SPRINGFIELD—Eliciting boos from the gallery for hesitating on one issue, the City Council moved a matter to committee, while finally making progress on another Monday night. Nevertheless, the issue set the stage for what may be many confrontations between the mayor and the Council in
SPRINGFIELD—Earlier this month, City Council President Mike Fenton had urged residents to apply for four ad hoc committees he was forming, prompting a flood of applications into the Council office. The response exceeded expectations, leading Fenton to regret Monday night that he had “turn down” many people who had
UPDATED 12:54PM: For confirmation Brewer is retiring and a previous version of this story indicated that Ludlow School Committee Member Chip Harrington would enter the 1st Hampden & Hampshire race as an independent. New information says he will run as a Democrat, setting up a primary
UPDATED 4:20PM: For a new link, grammar and clarity. Everyone knew a changing of the guard on Pearl Street was coming, but the swiftness of Mayor Domenic Sarno’s announcement that he would be selecting a new Police Commissioner from the ranks of the city’s deputy
SPRINGFIELD—The new City Council President moved quickly only a day after his election to appoint committees for the Council’s 2014 term. Ward 2 Councilor Michael Fenton shuffled the seats on the Council’s committee Tuesday and announced the formation of two policy-centric proactive committees, which will
SPRINGFIELD—For the first time in over a decade, Domenic Sarno was not taking an oath in an even year January. In the middle of the city’s first four-year mayoral term, he along with a packed Council chamber of family, friends, elected officials and city department
This is a fourth post analyzing the election results of the 2013 election. As much as the elections at-large and in Ward 8 last month in Springfield captured attention because of their upsets, in a lot of ways the lessons derived from them tell some
On balance, 2013’s place on the good year/bad year for Springfield may depend entirely on a person’s outlook. Certainly if you are pro-casino, it was a good year. If you are anti-casino not so much. If your candidates did not win in this year’s election,
Even before the Pioneer Valley has rung in 2014, the year’s musical chairs and political calculus is well underway. At this early stage, the moves fall into two categories: those seats we know are open and those that may be pending a retirement and its
SPRINGFIELD—With a burst of legislation and a handful of grants, the City Council here closed out the year and, for that matter, itself with the last bit of business before the new year and the new Council is sworn. After some deliberation on a new