news, in which case we’ll send out a special dispatch).

ANALYTICS
Numbers in parentheses indicate change from the previous week.
.
Number of Unique Page Views Last 30 Days: 82,464 (-818)
Number of Unique Page Views Last Week: 16,763 (-4810)

*Number of Unique Sessions Last 30 Days: 59,374 (-1445)
Number of Unique Sessions Last Week: 11,428 15,671 (-4243)

Number of Active Users Last 30 Days: 43,722 (-1685)
Number of Active Users Last Week: 7950 (-4428)

TOP FIVE MOST-READ STORIES LAST WEEK
1. More Than 3000 No Kings Events are Planned for March 28, Including One in Downtown Amherst. by Art Keene
2. School Committee, Staff, Parents, and Students Are Unhappy with Elementary School Cuts by Maura Keene
3. Planning Board Chair to Housing Trust: Relax Zoning to Create More Housing by Maura Keene
4. Opinion: There Are Plenty of Reasons for Accreditors to Continue to Support Hampshire College by Ken Rosenthal
5. Planning Board: Downtown Design Standards Constrain New Housing Construction by Maura Keene

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?

ARTS

• Show Up! Sing Out!  Singing for Peace and Justice in the Pioneer Valley by Josna Rege
• UMass Spring Student Art Sale and Open Studios, March 27
• Five College Jazz Festival Returns March 26-27 by Art Keene
• 28th Annual High School Jazz Festival at UMass
• Singer-songwriters Louise Coombe and Cliff Eberhardt Headline April PVFS Song and Story Swap
• Flora and Fauna at Gallery A3 in April
• What’s Happening in Amherst by Art and Maura Keene

BUDGET

• Town Council Raises Concerns over More CPA Funding for the Jones Library, Requests Increased School Funding from Legislature by Maura Keene
• Library Trustees Approve $3.25M FY27 Budget Request by Jeff Lee
• Regional School Committee Approves FY27 Budget and School Choice by Kiera McLaughlin

CAMPUS

• UMass Organizers Seek Unity in Latest Popular Assembly by Colin Weinstein (c/o The Shoestring)
• Federal Funding Cuts Could Hurt Massachusetts Economy for More Than a Decade
• Opinion: There Are Plenty of Reasons for Accreditors to Continue to Support Hampshire College by Ken Rosenthal
• Letter: Four Hundred Residents Urge UMass Chancellor to Create More Student Housing on Campus compiled by Darcy DuMont and Kitty Axelson-Berry and signed by 403 Amherst residents.
  

CLIMATE / ENERGY / ENVIRONMENT / NATURE

• Hitchcock Center Reports Record-Breaking Amphibian Migration by Art Keene
• Celebrate Arbor Month with the Public Shade Tree Committee by Maura Keene
• Photos of the Week: Two Walks in the Woods by John Root

DEMOCRACY

• More Than 3000 No Kings Events are Planned for March 28, Including One in Downtown Amherst. by Art Keene
• De-ICE Hadley and Amherst Protest to Follow No Kings by Art Keene
• Show Up! Sing Out!  Singing for Peace and Justice in the Pioneer Valley by Josna Rege
• UMass Organizers Seek Unity in Latest Popular Assembly by Colin Weinstein (c/o The Shoestring)
• Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
• When We Fight for Public Schools, We Fight for Democracy by Kumar Rao (c/o Waging Nonviolence)

EVENTS

• More Than 3000 No Kings Events are Planned for March 28, Including One in Downtown Amherst.by Art Keene
• De-ICE Hadley and Amherst Protest to Follow No Kings by Art Keene
• Amherst Media Celebrates 50 Years of Community Media Leadership
• Celebrate Arbor Month with the Public Shade Tree Committee by Maura Keene
• UMass Spring Student Art Sale and Open Studios, March 27
• Five College Jazz Festival Returns March 26-27 by Art Keene
• 28th Annual High School Jazz Festival at UMass
• Singer-songwriters Louise Coombe and Cliff Eberhardt Headline April PVFS Song and Story Swap
• Flora and Fauna at Gallery A3 in April
• What’s Happening in Amherst by Art and Maura Keene

FEATURES

• Show Up! Sing Out!  Singing for Peace and Justice in the Pioneer Valley by Josna Rege
• What Parental Control Apps Miss That Predators Exploit by Robin Jaffin
• Town Manager Report for March 23, 2026
• Photos of the Week: Two Walks in the Woods by John Root

HOUSING

•  Letter: Four Hundred Residents Urge UMass Chancellor to Create More Student Housing on Campus compiled by Darcy DuMont and Kitty Axelson-Berry and signed by 403 Amherst residents.

ISSUES & ANALYSES

• Opinion: There Are Plenty of Reasons for Accreditors to Continue to Support Hampshire College by Ken Rosenthal
• When We Fight for Public Schools, We Fight for Democracy by Kumar Rao (c/o Waging Nonviolence)

LIBRARY

• Town Council Raises Concerns over More CPA Funding for the Jones Library, Requests Increased School Funding from Legislature by Maura Keene
• Library Trustees Approve $3.25M FY27 Budget Request by Jeff Lee

MEDIA

• Indy Celebrates Seven Years of Local Reporting by Art Keene
• Amherst Media Celebrates 50 Years of Community Media Leadership
• Protect Trans & Queer Kids: A Roundup of Writing about the 2023 Crisis at ARMS

OPINION

• Opinion: There Are Plenty of Reasons for Accreditors to Continue to Support Hampshire College by Ken Rosenthal
• Letter: Four Hundred Residents Urge UMass Chancellor to Create More Student Housing on Campus compiled by Darcy DuMont and Kitty Axelson-Berry and signed by 403 Amherst residents.

PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY

• Town Council Raises Concerns over More CPA Funding for the Jones Library, Requests Increased School Funding from Legislature by Maura Keene
• Board of Health Bans Sale of Synthetic Kratom by Art Keene
• What Parental Control Apps Miss That Predators Exploit by Robin Jaffin

RECREATION

• Cherry Hill Preparing for Early April Opening by Maura Keene

RESOURCES

• Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
• Protect Trans & Queer Kids: A Roundup of Writing about the 2023 Crisis at ARMS

SCHOOLS

• Regional School Committee Approves FY27 Budget and School Choice by Kiera McLaughin
• When We Fight for Public Schools, We Fight for Democracy by Kumar Rao (c/o Waging Nonviolence)

SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

• Special Town Council Meeting on March 30 to Hear DPW Workers by Art Keene
• Protect Trans & Queer Kids: A Roundup of Writing about the 2023 Crisis at ARMS
• UMass Organizers Seek Unity in Latest Popular Assembly by Colin Weinstein (c/o The Shoestring)
  

TOWN GOVERNMENT

• Town Council Raises Concerns over More CPA Funding for the Jones Library, Requests Increased School Funding from Legislature by Maura Keene
• Special Town Council Meeting on March 30 to Hear DPW Workers by Art Keene
• Hadley Selects Amherst Planner Nate Malloy as Next Town Administrator by Maura Keene
• Pinball Arcade Proposed for Mill District by Hilda Greenbaum
• Regional School Committee Approves FY27 Budget and School Choice by Kiera McLaughlin
• Board of Health Bans Sale of Synthetic Kratom by Art Keene
• Cherry Hill Preparing for Early April Opening by Maura Keene
• Celebrate Arbor Month with the Public Shade Tree Committee by Maura Keene
• Letter: Four Hundred Residents Urge UMass Chancellor to Create More Student Housing on Campus compiled by Darcy DuMont and Kitty Axelson-Berry and signed by 403 Amherst residents.
• Town Manager Report for March 23, 2026