It may not have been unconditional, but it was surrender. On Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by Springfield area legislators and US Rep Richard Neal, Governor Charlie Baker announced the East-West rail study will go out to bid Wednesday. To Baker’s left stood a seemingly triumphant Senator
UPDATED 8:22PM: For clarity and accuracy. EAST LONGMEADOW—Four years ago, Eric Lesser drilled his campaign down to a few simple themes. Yet the one that came to define his political identity was rail. It remained so even though efforts to secure a comprehensive study on
WORCESTER—For much of the past few years, progress on a host of rail projects in Massachusetts has ground to a crawl. Last week Gov. Charlie Baker’s Department of Transportation, in laying out its rail plan for the coming decade on January 26, seemed to lift
On the one hand, Tuesday’s hearing on Beacon Hill for Senator Eric Lesser’s rail study bill is a familiar ritual for the Longmeadow Democrat. The legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee has favorably reported it before. The Massachusetts Senate has included it in the budget more than
Courting 36 Court Street is a series of quick interviews with Springfield’s at-large candidates. **All interviews are edited and condensed for length.** Whatever the outcome in this year’s at-large Council election, Kelli Moriarty-Finn is leaving it all on the field. She’s new to city politics,
UPDATED 8/17/17 8:25PM: For a Correction. The top photo originally misidentified 1211 Avenue of the Americas. Not much links MGM Springfield’s construction site with 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York. The former is feted as evidence of “momentum” in Springfield, like many a
The budget for the commonwealth emerged from its conference committee cocoon early Friday morning missing the fiscal year’s start last week. While the spending plan did preserve many key programs in the face of declining revenues, more than $400 million was sliced from the House
SPRINGFIELD—Ahead of its summer slowdown, the City Council ripped through a potpourri agenda featuring new ordinances, support for added rail service and derailment of a labor contract. Earlier in the evening, the City Council had unanimously passed Mayor Domenic Sarno’s budget without any cuts. Similar
NEWTON—Along a hilly street, one of many here, a crowd of all ages scarfed down ice cream and waited. It was a warm spring day, but a canopy of tree shaded much of the block party below. Perched on the undulating landscape was a podium
UPDATED 9:04PM: The Massachusetts Senate adopted Sen. Lesser’s amendment. The rail study will go to the House-Senate conference committee. State Senator Eric Lesser’s East-West rail study appeared ready to leave the station last year. It survived House-Senate negotiations and passed both chambers. But then, in