Hampden County News

Sherry Williams, president of the Springfield Garden Club, gets ready to plant some Woodland Phlox Blue Moon at her East Longmeadow home.

The U.S. Census of 1940 was released to the public on April 2. It generated so much interest that the website was temporarily paralyzed as people went online to search the records.

EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 559 PM EDT TUE MAY 29 2012 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... WESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS... NORTHWESTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS... WESTERN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN ... (more)

Ron Davis, a Springfield resident, stands in the center of Avalon Park, located at the corner of Allen and White streets, which also includes a veterans memorial marker.

Laura Machado, of Ludlow, was named Paramedic of the Year by the Hampden County Emergency Medical Services Council at its awards ceremony at The Cedars Banquet Hall in Springfield on Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD - Expressing thanks for an outpouring of community support, the United Way of Pioneer Valley announced Wednesday it has reached its $6.2 million fund raising goal for 2011-2012. The announcement came at its annual awards banquet honoring volunteers and institutions, including Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his staff for their ... (more)

LUDLOW - A driver suffered serious head injuries Monday night when his car went off the road at Cady and Grimes streets and struck a tree, police said.

Denise Laizer has been a banker for almost her entire professional life. Last year she celebrated 25 years with Easthampton Savings Bank , and save for a brief, two-year stint at a mortgage company, she has been in community banking for 40 years.

J. William Ward, president and CEO, of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County speaks about the importance of summer jobs for youths at a press conference on Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD - The Hampden County Sheriff's Department launched a search Friday night for an inmate who failed to report to the Day Reporting Center on State Street, officials said.

A 22-year-old Ludlow man was sentenced Friday after admitting to punching a 57-year-old man causing a serious head injury requiring surgery and an 11-day hospitalization.

A jury foreman in a wrongful death trial last week was booted from the panel on his first day for allegedly lifting several cases of Powerade, bottled water and other soft drinks from the parking lot while surveillance cameras rolled, according to officials.

There was nothing "sudden or silent" about the death Cynthia Brace endured at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow in August 2005, the lawyer for her estate argued Tuesday.

The Hampden County Bar Association has announced that the 28th annual John F. Moriarty Scholarship Award will be offered to a resident who has been admitted to or is attending a certified law school for the 2012-2013 academic year.

SPRINGFIELD - The "unbroken" chain of events that led to Cynthia Brace's death in an isolation cell at the county jail in Ludlow was a painful one, according to a witness in an ongoing civil trial inside U.S. District Court.

A North Grafton woman who owns property in Springfield was arraigned this week on charges she paid her tenants to improperly remove asbestos from the building.

Top-level leaders at the Springfield Public Schools and the district's teachers union work together, but now they need to push that collaborative spirit all the way down through the ranks and expand it to industry and community groups and parents, according to a report issued this week.

SPRINGFIELD - Sobriety checkpoints aimed at nabbing drunken drivers are scheduled for Hampden and Worcester counties, according to Massachusetts State Police Col.

FLOOD ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 313 AM EDT THU MAY 10 2012 HARTFORD CT-FRANKLIN MA-HAMPSHIRE MA-HAMPDEN MA- 313 AM EDT THU MAY 10 2012 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * FLOOD ADVISORY FOR... NORTHERN HARTFORD COUNTY IN NORTHERN CONNECTICUT... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF WINDSOR LOCKS... CENTRAL FRANKLIN COUNTY ... (more)

SPRINGFIELD - Police are looking for a suspect in a series of break-ins Saturday in offices of two adjoining buildings at State and Main streets in downtown Springfield.