Here are links to some local stories from the last week or so that we were unable to cover in the Indy.

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Local News Roundup
Amherst’s Interim Superintendent Defends HR Consultant After Union Calls for Her Resignation by Scott Merzbach (12/8/23). The regional school district’s interim superintendent is defending the work of a human resources department consultant as critical for the district during a tumultous time, responding to a demand from the school union that she resign. On Thursday, several days after the union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff called for the resignation of Kathryn Mazur, Interim Superintendent Douglas Slaughter issued a statement that Mazur, since her retirement in 2018 after 14 years as human resources director and 30 years as a district employee, is providing critical services to the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools. It was APEA, though, that late on Dec. 1 demanded Mazur’s resignation, basing its appeal on the contents of the non-Title IX report that was completed for the school district by Edward Mitnick of Just Training Solutions in Springfield. The union cited a section of the report where Mitnick determined Mazur was often hired by then Superintendent Michael Morris to conduct investigations into employee complaints or grievances, including some related to alleged mistreatment of LGBTQ+ students by staff at the middle school.Mitnick’s report describes those investigations into anti-trans activity as being “highly inadequate and lacking in thoroughness.” (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Hampshire Regional Schools Superintendent Diana Bonneville Announces Resignation by Luis Fieldman (12/07/23). Diana Bonneville, the superintendent of the Hampshire Regional School District, told community members of the five towns in the district that she will not seek a contract renewal and will step down at the end of the school year in a letter sent Thursday The superintendent’s announcement comes as teachers in the district have called for a change in leadership citing “a trend of poor decision making and significant errors in judgment,” according to a previous statement by the Hampshire Regional Education Association. In Thursday’s letter to the district, Bonneville defended her decisions as an administrator and that while she acknowledged some missteps, she said, “This does not give anyone the right to be uncivil, disrespectful, or malicious.” “I have yet to publicly comment on the various negative press and social media concerning my superintendency,” Bonneville wrote. “I am choosing not to respond to individual or personal attacks but will continue to focus my time, energy, and resources on collaboratively moving the district forward while improving educational opportunities for students.” (MassLive)

UMass Dissenters and Students for Justice in Palestine Hold Their Final Protest of the Semester by Eve Neuman and Alexandra Hill (12/07/23). Around 80 members of the UMass Dissenters and Students for Justice in Palestine occupied the Blue Wall floor on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 11:30 a.m. for their final protest of the semester. The protest was held to honor the lives lost in Palestine and the three students shot in Vermont last week. “We want to show UMass that there will be no business as usual, so long as they do not comply to our demands being UMass [removing] ties to Raytheon which is directly funding this genocide,” Ruya Hazeyen, a senior political science and Middle Eastern studies major, said. The protest began with three speeches from students. Then, the protestors moved through the Student Union into the Campus Center, where they laid on floors and tables from Greenfields to Tamales and began reading names of Palestinians who have been killed by war crimes. (Massachusetts Daily Collegian)

Two Months on, Palestine Solidarity Actions Continue Across Western Mass by Brian Zayatz (12/6/23). Hundreds gathered in Northampton on Sunday, with more actions to support arrested UMass students and pressure elected officials still to come. (The Shoestring)

Five College Scholars Join 1000  Educators to Push New England Senators for Permanent Cease Fire in Gaza by Scott Merzbach (12/06/23). More than 100 scholars from the region’s Five Colleges have signed onto a letter sent to the New England’s 12 U.S. senators demanding a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, the peaceful release of Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians, and a U.N. peacekeeping force to be deployed to the occupied Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. More than 1,000 scholars at colleges and universities across New England signed the letter.“Together, we are writing you to call for a permanent cease-fire in Israel-Palestine; an end to Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip; and an enduring political resolution between Israelis and Palestinians based on international law and the principles of justice, equality and dignity for all,” reads the letter from New England Scholars Speak. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Huge Housing Complex Eyed for Yankee Candle Founder’s Estate by Scott Merzbach (12/05/23).  A large-scale housing development, potentially with hundreds of homes and apartments, is being considered for the Kittredge Estate, the home of the late Yankee Candle founder that has been on the real estate market for $23 million since the summer of 2022. While no formal plans for a project on the property, bounded by Juggler Meadow and Amherst roads, have yet been submitted to town officials, members of the Planning Board on Monday began publicly discussing how to handle a development that, should it move forward, could change the fabric of a community with fewer than 2,000 residents. The Kittredge Estate began being developed in the 1990s. The 120,000-square-foot compound features a 25,000-square-foot home with five bedrooms, 8½ bathrooms and 11 fireplaces, a nine-hole golf course, two climate-controlled car barns that hold up to 60 vehicles. and a 55,000-square-foot spa building with a sauna, steam room, locker rooms, massage rooms and a 4,000-square-foot gym and full kitchen. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Amherst Landlords Decry Town’s Rental Permitting Plan by Scott Merzbach (12/03/23). A group representing about 500 landlords and others who rent property in Amherst is questioning the legality of a new rental permitting bylaw that could be adopted by the Town Council Monday, contending that imposing a revised inspection system will increase rents and may invade the privacy of and infringe on the rights of renters. “Why are we treating tenants like second-class citizens?” Steve Walczak, Puffton Village’s property manager and president of the Amherst Landlords Association, said in an interview at the North Pleasant Street apartment complex Thursday. More than a decade after the town first launched a program to register all rental units, the Town Council appears poised to create a more rigorous process to ensure that these properties are compliant with building, health and zoning codes. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Safe Passage Hot Chocolate Run Draws 6k, Raises $780,000 by Emilee Klein (12/03/23). Rain couldn’t slow down the Santas, elves, bananas and even an inflatable gingerbread person who raced through downtown Northampton in the 20th annual Hot Chocolate Run on Sunday, raising $778,293 for Safe Passage.“People got wet and cold and might have stayed longer sipping hot chocolate, but overall people showed up and had a good time,” Safe Passage Executive Director Marianne Winters said. Nearly 6,000 people drizzled into the racing area while speakers commemorated 20 years of the event, waiting out the rain as long as possible until their event started. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

State Attorney General’s Office Rejects Shutesbury’s Revised Solar Bylaw by Scott Merzbach (11/29/23). The state attorney general’s office has rejected a revised town bylaw governing solar arrays adopted at a Special Town Meeting in January. The bylaw changes sets limits on where solar arrays can be located, requires special permits for their siting and prohibits standalone battery storage systems. A Nov. 16 letter from Margaret J. Hurley, assistant attorney general for the Municipal Law Unit, informs Shutesbury officials that the state has disapproved the amended “Ground Mounted Solar Installations” bylaw, adopted by a nearly unanimous vote earlier this year. The disapproval was based on both a technicality, due to an associated map not being properly posted before a public hearing on the bylaw, and because portions of the bylaw are not in compliance with state law and the Tracer Lane II Realty LLC v. City of Waltham decision by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. That ruling states cities and towns can’t having zoning regulations that ban solar installations. (Amherst Bulletin)

State Gives Valley CDC Green Light to Convert Old Econo Lodge in Hadley into Affordable Apartments by Scott Merzbach (11/28/23). A state panel is overturning a town Zoning Board of Appeals decision that rejected plans to convert a former Route 9 hotel into an affordable housing development, meaning the $13 million rehabilitation of the property can proceed. The Housing Appeals Committee, in a Nov. 22 ruling, called the decision by the Zoning Board on March 20 “unreasonable and inconsistent with local needs” and that Valley Community Development, the nonprofit agency which owns the former Econo Lodge at 329 Russell St., should be issued a comprehensive permit for its plans to turn the hotel into 51 apartments for up to 63 low- and moderate-income individuals.“We are thrilled about the decision from HAC given the incredible need for more affordable housing in our community,” Valley CDC Executive Director Alexis Breiteneicher wrote in an email. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)