In the News

Spectrum cable television subscribers in the Berkshires will again be able to view news from WWLP-TV, the Springfield-based NBC affiliate. In a statement released Friday, the office of Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., announced the deal between Spectrum parent company Charter Communications and Nexstar Media Group, owner of WWLP. The agreement, three years in the making, will restore… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD — City officials on Tuesday announced plans for a $2.5 million project to improve the Watershops Pond Dam, which is deemed to have “high hazard” potential, posing a flood risk for the South End. Led by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, the local officials gathered at the 19th-century dam off Hickory Street to tour the site and announce the federally funded… Read more »

PHILADELPHIA — Julius Erving and fellow basketball hall-of-famer Sheryl Swoopes struck fear in the opposition on the court. On Tuesday, they struck coins at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, unveiling a special commemorative coin expected to raise as much as $10 million for Springfield’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame president and CEO John Doleva was… Read more »

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Massachusetts senators and representatives announced $10 million in funding to increase rural high-speed internet access in western Massachusetts on Friday. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with representatives Richard Neal and James McGovern, announced the release of $10.2 million in federal funding specifically for western… Read more »

Reaction is mixed today after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement to carry out a new cleanup of the polluted Housatonic River. An overflow crowd packed into the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum on the shores of Woods Pond for the announcement. The body of water is east of Lenox proper, with October Mountain State Park stretching out for miles on its eastern… Read more »

SPRINGFIELD — The U.S. Postal Service’s newest “forever” stamp, featuring PBS newsperson Gwen Ifill, was officially unveiled Sunday in the atrium of the former Classical High School by Springfield Post Master Joseph Conti and the Black Leadership Alliance. Ifill graduated from the school in 1973. On hand for the unveiling were U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal; Rhonda… Read more »

The House Ways and Means Committee released a proposal Friday to curb surprise medical bills, offering a new bipartisan plan that the panel is set to mark up next week. Protecting patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills is a health care issue Democrats, Republicans and President Donald Trump say they want to move this year, but it has proven to be more difficult than many… Read more »

It will take significant federal funding for Massachusetts to establish train service connecting Boston and the western part of the state, transportation secretary Stephanie Pollack said Thursday. Her comments came as transportation officials released cost and ridership estimates for six versions of new rail service to better connect Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, and Boston. Costs… Read more »

A LONG-AWAITED ANALYSIS of East-West rail service indicates passengers could travel between Boston and Springfield in as little as 79 minutes at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, but the cost would be high – with a low-ball estimate putting the price tag at $25 billion. The analysis by consultants working for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation examined six alternatives… Read more »

BOSTON - A majority of the state’s Congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office to launch an inquiry into how the Trump administration evaluates and permits energy projects and whether fossil fuel projects are prioritized to the detriment of renewable energy projects, like Vineyard Wind. In a letter to the GAO, the federal lawmakers said they are… Read more »