New panel to develop reparations fund in Amherst
Past Amherst area residents Henry Jackson, center, Lt. Frazar Stearns, left, and Anna Reed Goodwin, right, are featured on the Amherst Community History Mural, as seen through the adjacent West Cemetery fence in Amherst. Amherst is on a path toward providing reparations to Black residents for past injustices following the town council’s adoption of a resolution calling for the community to become an anti-racist town. AP FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/19/2021 8:20:00 PM
AMHERST Town officials are establishing a new committee to develop a reparations fund for making restitution for past harms to Black residents.
Area not exempt from soaring lumber prices
Mark Penfield of R.G. Penfield & Sons Inc. in his Greenfield workshop with some lumber. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Hamshaw Lumber employees David Flood and Adam Clement in the covered lumber building in Orange. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Hamshaw Lumber employees Adam Clement and Sam Costin help a customer load lumber in Orange. The price of wood has skyrocketed lately. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Lumber for sale at Hamshaw Lumber in Orange. The price of wood has skyrocketed lately. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Stacked lumber at Hamshaw Lumber in Orange. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
AMHERST An art installation integrated into the Boltwood parking garage that displays fragments of locally composed poetry in bright green letters on computer screens has rarely functioned since the structure opened in 2002.Recognizing that Poem.
Funding for police alternative in Amherst called ‘slap in the face’
Amherst Town Hall GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/18/2021 3:50:10 PM
AMHERST As a resident of Colonial Village for the past several months, Timmy Sullivan says he has seen first-hand a heavier police presence at the apartment complex than when he was living in more well-to-do neighborhoods in Amherst.
This experience is prompting him to support the full $2.2 million funding for a public safety alternative proposed by the Community Safety Working Group, known as the Community Response for Equity, Safety and Service, or CRESS program, and cutting the police department, noting that Black Lives Matter protests over the past year following the George Floyd murder have endorsed defunding police.
Hearing on building moratorium slated for Wednesday in Amherst
Amherst Town Hall GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/17/2021 11:38:19 AM
AMHERST A six-month prohibition on issuing building permits for projects containing at least three dwelling units will be discussed at a joint public hearing by the Planning Board and Community Resources Committee this week.
On Wednesday at 8 p.m., the panels will hold a virtual hearing on the moratorium being sought via a petition that has more than 830 signatures.
In an email, Elizabeth Vierling of Cottage Street said the goal of the petition, which shows discontent with the continued development of five-story, mixed-use buildings downtown, is not to block business development but to take time to consider how Amherst is developed and whether guidelines set in the town’s master plan are being followed.