2018 was year of long-waited advances, conflicts in Springfield

Jan. 2, 2019 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – 2018 was a year featuring the fulfillment of a key economic development long in the making in the City of Homes, as well as other memorable events.

Feb. 1: Neal sees ‘outrage’ derailing coverage of important topics

SPRINGFIELD – Congressman Richard Neal believes that in today’s political atmosphere “outrage prevents us from having earnest, sincere conversations with the goal being let’s get a solution.”

Neal said the government shutdown was due at last in part to “issues that were put in place that were guaranteed to excite the masses.”

Neal spoke to Reminder Publishing during “Government Matters” television program produced by Focus Springfield on Jan 26. Neal noted the government must come to terms with the government shutdown that has to be resolved by Feb. 8

One of those issues was the resolution of a pathway to citizenship for the “Dreamers,” which Neal said was exacerbated by statements made by President Donald Trump.

He believes the DACA issue could have been settled “amicably,” but it is an example of an issue that was “tossed into the mainstream to generate an aggressive result by the other side and the result is a stalemate.”

What complicates matters is the government is well within the present fiscal year without a budget, Neal added.

Neal saw his ascension to the powerful chairmanship of the House Ways and means Committee by the end of 2018, which is facing another government shutdown.

March 15 Warren urges voter involvement at Town Meeting

SPRINGFIELD – It appeared to be almost unnecessary for Sen. Elizabeth Warren to mention she was running for re-election when she came to Springfield on March 9 for one of her Town Hall Meetings.

Granted, the meeting was not a campaign event by definition, but no member of the audience even brought up the fact that Warren would be facing one of three Republican challengers in November. Warren didn’t mention it as well.

Warren answered a wide range of questions from the capacity audience at the auditorium at Springfield Technical Community College including the ubiquitous inquiry whether or not she was planning a run for the presidency in 2020. She quickly brushed that aside looking for a different question.

At another meeting it was reported Warren dismissed any speculation about running for the White House.

Instead Warren answered questions and kept hammering home a theme of involvement, urging those present to be involved in issues and taking action such as calling or writing members of Congress.

On Dec. 31, Warren released a video that announced her intentions to run for president.

May 18 Commonwealth could consider sports betting after court decision

WASHINGTON, DC – MGM Resorts International lost no time in reacting to the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down the federal ban on sports betting and would allow states to consider sports betting.

In a statement released after the decision, MGM said, “We look forward to working with legislators and policy makers to achieve a regulatory outcome that benefits states and consumers alike while ensuring the integrity of sports. Having spent decades building trust with regulators, successfully operating sports books in Nevada, and hosting the world's leading sporting events, MGM Resorts International is extremely well positioned for a post-PASPA [The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act] environment.”

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the 6-3 opinion, “The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.”

Elaine Driscoll, the director of communications for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, told Reminder Publications that while the commission is reviewing the ruling it will be up to the Legislature how and if sports betting moves forward.

To date the Legislature has taken no action on sports betting, but a discussion is expected for the 2019 session.

June 14 Decision from immigration officials end sanctuary for Collazo

SPRINGFIELD – The attorney representing South Congregational Church said the church is ready to provide sanctuary again if necessary for an illegal immigrant who meets the program’s criteria.

Attorney Christine Tetreault spoke with Reminder Publishing moments after Gisella Collazo left the church and entered a car to return to her home, husband and two children.

“We’re happy she’s going home,” Tetreault said. “We hope that we never have to use that space again. Nobody choses to use that space, but we’re ready if someone needs it.”

Collazo was the first person to be given sanctuary by the Springfield Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition. She left the program because federal immigration officials granted her a Stay of Removal.

Collazo arrived in the United States from Peru in 2001. She found work here, married an American citizen and has two children, both citizens. According to information supplied by the Pioneer Valley Project she has been trying to change her immigration status since 2006 when she received a work permit.

The Stay of Removal will prevent the Department of Homeland Security from deporting her while she continues to change her status.

This was the city’s case of a church providing sanctuary.

June 14 Hartford line is one part of rail improvements

SPRINGFIELD – Starting June 15 the region will be receiving north-south commuter rail service from Springfield to Hartford and New Haven, CT., but that was not the only announcement made by Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and Gov. Charlie Baker at a press conference at Union Station on June 12.

Pollack said a Request for Proposals (RFP) has been released soliciting a consultant team to produce a feasibility study of east-west rail.

Pollack also announced that in conjunction with Connecticut transportation officials, a commuter rail line, called The Hartford Line, would begin a two and half-year pilot program to provide additional rail service to Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, and Springfield. She explained a passenger in Greenfield could get on a single train that would take him or her to New Haven in order to travel to New York City – what she called as “single seat service.”

Once the RFP is fulfilled, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will undertake a study that will last between 12 and 18 months. Pollack said the study would cost $4 million. She cautioned the challenges for the east-west commuter service include the fact the Commonwealth does not own the tracks and will have to work with CSX, the freight rail company that owns the tracks.

Aug. 30 MGM built it, and yes, they came...

SPRINGFIELD  – The  promotional film preceding the press conference on Aug. 23 formally announcing the opening of MGM Springfield stated a core message for the giant entertainment company: “We’re not in the hotel business. We’re in the holy sh*t business.”

Use of a four-letter word aside, it was clear the company wanted to not just impress the press and local officials gathered in the Aria ballroom, but to blow them away.     

MGM is the first destination casino to open in the state, with the complex in the town of Everett not scheduled to open until June 2019. A large contingent of media from around New England gathered for the event.

According to James Murren, the CEO of MGM Resorts International, “We’re just getting started.”

The road leading to the MGM opening started in 2011 when the Commonwealth approved legislation to allow casino gaming in Massachusetts. The MGM project was delayed in 2014 with a statewide referendum that casino opponents hoped would roll back the legislation. It failed and casino projects went forward.

Murren was one of a parade of officials who took to the lectern during the nearly two-hour event. The speakers were preceded by a performance by members of the Blue Man group, who closed their show with confetti and streamer  guns aimed at the audience.

The show closed with a performance by The Jabbawockeez dance troupe who won first place in the TV show “America’s First Dance Crew” in 2008.

Oct. 11 Paramount redevelopment receives $2.5 million grant from state

SPRINGFIELD  – The next chapter in the history of the Paramount Theater was announced on Oct. with a $2.5 million state grant that would be used to help jumpstart the effort to preserve and redevelop the historic block.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced the grant would help the New England Farmworkers Council, the non-profit that bought the Paramount block in 2011, develop the office space into a boutique hotel and preserve the theater as a performance space.

Baker called the project a “multi-service/multi use development.” He added the Paramount redevelopment is one of the “signals we’re heading in the right direction in the city of Springfield.”

As Vanessa Otero, the COO of the Farmworkers Council explained, the theater was built in 1929 at the location of the former Massasoit Hotel. It was a successful movie theater for decades that also featured stage acts.

The goal now is to restore the 1,800-seat theater, while building an 85-room hotel out of the office space in the block. Otereo said the project would create 75 full time jobs.

The price tag for the redevelopment is $41 million and will be made up of both private and public funds, she said.

Nov. 7 Oregon company presents its plan for recreational pot shop

SPRINGFIELD – An Oregon company that has been in the legal marijuana business for the past three years would like to transform a historic bank building on Main Street into a recreational cannabis store.

Diem Cannabis conducted its first public meeting on Nov. 3 outlining its proposal. The meeting was the initial step in a detailed process to obtain a license for the shop.

The company’s CEO, Chris Mitchem, said Diem operates seven cannabis licenses in Oregon and intends to apply for three dispensaries and a farm in Massachusetts. To accomplish that goal, the company has raised $12.5 million.

According to a report in Bloomberg news, that $12.5 is an investment made by Tidal Royalty, a Canadian company that is investing in what is described as “the green rush” in the United States as more states change laws on marijuana.

Diem has been approved in the town of Orange to operate a facility that would extract chemicals from cannabis as reported in a recent story in the Greenfield Recorder.

“The biggest barrier [we have] is we’re the out of town guys,” Mitchem said to the approximately 20 people who attended the meeting. He added the company doesn’t want to exclude any “local players.”

He said, though, the “out of town” money will stay in Springfield.   

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