Thousands of UMASS Amherst alums are coming back to town today, hitting their old haunts, going to a football game, finding friends. And nothing has been canceled – even after last week's storm completely shut down surrounding towns and businesses. Many of the downtown Amherst businesses depend on homecoming weekend for a big chunk of their annual receipts. As New England Public Radio' s Jill Kaufman reports, some right near the campus are still scrambling to reopen:
Is Springfield Ready for New Leadership?
It's been a tough year for the city of Springfield – tornadoes, a tropical storm and the recent snowfall have destroyed property and depressed residents. On top of that, the city's homicide rate has surpassed last year's, with 19 murders so far. Now voters must turn their attention to the mayor's race, and decide who's best fit to lead the city as it recovers.
Springfield's mayoral race pits incumbent Domenic Sarno against City Council President Jose Tosado. Sarno is seeking a third term – he's been mayor for 4 years now. But if Tosado wins, he'll be the first Puerto Rican mayor in state history.
"At this point it's really Mayor Sarno's race to lose."
Tim Vercellotti is a professor of political science at Western New England University. He says the recent disasters have put Sarno in the spotlight, and it's difficult for anyone else to get the same exposure. But, he says, support for Tosado throughout the city can't be ignored.
"If you look at the census data for Springfield, about a third of the city households, Spanish is spoken at home. And so the Puerto Rican community is a sizeable community in this city and this is a test of its political strength."
But in the recent primary, Tosado received slightly more than 3 thousand votes while Sarno received more than 8 thousand. The question may be whether voters are ready to embrace change, which is what Tosado promotes in his campaign.
"There's a handful of people who really control the economy and the resources in Springfield. And these people, these very powerful people with direct access to City Hall, have an incentive to keep Springfield just as it is, in decline."
Tosado has called for the immediate resignation of the city school superintendent, who gave his one-year notice over the summer. He's proposed the creation of a Hampden County Gun Court, to expedite illegal gun cases and quickly get dangerous people off the streets. Tosado was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in the Latino North End, where his family owned a small restaurant. A social worker, he's spent 28 years working for the Mass. Department of Mental Health, most recently managing its Springfield office.
"We have unsafe streets, we have failing schools and we have a runaway economy. It's time for some risks to be taken, it's time for a real manager to come in for the city."
But Sarno prides himself on overseeing the city's improved finances, in the wake of a state takeover. Due to storm recovery efforts, Sarno canceled an interview this week, but here he is in a recent debate on WGBY television.
"Even though we rebuild during the devastating tornadoes and governing in the worst economic time since the Great Depression, I'm proud of my administration being able to produce 3 balanced budgets, being able to get bond increases to A bond status and being able to keep a healthy reserve of $34.9 million. The priority of financial health of the city will continue to be at the forefront here. We cannot go back to the old ways that put us near bankruptcy."
Sarno grew up in the city's Italian South End and served on the city council. His goals range from increasing police attendance at neighborhood meetings to quick-fixes for city potholes. After finances, he says his next priority is curbing youth violence.
"I continue to meet with the task force that I put together with local, state and federal officials, FBI, DEA, state police. We've continued our targeted war and crackdowns and gun sweeps with gangs, narcotics and other aspects. But I need people's help, the community and the residents."
Voters will have to decide whether those efforts have been enough. In the last mayoral race, in 2009, turnout was only 25%. But this time, the decision has more weight — the mayoral term will be expanded from two years to four starting with the results of this election.
At One Shelter — Some Halloween Fun, Then It’s Back to Work
With many power lines still on the ground from the weekend storm and tree limbs dangling in the wind, city and town officials in western Massachusetts and around the region put this emergency message out yesterday among others: postpone Trick or Treating. One Hampshire county town figured its way around that – Hadley. It was one of several towns in western Massachusetts hit hard by Saturday's storm. Nearly 100 percent out the town was without power in the first 24 hours after the snow stopped. And even by Halloween, only a small percentage of power had been restored. Emergency officials declared Hadley Elementary School a warming center and even without phone lines or Internet access, word got out.
Along with residents looking for a bowl of hot soup or a cup of coffee and a place to recharge their cell phone, around sunset Batman, several princesses, a witch or two, and 5 year old Elliot Phifer, a kindergartner in Hadley, showed up as Harry Potter. He and a few dozen Trick-or-Treaters raced around the cafeteria grabbing candy and prizes. The room was filled with families, most still without power, land lines, or heat. They found much of what they needed in the building as well as some cheer –as just hours before many kids were reportedly in tears at the thought of not Trick or Treating this year.
Peter Venman, a parent of five children, a cook at Amherst college, and a member of the Hadley Fire Department, says even without power, he managed to make his family a lasagna for dinner — on a propane stove. Along with some friends from Amherst, also without power, they came here because, he says, what else where they going to do on Halloween?
"The kids couldn't Trick or Treat anywhere, and we're like 'you're not going to Trick or Treat next week. This is your one shot.' And they wanted candy so we came in here. Plus I knew all the guys here and it would be nice to see people and maybe get some more information about when the electricity is coming back on."
Over in the stainless steel kitchen, Diane Zak was making soup and setting out jack-o-lantern cookies Zak is the food service director for Hadley Public Schools. Usually she's feeding kids; tonight its 200 dinners for anyone who shows up. Zak says the warming center will be open for a 2nd day today, and possibly Wednesday.
"[Tuesday ]we're going to be doing a broccoli-tomato -cheddar soup that we just finished putting together, and we're also going to be serving turkey and gravy on rice."
Town officials are still deciding if school can resume Wednesday as many roads are still closed. Michael Spanknebel is a Captain with the Hadley Fire Department and town's Emergency Management Director.
"We've seen damage like this before but never in this magnitude. For the town, and all the towns around us to be 100 percent out of power, it's absolutely amazing . The devastation from this early snow storm, it's amazing."
Spanknebel says just getting the word out about the warming center was a challenge.
"The communications part has been the most difficult because power's down, Internet us down, and a lot of folks don't have phones. So Facebook? I don't use it very often, but I'll tell you getting in touch with the PTO, some other parent organizations, the Park and Recreation Department; the amount of information they put out, getting it to everyone, and then asking them to pass it on has just been huge. We're asking everybody else to check on their neighbors. if you know of a senior, check in. Make sure they're okay. Let's keep this community thing going here. and it should be the same everyday."
And Spanknebel is asking for one more thing: patience. Especially with emergency and utility workers. He says he's s been told it could still be 5 to 7 days before power is restored to some of the town's outlying areas. The same goes for nearby towns.
Made in the Berkshires!
For many people, arts in the Berkshires are synonymous with the big summer events– Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow and the four major theater companies. But the region is also home to many independent performers, writers and visual artists. New England Public Radio's Chris Rohman reports – their work is the focus of an off-season festival now underway called Made in the Berkshires.
Brick and Mortar Festival Showcases Old Greenfield Buildings
This weekend (Oct 14-15), the city of Greenfield, Massachusetts of will be host to a collection of video and sound installations — it's called the Brick and Mortar Festival. NEPR's Karen Brown gives a preview.