Local News Briefs & Tidbits: 05-31-08

CONTROVERSY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: The drama for state representative candidate Chelan Brown’s campaign continues to unfold, as a third candidate, Lorenzo Gaines, filed a complaint on Thursday with the State Ballot Law Commission. Gaines is challenging Brown’s residency status in the district for which both candidates are running for office.

Written on May 31, 2008 | Posted in Elections,Feature Stories,Politics | 1 comment

A Visit to the UMASS Library

A quick trip to the UMass library on Saturday, May 24, 2008, turned into a bit of a road trip ordeal for blogger Tommy Devine and myself as we encountered roadblock after roadblock in our efforts to get to the university library. As fate would have it, it was Commencement Day, and since it was [...]

Written on May 30, 2008 | Posted in Society,Videos | 2 comments

Brown Website Hacked?

On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, a rather bizarre series of events unfolded as watchers of the campaign Web site of 11th Hampden District State Rep. candidate Chelan Brown began to notice, first, that much of her site contained material apparently lifted from other campaign sites from across the country. (See this post.) Things got mysterious, [...]

Written on May 29, 2008 | Posted in Opinion,Politics | 27 comments

Controversy Highlights Chelan Brown’s Campaign

11th Hampden District State Representative candidate Chelan Brown thought that her biggest hurdle in running against incumbent Benjamin Swan would be her residency status. As it turns out, that problem may just be one of many. Brown has been maintaining for all it’s worth that her actual residence – since December of 2006 – has [...]

Written on May 28, 2008 | Posted in Feature Stories,Politics | 1 comment

An Informal Survey of the CT River Walk & Bikeway (Part 2)

On Part Two of our ‘”citizens survey” of the Springfield section of the Connecticut River Walk & Bikeway, we began our journey at Riverfront Park’s main entrance and trekked northward, with our final destination being West Street (Rte. 20), next to Bassett Boat. Our group included Sheila McElwaine, Mark Hambley, Bob McCarroll, Herb Singleton, Heather [...]

Written on May 28, 2008 | Posted in Cities & Towns,Society | 5 comments

Led Astray By Tommy Devine

A planned quick trip to the UMass library on Commencement Day turns into a gas guzzling ordeal as Tommy Devine leads me around the countryside of Amherst in search of a shortcut route to the university. [An 8-minute video.] * Coming Soon: A Visit to the UMASS Library * *

Written on May 28, 2008 | Posted in Society,Videos | 3 comments

Bundle O’ News: 05-23-08

NEWS FROM AROUND THE CITY… JUST SAY “NO” TO ETHICS REFORM: The Springfield City Council voted down a proposed city ethics ordinance last Monday. According to this Republican story, the proposed ordinance, sponsored by Councilors Patrick Markey and Bruce Stebbins, was defeated after a 4-4 tie vote. [Markey talks about the ordinance proposal in the [...]

Written on May 22, 2008 | Posted in City Hall,Feature Stories,Politics,Society | 3 comments

City Council to View Budget

The City Council will be presented with this year’s proposed budget on Thursday, May 22, 2008, at 4:00pm at City Hall. There will be an overview of the budget proposal at the meeting, with no questions allowed during the presentation. The Springfield Finance Control Board is allowing local officials to craft the City budget for [...]

Written on May 21, 2008 | Posted in Cities & Towns,City Hall | Comments Off