Day: November 16, 2018

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported that the month of October at Plainridge Park Casino (PPC) and MGM Springfield generated approximately $35.8 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR).

MGM Springfield generated $14.623 million in revenue from slots and $7.6 million from table games. PPC, an all-slots facility, generated $13.5 million in revenue. MGM Springfield paid a total of $5.56 million in taxes on that revenue, while PPC paid $6.6 million, for a total of more than $12.2 million.

PPC, a category-2 slots facility, is taxed on 49% of GGR. Of that total taxed amount, 82% is paid to local aid, and 18% is allotted to the Race Horse Development Fund. MGM Springfield, a category-1 resort casino, is taxed on 25% of GGR; those monies are allocated to several specific state funds as determined by the gaming statute. 

To date, the Commonwealth has collected approximately $285.5 million in total taxes and assessments from PPC and MGM since the respective openings of each gaming facility, the commission said.

EASTHAMPTON — Matthew Sosik, president and CEO of bankESB, announced that Michael T. Oleksak has been hired as vice president of Commercial Lending.

Oleksak brings more than 15 years of experience in banking, most recently serving as the vice president of Commercial Lending for Westfield Bank, managing a portfolio of more than $25 million. Before Westfield Bank, Oleksak was the assistant vice president, Business Banking officer at United Bank.

In his new role, Oleksak’s main objective will be to originate and develop commercial-lending relationships involving construction projects, business-acquisition financing, investment real estate, equipment financials, business lines of credit, and lending relationships for the bank.

Oleksak holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Southern New Hampshire University. He has a strong commitment to serving the surrounding communities, currently serving on the board of directors for the West Springfield Boys & Girls Club.

HOLYOKE — As part its year-long “Enduring Racism” speaker series, Holyoke Community College will present “Kids as Currency: Immigrant Children as Pawns in American Social Policy” on Monday, Nov. 26, beginning at 6 p.m. at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, 164 Race St., Holyoke.

The evening will feature two speakers who are experts in their fields: Moira Maguire, HCC dean of Social Sciences, and David Hernandez, associate professor of Latina/o Studies at Mount Holyoke College.

Drawing on the adoption of Irish children by American couples in the 1940s and 1950s, and the 2018 U.S. policy of separating children from their parents at the Mexican border, Maguire and Hernandez will examine the historical roots of family separation and the ways that immigrant children have, over the past 70 years, represented the biggest hopes and worst fears of American society.

The event is free and open to all. A reception will precede the discussion at 5:30 p.m.

Maguire holds a Ph.D. in history from American University. As a teacher and scholar specializing in 20th-century Irish history, she spent more than 10 years at the University of Ireland Maynooth, where her research on infanticide and the Irish government’s care of unwed mothers and their children led to many articles and a book, Cherished Equally? Precarious Childhood in Independent Ireland. She has also worked as a consultant for the BBC on several documentaries.

Hernandez specializes in immigration policy, detention and deportation, and Latina/o history. His research focuses on immigration enforcement, the U.S. detention system in particular. A prolific writer on the subject, he is completing a book examining the racial genealogy of immigrant detention in the U.S.

The “Enduring Racism” series is a yearlong invitation to join in an open and honest conversation about racism and its many forms in American society.

“Through the sharing of personal stories and scholarship, we trust that, as a community, we will become more knowledgeable, so we can begin the process of overcoming the pain and degradation of racism,” said Mary Jane O’Connor, HCC Wellness coordinator and one of the event organizers. “We do this with the recognition that this can be both a challenging and an affirming conversation and also understand that it is necessary and must be ongoing as we seek truth and reconciliation.”

For more information, contact Mary J. O’Connor at [email protected] or (413) 552-2422, or Camille Close at [email protected] or (413) 552-2277.

SPRINGFIELD — For the ninth year, all Big Y supermarkets are working to help feed the hungry within their local communities through Care to Share Sack Hunger, a large, reusable grocery bag filled with staple non-perishable food items for local food banks.

Customers purchase a Sack Hunger bag of groceries for $10, and Big Y distributes the food to that region’s local food bank. In turn, the food banks distribute the filled sacks to area soup kitchens, food pantries, senior food programs, day-care centers, as well as many of its other member agencies.

All of the donated sacks are distributed within the supermarket’s marketing area, so every donation stays within the local community. Since its inception nine years ago, more than 133,000 bags of food have been donated to area needy via Big Y’s Care to Share Sack Hunger Program. This year’s campaign runs through Wednesday, Dec. 26.

As an additional option, customers may choose to purchase and donate a $10 ‘virtual bag’ at the register that will be used by the agencies to purchase turkeys or whatever is most needed. Online donations will also be accepted. Visit www.bigy.com/rs/giftcards for more information.

As an added bonus, any customer donations made on Saturday, Nov. 17 will be matched by Big Y.

“Our Sack Hunger program makes it easy for our customers to provide nutritious, non-perishable staple food to those less fortunate within our community,” said Donald D’Amour, chairman and CEO. “We all appreciate their efforts to make this a bigger program each year.”

All five food banks within Big Y’s marketing area are participating in Sack Hunger. These food banks, representing more than 2,100 member agencies throughout the region, include the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Worcester County Food Bank, Foodshare of Greater Hartford, and the Connecticut Food Bank.

The sacks include the following non-perishable Big Y items: instant rice, corn flakes, creamy peanut butter, tuna, kidney beans, green beans, whole-kernel corn, quick oats, elbow macaroni, and sweet peas. Sacks are available at all 70 Big Y supermarkets and Fresh Acres. Last year, Big Y customers donated nearly 22,000 bags of food to those in need, and the company hopes to beat that figure this year.