Page 13 - Jesse Lederman News Today

Reminder Publishing photo by G. Michael Dobbs SPRINGFIELD – The ongoing issue of whether or not a bio-mass plant should exist in Springfield near the Chicopee border received renewed attention last week with Sen. Edward Markey coming to Springfield to announce his support for efforts to prevent its opening. City Councilor Jesse Lederman, who has long advocated against the plant proposed by Palmer Paving at its Page Boulevard property, reached out to Markey who was here in the region visiting...

Are smaller vaccination sites the key to reaching residents within Massachusetts’ urban centers? Updated Feb 13, 2021; Posted Feb 13, 2021 One of the 10 National Guards m edical personel stands outside the doors at the Eastfield Mall vaccination site. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Facebook Share As the vaccine slowly drips through to municipalities across the state, city leaders look at where they could open their own sites for residents. Springfield houses the only super vaccination site west...

‘Tired of being nickeled and dimed’: Springfield City Council joins chorus of communities opposed to Comcast’s proposed data cap Updated Feb 09, 2021; Posted Feb 09, 2021 Springfield City Councilor Jesse Lederman, seen in file photo, was lead sponsor of a resolution opposing a Comcast fee for homeowners exceeding a proposed data cap by Comcast on internet usage. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican) Facebook Share SPRINGFIELD — The City Council on Monday joined a growing number of comm...

Springfield councilors call for more money, testing, vaccines to battle COVID Updated Feb 03, 2021; Posted Feb 03, 2021 1/29/2021 - Springfield - A patient received his COVID vaccination from nurse Christa Feeney at Eastfield Mall site on Friday. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican) Facebook Share SPRINGFIELD — The city needs more. That was the message this week as city councilors met with local department heads and with aides to federal elected officials to plead for more money, more testi...

Springfield city councilors urge Gov. Charlie Baker to expand COVID vaccine availability Updated Feb 04, 2021; SPRINGFIELD —- A group of 10 city councilors submitted a plea to Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday, urging him to spread his coronavirus vaccine program to reach all neighborhoods of the city. The councilors said it is “illogical” for the state to think that the nearly 160,000 residents of the city can be served by a single mass COVID-19 site now operated by the state at the Eastfi...

     COVID-19 testing capacity is being expanded in the largest city in western Massachusetts.      The city of Springfield is planning to open a COVID-19 testing site at the Putnam Vocational Technical High School.  It will be for city residents who want to get tested whether they have symptoms or not, according to the city’s Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris.      "Right now, the only other testing site is at Eastfield Mall and there are long lines th...

3:27          The newly-installed president of the City Council in Springfield, Massachusetts has announced a special committee to address COVID-19 issues.         Springfield City Council President Marcus Williams said the new ad hoc COVID-19 Response Committee will look into issues exacerbated by the pandemic including housing instability and food insecurity.       "It will also provide a public forum for residents to provide input and feedback, " explained Williams.   ...

The Springfield City Council meetings have sometimes stretched to midnight or longer.

Springfield City Council President Marcus Williams shuffles committees, resurrects elder affairs panel Updated Jan 07, 2021; Posted Jan 07, 2021 1/4/2021 -Springfield- Marcus Williams delivers his speech after being sworn in as president of the Springfield City Council. The formalities were done in the TV studio of Focus Springfield with other councilors participating remotely. (Don Treeger / The Republican) Facebook Share SPRINGFIELD — New City Council President Marcus Williams has ann...

A Massachusetts bill classifying biomass as renewable reignites a decade-old fight Photo courtesy of René Théberge When Tanisha Arena thinks of the proposed biomass facility in Springfield, Massachusetts, she remembers a recent fire in a nearby trash incinerator that blanketed her neighborhood in smoke. That smoke was the last thing her city needed, she said. It was October, in the middle of allergy season and a respiratory pandemic, in the asthma capital of the United States. When Arena r...