Former Springfield Mayor Charlie Ryan is being remembered in many ways following his death this week. Ryan, who served a total of five terms as mayor, is remembered as someone “who loved Springfield” and particularly as “someone who evolved.”Those are phrases all this week’s And Another Thing panelists used to recall Ryan during the Friday review of the week’s news. The panel recalled tensions between Ryan and the African American community in the 1960s over his decision to bring in the National Guard during a peaceful civil rights demonstration. The panel recalled how much his relations with many communities of the city improved, when he returned to office more than four decades after he was first elected mayor.
Other topics reviewed this week were the deadline for most Massachusetts state workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive waivers, the decision of Amherst College to longer consider family connections to alumni in admission decisions, and the decriminalization of psychedelic drugs in Easthampton. With the Red Sox preparing for a do or die game in the American League Championship Series, panelists also weighed in on what rooting for sports teams means to western New England residents.
This week’s panel:
- Natalia Muñoz, News Director of Holyoke Media
- Bruce Shaw, Pastor or New Hope Pentecostal Church in Springfield
- Chris Collins, Contributing Editor of franklincountynow.com