Valley Rising Compilation Album Release Party: Joshua Meltzer, Dave Dersham, Wolfman Conspiracy, Doug Ratner and The Watchmen, The Raft, Sandy Bailey, Infinite August, Lux Deluxe, Jamie Kent & The Options, The Sun Parade, Darlingside. Iron Horse Music Hall, 16 Center Street, Sunday Dec. 11, 7 p.m.; $15 at the door.. NORTHAMPTON— “Hey, that t-shirt’s a [...]

The New Owners Averted Disaster when a Freak October Snowstorm Knocked Out Power, Almost Ruining their $5,000 Opening Week Food Order By DAVID REID NORTHAMPTON – The long-awaited opening of Jake’s, the iconic downtown no-frills restaurant, got off to a stumble two weeks ago because of the massive October 29-30 snowstorm that knocked out power [...]

(audio: Steve Connor addresses the City Council. Subscribe to NM Audio on iTunes) With dwindling job prospects, financial and personal problems and a rising suicide suicide rate, some reservists and National Guard members are struggling. Northampton’s veterans agent wants to help.    NORTHAMPTON – Returning veterans, national guardsmen and reservists are having trouble finding jobs, need [...]

With deed in hand, the Tremaine family is happy in their new Park Hill Road home  NORTHAMPTON – Six months after arriving here for his new job at the VA and quickly finding a house he thought was perfect for him and his family, Richard Tremaine is now the proud owner of the “Landfill House” [...]

    NORTHAMPTON – A reshuffling of federal healthcare services for veterans will combine Central and Western Mass. into one mega-region, centralizing its administration at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Leeds, it was announced this week.  The realignment, scheduled to take place in October, will provide a regional approach to healthcare [...]

As money pours in to buy 120 acres of prime farmland by a Jan. 31 deadline, Grow Food Northampton founder Lilly Lombard is still waiting to exhale. NORTHAMPTON — When Munroe Street resident Lilly Jeffs Lombard adopts a cause, watch out. A longtime advocate for the environment and urban agriculture here, Lombard has a reputation [...]

The mountaintop Summit House, visible from throughout the region, remained closed all season while state engineers, inspectors and state bureaucrats investigated safety problems and how to fix them. HADLEY – Almost a year after state inspectors first identified safety problems with the wooden deck and railings at the historic Summit House atop Mt. Holyoke here, an [...]

CITY GETS $500,000 GRANT TO BUY AND START BUILDING ATHLETIC FIELDS NORTHAMPTON – The city has received a $500,000 grant to buy, design and start construction on the Florence Fields Recreation Area on Meadow Street, Mayor Mary Clare Higgins stated in a press release today. The grant, from the state Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for [...]

Among the old municipal files recently found in City Hall safe was a June 1776 call for town citizens to vote in support of independence from Great Britain NORTHAMPTON – City Clerk Wendy Mazza was in her City Hall office this summer, rummaging through the large safe where vital city records are kept, when a [...]

King Street Zoning Forum Tonight NORTHAMPTON – Tonight’s public forum on proposed zoning changes for King Street will be held tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 29) at 7-9 p.m. at the Jackson Street School auditorium. The public meeting is the second of two planned by the city’s Zoning Revisions Committee (ZRC), which since June has been reviewing [...]

Manhan Rail Trail Bridge Over Rt. 10 To Be Installed Sunday, Again.  NORTHAMPTON – The erection of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge over Route 10, linking rail trails here and in Easthampton, will take place this Sunday, Sept. 26, according to city Planning and Development Director Wayne M. Feiden. The several-hour process will close Route 10 to [...]

NORTHAMPTON — Grow Food Northampton, a non-profit organization formed earlier this year to encourage local agriculture, announced yesterday that it has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Trust for Public Land to buy 117 acres of the sprawling Bean/Allard farm between Spring Street and the Mill River. The Trust is working with the city and [...]

City records show the coffee giant hasn’t secured an annual sidewalk permit for tables and chairs since 2004 NORTHAMPTON – The Starbucks coffee shop downtown has a new interior look from its recent renovation, and it’s more antiquey and stainless and businesslike. The store has a new outside look, too: No tables and no chairs. [...]

NORTHAMPTON — Thanks to Realtor Craig Della Penna, there’s now one less place to park your car downtown. There are, however, 10 more places to park your bicycle. Last Friday, a flatbed truck rolled up to Pedal to Properties, Della Penna’s full-service real estate shop at 14 Strong Ave., and two workers unloaded and installed [...]

NORTHAMPTON — This week we are going back to the “random assortment of places I see from my car” method of restaurant selection. Next week will be Asian-themed, and at some point there will be a coffee special. In the meantime, here are my lunches from the past few days: Kathy’s Diner The Meal Chicken [...]