HOLYOKE — Leonardo Ortiz, Jr., was packing up his little brother Dexter’s things when, inside a reusable grocery bag, he found tiny objects neatly wrapped in newspaper.“They were my father’s old model cars,” Ortiz realized after unpacking each one. “He loved my father.”...
SOUTH HADLEY — Concerned for its financial stability and the ability to care for its patients, two lawmakers have asked the state to launch an investigation into a South Hadley nursing home.In a joint letter to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Secretary of Health...
SPRINGFIELD — State legislators are calling for more help from federal law enforcement and prosecutors in fighting what police are calling a “pandemic” of urban gun violence in the city.State Rep. Bud L. Williams wants federal lawmakers to funnel more funding to the Bureau of...
LAS VEGAS — Just last year, the Summer League experience was completely different for Drew Peterson. He was an undrafted forward out of USC playing for the Heat in Vegas as he was looking to get his first real reps as a pro.But now, Peterson...
Dear Abby: My father has depended on my mother (and me) for money for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t because he was unable to work, but because he was lazy and had a drinking and gambling problem. My parents eventually divorced, and...
As a former president of the local building trades council, and current business manager and financial secretary of the Plumbers & Pipefitters Union, Local #104 in western Massachusetts, I can tell you that projects done under a Project Labor Agreement do not cost the taxpayers...
Dear Eric: A few weeks ago, my step-mother-in-law, whom I was very close to, passed away suddenly. My husband and I spent four days in the hospital with her as she died. Afterward, my husband got a call from my brother conveying his condolences and...
When Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government had been produced at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, his response was, “A republic, if you can keep it.”Franklin’s hopes have been dashed. Apathy, cynicism and divisiveness characterize our twenty-first century polity. Consumerism and “selfie” individualism...
WESTFIELD — Students in the preschool summer vacation academy at Highland Elementary School were delighted by special visitors to their classroom on July 12, when Forest Park’s Wildlife on Wheels arrived with its animal ambassadors.Wildlife on Wheels programs are meant to provide information about the...
By Stephen Owsinski Every year, July 1 is a day when respective states’ new legislative actions take the stage for showtime. Typically, a bevy of new statutes bloats the books, with some influenced by national trends creating havoc for citizens and first responders alike. Swatting, Squatting,...