Search Results

Keyword search: Springfield

By LARRY PARNASS

SPRINGFIELD — The former district court judge who lost his job over what he terms a consensual sexual affair has settled a lawsuit against him, seeking “to close this ugly chapter in my life and to focus on the future.”Thomas H. Estes, who formerly...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

HOLYOKE — The consolidation of Catholic churches in the region continued on Tuesday when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced that it was merging three parishes in Holyoke.Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and Immaculate Conception parish...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

SPRINGFIELD — As Bunny Croteau drove home one day in the early 1970s, she noticed a vehicle drive by in the other direction, the driver looking an awful lot like her 11-year-old son, Danny.So, when Bunny got home, she looked around for Danny, but he...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

HOLYOKE — As a freshman at Holyoke Catholic High School in 1974, three-sport athlete Fran O’Connell was already a big name on campus. In a city zealous about its sports, O’Connell had already been promoted to the varsity football and basketball teams....

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — Smith College knew two decades ago that a faculty member had been accused of sexually abusing a minor, but chose not to act on those allegations, allowing him to teach at the college until recently.On Wednesday morning, the Roman...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

SPRINGFIELD — Almost 50 years after police discovered the body of 13-year-old Danny Croteau floating in the Chicopee River, Hampden County’s top prosecutor said his office concluded Croteau’s killer was former Catholic priest Richard Lavigne, a...

By MICHAEL CONNORS

SPRINGFIELD — A former Easthampton attorney who admitted to defrauding clients, commercial lenders and an investment firm over the last several years was ordered by a judge Friday to forfeit more than $2 million, pay $2.6 million in restitution and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Newman Center, which for more than 55 years has served as the Catholic hub for students, faculty and staff at the University of Massachusetts, is being sold for $12.5 million to the UMass Building Authority.The sale by the Roman Catholic...

By MICHAEL CONNORS

SPRINGFIELD — The lawyer for a city man accused of stabbing another man to death in Holyoke last July is saying his client acted in self-defense after he pleaded not guilty in Hampden Superior Court to the murder on Thursday.Samuel Rosario-Calderon,...

By STEVE PFARRER

In the early 1900s, few young American women were allowed to go about unchaperoned. Fewer still would likely have been permitted to attend college on their own, almost 500 miles from home, and at the tender age of 16.But the painter and printmaker...

By BERA DUNAU

SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield, the first casino in state history, will open for business Friday at 11 a.m. — and western Massachusetts may very well never be the same again.“It’ll be an experience unlike any they’ve ever seen,” said MGM Springfield...

By EMILY CUTTS

NORTHAMPTON — South Hadley native Richard Koske was always drawn to a life of holiness. A devout Catholic, he says his faith remains strong despite being abused by three priests and receiving a disappointing response from the Roman Catholic Diocese of...

It should come as no surprise that the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority was forced to make service reductions on bus routes as it faced a $1.2 million budget shortfall heading into the new fiscal year. For one, the state has failed to meet a...

By Rebecca Mullen

SPRINGFIELD — After weeks of rising alarm over its proposed route cuts, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority advisory board on Wednesday adopted a revised plan to eliminate four of its 63 bus routes and reduce service to nine more. Spared the ax were...

By STEVE PFARRER

A hundred years ago, there was one relatively efficient way of crossing the country: by rail. To do it by road required using a patchwork of mostly unimproved surfaces — dirt, gravel, and sometimes just sand — on motorized vehicles that were still in...

There’s an old saying that a leader always should try to leave a place better than he or she found it. That’s exactly what Mary MacInnes did as longtime administrator of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority — and then some.MacInnes, who retired April...

By AMANDA DRANE

AMHERST — In an ongoing effort to persuade Hampshire College leadership to once again fly the American flag, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is scheduled to meet with the college president on Thursday.Sarno pushed for the meeting with President...

By Caitlin Ashworth and Jack Suntrup

Radio personality Monte Belmonte’s fight against hunger took a giant step forward Tuesday when his two-day, 43-mile march from Springfield to Greenfield raised a record $183,299 and counting.“I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me for the last...