Here are today's headlines:

Public forum set for zoning changes in downtown Northampton and Florence Center

NORTHAMPTON - The Planning Board will host a public forum next week on proposed zoning changes in downtown Northampton and Florence Center that would allow for additional multifamily housing, expand the possible uses for existing and new buildings, and set architectural design and form standards tha...

Area politicians weigh in on Healey's entrance into governor's race

NORTHAMPTON - The much-expected entrance of Attorney General Maura Healey into the race for the Democratic nomination for governor caught the attention of politicians and political observers from across the state, and western Massachusetts was no exception."She's instantly become the front-runner,"...

Tiers of joy: Easthampton baker opens new cake shop

EASTHAMPTON - What helps make a special occasion worth celebrating? Some may say it's the decorations. Others may say it's the theme. For Brandee Simone, it's the cake that takes the cake.The Easthampton woman officially opened her business, Many Layers Cake Shop, in December after graduating from...

Earth Matters: Hope, joy and the climate crisis

At a meeting of the Western Massachusetts Youth Climate Summit team last summer, Clover Hogan, executive director of the group Force of Nature, gave a talk about climate activist burnout. In the ensuing conversation, youth activists told Hogan they felt depressed, anxious, and helpless in the face...

UMass basketball takes down Saint Louis to end 4-game losing streak

AMHERST – Deep in the hole, the UMass men's basketball team kept digging to come out the other side.The Minutemen went 7-of-7 from the free throw line and made 3-of-3 shots from the field over the final three minutes to beat Saint Louis 91-85 on Thursday at the Mullins Center. It snapped a four-game...

Dr. Shelly Berkowitz and Dr. Kate Atkinson: Doctors support End of Life Options Act

Sen. Jo Comerford got it right, Dr. Mark Rollo's comments in a Jan. 15 letter are misleading ("Wishes Comerford would drop fight for physician-assisted suicide"). As family physicians in this community who have cared for patients in all phases of life, and who have a long history of support for raci...

Book Bag: 'Vanishing Points' by Gary Metras; 'Continuing Education' by Lisa Colt

Vanishing Points by Gary Metras; Dos Madres Press Gary Metras, Easthampton's first poet laureate, has long made the natural world a central part of his poems, including the woods, fields and hills of the Valley. It's a place he's often celebrated, noting the change in seasons and his own love of the...

Foundation of Amherst boys basketball's success laid on AAU circuit

AMHERST - Technically, Amherst Regional athletic director Victoria Stewart only has two brothers that play for the Hurricanes basketball team: senior Evan Stewart and sophomore Brandon Stewart.But she considers nearly all of them family because of the bonds they formed when she coached many of the...