Russell News

Tag Sale Here : Public Hearings Department of Public Utilities on National Grid's request for a 16 percent increase in distribution charges on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m. at North Adams City Hall.

With a sharp increase in the number of proposals for wood-burning power plants in Massachusetts in recent years, including three in the Pioneer Valley, state environmental officials plan to launch a study to see if the wood needed to fuel the plants can be safely harvested from Massachusetts forests.

In our headlong rush to develop alternative sources of energy, the push to turn trees into electricity could be a costly stumble.

By ALEX PESHKOV apeshkov@repub.com RUSSELL - The ongoing Russell Biomass saga has taken a new turn as dozens of townspeople have signed a petition to support a controversial proposal to build the $165 million, 50 megawatt wood-burning power plant here.

Photo by Manon Mirabelli -- From left, Dawn S. Hoppe, 18, of Huntington; Ashley B. Parady, 17, of Russell; Natasha A. Downie, 17, of Russell; Karina E. Piispanen, 17, of Chester; Elyse A. Pommenville, 17, of Worthington, and Hilary P. Anderson, 17, of Russell.

In the last couple of days some large brush fires have broken out in the towns of Russell and Blandford.

The fire fight in Russell will extend into a third day where a 60 acre brush fire's about 70 percent contained Wednesday night.

The Gateway Regional School District's Elementary Advisory Committee meets for the first time today at 9 a.m. A 14-member elementary education parent advisory committee will be working with the district's superintendent and elementary schools principals to give input on the process of consolidation or closing Blandford, Chester and R. H. Conwell ...

By JIM DANKO jdanko@repub.com HUNTINGTON - A day after the more festive race brought out hundreds of casual canoeists and kayakers, the serious paddlers got down to business on the Westfield River.

Firefighters battled a 25 acre brush fire Sunday for more than three hours before the fire was under control.

It was a fitting day, with the beautiful weather and the Berkshires as a back drop to bring the issue over energy and the environment back into the forefront.

By ALEX PESHKOV apeshkov@repub.com HUNTINGTON - Concerned Citizens of Russell will hold a press conference and rally on Route 20 at the Huntington turnaround and recreation area Saturday, from 9 to 9:45 a.m., before the start of the Westfield River Wildwater Canoe Races, to draw public attention to the Russell Biomass project.

The only good news from the survey is that most companies that reported layoffs said the cuts affected 25 or fewer workers.

The town has gone to court to get Aquarion Water Co. to reveal the 'actual cost of the water system in Oxford,' so the town can determine the cost of taking over the local water system, according to Joseph M. Zeneski, town manager.

Police have recovered the body of a 41-year-old Springfield man reported missing by his family in a stretch of woods in Blandford.

The state Department of Environmental Protection held a hearing in Springfield during the week of Jan.

An Amtrak train went off the tracks Sunday afternoon leaving more than a hundred passengers stranded there for quite a while.

By ALEX PESHKOV apeshkov@repub.com HUNTINGTON - A contract ratified Wednesday by the teacher's union will help to keep educators in the Gateway Regional School District close to the salary level of other ...

The Massachusetts power deregulation law of the late 1990s, which allowed the building of so-called "merchant" power plants unrelated to the old regional utilities, is leading to the rise of small new power ...

Nadine M. Kennedy, of Russell, holds a photo of President Obama that she took on the campaign trail.