NORTHAMPTON — The city’s Parking and Transportation Commission is considering the use of laser-triggered warning signals to direct tractor-trailers away from the  notorious “truck-eating bridge,” a downtown railroad underpass with an 11-foot clearance. In 2006 The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission recommended installing the ”Overheight Vehicle Detection System” warning stations as part of a study that examined reasons why [...]

Airing of an anti-Wall Street documentary outside the Bank of America branch draws about 85; Occupy Northampton tents remain in Pulaski Park.   NORTHAMPTON – About 90 people packed onto Main Street Wednesday night to watch the movie “Inside Job,” a documentary about the 2008 collapse of the housing market and the nation’s banking and [...]

While construction crews prepare to start building the new $17 million police station, downtown drivers will be scrambling for parking spaces. NORTHAMPTON – The long-awaited construction work on a new police headquarters on Center Street is days away from starting, and a construction fence has been erected around most of the Gothic Street Parking Lot [...]

When Construction on the New Police Station Begins, at Least 65 Prime Parking Spots in the Heart of Downtown Will Disappear for More than a Year.   NORTHAMPTON – Site work for construction of a new police headquarters on Center Street – scheduled to start in mid-April – will have an immediate effect on downtown [...]

The Ward 3 councilor tells health officials she will submit a stiff new marijuana-smoking ordinance   NORTHAMPTON – Ward 3 City Councilor Angela Plassmann appears to be back on the marijuana war path. According to minutes from the Nov. 15 meeting of the council’s Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs, Plassmann said she remains [...]

  Judge Charles Hely’s rulings on all three major motions back up city police in the Mike Ryan A&B case; the cruiser arrest video is shown twice in court.    NORTHAMPTON – When the dust settled after last week’s motion hearings in the case of former district attorney Mike Ryan, there was little left for [...]

Region’s House-Breaks May Be Work of a Criminal Network, Police Chief Says NORTHAMPTON – While city detectives track down suspects in a recent wave of house break-ins, city councilors and citizen groups are scheduling informational meetings throughout the city to calm frightened homeowners and provide tips to tighten security. In Ward 6, City Councilor Marianne [...]

City officials will start today putting out new requests for bids from contractors to lock in low interest rates for the $17.6 million project. NORTHAMPTON – Moments before his emotional thank-you last night to everyone who helped campaign for a new police station, Police Chief Russell Sienkiewicz took a pen from City Clerk Wendy Mazza [...]

But the ruling says drug laws are not the jurisdiction of the City Council’s Social Services and Veterans Affairs Committee NORTHAMPTON – The Northwestern District Attorney has ruled that two city councilors did not violate the state Open Meeting Law when they met the police chief June 22 to discuss a proposed ordinance to fine [...]

NORTHAMPTON – In a unanimous vote last week, the Planning Board extended for two years a site plan permit for the proposed new police station on Center Street. The vote, which came after a short public hearing, cleared the project’s last local permitting hurdle. In October 2008, the Planning Board approved a site plan for [...]

New page on the Northampton Police Department website lays out the case for a modern station NORTHAMPTON – The city’s police department has launched a web page headlined Need For a New Police Facility on its department website. The page features a lengthy narrative and links to a 2003 needs assessment study, a project timeline, [...]

Mayor Clare Higgins declares employee health emergency, orders immediate AC relief for police station NORTHAMPTON – Sweltering conditions at police headquarters on Center Street, caused by a broken air conditioning unit and a summer heat wave, have forced city officials to speed up installation of portable heat pumps at the Center Street facility. Buying and [...]

NORTHAMPTON – Ever since Russell P. Sienkiewicz was appointed the city’s chief of police in 1994, he has insisted that the department needs a new station. Badly. During a tour of the building last Friday, the chief pointed to cramped conditions, inadequate storage room for evidence and records, water-stained ceiling tiles and dirty air filters, [...]