Holyoke

A loud weekly tradition in Holyoke, Massachusetts recently went quiet, but instead of it being an end of an era, locals are filling the silence while calling for change at City Hall.

Following lengthy and often heated debates in Holyoke’s city council chambers, landmark financial reforms are now in place — and has the city searching for a Chief Administrative and Financial Officer. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos reports.

Officials say much of the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside will be closed to customers Wednesday, following an overnight fire

Less than a year after regaining control of its own school district, the school committee in Holyoke, Mass., marked a new milestone Thursday night. Following a monthslong search, committee members selected a new, permanent superintendent. As WAMC reports, the candidate is more than familiar with both the city and the school district’s struggles.

A Holyoke City Council member is stepping down from leadership roles and promising to make amends after a December drunk driving arrest. The pledge comes amid continued calls for his resignation from local police unions.

Two police unions in Holyoke, Mass., are calling for a city councilor to resign — citing the councilor’s drunk driving arrest in late-December.At-Large City Councilor Israel Rivera has said he’s looking to rebuild trust following the incident. With body camera footage of his arrest surfacing, police union members are calling for Rivera's resignation and an ethics review.

Within hours of the United States capturing the head of Venezuela, and as questions emerged over what comes next, “emergency protests” came together across the country, including in western Massachusetts.Standing in the cold, many denounced the Trump administration, with many calling out the President’s rationale, including interests in Venezuelan oil reserves.

Aaron Vega, a former Holyoke city councilor and state representative, is departing his current city role. The longtime community advocate will begin 2026 as the new president and CEO of the Western Mass. Economic Development Council - a job that will see him foster and support economies throughout the Pioneer Valley. This, after serving five years as Holyoke's Director of Planning and Economic Development. He sat down with WAMC Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos to talk Paper City - both its progress and ongoing issues - as well as his new position.

Considered one of the first planned industrial cities in the country, Holyoke, Mass. has its fair share of historic buildings and structures.Several make up the North High Street Historic District: a spot found on the National Register and also where a developer’s revitalizing 150-year-old structures, adding housing as the state confronts its housing shortage.

Months after the Trump administration pulled millions in grant funding, a Somerville-based startup with MIT roots says it’s pausing a $150 million factory project in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Plans for construction work have been iced while the company navigates its own cuts, as well. Local leaders tell WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos that the stalled project is a blow to what had been promising plans.