Digital billboards approved for I-91 in West Springfield
Updated Mar 17, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Electronic billboards will be allowed in one small corner of town, far from retailers and homes.
Town councilors this week voted to allow the large signs on a handful of industrial properties between Interstate Drive and Interstate 91, just south of the Holyoke city line. They rejected a citizens’ petition request to allow the billboards along two sections of Riverdale Street (Route 5).
“I want to be pro-business, but I also want to respect the people who live in West Springfield and not create some kind of Las Vegas here,” said Councilor Nathan Bech.
Digital billboard zone proposed along Route 5, I-91 in West Springfield
Updated Feb 17, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Advertising may be taking to the skies above Route 5 if town councilors support a petitioned zone change.
William Fennell, an attorney representing 19 petitioners from West Springfield, spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting about their proposal for an overlay zone to allow digital billboards in the retail district of Riverdale Street (Route 5) and on industrial land facing Interstate 91 near the Holyoke city line.
A separate group of 13 residents sent a letter in opposition. Town councilors seemed receptive to the proposal, but wanted to make sure Riverdale Street isn’t overwhelmed by flashing advertisements.
West Springfield zone changes, new hire part Mayor Will Reichelt’s recovery plan
Updated Feb 15, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD Recovering from the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 starts with a series of small steps, according to Mayor William Reichelt.
Reichelt sent town councilors a job description on Friday for his proposed hire of a temporary economic recovery administrator. He is also asking councilors to take up a package of zoning amendments and a local tax break that he considers the “low-hanging fruit” of business-friendly reform. They aren’t major changes in town policy, but they are a start, the mayor said.
“The complaint I’ve heard for years is the red tape people have to get through to get things done,” he said. “The idea behind this was, working with Allyson (Manuel) at our Planning Department, what do you see as the easy changes, the non-controversial changes that would benefit business development.”
West Springfield police charge Nathan Marrin with A&B, robbery; accused of stealing man’s winter coat and shoes
Updated Jan 29, 2021;
WEST SPRINGFIELD - Police charged a man with assault and battery and robbery on Thursday after he reportedly attacked a neighbor on Westfield Street and stole his winter coat and shoes, police said.
Nathan J. Marrin was arrested Thursday evening at the Express Inn on Riverdale Street on Thursday night. He was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapons, a shod foot, assault with a knife, and larceny of less than $1,200.
According to police, Marris had been staying temporarily at an address in the area of 1187 Westfield Street. A neighbor saw him several times outside wearing a long-sleeved shirt and no jacket. The neighbor offered to give him a spare winter coat.
Off The Menu: French fries the stuff of fast-food legend
Updated Jan 23, 2021;
They’re the stuff of fast-food legend.
The “they” is McDonald’s original-formulation French fries. Made from fresh Russet potatoes and fried in beef tallow, the French fries served at McDonald’s restaurants in the 1960s and ’70s supposedly earned the praise of late 20th century food luminaries like James Beard and Julia Child.
Certainly today’s restaurant French fries aren’t often memorable. Industrially processed, flash frozen, and sometimes “coated” to give the product better “plate life,” the modern French fry is nothing like the “pommes frites” from which they are originally descended.