American Rescue Plan showers Pioneer Valley colleges with millions
Published: 5/13/2021 7:54:35 PM
HOLYOKE Area colleges and universities in Hampshire County and Holyoke are in line to receive millions of dollars in emergency funding from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law in early March.
Holyoke Community College will receive $13.3 million in funding, while Mount Holyoke was allocated $3.9 million to address the financial impacts of COVID-19 on students and institutions. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal announced the funding as part of a total of almost $90 million in assistance to 13 western Massachusetts colleges and universities in the 1st Congressional District on Monday.
Holyoke’s Utility Takes Leadership Role in Green Energy
Holyoke G&E Manager Jim Lavelle at the hydroelectric facility at the Hadley Falls Dam.
Holyoke Gas & Electric was recently recognized among a handful of utilities nationwide for its leadership in transforming to a carbon-free energy system. That designation, from the Smart Electric Power Alliance, underscores a green-energy mindset at the municipal utility that is not only earth-friendly, but a powerful force when it comes to economic development in the Paper City.
Jim Lavelle acknowledged that Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E) has some decided advantages when it comes to clean energy and reducing its carbon footprint.
May 12, 2021
Congressman Richard Neal is announcing emergency funding from the American Rescue Plan for colleges and universities in the area. Neal says ninety-million dollars is being set aside for local institutions to deal with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
At least half of the funding will help students who are facing hunger, homelessness and other hardship.
There are thirteen schools getting funding:
American International College: $5,686,696
Bay Path University: $4,881,677
College of Our Lady of the Elms: $3,608,828
Berkshire Community College: $3,969,913
Holyoke Community College: $13,291,667
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts: $3,942,592
Westfield State University: $12,788,564
Mount Holyoke College: $4,217,824
Nichols College: $3,308,361
Springfield College: $8,898,028
Western New England University: $6,961,297
Book Bag: ‘The Art is the Cloth’ by Micala Sidore; ‘All the Light Here Comes from Above’ by Robert T. McMaster
An image from “The Art is the Cloth.”
By STEVE PFARRER
All the Light Here Comes from Above: The Life and Legacy of Edward Hitchcock by Robert T. McMaster (UnQuomonk Press)
Williamsburg author Robert McMaster, a former biology professor at Holyoke Community College, is also the author of a trio of historical novels, known as the “Trolley Days” series, set in the Holyoke/Springfield/Westfield area in the early 20th century.
In his latest work, McMaster has combined his interest in science and history to take a close look at a seminal figure from Amherst College: Edward Hitchcock, a prominent science professor at the school in the early 19th century and the college’s third president, as well as a skilled geologist who made notable surveys of Massachusetts especially of the Connecticut River Valley and of New York state and Vermont. It’s the first-e
Holyoke, Chicopee roll out COVID vaccine bus
Updated May 06, 2021;
HOLYOKE – When the COVID-19 vaccine bus arrived, Maria and Gilberto Vargas and other members of their church were ready to step aboard.
The couple was among more than 120 people who were vaccinated on Thursday when Holyoke Health Center and Tufts Health Plan – Harvard Pilgrim Health unveiled the area’s first mobile clinic at Veteran’s Park on Maple Street.
The couple, who live in Springfield, learned about the free, walk-up clinic on Wednesday from a congregation member.
“A customer passed the information to her and she passed it to us and we passed it to all the brothers and sisters in the congregation,” said Vargas, adding her husband is the pastor of Jehova Tsidkenu in Chicopee. “A few of them have come already. We want the congregation to be safe.”