Western Mass Politics & Insight

Take My Council, Please: Youth Commissioning in Revolt…

wmasspi — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:00:42 +0000

SPRINGFIELD—The first City Council meeting of June featured an agenda of the usual fare. Grants and orders were plentiful but typical. There was an appointment to the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA), one of the few positions where the Council has a gatekeeper role. However, there

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Analysis: With Swan’s Passing, a Generation That Changed Springfield, Slips into Memory…

wmasspi — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:44:20 +0000

When former State Representative Benjamin Swan passed away on Memorial Day, Springfield lost more than an ex-pol. He was the last of a generation of civil rights leaders in the city which pressed for change. Then, they achieved political power themselves.

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DOJ Sues Mass for Refusing to Help Immigration Feds Operate in Secret…

wmasspi — Fri, 29 May 2026 04:47:37 +0000

In a spasm of suits, the United States Department of Justice challenged four states’ policies that blocked the feds’ use of confidential license plates. Last week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the Registry of Motor Vehicles would not provide Immigration & Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection with civilian plates to conceal their civil immigration operations.

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Take My Council, Please: Hungry, Hungry HIPAAs…

wmasspi — Tue, 26 May 2026 02:50:32 +0000

The Springfield City Council had a debate May 18 that no one could miss. It was the first time since the shroud of the coronavirus fell upon the city that all 13 serving councilors had assembled in person for a regular meeting. Full in-person attendance had its advantages, including procedural efficiencies the Council had gone without for six years.

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Former Springfield City Clerk among Healey’s Picks for Revised Cannabis Panel…

wmasspi — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:09:33 +0000

Following a change of law that granted her sole authority to appoint the Cannabis Control Commission, Governor Maura Healey has announced her choices to run the revised and often troubled agency. In a release, Healey announced the appointment of three new commissioners including. One name is quite familiar to Western Mass and Springfield in particular.

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Briefings: Longmeadow Town Meeting Pulls Plug on Municipal Internet…for Now…

wmasspi — Wed, 13 May 2026 02:44:13 +0000

During Town Meeting Tuesday night with just under 650 voters, Longmeadow rejected a $8.6 million debt exclusion that would have financed the build out of a municipally-owned Internet provider. At the meeting, backers, which included the Select Board, mostly jousted with the Finance Committee. The Committee, a volunteer advisory panel, had given the project a thumbs-down.

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Op-Ed: Did a US Senate Candidate Kill Someone? Voters Deserve to Know…

wmasspi — Wed, 13 May 2026 02:40:50 +0000

By Matt Chilliak

“Have you ever killed someone?” isn’t the type of question you would normally need to ask someone running for public office.

It’s probably the most important question no one is asking Massachusetts Republican candidate John Deaton, who’s running for U.S. Senate again.

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Longmeadow Daze: Something Wicked Dark Money This Way Comes…

wmasspi — Mon, 11 May 2026 03:33:06 +0000

As Longmeadow has moved toward developing its own municipal fiber, that is local Internet service, a nebulous and shadowy advocacy group and one of the nation’s largest telecommunications groups have moved in—at least on Facebook in town.

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Briefings: With Judge’s Nod, Federal Oversight of Pearl Street Concludes…

wmasspi — Fri, 08 May 2026 05:05:28 +0000

A federal judge in Springfield has agreed to dissolve the consent decree that the city of Springfield and the federal government had agreed to in 2022. On Thursday, Judge Michael Ponsor granted the joint motion to end the agreement, which the parties had filed about 10 days ago. The ruling was not a surprise.

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West & East of Local Public Media, NEPM & GBH, to Formally Join Hands…

wmasspi — Fri, 08 May 2026 03:15:09 +0000

Seven years after New England Public Radio and WGBY merged to become New England Public Media, the nonprofit media landscape is shifting again. Last Friday, the GBH Foundation, which oversees NEPM now, announced that it would formally absorb the 413’s largest public broadcaster.

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