Urban Compass
by Heather Brandon | Jun 19, 2007 | Urban Compass
A new half-hour community-based television program in Springfield, “People Are Talking,” debuted last week four times daily on Comcast local government access channel 17—8:00 am, 12:00 noon, 7:00 pm, and 11:00 pm. Each episode will air for two weeks....
by Heather Brandon | Aug 30, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield native Karen Powell is running for City Council. Following are her answers to a series of questions I sent her via email. The interview is part of an attempt to reach most, if not all, of the candidates for City Council this year and learn more about their...
by Heather Brandon | Jun 25, 2007 | Urban Compass
Yesterday afternoon’s long-anticipated entertainment license hearing for the downtown Springfield shop Amazing.net yielded ample testimony of interest, but no decision yet from Mayor Charles Ryan about what may happen with the store’s license. ABC40...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 4, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield has been awarded a $50,000 grant to retrofit city school buses with diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs). The grant, offered in May from the Environmental Protection Agency via the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives as part of its...
by Heather Brandon | Jun 28, 2007 | Urban Compass
Fresh from the approval of a balanced fiscal budget for 2008, Springfield is the recipient of the 2007 Municipal Leadership Award presented by the Boston-based, non-profit Pioneer Institute, apparently in relation to its 16th annual Better Government Competition,...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 6, 2007 | Urban Compass
The first Economic Forecasting Breakfast Speaker Series, apparently pulled together through the efforts of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at Holyoke Community College’s Kittredge Center (pictured), 303 Homestead Avenue, on Tuesday, September...
by Heather Brandon | Jul 15, 2007 | Urban Compass
22News has produced a report about units at Longhill Gardens Condominiums being condemned this week, saying that 32 tenants are being displaced due to the unlivable conditions there and three of the five buildings’ danger of collapse. Structural defects have...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 10, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield resident Gloria DeFillipo is running for City Council. Following are her answers—part one of two—to questions I sent her via email. The interview is part of an attempt to reach candidates for City Council and learn more about their background,...
by Heather Brandon | Jul 24, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield’s homeless providers have been going through a number of changes in the last several weeks. While I’ve been on a blogging hiatus here during a move from Springfield to Hartford, which took place June 30, on my other blog I’ve been able to...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 12, 2007 | Urban Compass
Growing up in Springfield, and now living in New Haven—both medium-sized cities—says writer Mark Oppenheimer in an article (PDF) in his new publication, The New Haven Review of Books, has released him from a destructive quest for status into a realm of...
by Heather Brandon | Jul 25, 2007 | Urban Compass
Late last fall, on a walk, I came upon developer Leslie Clement’s housing construction underway along Springfield’s Tiffany Street (pictured at left), in the Forest Park neighborhood. The cluster of arts-and-crafts style homes can be found along Tiffany,...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 13, 2007 | Urban Compass
by Heather Brandon | Jul 28, 2007 | Urban Compass
Both Springfield and Hartford face mayoral races this fall. As a new Hartford resident, I have little clue what’s going on in my new city, but I’ll be doing some catching up at the blog Real Hartford, which documented a mayoral candidates’ forum in...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 17, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield’s notorious riverfront prison, a late-1800s brick building complex, is slated for demolition, with interior remediation work to begin this month including the painstaking removal of asbestos and likely lead paint. North American Site Development...
by Heather Brandon | Jul 30, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield City Councilor Bud Williams held a public subcommittee meeting in the last week regarding planned changes to the State Street corridor at the intersection of Catharine Street and Wilbraham Road. Evidently the meeting stemmed from a July 16 City Council...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 20, 2007 | Urban Compass
The Springfield Finance Control Board is planning to be in town for an unprecedentedly large “community forum” later this week. The event, slated for Thursday, September 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, will take place in the theater at Springfield Technical...
by Heather Brandon | Aug 1, 2007 | Urban Compass
Events in Springfield over the weekend are now being treated to a range of media coverage, what some might call the first draft of history. The first annual Springfield Youth Olympics took place at Springfield College during less-than-ideal weather conditions. ABC40...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 24, 2007 | Urban Compass
A mayoral debate in Springfield, hosted by the New England Black Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for Thursday, September 27, at the Rebecca Johnson School (pictured) in McKnight starting at 5:30 pm. The two candidates, Mayor Charles Ryan and challenger Domenic...
by Heather Brandon | Aug 3, 2007 | Urban Compass
The Springfield Finance Control Board held a meeting on Thursday, July 19, at which ten people participated in a now-routine 30-minute public speakout session. Below is the transcript of what was said, provided by resident Sheila McElwaine, and slightly edited for...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 26, 2007 | Urban Compass
Town-hall style meetings can be an opportunity not so much to try to solve problems and wrap up matters cleanly, but to let them rise to the surface and get a little air. Such was apparently the case at last Friday’s Springfield Finance Control Board community...
by Heather Brandon | Aug 6, 2007 | Urban Compass
This week Springfield’s South End neighborhood got extra attention not just from area newsrooms hungry for more crime news to attract aggrieved eyeballs, but from one-day visitors from New York City, the Guardian Angels. Blogger Bill Dusty has all the gritty...
by Heather Brandon | Sep 28, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield resident Bruce Stebbins is running for City Council. Following are his answers to questions I sent via email. The interview is part of an attempt to reach candidates for City Council and learn more about their background, unique qualities, and thoughts...
by Heather Brandon | Aug 8, 2007 | Urban Compass
Early last week, a planning and economic development committee of the Springfield City Council met at a site being considered for a new Golden Corral chain restaurant on the shores of Loon Pond near Boston Road. The city’s Planning and Economic Development...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 1, 2007 | Urban Compass
Follow-up coverage of yesterday’s mayoral debate in Springfield can be found in a couple of places for those tracking the issues. Today’s Republican includes an article by Peter Goonan outlining the topics addressed during the moderated panel format....
by Heather Brandon | Aug 9, 2007 | Urban Compass
Late last night, two regional television stations posted their reports online about a class action lawsuit filed against Springfield City Hall yesterday on behalf of eight city employees. In speaking to a 22News reporter, Springfield-based attorney Devin Moriarty...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 3, 2007 | Urban Compass
“So how are your kids liking their new school?” my daughter’s fourth-grade teacher asked me last week. “Things are going pretty well overall,” I replied, “except for some bullying. My son had a problem yesterday in gym class....
by Heather Brandon | Aug 13, 2007 | Urban Compass
The latest Business West features a folksy interview with new Springfield Finance Control Board chairman Christopher Gabrieli, who identifies four top priorities that must be “addressed simultaneously and with equal vigor”—new job sources and the...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 8, 2007 | Urban Compass
by Heather Brandon | Aug 15, 2007 | Urban Compass
A number of press releases from the Springfield mayor’s office crossed the wires late last week, covering the matters of the city’s trash collection, the facelift reconstruction about to take place on Main Street downtown, and the demolition of a vacant...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 11, 2007 | Urban Compass
At a press conference last week, Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan, Police Commissioner Edward Flynn, board members of the non-profit Springfield Media and Telecommunications Group and others were on hand to announce a new Internet network to be built in the city to...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 15, 2007 | Urban Compass
Follow-up coverage of some events yesterday in Springfield, including the start of demolition for a South End apartment building, can be found on the wires today.Regarding the demolition: CBS3 has a report by Anne Ebeling, in which the charming grey skies add an air...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 17, 2007 | Urban Compass
Some important upcoming events in Springfield and Hartford will help residents sort out where they may wish to direct their votes on November 6, election day for both cities’ mayors and city councils. Springfield: Mayoral candidates debate, Wednesday October 17,...
by Heather Brandon | Oct 22, 2007 | Urban Compass
A team of consultants headed by Maryland-based ZHA, Inc. visited Springfield’s Dunbar Community Center on Oak Street in mid-August to make a public presentation. The purpose was to share initial findings for a study underway, funded by the State Street Alliance,...
by Heather Brandon | Nov 1, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield resident Pat Markey is running for City Council. Following are his answers to questions I sent via email. The interview is part of an attempt to reach candidates for City Council and learn more about their background, unique qualities, and thoughts about...
by Heather Brandon | Nov 6, 2007 | Urban Compass
Last week, Springfield incumbent Mayor Charles Ryan and challenger City Councilor Domenic Sarno met for a televised debate at the downtown studio of public television station WGBY. The debate, hosted by Jim Madigan, was aired as a special, one-hour edition of...
by Heather Brandon | Nov 7, 2007 | Urban Compass
In Springfield and Hartford, challenger Domenic Sarno and incumbent Mayor Eddie Perez both achieved victories in yesterday’s mayoral elections. Sarno won with just over half the vote at 52.5 percent, and Perez won with just under at 49 percent. In Sarno’s...
by Heather Brandon | Nov 7, 2007 | Urban Compass
Springfield resident Charles Rucks is running for City Council. Following are his answers to questions I sent via email—just in late yesterday morning from the candidate. The interview is part of an attempt to reach candidates for City Council and learn more...
