Last week, Beacon Hill approved a new procedure to allow Holyoke to select an acting mayor other than the Council President. On Monday, the City Council made their choice. Ward 2 City Councilor Terence Murphy shall serve as acting mayor through November. Murphy’s appointment was
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council considered and passed a plethora of legislation at its Monday meeting this week. Action commenced on a pair of historic districts—each were at different stages of passage. The ordinance banning the sale of non-shelter animals at pet stores also passed the Council.
SPRINGFIELD—City Councilors, state legislators, community activists and a United States Senator took a victory lap at City Hall after the state cut off the air for the ever-lingering biomass project. On Friday, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection pulled the air quality permit Palmer Renewable
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection may have driven a stake through the heart of the nigh-undead biomass power plant proposed for Springfield. In a five-page decision dated April 2, the department said it pulled the air quality permit amid growing public pressure and heightened
SPRINGFIELD—Ranking at or near the bottom by various wealth metrics, the City of Homes looked like a sitting duck as the pandemic crashed upon the United States. In the weeks after the City Council’s March 16 meeting, its last in-person since then, Massachusetts and Connecticut
A Mayor Called Sue(d) is an occasional series on litigation over the Springfield Police Commission and executive power in the city. There are fresh filings in the Springfield City Council’s suit against Mayor Domenic Sarno over the Police Commission. Earlier this month, Hampden Superior Court
UPDATED 3/25/21 8:42PM: An earlier version of this post misidentified Councilor Vacon’s ward. She represents Ward 5 not Ward 2. Holyoke famously releases its ballot petitioning papers early in municipal election years. In 2021 one person was not among the scramble for mayor for the
SPRINGFIELD—Rare are week after week regular Monday meetings of the City Council here. Normally, the next meeting after a regular session is for permits and one did appear on the agenda. Yet, this week, there was another regulation session with its own clutch of legislation
UPDATED 3/18/21 11:13AM: To confirm Mayor Morse had signed the petition and to note that Northampton’s charter allows councilors to pick an alternate acting mayor from among its membership. After an hour of debate, Holyoke city councilors approved a home rule petition Tuesday night to
UPDATED 3/17/21 12:23AM: The City Council approved the petition as the Charter & Rules Committee recommended on Monday. Full story here. There is now a date certain for Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse’s exit from office. At the moment, what happens after is anything but clear.