Winston Churchill allegedly said history “shall be kind to” him as he intends to write it. While the quote is not quite accurate, he not only made history, but wrote it. However, Churchill has not been the sole author his history or others’. Plenty of
Media literacy (and its flip side media transparency) is one of the most underappreciated aspects of our political landscape today. In many way, it is something that the 2016 election pushed to the fore, with, in my opinion, devastating results. That doesn’t just mean the
Short of showing the full and true horror of gun violence on TV, very little might actually shock the country into action on guns. The slaughter of 20 Connecticut first-graders in their classroom horrified and spurred that state and a few others to act, but
All the fixings were in place. The table was set. Surely, this would be the year Springfield voters would awaken to scarf down the opportunity two open at-large Council seats presented. But once all the ballots were in, turnout was just as disappointing than past cycles, if
The School Committee’s at-large vacancy is the first one since ward representation began. With schools and their reputation a perennial problem—fairly or not—for the city, this position has a great deal of import. Moreover, the School Committee controls nearly 2/3 of the city budget, giving
Springfield has a unique opportunity with so many open seats, all at-large, in this year’s election. It represents a paradigm shift away from the pre-ward representation Council. With nearly all of the (incorrect) institutional memory about the Council’s weakness fading, there is a real possibility
Are the stakes low in Holyoke’s mayoral election? Not in the least. The city will be, for the first time, electing a mayor for four years. That person will have twice the time to imprint their agenda onto the city before facing voters again. At
Holyoke faces a unique set of choices this election cycle. It is dropping two at-large council seats. The ward seats increasingly, are where the city’s minority population finds its strongest voices. However, this transition comes at an inflection point in Holyoke politics. The mayor’s race
Tuesday brought only the latest proof that Donald Trump, ever the provocateur and real estate tycoon, hasn’t the public interest at heart nor even the stones to stand by his chicanery. His administration announced it would terminate—maybe, more on that in a moment—the Deferred Action
Scripture says God gave humanity dominion over the Earth, but not license to irresponsibly exploit it. Quite the opposite, as Pope Francis observed in his encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si. “Each community can take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for