Here are today's headlines:

Judge hears arguments in Jones Library case

NORTHAMPTON - A Hampshire Superior Court judge is promising to have a decision this week on whether Amherst residents who didn't get enough voter signatures to bring the $36.3 million Jones Library project to a townwide referendum are entitled to some form of court-ordered relief.During an hourlong...

Engineer, 'pragmatist' Greenberg announces bid for mayor

NORTHAMPTON - "He poops. She poops. They poop. Everybody poops," reads the logo on the website of mayoral candidate Jared Greenberg. "Cities control sewers, not language." Greenberg, an electrical engineer and self-described non-partisan pragmatist and technocrat, recently announced he is running fo...

Four being interviewed for Fort River principal post

AMHERST - A Northampton elementary school teacher is among four finalists being interviewed this week to become the next principal at Fort River Elementary School.Sadie Cora, who has taught third and fourth grades at Jackson Street Elementary School for the past eight years, is joined as a candidate...

Jazz in varied forms: Valley Jazz Voices stages virtual concert, with a livestreamed segment by guest artist Karrin Allyson

Like any number of vocal groups and large instrumental ensembles, the members of Valley Jazz Voices (VJV) found themselves initially stymied when COVID-19 arrived in the area in early 2020 and they were no longer able to rehearse or perform in person.And switching rehearsals to Zoom, even if people...

UMass football notebook: Spring game will pit offense against defense

The UMass football team's first intrasquad spring game in two years will pit its offense against its defense. Rather than dividing the team into "maroon" and "white" halves and letting them go, head coach Walt Bell and his staff have built more of a structure around Saturday's proceedings at McGuirk...

Guest columnist Northampton High-speed Community Network Coalition: Why support a municipal network?

You may have received the Northampton Internet Survey in the mail or seen it online. Please fill it in showing your support of the proposed municipal network. Here are just some of the many ways we believe such a network would benefit the city:■Competition. Right now, one company effectively has a...

Guest columnist Marc Warner: Progressive ideology shouldn't drive Northampton policing budget

The recording of the Northampton Arts Council's most recent Zoom meeting shows what could hardly be a nicer group of people. The primary item of the night's agenda, however, was not their usual subject, and the Council's consequent action - the latest in a series of similar actions elsewhere in the...

Mass. retains House seats as population tops 7 million

BOSTON - Massachusetts will retain all nine of its U.S. House seats following the release of new Census Bureau data Monday that showed the state's total population topping 7 million for the first time - up from 6.5 million in the 2010 census.Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who oversees...

A new stage: After taking over Iconica Social Club during pandemic, actors have high hopes for future

NORTHAMPTON - Over the summer, Will Swyers and Ximena Salmerón, both actors, were looking for a new project. Something bold, they said. But it wasn't an acting endeavor they turned to.They ended up taking over downtown cafe Iconica Social Club, "which was a lot more bold than anything we had in mind...