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Monthly Archives: December 2014

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Manic Monday Markup 12/29/14…

…And the World: We begin today in Greece, where a failure to secure the supermajority needed to fill the largely ceremonial presidential office has prompted new elections. The added uncertainty could derail the country’s painful progress since the last elections in 2012, a condition of

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Briefings: Lesser, Claus Hold Pre-Christmas Summit…

NORTH POLE, Disputed Territory—Continuing his preparations for taking office on January 7, State Senator-elect Eric Lesser met briefly with Santa Claus after appearing on a Springfield radio show ahead of Claus’s annual international sojourn. Lesser, who is Jewish, said he was pleased to meet someone who brings

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Manic Monday Markup 12/22/14

The Feds: We begin today in New York, where a weekend double-killing of two New York City police officers has poured gas on the divide between demonstrators demanding a change in policing procedures and the cops themselves. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is

Springfield

Take My Council, Please: The 2015 Rate of Return…

SPRINGFIELD—As it capped off 2014, the City Council formally and narrowly approved the tax rates for residential and commercial property following the annual deliberation over which group of tax payers were more in greater need of relief. On a 7-6 vote, the Council approved rates that

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Manic Mondary Markup 12/15/14…

…And the World: We begin today in Australia where a standoff at a café in Sydney has ended with several dead. The gunman holding upwards of 30 people hostage was an Iranian refugee and self-proclaimed “sheik.” Muslim authorities in the Land Down Under say he is nobody of

Analysis: On the Holyoke Ward 6 Menu? Soup Du Jourdain…

Two events struck the City of Holyoke like earthquakes this week. Though of entirely different natures—one political, one, quite literally structural—they could ripple through the city’s politics. Their only common trait is one man: City Council President Kevin Jourdain. On Tuesday, Jourdain announced, to nearly everybody’s surprise,