Here are today's headlines:

COVID-19 response, budget and new programs focus of Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra's first month in office

NORTHAMPTON - Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra said Monday that her new administration has had "an extraordinarily busy 28 days" since she took office on Jan. 3, tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, working to implement new social programs that have been in the works for years and...

Baystate using life-support machine to aid most severe COVID-19 patients

A machine typically used for a few hours up to a few days for patients with life-threatening, heart-related conditions has been used recently for far greater lengths of time to support the recovery of COVID-19 patients."It is a last-chance option for COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU...

Company sets up info line for residents displaced from Hadley housing complex

HADLEY - With dozens of senior citizens and several families remaining displaced from their Hadley apartments, the management company for the Vesta complex is establishing a dedicated phone line and email to regularly provide updates to their tenants.The tools to get out information were announced...

State campaign finance office hits former Easthampton mayoral candidates with fines

EASTHAMPTON - A former city mayoral candidate has been fined for not submitting a year-end campaign finance disclosure report to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.The state office issued a civil penalty notice to Keith Routhier on Friday, Jan. 21, indicating that he had missed the...

Former Granby coach Tim Sheehan 'all-in' leading Agawam boys basketball

Tim Sheehan extends his fist to every Agawam boys basketball player during layup lines, inviting a bump. The Brownies coach asks them how they're doing off the court, as well, during these exchanges."He's really personable, he loves to get to know us," Agawam senior point guard Dylan Wesley said. "H...

Guest columnist Gary Tartakov: Manchin and Sinema are not the problem

Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are not the Democrat's great problem - we are.We, the big and little "D" democrats, who want to protect the existence of fair elections, that Manchin and Sinema are blocking in the Senate, who haven't already begun to work on defeating Republicans around the coun...

Hampshire Hope: Jails take huge step toward rehab

The Hampshire Jail and House of Correction took a huge step forward in October when it opened a fully functioning clinic within the jail to provide medication for opioid use disorder. In light of the nation's opioid epidemic and the involvement of people with opioid use disorders in the criminal jus...

South Hadley boys basketball holds off Easthampon rally for road win

EASTHAMPTON – Brady Mendoza waited in the corner for a pass only he knew was coming.The South Hadley boys basketball team held a tenuous six-point lead with two minutes remaining at Easthampton. The Eagles had already nearly erased a 16-point halftime deficit several times and threatened to tighten...