Stories Of The Past Week

Fishing derby honors drowning victim

Five happy customers of the Massachusetts merry-go-round of justice - and some pretty pictures of their faces

City Councilor Rebecca Lisi to wed

Police Use New Parking Citation Tool

A look at the Purple Knights training camp

Two more happy customers

6th Most-Wanted Holyoke Fugitive Arrested in Puerto Rico

Brush Fires Down

Hazen Paper buys closed mill in Great Barrington

Habitat for Humanity House brightens dark year for Holyoke woman

Officials at odds over retiree benefit hikes

Drivers hurt in 2 crashes

Six Pictures Of August

Action Corps

Old Rusty

Bonneville

Perkins Holyoke

La Resistance

Deepening Mystery

.

The 4th in late August

oooohh! aaaahh!

Guilty or Something...

Today the 13 year old who torched the Parsons Mill was found guilty of that crime, or as guilty as you can charge a 13 year old. He was in fact found to be delinquent, and sent to the State Department of Youth Services to be placed.

Placed where? Who knows. The State will probably never say. He could be back home right now for all we know.

And so continues the bureaucracy of secrecy in Massachusetts, the State that cares for at risk children.

1:00AM - Suffolk Street Fire

The Fire Department had this one pretty much under control right away, but for chasing hot spots in the walls.

The house, near the intersection of Beech and Suffolk, was well obscured by trees. I couldn't get very good shot of it without trespassing on someones porch, or getting in the Fireman's way.

It looks to be uninhabitable from smoke and minor fire damage. Safe to say, the residents won't be sleeping here tonight.


*update* Fire Under Investigation

"How To" Build A Slum

I was just catching up on reading, local blogs and such. When one story jumped out at me.

Springfield Forward Goes to State in Opposition to Longhill Gardens Proposal

I was struck by how well the Springfield Forward group has defined all the points to support it's argument, and also how well these points define the basic formula of how to build a slum. More housing than jobs to support dwellers.


In Holyoke's case this formula worked against the city long ago. Industry slowly declined. Jobs were lost, and at the same time people who still worked in Holyoke moved to new housing in suburbs, commuting to Holyoke. The housing they left behind in Holyoke was effectively a slum since it no longer could be matched to a job.

A sustainable community has a balance of employment and housing stock. Government subsidized housing schemes have no place in a sustainable community. I don't want to say that I oppose affordable housing, I am a big fan of home ownership, everyone should be able to afford their own home. Just that the government should focus on job creation in the slum area.

Springfield had been doing better than Holyoke until recently. Now it looks like the roles have been reversed.

Is Springfield going to be the next big slum of the Valley while Holyoke recovers?

Stories Of The Past Week

Wistariahurst to share $399,950

Tax collector charged with assault

New Holyoke Catholic High School racing to completion

Pioneer Valley job losses rise

Tax Free Weekend Wrap Up

Holyoke fireworks better late than in July rain

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace is a theater built by the Farr Alpaca Company around 1900 for the benefit of their employees. It occupies the first floor of what is now the Paper City Brewery building off Cabot Street.

The construction is plaster on steel spanning the entire length of the building. Besides a theater, they also used the space as a roller rink, and basketball court.

Wire Monkey Dance Company has been using the space recently, and call it the Tree Studio.


I apologize the darkness of the photos. My slightly dated Canon PowerShot suffers in low light.

Stories Of The Past Week

Mayor suspends Cops for 15 days each

Prosecutor quits, saying DA mishandled harassment complaint

Councilor Jourdain announces Cable TV Meeting on 8/19

Painters cover Holyoke graffiti

Frustrated retirees see board delay action on benefit increase

School job may disrupt students

Turnpike Authority cuts off $63,000 in Holyoke grants

Carbon monoxide alarms force evacuation

A Peek Inside The Old Main Street Fire House

A few weeks ago I toured the old fire house on Main St.




Hose tower. Once used for hanging fire hoses up to dry. Now an architectural oddity since the adoption of modern synthetic hoses.






The building went on the market last month. The Realtor, Charlie Davignon, told me there has been a lot of interest in it.




All this could be yours for only $150K.

Community Field Washout

Tuesday I took a quick swing by Community field to check out the destruction from last weeks flooding.


Community Field road is ruined. The main entranced blocked, I had to park on Summit Ave, and walk in.

Sand bars in the field.

The flood washed up artifacts of bygone days. The field is full of old style pull tabs.

Summit Ave was a river at the hight of the flooding. The DPW put up a temporary barrier in an effort to control the water.

This house on the corner of Summit and Ridgewood took the brunt of the overflow from community field. The rushing water swamped the homeowners car parked on the street.

The neighborhood almost lost their mailbox.