Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked it off. In a video, she announced her support for the reelection of her Senate colleague, Ed Markey. Since then, a bevy of pols in Southeastern and Western Mass have come out for the incumbent. Such an early show of force—and
Transition is coming early to the City of Easthampton. Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, who had announced last year she would not seek another term, will resign early to take on a new state role. Come July 21, LaChapelle will join Governor Maura Healey’s administration as Commissioner of the Department of Conservation & Recreation.
Last Tuesday, Governor Maura Healey signed a $1.3 billion supplemental spending bill. The funds will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into both education and transportation. The Millionaires Tax, or Fair Share Amendment, voters approved in 2022 will pay for the spending. Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and legislators gathered to fete the critical investments in the commonwealth’s people and infrastructure.
It is hard to believe a little over a week before, Healey seemed to doubt the tax.
Michael Lachenmeyer, a Wilbraham native, announced Monday he would challenge 12th Hampden Rep Angelo Puppolo in next year’s Democratic primary. Such an early start is unusual for legislative races, yet it presents opportunities for both incumbent and challenger.
SPRINGFIELD—A crowd of hundreds—and perhaps well over a thousand—here joined protesters across the 413 and the United States for the “No Kings” protests aimed at Donald Trump. Hours before Trump’s sputtering military parade in Washington, Americans rallied to oppose his increasingly monarchical tendencies.
Demonstrators gathered at the Federal Courthouse on State Street, filling the plaza at State and Elliot Streets and lining State nearly a block in each direction.
The ghost of Eastfield Mall and the promise of its property’s future hovered over the Springfield City Council on June 2. The administration presented the Council with a District Improvement Financing (DIF) plan to help pay for infrastructure around the site of what will be Springfield Crossing.
Although only the City Council and School Committee are on the ballot this year, Springfield’s midterm elections had been shaping up into a competitive affair. However, no at-large Councilor is retiring and the odds of defenestrating an at-large incumbent are daunting. That may have changed on Friday. Former at-large City Councilor Justin Hurst pulled papers on Friday to reclaim a citywide seat on the Council.
Republicans in the United State House of Representatives jammed through their budget and spending bill this week. Given their rank in the Democratic caucus, both reps for Western Massachusetts featured prominently in the debate.
The federal government has confirmed its cancellation of a $20 million environmental grant to the city of Springfield, but officials are not giving in. There is a formal, administrative appeal process. When city officials learned of the grant’s cancellation, it said it was considering all options. Since then, the city has been in touch with the office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell. That could add some firepower to Springfield’s response.
This past Wednesday, the Massachusetts Appeals Court overturned a lower court ruling and, in effect, reanimated—although did not fully resurrect—the prospect of a biomass plant in Springfield. The decision gives the biomass plant proposed for Page Boulevard enough life to punch open the project’s coffin.