Here are today's headlines:

Space crunch in elementary schools pushes Amherst to consider speeding sixth grade move to middle school

AMHERST - A space crunch at two of Amherst's elementary schools, caused by physical changes to the buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic, is prompting school officials to consider speeding the timeline for moving sixth graders to the Amherst Regional Middle School.Superintendent Michael Morris info...

Transperformance eyes return to Look Park

NORTHAMPTON - Transperformance, the annual fundraising concert for arts programs in Northampton schools that features local bands presenting themselves as other artists, was forced to go remote last summer because of COVID-19.But Transperformance 2021 is back on schedule as an Aug. 17 live show at...

American Rescue Plan showers Pioneer Valley colleges with millions

HOLYOKE - Area colleges and universities in Hampshire County and Holyoke are in line to receive millions of dollars in emergency funding from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law in early March.Holyoke Community College will receive $13.3 million in fund...

Another side of Scott Prior: Graphic work by noted painter is just one part of new exhibits at Anchor House of Artists

Before he developed a trademark style that merged a unique treatment of light, careful attention to detail and portraits of lush but lived-in landscapes, Valley painter Scott Prior studied printmaking at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and, after his graduation in the early 1970s, soaked up...

UMass women's lacrosse appreciates opportunities NCAA Tournament presents

Finals week just wrapped up, but now the real test awaits the UMass women's lacrosse team.The Minutewomen will face Temple at 4 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 Tournament in Chestnut Hill. The winner gets either host and No. 4 overall seed Boston College or Fairfield at 1 p.m....

Guest columnist Nghia Trinh: Doing our part to stop Asian hate

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is observed annually in the month of May to celebrate the culture and diversity of Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. 2021 is a particularly profound year for the AAPI community, given all that has happened since the beginning...

Guest columnist Michael Dover: Dear Mitt, it's time to reject the GOP

An open letter to Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Dear Mitt, Maybe it's time for a change. Maybe it's time for you to revisit your sojourn here in Massachusetts, when you actually governed. It was a time when you proposed and passed a landmark health care law that served as a template for the Affordabl...

Chalk talk with erin feldman: Confront biases to make better art

Turbulent emotional states are a crucial aspect of creativity - artists thrill at the shock of inspiration when great ideas come, as much as we are sated when the balm of resolution and solution ebb upon finishing a project.We hanker for this sine wave to curve our pens, paintbrushes, and pointe sho...

Rockwell's art and times

With six full galleries providing a sweep of the illustrator's art from his early, immature works to the more reverential images he created as an adult, through May 31 The Norman Rockwell Museum provides visitors with a rare view of his body of work.In "The Norman Rockwell Album" (Doubleday and Co...