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Casino Combatants Take Stock Following Hard Rock's Defeat

Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority

The focus of the casino competition in western Massachusetts shifts to Palmer following this week’s vote in West Springfield that killed one casino project.

   Jennifer Baruffaldi,spokesperson for a pro-casino group in Palmer said she is delighted to have Hard Rock removed as a competitor for the lone casino license available in western Massachusetts.

   Iris Cardin, co-chair of  an anti-casino group in Palmer, said it was heartening to see  the  grassroots activists in West  Springfield  defeat a casino industry giant at the polls.

   Palmer will vote on November 5th on Mohegan Sun’s plans for a $1 billion resort casino.  Voters in Springfield in July endorsed a casino project proposed by MGM.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.