MassDOT, Amtrak, and rail agencies in Connecticut are discussing plans for an hourly train service between Springfield and New York City. MassDOT officials also provided an update on plans for Amtrak to add two daily Boston-Springfield services by 2030 as part of the proposed “inland route” along West-East Rail.
Springfield
Posted inEducation
Healey has called for universal pre-K in every Gateway City by the year’s end. Providers say they won’t get there.
Seven of the 26 cities are not currently participating in the state’s pre-K implementation program. Child care providers in cities that are participating say that while it enforces a mixed-delivery approach highly valued by preschool advocates, universal access for every 4-year-old by the end of the year is a pipe dream.
Posted inHousing
Holyoke’s unsheltered homeless count hits new record as threats to federal aid loom
The state and federal funding landscape continues to shift while homelessness in Western Massachusetts has reached unprecedented levels in the aftermath of the pandemic. Holyoke had the highest unsheltered count in all of Hampden County this year, according to preliminary numbers.
Posted inHousing
Trump administration targets program for chronically homeless residents, sparking fear for vulnerable populations in cities like Springfield
The overhaul has been temporarily and partially blocked by a federal judge, but the move is impacting local administrators of the federal program across Massachusetts and has threatened millions of dollars in funding for permanent housing and thousands of beds for the chronically homeless.
Posted inHealth Care
Suspension of maternity services at Mercy Medical Center sparks fears of permanent closure
Mercy Medical Center in Springfield announced last week that it plans to temporarily halt maternity and newborn services at its Family Life Center starting December 8, sparking fears the hospital will be next in a decade-long trend of statewide maternity unit closures in a region where labor and delivery options have already dwindled.
Posted inEnvironment
Health advocates warn proposed wood-burning plant in Springfield will worsen asthma rates
Health groups are warning that the revived proposal for a wood-burning plant in Springfield could roll back years of progress in fighting the high rates of asthma in the city.
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC says Springfield mayor’s powers on policing have limits
SPRINGFIELD MAY BE one of the Massachusetts cities with a “strong mayor” form of government, but the mayor’s extensive powers over city government are not unlimited powers. That was the […]
Posted inPolitics
Richie Neal’s big moment
RICHARD NEAL, consummate policy guy and inveterate old-school pol, had come to talk pensions. But after a March 21 roundtable in Boston, the new chairman of the House Ways and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Springfield police cases not adding up
IF YOU BELIEVE THE WITNESSES who have testified in Jose Omar Ortiz’s bid for a new trial, then two decades ago Springfield police bullied their way to a confession for […]
Posted inThe Download
Springfield police cases not adding up
If you believe the witnesses who have testified in Jose Omar Ortiz’s bid for a new trial, then two decades ago Springfield police bullied their way to a confession for […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Transportation
Public transportation is investment in Springfield’s future
FORGIVE US FOR opening old wounds, but it was just two years ago this spring that our state was crippled with foot after foot of snow. There was perhaps no […]