James Paleologopoulos
Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief-
Following protests and lengthy debates, Holyoke’s city council approved sweeping changes to the city's zoning rules this week, aimed at barring new data centers from coming to town for the foreseeable future. -
The debate over data centers is ramping up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where the City Council is weighing a ban just as a developer eyes a particular parcel. -
Primary contests big and small have been shaping up across Massachusetts – but, come Sept. 1st, one in particular will appear on ballots in all four of the state's westernmost counties, plus some of Central Mass. -
After residents passed one of the largest budget gap-filling overrides of its kind in western Massachusetts this year, the mayor of Easthampton says the city has its work cut out for it – including actual cuts. -
https://www.wamc.org/news/2026-04-14/hampshire-college-to-close-after-fall-semester -
In eastern Massachusetts, the bog-standard cranberry holds the mantle of “state fruit” (technically, “state berry”).But in western Mass., a third grade class and several lawmakers have been the tip of the spear in calls to make asparagus the state vegetable. -
Calling out a rise in “youth disturbances” at Union Station, the mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, is also now calling for an end to free busing in the city – a move that’s attracting criticism from riders and local leaders. -
Fifteen years ago this week, a tornado touched down in Western Massachusetts, tearing through communities and scarring the landscape. -
“Waste not, want not.” That was the sentiment as dozens of households made their way to a special “fix-it” event in western Massachusetts over the weekend. -
Over a month after announcing the Amherst, Massachusetts, school would close following fall semester, Hampshire's leadership now says the college "does not have enough" funding for the final stretch it had planned.
