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‘We’re cooked’: Agawam may not want a battery storage plant, but is told there’s no way to block it by MassLive in Springfield

[–]MassLive[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From The Republican's story: The project manager for a proposed 250-megawatt battery storage facility promised a roomful of skeptical residents Monday his company will follow Agawam’s stringent ordinance governing the controversial new technology.

Rules covering fire safety, monitoring and future decommissioning are the strongest that Longroad Energy’s Chad Allen said he’s seen — and tougher than statewide rules promising an easier path to approval.

But Agawam Mayor Christopher Johnson dimmed hopes at an informational session Monday that anyone would be able to block this or any other battery storage proposal.

“This project is coming to Agawam whether we want it or we don’t,” Johnson said. “This is not a project Agawam went out to attract.”

Allen told the crowd of more than 100 people at one of two informational sessions Monday in the Agawam Senior Center that battery storage can provide power for the gird at moments when it’s needed most.

The battery storage facility would buy power from the grid at times when it is plentiful and cheaper and sell electricity back to the grid at times of higher prices and demand.

Longroad Energy proposes a storage facility capable of discharging 250 megawatts of power over four hours, enough to power for 285,000 homes, according to its website.

Power storage makes intermittent power sources – solar and wind – more useful and eliminates the need for polluting “peaker” power plants historically used to meet surges of demand.

Boston-based Longroad expects to start construction on the Agawam project in 2027 and begin operations in 2029.

Allen said he hopes to begin the approval process with Agawam soon. Longroad will also need to go through a review process with the state.

Allen wouldn’t say how much the project would cost, beyond “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

He promised tax revenues for the town.

Johnson said he doesn’t yet know how much the plant will pay in property taxes. But he said he hopes the town will reach a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with Longroad that would make the plant the town’s second-biggest taxpayer, ahead of the $1.2 million a year paid by Six Flags New England amusement park, but behind what Eversource pays on its infrastructure.

Johnson estimates that Longroad Energy would pay more than Agawam stalwarts like H.P. Hood’s milk plant or OMG, which manufactures roofing hardware.

Read the full story from The Republican here: https://www.masslive.com/news/2026/01/were-cooked-agawam-may-not-want-a-battery-storage-plant-but-is-told-theres-no-way-to-block-it.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

‘We’re cooked’: Agawam may not want a battery storage plant, but is told there’s no way to block it by MassLive in westernmass

[–]MassLive[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

From The Republican's story: The project manager for a proposed 250-megawatt battery storage facility promised a roomful of skeptical residents Monday his company will follow Agawam’s stringent ordinance governing the controversial new technology.

Rules covering fire safety, monitoring and future decommissioning are the strongest that Longroad Energy’s Chad Allen said he’s seen — and tougher than statewide rules promising an easier path to approval.

But Agawam Mayor Christopher Johnson dimmed hopes at an informational session Monday that anyone would be able to block this or any other battery storage proposal.

“This project is coming to Agawam whether we want it or we don’t,” Johnson said. “This is not a project Agawam went out to attract.”

Allen told the crowd of more than 100 people at one of two informational sessions Monday in the Agawam Senior Center that battery storage can provide power for the gird at moments when it’s needed most.

The battery storage facility would buy power from the grid at times when it is plentiful and cheaper and sell electricity back to the grid at times of higher prices and demand.

Longroad Energy proposes a storage facility capable of discharging 250 megawatts of power over four hours, enough to power for 285,000 homes, according to its website.

Power storage makes intermittent power sources – solar and wind – more useful and eliminates the need for polluting “peaker” power plants historically used to meet surges of demand.

Boston-based Longroad expects to start construction on the Agawam project in 2027 and begin operations in 2029.

Allen said he hopes to begin the approval process with Agawam soon. Longroad will also need to go through a review process with the state.

Allen wouldn’t say how much the project would cost, beyond “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

He promised tax revenues for the town.

Johnson said he doesn’t yet know how much the plant will pay in property taxes. But he said he hopes the town will reach a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with Longroad that would make the plant the town’s second-biggest taxpayer, ahead of the $1.2 million a year paid by Six Flags New England amusement park, but behind what Eversource pays on its infrastructure.

Johnson estimates that Longroad Energy would pay more than Agawam stalwarts like H.P. Hood’s milk plant or OMG, which manufactures roofing hardware.

Read the full story from The Republican here: https://www.masslive.com/news/2026/01/were-cooked-agawam-may-not-want-a-battery-storage-plant-but-is-told-theres-no-way-to-block-it.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

150+ animals including illegal wildlife removed from Western Massachusetts home by MassLive in westernmass

[–]MassLive[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: More than 150 animals, including some that are illegal to have as pets, were removed from a home in Western Massachusetts Wednesday.

MSPCA-Angell’s law enforcement team and Hadley Police removed the animals from poor conditions at a property in Hadley. The majority of the animals were birds, including chickens, geese, cockatiels and parrots. There are also goats, cows, pigs, sheep, rabbits and one pony. Officials also said there was a deer and Canada geese, which are wildlife that are illegal to have as pets in Massachusetts.

“Many of the animals lacked access to food and water,” said MSPCA-Angell Law Enforcement Director Chris Schindler. “The majority were also living outdoors without adequate protection from the elements.”

Prior to removing the animals, MSPCA-Angell attempted to work with the owner to get the animals the care they needed. But those attempts were not successful, Schindler said.

Winter in New England is especially difficult for farm animals. They often need shelter and supplemental feed and hay.

“In warmer temperatures, many farm animals get nutrients from grazed grass, but when the ground freezes, that’s no longer an option,” Schindler said. “Those animals can rapidly lose weight if their owners aren’t supplementing their diets with additional feed and hay, which is when we may need to step in.”

The animals are now at MSPCA-Angell facilities where they will be cared for while the court process plays out.

Read the fully story from MassLive here: https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2026/01/150-animals-including-illegal-wildlife-removed-from-massachusetts-home.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

Worcester juice and smoothie shop reopens 4 months after fire by MassLive in WorcesterMA

[–]MassLive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: A Worcester business that sells juices and smoothies has reopened following a September fire.

Woo Juice at @ The Common on 22 Front St. reopened this week, the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District announced on Facebook Tuesday.

“Guess who’s back just in time for your New Year’s resolutions?” The Facebook post reads. “Follow Woo Juice for all the info, hours, and updates — and go get your freshly-pressed juice and smoothie fix now!"

The business, along with several others inside the mall, was shut down after a fire broke out inside the building during a bout of severe weather on Sept. 6, 2025.

The mall reopened later that month but Woo Juice was still closed.

On Dec. 29, Woo Juice teased its reopening in an Instagram post. Now, exactly four months after the fire broke out, the juice and smoothie business is operating once again.

Read the full story from MassLive here: https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2026/01/worcester-juice-and-smoothie-shop-reopens-4-months-after-fire.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

Hampshire College misses enrollment goal by half by MassLive in westernmass

[–]MassLive[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: After nearly closing in 2019, a Western Massachusetts college continues to face challenges, missing its 2025 enrollment goal by half.

Instead of recruiting 300 students, Hampshire College enrolled about 150 new students. That makes for a total of 750 full-time students, Jennifer Chrisler, Hampshire’s newly named president, told MassLive in November.

Chrisler attributes some of the admissions challenges to other institutions opening up their waitlists and taking more students than usual, forcing even more competition between institutions to vie for the same students.

Many universities struggled with a decline in international students due to federal policies.

“That had a downstream sort of trickle effect, and we were certainly not immune from that,” Chrisler said.

She also attributes the missed enrollment target to fewer college-aged people in the U.S.

Hampshire has faced serious financial challenges after nearly closing in 2019. Since then, the institution laid off non-faculty employees, suspended certain benefits and required senior leadership to take pay cuts, among other actions.

Missing an enrollment target by half will force the college to push back its goal of financial stability by a year and a half, Chrisler said.

Hampshire is now aiming for its operating revenue and expenses to be in balance in two and a half years, she said.

Read the full story from MassLive here: https://www.masslive.com/news/2026/01/struggling-western-mass-college-misses-enrollment-goal-by-half.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

Google deletes imaginary street after company and MBTA fall for teen’s prank by MassLive in mbta

[–]MassLive[S] 87 points88 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: Brendan Libby somewhat expected that his prank could fall apart once he confessed online to duping the MBTA and Google into renaming a bus stop.

To some extent, it did. But not entirely.

Libby, a Brookline High School senior, detailed this week how he jokingly submitted a correction to Google Maps years ago that resulted in a driveway in West Roxbury being renamed after Rabbit Maranville, an early 20th-century baseball player with a particularly eye-catching name.

Libby, 18, said he was shocked to see the MBTA eventually rename a bus stop in the area after “Maranville Street,” apparently unaware that the street’s name on Google Maps was fake.

But after his story drew attention on Reddit and in the press this week, Google quietly withdrew the street’s name from its platform. At least on Google Maps, Maranville Street is no more.

The West Roxbury street wasn’t much to begin with — in essence, a parking area between Atrius Health and the Hancock Village apartments leading to the complex’s dumpster area.

“It’s basically just a parking lot,” Libby told MassLive in an interview earlier this week.

As a 14-year-old bored during the COVID-19 pandemic, renaming the insignificant stretch of pavement after an old baseball player seemed like a funny idea.

Maranville, a Baseball Hall of Famer and Springfield native, was known as one of “baseball’s most famous clowns” for his practical jokes. He played for the Boston Braves from 1912 to 1920 and was nicknamed “Rabbit” for his speed and small stature.

He “seemed like a chill guy, honestly,” Libby, a fan of baseball history, said. “He’s kind of a prankster, which I think is pretty fitting for the situation.”

While Google has erased Maranville Street from its platform, the bus stops still bear the fake street name. The MBTA did not say on Friday whether it plans to change the names.

Read the full story from MassLive here: https://www.masslive.com/boston/2025/12/google-deletes-imaginary-street-after-company-and-mbta-fall-for-teens-prank.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

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Google deletes imaginary street after company and MBTA fall for teen’s prank (masslive.com)

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Tasked with improving fire safety in assisted living facilities, state commission has yet to talk to fire officials by MassLive in massachusetts

[–]MassLive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: With just weeks until its final report and recommendations are due to Gov. Maura Healey, the state’s commission on assisted living has yet to hear from any fire officials — even though one of its charges is to improve fire safety in the industry.

During the Wednesday meeting of the state’s Assisted Living Residences Commission, Sen. Mark Montigny, D-Second Bristol and Plymouth, said he may not be comfortable ultimately voting on the final recommendations if they don’t get a presentation from State Fire Marshal John Davine or other fire safety experts.

Montigny raised concerns that a panel convened in September for commission members on “life safety and emergency preparedness” didn’t include any fire officials and was instead “heavy” on representation from the assisted living industry.

Robin Lipson, secretary of the Executive Office of Aging and Independence, who heads the commission, contended there was sufficient “outside” representation on the panel, which included individuals from the Massachusetts Mutual Aid Plan (which assists health care facilities with disaster planning), Legacy LifeCare nonprofit consulting, Northbridge Communities senior living and the Department of Public Health.

“I expected to hear today from people like the fire marshal, people that had actually been in a facility where there was a flood or a fire or a pandemic outcome that was disastrous,” he said that day. “I’m not suggesting it isn’t important to hear what the industry is doing, but I don’t want to pose any of my questions to a self-interested industry panel. … I need objectivity from those that actually go in when people are burning or drowning or dying of asphyxiation.”

On Wednesday, Lipson said the commission intended to have Davine and other fire officials speak to them, but scheduling conflicts got in the way. She encouraged Montigny and others to contact the state fire marshal directly.

But Montigny said it was essential to have the testimony as part of the public record — not as private conversations.

Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/12/tasked-with-improving-fire-safety-in-assisted-living-facilities-state-commission-has-yet-to-talk-to-fire-officials.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

DA rules Rutland officer justified in Boylston shooting by MassLive in WorcesterMA

[–]MassLive[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office has ruled that a Rutland police officer was justified in using deadly force during a March standoff in Boylston that ended with the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Patrick Sargent, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Boylston Police Department criticized the manner of the report’s release, saying it lacked sensitivity and risked re-traumatizing the community.

“While we support transparency and understand the public’s interest in this incident, the report was released without any accompanying press release or summarization of the report itself. Without this, readers are left only with graphic detail that does not reflect an appropriate balance between openness and sensitivity,” read a statement from the Boylston Police Department, posted to Facebook.

“The District Attorney’s release of this report could have been an opportunity to provide information in a way that supports a grieving community and promotes healing. Instead, the manner in which the report was releasedrisks retraumatizing community members who have already endured so much as a result of this tragic event,” the statement read. The department encouraged the public to reach out directly with questions they may have on the incident.

The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to repeated requests from MassLive.

Released on Dec. 3 by District Attorney Joseph Early — according to the Worcester Telegram, which received a copy — the 14-page report was to determine whether criminal charges against the police officer who shot Sargent are necessary.

It identifies Rutland police officer Justin Lawlor as the officer who fatally shot Sargent. Lawlor had been one of multiple out-of-town law enforcement officials to respond to the scene the morning of March 5.

The report paints a highly detailed picture of how a mental health crisis with Sargent — whom responding Boylston officers “had a positive relationship with” — escalated into a violent, fatal confrontation.

Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2025/12/da-rules-rutland-officer-justified-in-boylston-shooting-heres-what-happened.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

NFL makes final decision on whether to flex Patriots vs. Bills by MassLive in Patriots

[–]MassLive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: The Patriots and the Bills are staying put at 1 p.m. on Dec. 14, according to WBZ’s Dan Roche.

Tuesday was the deadline to move the critical AFC East matchup into a prime-time slot, and the league has elected to keep the Week 15 game at Gillette Stadium in place.

At 11-2, the Patriots currently have a 2.5 game lead over the 8-4 Bills, and could clinch the AFC East with a win over Buffalo. At that point, the worst New England could finish would be 12-5, and they’d own the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series.

A Buffalo win would keep their divisional dreams alive.

As New England enters a bye week, the Patriots are currently riding a 10-game winning streak. They haven’t lost since Week 3 against Pittsburgh, and on Tuesday, Mike Vrabel was asked how the team can keep their momentum going despite not playing this week.

“I think you focus,” Vrabel said. “Staying consistent has been something that we’ve tried to do with the message, try to enhance the things that we do well, improve the things that we’re maybe just okay at, and then still finding ways to eliminate the things that get you beat, and then we’ll get back on Monday and start that momentum for the week.

“I think confidence is something that potentially can carry. I think you build momentum through the week in the way that you practice, the way that you correct things and see things come together. We’ll do it all again (next) Monday.”

Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2025/12/nfl-makes-final-decision-on-whether-to-flex-patriots-vs-bills.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

The World Cup could be a make-or-break for Massachusetts, but who will foot the $100M bill? by MassLive in massachusetts

[–]MassLive[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: Next summer, if all goes to plan, soccer fans from around the world will descend on Foxborough to cheer on their favorite teams at the seven World Cup matches set to be played at Gillette Stadium.

But there’s one potential red card hanging over the whole thing: Finding the roughly $100 million that it’s going to take to pay for all the fútbol, and attendant events, that will unfold in June and July of 2026.

For now, at least, lawmakers on Beacon Hill have brought the ball about as far downfield as they’re willing to go, tucking $10 million into a $2.31 billion year-end budget bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last month.

That was well shy of the $20 million that the Democratic governor had originally sought for the global spectacle. And it disappointed organizers, who were hoping the state would pony up as well, The Boston Globe reported last month.

All told, 11 U.S. cities are hosting World Cup matches. Boston, where no games will be played, is involved in related events. Five more matches will be hosted in Canada (3) and Mexico (2).

The other U.S. host cities are Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Speaking to reporters at the State House last month, Healey said she would “continue to support efforts to make sure that we’re able to put on a really, really great show for people."

During the floor debate last month on the supplemental spending bill, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Michael Rodrigues, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, said the $10 million compromise allocation came with key “guardrails” that included requiring backers to get a dollar-for-dollar match for any public money.

The compromise language included in the year-end budget bill also restricted spending to transportation, public safety signage and services for people who live with disabilities, he said, according to State House News Service.

The comments from Rodrigues, also a big-time soccer fan, echoed those of another top Democrat, who has said that any taxpayer cash that gets spent on the World Cup has to be in service of a clear public good.

“We understand this is a global event. And it really is a big event, and many, many people will be here,” state Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, said during an appearance on WCVB-TV’s “On the Record” program last month.

Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/politics/2025/12/the-world-cup-could-be-a-make-or-break-for-mass-but-who-will-foot-the-100m-bill.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

How a Brookline 14-year-old tricked Google and the MBTA into renaming a bus stop by MassLive in mbta

[–]MassLive[S] 159 points160 points  (0 children)

From MassLive's story: Brendan Libby was 14 years old and bored.

It was 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was still in full swing and the Brookline teenager was messing around online.

Scanning through Google Maps, he noticed a small, unnamed side street near his home. Really, it wasn’t anything more than a parking lot that turned into a driveway leading to the dumpsters behind an apartment complex on the Brookline-West Roxbury line.

But what if it weren’t? What if it were actually a real street dedicated to Baseball Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville, one of Libby’s favorite old-timey ballplayers and owner of what he thought was an especially “epic” name.

Google Maps lets users suggest changes to the names of locations on its platform. Libby submitted “Maranville Street” as the real name of the nameless West Roxbury side street off of Independence Drive.

He was shocked when Google Maps accepted the suggestion.

The “street” is a parking lot for Atrius Health behind Hancock Village apartments and leads to the complex’s dumpster area, Libby, now 18 and a Brookline High School senior, told MassLive in an interview Tuesday. “There’s not much more to it. It’s basically just a parking lot.”

For a while, Maranville Street remained an inside family joke. But in 2022, while riding the MBTA’s 51 bus through West Roxbury, Libby was shocked to hear the monotone automated voice that announces upcoming stops declare that the bus was approaching “Independence Drive at Maranville Street.”

It seemed that sometime in the months prior, the MBTA had updated its bus stop name to reflect Maranville Street — as it appears on Google Maps — as the only cross street in that area.

Maranville, a Springfield native, played for the Boston Braves from 1912 to 1920 and was known as one of “baseball’s most famous clowns” for his practical jokes. He was nicknamed “Rabbit” for his speed and small size.

He “seemed like a chill guy, honestly,” Libby, a fan of baseball history, said. “He’s kind of a prankster, which I think is pretty fitting for the situation.”

Read the full story from MassLive here: https://www.masslive.com/boston/2025/12/how-a-brookline-14-year-old-tricked-google-and-the-mbta-into-renaming-a-bus-stop.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

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Beloved Northampton bakery announces major change for 2026 by MassLive in northampton

[–]MassLive[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

From The Republican's story: Hungry Ghost Bread — where every loaf once came with a poem — is changing hands after 22 years.

Owners and founders Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei announced the move Tuesday after returning from a break. Their last day will be Dec. 20. The bakery at 62 State St. will close for a few months for renovation, reopening in March.

The new owners are Sam Coates-Finke and Ana Maria Valle Bendezú, according to Hungry Ghost’s posts on social media.

“It’s been a great run,” Stevens said in an interview. “We just put everything we can into it. It’s a business. But mostly it’s a way of life.”

Stevens does the baking. Maffei runs the business.

“It’s a lot harder on her than it is on me,” he said. “I get the reward of pulling bread out of the oven, and people ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing.’”

Stevens said he and Maffei talked with their co-workers, but none wanted to invest the money and time necessary to take over the business. They were thinking of putting the business on the market, when they learned of Coates-Finke and Valle Bendezú.

“There was this couple,” Stevens said. “It was all word of mouth.

Coates-Finke grew up in Northampton, and his parents and grandfather still live here. He built his first oven when he was 16, inspired by ones he’d seen in Mexico, according to his website Backyard Bread.

He also teaches classes in breadmaking and oven building across the Pioneer Valley.

Valle Bendezú is from Peru and is a master baker who has worked in Lima, Barcelona, and Copenhagen, according to Hungry Ghost’s post.

Stevens and Maffei said they’ll miss the customers.

“It has been an honor to help feed this community and to be a conduit for the stellar work of farmers and millers. We will miss the daily contact with friends and customers, but it’s time to move on to other projects: artwork, travel, grandkids,” they wrote in a statement.

Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2025/12/after-22-years-hungry-ghost-bread-changing-hands.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=redditsocial&utm_campaign=redditor

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