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Taylor Swift's Relatives Include This Famous Amherst Resident, Ancestry Reveals
From one “tortured poet” to another: the uber-famous Taylor Swift is related to another famous wordsmith, who happens to be from Massachusetts.
Taylor Swift, the internationally-loved pop star who recently announced her upcoming album “The Tortured Poets Department,” was discovered to be related to iconic poet Emily Dickinson, NBC’s TODAY Show announced on Monday, March 4.
According to Ancestry, who revealed the star-studded lineage to TODAY, Swift and Dickinson are both descendants of a 17th-century English immigrant, who was an early settler in Connecticut, in the Hartford County t…
These Hampshire County Liberal Arts Colleges Ranked Among Top 20 In US, New Report Says
The grades are in, and these colleges are a cut above the rest.
Of the top 20 liberal arts colleges in the United States, four can be found in Massachusetts, three in New York, and one in Connecticut, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings.
They are:
No. 1 - Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts
No. 2 - Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts
No. 4 - Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts (Tied with Pomona College in Claremont, California and Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania)
No. 8 - United States Military …
Man Found Dead Inside Burning Belchertown Home; Investigators Studying The Cause
Fire crews in Hampshire County found a dead body inside a Belchertown home after they raced to put out the fire consuming a house at 42 Daniel Square, authorities said.
Belchertown crews called for mutual aid, and nearby firehouses in Amherst, Bondsville, Granby, Ludlow, Palmer, Pelham, Three Rivers, and Westover provided mutual assistance to fight the flames.
Once the flames were out and investigators could begin their inquiries, authorities found the body of an adult male inside the home. Police did not identify the man or say if he lived there.
They also did…
Ex-Priest Stole Over $100K From Granby Church To Buy Power Tools, Video Games: DA
A former Hampshire County Roman catholic priest is accused of spending more than $100,000 of the parish's money to buy himself video games, a riding lawn mower, power tools, and more, officials said.
Tomasz J. Gorny, 43, of Amherst, will be arraigned on a charge of larceny over $1,200 on Friday, June 16, the Northwestern District Attorney's Office said.
Gorny served as a priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Granby until the Diocese of Springfield began an internal audit after leaders noticed some accounting irregularities, authorities said. They turned ove…
Police Explode Car's Tires, But Driver Refused To Give Up Chase Through Western Mass: Troopers
Several police departments chased a man in an allegedly stolen Lexus through Western Mass late Monday night, April 17, before disabling his car and causing it to crash — eventually.
Atul Kumar Goswami, 26, of Flushing, New York, is charged with failure to stop for police, operating to endanger, and speeding, though more charges could be on the way, authorities said.
The chase began in Amherst when officers spotted a tan 2015 Lexus E35 speeding and driving recklessly with a license plate that didn't match the car, state police said. Amherst police tried to pull the luxury ca…
Judge Rejects Guilty Plea From Amherst Dad Accused Of Killing Infant Son: Report
Isaac Villalobos admitted on Monday, Dec. 12, to killing his 4-month-old son in 2019, but a judge rejected his plea, saying the prosecution hadn't presented enough evidence to make a manslaughter charge stick, reports said.
Villalobos, who also goes by the name Angel M. Carattini-Rivera, is accused of using an infant syringe to give his baby boy a lethal dose of adult sleeping medication, the Northwestern District Attorney said. The former Amherst resident pleaded not guilty in July to charges of manslaughter, assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, reckles…
These Massachusetts Colleges Rank Among Nation's 50 Most Expensive
Five Massachusetts colleges are among the most expensive four-year institutions in the United States, according to a report from CBS News.
On March 10, the news outlet shared a ranking of the 50 most expensive colleges in the country based on information from The National Center for Education Statistics.
The following Massachusetts colleges made the list:
Amherst College, Amherst, ranked 3rd
Tufts University, Medford, 5th
Wellesley College, Wellesley, 10th
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, 21st
Boston University, Boston, 34th
Read the full report from CBS News here.
Amherst Police Mourn Loss Of Comfort Dog Winston Before His Second Birthday
The Amherst Police Department is mourning the loss of their Comfort Dog Winston, who died after being diagnosed with lymphoma and leukemia last weekend, the department said on Facebook.
"This progressed so aggressively that his handler, Officer Laramee, had to make the heartbreaking decision to end his pain and let him pass peacefully," on Wednesday, June 15, police said. Winston was just about to celebrate his second birthday.
"Officer Laramee had a vision for a comfort dog program here in Amherst and he was greeted with the perfectly tempered, incredibly happy, very sleepy, Winston," po…
