SPRINGFIELD—In a sign that environmental policy has become an issue for the City Council, the first major bill to emerge from the new Sustainability Committee has inched toward passage. The bill, shorthanded simplistically as a plastic bag ban, is not entirely new. However, it may
UPDATED 11:22AM: For grammar & clarity. LONGMEADOW—Some nine hours after its first run, in the gymnasium of St. Mary’s Academy there was an encore performance of Pope Francis’ historic speech to Congress. Yet this was a not a later screening organized by the adjoining church.
SPRINGFIELD—But for one item that prompted a colorful rally and march on City Hall before it, the City Council confronted a light and uncontroversial agenda Monday night. A resolution in support of the city adopting a climate action plan drew costumed environmentalists, larger than life
EDITORS NOTE: We apologize that this post was delayed two weeks due to illness and other events. SPRINGFIELD—Miles away from ocean and acclimated to the extremes inherent in New England weather, Springfield seems better insulated from the catastrophic effects of climate change than Boston. But
More than five months after it had overturned Palmer Renewable Energy’s permit to begin construction, the Zoning Board of Appeals once again ruled against the proposed biomass plant. Left unresolved from that January meeting was the Springfield City Council’s appeal. The ZBA sustained the Council’s
**This post has been updated with pictures and for grammar. This post has also been corrected to accurately reflect the comments of one speaker with regard to Massachusetts municipal waste incinerator ban.** As early as five thirty, a half hour before the zoning board of
On a unanimous vote, the Springfield Zoning Board of Appeals overturned the building permit Building Commissioner Steven Desilets issued to Palmer Renewable Energy’s biomass facility slated for Page Boulevard. After nearly two and a half hours of testimony, the Board rejected Desilets and PRE’s contention
**This post has been updated to reflect clarifications of some legal issues in this appeal.** This Wednesday Springfield will see perhaps the highest profile showdown over the proposed biomass facility on Page Boulevard since the Springfield City Council revoked Palmer Renewable Paving’s permit. Indeed, this
(WMassP&I) After all of the drama, all the testimony, all the passion, the Springfield City Council voted this evening to deny a permit for a used car dealership on Newhouse Street in the City’s Outer Belt Neighborhood. Yes, the tension and the anxiety over what
(WMassP&I) In many ways, we have abdicated our responsibility on the Biomass issue. When the permit was rammed through the city council on a 7-2 vote in 2008, it was hailed as a jobs creator period. Since then there has been a growing movement to