James Paleologopoulos

A stretch of Springfield, Mass., that was once home to a dead mall and acres of empty parking lots is back to hosting customers.

While an official selection won’t happen until January, the city council in Springfield, Mass. appears ready to be led by a Black woman for the first time in its history.

Cannabis regulators in Massachusetts have given their final approvals on special "social consumption" license types - licenses that could pave the way for new kinds of marijuana-related businesses and offerings.It took some time to finalize and it could a while before the first licensees emerge, but officials tell WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos they're optimistic.

The city council in Northampton, Massachusetts, has greenlit several green-minded efforts for the city’s school district – all building toward the city’s carbon neutrality goals. Through a special fund and borrowing, the projects will cost about $12 million – with most of it going toward a geothermal heating system for Northampton High School.The projects received unanimous approval from the city’s school committee – but the council needed a special meeting to get them across the finish line.WAMC’s Samantha Simmons spoke with Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos about the development.

After a year of seeing need for their services only rise, a nonprofit in western Massachusetts is nearly done collecting toys for its annual gift giveaway. Serving rural western Mass. and beyond, “It Takes a Village” is still taking gift donations this week – all part of an effort to connect families in need with gifts for young ones.

Months after the Trump administration pulled millions in grant funding, a Somerville-based startup with MIT roots says it’s pausing a $150 million factory project in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Plans for construction work have been iced while the company navigates its own cuts, as well. Local leaders tell WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos that the stalled project is a blow to what had been promising plans.

With recent snow on the ground and tons being pumped out of snowmakers, the slopes at Berkshire East in western Massachusetts are ready to go as ski season shifts into full gear. The resort’s leadership says more people are hitting the slopes these days – both in Franklin County and across the country. Berkshire East officials as well as Congressman Richard Neal gathered Monday to mark the progress - and how key, federal support for businesses during the pandemic played a role.

Shooting like soccer, punting like football and occasionally dribbling like basketball – Gaelic football shares plenty with modern American sports. It’s a game that hails from the Emerald Isle and for a few hours, spectators could see it play out in a slice of the Pioneer Valley – all part of a cultural learning opportunity.

A campaign to unseat one of the longest-serving state representatives in the Pioneer Valley is in full swing. With Democratic primaries less than a year away, a progressive community activist from Wilbraham says he hopes to represent a slice of Hampden County.

Dozens of families in Holyoke, Massachusetts, are trying to pick up the pieces after two separate fires in less than 24 hours destroyed multiple apartment buildings.