Amy Porter

Organizers and volunteers from the Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival gathered at the Westfield Athenaeum on Dec. 13 to award two local nonprofit organizations $21,500 each from the proceeds of the Festival.

Connecticut author Renata Bowers visited with preschoolers, kindergarteners and first graders across the city on Dec. 13 for a storytelling “Pajama Party” as part of a Title I family engagement literacy series.

WESTFIELD - Carmel Steger, president of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail met up with local author Robert Madison at the Westfield Technical Academy library last week to present a copy of his book to the school.

The Westfield Planning Board approved two special permits for single family homes after the applicants returned with recommended alterations to their plans.

Holiday cheer was rampant downtown on Dec. 18, as young people in the Westfield Transitions Services went caroling at local businesses to spread good will, singing verses of “We Wish you a Merry Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

At its meeting on Dec. 17, the Planning Board approved a letter drafted by City Planner Jay Vinskey on its behalf to the Department of Public Utilities regarding the request by Jupiter Power for a zoning exemption for a lithium battery energy storage facility on Medeiros Way.

RUSSELL - Saturday’s Russell Parade of Lights had the biggest crowd she’d ever seen, said organizer Missy Castro of the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission.

Westfield Technical Academy librarian John Duval with Carmel Steger, president of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail.

Westield City Councilors voted unanimously in support of a resolution opposing a lithium battery energy storage facility (BESS) on Medeiros Way in the city’s Water Resource Protection District.

The Westfield City Council voted 7 to 6 on Dec. 19 to approve the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City of Northampton and the City of Westfield to become part of the ValleyBike integrated bike share system.