UPDATED 2/10/2017 1:52PM: For clarification. A previous version of this post described Mayor Sarno’s parents at WWII refugees. They did live through that era in Italy, but WMassP&I cannot confirm they were came to US as refugees. It should be relatively straightforward. Springfield does not participate
SPRINGFIELD—Marking a continuation of ward councilors’ hold of the Council presidency, Ward 8 Councilor Orlando Ramos took the oath as President Monday morning. In a modest ceremony before friends, family and City Hall denizens, the Council formally voted to install him to succeed Ward 2
SPRINGFIELD—City councilors called Mayor Domenic Sarno’s bluff and overrode his veto of an ordinance reviving a commission to oversee operations of the city’s police department. The veto had come within hours of the Council’s initial approval of the changes two weeks ago, but Sarno has signaled
UPDATED 8:35PM: The Republican reports that Sarno has vetoed the ordinance. Tells paper on his flip-flop from 2007, “Quite frankly you learn that campaigning is much different than governing.” SPRINGFIELD—Edging closer to its second major rebuke of Mayor Domenic Sarno this year, the City Council
The operation of the Springfield Police Department is perhaps the civil rights issue of the moment in the City of Homes. The reporting on the actions of Detective Gregg Bigda had already shaken City Hall, the Hampden County Hall of Justice and Pearl Street, the
UPDATED 10/30/16 1:17PM: For Grammar and clarity. The case of Detective Gregg Bigda has rocked Springfield in a way few other police events have in some time and the contagion has spread throughout the Springfield Police Department. Concerns about civil rights and doubts about Police
Amid the current national climate of community-police relations, Springfield has been relatively lucky. Tensions are often high, but since Melvin Jones, there have been no Charlottes or Tulsas caught on cell phone cameras. Nevertheless, the actions of Gregg Bigda, a Springfield narcotics detective, threaten the
Caving to withering criticism from the media, the City Council and residents, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has released preliminary data from his police complaints board. The Community Police Hearing Board is required under Sarno’s 2010 executive order to file annual reports, but has failed to
Another year come and gone in the City of Homes, complete with a mayoral election. While the race itself maintained an inevitable air throughout, it nevertheless revealed much about the state of Springfield. From economic interest from the Promised Land to increasing drama with MGM,
This post is the first in a series on Springfield mayoral candidates ahead of the September 8 preliminary. SPRINGFIELD—Salvatore Circosta and the man he seeks to replace as mayor, Domenic Sarno, have a lot in common. Both are Italian, the same generation of each’s family