To many political insiders in and around Springfield, the top cop is the second most important position in the city after the mayor. In a large (by New England standards) minority-majority city of 150,000, which, to many, has seen its revival bedeviled by both the
Longmeadow Daze is an occasional series reporting on and analyzing Longmeadow government and politics. LONGMEADOW—Stretching along the Town Green, the preeminent social, creative and civic event (after Town Meeting) of one of Springfield’s most prominent suburbs offered a view, if at times an ironic one, of
We hope you all had a safe & happy Memorial Day Weekend! …And the World: We begin today in the Ukraine, where Petro Poroshenko, a pro-European businessman, won the nation’s presidency with a majority thus avoiding a runoff. As Ukrainian forces seemingly ousted separatists from
SPRINGFIELD—Another light agenda greeted the City Council Monday night shortly after it city finance officials presented the budget for fiscal year 2015, which begins on July 1st. Few if any items engendered much discussion most had virtually no opposition ahead of the beginning of the Council’s
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is a version of the May 19 story published immediately after the budget press conference, updated with subsequent reporting. The original post has been archived and is accessible here. SPRINGFIELD—Less gloomy than usual, the annual release of the municipal budget by Mayor
UPDATED 5/29/14: For updates, including the state AFL-CIO’s endorsement on May 28. All such references to the AFL-CIO are new and remainder of material dates to May 20 publication date. Although its counterpart has received a great deal of attention so far, the 2nd Hampden
…And the World: We begin today in Iraq, where Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s party won enough votes to again form a coalition government and maintain its hold on the oil-rich nation. Maliki will need to bring in other parties to get a majority in parliament,
EDITORS NOTE: This story, originally published May 19, 2014, has been republished on May 22, 2014 to reflect additional reporting and details. The below is an archive of the original post, collapsed for visual tidiness. You may access it by clicking the “continue reading” text
UPDATED 5/16/14 2:40PM: To reflect a correction that he grew up in Connecticut, not, as a previously posted, in Pennsylvania and to correct the acronym for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. It is CMS, not CMMS. Executive Privilege is a series on the 2014
…And the World: We begin today in India, as the World’s Largest Democracy concludes its marathon five weeks of voting. According to the Times of India, it appears the National Democratic Alliance, headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party will win the most seats. That could