HOLYOKE Acting Mayor Terence Murphy has announced the recipients of $14.9 million in coronavirus relief funding in Holyoke, marking significant investments in water infrastructure, municipal building improvements and housing.In an announcement.
A long time coming: Tuesday marked 1st time Holyoke interpreted meetings in Spanish gazettenet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazettenet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Holyoke City Council meetings will now be interpreted en español >Holyoke City Hall, as seen from Holyoke Heritage State Park, on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 8/2/2021 7:42:23 PM
HOLYOKE When city residents tune into the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, those watching on TV will have an option many say is long overdue: listening along in Spanish.
In a city where some 54% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to census data, Holyoke’s municipal government meetings have long been inaccessible to the substantial portion of the city who have limited English-language proficiency. Beginning Tuesday, however, full meetings of the City Council will include the possibility of live Spanish-language interpretation via a secondary audio track for TV viewers.
Holyoke native Anthony Soto named receiver-superintendent of public schools >Published: 7/1/2021 7:26:31 PM
HOLYOKE One of Holyoke’s own has become the next leader of the city’s public schools
On Wednesday, the state’s education commissioner appointed Anthony Soto as the receiver-superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) a role he had held on an interim basis since the state, in a still-unexplained move, asked former receiver-superintendent Alberto Vázquez Matos to resign in March.
An HPS graduate and Holyoke native, Soto served as chief finance and operations officer in the district since 2016 and previously worked for a decade as a financial analyst and budget director in Springfield Public Schools.
HOLYOKE The state education commissioner asked the receiver-superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools to resign earlier this year and paid him $102,500 in severance.The details are included in a separation agreement, obtained by the news outlet.