Hatfield News

A pull to connect with the memory of loved ones who have died is part of many a donation to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund, whether the contribution is a long-standing family tradition, or a first-time gift.

Sandra A. Hough walked to her mailbox last week and dropped in a $25 check for the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund.

People driving on the Calvin Coolidge Bridge after dark have been doing double-takes since a Christmas tree with 5,000 lights appeared Wednesday in the middle of the Connecticut River.

Joe Grabon of the Michael F. Curtin Post 8006 in Florence. 2 GORDON DANIELS Vietnam veteran Mike McCarthy of Florence.

State police arrested a 63-year-old Springfield man early Friday morning and charged him with drunken driving after he pulled behind a trooper, - who had been conducting an unrelated vehicle stop on Interstate 91 - to ask for directions.

Every day people load up on food at the Western Massachusetts Food Bank in Hatfield.

SPRINGFIELD/HATFIELD, Mass. -- More and more Americans are going hungry. While there have been signs of economic recovery, according to the Department of Agriculture, 17 million people cannot afford adequate food.

Voters at Town Meeting adopted local option taxes for meals and rooms Thursday. The .75 percent tax on restaurant meals will bring the town an additional $18,368 per year in revenues, according to estimates by the state.

Choose your own path to school regionalization, or we'll choose it for you. That was the message from the state over the past couple of years, and it was enough to keep small Hampshire County schools scrambling.

Chad E. Stafford, 30, of 44 Turnpike Road, died Sunday at home. Services will be Friday at 7 p.m. at the Kostanski Funeral Home, 1 Kostanski Square.

Facing financial challenges brought on in part by two years of poor growing weather and crop disease, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is ending an arrangement at its farm on Bay Road here whereby shareholders reaped a portion of the annual harvest.

Two people have been treated for smoke inhalation after a fire ripped through a two-family home in the Florence section of the city early Wednesday morning, according to fire officials.

Local and regional officials gathered Thursday for the first Western Massachusetts Hunger Summit, announcing plans for a council that will advocate for policies and resources to combat hunger in Springfield.

It all comes down to timing. At the convergence of the launch of Royal Family Records, the release of the album "Up Here," and the celebration of 10 years in the business, the band Soulive presents "The Royal Family Get Down," a full-day live music festival to be held Saturday at the Pines Theater in Look Park.

Richard M. Cechvala, 72, of Ashuelot, died on Aug. 25 at the Maplewood Nursing home in Westmoreland.

An old-fashioned fireman's muster planned for Sept. 12 will highlight this month's celebrations of the town's 350th anniversary.

Clean playing, clean notes, clean leaves and clean breath. Animated rose envelopes, eloquent children and light breakfast.

St. John Cantius on Hawley street in Northampton. Reaction was varied across the Valley Sunday as Catholics learned which of their churches would close or merge by the end of the year and which would survive under the Springfield diocese's reorganization plan.

Roman Catholics in Northampton, Easthampton and Hatfield will learn next month which of their churches will close in response to a shortage of priests and declining attendance and revenues.

YMCA CEO David Marks, right, talks on his cellphone outside the YMCA on Prospect Street this morning after a blaze that started shortly before 2 a.m. this morning caused heavy damage to the building.