Browse By

Category Archives: Veterans

Springfield

Take My Council, Please: A Pension Plan That Could Work…

As summer heats up, the Springfield City Council begins to slow down, holding fewer meetings than during the rest of the year. The body’s July 8 sitting was its only scheduled regular meeting until September. Despite the policy and finance-heavy agenda, there was little of major controversy before councilors last Monday.

Maura Healey

The State of the Commonwealth and the Healey Governorship One Year in…

BOSTON—Looking past criticisms of Beacon Hill inertia, Governor Maura Healey gave her first state of the commonwealth address feting the efforts of her administration since she took office. The speech looked ahead, including as soon as Thursday when Healey testified on her housing push. Its lookbacks to 2023, however, emphasized efforts Healey had undertaken on her own.

Supreme Judicial Court

Massachusetts Supremes Revive Criminal Case from Soldiers’ Home Outbreak…

In a 5-2 ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated criminal charges arising from the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Former Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former medical director David Clinton were the only officials to face such charges.  Hampden County Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, Jr. dismissed the indictment in 2021 prompting the appeal.

Holyoke Soldiers' Home

Judge Cans Indictment of Former Super & Top Doc at Soldiers’ Home…

The saga at the Holyoke Soldier’s Home took another sharp turn Monday after the indictment against the facility’s former superintendent and medical director disintegrated. Hampden County Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, Jr. granted former Soldiers’ Home super Bennett Walsh and Dr. David Clinton’s motions to dismiss the indictments against them.

Holyoke Soldiers' Home

Wave of Soldiers’ Home Accountability Builds, Heads toward Baker Admin…

On the heels of a devastating Boston Globe report about Governor Charlie Baker and Health & Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, a legislative panel is weighing in. Like previous investigators, the Special Joint Oversight Committee on the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke COVID-19 Outbreak lays into former Superintendent Bennett Walsh. Beyond him, the target of blame is oblique on an individual level.

Governor Faceplants in Attempt to Terminate Soldiers’ Home Super…

UPDATED 11:30AM: To include a statement from Walsh’s attorney. A Hampden County Superior Court Judge has sided with the former(ish?) Hoyloke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent, ruling that Governor Charlie Baker’s termination of Bennett Walsh was not valid. The ruling, if upheld, could entitle Walsh to backpay