HADLEY Hadley couples who independently own the North Hadley Sugar Shack and Bramucci Construction are joining together to buy the historic North Hadley Village Hall from the town.After a Hampshire Superior Court judge denied a preliminary.
Supreme Judicial Court upholds Easthampton man’s murder conviction
Updated May 14, 2021;
In a decision released Friday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a 2014 murder conviction that sent an Easthampton man to prison for the rest of his life.
Attorneys for Ryan Welch, convicted in the slaying of his girlfriend Jessica Pripstein, argued that judges involved in the case allowed evidence that should have been withheld.
In its ruling, the SJC upheld rulings by judges C. Jeffrey Kinder and Daniel A. Ford and denied Welch a new trial.
“Finding no reversible error either in any issues raised by the defendant in our review under G.L.C. 276, we affirm the defendant’s conviction and the order denying his motion for a new trial,” the justices wrote in a 40-page decision.
SJC upholds murder conviction of Ryan Welch in killing of Jessica Pripstein
Ryan D. Welch during his arraignment in 2012. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/15/2021 9:13:59 AM
EASTHAMPTON The state’s highest court has ruled to uphold the first-degree murder conviction of an Easthampton man who killed his girlfriend in 2012.
The Supreme Judicial Court, or SJC, on Friday denied the request of Ryan Welch convicted in 2014 of the murder of Jessica Ann Pripstein in the couple’s Easthampton apartment for a new trial. The court upheld several rulings by Hampshire Superior Court judges C. Jeffrey Kinder and Daniel Ford. Welch had been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Retired Amherst police officer suing over denied promotion
Amherst Police Station GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/13/2021 7:55:51 PM
AMHERST An Amherst police lieutenant who retired in August after 32 years serving in the department alleges in a Hampshire Superior Court lawsuit that he was refused a promotion to captain in 2019 as retaliation for filing an earlier complaint.
The lawsuit against the town of Amherst, on behalf of David R. Knightly Jr. of Hadley, modifies a complaint that outlined a series of alleged actions by his superiors that led to a hostile work environment and compromised his health. Superior Court Judge Karen L. Goodwin issued a summary judgment in favor of the town in April 2020 related to most aspects of the lawsuit, including that he had suffered from gender, age and handicap discrimination.
Voters advance sewer line project in Hatfield
Hatfield Town Hall GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 5/13/2021 11:55:50 AM
HATFIELD A Route 5 water and sewer infrastructure project can move forward with minor changes following annual Town Meeting approval this week, despite a property owner’s effort to have an associated raw sewage pumping station moved from the site of a restaurant.
During Tuesday evening’s three-hour, outdoor meeting that took up a 29-article warrant, voters approved all spending articles, including an $11.38 million operating budget that is $44,546 less than this year’s $11.42 million spending plan.
Hatfield schools will see a budget increase to $4.79 million, up $107,656 from the $4.68 million spent this year.