On Springfield
Six Months
It’s been six months since the freak tornado hit the city. The Maple High Six Corners Neighborhood Council will mark the date with a candlelight vigil “honoring the spirit and resiliency” of that neighborhood, which was hit especially hard. The vigil...Wanted: for Crimes Against Democracy
This was not a good week for opponents of the power plant proposed for East Springfield. On Monday, an effort by some city councilors to appeal the building permit recently granted to the developers, Palmer Renewable Energy, was thwarted by at-large Councilor Kateri...For the 11 Percent
The clock is ticking for 1.8 million out-of-work Americans who face losing their unemployment assistance at the end of the month, unless Congress votes to extend their benefits. Millions more will lose their benefits in June without an extension. On Thursday, labor...Good News for Plant Opponents
Last week, I wrote here about the string of bad news for opponents of the wood-burning power plant proposed in East Springfield by Palmer Renewable Energy. This week, the opponents got some better news, regarding their attempt to appeal an air-quality permit granted...Tosado's Farewell
Last week saw the final meeting of City Council President Jose Tosado, who leaves the body after 10 years on the job. Tosado, of course, decided not to run for re-election this year, instead opting for an ultimately unsuccessful mayoral campaign. I’ll admit to...Speak Now
Tomorrow is the final public-input meeting of Rebuild Springfield, the public-private group put together to address ways to rebuild and improve the city after the June 1 tornado. The group will hold a city-wide meeting on Thursday, Jan. 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at...In Memory of Alan Howard
The old year ended on a sad note, with the passing of long-time political and community activist Alan Howard. The 52-year-old Howard died on Dec. 30. His funeral service takes place tomorrow, Jan 6, at Bethel A.M.E. Church on Pendleton Avenue, with a calling hour from...The Spoils
Yeesh, and I thought last year’s transfer of power on the City Council was dramatic, when then-Ward 5 Councilor Amaad Rivera snubbed colleague Kateri Walsh by voting “present,” not “yes,” when her name was offered for Council vice...Outerbelt Weighs in on Committee Fight
The pig pile on City Council President Jimmy Ferrera keeps getting higher, almost a week after the new leader made his controversial committee appointments. “What is Council President Ferrara [sic] doing?” the board of the Outerbelt Civic Association...State Senate Race Could Be Crowded
Not long after José Tosado lost his bid for mayor in November, I asked him if he thought he might try to reclaim the seat he gave up on the City Council, a la Bud Williams, who left the Council in 2009 to get beaten by Dom Sarno in a mayoral race, then was...Former Bilingual Educator Indicted for Fraud
Seven years, Springfield schools administrator Yolanda Gomez won something called the “Peter J. Negroni Leadership Award,” named in honor of the former superintendent. Last week, the now-retired Gomez was arrested for alleged Medicare fraud, accused of...All About Page Boulevard
Springfield has taken one step closer to becoming a casino town: Ameristar, the Nevada company that wants to build a casino at the site of the old Westinghouse plant off Page Boulevard, has closed on a deal to buy the land, the Republican’s Dan Ring reports this...State Offers “Green” Tornado Aid
About 3,800 Western Mass. property owners filed for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the freak tornadoes that hit the region last June. And many of them are likely eligible for financial incentives from a state program designed to help...Slainte!
Conventional wisdom would suggest that a barroom is not the best place to sort out differences, political or otherwise. But on Friday, City Councilors Jimmy Ferrera and Mike Fenton will be together behind the bar at the John Boyle O’Reilly Club, serving drinks...Winter Fare This Saturday
The Farmers’ Market at Forest Park hosts the annual Springfield Winter Fare tomorrow, Jan. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Like the city’s regular winter farmers’ market—held the second and fourth Saturdays of each month through April—the...Mind the Gap
A new report by the Urban Institute looks at race-based inequities in the largest cities in the U.S.—and Springfield does not do well. The report looked at “opportunity gaps” between African Americans, Latinos and whites by evaluating how each group...Brown Comes Around
Late last week, I got a press release from the Springfield NAACP challenging Sen. Scott Brown’s decision to reject an invitation to meet with the organization. The branch had issued the invitation in December, asking the Republican senator to attend a...Protecting Social Service Workers
In January of 2011, a 25-year-old mental health counselor named Stephanie Moulton was found dead in the parking lot behind a church in Lynn. By the end of the day, police had arrested one of the clients at the Revere group home where she worked, Deshawn James....Lunch With the Congressman
This week marks the second anniversary of a long-standing, if one-sided, lunch date between U.S. Rep. Richie Neal and a group of his constituents. On Wed., Feb. 15, at noon, Progressive Democrats of America will hold its regular “brown bag lunch vigil”...Green Money for Tornado Victims
This Thursday, Feb. 23, state officials will hold a public information session about funds that are available for property owners looking to rebuild green after last summer’s tornadoes. The ReBuild Western Massachusetts program is offering a rather impressive...“Three Strikes” Forum Tonight
As the state Legislature considers passing a so-called “three strikes” law, a number of local groups will hold a town-hall meeting tonight, Feb. 23, to discuss the controversial proposal. The bill, which was passed by the House and Senate late last year,...Who Makes What
On the heels of Jack Flynn’s eye-opening article in the Republican about the multiple, big fat paychecks Herbie Flores collects from his various non-profit gigs, Channel 22 reported yesterday on the healthy salaries of several other local non-profit leaders....Nurses to Protest at Baystate Ceremony
When Baystate Health holds its dedication ceremony tomorrow morning for its new “Hospital of the Future”— a $296 million expansion that will include a heart and vascular center and a new emergency room—local nurses and their supporters will be...Occupying Baystate
Well, this can’t be the kind of coverage they were hoping for. As Baystate Medical Center prepares to open its new $300 million expansion project, early coverage focuses not on ribbon cuttings and speeches, but rather on a picket this morning by nurses who are...Asher Conviction Offers a “Glimmer of Hope”
Earlier this week, former Springfield cop Jeffrey Asher was convicted of assault and battery, resulting from his beating, with a flashlight, of Melvin Jones III during a 2009 traffic stop. Asher and his supporters, including the police union, say he was acting in...Biomass Opponents Honored
In January, Springfield biomass opponents scored a significant victory, when the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals ruled that Palmer Renewable Energy did not have the legal right to begin building the wood-burning power plant it’s proposed for East...Shein & Chartok
If you’re still buzzing with political excitement after casting your primary vote today—you did vote today?—check out this excellent interview by WAMC’s Alan Chartock with Bill Shein, one of the three Democrats vying to be the party’s...Group Home Developers Come to McKnight
Residents of the McKnight neighborhood will have the chance tonight to ask an eastern Mass. non-profit about a group home it wants to bring to the community. The South Middlesex Opportunity Council wants to open a home for people with substance-abuse problems at 175...Marching for Equality
Springfield’s Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition will hold a march this afternoon to protest the persecution of gays in Uganda and draw attention to the presence in Springfield of the notorious anti-gay minister Scott Lively. The protesters will meet outside...Double the Terms, Double the Fun?
How much do you love your city councilors? So much that you want to keep them around twice as long? Tonight, the City Council will take up a proposal that, if approved by voters, would length councilors’ terms from two years to four. Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry...Unfare?
The PVTA is facing a budget gap of $1.8 million—and is looking to increase rider fares to make up the difference. Tonight, PVTA riders can voice their opinions on the proposal at a hearing in Springfield. The hearing will take place at 7 p.m. at the Pioneer...Rallying Springfield
On Saturday, a large crowd turned out in downtown Springfield for the “1,000 Hoodies March” in protest of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (Click here for video of the event from MassLive, as well as interviews with organizers including Darryl Moss of...Revisiting the Trash Fee and Insurance Bids
Labor unions representing city employees recently received letters from City Hall warning that they could face layoffs this summer due to budget problems. In a Springfield Republican article by Pete Goonan, Lee Erdmann, the city’s chief administrative and...Casino Process Kicks Off
As the state’s newly appointed Gaming Commission heads into its first public meeting today, check out this interview, by WAMC’s Paul Tuthill, with the sole Western Mass. member of the board, Bruce Stebbins. Tuthill asked Stebbins, among other things, how...Closing Time?
Mayor Domenic Sarno has gotten lots of flack for his recent decision to require bars to apply for a special permit to offer “entertainment” (playing music, having at t.v. on) after 1 a.m.—especially when, earlier this month, he granted those coveted...A Welcomed Return, and a Rocky Start
I’m not the most faithful viewer of the TV news—evenings are too busy, and staying up until 11 p.m.? Not happening—but like a lot of people, I made it a point to catch Channel 22’s 6 p.m. broadcast last night, for the long-awaited return of...Make Your City Pretty
Saturday is the annual city-wide clean-up day sponsored by Keep Springfield Beautiful, and volunteers are needed to pitch in at projects in all city neighborhoods. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Among the things you can help with, according to a call for...Did You Read This?
• First, this article that ran earlier this week in the New York Times, about a “green beret” approach to combating crime in the North End. The article describes how two state troopers decided to apply strategies they learned while fighting in the...Sticking Up for Their Park
It’s budget-hearing season, that exciting time of year when City Hall department heads make their cases for funding for fiscal 2013 before the mayor and his fiscal staff. The hearings begin tomorrow and run through next week; city councilors and the public are...Opposing “Stand Your Ground”
The City Council isn’t the only Springfield group to oppose a bill that would expand the state’s so-called “Stand Your Ground” law—the local NAACP branch has also voiced its opposition, arguing the proposed law would cause more harm than...Guns, Gambling and Money
Recently, a reader left me a voicemail drawing my attention to some strange doings at the Smith & Wesson shooting center. She’d shown up there a couple of times for safety instruction but found the place was closed, and workers there had few satisfactory...Councilors Call Out Mayor on Budget
Mayor Domenic Sarno has always had a somewhat rocky relationship with the City Council, with tensions especially apparent during the annual budget season, going back to the mayor’s attempt, in his first term, to bar councilors from attending department budget...… And the Mayor Swings Back
Mayor Domenic Sarno has responded to a letter from city councilors complaining that they’ve been left out of the municipal budget process with a scathing letter of his own, in which he suggests that councilors have forgotten their limited role in the process. In...Superintendent Search: Let the Drama Begin
No big surprise here: Danny Warwick, a long-time School Department employee and deputy superintendent since 2004, was named one of two finalists for the city’s school superintendent job. The other finalist, named yesterday by a search committee, is Jesus Jara,...Crapshoot
Bill Dusty has a good piece in the Springfield Intruder this week about what a casino would mean for the city’s arts community—including a surprising perspective. To many people who’d like to see the city reap the economic benefits a thriving arts...You Can Take Tommy Shea Out of Hungry Hill…
Add me to the long list of people stunned and saddened by the news that Tommy Shea—the long-time Republican columnist and reporter and all-around best of the good eggs—is packing up and leaving town. And I mean really leaving town. As reported over the...Proud in Springfield—and Boston
Springfield LGBT Pride Week kicked off today with a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall—while in Boston, a federal appeals court found the federal Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional. For a full schedule of Pride events, go here.Shein Skips Dems' Convention in Protest
The Democrats are descending on Springfield in droves today for their state party’s annual convention, where much of the attention will focus, no doubt, on the expected coronation of Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren. But the gathering won’t include one of...Democrats Back Baystate Nurses
While the big news was, of course, Elizabeth Warren’s sewing up the party’s Senate nomination (boxing out her would-be primary challenger Marisa DeFranco), that wasn’t the only thing going on at the Democratic convention that took place in...In Mourning
Flags are at half-mast around the city today to honor Kevin Ambrose, the Springfield police officer who was shot and killed yesterday responding to a domestic disturbance. Ambrose, a 36-year veteran of the SPD, had been sent to a Sixteen Acres apartment after a woman...Wilhite Supporters Plan Vigil
Supporters of Charles Wilhite plan a sunrise vigil at the Hampden County courthouse tomorrow, where they’ll call for his release from prison. Wilhite and a co-defendant were convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 for the shooting death of a man named Alberto...Neal Joins Clinton in Hot Water Over Tax Cuts
U.S. Rep. Richie Neal is being slammed by his opponents in the September primary for recent comments he made about the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, which are due to expire this year. Earlier this month, the Washington, D.C., paper The Hill reported on Democrats...Missed
There’s a line I especially love in Norton Juster’s 2005 picture book The Hello, Goodbye Window: the little girl narrator, recounting her busy day visiting her grandparents, asserts, with a preschooler’s absolute certainty that she’s the center...Where You Live
Lots going on tomorrow morning for social-justice activists in the city. First up: the Springfield Institute will host an “Environmental Justice Tour” of the North End. This is SI’s second such tour; last summer, about 70 people, on foot and bike,...Bus-Fare Showdown
Oops—yesterday, I wrote about a couple of important events happening in the city today, but I forgot about a big one. Today at noon, the PVTA’s advisory board will vote on much-controversial proposed fare increases. The proposed hikes, announced earlier...Bucks for Books
Ward 7 City Councilor Tim Allen has an intriguing idea: using a trash-fee increase to keep open three library branches slated to close under the fiscal 2013 municipal budget. Allen is proposing that the trash fee be increased by $15—from $75 to $90—with a...What Are We Waiting For?
Activists are applauding a recent federal court ruling that upholds some tough anti-foreclosure ordinances passed unanimously last year by the City Council—and calling on the Sarno administration to being applying the new laws. Under the ordinances, mortgage...Let the Debating Begin
First Congressional District candidate Andrea Nuciforo is calling for a series of debates with his opponents—well, at least with one of them. Earlier this week, Nuciforo, a former state senator and now Middle Berkshire register of deeds, sent a letter to U.S....Springfield Citizens Unite?
Will Springfield become the latest community to signal its support of a proposed Constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 Citizens United ruling? (That decision, in case you’ve somehow missed it—and really, if you...E-Edition
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