SPRINGFIELD—As the economic devastation from the COVID-19 outbreak sets in, city councilors here met—remotely—for the first time since public health restrictions made its traditional gatherings impractical. Freed of some open meeting law requirements by Governor Charlie Baker’s executive orders, the body met via the web
There are countless things this country needs as it grapples with its greatest crisis in living memory. The outbreak of COVID-19 has laid waste to the economy and our social fabric, but there is one thing it need not destroy—the government itself. Specifically, we speak
NORTHBOUND ON INTERSTATE 91, Vt.—These days, highway travel, not constituent work, dominates outgoing Ward 4 Holyoke city councilor Jossie Valentin’s time. The Saturday before her successor would take office, she was leading Pioneer Valley supporters of US Senator Elizabeth Warren to New Hampshire on a
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council returned from its Election Day hiatus to a relatively tame agenda. The items most prone to discord did not get an airing. A separate reserve servicemembers program has support, but councilors agreed more financial information was needed. However, a new tax work-off
UPDATED 11/7/19 11:45AM: To reflect a correction. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Alex Morse was on the ballot this year. He was not and is in the middle of a four-year term. SPRINGFIELD—A collective whoosh swept through the Pioneer Valley as candidates
SPRINGFIELD—A proposed effort to bolster voter turnout here, if not cure its anemic state, cleared the City Council Monday night. The victory was short-lived. Mayor Domenic Sarno quickly vetoed the measure, offering a garbled explanation. However, it would not be his nonsensical valley this week.
SPRINGFIELD—Past, present and future orbited around two major items at the City Council’s Monday meeting. The body passed first step on an ordinance to step up election education notifications. It also reallocated $1.5 million from bonds to finance upgrades to Symphony Hall, nee the Municipal
UPDATED 9:37PM: On Tuesday night, the Holyoke City Council voted to advance the two-school debt exclusion question to voters on November 5. HOLYOKE—Not quite two weeks ago, supporters of a debt exclusion ballot question rallied on the High Street lawn outside City Hall here. Buffeting
SPRINGFIELD—Taking a break from lawmaking per se, the City Council approved several orders that signal the start of budget season. The body accepted its major federal grants including the meaty Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
UPDATED 12:54PM: To more accurately render Hinds’s UN service & correct a reference to Kurds’ negotiating partner. It was the rest of Iraq, not Israelis. NORTH ADAMS—Not quite a week after Beacon Hill’s great document dump—more formally, the bill-filing deadline—Pittsfield Senator Adam Hinds was discussing