Where Are The Hotspots? COVID-19 Town-By-Town Trends, Rates - Hampden County Where Are The Hotspots? COVID-19 Town-By-Town Trends, Rates - Hampden County
Where Are The Hotspots? Covid-19 Town-By-Town Trends, Rates - Hampden County Good news! The COVID-19 rate in most Hampden County cities and towns has gone down, according to the most recent information from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Hampden County now has a “green” community as well - a term for communities with a low risk for the spread of the virus - it’s Holland. Other Hampden County communities where the risk is low include Montgomery, Wales, Blanford, Granville, Tolland, and Russell. While the daily COVID-19 infection rate went down in most Hampden County communities, there are four that saw their rates rise: Agawam, Longmeadow, Montgomery…
How Much Snow Did You Get? Regional Snowfall Totals, Monday, Jan. 4 How Much Snow Did You Get? Regional Snowfall Totals, Monday, Jan. 4
How Much Snow Did You Get? Regional Snowfall Totals, Monday, Jan. 4 We're starting off the first workweek of 2021 waking up to a light blanket of snow. In the Central and Western areas of Massachusetts as well as the Berkshires, the place that received the most snow appears to be North Granby with 2.2 inches and Noth Adams with 2.4 inches. Chicopee also reached 2 inches of snow accumulation. After that, Holden came the closest to joining the 2-inch club with an accumulation of 1.7 inches of snow. Meanwhile, Worcester, Holyoke, Amherst, and Westfield got 1 inch of snow each. Some of the area's largest communities received less than an inch of snow: Springfi…
Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp
Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp Are you seeking out the best pizza slices and pies in Hampden County? COVID-19 has made great take-out and delivery more important than ever. With more than 30 percent of all delivery orders being placed at pizzerias, it seems like a good time to present the top 5 pizza shops in Hampden County, according to Yelp reviews. Did Yelp get it right? Put the name of your favorite pizza shop in the comments. Peppo's Pizza, 421 Springfield St., Agawam With a five-star review from 65 Yelpers, it seems diners can't go wrong with Agawam's Peppo's Pizza. With more than just pizza on the menu, re…
Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp
Who Has The Best Pizza In Hampden County? Top Slices, According To Yelp Are you seeking out the best pizza slices and pies in Hampden County? COVID-19 has made great take-out and delivery more important than ever. With more than 30 percent of all delivery orders being placed at pizzerias, it seems like a good time to present the top 5 pizza shops in Hampden County, according to Yelp reviews. Did Yelp get it right? Put the name of your favorite pizza shop in the comments. Peppo's Pizza, 421 Springfield St., Agawam With a five-star review from 65 Yelpers, it seems diners can't go wrong with Agawam's Peppo's Pizza. With more than just pizza on the menu, re…
City Pays $8,000 Per Mile For Snow/Ice Removal - See How Your Town's Plowing Budget Compares City Pays $8,000 Per Mile For Snow/Ice Removal - See How Your Town's Plowing Budget Compares
City Pays $8,000 Per Mile For Snow/Ice Removal - See How Your Town's Plowing Budget Compares Snow plowing is among the most important services a city or town can provide in the winter - but it’s more of a priority in some places than others. In a review of snowplow/snow removal expenditures per community, differences in how much a town is willing to pay for the service quickly emerge. Among the 10 largest communities in Central and Western Massachusetts, it’s hard to beat Worcester. The city spent $8,530 per mile of city roadway on plowing services in 2019. The biggest city spending the least amount of money per mile to plow its streets is Chicopee - which spent $2,635 per mile i…
COVID-19: Town-By-Town Rates And Trends, Hampden County - Dec. 18 COVID-19: Town-By-Town Rates And Trends, Hampden County - Dec. 18
Covid-19: Town-By-Town Rates And Trends, Hampden County - Dec. 18 Two communities in Hampden County lowered their COVID-19 incident rate and nearly a dozen are below the highest risk category - red, according to the most recent state data. On Thursday, Dec. 17, Massachusetts Public Health Department released weekly town-by-town datasets that include how many COVID-19 incidents there are per 100,000 residents - the incident rate. The communities where the rate went down are Southwick and Belchertown. HIGHEST Meanwhile, Springfield, Ludlow, Holyoke, Wilbraham, Chicopee, and West Springfield had the highest COVID-19 rates per 100,000 residents. The rates…
Food, Organics Recycling Plant Opens In Western Mass Food, Organics Recycling Plant Opens In Western Mass
Food, Organics Recycling Plant Opens In Western Mass An organic recycling center is coming to Western Massachusetts at a time when Massachusetts is running out of places to put its garbage. On Thursday, Dec. 10, Vanguard Renewables announced the opening of its Organics Recycling Facility in Agawam off Main Street. An organic recycler deals mostly in food and beverage waste. “We are excited to welcome Vanguard Renewables to our business community, and particularly appreciate that it is a green business,” said Agawam Mayor William Sapelli in a statement. “Recapturing food waste that would have been sent to a landfill is such an amazing concept…
Civic Leaders In 2 Cities Have Come Down With COVID-19 Civic Leaders In 2 Cities Have Come Down With COVID-19
Civic Leaders In 2 Cities Have Come Down With Covid-19 Civic leaders in two cities west of Eastern Massachusetts announced that they have contracted COVID-19. On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the cities of Worcester and Agawam announced that their chief leaders had tested positive for COVID-19. In Worcester City, Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr., said he started feeling unwell on Tuesday, Dec. 8 and decided to self-quarantine even before learning he had indeed caught the disease. About 20 people have been identified by the Worcester Division of Public Health as having been exposed to Augustus. The city is doing contact tracing. The exposed contacts are in…
COVID-19: Two Hampden County Towns Come Off 'Red' List - Town-By-Town Rates And Trends COVID-19: Two Hampden County Towns Come Off 'Red' List - Town-By-Town Rates And Trends
Covid-19: Two Hampden County Towns Come Off 'Red' List - Town-By-Town Rates And Trends Only one new Hampden County town has been added to the state’s COVID-19 red list and two have come off of it, according to data released Thursday, Dec. 3. The communities that lowered their COVID-19 infection rate to the point that they were removed from a list of the state’s riskiest places are Belchertown and East Longmeadow. The town that was added to the red list is Palmer. There are now 36 Western and Central Massachusetts communities on the red list, including 9 cities and towns in Hampden County. Massachusetts's color-coded risk system has four levels. They are, from most to le…
Longtime, Local Judge Dies At Age 104 Longtime, Local Judge Dies At Age 104
Longtime, Local Judge Dies At Age 104 A longtime local judge who had a major impact in and out of the courtroom recently died at age 104 at a health care facility in Agawam. On Friday, Nov. 20, Springfield native Judge Edward Cullen Peck, Jr., died, according to his obituary. Among Peck’s many accomplishments was being the founding chairman of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in 1962. The commission studies regional economic, social, and health issues and proposes solutions while assisting municipalities in better understanding their communities and applying for grants. He was also a member of the West Springfield Town C…
Unregistered Sex-Offender Discovered Living In MA Suburbs Unregistered Sex-Offender Discovered Living In MA Suburbs
Unregistered Sex-Offender Discovered Living In MA Suburbs An un-registered sex-offender has been located in a quiet, suburban neighborhood and arrested by police. On Thursday, Nov. 5, police arrested Level 3 sex-offender Gerry A. Lewis, 63, of West Springfield, on a charge of failure to register as a level 2 or level 3 sex-offender, police said. Lewis had allegedly been living on Sibley Avenue in West Springfield for two months without registering his new address, police said. Lewis allegedly moved from Agawam to West Springfield in March, police said. Lewis was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age in 1995,…
State Goes To Biden, But Here Are The Massachusetts Towns Where Trump Won State Goes To Biden, But Here Are The Massachusetts Towns Where Trump Won
State Goes To Biden, But Here Are The Massachusetts Towns Where Trump Won As many elections, including for president, are still being counted, Massachusetts has finished voting for president. As was anticipated, challenger Democrat Joe Biden won the majority vote for president. Biden won 66% of the vote with more than 2 million ballots cast in his favor.  Incumbent Republican Donald Trump won 34% of the vote with more than 1 million people supporting him at the polls. The following is a list of communities that went against the grain in Massachusetts and the majority of residents there voted for Trump - Central and Western Massachusetts are in bold, v…