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Take My Council, Please: Pass Me the Buck…

UPDATED 10/10/13 3:32PM: Comments from the Council’s Public Safety Committee Chair Thomas Ashe added; clarification between last month’s defeated pawnbroker ordinance and the one referred to committee; and confirmation as to when the old holding period was shortened to the current 10 days. SPRINGFIELD—With elections

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The Once and Future Candidacy of David Bartley…

What is in a name?  In a low turnout, GOTV-driven election like tomorrow’s primary, it could count for a lot.  David K. Bartley, the Ward 3 Councilor from Holyoke running in tomorrow Democrat’s primary, probably hopes it will help scoop up enough votes to win

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Manic Monday Markup 10/7/13…

The Feds: We begin today, again in Washington, where the standoff over government funding continues.  Speaker Boehner seemed resolute, if contrarian, in an interview with ABC News over the weekend refusing to negotiate with the president under any terms except under the threat of material

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Manic Monday Markup 9/30/13…

The Feds: We being today in Washington, where the Republican party continues to insist that the Affordable Care Act a.k.a. Obamacare, be delayed a year before they agree to fund the government.  A proposal that GOP sent back to the Senate Saturday did not just

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BREAKING: Mastroianni Named to Federal Bench…

Updated 5:25PM:Here is the White House release on the nomination. The Boston Globe is reporting that President Barack Obama has chosen Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni to the Springfield seat of Massachusetts US District Court.  The vacancy has existed since August 2011 when Judge

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Manic Monday Markup 9/23/13…

…And the World: We begin today in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has won an historic third term capturing nearly a majority of the seats in the Bundestag, a rarity in German politics.  Merkel could overtake Margaret Thatcher as Europe’s longest serving leader.  But without

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Briefings: Survivor, Pioneer Valley Edition 2013…

With today’s results, the field is set for November in most of Western Massachusetts’s biggest cities.  Holyoke’s mayoral contest is set.  That city’s Ward 4 race was more or less over before voting began as one of the three candidates running had disclaimed interest in