Archive
by On Springfield | Aug 15, 2011 | On Springfield
Earlier this week, the city Law Department released an opinion finding that School Superintendent Alan Ingram does not have to repay the city money he got as part of his eyebrow-raising employment contract. Specifically, according to the opinion by City Solicitor Ed...
by On Springfield | Aug 19, 2011 | On Springfield
It’s not easy catching up on Springfield news after a vacation. I miss the days when MassLive had a special section just for Springfield news; now, I have to slog through a generic “news” section, skimming an endless string of stories I don’t...
by On Springfield | Aug 25, 2011 | On Springfield
Two happenings this weekend: • On Sat., Aug. 20, labor union members and their allies will be picketing at the four Verizon Wireless stores in the region, including the one at 1420 Boston Rd. in Springfield. (The others are in West Springfield, Hadley and...
by On Springfield | Aug 29, 2011 | On Springfield
Schools Superintendent Alan Ingram’s announcement last week that he’ll leave the city at the end of the coming school year didn’t exactly bring an end to the dust-up over his employment contract—specifically, a provision that gave him $30,000...
by On Springfield | Sep 2, 2011 | On Springfield
School Committee member and mayoral candidate Antonette Pepe is asking the state auditor to take a look at the controversial deal that gave Superintendent Alan Ingram an additional $30,000 to buy a house in the city—something Ingram never did. In a letter dated...
by On Springfield | Sep 7, 2011 | On Springfield
If you were hoping that a City Hall audit of Schools Superintendent Alan Ingram’s controversial employment contract might result in some bucks flowing back into the city coffers, well, today you might feel like the joke’s on you—and all Springfield...
by On Springfield | Sep 10, 2011 | On Springfield
First, it was Amaad Rivera and Tommy Ashe taking heat for not getting their reports filed properly on time. Now, John Lysak and Jimmy Ferrera have joined their City Council colleagues in the uncomfortable spotlight over their campaign finance accounts. As Pete Goonan...
by On Springfield | Sep 12, 2011 | On Springfield
Among the people who wrote to the judge in the public corruption trial of Sal DiMasi, asking for leniency for the convicted House Speaker? None other than former Springfield Mayor Mike Albano, reports Channel 22. Given the number of Albano’s pals and former...
by On Springfield | Sep 16, 2011 | On Springfield
It’s a week and a day until the preliminary election, the day when the field of candidates for mayor will be narrowed down from three to two, and the field of at-large Council candidates from 12 to 10, with the lucky winners going on to the Nov. 8 general...
by On Springfield | Sep 19, 2011 | On Springfield
Make that four days until the preliminary election—and yes, things are heating up. Yesterday, City Council President Jose Tosado announced a rather nice coup: he’s scored the endorsement of the Springfield patrol officers’ union. “We believe...
by On Springfield | Sep 21, 2011 | On Springfield
Tomorrow’s a big day for the city—at least for the candidates, and those residents who care enough to show up and vote. And those residents are the ones who don’t need to be reminded that Tuesday is the preliminary election, the day that the field of...
by On Springfield | Sep 27, 2011 | On Springfield
Well, it looks to Jose Tosado has a busy seven weeks ahead of him. While Tosado was, technically, one of the winners of yesterday’s mayoral preliminary election, the City Council candidate can’t be too happy with his numbers at the polls. As the...
by On Springfield | Oct 6, 2011 | On Springfield
As expected, the Mass. Bankers Association is protesting two new anti-foreclosure ordinances passed last month by the City Council. Pete Goonan reports in the Republican that the banking group has written to the city Law Department questioning the legality of the...
by On Springfield | Oct 17, 2011 | On Springfield
When Antonette Pepe opened her mayoral campaign office in Indian Orchard this summer, her campaign said she chose that neighborhood in part because it’s not typically a hot bed of political activity. “Indian Orchard often ends up as a forgotten...
by On Springfield | Oct 19, 2011 | On Springfield
This evening at 5:30, a group of community activists will hold a Take Back Springfield rally on the steps of City Hall, to express frustration with some recent developments in the city. The organizers cite two specific controversies: the apparent new push by Palmer...
by On Springfield | Oct 24, 2011 | On Springfield
Proposed new legislative districts released yesterday could mean significant changes for Springfield—including creating a state Senate seat that a candidate of color would have a strong possibility of winning. Right now, Springfield is represented in the Senate...
by On Springfield | Oct 25, 2011 | On Springfield
A group of city councilors is calling on the city’s Building Commissioner to deny a new special permit sought by the developers of the wood-burning power plant proposed for East Springfield. In May, the City Council voted 10-to-2 to revoke a permit granted for...
by On Springfield | Nov 1, 2011 | On Springfield
It is a mathematical fact that the closer Election Day gets, the more prolific city councilors become, shooting out media releases and holding press conferences on whatever issue they can dredge up for a quick sound bite—just in case, you know, voters need some...
by On Springfield | Nov 3, 2011 | On Springfield
Election Day is one week from today, and no freak snowstorm can slow down candidates and their supporters. Today, the newly formed group SEIU Community Action—an offshoot of the Service Employees International Union, open to non-union and union workers as well...
by On Springfield | Nov 4, 2011 | On Springfield
With five days until Election Day, mayoral candidate José Tosado has announced that he’s won the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199—which claims 6,200 members in Springfield—while reminding voters of the other...
by On Springfield | Nov 9, 2011 | On Springfield
The freak tornado that hit Springfield June 1 had one bright side, at least for Mayor Domenic Sarno: it created lots of opportunities for him to show up in the media, reaching out to affected residents and vowing to help them get back on their feet. And while...
by On Springfield | Nov 18, 2011 | On Springfield
So the voters have spoken—at least, the 22 percent who showed up at the polls—and their message, apparently, is a simple one: We’re pretty happy with the way things are. Incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno, of course, held on to his seat handily, with 72...
by On Springfield | Nov 25, 2011 | On Springfield
On Monday, the City Council will take up two resolutions in response to the recent news that City Hall has issued a building permit for the controversial wood-burning power plant proposed for East Springfield. City Building Commissioner Steven Desilets issued the...
by On Springfield | Dec 1, 2011 | On Springfield
On Monday, the Springfield City Council will take up the question of whether to appeal the building permit recently granted to Palmer Renewable Energy to build the wood-burning power plant in East Springfield. Steven Desilets, head of the Building Code Enforcement...
by On Springfield | Dec 2, 2011 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Dec 6, 2011 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Dec 7, 2011 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Dec 27, 2011 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 4, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 5, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 9, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 11, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 18, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 24, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 25, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 26, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 27, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Feb 2, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Jan 30, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Feb 7, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Feb 1, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Feb 13, 2012 | On Springfield
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....
by On Springfield | Feb 20, 2012 | On Springfield
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”...
by On Springfield | Feb 23, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Feb 24, 2012 | On Springfield
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,...
by On Springfield | Feb 27, 2012 | On Springfield
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....
by On Springfield | Feb 28, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 2, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 5, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 6, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 13, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 14, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 19, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Mar 26, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Apr 2, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Apr 9, 2012 | On 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...
by On Springfield | Apr 10, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Apr 23, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Apr 24, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
by On Springfield | Apr 25, 2012 | On Springfield
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...
