Archive
by On Springfield | Jan 18, 2011 | On Springfield
The first time I met Perman Glenn was not long after I started working as a reporter for the Advocate. Glenn was representing a family who was suing in the city of Springfield after their elementary-school aged son was allegedly handcuffed to a chair by one of the...
by On Springfield | Jan 21, 2011 | On Springfield
The question of whether to raise the salary of Springfield’s mayor—right now, the job pays $95,000—has been kicking around for a couple of years. Now, a City Council committee charged with the matter will hold a series of public meetings to hear what...
by On Springfield | Jan 26, 2011 | On Springfield
The Reminder and the Springfield Intruder both report this week on a controversy brewing over a proposed tax-incentive deal for Smith & Wesson. Last week, the City Council was due to vote on the deal, which would save the gun manufacturer $600,000 in property...
by On Springfield | Jan 27, 2011 | On Springfield
With an eye on tonight’s forecast of—that’s right—yet more snow, the City Council’s Mayor’s Compensation Review Committee has rescheduled a public hearing scheduled for this evening until Feb. 17. The committee is seeking...
by On Springfield | Jan 31, 2011 | On Springfield
After months of rumors, it looks like City Council President Jose Tosado will officially announce his plans to run for mayor this afternoon. An email sent to members of the media by Tosado’s longtime friend (and new mayoral campaign manager?) Jorge Castellano...
by On Springfield | Feb 4, 2011 | On Springfield
Did you know that U.S. Rep. Richie Neal spent a whopping $2.2 million during the last election to hold off a challenge from Republican Tom Wesley, a Tea Party guy from the central Mass. reaches of his sprawling district? I didn’t, until last week, when I had the...
by On Springfield | Feb 8, 2011 | On Springfield
A few weeks ago, I began to hear rumors that School Committee member Antonette Pepe was considering running for mayor. Now, Pete Goonan reports in today’s Springfield Republican that Pepe has indeed taken out nomination papers, although, according to the...
by On Springfield | Feb 10, 2011 | On Springfield
Late last month, Jose Tosado officially kicked off the 2011 campaign season with his announcement that he plans to run for mayor. This week, Mayor Domenic Sarno more or less kicked off his own campaign, with his State of the City address on Monday. The mayor’s...
by On Springfield | Feb 11, 2011 | On Springfield
A new art gallery is opening in downtown Springfield, with a free open house scheduled for this Friday, Feb. 11. The Artist Square Group Gallery, on the second floor of Tower Square, is a collaborative effort of 14 Valley artists whose work includes paintings,...
by On Springfield | Feb 15, 2011 | On Springfield
The Forest Park Civic Association holds it annual meeting this Sunday, where neighbors will get together over a potluck meal and hear addresses from a number of state and city officials about issues relevant to the neighborhood. At the top of that list, I’m...
by On Springfield | Feb 18, 2011 | On Springfield
This evening, the City Council will again take up a vote that would move forward long-in-the-works plans to expand and renovate the Forest Park Middle School. The Council was supposed to vote on the matter at its meeting last Monday. But that vote was postponed by a...
by On Springfield | Feb 21, 2011 | On Springfield
Love the idea of charter schools and consider them the best, most innovative and exciting way to revive our failing public education system? Hate charter schools, and consider them feel-good but unproven band aids that undercut teacher unions and divert money from...
by On Springfield | Feb 25, 2011 | On Springfield
In 2004, with the city of Springfield as on the verge of financial collapse, then-Gov. Mitt Romney offered a financial lifeline: a $20 million state grant to shore up the city’s budget. But the check came with a significant catch: to get the funds, the city...
by On Springfield | Mar 2, 2011 | On Springfield
I love it when the Springfield Republican gets something good stuck in its editorial craw. No, I haven’t forgotten my tiresome list of grievances against Springfield’s daily newspaper, most of them relating to its historic tendency to give certain,...
by On Springfield | Mar 3, 2011 | On Springfield
Western Mass. did not fare well in the most recent round of charter-school approvals by the state: only one from the region—Springfield’s Veritas Prep—made the cut this time. Earlier this week, the Mass. Board of Elementary and Secondary Education...
by On Springfield | Mar 8, 2011 | On Springfield
Last November, in the early morning hours on the day before Thanksgiving, a fire consumed a home on Wing Street, in Indian Orchard. The house’s owner, Betty Agin, was, luckily, staying at a friend’s house at the time. But her luck was limited: her home was...
by On Springfield | Mar 10, 2011 | On Springfield
With the mayoral election eight months away, candidate (and City Council president) Jose Tosado has begun carving out his platform, with the city’s high drop-out rates topping the list. Tosado points to state figures showing that Springfield students are failing...
by On Springfield | Mar 16, 2011 | On Springfield
New Hampden County DA Mark Mastroianni has decided that state police will handle murder cases in the city of Springfield for the immediate future, Patrick Johnson reports in today’s Springfield Republican. Under the temporary policy, detectives from the state...
by On Springfield | Mar 18, 2011 | On Springfield
Earlier this week, a coalition of public health, environmental and social justice groups from around the Valley launched a petition drive calling for a moratorium on new biomass energy plants in the state through the end of 2013. The group included opponents of...
by On Springfield | Mar 24, 2011 | On Springfield
On the heels of an opinion by the Springfield Law Department that the City Council does not have the legal authority to revoke a 2008 special permit it granted to a controversial wood-burning energy plant proposed for East Springfield—a move opponents of the...
by On Springfield | Mar 26, 2011 | On Springfield
This afternoon, two City Council committees will hold a joint meeting to discuss the controversial wood-burning plant proposed for East Springfield. The meeting of the planning and economic development and public health and safety committees will take place at 4:30...
by On Springfield | Mar 28, 2011 | On Springfield
Over at the Springfield Intruder, Bill Dusty reports that School Committee member Antonette Pepe is poised to announce that she’ll run for mayor this fall, joining a race that already includes incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno and City Council President Jose Tosado....
by On Springfield | Mar 29, 2011 | On Springfield
Perhaps I spoke too soon in a recent blog post when I suggested the City Council has been sidelined in the battle over wood-burning power plant proposed for East Springfield: Despite a recent opinion by the city Law Department reiterating the contention that the...
by On Springfield | Mar 30, 2011 | On Springfield
Don’t count the City Council out, indeed. Today, City Council President Jose Tosado sent a memo to the Springfield Law Department and City Clerk calling for a 14-day notice to be sent out for a Council hearing on revoking the special permit granted to Palmer...
by On Springfield | Apr 4, 2011 | On Springfield
Whoever was responsible for the embarrassing payroll error that resulted in city school teachers being overpaid by $1.2 million over a five-month period earlier this school year has been identified and disciplined, according to Superintendent Alan Ingram. But if you...
by On Springfield | Apr 7, 2011 | On Springfield
Today is the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a day that activists across the country will mark with a series of “We Are One” events, including a march and rally this afternoon in downtown Springfield. In an announcement of...
by On Springfield | Apr 12, 2011 | On Springfield
Who hasn’t watched, with great exasperation, politicians fuss and feud over the latest budget, thinking to him- or herself: “Just let me at the damn thing; I could sort it out without all this bickering and drama.” Well, here’s your chance:...
by On Springfield | Apr 14, 2011 | On Springfield
It’s been almost 20 years since the city of Worcester adopted a so-called “pay as you throw” trash collection system, which charges residents based on the amount of garbage they toss, and allows them to recycle free of charge. And city officials...
by On Springfield | Apr 18, 2011 | On Springfield
Opponents of the wood-burning power plant proposed for East Springfield got some unwelcome news recently: state environmental officials have denied their request for a comprehensive study on the plant’s potential effects on public health and the environment in...
by On Springfield | Apr 20, 2011 | On Springfield
While the battle over a city trash-collection system rages on in City Hall, Keep Springfield Beautiful—the non-profit with the rather pleasing slogan “the go-to guys to get clean & go green”—has a couple of events coming up where residents...
by On Springfield | Apr 22, 2011 | On Springfield
If you’ve found this year’s Springfield mayor’s race to be a little dull thus far, well, that’s about to change. Fearless (some would say fearsome—and mean it as a compliment) School Committee member Antonette Pepe will officially enter...
by On Springfield | Apr 27, 2011 | On Springfield
The deadline is fast approaching to submit comments to the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection regarding the wood-burning power plant proposed for East Springfield. April 29 is the close of the public comment period on a draft air-quality permit for the...
by On Springfield | May 2, 2011 | On Springfield
Caroline Murray, the unstoppable long-time executive director of the Springfield-based Alliance to Develop Power, has left the group after 18 years. In its early days, ADP—at the time, the initials stood for the Anti-Displacement Project—worked with...
by On Springfield | May 6, 2011 | On Springfield
Two weeks from tomorrow, opponents of the proposed wood-burning plant in East Springfield will finally get what they’ve spent months asking for: a City Council hearing on whether to revoke the special permit awarded to the project in 2008. On Tuesday, May 17, at...
by On Springfield | May 10, 2011 | On Springfield
Want to show your support for struggling Springfield families this Mothers’ Day? Tomorrow, May 7, the Springfield No One Leaves Coalition and Bank Tenants Association will lead a march to the downtown office of Bank of America to call on the mega-bank to do its...
by On Springfield | May 13, 2011 | On Springfield
When Scott Lively opened a coffeehouse in Springfield a few months back, it generated a lot of controversy. Lively is a minister and pastor of the Redemption Gate Mission Society, which describes itself as a “a multi-denominational, multi-racial, multi-ethnic...
by On Springfield | May 16, 2011 | On Springfield
Yeesh—talk about poor timing. A week after the School Committee—well, most of the School Committee; more on that in a moment—voted to give Superintendent Alan Ingram a $12,000 raise, the committee’s budget subcommittee moved forward a new,...
by On Springfield | May 18, 2011 | On Springfield
It’s the day before the City Council will take up the question of whether to revoke or amend Palmer Renewable Energy’s permit to build a wood-burning plant in East Springfield, and a group of local business owners are gathering to voice their opposition to...
by On Springfield | May 20, 2011 | On Springfield
While the City Council continues to mull over the future of the wood-burning plant proposed for East Springfield—councilors closed a lengthy public hearing on the matter yesterday without taking a vote—one would-be elected official is taking a strong stand...
by On Springfield | May 23, 2011 | On Springfield
Dang, Springfield’s River Walk takes a lot of abuse. And, unfortunately, I don’t just mean from the pounding feet and spinning bike tires of the people who take advantage of the 3.7 mile stretch of pavement that runs along the Connecticut River. First,...
by On Springfield | May 25, 2011 | On Springfield
It seems like such an innocuous, feel-good event for the city: a three-day, vintage car race in downtown Springfield, to celebrate both the city’s industrial heritage and the 375th anniversary of its founding. Where’s the controversy in that, you might...
by On Springfield | Jun 1, 2011 | On Springfield
Today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette has a great article about political fundraising in the Valley, including some intriguing information about who fills U.S. Rep. Richie Neal’s campaign war chest. The article, by Ben Storrow, focuses on Hampshire County, the...
by On Springfield | Jun 2, 2011 | On Springfield
When Mayor Domenic Sarno delivered his State of the City address back in February, his speech, as is customary, included a list of good news and accomplishments that have taken place under his administration. On that list: the success of a program that brings city...
by On Springfield | Jun 6, 2011 | On Springfield
Like a lot of people on this morning after the freak tornado hit the city, I’ve made my share of phone calls and sent my share of email messages to check in with Springfield friends and sources today. The gist of the messages: “Are you, and your family,...
by On Springfield | Jun 8, 2011 | On Springfield
“This tornado is going to win Sarno the election,” someone said to me the other day. As history shows, disasters—natural and man-made—often favor the incumbent. Consider, for instance, then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s meteoric rise in...
by On Springfield | Jun 20, 2011 | On Springfield
One bit of bright news in a city that’s had more than its share of bad news over the last week: today is the kick-off of Springfield’s revived LGBT Pride week. Actually, make that week-plus-one; Pride starts today and runs through next Thursday, the 16th....
by On Springfield | Jun 21, 2011 | On Springfield
Got questions about just what will happen to the many parts of the city that need to be rebuilt after the June 1 tornado—or even some suggestions about what that rebuilding process should involve? Then get to the Basketball Hall of Fame tomorrow (June 21) at 3...
by On Springfield | Jun 23, 2011 | On Springfield
With the deadline for the city to get its budget in place for the next fiscal year, proposals by Mayor Domenic Sarno to balance the budget through personnel-based costs are getting the most political attention. Last night, the City Council addressed Sarno’s call...
by On Springfield | Jun 28, 2011 | On Springfield
On Monday, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging banks and mortgage companies to hold off on foreclosures in the city in the wake of the June 1 tornado. Now, the Springfield No One Leaves Coalition—which advocates for residents facing...
by On Springfield | Jun 30, 2011 | On Springfield
As City Hall moves forward with rebuilding efforts after the June tornado, a group of volunteers is focusing specifically on preserving significant parts of the city’s past. The non-profit Springfield Preservation Trust, working with Preservation Massachusetts,...
by On Springfield | Jul 1, 2011 | On Springfield
Today is the second annual “CORI Independence Day,” where people with criminal records can learn what they can do to move forward with their lives, without forever being held back by their pasts. The event, organized by the Springfield Health Disparities...
by On Springfield | Jul 5, 2011 | On Springfield
Last week, the City Council took a fairly unusual step: it actually made some cuts to Mayor Domenic Sarno’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget. By law, the Council has the power to make cuts (but not additions) to a mayor’s proposed budget. Typically, however,...
by On Springfield | Jul 8, 2011 | On Springfield
June began with celebration for Springfield’s LGBT community, with the return of Pride Week, but ended with sadness, after a man was badly beaten by a group of kids who allegedly targeted him for being gay. Today, the Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition...
by On Springfield | Jul 13, 2011 | On Springfield
Last week, Mayor Domenic Sarno took a hard swing at city councilors for cuts they’d made to his fiscal 2012 budget. This week, the councilors swung back, holding a press conference where they defended their cuts as fiscally responsible. They also invited Sarno...
by On Springfield | Jul 18, 2011 | On Springfield
The recent announcement that City Hall has found a buyer for the old School Department building on State Street can’t help but bring to mind one of the more contentious political issues in recent years: the disposal of the former federal courthouse on Main...
by On Springfield | Jul 19, 2011 | On Springfield
Last month, the City Council passed a non-binding resolution urging mortgage lenders to impose a moratorium on foreclosures and foreclosure-related evictions in the city, to cut a break to already struggling homeowners in the wake of the June 1 tornado that hit the...
by On Springfield | Jul 25, 2011 | On Springfield
I’ve dropped the ball miserably when it comes to helping promote a fascinating event today: an “Environmental Justice Bike and Walking Tour,” put together by the Springfield Institute with the assistance of a number of local community groups. The...
by On Springfield | Jul 29, 2011 | On Springfield
Mayor Domenic Sarno will be leading another of his “neighborhood walks” this evening, this time in Mason Square. Interested residents can meet up with the mayor and representatives from City Hall and the Springfield PD at 7:30 p.m. at the AIC parking lot...
by On Springfield | Aug 2, 2011 | On Springfield
Is it just me, or is ward representation shaping up to be a disappointment? Let me clarify: I think the current City Council is one of the better groups we’ve seen in years, thanks in no small part to the addition of ward reps. I think the larger group (there...
by On Springfield | Aug 5, 2011 | On Springfield
Got an opinion about how the city should rebuild after the June 1 tornado? This evening, at 6 p.m. at the Milton Bradley School, the Rebuild Springfield Advisory Committee, the 15-member group put together by Mayor Domenic Sarno, kicks off a four-stop “listening...
