What’s in This Issue?
Photo: Dreamtime. Creative commons
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ANALYTICS
Numbers in parentheses indicate change from the previous week.
Number of Unique Page Views:
Last 30 days: 85,554 (-732)
Last Week: 14,897 (-2944)
Number of Unique Sessions
Last 30 days: 41,923 (-748)
Last Week 8732 (-1532)
Number of Active Users
Last 30 Days: 23,088 (+152)
Last Week: 5030 (-1006)
TOP FIVE MOST-READ ARTICLES LAST WEEK
1. We’re Doing It Again: Coordinated I-91 Overpass Standouts from Connecticut to Vermont by Art Keene
2. Letter: Hannah Moushabeck’s Homeland Tells Only One Side of a Complex Story by Andrea Neuman
3. Students Protest Deteriorating Conditions at Middle School. Superintendent Reports Vast Majority of Her Time Is Spent on Litigation, Personnel, Finance, and Operations. by Amy Cronin DiCaprio
4. Conservation Commission Pans Wetlands Incursion in Proposed Project at Atkins Corner by Maura Keene
5. Historical Commission Decries Amherst College’s Neglect of Two Historic Properties by Hilda Greenbaum
WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?
ARTS
- Amherst Recognized as a “Best Community for Music Education” by Art Keene
- Council Allots $250,000 for Public Art at New Elementary School by Maura Keene
- Annual Juried Show at Gallery A3: Open Call for Artists
- Nu-Folk Argentine Artist Mica Farías Gómez Will Launch Cherry Hill Cohousing’s First Fridays Series on June 6
- Artist Books and Photography at Gallery A3 in June
- What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene
BUDGET
- Amherst Elementary Schools Slated to Cut Ten More Positions in FY26 by Amber Cano-Martin
- Letter: Underfunding CRESS Undermines Public Safety by Debora Ferreira
CAMPUS
- UMass Opens New Pavillion on Orchard Hill by Art Keene
- Hampshire College Commencement Celebrates Graduates Who Continue to Push Back
- Director and Designer David Korins ‘99 Tells Graduates to Embrace Curiosity at UMass Amherst Commencement
- Opinion: Factories of Leftist Ideology? by Donald Joralemon
- Ask Perplexity AI: What Risks Does the Demographic Cliff Pose to College Towns? by Ira Bryck
CLIMATE / ENERGY / ENVIRONMENT / NATURE
- Area Residents Alarmed over Rulings Allowing “Zombie” Biomass Plant to Be Built in Springfield
- Photos of the Week: Garden Delights by Annique Boomsma
DEMOCRACY
- We’re Doing It Again: Coordinated I-91 Overpass Standouts from Connecticut to Vermont by Art Keene
- The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
- A Better World is Possible: Why Building Inspiring Alternatives is Necessary to Counter Authoritarianism by Barbara Peterson (for Waging Nonviolence)
- Opinion: Factories of Leftist Ideology? by Donald Joralemon
EVENTS
- Nu-Folk Argentine Artist Mica Farías Gómez Will Launch Cherry Hill Cohousing’s First Fridays Series on June 6
- Artist Books and Photography at Gallery A3 in June
- What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene
FEATURES
- Believe It or Not, There Was a Time When the US Government Built Beautiful Homes for Working-Class Americans to Deal with a Housing Crisis by Eran Ben-Joseph (for The Conversation)
- Ask Perplexity AI: What Risks Does the Demographic Cliff Pose to College Towns? by Ira Bryck
- Photos of the Week: Garden Delights by Annique Boomsma
HISTORY / HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
- Believe It or Not, There Was a Time When the US Government Built Beautiful Homes for Working-Class Americans to Deal with a Housing Crisis by Eran Ben-Joseph (for The Conversation)
HOUSING
- Council Allots $250,000 for Public Art at New Elementary School by Maura Keene
- Housing Production Plan Aims for 700 to 900 New Units Over the Next Five Years by Maura Keene
- Public Invited to Comment on Town’s Draft Housing Production Plan
- Opinion: Affordable Housing is Cruel to the Majority by Craig Judicki
ISSUES & ANALYSES
- A Better World is Possible: Why Building Inspiring Alternatives is Necessary to Counter Authoritarianism by Barbara Peterson (for Waging Nonviolence)
LIBRARY
- Council Allots $250,000 for Public Art at New Elementary School by Maura Keene
- Library Trustees Focus on Move, Federal Cuts by Jeff Lee
OPINION
- Letter: Underfunding CRESS Undermines Public Safety by Debora Ferreira
- Letter: Israeli Minister – Our Total Destruction of Gaza Has No Precedent. And the World Is Not Stopping Us. by Gerry Weiss
- Opinion: Factories of Leftist Ideology? by Donald Joralemon
- Opinion: Affordable Housing is Cruel to the Majority by Craig Judicki
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY
- Water Use Restrictions Lifted for Western Mass
- Letter: Underfunding CRESS Undermines Public Safety by Debora Ferreira
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
- Public Invited to Comment on Town’s Draft Housing Production Plan
- Town Manager Reappoints 19 Residents to Town Boards, Committees, and Commissions by Art Keene
- We’re Doing It Again: Coordinated I-91 Overpass Standouts from Connecticut to Vermont by Art Keene
- The Western Mass Resistance Calendar and Supplemental Reading List by Art Keene
RESOURCES
SCHOOLS
- Amherst Elementary Schools Slated to Cut Ten More Positions in FY26 by Amber Cano-Martin
- Amherst Recognized as a “Best Community for Music Education” by Art Keene
- Council Allots $250,000 for Public Art at New Elementary School by Maura Keene
- Topping Off Ceremony at New Elementary School Acknowledges Community Support by Maria Kopicki
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE
- Letter: Israeli Minister – Our Total Destruction of Gaza Has No Precedent. And the World Is Not Stopping Us. by Gerry Weiss
- Believe It or Not, There Was a Time When the US Government Built Beautiful Homes for Working-Class Americans to Deal with a Housing Crisis by Eran Ben-Joseph (for The Conversation)
TOWN GOVERNMENT
- Amherst Elementary Schools Slated to Cut Ten More Positions in FY26 by Amber Cano-Martin
- Council Allots $250,000 for Public Art at New Elementary School by Maura Keene
- Library Trustees Focus on Move, Federal Cuts by Jeff Lee
- Housing Production Plan Aims for 700 to 900 New Units Over the Next Five Years by Maura Keene
- Public Invited to Comment on Town’s Draft Housing Production Plan
- Town Manager Reappoints 19 Residents to Town Boards, Committees, and Commissions by Art Keene
TRANSPORTATION / ROADS & SIDEWALKS