Jim Kinney

EASTHAMPTON — Hometown Financial Group, parent of bankESB, will buy Primary Bank, a publicly traded commercial bank based in Bedford, New Hampshire, for $160 million, Hometown Financial announced Monday.

With 276 firefighters, the Springfield Fire Department is the largest in western Massachusetts and third or fourth biggest in the state.

Springfield had the most fatal crashes of any local town or city in the years between 2020 and 2024 with 83, accounting for 38% of the region’s total. Chicopee had 34 fatal wrecks, Holyoke had 20.

The winning bidders are politically connected Boston based developers

Hampshire College has offered its 800-acre campus for sale in hopes of paying off a $25 million debt.

Across the state, free fare programs have brought ridership back to pre-pandemic levels.

Red Fire Farm sells $2,000 worth of produce to underprivileged families through Massachusetts' Healthy Incentives Program each Tuesday at the farmers market in Springfield’s Forest Park. In Northampton, it's $1,000 a week. In Amherst, $400 to $500.

Exhibit 'A' features beers like “Secrets out”: a hazy double IPA and “Goody Two Shoes”, a Kolsch-style German ale.

The company's line of forged knives uses steel from Germany, but Lamson was able to stockpile before Donald Trump's tariff disruptions and order later when the import taxes were lifted.

| SPRINGFIELD – The newest state budget directs 4% of casino tax revenue to the Community Mitigation Fund , replenishing a pot of money that risked running dry.