In Easthampton, Massachusetts, near Holyoke, work will begin next month to convert a vacant, three-story factory into 50 or so apartments for poor and working class people. The multi-million dollar project is funded partly by a state program that was created by activists in 2000. The Community Preservation Act uses money from taxes to create affordable housing and protect farmland, forest land and wetlands from development.

More information about the Act is at www.CommunityPreservation.org. Vermont has a similar program: www.vhcb.org.

A group of people in Springfield is helping Valley residents get state money to make their homes more energy efficient. The group, the Alliance to Develop Power, is hosting free, public evening meetings in: Amherst January 19, Easthampton January 20, Northampton January 26, and Greenfield February 2.

People at the meetings will learn how to sign up for a free energy assessment, get money for weatherization and other energy efficiency services, said Boone Shear of the Alliance.

The meeting will be in:

-Amherst, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk;

The city of Easthampton, Mass., near Northampton, and the federal Army Corps of Engineers have awarded a contract worth $1.5 million to Palmer Federal Constructors, Inc. for dredging Nashawannuck Pond. Slated to begin in August, the dredging is the first step of the Aquatic Habitat Restoration of Nashawannuck Pond project. At an approximate cost of $2.5 million dollars, the aim of the project is to repair the ecosystems for aquatic life and to minimize so-called “nonpoint source” pollution threats to the pond.