Latest news with #Holyoke-based
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Toys are getting pricier as tariffs kick in
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up ENERGY Advertisement Head of electric grid overseer ISO New England to retire Gordon van Welie is stepping down from ISO New England. Photo courtesy of ISO New England ISO New England chief executive Gordon van Welie is retiring on Jan. 1 after 24 years running the organization that oversees the region's electricity grid and wholesale power markets. The board of the Holyoke-based nonprofit is promoting its chief operating officer, Vamsi Chadalavada, to take over after van Welie retires. He'll oversee a staff of around 700 people and a budget of about $300 million. The organization is funded by fees from buyers and sellers in the wholesale electricity markets, as well as from companies that use regional transmission services. Van Welie first joined ISO New England in 2000 as its chief operating officer, not long after the organization was formed following the restructuring of New England's wholesale electricity markets. He has been an outspoken advocate for ensuring the grid system remains reliable even when under duress at times of extreme heat or cold, and in particular for improving coordination between the electric and natural gas industries toward that end. Van Welie, who is 63, said that while the electricity supply and demand outlook remains relatively stable for the next several years, there are changes afoot, including a new capacity market design at ISO, that make it an appropriate time to step aside and let a new leader take over. — JON CHESTO Advertisement HEALTH CARE Dr. Oz pushes drug middlemen to end rebates before Washington acts Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz spoke during a news conference to discuss health insurance at the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, D.C., on June 23. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Prescription drug middlemen should end the complicated system of drug rebates before the government steps in to change it, Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz said Tuesday. The remarks signal the Trump administration may revive attempts to eliminate the payments drugmakers send to pharmacy benefit managers after prescriptions are filled. In his first term in 2019, President Trump considered regulations that would have eliminated that system, but officials abandoned them before they went into effect. 'There's a possibility that we have a window now where the three big PBMs might actually consider doing away with the rebate-slash-kickback system,' Oz told a meeting hosted by Transparency-Rx, a coalition of smaller PBMs committed to more open pricing. The three largest companies in the industry, CVS Health Corp., UnitedHealth Group, and Cigna Group, handle about 80 percent of US prescriptions. Drug middlemen extract discounts from drugmakers in order to secure insurance coverage for medications. Drugmakers claim that pressure to give rebates to PBMs drives drug prices higher, while PBMs say they don't have control over setting drug prices. Oz suggested regulators and lawmakers could revamp the system 'fairly expeditiously, because there's a motivated group of people who want to do that.' Before the Trump administration regulates or Congress writes laws, Oz said it might be worth giving PBMs 'one last chance to fix it on their own.' Congress has considered bipartisan changes to how PBMs are paid in recent years, but none has become law yet. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement ECONOMY Powell reiterates Fed's wait-and-see approach before cutting rates The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C. Ting Shen/Bloomberg Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, reaffirmed his view that the central bank can afford to be patient before cutting interest rates amid uncertainty about how President Trump's policies will impact the economy, despite a growing divide among officials about when and by how much to lower borrowing costs. Powell, who testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, said that the Fed was in no rush to take any policy action given that the labor market remains solid, inflation is still elevated, and price pressures appear poised to intensify as a result of Trump's tariffs. 'For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,' Powell said, echoing a similar message sent last week after the Fed voted to hold rates steady for a fourth straight meeting. 'It's just a question about being prudent and careful,' he added during one exchange with a lawmaker. 'We don't see weakness in the labor market. If we did, that would change things.' He later told another lawmaker that if price pressures related to tariffs end up being less pronounced than feared, 'that'll matter for our policy.' — NEW YORK TIMES Advertisement ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Anthropic wins ruling on AI training in copyright lawsuit but must face trial on pirated books Claude, Anthropic's chatbot, accessed on a phone. JACKIE MOLLOY/NYT In a test case for the artificial intelligence industry, a federal judge has ruled that AI company Anthropic didn't break the law by training its chatbot Claude on millions of copyrighted books. But the company is still on the hook and must now go to trial over how it acquired those books by downloading them from online 'shadow libraries' of pirated copies. US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said in a ruling filed late Monday that the AI system's distilling from thousands of written works to be able to produce its own passages of text qualified as 'fair use' under US copyright law because it was 'quintessentially transformative.' 'Like any reader aspiring to be a writer, Anthropic's (AI large language models) trained upon works not to race ahead and replicate or supplant them — but to turn a hard corner and create something different,' Alsup wrote. But while dismissing a key claim made by the group of authors who sued the company for copyright infringement last year, Alsup also said Anthropic must still go to trial in December over its alleged theft of their works. 'Anthropic had no entitlement to use pirated copies for its central library,' Alsup wrote. — ASSOCIATED PRESS AVIATION US strikes on Iran add to global travel disruptions and flight cancellations An Emirates Boeing 777 at the gate at Dubai International Airport. Jon Gambrell/Associated Press The US entry into Israel's war with Iran caused travel disruptions to pile up globally this week — with flight cancellations continuing Tuesday, even after President Trump claimed a cease-fire was 'in effect.' Following unprecedented bombings ordered by Trump on three Iranian nuclear and military sites over the weekend, Iran on Monday launched a limited missile attack on US forces at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base. Qatar, which was quick to condemn the attack, had temporarily closed its airspace just over an hour earlier. Airports and skies throughout the region have been on edge since Israel began the deadly war on June 13 — with a surprise barrage of attacks on Iran, which responded with its own missile and drone strikes. And in the days following the escalatory US strikes, more and more carriers canceled flights, particularly in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which sit just across the Persian Gulf from Iran. After a cease-fire was announced between Israel and Iran, some of those disruptions eased. But the truce appeared to be on shaky ground Tuesday, with Trump accusing both countries of violating the agreement — and many airlines have halted select routes through the middle of the week, citing safety concerns. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Clash of the Cans' mural contest transforms empty lot in Holyoke
HOLYOKE – The Beyond Armour Yard lot on Race and Main streets will come alive with creativity as artists compete in the 'Clash of the Cans' mural contest, while visitors enjoy the interactive BeND sculpture, offering a blend of art and play. Beyond Walls, in collaboration with the city of Holyoke, Mayor Joshua A. Garcia, and local groups, is leading the transformation of the empty lot at Race and Main streets into the vibrant, art-filled space. The event runs until June 14 and promises family fun with art, food and music. The project features six large shipping containers decorated by muralists like Golden 305, Ruben Ubiera, Micaela Levesque, Michael Rice, Corey Pane, Brian Wentworth and Holyoke-based artist Repo09. Besides the murals, the new outdoor space will have areas for refreshments, a flexible setup for future events, and BeND, an interactive sculpture that offers seating, a canopy and a play area. The container 'park' is a semi-permanent installation, secured through a two-year agreement with the city of Holyoke. Funding for this project came from a Mass Development Creative Catalyst Grant, Holyoke Gaming Restitution Funds and the Carlos Vega Social Justice Fund. On June 14, from 5-8 p.m., there will be a free event called 'Clash of the Cans' with live painting, food from Crave Restaurant, beer from White Lion Brewing, and music by local DJs. Residents are encouraged to watch artists race to complete their murals and interact with the community. At HardTech, Holyoke wants to sell itself as a place 'for companies from Boston to land' in a new manufacturing economy Ex-CPA admits to bank fraud conspiracy that cost lenders millions Baystate Health readies for hospital demolition at Mary Lane site WMass shelter determined to make a difference — 14,000 cats and counting This WMass college is offering free course in AI essentials Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Getting the construction industry ‘Sublime ready' with or without the federal government
HOLYOKE — With contractors — including Holyoke-based DOC and its supplier Chicopee Concrete — interested in using Sublime Systems' cement, the Massachusetts-born company wants to move up the 'gold shovel' groundbreaking for the $150-million plant it plans on Water Street. 'Our company is doing everything we can to accelerate our time to market to give builders everything they are asking for,' said Joe Hicken, senior vice president at Sublime. This is despite the Donald Trump administration's decision to yank an $87 million Department of Energy grant. It's money Hicken says Sublime has not given up on despite Christopher Wright, U.S. secretary of energy, saying that Sublime was part of a $3.7 billion raft of grants approved under President Joe Biden were not furthering American interests. Sublime always expressed plans to start production in 2027 or 2028. It expects to employ 70 to 90 people in addition to the 250-or-so who will work in construction The supply chain partners announced last week include DOC along with Turner Construction Company, STO Building Group, DPR Construction, Suffolk, Holder Construction, Consigli Construction Co. Inc., Samet Corp. and Methuen Construction have signed on to be part of Sublime's distribution network. 'They are getting the market Sublime ready to get this product out and deploy it at scale,' Hicken said. 'It sends the message, if you are a courthouse builder or a hospital builder, you can come to Sublime systems.' DOC, formerly known as Daniel O'Connell Sons, is a large-scale contractor of major public works. Company representatives visited Sublime's small-scale laboratory cement plant over the past few months with concrete supplier Chicopee Concrete, Hicken said. Jit Kee Chin, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Suffolk, said what the supply chain companies are doing is obtaining for themselves a piece of the future production of the Holyoke plant. 'You have to line up the supply chain to actually take this product to market,' she said. 'But we've known Sublime Systems for a long time,' Suffolk is also making an unspecified equity investment in Sublime. There were announced rounds of fundraising which garnered $40 million and $75 million. Sublime retains, according to Hicken, $47 million in federal tax credits, $1.05 million in state tax credits and $351,000 in property tax incentives from the city. Sublime — through work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — developed a method of creating cement through an electrochemical process instead of using heat. The high temperatures needed in cement making mean it accounts for as much as 5% of worldwide manmade emissions of carbon dioxide. Most of the CO2 comes from the limestone instead of from the fuel burned to heat that limestone. There is already a small demonstration system set up and test pours, both indoor and outdoor. Chin said the results are good. It's chemically no different than standard cement, but is whiter and cleaner. '(Sublime's) vision is no less than to really impact one of the foundational materials for construction, with cement and subsequently concrete,' Chin said. Sublime already had a deal to sell 623,000 tons of cement products to Microsoft over six to nine years. The company also recently announced a program to encourage general contractors to use Sublime's cement. Even just the Microsoft deal will require a second, larger plant, Hicken said. Holyoke is the first commercial facility designed to make 30,000 tons a year. That's enough cement each year to make enough concrete to build 17 three-floor parking garages. While all this is happening, Hicken said the company is still working on getting that $87 million grant back. Sublime Systems benefited, Hicken said, from the meticulous process of securing a federal grant. Now the company needs to make its case again. 'We haven't met with anyone yet. We'd love an opportunity to sit down,' he said. Sublime aligns with Trump's goals of building American manufacturing and ending reliance on imported products. Canada and Mexico account for 27% of U.S. cement imports. 'Our sense is there is an opportunity to show up as an asset,' Hicken said. 'The next step is to sit down with a human being.' With a makeover, Uncle Sam rises again for East Longmeadow's 4th of July Bankruptcy protection ends for ESG Clean Energy, Holyoke generating plant linked to Scuderi engine Big Y plans changes to its Tower Square store Read the original article on MassLive. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PeoplesBank buys naming rights to Hartford arena
HARTFORD, Conn. — PeoplesBank has renamed the former Hartford Civic Center, most recently called the XL Center, as PeoplesBank Arena in a deal announced this week. It's a deal costing $20 million over 10 years, according to published reports and a big move forward for the Holyoke-based, mutually-owned bank which has 20 full-service banking centers located in Connecticut and Massachusetts with plans to expand in Connecticut. Hartford's Capital Region Development Authority also announced $145 million in upgrades including better seating and premium hospitality in the lower bowl with world-class food and beverage, enhanced concert rigging and amenities for performers and athletes, including new locker rooms. PeoplesBank Arena, with 16,000 seats, is home of the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack, affiliate of the New York Rangers; 12-time national champion UConn women's basketball team and the six-time national champion UConn men's basketball team; UConn men's ice hockey as well as concerts. It was the home of the NHL Hartford Whalers. The arena celebrates its 50th anniversary in the fall. 'Our bank is independent and community focused,' said Tom Senecal, CEO and chairman of PeoplesBank. 'In the region, we have consistently been confused with the similarly named, but no longer existing, People's United Bank.' Senecal said that PeoplesBank is a mutual bank, owned by its account holders. Residential retrofitting program turns on high-speed internet for Bay Meadow Apts. in Springfield Chicopee budget up 6% on personnel, police costs; mayor proposes $3M to defray taxes ICE takes two into custody in Amherst in crackdown on 'sanctuary' communities Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holyoke Country Club fined for air pollution control and storage tank violations
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has fined Holyoke Country Club for underground storage tank and air pollution control violations. ES Golf Corp., doing business as Holyoke Country Club, was fined $19,000 for failure to install a vapor recovery system for its underground storage tank. The system is used to prevent gasoline fumes from escaping into the air during fuel deliveries to service stations and vehicle fueling. Holyoke-based company fined for asbestos violations at former Eastfield Mall in Springfield The country club was also in violation for failing to conduct third-party inspections of its underground storage tank and failing to maintain a financial assurance mechanism to fund corrective actions caused by an accidental release. As a result, they ultimately removed the underground storage tank. 'Environmental regulations are in place to protect our air, soil and groundwater from pollution while ensuring swift corrective actions in the event of a release,' said Michael Gorski, Director of MassDEP's Western Regional Office in Springfield. 'Holyoke Country Club's decision to remove their tank and resolve the penalty addresses their violation and underscores the importance of adherence to these protective measures.' WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
