SPRINGFIELD—The City Council approved a multimillion settlement to conclude ongoing litigation that stemmed from a wrongful imprisonment dating back decades. Mark Schand had claimed that four city officers, in effect, framed him for a crime 30 years ago, resulting in a prison sentence. Upon his
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council here rejected a Police supervisors labor pact Monday, primarily due to a provision that limits when officers can face discipline. The offending clause is not new. However, in the aftermath of this summer’s social justice protests, the were fears that some officers
SPRINGFIELD—On Monday, the City Council dispensed with a financial order left over from the last meeting and passed first step to reform an ordinance that regulates tax breaks in the city. Being the last meeting before an election, the Council also formally set the city’s
SPRINGFIELD—For only the third time since the city adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA), the City Council here thumbed through and approved the recommendations. Councilors love the program as it lets them approve projects beyond the ambit of mayor. Meanwhile anybody—including some city organs—can suggest
SPRINGFIELD—Darryl Moss, a longtime aide to Mayor Domenic Sarno, lost his job Thursday. The mayor terminated Moss in a letter that cited unspecified—but widely known—social media posts, echoing adverse employment actions the city has taken against other city workers due to social media. Much remains
UPDATED 7:26PM: To reflect a correction. A prior version of this post incorrectly identified the lockup involving Bigda as being in Wilbraham. It was in Palmer. Earlier this month, the Justice Department report on the Springfield Police Department landed with a loud thud. Not only
UPDATED 10:37AM: To include statements from the City Council. After a two-year investigation, officials from the Department of Justice have found a disquieting pattern excessive force, shoddy and false recordkeeping and crummy supervision in the Narcotics Bureau of the Springfield Police Department. The damning portrait
Blessed are the viewers of public access, for they shall inherit knowledge of their community’s affairs. However, even devotees of Springfield government television may have mistaken what was the central issue during this past week’s budget hearings. If one could get past the City Clerk’s
SPRINGFIELD—City Councilors voted Tuesday to accept legal counsel from a pair of Northampton-based lawyers in the ongoing dispute with the mayor over the Police Commission. Some 42 months after the body revived the Commission over Mayor Domenic Sarno’s veto, it remains in limbo. Sarno has
UPDATED 4:32PM: To include reaction from AG Healey’s office. SPRINGFIELD—In an abrupt reversal, Mayor Domenic Sarno apologized for the reinstatement of five cops charged with lying to investigators looking into the 2015 fracas outside Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant. In a late morning press conference