What’s in This Issue?
Photo: Dreamtime. Creative commons
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ANALYTICS ARE BACK!
Numbers in parentheses indicate change from the previous week.
Number of Unique Page Views Last 30 Days: 86,714 (+8631)
Number of Unique Page Views Last Week: 29,116 (+5598)
Number of Unique Sessions Last 30 Days: 56,969 (+ 7102)
Number of Unique Sessions Last Week: 19,871 (+4881)
Number of Active Users Last 30 Days: 38,095 (+6849)
Number of Active Users Last Week: 15389 (+5403)
TOP FIVE MOST-READ ARTICLES IN THE MONTH OF APRIL
1. Opinion: Hampshire Closing Opens Door To Regional Innovation Hub by Matt Hoey
2. It’s Not Too Late to Save Hampshire College. Here’s Why by Jonathon Podolsky
3. Hampshire College to Close Permanently at Year’s End by Art Keene
4. Opinion: When Five Is Better Than Four: Can Hampshire College Still Be Saved? By Jonathon Podolsky
5. Get Them Out of That Building Now. Councilors Demand Safe Workplace for DPW by Maura Keene
TOP FIVE MOST-READ ARTICLES LAST WEEK
1. Town Has Much to Consider with the Closing of Hampshire College by Maura Keene
2. Hampshire College Coalition Seeks to Raise $10M in Two Weeks to Forestall Sale of Campus by Art Keene
3. Letter: Lamenting the Transformation of the McLellan Street Neighborhood by Devon Glennon
4. Western Mass Mobilizes for May Day Economic Blackout by Art Keene
5. Interventions at Drunken Student Parties Cost Town More Than Dollars by John Varner
WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?
ARTS
- Open Call for Artists: Gallery A3’s 11th Annual Juried Show
- What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene
BUDGET
CAMPUS
- UMass Team Will Develop Plan to Modernize Campus Housing
- UMass May Day Fest Calls on University to Democratize, Decolonize, and Demilitarize by Bella Astrofsky
- UMass Amherst Launches Phase Two of Campus Decarbonization Plan
- Four UMass Amherst Student Startups Share $65K in Annual Innovation Challenge Pitch Competition
- Letter: It’s Time to Revisit Fieldstone Apartments’ Tax-exempt Status by Ira Bryck
- Letter: Hampshire College Has Abdicated Its Responsibility to Its Students, Families, and Community by Tom Dimitre
- Opinion: Amherst College Helped Found Hampshire College. Will It Help with a Just Closure? by Jonathon Podolsky
- Opinion: Amherst’s Year-Round Residents Deserve a Seat at the Table When UMass Plans Housing by Ira Bryck
CARTOON / INFORGRAPHIC
- Bigger and Better than Ever Before by Ira Bruck
CLIMATE / ENERGY / ENVIRONMENT / NATURE
- UMass Amherst Launches Phase Two of Campus Decarbonization Plan
- Adventures of a Native Plant Gardener: Scilla in the Spring by. Laura Quilter
- Jumping Worms! The Worm That Is Taking over Gardens Everywhere, and How To Control Them in Yours by Dede Wilson (c/o The Queen Zone)
- Photo of the Week: Beavers of the Norwottock Trail by Darya Zelentsova
DEMOCRACY
- UMass May Day Fest Calls on University to Democratize, Decolonize, and Demilitarize by Bella Astrofsky
- May Day Was Even More Important than You Think by Daniel Hunter (c/o Waging Nonviolence)
EVENTS
- Registration is Open for Kids’ Fun Week, June 22-26 at South Church
- Open Call for Artists: Gallery A3’s 11th Annual Juried Show
- What’s Happening in Amherst? by Art and Maura Keene
FARMING & GARDENING
- Adventures of a Native Plant Gardener: Scilla in the Spring by. Laura Quilter
- Jumping Worms! The Worm That Is Taking over Gardens Everywhere, and How To Control Them in Yours by Dede Wilson (c/o The Queen Zone)
FEATURES
- Town Manager Report for April 27, 2026
- Finding Italianate Buildings in Amherst and the Valley by Hetty Startup
- Adventures of a Native Plant Gardener: Scilla in the Spring by Laura Quilter
- Jumping Worms! The Worm That Is Taking over Gardens Everywhere, and How To Control Them in Yours by Dede Wilson (c/o The Queen Zone)
- Bigger and Better than Ever Before by Ira Bryck
- Photo of the Week: Beavers of the Norwottock Trail by Darya Zelentsova
FUNDRAISING
HISTORY / HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
- Finding Italianate Buildings in Amherst and the Valley by Hetty Startup
HOUSING
- UMass Team Will Develop Plan to Modernize Campus Housing
- Letter: It’s Time to Revisit Fieldstone Apartments’ Tax-exempt Status by Ira Bryck
- Interventions at Drunken Student Parties Cost Town More Than Dollars by John Varner
- Opinion: Amherst’s Year-Round Residents Deserve a Seat at the Table When UMass Plans Housing by Ira Bryck
ISSUES & ANALYSES
- May Day Was Even More Important than You Think by Daniel Hunter (c/o Waging Nonviolence)
\OPINION
- Letter: Amherst Fire Department is Dangerously Understaffed by Sarah Forsaith
- Letter: It’s Time to Revisit Fieldstone Apartments’ Tax-exempt Status by Ira Bryck
- Letter: Questions for the DPW Building Committee by Terence Masterson
- Interventions at Drunken Student Parties Cost Town More Than Dollars by John Varner
- Letter: Strong Fiscal Work Informs Long-term Plans for Pelham Elementary School by Julio Mallonga
- Letter: Hampshire College Has Abdicated Its Responsibility to Its Students, Families, and Community by Tom Dimitre
- Opinion: Amherst College Helped Found Hampshire College. Will It Help with a Just Closure? by Jonathon Podolsky
- Opinion: Baystate Throws Trans Kids Under the Bus by Ali Wicks-Lim
- Opinion: Jackson Katz in the Age of Podcasts and Polarization by Rizwana Khan
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY
- Updated: Councilors Decry Racist Handbill Circulated in Amherst. Call for Tangible Action from Council by Maura Keene
- Amherst School Committee Condemns Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Elementary Schools; Revised Policy Approved by Maura Keene
- School Committee Updates Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan by Maura Keene
- Reports of Investigations from 2023 LGBTQ Crisis at Middle School, Still Available by Art Keene
- Health Department Planning Education and Outreach on Tickborne Illnesses by Maura Keene
- Letter: Amherst Fire Department is Dangerously Understaffed by Sarah Forsaith
- Interventions at Drunken Student Parties Cost Town More Than Dollars by John Varner
- Opinion: Baystate Throws Trans Kids Under the Bus by Ali Wicks-Lim
RESOURCES
- Jumping Worms! The Worm That Is Taking over Gardens Everywhere, and How To Control Them in Yours by Dede Wilson (c/o The Queen Zone)
SCHOOLS
- Amherst School Committee Condemns Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Elementary Schools; Revised Policy Approved by Maura Keene
- School Committee Updates Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan by Maura Keene
- Reports of Investigations from 2023 LGBTQ Crisis at Middle School, Still Available by Art Keene
- Letter: Strong Fiscal Work Informs Long-term Plans for Pelham Elementary School by Julio Mallonga
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE
- Updated: Councilors Decry Racist Handbill Circulated in Amherst. Call for Tangible Action from Council by Maura Keene
- Reports of Investigations from 2023 LGBTQ Crisis at Middle School, Still Available by Art Keene
- Opinion: Baystate Throws Trans Kids Under the Bus by Ali Wicks-Lim
- Opinion: Jackson Katz in the Age of Podcasts and Polarization by Riwana Khan
TOWN GOVERNMENT
- Updated: Councilors Decry Racist Handbill Circulated in Amherst. Call for Tangible Action from Council by Maura Keene
- Amherst School Committee Condemns Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Elementary Schools; Revised Policy Approved by Maura Keene
- School Committee Updates Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan by Maura Keene
- FY27 Budget Presented to Town Council: Water and Sewer Rate Increases Are Coming by Maura Keene
- Town Manager Report for April 27, 2026
- Health Department Planning Education and Outreach on Tickborne Illnesses by Maura Keene
- Letter: Amherst Fire Department is Dangerously Understaffed by Sarah Forsaith
- Letter: It’s Time to Revisit Fieldstone Apartments’ Tax-exempt Status by Ira Bryck
- Letter: Questions for the DPW Building Committee by Terence Masterson
- Opinion: Amherst’s Year-Round Residents Deserve a Seat at the Table When UMass Plans Housing by Ira Bryck