APRIL 9, 2026 | FREE
IN THIS EDITION
EASTHAMPTON
Pond committee continues algae and cyanobacteria control efforts
In an effort to control algae and cyanobacteria on Nashawannuck Pond, the pond’s Steering Committee will fill various spots around the pond with barley straw bags on Saturday, April 18.
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NORTHAMPTON
Recordville’s
Northampton Record Fair returns April 11
Music lovers from all over can find their favorite artists in one place during an entire day this spring.
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New ValleyBike Share station opens at Prospect Place
A new ValleyBike Share station officially launced outside of Prospect Place apartments on March 31. The new station, which was celebrated woth a ribbon cutting, is part of a $1. 5 million state grant awarded to Northampton for continued upgrades and renovations to the ValleyBike Share system.
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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
Sekula named EHA’s new executive director
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
EASTHAMPTON — Former
mayoral Executive Assistant
Lindsi Sekula has been named the next executive director of the Easthampton Housing Authority.
Following a search process led by a committee of tenants and board members, the authority’s Search Committee presented its recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on March 17, where the board officially approved Sekula as the new executive director by a 4-1 vote, which included one abstention.
Sekula fills a position that had been vacant for almost a full calendar year.
The executive director position is funded and contracted through the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, or EOHLC. Although Sekula will lead the day-to-day operations of the EHA, the role maintains strict state oversight and compliance standards set forth by both the EOHLC and the EHA.
“The board is looking ahead with great optimism as we enter this new chapter,” said Mary Church, chair of the Easthampton Housing Authority. “We are excited for the next steps under Lindsi’s leadership and believe her expertise will be instrumental in strengthening our operations. We look forward to working closely with her, our rejuvenated ETO and the EOHLC to enhance the quality of life for our tenants.”
Prior to holding this position, Sekula was the executive assistant to former Mayor Nicole LaChapelle for seven years and a mayoral candidate last fall.
Sekula told Reminder Publishing it was an honor to be voted in as the Housing Authority’s latest executive director. She
said that after losing her bid for mayor in last fall’s election, she wanted to remain involved in local government in Easthampton. After applying for a few administrative job opportunities locally, this position became available and Sekula said it was a worthwhile pursuit.
“It was pretty apparent to me that public service is still running deep in my veins, and it’s what I enjoy doing, and when I saw the position of executive director come up for the Easthampton Housing Authority, I couldn’t have thought of a better fit,” said Sekula. “I have the professional experience in government, in budgets, and my colleagues and connections at the state and local level.”
Aside from her professional experience, Sekula said she also has personal experience in housing. At one point, she lived in affordable subsidized housing in Florence for a decade.
“It feels like a full circle moment for me to have raised my children as a single mom in subsidized housing before purchasing my home in Easthampton, to now being able to be the director of a housing authority. It really gives me the full spectrum of being able to help our tenants. I think that really gives me an upper hand in this position of being able to understand the tenant’s perspectives when problems arise,” said Sekula. “Having navigated the complexities of affordable housing personally in my past, I understand the vital role EHA plays in our neighbors’ lives. I look forward to using my experience in both my personal and professional life to ensure our authority is a stable, transparent and welcoming resource for everyone we serve.”
Sekula said she is excited to remain in the Easthampton community because she loves living in it and is looking forward to connecting with people on a further and deeper level through the housing authority role. When it comes to her vision in the new role, Sekula said she wants to prioritize stability, rebuilding trust with tenants and positioning the housing authority for long-term success. “I think my priorities remain the same as I had conveyed last year to the Easthampton community, and it’s going to be the same for our tenants moving forward. For me, my leadership is [about] consistency, transparency and accountability,” said Sekula. “This is a full circle moment, and I’m ready to lead the authority with all of those principles in mind.”
Lindi Sekula was voted in as executive director of the Easthampton Housing Authority in March.
Photo credit: Lindsi Sekula, Easthampton Housing Authority.
Operations Director: Curtis Panlilio
Executive Editor: Chris Maza
Managing Editors: Dennis Hackett, Ryan Feyre
Staff Writers: Sarah Heinonen, Deb Gardner, Amy Porter, Trent Levakis, Cliff Clark, Tyler Garnet, Peter Tuohy
Graphic Design Manager: Beth Thurber
Graphic Design Department: Leigh Catchepaugh, Lorie Perry, Sophia McClellan, Susan Bartlett, Jim Johnson-Corwin, Molly Arnio
Sales Manager: Scott Greene
Account Executives: Matt Mahaney, Paula Dimauro, Lisa Nolan, Jeanette Grenier, Paul Poutre, Andy Shaw, Laura Tassistro
Classified Account Managers: Roxanne Miller-Longtin, Evan Marcyoniak, Shannon Spada
Sales Support: Carolyn Napolitan
Financial Department: Nancy Banning
Circulation Department: Nate Halla
Transportation officials deliver Compass Rail update
By Sarah Heinonen sheinonen@thereminder.com
SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and state officials joined legislators from Worcester County, the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley at a roundtable to discuss updates to Compass Rail, the state’s ambitious plan to connect Boston, New York City, Albany, New York, Connecticut and Vermont with a passenger rail.
Much of the conversation focused on West-East Rail, which would create round trips from Boston, through Worcester, Palmer, Springfield, Pittsfield, to Albany. At Springfield’s Union Station, passengers would be able to connect to north-south routes that would build off the existing Amtrak Vermonter, Valley Flyer and Hartford Line/Northeast Regional. Amtrak is one of the partners involved in the Compass Rail expansion, and Massachusetts Department of Transportation Rail Administrator Meredith Slesinger said Amtrak was “a really good partner for us.”
Currently, there are no round trips between Worcester and Springfield, or Springfield and Pittsfield. There are three round trips from Springfield to Greenfield and nine from Springfield to New York City, via Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut. Despite the limited service, there are 230,000 trips on existing Massachusetts rail lines each year, with trips from Springfield to New York City representing the largest percentage of these.
Phase I will begin in 2030, with the Inland Route, a line that will include two round trips from Boston to Springfield to New Haven. In 2033, a station is set to be built in Palmer, and proposed enhancements to the Hartford Line will increase the number of round trips between Springfield and New Haven to 16. To reach this milestone, there will need to be an enhanced New Haven layover, in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Operating costs are expected to increase by $3.5 million, to $15 million annually. Massachusetts Department of Transportation expects ridership numbers in Massachusetts to reach 575,000 per year.
Interim Secretary of Transportation and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng jokingly quoted the movie “Field of Dreams,” saying, “If you build it, they will come.”
In 2045, Phase III will bring full service to West-East Rail, with five round trips between Boston and Springfield and two between Springfield and Albany. To accommodate the new traffic, Boston’s South Station will be expanded, two or three additional trainsets will be purchased, and track infrastructure upgrades will be needed along the West-East Rail tracks.
West-East Rail Director Andy Koziol noted, “The work may not always happen in Western Massachusetts,” but projects in various locations will make the whole expansion possible.
Top, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal announced a
million federal earmark for Knowledge Corridor Positive Train Control design. A graphic outlines eight Compass Rail projects underway.
Eight projects are underway to prepare for the next decade of changes. Koziol said, “These projects grew upon each other.” They include first steps of the Inland Route, the Boston & Albany Corridor ID Program and track reconfigurations in Springfield. Planning and design work for the Palmer Station and a second platform in Pittsfield is in the works. The CSX railroad crossing in West Springfield, which has long led to traffic delays, will receive a flyover rail bridge. Finally, a passive crossing improvement project is slated for Longmeadow. Koziol explained that some of the projects include straightening stretches of track, adding a second track or changing the signaling system.
Funding for the rail upgrades has been sourced from state, federal grants and earmarks, and through Amtrak. Slesinger said the expansion is “very reliant on discretionary grants.” To date, $157 million has been secured in federal rail grants, including $108 million from the Federal Railroad Administration in 2024 to plan, design and construct the Inland Route. A $3.5 million grant paid for the identification of service levels and needed capital projects for the Boston and Albany Corridor. An award of $36.8 million is pending from the Federal Railroad Administration for the final design of the Springfield
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track reconfigurations.
After the roundtable, Neal, Slesinger and Koziol announced a $1.2 million federal earmark for Knowledge Corridor Positive Train Control design, which Slesinger said is required under federal law and Eng called “critical technology.”
“This earmark is just the latest round of funding in what has been a sustained federal investment in passenger rail over the last several years,” said Neal. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was written in the Ways and Means Committee during my time as chairman, which is why I take great satisfaction in seeing Massachusetts continuing to realize the benefits of our historic efforts.”
An additional $173.2 million in grants for maintenance modernization for Springfield’s tracks are being sought.
After presenting the updates to Compass Rail, the state officials took questions from the legislators and stakeholders in the room.
State Rep. Kelly Pease, who represents Westfield and Southampton, asked if any additional stops would be added between Springfield and Pittsfield. Koziol said none are currently planned, but a study is planned to help determine need.
State Sen. Jake Oliveira, representing the Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester District, asked if it was possible to construct the Palmer station earlier than it is now planned. Koziol said the right funding opportunity would be needed. “Things can change quickly, especially when dealing with federal funding,” he said. Plans for the Palmer station have not been finalized, but Koziol said it is “more real than
it’s ever been.”
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, representing Pittsfield, asked about a route through the northern Berkshires. Slesinger said rightof-way track ownership between multiple entities increases the difficulty of planning such a route. Referring to the partnerships between MassDOT, Connecticut Department of Transportation, Amtrak and CSX, Eng said, “The public doesn’t care” which agency runs the transportation, only that it is “seamless.”
“No matter where you are, transportation is essential,” said Eng, and “rail is a key component.” Eng also emphasized the need to shorten trips and an express service. “If we want to have further distances, we have to have faster trips,” he said.
Eng said that every $1 billion spent on transportation supports 40,000 jobs. He lauded Neal’s efforts to have CSX rail cars released from U.S. Customs, which had them impounded for the better part of a year due to concerns over forced labor. The allegations have since been cleared, and the cars were released.
In a press release about the Compass Rail update, Gov. Maura Healey said, “West-East rail is about more than transportation. It is about connecting people to jobs, education and opportunity across our state. Our administration has made this a priority because stronger rail connections mean a stronger economy for every region of Massachusetts. I’m grateful to Congressman Neal for his continued partnership in advancing this work and helping move this investment forward as we deliver reliable, modern rail service that people can count on.”
$1.2 million federal earmark for Knowledge Corridor Positive Train Control design on Platform C at Springfield’s Union Station on April 1. Below, from left: An Amtrak train pulls into Springfield’s Union Station in advance of U.S. Rep. Richard Neal announcement of a $1.2
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen, Chris Maza
Pond committee continues algae, cyanobacteria control efforts
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
EASTHAMPTON — One group in Easthampton is continuing to take the necessary steps to protect a coveted body of water in the city.
In an effort to control algae and cyanobacteria on Nashawannuck Pond, the pond’s Steering Committee will fill various spots around the pond with barley straw bags on Saturday, April 18.
In recent years, lakes and ponds throughout the country have experienced increased occurrences of algae blooms. These blooms are a result of warmer climate temperatures that particularly affect shallower water bodies. Not all, but some of these blooms may contain cyanobacteria, which can be very harmful, causing disruption of aquatic ecosystem services, intoxication of wildlife and a threat to public health.
In summer 2019, the Easthampton Board of Health sent pictures of the Nashawannuck Pond to the state Board of Health with the belief that they had a visual indication of cyanobacteria in the pond. The following year, the visual indication returned, and as an accepted protocol with the Board of Health, the Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee took samples and sent them to Northeast Laboratory in Connecticut for testing. The test came back positive for cyanobacteria.
“We had never had it, we didn’t know anything about it, all of a sudden it was posted
by the Board of Health, so we had to figure it out, and we did,” explained Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee member Beth Tiffany.
After hearing from a concerned resident, the Steering Committee and volunteers began using Barley straw to deter this issue in 2022 after learning more about its impact against cyanobacteria. It has been found that barley straw, as it decomposes in certain waterbodies, will release a non-harmful agent that will prevent these blooms from occurring.
More specifically, as the barley straw decomposes under aerobic conditions, it releases a steady flow of molecules that prevent the growth or division of single-cell photosynthetic organisms, including many types of cyanobacteria and some green algae. Some headway has been made with this process, according to Tiffany, who said the pond hasn’t had the same visual indications of the bacteria that it had in the past.
“We can’t say that it’s absolutely positively the reason, but it certainly is hopeful,” added Tiffany.
To place the barley straw into the pond, the committee stuffs onion or potato bags with barley and places six bags at each of the 25 marked locations around the pond. Although the process has evolved over the last few years, the Steering Committee plans to get another 150 bags out in the pond on April 18.
Tiffany said it’s great to see how this effort has gone
since 2022, and each time they gear up for another run, it’s been refreshing to see the public support through volunteer opportunities.
“I think it is great because we always are concerned about what we do at the pond, and at first, we were concerned that people would be like, ‘what are
you doing, what are you putting in there?’ Not having any knowledge of it, understandably. So, we did a lot of education around that, and now we put it out annually, and it brings the community together. I was really happy when I got the email saying all the [volunteer] spots are filled,” she added. Tiffany said those looking to get involved with volunteer work through the Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee can sign up for its newsletter by visiting nashawannuckpond. org. Residents can also go there to learn more about the pond and the restoration and conservation work around it.
The Sphere Northampton announces spring Mindshift Business Accelerator cohort
NORTHAMPTON — The Sphere Northampton, a nonprofit entrepreneurial support hub dedicated to advancing an inclusive small-business ecosystem in Western Massachusetts, is proud to announce the members of its Spring 2026 Mindshift Business Accelerator cohort.
The eight-week intensive program equips women and nonbinary entrepreneurs with the tools, skills, and peer support needed to launch, stabilize and grow their businesses. Participants strengthen business planning, leadership, marketing, and financial management — and leave with a viable business plan, a working financial model and a network of peers and mentors behind them.
“When we first put the portraits of those 17 women in that window on Main Street, we wanted Northampton to see what we already knew — that this community is full of brilliant, resilient entrepreneurs who just needed to be seen and connected. This cohort is proof that we’re doing exactly that. These are real businesses, real people, and real momentum. I couldn’t be more excited to watch them take off,” said Christina Webster, co-founder of The Sphere Northampton.
About the program
The Mindshift Accelerator is a cornerstone of The Sphere’s year-round technical assistance programming. In addition to the eight-week curriculum, cohort members receive:
Eight weeks of weekly peer-mentoring sessions following the accelerator
Access to free monthly programming including Financial Fridays, Marketing Mondays, and workshops throughout the year
• Workshops and coaching on financial healthy habits and data-driven decision-making, hosted by Money Map Coaching
• Three months of free membership to the Sphere Innovation Lab coworking space, including access to a professional workspace, technology library, printing and business resources
The program serves primarily operating businesses while maintaining an on-ramp for founders in the earliest stages. It intentionally centers women, gender expansive and nonbinary entrepreneurs. Information about who is in this spring’s cohort can be found on The Sphere website.
A look at a prior year’s efforts of the Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee’s algae and cyanobacteria control project.
Photo credit: The Nashawannuck Pond Steering Committee
Recordville’s Northampton Record Fair returns April 11
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — Music lovers from all over can find their favorite artists in one place during an entire day this spring.
Local and regional record dealers and collectors from around the Northeast will travel to Northampton High School with thousands of vinyl records and CDs for the public’s digging pleasure during the Northampton Record Fair on Saturday, April 11. The event is presented by Recordville.
Early admission tickets are $10 and available between 9-11 a.m. An early admission ticket includes an additional ticket for the event’s 11 a.m. raffle, and the first 300 attendees will receive a free Recordville tote bag for their shopping. Raffle items will include three $50 shopping sprees people can use for the fair, as well as prizes from sponsors like Spin That Records in Springfield and Electric Eye Records in Florence.
General admission is $5 and is available from 11 a.m. to the fair’s closing at 5 p.m. All tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the event.
Originally known as the Northampton Record Fair, Recordville was founded by Justin Cohen and his wife, Janice Chaka, in 2015. The two wanted to spread their love for vinyls and discovering new music after they noticed a gap in large-scale record fairs. Cohen was at one point running the WMUA Record Fair during the mid to late 2000s while he worked for the station. After a stint in Somerville, he eventually returned to Western Massachusetts around 2015 and
looked to revive the event under a new umbrella after noticing a void in the space.
“It became pretty apparent that the station has made a lot of changes, and they weren’t going to keep doing the record fair. Though I wasn’t running it at the time, I realized this community really needs a record fair,” said Cohen. “That was the inspiration for holding the first one in 2015.”
The first Northampton Record Fair was held in 2015 at the World War II Club and quickly became a popular community event that eventually migrated to Union Station as the new home base. Cohen said they began hosting the event two to three times a year until the COVID-19 pandemic paused their efforts.
During this time, Cohen said they had to take a break from the annual fairs, but they were always motivated to bring it back because of the demand for one in the community.
“Though I had run the fairs at UMass [University of Massachusetts Amherst], and I used to run a flea market, and I ran record stores in the Boston area, etc., this was definitely the biggest and most successful one I had run, which was a super surprise to me. Me realizing that, yeah, the community really, really wants this,” said Cohen.
The Northampton Record Fair would not return until March 2024, but when it did, things were “full steam ahead,” according to Cohen. In need of a new venue, Cohen and Chaka settled on the Three County Fairgrounds at that time.
Last year, Cohen said he and Chaka started branching out of
the Western Massachusetts region to hold a fair in Cambridge. With the expanded effort, the organization that was formerly known as the Northampton Record Fair officially became Recordville.
Cohen said this upcoming record fair will be inside Northampton High School for the first time. He added that they anticipate 42 vendors on 75 tables, and 10 of those tables will showcase Cohen’s own offerings.
“I have a lot of records, but there will be a lot more records at the event that I own. Record dealers from all over the place are coming in. For this show, people tend to bring their top game. There’s always a wide mix of old stuff, new stuff, inexpensive, super expensive, every genre you can think of,” added Cohen.
He shared that, along with records for sale, there will also be a
lot of CD options and other memorabilia available for sale from both independent record dealers and stores. There will also be live DJ performances throughout the fair, providing a mix of different music styles during the day.
“I grew up with records, I love records. I’m also a DJ, and I spin records. So, this is definitely an event not just for people like me, but certainly also [for] people who aren’t like me. That’s very much where it came from. It’s something I wanted to happen because I wanted it to happen, and for the people like me who like this and who are shopping and meeting other people who are also into the same stuff,” said Cohen. “I like records, and I like listening to records, but I also like the act of shopping for records and finding new things that I don’t know, and never knowing
what’s going to be in the bin.” Cohen said that the fair always draws a great mix of people of all ages and backgrounds who are looking to buy and discover more physical copies of music.
“Any version of anything that gets music into people’s lives is good. There’s so much music that’s on vinyl and nowhere else. There’s so much music on CD and nowhere else. And there’s so much music that’s digital and not on physical media, so I don’t try to rule anything out because it cuts off large swaths of music that exist that is the only way you can find it,” said Cohen. “We are excited to keep it going. It’s surprising and continually exciting that the Northampton fair is growing bigger and bigger, and the community wants it to grow bigger and bigger.”
look at a previous Recordville Northampton Record Fair.
Photo credit: Recordville, Justin Cohen
New ValleyBike Share station opens at Prospect Place
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — A new ValleyBike Share station officially launched outside of the Prospect Place apartments on March 31. The new station, which was celebrated with a ribbon cutting, is part of a $1.5 million state grant awarded to Northampton for continued upgrades and renovations to the ValleyBike Share system.
The project expands the city’s sustainable transit network to provide more accessible, eco-friendly transportation options.
The new share station is located at the Prospect Place apartments on Bridge Road, a new 60unit, energy-efficient, affordable housing development that opened last fall. The site, which was formerly a nursing home, was developed by Valley Community Development and HMR Properties.
“This station here at Prospect Place is our 20th station here in Northampton. This is our first expansion since pre-pandemic,” said Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra. “This support from both Mass CEC and Valley CDC really exemplifies the extensive, interconnected partnerships that a municipality needs to build and support sustainable, affordable housing.”
Joining Sciarra for the ribbon cutting were members of Valley CDC, Mass CEC, Northampton Planning and Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch, Community Development Planner Keith Benoit, Ward 1 City Councilor Gwen Nabad and members of the public.
A bus station is also located next to the new station, reinforcing the community connections effort by the city, which aims to offer different transportation options in the community.
Northampton’s Office of Planning and Sustainability is in charge of overseeing the ValleyBike Share system for the entire region, which means they hold the contract for Drop Mobility, the group that runs the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the bikes, which serve 10 communities in the region. The recent $1.5 million state award is supporting the regional ValleyBike electric bike share system, helping to expand operations, modernize fleets and replace bike docks.
Top row, from left: The city of Northampton hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 31 to celebrate the launch of a new ValleyBike Share station outside of the Prospect Place apartments. Valley CDC Real Estate Project Manager Bill Womeldorf takes one of the new bikes out for a test drive. Second row, from left: Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra expressed gratitude for this new fleet, adding it was the 20th station here in Northampton and the first expansion since before the pandemic. ValleyBike Operations Manager Edgar Cancel (left) and Ward 1 City Councilor Gwen Nabad (right) get a feel for the new bikes. At right, Northampton city officials gather and take a closer look at the new and improved bikes featured at the new ValleyBike Share station located at Prospect Place. Left to right: Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, Planning and Sustainability Director Carolyn Misch, Ward 1 City Councilor Gwen Nabad and former School Committee member Benjamin Spencer. Reminder Publishing photos by Trent Levakis
The program has played a key role in connecting residents to transit hubs, jobs, housing and other essential destinations throughout the Pioneer Valley, according to the local leaders
who attended the ribbon cutting.
“Transportation is actually a really big component of a residence project. This provides choice of mobility [for Prospect Place residents] throughout the interconnected network of the Pioneer Valley, in tandem with the bus station here,” explained Valley CDC Real Estate Project Manager Bill Womeldorf. “So, providing a choice where you don’t need to actually own a vehicle here to be plugged into amenities and services nearby. We’re really thankful for ValleyBike for the collaboration here at Prospect Place.”
The new bikes are E-assist-
ed — for smoother rides — and lighter than the previous models, according to local leaders.
Most notably, the new bikes include a swappable battery system that does not need to charge at a docking station. Sciarra said the city wants to swap the fleet with these new models. Misch noted that the new station is conveniently located within a quarter mile of the city’s shared use path that connects downtown Northampton, Florence Center and Amherst.
After downloading the ValleyBike app, users can pay as they go. It is $0.25 a minute or $25 a month. ValleyBike also offers
subsidized equity membership for those who qualify. To learn more about the subscription offers, as well as how to register, visit valleybike.org.
ValleyBike Operations Manager Edgar Cancel broke down some of the new fleet’s features. He explained that the bikes are tethered to anything if a station rack is filled. The GPS trackers in the bikes and the swappable battery system make it easier to swap out dying batteries for fresh ones.
Cancel said that it is exciting for him, both in this role and as someone who grew up in the community, to see this effort in the name of equity.
“I grew up here in Northampton, and to see things like this in the community, especially for folks who don’t have as much access as some of us do. It’s a great way to bring equity to our community,” said Cancel. “It’s really exciting to see the program grow, and all of the support that people like you give us to keep us going. Thank you, because of all of you, I have a job that I love.”
State, feds staffing up for public benefits fraud fight
By Ella Adams State House News Service
BOSTON — With federal prosecutors pledging that anti-fraud investigations will lead to results soon, state health and human services officials are adding more staff to those who are already guarding against public benefit fraud in anticipation of an increase in federal audits.
“We just expect that the amount of audits and requests that we’re going to get is probably going to double to triple over the next few months,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah told lawmakers at a budget hearing in Clinton on March 27.
Warren Republican state Rep. Todd Smola asked fraud-related questions during the Ways and Means Committee hearing, referring to a recently-established Task Force to Eliminate Fraud led by Vice President JD Vance.
“Massachusetts is on the radar screen,” Smola said. “I’m a little bit discouraged to see some of the commentary from the governor relative to the level of cooperation that’s going to happen here.”
The Trump administration is targeting Medicaid fraud, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested information related to Medicaid from 10 states, including Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Maine, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie’s office stated that “each of these states displayed concerning cases of Medicaid fraud over the last several years.”
Healey has maintained that MassHealth, the Department of Transitional Assistance and other agencies have strong program integrity operations.
“If we have nothing to hide,
relative to program integrity and how our programs get rolled out in this commonwealth, then we should have no problem cooperating,” Smola said. He asked Mahaniah for assurance that the state will cooperate with the federal government.
“We’re very proud of the amount of activities that we do under program integrity, in terms of both pre-paying — what we do in terms of monitoring our pre-pay through algorithms and making sure that there’s nothing weird showing up — and how we credential and monitor our vendors and our providers, but in also how we do audits and post-pay claim reviews,” Mahaniah replied.
“I think it’s unavoidable that we will be collaborating quite extensively with the federal government,” Mahaniah continued. “In terms of the way that the agencies and our secretariats work, we are pretty much hand-in-glove in terms of how we administer these programs. The federal rules and regulations form the backbone of what we are allowed to do and how we do it through the 1115 waiver that MassHealth has.”
The state’s five-year MassHealth waiver expires at the end of 2027. MassHealth plans to submit a request to extend its waiver in late 2026. Among other changes surrounding Medicaid that will be ushered in under provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, MassHealth will be required to check eligibility for certain members and require work, education or volunteering for some.
Mahaniah noted “up-staffing” within his secretariat to help with program integrity efforts after Smola asked if he needed anything from the Legislature to help.
“We just need to have the
right amount of people and right amount of technology to be able to answer these requests,” Mahaniah said. “They tend to have two or three weeks’ turnaround, so just making sure that we don’t have any choke points in terms of staff and resources.”
Mahaniah added that MassHealth Undersecretary Mike Levine reminds him that in “normal conditions,” they have between 10 and 12 audits ongoing. “Given just the political nature of things, we expect to undergo many more audits than usual, and you’ve read in the media that we’ve had some back and forth,” Mahaniah said. “But so far, we have been completely open in terms of what we do.”
The deadline to respond to the Trump administration’s Medicaid-related request was March 17. The state sent a 41-page letter, signed by Mahaniah, in response to Guthrie, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair John Joyce and Health Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith.
The letter included answers to questions including those about specific program integrity measures in place to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the state’s Medicaid system; the process for making criminal referrals for suspected fraud to law enforcement; the programs that have seen abnormal increases in recent years; site visits; and details about Medicaid overpayments and recoveries.
Mahaniah wrote that program controls include analytics, pre-pay review and post-pay provider audits, and coordination with law enforcement. The letter states that over the last three years, those fraud, waste and abuse prevention activities “have included over 1,200 individual provider audits and claim record reviews as well as 88 algorithmic claim data reviews,”
many of which recur annually.
MassHealth has a designated Audit Response and Fraud Enforcement team, per the letter, which receives allegations of fraud from staff and external stakeholders, submits referrals to the state’s Medicaid Fraud Division and keeps MassHealth leadership informed of those referrals.
“MassHealth refers credible allegations of fraud to MFD and implements payment suspensions. When MassHealth imposes a payment suspension, it issues a notice of withhold to the provider, directs its accounting systems to stop payments, and instructs MassHealth managed care plans to suspend payments to the provider,” the letter said, explaining steps taken to sanction or disenroll fraudulent Medicaid providers.
The letter also inquired about overpayments. In 2025, total overpayments included $165.3 million, Mahaniah wrote. Those overpayments exclude fraud-related payments that are reported by the division, he clarified. At an earlier budget hearing in March, Transitional Assistance Commissioner Michael Cole also made a distinction between fraud and the overpayments and underpayments accounted for within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payment error rate, another metric the federal government is focused on lowering.
Since provider audits and recoveries can span across years, the recovery and recoupment totals of improper Medicaid overpayments won’t match with the identified overpayments, the letter said. In 2025, there were $117.1 million in total recoveries and recoupments. The majority of MassHealth’s controls operate before payment, according to the letter, which means “a significant share of improper payments are stopped before dollars go out the door, ensuring that they never have to enter the payment recovery pipeline.”
Since January 2021, Mahaniah wrote, MassHealth has implemented 105 payment suspensions as part of its program integrity program.
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley has committed to rooting out fraud in the state’s
Medicaid system alongside her federal counterparts. She announced on March 26 that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Mallard and Mark Grady will work as fraud coordinators to lead a new Benefit and Voter Fraud Team, which her office said was created “in response to the rampant fraud being uncovered in Massachusetts.”
According to her office, Foley has charged 15 individuals with nearly $9 million in fraud since December 2025, including SNAP benefit fraud and MassHealth fraud.
“It has become apparent that there are insufficient guardrails in place in Massachusetts to address the rampant benefit fraud across the state. It is time to hold criminals stealing taxpayer benefits accountable. This has gone on far too long and the buck stops with me,” Foley said in a March 26 press release.
Foley described the fraud her office has uncovered as the “tip of the iceberg,” adding, “We have dozens of investigations in the pipeline that will come to fruition in the coming weeks.”
Asked on Monday after a closed-door meeting with legislative leadership for her reaction to Foley’s new team, Gov. Maura Healey said, “Any fraud that’s out there, I support going after and stopping and shutting down.”
“I did that as attorney general. I continue to do that as governor through the program integrity work of our agencies, where if we have suspicions of fraud, we immediately take action, we report those to the attorney general’s office. We report those to the U.S. attorney’s office,” Healey continued. “I also am not quite sure what the U.S. attorney was meaning by a new fraud unit -there is existing within that office already, a Medicaid Fraud Unit. I mean, as attorney general, my Medicaid Fraud Unit used to work directly with that one.”
Asked by a reporter if she thinks the state is being unfairly targeted, Healey said, “What do you think?” and did not answer the question.
Ella Adams is a reporter for the State House News Service and State Affairs Massachusetts. Reach her at ella.adams@statehousenews.com.
DINING
Campaign aims to secure assisted listening device system
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — Those with auditory and visual disabilities may soon have the necessary equipment to fully enjoy live performances at the Academy of Music Theatre.
The Northampton performance venue has launched an April fundraising campaign to help secure funding for the purchase and installation of the building’s first assisted listening device system.
The “Let’s Hear It!” campaign aims to raise $10,000 during the month of April, which will then enable the Academy to acquire the equipment needed to provide assistance to more than 30 patrons at one time during any event on the historic Northampton stage.
Academy Executive Director Debra J’Anthony said she is confident this project will accommodate audience members with auditory and visual disabilities who have previously been unable to fully experience performances, or who have opted not to attend live performances because of the lack of equipment.
“We had visited providing assisted listening devices, and in the begging, there were not as many options to accommodate the variety of programs that we offer, and it has only been recently, over the last 10 years or so, that we are able to provide a device that could cover film, band and theater,” J’Anthony told Reminder Publishing
J’Anthony said that enhancing accessibility at the theater
WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Majestic Theater announced its Majestic Youth Theater Workshop will hold one-week sessions
April 13-17 (to align with Connecticut schools’ vacation week) and April 20-24 (to align with Massachusetts schools’ vacation week) at its Baldwin Street Studios in West Springfield.
Available sessions are:
Theater as Play, Round 2 — for students 7-10 years old
A week of theater games, improvisation, and playmaking with some favorite children’s stories that will culminate in a short performance of a stage adaptation of a children’s story created by the students. (Participation in Round 1 of this session is not a requirement). Held Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon — $160. Triple Skills (Acting/singing/ movement) Prep — for students 11-15 years old
This week-long workshop is designed to bolster the actor’s
has been a priority for over a decade now, as seen through the wheelchair accessible additions made to the building inside and out over that time. In the last several years, the Academy tried to secure grant funds to help bridge the accessibility gap, but had no luck.
But now, with The Beveridge Family Foundation already contributing $2,000 to the campaign, and the Academy itself contributing another $2,500, the theater is now asking the public to rally around the cause and help them close this campaign in April.
“We’re reaching out to the community to say, we would really like to provide a fuller experience for our patrons [who] require an assisted listening device. Not only those with hearing disabilities, but also, we are newly collaborating with Valley Eye Radio to hopefully provide, for certain shows, descriptions of what is going on stage so they can hear through the listening device,” added J’Anthony.
Valley Eye Radio is a nonprofit service for blind and visually impaired listeners with the mission of keeping Pioneer Valley neighbors informed and connected by being a 24/7 accessible source of local news. The Academy’s partnership with the service is an effort to expand its reach to local venues that bring in live performances. The hope is to provide live remote broadcasts and collaborative events that bring community storytelling and live performance directly to listeners.
“Partnerships like this one
“toolkit” and delve deeper into the importance of audition prep, text analysis, improv, music and movement. Perfect for young actors who are looking to have a meaningful — and fun — week totally immersed in theater. Held Monday through Friday, 1-4 p.m. — $260
Both workshops are available during both vacation weeks.
To enroll participants online for the workshops, please visitmajestictheater.com/mytw
Otherwise, contact the Majestic Theater box office at 413-747-7797.
The Majestic Youth Theater Workshop is overseen by Producing Director Sue Dziura, who noted about the program, “As a longtime theater educator, one of the things I love most about our Majestic Youth Theater Workshop vacation programs is how dynamic they are. In just a few days, young people come together to create something meaningful — building skills, confidence and a real sense of ensemble,
between the Academy and Valley Eye Radio reflect what’s best about our region — organizations coming together to remove barriers and make culture, learning and connection accessible to all,” said Valley Eye Radio Executive Director Chloe Collins.
The two organizations will coordinate efforts for select performances during the 2026-27 theater season. Other venues or individuals interested in part-
all while having a lot of fun along the way.”
Both sessions of Theater as Play, Round 2 will be led by Rachel Lamarre, a recent graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where she majored in theatre arts and management.
Mike King, a local performer last seen onstage at the Majestic in the 2025 production of Waitress, will lead the April 13-17 Triple Skills Prep program. The April 20-24 Triple Skills Prep program will be led by Dziura and will feature daily workshops by MYTW educators/performers including Chelsie Nectow and Myka Plunkett.
Most Majestic Youth Theater Programs are held at the Majestic Theater’s rehearsal space, Baldwin Street Studios 168 Baldwin St., West Springfield, which allows small groups of young actors to work with an experienced staff of theater educators. The 12,000-square-foot building is also home to the Majestic’s set construction and costume shops,
nering with or volunteering for Valley Eye Radio can visit its website at valleyeyeradio.org for more information.
J’Anthony added that the Academy is also seeking community amplifier sponsors who want to get involved. She said they can reach out for more information by emailing development@aomtheatre.com.
“It is a very short campaign. We do hope to meet our goals
and then purchase the devices in May at some point, and then have them installed hopefully by early June,” added J’Anthony. “We’re very grateful for the community support.” Anyone interested in donating to this campaign can visit the donation page on the Academy website at aomtheatre.com/ donate-lets-hear-it/ or email development@aomtheatre.com for more information.
the rehearsal hall has a floor that is painted with an outline that is the exact dimensions of the Majestic’s stage, making it the perfect place for
The Academy of Music
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
EASTHAMPTON VS MOUNT GREYLOCK
BASEBALL
Easthampton and Mount Greylock met on the baseball diamond on March 30. Mount Greylock outscored Easthampton by a score of 9-1 and took home the win.
REMINDER SPORTS PHOTOS TAKEN BY SAM BLAKE
Jake Kostek watches the ball go past him for a ball.
Catcher Tommy Bixby stops the ball from going behind him.
Patrick Larson grabs the bunt and throws the ball to first base.
Anthony Incampo gets ready for the pitch.
Christian D’onfrio watches the ball go by for a walk.
Christian D’onfrio slides headfirst back into first base after the pitcher attempts to pick him off.
Patrick Larson gets the start against Mount Greylock.
Jake Kostek catches the ball and tags the runner at second base.
Tommy Bixby reaches high and catches the flyball.
Patrick Larson looks over his shoulder and checks on the runner.
NCMC presents ‘Evelyn Harris Community Sing-In’
NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Community Music Center presents the “Evelyn Harris Community Sing-In” at First Churches of Northampton on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. The event will feature the Ujima Singers in performance, and will reunite alums of the Ku’umba Women’s Choir which Evelyn directed for 15 years. All will be welcome to join in song as we revisit some of Evelyn’s standard and beloved repertoire. The event is free and open to the public.
The late Harris celebrated her 20th year as a faculty member of NCMC last June, and performed with the Afrocentric music collective that she founded, the Ujima Singers, just a week before her sudden passing on December 16, 2025. To honor Evelyn’s legacy, and promote the power of mu-
sic as activism, the Ujima Singers will present a free program of acapella music that Evelyn taught at NCMC, inviting the Northampton community to lift every voice and sing. This program will feature music from Sweet Honey In The Rock and popular spirituals and freedom songs of the African American canon.
In 2005, Evelyn was hired at NCMC to teach private voice lessons and to succeed Justina Golden in directing the women’s vocal ensemble, A Little Lunch Music. In 2006, this ensemble was reimagined to better represent Evelyn’s specific strengths and background and was renamed the Ku’umba Women’s Choir. In the wake of COVID-19 in 2022, this ensemble disbanded. For years, Evelyn and Executive Director Jason Trotta had been
envisioning a program that would provide space for connection and collaborative expression among members of the Valley’s BIPOC community, inspired by exploration of the music of the African-American diaspora and civil rights movement that had been the focus of Evelyn’s life work. After many years of planning and discussion, the Ujima Singers was born in 2023. The Ujima Singers performance blurb states:
“We’ve come together to create greater visibility and musical community for Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) in the valley. We sing freedom songs, Negro spirituals, and R&B with a genuine energy that comes from the love and community that we foster as a collective. The vast majority of the Ujima Singers are not trained musicians; the
collective is open to community members of all vocal experience levels/abilities. Since our first rehearsal in September of 2023, director Evelyn Harris coaxed the spirit loose from each new Ujima Singer, with equal parts good humor and ferocity, and we’re excited to share our spirited sound with you.”
The group continues to provide a powerful, intergenerational creative space under the direction of Northampton-born artist Indë Francis. As reported by Carolyn Brown of the Daily Hampshire Gazette in the Jan. 25 article about the late director’s memorial service at Bombyx in Florence, “Celebrating Evelyn Harris,”
The Ujima Singers, a chorus of BIPOC performers that operate out of the Northampton Community Music Center, per-
formed the hymn “When I Die,” composed by former Sweet Honey in the Rock member Ysaye M. Barnwell.
Indë Francis, the group’s director, explained that their last rehearsal with Harris wasn’t “a real rehearsal” — rather, it was a grief circle, during which group members talked about their experiences with death, because Harris wanted them to learn and understand the song.
“It was a really funny and serendipitous thing,” Francis said. “Her spirit knew even though she didn’t.”
“She was really, really passionate about her music, her art, and what she was teaching,” Francis said, “and she would not settle for people who didn’t understand why they were singing what they were singing.”
Senate unanimously approves legislation to lift farms
By Sam Drysdale State House News Service
BOSTON — The Senate unanimously passed a sweeping bill on April 1 aimed at stabilizing agriculture, expanding food access and modernizing how Massachusetts defines farming.
The legislation reflects years of study and arrives as lawmakers warn that farms face mounting economic and policy pressures, while a separate constitutional amendment effort remains a work in progress.
State Sen. Jo Comerford said the bill draws heavily from multiple industry reports compiled in recent years.
“The cool thing about it is that there was a cranberry report, you know,” Comerford said. “This omnibus bill has gotten bigger and bigger over these years… that’s one of the most meaningful things about this bill, right? Is that we’re scooping up so many of the key recommendations … that are going to help farms stay farming.”
In one of its key provisions, the bill builds on tax policy designed to keep farms financially viable through the Chapter 61A program, which allows farmland to be taxed based on agricultural value rather than market value. Those tax benefits can dramatically reduce costs for farmers.
Data from fiscal 2017 shows 24 acres of land in Southwick could
see a tax bill drop from $1,640 to roughly $37 when classified as farmland under Chapter 61A, according to Springfield- and Northampton-based legal and tax advisors Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin.
Lawmakers expanded that framework in a 2024 law by allowing farms to process and sell goods made from their own products — such as turning strawberries into jam or milk into ice cream — while retaining farmland tax status.
The new bill (S 3029) extends that concept into agritourism, a growing sector many farms rely on to stay afloat.
“You can grow apples, you can make apple wine, you can sell apple wine, and you can have an apple wine tasting,” Comerford said. “You can grow corn, you can make corn pudding or corn fritters … and you can have a corn maze. It extends what farmers are able to call farming.”
By defining those activities as agriculture, the bill allows more portions of farm property to qualify for Chapter 61A tax treatment, rather than being taxed as commercial enterprises.
The shift reflects a broader reality: many farms operate on slim or negative margins and depend on diversified revenue streams.
At the same time, Comerford is pushing a longer-term change that would go further than statute — amending the state constitu-
tion to redefine farmland itself.
Current constitutional language requires at least five contiguous acres to qualify for agricultural tax benefits, a threshold she said no longer reflects modern land use.
“So right now, the Constitution says that ag land is 5 acres or more. Now that’s bananas, right? In 2025,” Comerford said.
In a state with shrinking open land, she argued, five acres can be out of reach, especially for urban and smaller-scale farms.
“I mean, think about it, right? Back then,” she said, about the timing of when the state Constitution was ratified in 1780, “five acres seemed like nothing… but now it seems like everything.”
Comerford was clear the proposed amendment will not advance this session.
“We’re going to be back at it next session to change the constitution,” she said.
The Joint Committee on Revenue recommended last year that the amendment should not move forward in the legislative process. That committee gave a favorable report to a similar measure in 2023, but top Democrats opted against putting the measure up for a vote during a House-Senate session known as a Constitutional Convention.
Comerford said the issue is “complex, because farmers and growers want to know that we’re not going to come in and
somehow infringe on them or encroach on them, if we don’t have the constitutional protections. But I think we’re going to get there. It’s a big idea to change the constitution. So we need to work on that big idea next session.”
She added that it would help to know how many small farms could benefit from the change.
That need for better data is a central feature of the bill passed Wednesday, which directs the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to create a comprehensive registry and mapping system of farmland.
“This bill is an homage to, like, the bowels of farms,” Comerford said, describing new requirements to track land use, solar development and the flow of local food through state programs.
“You can’t fix something you can’t measure right?” she added.
Comerford said that between 2017 and 2022, 27,000 acres of farmland were lost in Massachusetts. “That’s twice the national rate. Boom gone.”
Beyond tax policy and planning, the bill includes a wide range of food system provisions. It makes permanent the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program and newly allows farmers to use grant funding to purchase used equipment.
The legislation also codifies the Healthy Incentives Program, which provides financial support for low-income residents to buy
locally grown produce, linking farm viability with food access.
Senators also included provisions affecting cranberry growers, including changes to allow water management permits to be transferred, easing transitions as operations are sold or retired.
The bill creates a “Next Generation Farmer” program aimed at helping new and underrepresented farmers enter the industry.
“And they’re disproportionately young, disproportionately people of color, who have been denied access to the land — immigrant farmers,” Comerford said.
Additional sections require state agencies to track how much local food is used in public programs like schools and food banks, with the goal of strengthening in-state supply chains.
During Senate debate, Comerford emphasized that the bill is not the final word on agricultural policy.
“Another good idea from our colleague,” she said, about an amendment put forward by Sen. Bruce Tarr related to farm stands. “And I’m enjoying this conversation because it allows… the Senate to understand that while the bill before us is a good, big old bill, there’s more we can and should do for farms.”
Sam Drysdale is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro. Reach her at sdrysdale@statehousenews.com.
