What were WMassP&I most popular stories of 2014? There was certainly no shortage of news in this jam-packed election cycle. From titanic statewide contests to down to the wire local primaries, this year may be remembered as one of the most critical in state and
…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
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
SPRINGFIELD—Lighting a menorah on Court Square in downtown, a 35 year tradition, seemed unlikely to make world news. Local rabbis joined city officials, the mayor and US Rep Richard Neal to mark the first of eight days the temple menorah burned with only a day’s
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
UPDATED 12/30/14 12:44 AM: For clarity as to the length of US Rep Richard Neal’s political career. A Planned City is a new series on planning and development in Springfield and its impact on the fabric of and life in the city. Last weekend, The Republican
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
…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
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,
UPDATED 12/15/14 5:44PM: For grammar and clarity. LONGMEADOW—Sometimes, life imitates art. The Lesser Committee campaign manager Michael Clark said he had recently finished up the seventh season of The West Wing and noted the episode after fictional US Representative Matthew Santos won the presidency. All