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Boston's Morning Newsletter
'It's just kind of reached a fever pitch': Why Springfield's mayoral race is heating up
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Happy Presidents Day. [Checks notes.] Yep, still no apostrophe.
If you’re out looking to take advantage of the holiday’s car deals, make sure to read this NPR story about those nefarious “yo-yo” sales. And don’t get spooked by the USS Constitution’s 21-gun salute at noon.
(One more PSA: Most, but not all businesses will be closing shop for the holiday. Here’s what’s open and closed today in Massachusetts.)
OK, to the news:
It’s a mayoral election year in Massachusetts’ third-largest city — and incumbent Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno could be up against not one, not two, but three prominent challengers. This past week, state Rep. Orlando Ramos officially announced his candidacy, joining city councilors Justin Hurst and Jesse Lederman in the increasingly crowded field. Never before in his 15-year tenure as mayor has Sarno seen so many prominent local elected officials vying to take him on. (Local psychotherapist David Ciampi is also in the race.)
- Sarno is seen as a more old-school, centrist Democrat, and his challengers are ostensibly taking him on from the left. But the issues are highly local. According to New England Public Media, Sarno’s challengers have criticized his responsiveness on crime and economic issues, as well as his handling of a new Springfield police commission. (The Council had to sue Sarno to get him to follow an ordinance to shift police oversight from a sole commissioner to a panel of five civilians.)
- An uphill climb: Sarno, who plans to run for reelection, has comfortably dispatched with prior challengers since he first won office in 2007 (ousting then-incumbent mayor Charles Ryan). He currently has a big fundraising advantage over his opponents.
- The outlook: Matt Szafranski, an attorney and author of the political blog Western Mass Politics & Insight, says this year is shaping up to be perhaps Sarno’s toughest reelection fight. (Case in point: Szafranski pointed to a late-2022 fundraising push by Sarno as evidence of his team’s concern.) “There’s been a growing and sometimes vocal opposition to him on multiple fronts,” he added. “It’s just kind of reached a fever pitch.”
The MBTA slow zones are so bad that you could outrun trains along certain stretches — and it doesn’t take a marathon runner. The Boston Globe obtained public records showing that Green Line trains must crawl at 6 mph or slower on a total of 1,500 feet of track across the system. There’s even a stretch by Fenway on the D branch where trolleys haven’t been allowed to surpass 3 mph since 2020.
- The Globe also reports that the number of slow zones on the Orange and Red lines — 23 and 27, respectively — have grown over the past six months (despite the monthlong shutdown of the former). Thankfully, those aren’t quite as slow as the Green Line.
- What’s next: While they work to fix the issues through a series of partial track closures, T officials have pledged to make detailed slow zone information available to riders later this spring.
- Go deeper: Radio Boston looked at the compounding problems for the T — and whether a new governor will make a difference — during this past Friday’s episode.
Jayson Tatum became the first Celtics in over 40 years to be named MVP of the NBA All-Star Game last night — and, frankly, he earned it. Tatum scored a record 55 points in the exhibition game, leading his side to a 184-175 win.
- Tatum even briefly played defense — unheard of in an All-Star game — during a playful exchange with his Celtic teammate Jaylen Brown. (You can watch their full one-on-one duel here.)
Worcester’s DCU Center wants you to take a seat. Literally. The stadium is replacing more than 12,000 of its upper-level seats, so they’re offering the current seats to fans — for free.
- The Telegram & Gazette reports that season ticket holders of the city’s minor-league hockey team, the Worcester Railers, will get first dibs. Then, the offer will go out to the public.
P.S.— If you’re looking for activities to keep the kids busy during February school break, look no further. WBUR’s Hanna Ali has a roundup of engaging (and mostly free) events around Boston this week, from the Boston Public Library, to the ICA, to MIT. The state’s Department of Conservation & Recreation has a list of free, family-friendly events across Massachusetts here, too.
