WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

John Bracey, a founding member of the UMass Afro-American Studies Department, spent five decades teaching African and African-American history.

The speech comes as a new ABC Washington Post poll found a majority of Americans don't think President Biden has accomplished much.

The Republican's executive editor, Cynthia Simison, is retiring from the post in the coming weeks. She's been at the paper since 1977 and is the first woman to hold the top job in the newsroom. Simison will be succeeded by another veteran western Massachusetts journalist and editor, Larry Parnass.

A 41-mile stretch of the Housatonic River in Connecticut has been designated ‘Wild and Scenic’ by the federal government. It’s the result of a decades-long effort by conservationists — and it comes with perks.

Massachusetts casinos began taking bets Tuesday after years of discussion and debate on Beacon Hill around legalizing sports betting.

A spokesperson for the University of Massachusetts said there were initially 108 candidates for the chancellor position.

Classical musicians have filed a new complaint against the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, through a federal labor board. The players have been without a contract since August 2020.

After two environmental groups filed to appeal an EPA toxic waste cleanup plan, EPA lawyers argued in a brief that Housatonic Environmental Action League and Housatonic River Initiative don't have legal standing to bring the case.

The ordinance provides an exemption for social equity applicants, who are those who have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.

Supporters of renovating and reopening the Art Deco era Victory Theater in Holyoke, Massachusetts, say it has the capacity to be for the Pioneer Valley what Tanglewood is to the Berkshires.