Family of Zoe Rosenthal, a Holyoke teacher fatally struck by driver in 2017, is awarded $7 million after wrongful death lawsuit
Updated 7:51 AM;
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Chelsea and Tiffany Castillo remembered their mother, Zoe Rosenthal, as a dedicated woman in her roles as a single mother and an educator.
“She was a great mom, and she makes me want to be the best mom I can be,” Tiffany Castillo said in emotional testimony in court, speaking about the influence her mom had on her growing up.
Rosenthal, 52, died in November 2017 after being hit by a driver that her family alleges was negligent behind the wheel. Rosenthal, of Holyoke, was walking her dog, Chester, in a marked crosswalk not far from her home when she was struck by Charles J. Davignon, also of Holyoke.
City officials mull review of Holyoke Police Department
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 4/25/2021 11:43:08 AM
HOLYOKE The City Council’s Public Safety Committee is considering the possibility of an audit of the Holyoke Police Department’s structure, policies and practices.
That was the topic of conversation when the committee met last Wednesday to discuss the idea of a police department assessment from Holyoke Community College criminal justice professor Nicole Hendricks, Police Chief Manny Febo and residents who had served on former mayor Alex Morse’s stalled Civilian Review Committee.
The incident that sparked Wednesday’s conversation, though not mentioned directly, was a viral video that HPD patrolman Rafael Roca posted on social media last month in which he levied allegations of corruption, misbehavior and discrimination within the department. At-large City Councilor Rebecca Lisi referenced the allegations indirectly after noting that the departmen
April 22, 2021 | 12:00 AM
While more and more Massachusetts businesses and cultural institutions are reopening as COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue, many residents are still staying home due to the coronavirus pandemic. With that in mind, this week’s BosTen offers a mix of in-person and virtual things to do this weekend. Have an idea about what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook group, or email us at [email protected].
Starting Saturday, the Merrimack Repertory Theatre will be presenting an online version of playwright Dael Orlandersmith’s latest work, “Until the Flood,” which centers around the 2014 killing of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as the protests, indignities, and change that followed. Tickets for the play, which runs through May 2, can be purchased on the theatre’s website.
Smith College will require students to be vaccinated
The grounds on the west side of the Ruth Simmons wing of the renovated Neilson Library at Smith College have been terraced into an amphitheater that opens onto Burton Lawn. Photographed on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
Published: 4/21/2021 8:47:19 PM
NORTHAMPTON Smith College announced Wednesday afternoon that all students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall, becoming the first of the Five Colleges to enforce this requirement.
At around the same time, Holyoke Community College and all community colleges in the state conversely said that it will not require COVID-19 vaccinations, citing barriers to getting the vaccine that raise equity concerns.
Holyoke City Council addresses police practices, policies after corruption allegation
Updated 12:35 PM;
HOLYOKE – The City Council’s Public Safety Committee took up an order that supports examining the Police Department’s policies and practices.
City Councilors Rebecca Lisi, Gladys Lebron-Martinez and Juan Anderson-Burgos filed the order after a YouTube video posted by Police Officer Rafael Roca alleged widespread corruption within the Police Department. Roca was suspended from duty in early March.
The order stated, “In an effort to obtain neutral, fact-based data and statistics, the city contract an independent assessment of Holyoke Police Department’s structure, policies and practices.”
Ward 2 Councilor and Acting Mayor Terence Murphy, the committee’s chair, said his goal was to share as much public information and possible “to prove what we have and what has been working well” within the Police Department.