Latest news with #TheRepublican
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Candidate, kin marked dead on Mass. Dem database, seemingly by his rival, state Rep. Puppolo
WILBRAHAM — The man set to run against state Rep. Angelo Puppolo, D-Springfield, claimed last week the incumbent marked him 'deceased' on his party's campaign-building website. The problem has been fixed since then, though, and candidate Michael Lachenmeyer is back among the living. Lachenmeyer, 26, said Puppolo marked him and other members of his family as dead on VoteBuilder, a website used for campaigning, on June 18 — two days after Lachenmeyer publicly announced his run for Puppolo's seat in the 12th Hampden District, which includes all of Wilbraham and portions of Springfield, Monson and East Longmeadow. 'I feel angry and upset,' said Lachenmeyer last week. He told The Republican he was anxious and concerned that the action might've been politically motivated. The Republican viewed a screenshot of Lachenmeyer's VoteBuilder account, in which there are six options for eliminating names from distribution lists. Multiple options are visible, including 'Do not walk (no home visits),' 'Do not call,' and 'Do not text,' but a final option, 'Deceased,' can be seen marked by 'Puppolo Jr., A. on 6/18/25,' the screenshot shows. According to top state Democratic officials, the problem is not as nefarious as it seems. 'While we are not aware of the specific reasoning for this instance, campaigns for both parties remove opposing candidates and their supporters from contact lists, so they do not receive mail, phone calls, etc.,' Adam Roof, executive director of Massachusetts Democrats, said in an emailed statement. He explained that there are other 'effective methods' to remove people from contact lists, and the state Democratic party does not 'train or advocate' for marking someone as deceased to remove them from receiving messaging. Puppolo did not immediately respond to a phone or emailed request for comment on the matter. Steve Kerrigan, chair of the state Democratic Party, said in an emailed statement that VoteBuilder is not an 'official voter list' but rather a database political campaigns used to make contact with voters. 'Any changes to a voter's status does not impact any official voter registry. In this instance, the status was corrected,' he said. When reached for comment Monday, Lachenmeyer said he was feeling better about the situation. He said he has not spoken with Puppolo about it yet. 'I'm hopeful this won't be an issue going forward or for others like me who challenge incumbents,' he said. The Democratic primary is in September. Better angels must release US from Trump's Dark Ages (The Republican Editorials) PD: Road closure in Chicopee because of structure fire Springfield police arrest man accused of setting house on fire Largest federal grant in Mass Audubon history terminated by Trump admin Why we need a new Congress – and how to get one (Viewpoint) Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicopee Councilor Tim Wagner resigns, moving to Boston area
CHICOPEE — Tim Wagner, the Chicopee at-large city councilor who previously said he would not seek reelection, announced he would leave before the end of his term. Wagner, who sat on the Chicopee City Council since January 2024, told The Republican Wednesday he's moving to the greater Boston area for a new job opportunity and 'to be closer to the people I care about.' He said he had submitted his resignation with the City Clerk's Office, and is looking at ways to donate his pay from July and August. He will officially leave the council by the end of August, he said. 'I don't think it's fair to take the full pay if I am unable to fully help my constituents,' he said. Wagner said he would donate two months of his pay to Lorraine's Soup Kitchen and Pantry, the Boys and Girls Club and the senior center. In a social media post on June 19, Wagner asked residents to contact other city councilors for assistance, but 'I will still do my best to assist those who reach out,' he wrote, adding that he planned to continue to attend City Council meetings. Earlier this year, Wagner announced he would not be running for re-election come November. The 22-year-old directed that decision at having 'a lot of life left to live.' Wagner was elected to the council in the 2023 municipal election. Before that, he served on the School Committee representing Ward 1. The young politician said he was proud of a lot of the work he has done while on the council, including restoring an economic development position to the city, adopting a 'long needed' master plan for Chicopee and proposing significant reforms. 'These were substantial efforts, but there is still more to do,' he said in a statement at a January council meeting. Wagner is asking constituents to reach out to the other at-large councilors, Frank LaFlamme and Jerry Roy, or to their ward representatives for any assistance. 'I'm grateful to the residents for this opportunity to serve on the council,' Wagner said. When reached by phone Wednesday, LaFlamme, who is also council president, said Wagner 'always did what he believed was right as an at-large councilor.' 'Sometimes we agreed and sometimes we disagreed, but he always did what he thought was right,' LaFlamme said. The council president said he heard the news about Wagner wanting to resign over the weekend. The young at-large councilor will continue to serve until the end of August, LaFlamme said. After that, LaFlamme will put a question about filling the vacancy to a vote with the other councilors, he said. In March, after Robert Zygarowski, who was vice president of the council, died, the council voted not to fill his vacant position. Judge: Case for Pittsfield woman suing car repo company can move to trial Red, white and blue: The Republican's top movie recommendations for the Fourth of July New Valley Bank sues Springfield after eminent domain taking at DPW's landlocked warehouse Cyanobacteria bloom prompts warning about this Western Mass. pond Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Holy cow! CowParade comes to Old Sturbridge Village
STURBRIDGE — Things might look a little different at Old Sturbridge Village this summer as life-size cow sculptures are installed on the historic grounds. 'It's a summer of cows,' said Jim Donahue, president and CEO of Old Sturbridge Village, in an interview with The Republican. The sculptures — more than two dozen in total — are on display as part of CowParade, an internationally renowned public art experience that has previously been on display as far away as London, Tokyo and Istanbul. 'It's an opportunity for us to display public art from the region,' Donahue said. 'We reinterpret New England history from the early 1800s, and we're excited to be able to bring some 21st century artists to the Village.' CowParade originated out of a workshop in West Hartford, Connecticut more than 20 years ago — its inaugural event was staged in Chicago in 1999. Since that time, more than 250 million people across six continents and 32 countries have seen CowParade, according to its website. In March, more than 130 artists from New England submitted 261 one-of-a-kind cow designs for consideration in CowParade. The cows chosen to go 'on parade' at Old Sturbridge Village aren't all necessarily designed by professional artists, but all the artists do come from New England. 'These are folks who might have had other jobs. These are folks who weren't necessarily always professional artists. I think the opportunity for us has been to have community members — some who are professional artists, some are not — come up with these really interesting designs,' Donahue said. Some of the cow sculptures are inspired by the Village, Donahue explained. Jenessa Burks, a mural artist from Worcester, took patterns from the Village's wallpaper collection and reproduced them onto her cow, 'Small House, Big Hooves.' Employees of Sturbridge Town Hall designed another cow, 'Mootilda,' that documents the history of Sturbridge. Peter O. Zierlein, of Northampton, an art professor at Springfield Technical Community College, is bringing his design, 'Holy Cow,' to the parade. 'I named it 'Holy Cow' because at first, I was going to have the colors on the cow reversed,' Zierlein said. 'I was going to have the flames be black and the top of the cow be gold to symbolize a biblical story about a golden calf.' While the organizers liked his design, they asked if he'd be willing to swap the colors — making the cow black and the flames gold. 'All around Sturbridge Village, there's fire. Every hearth has fire in it, and the blacksmith shop, so I thought that it would be a good thing,' he said. 'So now the 'Holy Cow' is for the fire that is all around Old Sturbridge Village.' Zierlein worked on his cow in a studio at STCC, where he was able to get his students involved with the process. 'I made an event out of it where students could learn how to score public art projects,' he said. 'The cow was a nice prop in the studio there, and they could see every day how progress grows.' 'Holy Cow' is now on display near the blacksmith's shop, where it will remain for the entirety of the exhibition. 'We've tried to position each cow in the right location based on the design that the artist chose,' Donahue said. 'And our costumed historians are going to be able to connect for folks why that cow is in that location and what its connection is to the village.' Cows have long played an important role in New England. Back in 1855, more than 148,000 dairy cows called Massachusetts home, according Old Sturbridge Village. Today, Massachusetts dairy farms maintain 113,600 acres of land in the state and produces 200 million pounds of milk annually, according to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Old Sturbridge Village, which aims to educate guests about life in New England in the 1800s, is home to several heritage breeds of cows and oxen. The CowParade event will provide an additional opportunity for guests to learn more about the role cattle played in early 19th century New England. 'We tell the story of that period in New England history when we were transitioning from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy,' Donahue said. 'The farm program is a centerpiece of the museum, and cows in particular were integral to life in the 1830s.' Old Sturbridge Village will invite guests to 'churn back time' this summer on July 19 and 20 for Dairy Discovery Days. There, guests can learn about some of the historical significance behind cattle — including cheese-making and milking demonstrations. Dairy Days will also offer guests the opportunity to visit heritage breed cattle and their calves up close in the barn, and chat with costumed artisans about some of the tools necessary for dairying, like buckets and milk pans. Dairy Discovery Days is included with standard daytime admission or Village membership. CowParade will wind down in September before officially ending on Sept. 28. As the exhibit nears its end, the cows on display will be put up for auction, with proceeds to benefit Old Sturbridge Village and its educational programming. 'Since the cows started to arrive and some of the designs have gone up, there are people saying, 'I want that cow.' And it's funny that the designs speak to people,' Donahue said. Donahue has already been asked several times if he has a favorite cow, and the answer, he said, is complicated. 'These cows are so unique from one another that it's hard for me to pick one favorite cow because each of them has characteristics and a flavor and a design that is just so cool,' he said. CowParade is included with standard daytime admission or OSV membership. One-day tickets start at $30 for adults, $28 for seniors 55 and older, $15 for ages 4 to 17 and college students with valid ID, and free for children 3 and under. While tickets can be purchased at the gate on the day of your visit, online ticket purchases receive a $3 discount per person. Old Sturbridge Village is open Wednesday through Sunday, plus Labor Day, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the most up-to-date information, visit the Village's website, email visitorcenter@ or call 508-347-0290. Business Monday ETC: June 23, 2025 People in Business: June 23, 2025 Holyoke residents worry volleyball complex could devastate local forest 'What do businesses hate?': Mass. employers navigating uncertainty and fear Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Walter Gunn resigns from Longmeadow Planning Board amid town tensions
LONGMEADOW — After he was recently accused of making racist remarks to Longmeadow residents and trespassing in their backyard, Walter Gunn resigned from his Planning Board position. Gunn notified the town's Select Board of his immediate resignation on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post from Vineeth Hemavathi, the chair of the Select Board. The Republican could not immediately reach Gunn by phone Tuesday evening. The resignation comes after months of tensions in the town. In March, residents Fabricio and Jill Ochoa filed a complaint with the town, claiming Gunn entered their property unannounced in January while on a bike ride through the neighborhood. During the 24-minute interaction, which Fabricio Ochoa recorded and The Republican reviewed, Gunn asked Ochoa if he 'even speaks English,' after they had been talking for a minute. He also asked Ochoa if he was a resident in Longmeadow, the video shows. The Planning Board made an official statement denouncing Gunn's actions at a May 9 meeting. Later that month, the Select Board followed suit and called for his resignation. 'The encounter with Walter was both humiliating and disheartening,' Fabricio Ochoa said in his complaint. In comments after the May 9 Planning Board meeting, Gunn, a longtime member, said he 'was very apologetic with what transpired that night' and 'can't explain' why he acted the way he did on that January night. At a Planning Board meeting in early June, Gunn said he had no intention of resigning and insinuated that he may take legal action against the town. In his post Tuesday, Hemavathi thanked people for speaking up and supporting the Ochoas over the last few months. 'Sometimes, it can be hard to stand up for what is right, but so many of you did. I'm proud of how Longmeadow responded to this,' Hemavathi wrote. An upcoming special meeting on July 15 will discuss changing the town charter to make the Planning Board an appointed body instead of an elected one. Commission OK's more casino mitigation money, but the well may be running dry Most claims against AG's office in wrongful termination suit to move forward Celebrating Latino heritage: Pedro Veras leads mural project in Springfield Springfield police confiscate 11 guns, arrest 8 in 3 operations over 2 days Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘What do businesses hate?': Mass. employers navigating uncertainty and fear
SPRINGFIELD — Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the group representing 3,400 businesses across the state, said surveys of its members show the business community is unsure of the state's economy these days. April results showed confidence among Massachusetts employers at its lowest level since the pandemic closed down much of the commonwealth's economy in March 2020, according to AIM, which surveys its members monthly and distills the results into a business confidence index. May's results showed confidence rebounding a bit. June's survey is not out yet. 'What do businesses hate? Uncertainty, rules changing,' said Brooke Thomson, AIM's president, during a visit this week with editors and reporters at The Republican. She detailed how trade, tariffs and immigration enforcement are all making life less predictable for AIM's members across the state. Add perennial concerns like the high cost of housing and living in Massachusetts, and Thomson said the trade association is a busy advocate on Beacon Hill. AIM also finds itself much more involved in federal-level matters, Thomson said. What follows is excerpts from that conversation, edited for brevity and clarity. Q: Do you find yourself working on both bills, but also matters that can be taken up by the executive branch? A: Where we are now in 2025, you could say that AIM is involved in federal, state and local matters. So where we are in 2025, much more involvement in federal issues than ... — I came to AIM in 2019 — more than we've ever been involved in federal issues in my time. We've always been that voice for business at the state level. And then we're very involved in local issues in a variety of different ways right now. ... Probably the largest one would be housing because of the dramatic impact that housing has and the lack of available housing on workforce and the economy as a whole. Q. What is the current situation with tariffs? A. I talked about them (Wednesday) morning with the minister of the economy for Quebec and with the Canadian premiers and the New England governors on Monday. I would like to say that we were in a spot six months into 2025 where we had resolution. But unfortunately, and that is the challenging part here, I think what continues to frustrate me on behalf of the members of the business community is that I still think there's a lot of misinformation out there around tariffs. There's, you know, this notion that every time there's sort of a new negotiation or a new settling of a deal or a new negotiation around a percentage that somehow we've struck a deal and now it's resolved. And the real situation is that it continues to keep this uncertainty, and this really tense and quite frankly fragmented trade relationship. ... Our conversations with our Canadian counterparts, they have had to completely adjust the way in which they do business to understand that they can't rely on their dependence on the United States. And that really is primarily New England and Massachusetts, who are their number one trading partners. So, they are doing wisely what they should do, which is saying, we have to diversify, we have to go find other alternatives because we don't know where the story ends or how it ends. Q: Are you hearing from members about immigration issues, particularly with their workforce? A: Again, it is the uncertainty around what we're seeing and the fear, certainly you've seen a dramatic uptick and the impact on the workforce. At AIM, .. we provide HR support to our members. We've tried to be very proactive, again, around education, telling folks, you know, have your I-9s ready. Here's how to be prepared. If somebody comes to your place of work. Here are the numbers you call, here's what you do. But, you know, we've heard from members that folks just aren't showing up to work. People are afraid … You have this temporary status for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants that's going to be now coming into question in August and September. What does that mean, particularly in Massachusetts, where we are so heavily dependent on an immigrant workforce at all levels. Whether you're having a conversation about our high tech, you know, you're talking about doctorates and Ph.D.s at MIT and Harvard, or you're talking about people that are working in our hospitals and food service, in our schools, in our manufacturing facilities. Q: Do you get a sense from employers that they're all operating above board when it comes to immigrant workers? A: Are there bad actors? I think there's bad actors. I think I'm more aware of the members of AIM who have kind of gone above and beyond to try to follow the rules. We've had folks come in, how do I do whatever I need to do to try to get temporary work status for (employees)? How do I bring in resources, whether it's Haitian translators or something else. And now they're saying, I've made this investment, what do I do if come Aug. 3, Aug. 5 and 20 people are pulled off the floor. Q: What are you looking at, at a state level? A: Keeping the economy strong while trying to keep a watchful eye on maintaining costs. And that's everything. The hard thing is that they're all things at the same time. What we're trying to say is let's continue the momentum that we saw really take off last session. You saw great work for the Economic Development Bill that said, okay, we need to invest in key sectors. We need to make sure that we're going to, you know, put some bonding behind, clean tech behind, again, you know, biotech, things like that. Housing bond bill. We have to build more housing because we have to make sure that we have market rate housing. And that's again, what AIM would say over and over and over again, market rate housing. Q. You mentioned in an interview in January that we should attract new industry to the state. Obviously, you just got done saying a lot of business decisions are on ice right now. But are there particular industries that may end up in Western Mass.? A. So the two that we and I know the state are actively working on ... are climate tech, green tech. What's going on with a lot of the (old mill space) ... and then what we keep talking about ... taking a lot of the innovation economy that is continuing to happen, whether it's biotech, whether it's AI whatever it is ... and how are we utilizing, how they put, whether it's manufacturing, warehousing, whatever else is central to their business out in the western part of the state. ... So that when ... the R and D folks want to go see manufacturing, the R and D folks want to go to the call center, they're just going down the pike. They're not getting on a plane. That is really where I think our opportunity lies that we're not fully manifesting yet and I would like to see us really pursue here in Massachusetts. Q. Is there something that you think state leaders can do in the short term to better compete with the Tennessees and Texases of the world? A. One hundred percent. Taking a look on two fronts as far as zoning and siting of just general location of property. ... If it's a warehouse, if it's a call center, whatever it is (making it) easier and more efficient with the municipality. And then same thing with respect to making sure we have sufficient electricity, working with the, whether it's a municipal light plant or working with the utilities, to make sure (of) that. Because that seems to be oftentimes one of the number one challenges is particularly with manufacturing in some of these climate tech, green tech sectors that they're usually high intensity use of energy. ... Everyone's well intentioned, but how do we get better about having the state and those folks work together to make it more efficient and come together quicker? MGM Springfield reports gambling take for May Cannabis workers at Holistic Industries in Monson ask for vote that could end union Shame: Springfield councilors want to publish names of people with unpaid ordinance tickets Read the original article on MassLive.
