Franklin County News

Having promoted arts, culture and the related economy in downtown Turners Falls for 7 years, Lisa Davol is headed off for similar work in a broader area.

Recorder/Paul Franz Kathy Belanger at the end of her street, Wapping Rd in Deerfield, next to the memorial for her son, Greg Belanger, who was killed in action.

Manufacturers' effort to secure $500,000 for new metal-working machines at Franklin County Technical School - to help train 21st century metal workers for local industries desperate for such workers - won another victory Wednesday: a $250,000 proposed allocation from the state's Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Programs that allow poor elders to receive care in their own households, instead of turning to nursing homes, will see increases in funding next year - a much needed step in the right direction, said officials that help administer elder services.

Pat was feeling his oats as he easily slid a log from one small pile at the edge of a field and toward another that was more out of the way.

In addition to publishing poetry, fiction and nonfiction twice a year, "Plum" includes interactive, community-based projects that are updated weekly.

The paths out of addiction are as varied as those that lead in. There is no silver bullet to slay a demon that is unique to each victim.

We know there are more than a few Americans, no doubt even some living in Franklin County, that think these times we live in are, well, apocalyptic.

Nearly 40 years after its first release, "Root Hog or Die," the Franklin County documentary film on the last of the old time horse farmers in Western Massachusetts, re-appears on the big screen in Shelburne Falls.

Drug charges in Franklin County in recent years have less often been preceded by a battering ram at the door than by flashing blue lights in the rear-view mirror.

The future is here, albeit without the long-promised personal jet packs or robotic spiders.

Recorder/Paul Franz A Drug Court participant discusses his progress staying clean during his weekly meeting with Greenfield District Court Judge William Mazanec III.

The bag is the basic unit of the dealer-to-user heroin trade. Ten bags equal a bundle, but there is no fixed weight associated with either unit.

Remember I told you about the pink flamingos on the front lawn of an Erving home on Route 2 late this past winter? A photograph of them ended up in the N.Y. Times magazine.

An investigation into the cause of a fire that destroyed a wind turbine at New England's largest wind farm is expected to wrap up within a month.

Good figures on the incidence of drug overdose deaths are hard to come by, but state figures from 2010 indicate that six area - including all Franklin County towns and Athol - residents died that year of causes related to the broad category of narcotics.

The veterans group at Greenfield Community College has until the end of the month to raise half of the $5,000 it needs to build two or three ramps for disabled Franklin County residents.

Monday, townspeople will be asked to approve a $4,757,924 budget for next year, which covers projects for Frontier school improvements, engineering plans for a new highway garage and senior housing review slated for the Rose property.

News that a business-led effort to equip the Franklin County Technical School to teach 21st century manufacturing skills is being backed by businesses and legislators amid what one leading economic planner says is a critical, growing need for trained workers with skills for the coming job market as baby boomers begin to retire.

There are still spaces available for a new self-management workshop on diabetes - and Franklin County Home Care Corp.