From Other Sources: News For And About Amherst. Local News Roundup For The Month Of August 2022

This feature offers links to selected articles that might be of interest to Amherst readers. I favor, in these postings, with a few exceptions, material that is not hiding behind a paywall. Hence, I have reduced my postings from sources like the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and MassLive which are doing some great reporting but which make their articles inaccessible without some sort of payment. On occasion, an article seems too important not to mention, and in such cases I will post it, and leave it for the reader to decide whether to pay for access. If you have read something that is germane to what I’ve been posting in this feature, please share the link in the comments section below.

Chancellor Subbaswamy: UMass Is Not A Problem To Solve by Scott Merzbach (9/2/22). Even though thousands of University of Massachusetts students make their homes in neighborhoods in Amherst and beyond, outgoing Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy used Friday’s annual Community Breakfast to push back on the idea that there are too few beds on campus. “We are not a problem to solve, we are an asset to deploy,” Subbaswamy said of the university’s role in the community during his talk at the breakfast, his final one as head of the Amherst campus. At the 55th event that brings together a few hundred municipal, regional and campus leaders, and members of the business community in the Student Union Ballroom for a meal catered by UMass Dining, Subbaswamy explained that UMass will never provide 100% housing for its students. “It is not an option, as it is not aligned with the experience we offer our students, and it would put us at a serious competitive disadvantage with our peer institutions,” Subbaswamy said. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Brewster Library Project Shelved After Costs Rise To 16.4 M by Rich Eldred (9/1/22). Rising costs have prompted the Select Board to withdraw support for renovation of the Brewster Ladies Library. The board’s 4-0 vote on Aug. 22 also means the town will no longer receive a $4.6 million grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commission slated to help with construction. Instead Brewster Ladies Library Association President Joan Pernice said any renovations still sought would be locally funded. (Cape Cod Times)

Amherst Affordable Housing Project Scores 1.25M In Financing From Statewide Partnership by Scott Merzbach (8/31/22). A Valley Community Development project in North Amherst to build 30 condominiums, two-thirds of which will be affordable, is receiving an acquisition loan and predevelopment loan totaling $1.25 million. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. on Wednesday announced its support for the project, on the former site of a repair garage and trucking terminal on Ball Lane. The Amherst project is among $22 million in affordable housing across the state getting similar acquisition and predevelopment financing. Combined, those projects will create or preserve 466 units of affordable housing in eight communities, including Brockton, Chelsea, Fitchburg, Provincetown, Stow, and the Fenway and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Organic Juice Café Opening In Amherst by Dylan Corey (8/30/22). A new juice café is coming to downtown Amherst. Kwench Juice Café is a franchise with 17 locations across the U.S. and will open its next location before Oct. 1 under Janice Samson and Chandra Lee. The Amherst location is 19 North Pleasant St., formerly the Glazed donut shop. Kwench offers organic smoothies, juices, quinoa bowls and other food with locally sourced products. Samson and Lee said they were both looking for something new to take on in their professional life and were interested in becoming involved with a franchise. Samson works in real estate and has been at a bank for around 20 years. Lee is an accounting clerk and health and wellness coach. (The Amherst Reminder)

Emily Dickinson Trail To Get Makeover by Scott Merzbach (8/29/22). A hiking trail named for Amherst’s most famous poet, extending along the Fort River from Groff Park to the Norwottuck Rail Trail, is getting a makeover this summer. With a nearly $8,000 grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the ad hoc Fort River Watershed Association will be rehabilitating the Emily Dickinson Trail with new kiosks and several stations to provide information to people walking on the path. Bruce Stedman, co-director of the Conway School of Landscape Design, told the Conservation Commission at a recent meeting that the idea is to improve the trail as it runs along the south bank of the river, the longest tributary of the Connecticut River without a dam. The grant will pay for replacing the existing numbered posts that were part of an earlier interpretative trail and establishing kiosks at either end of the path, along with seven to nine way stations covering different topics. “We think it will be a dramatically improved circumstance,” Stedman said. (Amherst Bulletin)

Area Libraries Seek Lifeline From State As Project Costs Escalate by Chris Larabee (8/29/22). In a bid to secure more American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for pandemic-induced cost increases, Deerfield, along with Amherst, Orange, and five other Massachusetts towns, has sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker and to state Senate and House leaders appealing for state relief. In July, Deerfield, Orange, Gloucester, Grafton, Seekonk, Westborough, and Westford were awarded Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) grants to fund their library projects, but the grant process requires libraries to apply for the grant years in advance, setting an award in stone, which means unexpected cost changes — especially those caused by the pandemic — are not accounted for. Amherst accepted its MBLC grant in 2021, but inflation has ballooned renovation costs for the Jones Library by more than $11 million. (Amherst Bulletin)

Amherst Survival Center Brings Back Indoor Dining by Dylan Corey (8/23/22). The Amherst Survival Center will resume indoor dining and community activities on Sept. 1 for guests to eat, speak and build relationships together. Guests will be able to utilize the center’s indoor space from noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. A free hot lunch will be served from 12 to 2:30 p.m. in the dining room and guests can enjoy the pantry, resource center, computers and other services for individuals experiencing homelessness. The pantry has a variety of services including in-person shopping, curbside pick-up and grocery delivery. (The Amherst Reminder)

On Electric School Buses
The Town of Amherst recently applied, somewhat reluctantly it appears, for a federal grant to support the purchase of an electric school bus. It appears that municipalities are increasingly seeing the electrification of school bus fleets not just as a means for cleaning up the environment but also as a way to send clean power back to the grid.

Electric School Buses Give Back Over 80 Hours Of Power To Massachusetts Energy Grid by Peter Johnson (8/28/22). The power of heavy-duty electric vehicles is on display again in Massachusetts as electric school buses are being used to send much-needed energy back to the grid.  Several places are seeing spikes in energy use nationwide with hot summer weather. The city of Beverly, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, has another plan to beat the heat. The city is using its electric school buses to send energy back to the grid to help conserve and reduce emissions. Highland Electric Fleet partnered with several leaders such as Thomas Built Buses, Proterra, Rhombus, and Synop to make the idea a reality. (Electrek)

Boston Will Move To 100% Electric School Buses By 2030 by Michelle Lewis (4/13/22). Boston mayor Michelle Wu last week announced that Boston Public Schools will deploy 20 electric buses during the 2022-23 school year in a pilot program. Ultimately, Boston will electrify its entire school bus fleet by 2030. Boston’s current fleet is made up of 739 school buses, and around half are diesel. They are responsible for 11% of the city’s municipal emissions. The City of Boston website explains: As the department with the largest building portfolio and the second largest vehicle inventory after Boston Police Department, Boston Public Schools represents the largest source of municipal emissions. (Electrek)