Governor Maura Healey is weighing in on Hampden County’s competitive primaries, siding with incumbents in both cases. Senator Adam Gomez, who faces Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary, released a statement from Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll Thursday afternoon.
From the moment the contest began the subtext of the Hampden Senate District’s Democratic primary would be who could represent it best. Therefore, it was probably fate that the battle between Senator Adam Gomez and Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown would take a nasty turn. That happened mid-August.
Democratic Party politics and the presidential contest experienced upheaval Sunday when President Joe Biden announced he would decline the nomination for president at the party’s national convention next month in Chicago. Biden immediately turned to his vice-president, Kamala Harris, who has already won the support of delegates who will represent the 413 in the Windy City.
MELROSE—Governor Maura Healey signed a bill on May 3 that dispersed the state’s annual Chapter 90 road funds. Named after its chapter of the general laws, the money is essentially a type of aid to cities and towns. Flanked by legislators and finance, transportation, and municipal officials in this cozy Boston suburb, with the stroke of a pen, Healey made available $375 million for transportation work statewide.
SPRINGFIELD—At the risk of succumbing to cliché, Compass Rail, nee East-West Rail, is on track. The money is in place to bring service into being and more is on the way. The press conference that local, state and federal officials held on April 22 projected
The $6.32 billion in collections for April, which yields the largest haul each year because taxes are due this month, zoomed $1.03 billion over benchmarks. It surpassed last April’s take by over one and a half billion dollars.
Despite the ruddy complexion of the economy, both nationally and in the commonwealth, Governor Maura Healey has had to contend with wild gyrations in state revenue.
EASTHAMPTON—Despite years of involvement with Democratic politics, it is no secret that the 2016 election was a turning point for Nicole LaChapelle. Two reelections later, LaChapelle will not seek reelection as mayor here next year, although there is another presidential election before that.
“I was out at the Brass Cat and one of the bartenders is like, ‘Hey, Trump can be president again. Does that mean you’re gonna run again?’” LaChapelle recalled.
SPRINGFIELD—A quiet agenda reached the City Council after a rollicking couple of weeks in February. If anything, what defined the March 11 meeting was what did not happen. The Council did not take action on a new version of a tree ordinance, opioid funding or two street discontinuances.
BOSTON—Governor Maura Healey announced Wednesday she would submit one of the furthest-reaching pardons of marijuana convictions in state history to the Governor’s Council. Barring Council opposition, the move could wipe out potentially hundreds of thousands of convictions for simple possession dating back to the dawn of the War on Drugs.
Weeks after the Massachusetts Department of Transportation confirmed planning for a Palmer train station had begun, the department took another step to advance rail service west. On Thursday, MassDOT and Governor Maura Healey formally named Andy Koziol “West-East Rail director.”