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The ValleyBike Share program is on pause. The supplier is planning to file for bankruptcy, according to Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, whose city leads the eight-community program. Sciarra says they will need to find a partner that can reliably provide the important transportation service. ValleyBike started in 2018. It also...

Editor’s note: As prom season returns this year, MassLive.com is offering an exclusive benefit to subscribers: Click through the photo gallery below to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer or just to check out the latest prom fashion trends, and get free, print-quality downloads. Subscribe to MassLive today.

Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity is planning on reopening their space this weekend after the organization received word from Northampton fire chief Jon Davine this morning rescinding his cease-and-desist order. Bombyx’s executive director Cassandra Holden and board president Elizabeth Dunaway told MassLive they were so overjoyed when they heard...

When Vegan Pizza Land’s co-owner William Meyer started making pizzas out of his apartment in late spring 2021 — during “ramp season,” as he put it — he wanted to show the Pioneer Valley what good vegan pizza was, while using local ingredients from his community-supported farm.

Number one, fight the stigma faced by people in need of social programs. Number two, apply for grants. Those are two things human service organizations do routinely – and now, according to a recent news story, those steps are front of mind for the people who run Safe Passage’s former emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence.

The crash happened on Damon Road in Northampton just after 2 p.m. at the intersection of River Run Road. The pedestrian had just entered a newly installed crosswalk when a truck hauling a landscape trailer crashed into them and fled, Northampton police said. Responders rushed the pedestrian to an area...

A woman is dead after she was struck by a train on Thursday night in Westfield, Massachusetts. Local police confirmed the pedestrian was killed after being hit by a train after investigating the areas of Elm and Pochassic Street. According to reports from WWLP, there was significant police presence around...

Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity has been ordered to temporarily stop hosting indoor music events over fire safety concerns — but organizers fear that the expense of making the upgrades the city says it needs will close them for good. The venue received a cease and desist order...

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - One person is dead following a train accident lates Thursday in Westfield. According to Westfield Police, a train struck the person around 9 p.m. in the area of 61 Pochassic Street. Several streets were closed during an investigation. More information is expected to be released later...

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Safe Passage of Northampton has announced they have shut the doors of their emergency shelter for domestic violence victims. Safe Passage said they’ve come to this decision after they conducted research that said their resources can be more effectively spent on long term solutions to help domestic violence survivors.

Jemyliana Vargas, 21, was a passenger in a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit that crashed into the back of a 2019 Dodge Ram truck just before 3 a.m. on May 7 in Longmeadow just past the Enfield, Connecticut, border, Massachusetts State Police said. The impact ejected Vargas onto the northbound lane, where...

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Springfield Police are investigating an incident alleged abuse of disabled students. In a statement, police told Western Mass News, “The Springfield Police Department under Captain Trent Duda, and the Special Victims Unit, are investigating an incident on May 23, 2023 that was self-reported by vanpool regarding abuse of disabled students on a bus.”

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Crews in West Springfield responded to Exposition Avenue Saturday morning for reports of a structure fire. According to West Springfield Fire Lieutenant Tony Spear, the call came in around 3:20 a.m. He told Western Mass News that 8 units in an apartment complex have been...

A suspect wanted in connection with a homicide 21 years ago in New York City was arrested at Red Roof Inn in Mansfield Thursday.

Gaurang Contractor, 38, a citizen of India living in Jersey City, NJ, tried to trick a Central Massachusetts woman into believing he was a DEA agent and she needed to convert her life savings into gold and give it to him for safekeeping, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. Contractor...

Susan Kurpaska, 59, a lifelong Chicopee resident, was a dedicated second and third-grade teacher at Saint Joan of Arc School. Her love of teaching showed in the hundreds of students she molded over her decades in the classroom and the awards she collected during her tenure, such as the Grinspoon Excellence in Teaching Award for Western Massachusetts, her obituary said.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - A dangerousness hearing was held for the suspect in the Holyoke Unicorn Bar shooting on Thursday. 35-year-old John Brown Jr. of Springfield was committed without bail and will be held without the right to bail pending dangerousness decision. This shooting on December 17, 2022, took place...

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Memorial Day weekend is almost here and many residents in Chicopee have voiced their disappointment as the city enters another holiday weekend without a parade. Western Mass News spoke with Stephanie Shaw, Director of Veteran Services in Chicopee who told us the decision came from the...

CHICOPEE – For the first time since 2014, the Agawam boys volleyball team is a Western Mass. champion. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

Massachusetts State Police have identified the young Springfield woman killed on Interstate 91 on May 7, after she was thrown from her car and run over by multiple oncoming vehicles. Jemyliana Vargas, a 21-year-old woman from Springfield, was identified on Thursday by state police as the woman killed in the...