Dave Watkins

WHATELY -- April 27, 2026, Whately's school building reuse subcommittee finalized plans to survey area farmers on commercial kitchen demand and push an RFI to potential building partners. The committee agreed to distribute a Google Forms survey to roughly 40 food-crop farms in the Whately area starting in

WHATELY -- April 27, 2026, Whately Energy Committee moves toward a heat pump study for the elementary school boiler. The three-member panel, meeting April 27, voted unanimously to pursue a technical assistance grant that would fund a professional analysis of replacing the school's aging oil boiler with a

DEERFIELD -- April 27, 2026, Deerfield's Finance Committee recommended a $20,332,069 omnibus budget for fiscal year 2027 at an April 27 joint session with the Select Board, while advancing two Proposition 2½ override articles and rejecting a third. The six-member committee, chaired by Julie Chalfant, voted

WHATELY -- April 24, 2026, Sunderland Annual Town Meeting approves $11.93 million override budget and new ADU zoning bylaw, setting up a May 2 ballot vote. The meeting, presided over by Moderator Tom Clayton Kevitz, passed the fiscal year 2027 operating budget by a two-thirds vote after Finance Committee

Greenfield sustainability panel advances master plan chapters, eyes $1 million in state climate funding.

Greenfield's Community Preservation Committee voted 6-1 to let housing developer RDI access a $150,000 award before construction begins on its 176 Main Street project.

Shutesbury's Finance Committee finalized its FY27 budget package and scheduled a May 7 public information session as the town faces a proposed average tax bill of $7,248, a $477 increase over FY26.

Shutesbury Conservation Commission unanimously issued a partial certificate of compliance for 59 Shore Drive at its April 23 meeting.

WHATELY -- April 23, 2026, Whately Board of Assessors tables farm machinery tax decision as valuation questions linger. The board, meeting April 23, revisited a longstanding question about whether to bill farmers for personal property taxes on equipment, with the town's own treasurer noting that the number of farms

Greenfield's Public Safety Commission heard accounts of a third-alarm, 14-acre brush fire that crossed Interstate 91 and drew more than 100 firefighters from three states on April 14.