Dusty Christensen
ReporterDusty Christensen is an investigative reporter based in western Massachusetts. He currently teaches news writing and reporting at UMass Amherst.
As an international correspondent, he has covered topics ranging from Ukraine’s nuclear industry to U.S. retirees gentrifying small indigenous villages in Ecuador, reporting for outlets including The Nation magazine, WNYC radio, NPR, Haaretz and PBS.
As a local reporter in western Massachusetts, his work has appeared in newspapers including the Daily Hampshire Gazette — where he was a staff writer for five years — The Boston Globe, The Berkshire Eagle, the Greenfield Recorder and the Valley Advocate.
Reach him at dusty.christensen [at] protonmail.com.
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Residents of a West Springfield neighborhood were under orders from the state not to use their tap water after an oil-like substance was discovered in it.
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The more than 130 people who police arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on May 7 are back in court this week. And for some, their cases are already moving toward resolution.
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In recent years, there has been an upswell in worldwide interest in chess. It's a trend that started in 2020 with COVID lockdowns and the Netflix show “The Queen's Gambit,” and has continued as chess influencers get big on social media. And that "chess boom" has sent shockwaves through western Massachusetts, too.
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A survey of 1000 people conducted by an organization that helps pay for abortions in Massachusetts found that 40% of those who could get an abortion in the state don't know where they're available.
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Juneteenth was celebrated in Springfield with a flag raising outside city hall.
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Union to hold no-confidence votes after Greenfield Community College leadership withholds DEI reportGreenfield Community College's faculty and staff union is scheduling votes of no confidence in the school's president and provost. They say that those top administrators actively hid a scathing report about diversity, equity and inclusion at the college.
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Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan has released some of his office's "Brady disclosures." But he is still withholding the names of police accused of criminal offenses.
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Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace are continuing to bring awareness to Israel's War in Gaza as as the summer begins and most students leave college campuses.
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Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan has released some of his office’s records of officers whose credibility has been challenged.
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Members of the UMass Amherst Student Government Association have gathered enough signatures to call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes. They are requesting a meeting him him before a possible the vote.