Local News for Amherst

The union members would take three in-house work days during the school year as furlough days instead.

AMHERST – If voters approve the Proposition 2½ property tax override Tuesday, members of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association will agree to salary concessions that would save the Amherst Regional School District about $350,000.

A posting on the district Web site reported that union members agreed Monday to the reductions.

The concessions, according to the announcement, “will take the form of three furlough days over the school year. Teachers will not report for work on the Curriculum/Work Days that have traditionally occurred in December, January and March. These days will remain in the school calendar as days off for students, but all school buildings will be closed and teachers will not be paid for any work they do on those days.”

The average salary reduction is about $1,000, according to the statement.

The agreement stipulates that the savings “will be used exclusively to preserve staffing in each of the school districts.”

Union President Timothy Sheehan said teachers “see the severity of this problem and are willing to make a personal sacrifice in a spirit of collaboration.” Sheehan pointed out that classroom staff members are in a unique position to recognize the effect of budget cuts because they work directly with students.

Farshid Hajir, Amherst Regional School Committee chairman, in a statement said the union “has demonstrated the teachers’ willingness to do their part in helping the School Committees balance budgets as we struggle to absorb unprecedented levels of cuts to state aid for schools. On behalf of the people of the four member towns (Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury), we deeply appreciate this significant action by the dedicated professionals who teach our kids every day.”

Firefighter and police unions have also agreed to forgo cost-of-living increases for fiscal 2011.

Voters on Tuesday will decide a $1.68 million Proposition 2½ override. They also will elect two members to the School Committee from among five candidates. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Gregory Hart, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was last seen early Sunday morning in Providence, where he and friends had visited a nightclub.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence police say they are investigating as suspicious the death of a college student from Massachusetts whose body was pulled from a river this week.

Gregory Hart, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was last seen early Sunday morning in Providence, where he and friends had visited a nightclub.

A body preliminarily identified as Hart’s was removed Tuesday from the Woonasquatucket (woon-as-kah-TUCK’-et) River. The state medical examiner’s office said Wednesday that it was performing an autopsy, and it did not yet know his cause of death.

His mother, Maryann Hart, tells The Providence Journal she can’t function without her son and that nothing else seems important. She says she suspects foul play, though police are still investigating.

Hart was 23 and from Dedham, Mass.

Four people spoke against the license during a hearing Monday.

AMHERST – Atkins Fruit Bowl Inc. will seek approval from the state licensing commission after the Select Board on Monday night unanimously supported the approval of a beer and wine license for the South Amherst business.

This was the second hearing for the request. The board had to reschedule the initial hearing after a procedural glitch earlier this month.

More than a dozen people attended the hearing and four spoke against the license, including a Northampton lawyer representing three clients.

Brad A. Shimel argued that the license would change the business model of the market. He said although owners said the wine and beer would be sold in just a small corner of the store, the license was for the entire market. And he said that Hampshire College “is literally across the street from Atkins,” giving college students easy access.

Atkins manager John N. Thibbitts said Atkins wants to sell “high-end microbrews, some local products” and wine. He said the store hopes to “cross-merchandise” by recommending wine and beer to complement the store’s produce, poultry, fish and beef offerings.

Paul Hodgkins, one of the Atkins owners, said they had no intention of turning the business into a large-scale beer and wine market. He said the bakery and produce departments constitute 30 to 45 percent of the business. “We’re not going to mess with that,” he said.

Nathan P. Day, manager of R&P Liquors and Fine Wine, spoke against the license because he said it was just 1.2 miles from his shop and another South Amherst liquor store. He said the area didn’t need another one.

“Atkins is the economic anchor in South Amherst. It’s a major draw to the community,” said Town Manager Laurence R. Shaffer, who urged the board to approve the request. The retail market opened in 1962 and has continually expanded.

Shaffer believes customers who would normally shop at Whole Foods in Hadley, which sells wine and beer, may change their buying habits. “It will bring in a whole new customer,” he said.

He said he does not believe the selling of beer and wine here will significantly affect the other two stores because they sell liquor as well as wine and beer.

The town has seven wine and malt licenses and only two are being used.

Atkins must obtain approval from the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission before it can start selling beer and wine.