Here are today's headlines:

Smith College president Kathleen McCartney stepping down in 2023

NORTHAMPTON - Smith College President Kathleen McCartney plans to step down as the school's leader in summer 2023, a decade after arriving on campus.In an announcement Friday, the college said that McCartney - Smith's 11th president - will leave her role as president in June 2023. The college named...

My Turn: Peacemaker Paula Green's passion for uniting helped many find common ground

If I had to guess the number of times I interviewed Paula Green for this newspaper, I'd surely come up short.That's because Green, the Leverett therapist-turned-peacemaker who died Feb. 21, always seemed to be at the intersection of what was happening around the globe.Those first articles revolved...

In 'state of the city' address, mayor says Easthampton hits its stride amid COVID struggles

EASTHAMPTON - With public meeting spaces still closed until April 1, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle reflected on the past year in her annual "state of the city" address on Thursday, acknowledging the struggles and strides over the last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic."Community has been the saving grace du...

Valley Bounty: Keystone Market is a grocery store 'in the middle'

SHELBURNE FALLS - For Krunal Patel, owner of Keystone Market in Shelburne Falls, selling local food is his form of civic engagement."I want to be part of this community I live in, and here in western Massachusetts, local farms are a big part of it," he says. "I want to be the person in the middle,...

Women's Basketball: Smith College dominates WPI in NEWMAC Tournament semifinals

NORTHAMPTON - The last time WPI and Smith College went head to head this season, the game went all the way down to the wire and ended with a block from Elle Jo Whalen in the last second to secure the Pioneers' win.This time, it didn't take nearly that long.The Pioneers exploded in the second quarter...

Guest columnist Kate Atkinson: Vote 'no' on the solar moratorium

I was surprised to see a guest column in the Gazette with anemic science.We are in a climate crisis. We are dependent on oil - most of us continue to heat our homes and drive cars with fossil fuels. The well-intentioned people who are delaying solar farms are either furthering our reliance on the...

Back on the Back Porch: Festival returns March 3-6 with multiple performances in Northampton, Greenfield

For the last several years, Signature Sounds has tried to fight the late winter blues by staging its Back Porch Festival, a roots and country music showcase in late February/early March that brings a variety of bands and artists to the region.What started as a one-day gig in Northampton in 2014 has...

UMass men's basketball set to weather VCU's pressure

AMHERST – VCU doesn't quite wreak the havoc of its Final Four heyday anymore, but the Rams will still bring the pressure to the Mullins Center on Saturday to face the UMass men's basketball team.They lead the Atlantic 10 swiping 9.23 steals per game and force 17.3 turnovers per game, the most in the...