2:40
Fireworks will again explode in brilliant colors over the Connecticut River in Springfield this Fourth of July.
In another step toward a post-pandemic return to normalcy, Independence Day will be celebrated with music, food, fireworks – and an anticipated large crowd – at an event called “Star Spangled Springfield.”
Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt likened the decision to hold the holiday celebration to 10 years ago when the show went on just a month after a tornado tore through a third of the city upsetting, lives and livelihoods.
Now we can say no pandemic is stronger than our community, Matt said.
Matt, along with Mayor Domenic Sarno, other city officials, and event sponsors announced plans for the festivities at Riverfront Park Wednesday.
3:27
The legal bills to taxpayers are adding up in the fight between the City Council and the mayor over who should run the police department in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The city has paid out just under $60,000,so far, to a Worcester law firm to represent Mayor Domenic Sarno, who has vowed to appeal a judge’s ruling that a City Council approved ordinance creating a five-member Board of Police Commissioners is “valid and enforceable.”
Asked about the expense, Sarno declined to comment.
City Solicitor Ed Pikula said the city’s Law Department could not participate in a case that pits one branch of city government against the other, so an outside counsel had to be hired. The attorneys representing the City Council are not charging for their work.
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Cinco de Mayo.
MASSGOP HAS GEORGIA ON ITS MIND What better way to recruit new members to the Massachusetts GOP than by bringing in a nationally known Democrat-turned-Republican for a fundraiser?
2:25
There is a proposal in Springfield, Massachusetts to combat the problem of illegal dirt bikes by shutting off the fuel supply.
An ordinance being considered by the Springfield City Council would make it illegal for a gas station to sell fuel for an off-highway vehicle such as a dirt bike, mini-cycle, or all-terrain vehicle if it is driven up to the pumps.
The proposal by City Councilor Orlando Ramos is another attempt to crack down on people riding dirt bikes, frequently in groups, illegally on city streets.
This is not going to solve the issue altogether, said Ramos. Our goal is to just make it harder for these illegal dirt bikes to operate.
3:45
Springfield’s health department this week will launch a public information campaign featuring television ads, social media influencers, and billboards with messages that encourage people – especially those age 30 and under to get vaccinated.
This is an all out effort to reduce vaccine hesitancy, said Springfield Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris.
She said another strategy to overcome vaccine hesitancy is to make the process of getting a shot more convenient by dispensing the vaccine at neighborhood-based clinics.
(The city) is trying to put clinics in places where we believe the residents are anxious and wanting and needing vaccines, Caulton-Harris said.