SPRINGFIELD
MARCH 19, 2026 | FREE
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Anna O’Toole crowned 2026 Springfield colleen At the annual coronation ball on Feb. 7, the Springfield St. Patrick’s Parade Committee crowned Anna O’Toole, a Minnechaug Regional High School senior, the 2026 Springfield colleen.
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Food truck ordinance advances after first-step vote Food truck businesses in Springfield could soon be getting more regulations after the City Council approved the first step of a food truck ordinance at its March 9 meeting.
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Students learn to ice skate with U.S. Olympic skater, Thunderbirds Springfield Square One pre-school students were treated to an Olympic sized ice-skating lesson during a field trip to the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield on March 12.
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DiZoglio continues legislative audit push By Sarah Heinonen
sheinonen@thereminder.com
SPRINGFIELD — The 2026 state election may not be until the fall, but candidates are already making the rounds across the commonwealth to introduce themselves and make their case to voters. Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio may be running unopposed, but that does not mean she is without opponents. On a recent trip to Springfield, she sat down with Reminder Publishing to discuss the role of the auditor and the controversy she has become embroiled in. DiZoglio said most residents in the state do not know what the state auditor does. “I’m not the IRS,” she said, referring to the federal Internal Revenue Service. “I don’t audit individual people.” Instead, she said the auditor reviews the expenditures of the state government. She said that for the first time in decades, the auditor’s office completed audits of all departments in the executive branch, as required every three years by law. While DiZoglio may have auditing the executive branch down to a science, efforts to audit the state Legislature have created controversy and litigation. DiZoglio has plenty of experience with the Legislature. She served six years as a state representative beginning in 2013, after which she was elected to the state Senate until she was elected to the office of auditor in 2022. DiZoglio said she decided to run for auditor to use what she had learned about state government to ensure Massachusetts operates with transparency and equity. DiZoglio’s platform at that time included reinstating the ability to audit the Legislature. In
2024, DiZoglio delivered on that campaign promise when a ballot question she championed was passed by 72% of voters. She said she intends to review state contracts, settlements and receipts to see how the state is spending tax dollars, but the leadership in the Legislature, namely Senate President Karen Spilka and her counterpart in the state House of Representatives, Speaker Ronald Mariano, argue that it would violate the separation of powers as laid out in the state’s constitution. DiZoglio said that argument is “complete baloney,” because it conflicts with history. She said auditing the Legislature was commonplace until the 1990s when House of Representatives Speaker Charles Flaherty blocked Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci from auditing him. DiZoglio pointed out that Flaherty later admitted to conflicts of interest and was convicted of felony tax evasion. “If you are refusing an audit, what are you hiding?” DiZoglio asked. DiZoglio has been pursuing litigation against the Legislature, Mariano and Spilka to force them to comply with an audit. Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has objected to this, insisting that her office is the only entity authorized to enter into litigation on behalf of the state. Meanwhile, she has filed a motion to dismiss the suit on behalf of the Legislature. “Gatekeeping justice is not leadership. It’s obstruction,” DiZoglio said. DiZoglio said the Legislature funds the attorney general’s office, creating a conflict of interest. She cited a 12% increase in the attorney general’s fiscal year 2026 budget as a “quid pro quo.” DiZoglio sought approval from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to name attorney,
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio speaks at the 2025 MassDem State Convention held Sept. 13, 2025, at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. Republican file photo
Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is willing to represent DiZoglio, as a special assistant attorney general for the purpose of the litigation.
On March 4, Judge Dalila Argaez Wendlandt denied DiZoglio’s See DIZOGLIO on page 2