This year, the Pioneer Valley saw a new police chief picked in its largest city, a new superintendent helming its largest school district, and a protest at the state’s flagship university getting national attention - among other big stories.
In terms of historic news, Springfield started early with Mayor Domenic Sarno naming then-Deputy Chief Larry Akers as the city’s next top cop in January – making him the city’s first Black police superintendent.
Akers replaced Cheryl Clapprood – carrying on her work as the department remains under a consent decree – a role he said he wouldn’t take lightly during his swearing-in ceremony.
“Whether I like the consent decree hanging over the department or not – it doesn’t matter," Akers said. "I will continue to do whatever possible to assist the Department of Justice, and its representatives, to move this department forward, and to continue to gain the trust of our community.”
Springfield also welcomed a new superintendent in Dr. Sonia Dinnall – a lifelong resident and longtime educator picked by the school committee months after then-Superintendent Daniel Warwick announced plans to retire.
The search process was mired at one point as the committee sparred over procedures. Dinnall emerged as a finalist and was selected in May, making her the first Black woman to lead the district of nearly 24,000 students. She signed her contract in July during a school committee meeting.
"Springfield can produce excellence," the former teacher and Commerce High School principal said as she took her seat on the school committee. "The education that I received from Springfield Public Schools was second-to-none, and that is the education that we will continue to provide for each and every one of our students..."
Overseeing long-term improvements in the district, Warwick departed the role earlier than expected in June after controversial audio surfaced, featuring the former superintendent disparaging a school committee member’s family. Warwick apologized.
Another top education story – officials in Holyoke learning their district could soon be out of receivership. Under state control for a decade due to student performance struggles, officials announced in March that the transition out of receivership was starting.
Seven months later, acting Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Dr. Russell Johnston announced a potential exit is slated for this coming July.
“We are announcing today the provisional release of Holyoke from chronically underperforming status, effective once we get through a provisional process," Johnston said during an October BESE meeting.
Rising graduation rates, investments in the district and a school committee undergoing training were all factors.
Also over the span of months – the fallout of mass arrests at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where 134 people were arrested as police broke up an encampment protesting the war in Gaza.
Some 70 students and six faculty members were among the arrested in May as police cleared what UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes called an “unauthorized fortified encampment that had been erected on the South Lawn of the Student Union.”
The response led to widespread criticism of Reyes among the student body and faculty, including “no confidence” votes from the Student Government Association and faculty senate.
Reyes, who was inaugurated in April, referenced the protests during this year’s commencement, as dozens of students walked out in protest.
“... while we may not always agree, this university must be a place where students and faculty are able to pursue opportunities and make choices that work for them, even if they're not the choice that we would make for ourselves,” Reyes said.
UMass Amherst’s athletics department also made plenty of news this year, including a move to the Mid-American Conference for 2025. The announcement came ahead of another struggling football season for the Minutemen, and head coach Don Brown was fired in November before the season ended.
Two weeks later, the college hired Rutgers Defensive Coordinator Joe Harasymiak, a Springfield College alum.
Also in the sports world – the Springfield Thunderbirds locked down a massive, seven-year affiliation deal with the St. Louis Blues. At the same time, the American Hockey League affirmed it will be staying put in Springfield, keeping its headquarters downtown instead of entertaining a move.
Of course, there were plenty of other big stories in the Pioneer Valley this year. Among them, a grassroots campaign in Northampton fighting to restore laid off teacher roles, the return of bike sharing service ValleyBike, and new school building projects from Amherst to Agawam and beyond.
