NORTHAMPTON — Soundslide: Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren, Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, and the Pioneer Valley Gay Men’s Chorus graced the stage at the 31st Annual Noho Pride rally at the Three County Fairground on Saturday. Audio Mary Serreze; Photography Paul Shoul; full speeches at bottom of post. Audio: Elizabeth Warren Audio: [...]

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor David J. Narkewicz unveiled his fiscal 2013 municipal budget on Thursday, balanced with staff cuts and other savings. For the first time in many years, the proposed budget does not draw upon reserves. The $95.8 million budget, which represents a 3 percent increase over FY2012, includes the $79.4 million general fund and [...]

It wasn’t your typical anti-nuke protest — nobody got arrested at the crowded, family-friendly event. And top elected officials, instead of ducking controversy, proudly briefed Vermonters on their battle to send the Entergy Corporation packing.   BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Governor Peter Shumlin, Attorney General William Sorrell, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders rallied a crowd of [...]

NORTHAMPTON — A proposal by Mayor David Narkewicz to change the way the city’s ambulance service is funded got a green light from the City Council’s Public Safety Committee last Monday night, and is now headed to the full City Council, despite concerns expressed by Fire Department management and labor. The committee voted 3-1 to [...]

As residents mobilize to rescue a sugar maple on their street, questions arise about the city and the utility’s compliance with a state law that seems to requires public notification before a mature street tree is cut down.   By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — A group of Harrison Avenue residents are fighting to save an [...]

The ambulance “receipts reserved” account finished the last fiscal year with more than $860,000 in the bank, but on the 7th of July the City Council transferred $745,000 of that to various Emergency Medical Services accounts, including $450,000 for employee stipends. The EMS division is now self-sufficient and has outgrown its need for a dedicated [...]

The new mayor, working hand-in-glove with his finance chief, held the parking director’s feet to the fire over the course of two months — until the heat became a bit too much to bear, newly-revealed records show. By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — In a series of three recent formal memos to now-deposed “Parking Czar” William [...]

The Jan. 10 audit and management letter by Scanlon & Associates LLC singled out the Parking Division for poor record-keeping and lax internal controls; a little more than a month later “Parking Czar” Bill Letendre was out the door. What happened?   By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — The city’s annual outside audit, normally a dry [...]

The evidence — gathered from a bloody Easthampton apartment, a witness statement and a chilling E-911 telephone call — led the police and the DA’s office to charge Jessica Ann Pripstein’s boyfriend with her murder. Ryan Welch, who police allege slashed his own throat after the homicide, was arraigned today at Baystate Medical Center. Welch says he didn’t do [...]

By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — It’s official. Mayor David Narkewicz now has his city solicitor of choice on tap, following a brief swearing-in ceremony at City Hall Friday morning. “I feel great,” said lawyer Alan Seewald immediately after City Clerk Wendy Mazza administered the oath of office to him. “I’m honored to be able to [...]

A Hampshire Superior Court judge declined a request from BID plaintiff Alan Scheinman to keep Seewald on as counsel of record, a move that would have blocked his accepting a job as the city’s top lawyer. By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup has granted Attorney Alan Seewald’s motion to withdraw as [...]

With help from touring Occupy Wall Street activists, local protestors disrupted a City Council meeting with chants and demands for “conversation” — then seemed confused when Council President Bill Dwight asked them to set a date to meet. By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — The Occupy Wall Street Northeast Road Trip rolled into town Wednesday on [...]

The 22-year-old mayor moved quickly to replace The Paper City’s top lawyer and personnel director, and has set his sites on rebranding Holyoke as The Digital City. By MARY SERREZE HOLYOKE — Alex Morse — 22, openly gay, and new to elected office — was sworn in as the 37th mayor of this post-industrial city [...]

Florence businesswoman Nancy Gehrung denies charges she robbed a Massasoit Street home on Christmas night, using a gun police say was stolen from a Connecticut cop. She was detained after returning to the scene two hours later. By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — A 48-year old Florence woman with a history of run-ins with the law [...]

By MARY SERREZE NORTHAMPTON — Police were called to 73 Massasoit St. at around 8:30 last night for a report of an armed home invasion. This morning at Northampton Police Dept. headquarters on Center Street, Nancy R. Gehrung, 48, of 56 Matthew Drive in Florence, was arrested in relation to the incident. She was charged [...]