In the News

SPRINGFIELD — Local officials said Thursday they are pleased with progress in the recovery from Tropical Storm Isaias, and are assessing costs to pursue emergency aid. The officials, including Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, gathered at Forest Park, with a backdrop of downed trees and branches. They discussed and praised the ongoing cleanup… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD — State Rep. Bud L. Williams led the city’s Black community and politicians Thursday in rally honoring the legacy of the late civil rights leader John Lewis and marking the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The hourlong program was on the City Hall steps where Williams recalled protesting for Civil Rights himself in his earlier years and… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Congressman Richard Neal and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno surveyed the damage from Tropical Storm Isaias in the city as crews rush to restore power to thousands of people across the region. Sarno told us that around 2,500 people in the city are now without power. On Thursday, city officials said Springfield was one of, if not the hardest hit community… Read more »

Tributes have been paid to former SDLP leader and Nobel laureate John Hume who died this morning. President Michael D Higgins said everyone who sought and worked for peace on the island of Ireland will be saddened to hear of Hume's death. "Through his words, his astute diplomacy and willingness to listen to what was often difficult to accept but was the view of the 'Other', transformed… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Congressman Richard Neal and local business leaders came together today to celebrate the success of the Paycheck Protection Program. More than 10,000 loans were given out to small businesses across western and central Massachusetts, which comes to be more than $1 billion. The data shows that businesses of all types benefited from the program, and the… Read more »

A group of area business people who received assistance from the first round of stimulus funding from the Small Business Administration’s the Paycheck Protection Program met for a press conference Saturday at the Log Cabin in Holyoke to discuss the impact that the funding had on their businesses. The CARES Act pumped almost $1.2 billion into the economy of Western Massachusetts,… Read more »

(WWLP) – The federal program that is currently providing more than 30 million unemployed Americans with an extra $600 per week expires Friday. As of now, leaders on Capitol Hill aren’t on the same page on a new plan to help those struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both sides agree that help is needed but they can’t decide how to move forward. Chairman… Read more »

AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING on Wednesday, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was held up as a model – a model of what can go wrong when an odd state-federal relationship leaves gaps in who exactly is responsible for the home. The COVID-19 outbreaks at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and other veterans’ homes throughout the country have spurred calls for the US Department… Read more »

HOLYOKE (CBS) – The former superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home spoke before Congress Wednesday. Paul Barabani retired in 2016, and he said he warned of a lack of proper staffing in the home. “I often ask what if they had listened to my requests for additional staff and the creation of individual rooms in the renovation? How many of these deaths may… Read more »

Members of Congress and the Trump administration differed on “where the buck stops” for veterans nursing facilities during a committee hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill, but most agreed the coronavirus emerged as a teachable moment of the most costly magnitude. The disease has claimed the lives of at least 40,000 in nursing homes across the nation, including 76 at the… Read more »