From Other Sources:  News for and About Amherst: This Week, Local News Roundup

Here are a few stories that we were unable to cover ourselves in the Indy. We call special attention to the weekend weather alert and to Scott Merzbach’s story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Amherst home sales that points out that 52 single family homes were bought up by LLC’s between 2019 and 2023.

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Local News Roundup
Snowstorm to Hit Western Mass on Sunday Ahead of Below Zero Temperatures by Chris Bouzakis (01/17/25). A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from western Massachusetts from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning for heavy snow. Friday will be a partly to a mostly sunny day with a light breeze from the southwest with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. Friday evening will be dry, with temperatures in the mid to upper 20s. Overnight temperatures will be in the teens and low 20s.  State police warn of ice dangers in Massachusetts.  (WWLP)

Israel, Hamas Cease-Fire Brings Hope, Sketicism for Locals by Alexander MacDougall (01/17/25). The announcement of a proposed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has drawn a wide array of reactions from local organizations, activists and politicians in the Pioneer Valley and the commonwealth, many of whom have been protesting or closely following the events since the war’s beginning in October 2023.Though both sides have tentatively agreed to an end to the hostilities that have claimed more than 45,000 lives in the Gaza Strip, some activists in the area  are still planning a march in Northampton for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, including a reading of King’s speech, “A Time to Break Silence,” that criticized the war in Vietnam. “It speaks to the state of a country that’s always at war,” said Northampton resident Claudia Lefko, who helped organize the protest. “Hopefully the ceasefire goes into effect, and we won’t forget the Palestinians.”The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and to allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It would also flood desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory ravaged by 15 months of war, mediators said. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Legislators Tout Protections in Green Energy Law That Upends Local Siting Authority by Scott Merzbach (01/16/25). Possible rapid loss of both forests and farms in the Connecticut River Valley, as Massachusetts expedites the process for getting renewable energy projects online, is among concerns being addressed for the region’s rural communities in the new climate and energy state law, according to the local legislators who helped craft the legislation.“We are all partners in the commonwealth’s efforts to meet our climate goals,” says Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, whose 1st Franklin District encompasses 18 towns and 450 square miles. But mindful of protecting natural resources, and the impact of large-scale solar arrays on small towns, the legislation signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey in November takes into consideration when there is too much solar development in a town and the burden small towns may face, Blais said. The law includes a methodology for determining when a town may be saturated with projects. (Amherst Bulletin)

In $20M Deal with W.D. Cowls, New Hampshire Timber Company Buys, Will Preserve, 2400 Acres in Seven Communities by Scott Merzbach (01/16/25). A New Hampshire timber company has closed on a massive land buy of nearly 2,400 acres in seven communities in Hampshire and Franklin counties, acquiring five parcels for more than $20 million from Amherst-based W.D. Cowls Inc.Including 1,050 acres in Belchertown and 944 acres in Pelham, considered among the largest unprotected contiguous forested tracts in Massachusetts, the properties were acquired by The Lyme Timber Co. and supplements more than 5,500 acres of W.D. Cowls woodland in Leverett, Shutesbury, Pelham and Amherst conserved as working forests in 2011 and 2020.“I’m proud of all we’ve done to fight climate change, conserving a third of our timberland, maintaining working forests and hosting adjacent large-scale solar farms,” Cowls President Cinda Jones said in a statement. Lyme is working with the Kestrel Land Trust and The Trustees of Reservations to keep the properties open to the public for recreational use and to permanently protect the land from development for wildlife habitat, climate resiliency and water quality benefits. (Amherst Bulletin)

Former ARHS Basketball Start Named Washington Mystics GM by Garrett Cote (01/16/25). Jamila Wideman has added another chapter to an already illustrious basketball career, as the WNBA’s Washington Mystics announced Wideman as the organization’s general manager late last month. Wideman was a star on the Amherst Regional girls basketball team in the 1990s. In 1993, she led Amherst to a 24-1 record en route to a state championship. The ‘Canes won that state title by a score of 74-36, demolishing a favored Haverhill team. They were ahead 51-6 at halftime. Wideman joins the Mystics as GM after spending six years in the NBA league office, where she most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Player Development. She oversaw the league’s player development initiatives, managed relationships with external organizations and spearheaded the league’s mental health and wellness platform, Mind Health.“Jamila’s breadth of experience, range of core competencies, and passion for developing the whole athlete, makes her the ideal person to usher in the new era of Mystics Basketball. Together with her player connectivity, big picture vision, and intimate knowledge of the global scope of our game, we feel strongly that Jamila will be a bedrock for our athletes, coaches, and staff as they pursue another championship for the DMV,” said team president Michael Winger. (Amherst Bulletin)

“Not Your Mama’s ‘Newsies’’: Amherst Community Theater Production Updates the Musical with Women and Nonbinary Characters by Carolyn Brown (01/16/25). Fans of the Disney musical “Newsies” generally know the titular group of characters as boys, but a local theater company’s upcoming production is expanding the show to include female and nonbinary characters. The show, based on the real Newsboys Strike of 1899, is about a group of “newsies” (plucky, hardscrabble children and young adults who sell newspapers) in New York City. Led by the charismatic Jack Kelly, the newsies unite to strike against unfair treatment and price hikes. Some of the show’s hit songs include “Carrying the Banner,” “King of New York,” “Seize the Day,” and “The World Will Know.”The Amherst cast, however, includes female and nonbinary performers; ensemble newsies were likewise allowed to choose their characters’ names and genders. Director Megan Healey, a longtime fan of the musical who has studied its real-world historical context thoroughly, said casting the show that way is not only historicallyaccurate — some newsies were girls, and some were gender-nonconforming — but it also adds a certain depth to the songs. When those actors sing about things like gender inequality and unfair wages, they do so with a sense of personal conviction from their own lives. (Amherst Bulletin)

UMass Track and Field Finally out to Bid as Town Council OK’s Additional $800k by Scott Merzbach (01/15/25).  Rebuilding Amherst Regional High School’s track and its interior field, both in poor condition and identified as priorities for replacement in a town study released more than six years ago, should be underway by late June, shortly after the school year ends.  An advertisement seeking bidders to handle the estimated $4.47 million project to renovate the latex-covered asphalt track, constructed in 1999, was recently issued by the regional schools, with bids due on Jan. 29 — and if a qualified low bidder is identified, bringing long-awaited upgrades a step closer. On Monday, the Town Council authorized an additional $800,000 in spending from the town’s Community Preservation Act account that will supplement the $3.71 million previously secured for the project. That money includes $110,500 in CPA funding from Pelham and $136,000 in CPA finding from Shutesbury, approved by voters at Town Meetings, while $176,000 in CPA is being sought from Leverett at its annual Town Meeting this spring. The project will include an eight-lane track and an grass interior field in a north-south orientation, a change from its current orientation, along with a second grass playing field to the west of the track. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Dozens of Amherst Homes Snapped up by LLC’s over Past 5 Years by Scott Merzbach (01/14/25). Companies, rather than families or individuals, acquired an average of more than 10 single-family homes each year from long-term residents over a recent five-year period, according to information presented to the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust on Thursday.The 52 single-family home transactions from residents to limited liability corporations, or LLCs, between 2019 and 2023, and another 23 home sales from one company to another company, are among challenges the town is facing in increasing the housing stock and making living in Amherst more affordable, based on a presentation by Tony Duong, a community planner with the Barrett Planning Group. The consulting group from Hingham has been hired by the town to create a new housing production plan.Duong said he was sharing key compelling points in ongoing research, including into what is called the affordability gap, which is based on price of a home that a family with a median household income can afford. While the area median household income can afford a $285,176 home in Amherst, the median sales price in town in 2024 was $600,000, meaning there is an affordability gap of $314,824.“Which is double what we had deemed that the median household can afford in Amherst,” Duong said. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

UMass Endowment Adopts Some Sustainable Funds in “Modest Victory” for Activists by Dan McGlynn (12/16/24). The University of Massachusetts Foundation — the private, non-profit corporation that manages the public university’s $1.5 billion endowment — has pledged to offer two sustainable investment options to donors following a years-long campaign by student and faculty activists.  The two funds were recommended by the Move Our Money campaign, a student and faculty group aimed at severing the UMass system’s ties with fossil fuels and “dirty banks.” The funds both have A ratings on fund screening tools from the sustainable investing non-profit As You Sow, meaning they have no ties to polluters, arms manufacturers, or the tobacco industry. Student and faculty organizers told The Shoestring they see the move as a “small win,” and that they will continue to target the endowment’s indirect investments in the fossil fuel industry and arms manufacturing. The foundation’s move is the most significant development for UMass climate activists since the university system announced it was divesting from direct fossil fuel holdings in 2016 following pressure from students. However, a Shoestring investigation of federal filings earlier this year found that the UMass Foundation still has indirect holdings in fossil fuel giants, as well as dozens of companies on a list of firms with ties to war, occupations, and border policing around the globe. Two of the funds UMass was invested in received a D rating in environmental sustainability from As You Sow and two others received an F. (The Shoestring)