Latest news with #EileenO'Brien
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gaming Commission grants Western Mass $3.2 million in casino mitigation funds
SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission granted Tuesday more than $3.2 million in community mitigation funds for Western Massachusetts. Grants include $200,000 for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to do a traffic study on the impact of cars headed through Springfield and neighboring towns headed to MGM Springfield. Also on the list is $807,000 for Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College and Springfield Public Schools to continue their WorkReady program in the next year. WorkReady includes English for speakers of other languages, digital literacy and occupational training. Programs include preparing students for work as a line cook and focusing on jobs in the casino industry, according to the school's application. Gaming commissioners deferred votes on some grant requests, including traffic improvements in Longmeadow and public safety grant applications, because Commissioner Eileen O'Brien was absent and wishes to review them in detail at the June 17 meeting. The public safety applications included a $400,000 request from the Hampden County Sheriff's Office for the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Center. The drug treatment facility had to move to 155 Mill St. when the casino was built and the state Gaming Commission has supported it with casino revenue for the past 10 years. But there are questions now as to how connected the congoing expenses are to casino. Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi led commissioners on a tour of the Mill Street facility a year ago. Also delayed until the June 17 meeting was the Hampden County District Attorney's Office's request for $100,000 to cover personnel costs related to cases that emerge from MGM Springfield. The commission, when it votes, is recommending a smaller $75,000 amount. State law set up the community mitigation fund when casinos were legalized. Gaming regulators warn, however, that while the money is available now, current state budget proposals from the governor, House and Senate don't guarantee any of it will be there next year. Also approved at Tuesday's Gaming Commission meeting were: Agawam: $321,000 to close funding gaps in the Suffield Street, Rowley Street and Cooper Street intersection project. The project is expected to cost $1.7 million. Chicopee: $341,000 for surveillance cameras and license plate readers along with supporting infrastructure. Funding will also go to streetscape improvements in Chicopee Center and the city's portion of the ValleyBike Share funding. East Longmeadow: $347,000 for conceptual planning of the Center Town District, for ambulance and police equipment including defibrillators, radar units and traffic cameras. Of that $347,000, $60,000 will go towards the possible redesign of the infamous East Longmeadow rotary. Hampden: $75,000 for a tourism marketing plan emphasizing the town's outdoor recreation. Northampton: $75,000 for a digital marketing campaign. West Springfield: $518,000 for improved signs in the downtown, EMS response bicycles, police training, emergency dispatch support, a prisoner transport vehicle and increased traffic enforcement. Wilbraham: $517,000 toward the expected $1.14 million cost of reconstructing the Springfield Street/Stony Hill Road intersection. Read the original article on MassLive.
Irish Examiner
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Garden Digest: Events in May for your calendar
GARDEN CLUB NEWS Fermoy Flower and Garden Club will host Sheila Gilbert for a demonstration "Summer Revels "on Tuesday, May 6 in the Adair Hall Fermoy at 8pm. All welcome. Visitors €10. Kanturk Flower and Garden Club will meet on Wednesday night, May 7, in The Temperance Hall, Strand Street, Kanturk with guest speaker Sonya McGee, Herbalist from Ballymaloe Cookery School. Sonya will speak on drying herbs, creating infused teas and medicinal wellbeing. Everyone welcome. Entry €5 and refreshments will be served. Please also note details of annual outing in June will be announced. Clonakilty Flower Club will hold its Gala Charity night on Monday, May 12 at 8pm in the GAA Complex, Ahamilla, Clonakilty. Demonstrator is Harumi Langford of AOIFA. Proceeds in aid of Co-Action (remembering Ella Cahill) and the AOIFA National Charity, Breast Cancer Ireland. The event includes a sales table and refreshments. Admission €20. Eileen O'Brien of Kinsale Garden & Flower Club, along with Kinsale fashion boutiques MadforStyle, Ms Ellie's Boutique and hAttitude present 'Fun with Fashion and Flowers' in Actons Hotel, Kinsale on Wednesday, May 14 at 8pm. Proceeds are in aid of the Friary Renovation Fund. Tickets are available from The Friary Office, on the door or by contacting Nicola Desmond 086 8515371 or Eileen O'Brien 021 4773256. Garden Show The Garden Show is taking place once again this year in Broadford, County Limerick. The event kicks off at 9.30am on Saturday, May 10 in the local Community Centre (P56 D402). It will include insightful talks from a diverse range of speakers on sustainable floristry, soil care & composting, designing and planting a mixed garden and edible plants. The day will also feature a guided walk to the local arboretum from Eanna Ni Lamhna, as well as a plant auction and much more. Plant Sale Tramore Road Campus holds its annual plant sale on Wednesday and Thursday. May 7 and 8, showcasing the horticulture students' work. Plants available include annuals, perennials and herbs. Opening times 9am to 4pm. All welcome. Summer Show Floral art and horticulture, and fruit and vegetable competitions are now open on The Cork Summer Show, organised by the Munster Agricultural Society, takes place on June 14-15 at Curraheen Showgrounds, Cork.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Massachusetts clears Super Bowl coin toss for wagering
BOSTON (SHNS) – Heads or tails? The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 to allow sports betting companies to offer wagers on one of the very first actions to take place at this Sunday's Super Bowl, the opening coin toss. Though commissioners said none of the sportsbooks operating in Massachusetts has asked for the ability to offer coin toss bets, the split vote gives operators the authority to let bettors wager on the result of the coin toss (heads or tails), the coin toss winner (Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles), whether the coin toss winner will win the game, and whether the visiting team correctly calls the coin toss. At around 1:30 p.m., Boston-based DraftKings was already accepting wagers on three of the four coin toss-related situations that the commission authorized. A $1 bet on the coin flip outcome could return $2 for bettors who pick correctly. 'This was an issue that we actually took up a year ago, and on a 3-2 vote it was decided that we would not allow these Super Bowl prop wagers. I think after witnessing last year's coin toss, and to my knowledge — and please correct me if I'm wrong — there was no problem with betting integrity that took place. I looked in all the jurisdictions and I Googled as many news articles as I could to see if any betting integrity [issues] took place,' Commissioner Brad Hill, who made the motion Thursday, said. 'There are other prop bets, like the Gatorade color over the coach, the national anthem length, and we, of course, decided we didn't want to go that far. But I think the coin toss is something we should be revisiting.' Commissioners Eileen O'Brien and Nakisha Skinner, both of whom were opposed to allowing coin flip betting a year ago, dissented again Thursday. Skinner raised issues with the process by which Hill brought the idea forward to be added to the catalog of events that can be bet on absent a request from a sportsbook. O'Brien voiced more policy-focused objections, including that no operator had made the request. 'The other part of the reason is we've had a number of non-compliance events where they're not even sure what's properly in the catalog or not. I'm not exactly for adding more, especially when they haven't asked for it. Nor am I particularly convinced it's going to drive up revenue, or am I concerned it's going to go into the black market, or people crossing the [state] line. When you talk to people in [responsible gambling] circles, most of the people going back into illegal markets are people being limited, not people on a small bet like this.' Commissioner Paul Brodeur, who has joined the commission since last year's vote on the topic, said he was in favor of allowing bets on the coin toss because 'I think it is something that that a certain segment of the market is looking for.' 'My sense is that it is very safe, not something that can be gamed,' he said. Chairman Jordan Maynard was also supportive of the idea 'because I do think people are betting on that coin toss.' Hill said he was compelled to bring the idea up at Thursday's commission meeting after being heckled while working his weekend job as a basketball referee. 'Usually when you're running up and down the court, you're getting yelled at because you made a bad call. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was running up and down the court and someone yelled from the stands, 'Are we going to be able to bet on the coin flip at the Super Bowl?' So I stopped immediately, looked right at him, and he was as serious as serious could be,' Hill said. 'I couldn't believe that I would be in my referee clothes and they would recognize me as a commissioner. And then only a few days later, I went to a local watering hole down in Ipswich, and I wasn't even in there five minutes, and another patron came and asked the very same question, if they would be able to bet on the coin toss.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
