SPRINGFIELD—With flickers of hope that the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak may be passing here and throughout Western Massachusetts, local officials and hospital administrators laid out some changes due in the coming weeks. First among these is implementing Governor Charlie Baker’s mandate for residents to
SPRINGFIELD—As the commonwealth continues to ramp up its COVID-19 testing infrastructure, city officials here appear poised to finally begin testing one of Springfield’s most vulnerable populations. Plans to test the homeless fell through last week and a launch set for Wednesday was delayed. Still, the
This post is the first of two assessing how the outbreak has altered top-ticket Bay State races. Last Thursday on the floor of the House of Representatives, US Representative Richard Neal was managing a pending bill. It was not the first time he managed, but
UPDATED 4/21/20 3:46PM: A prior version of this post, and others, had misspelled the Police Commissioner’s name. It is Clapprood, not Claprood. SPRINGFIELD—While the final decisions will be left to Governor Charlie Baker, it does appear that Western Massachusetts and its largest city are setting
In a controversial move during a global health pandemic, Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood announced the reinstatement of five still-charged police officers tied the Nathan Bill’s case. The relevant officers were not the alleged off-duty perpetrators of an assault outside the East Forest Park watering
UPDATED 4/17/20 4:30PM: On Friday, the SJC accepted the Secretary’s recommendation, slashing the needed signatures by half, extending the deadline for state candidates by one week to May 5 and allowing electronic signatures, albeit a little more broadly than the the Secretary recommended. The Massachusetts
UPDATED 4/16/20 8:53PM: The Senate passed the bill Thursday. Last week the Massachusetts Senate unveiled plans to cut the number of signatures needed for some candidates to get onto the ballot. The proposal, released by Senate President Karen Spilka’s office, would halve the number of
The video opened with 90 seconds of tropical elevator music before cutting to a split-screen of US Senator Ed Markey and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson. “Hello! And I hope you’re all staying safe,” he said opening their discussion about protecting airline workers. “Hope
SPRINGFIELD—As the economic devastation from the COVID-19 outbreak sets in, city councilors here met—remotely—for the first time since public health restrictions made its traditional gatherings impractical. Freed of some open meeting law requirements by Governor Charlie Baker’s executive orders, the body met via the web
Via his regular updates in his not-quite dulcet tones, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has become the central figure in the commonwealth’s response to the novel coronavirus ravaging public health and the economy. This has been the case with governors across the country, especially given the