A Springfield man is facing charges after police say he was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol in the wrong direction on a Connecticut highway.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — A Springfield man is facing charges after police say he was found driving under the influence of alcohol in the wrong direction on a Connecticut highway's off ramp.

Robert Howe 

According to West Hartford police, 43-year-old Springfield resident Robert Howe was pulled over around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 after he was spotted driving in the wrong direction on an Interstate 84 off ramp. A West Hartford police officer allegedly saw Howe turn onto the off ramp and was able to stop his car approximately 200 feet down the road, before he merge with oncoming traffic.

Police said as Howe was being pulled over, several vehicles exited the highway in the correct direction, using caution because of the flashing lights. Howe allegedly had blood-alcohol readings of .101 and .095- both above the .08 legal limit.

Howe allegedly told police the GPS app on his phone, which he was using because he isn't familiar with the area, led him the wrong way onto the highway. Howe was processed and released, awaiting a court date set for March 6.

Long wait times of an hour or more have been commonplace in some states, primarily those running their own health care exchanges. California, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada and Washington are among the states in which consumers and insurance agents have complained. One consequence is that people just give up because they are unable to wait indefinitely.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — For those trying to enroll through online health exchanges, help has long been advertised as just a phone call away.

Yet the challenge in some states has been trying to get a call through at all, never mind the multiple transfers once contact has been made.

Long wait times of an hour or more have been commonplace in some states, primarily those running their own health care exchanges. California, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada and Washington are among the states in which consumers and insurance agents have complained. One consequence is that people just give up because they are unable to wait indefinitely.

"If I had to use one word, I'd use 'frustrating,'" said Jacki Manley, a stay-at-home mom in the western Maryland town of Keedysville, who has been trying since mid-December to enroll in a health plan through that state's health exchange.

With a child who is almost 3 and another who is 5 months, the 20 minutes she can spare on hold often have not been enough. She estimates she has reached someone at the Maryland call center three out of about a dozen times she has called, but then she gets passed between different people and cannot get definitive answers to her questions.

"It just seems like all the right connections aren't being made," Manley said, adding that she believes she has successfully enrolled her children but is unsure whether she and her husband have been enrolled after more than two months of trying.

Manley said she has given up calling. Now, she uses Facebook to try to get the help she needs.

The telephone frustration is just one more obstacle consumers are facing as the March 31 deadline for open enrollment approaches. Technical glitches and software meltdowns on the federal and some state-run exchanges deterred many people from signing up after enrollments under the federal Affordable Care Act began in October.

With many of those technical problems solved, enrollments across the country have been brisk since the start of the year. Yet even with 4 million signed up for policies through the exchanges, the Obama administration will be challenged to meet its own projection of 7 million enrollees by the deadline.

Long wait times for consumer won't help.

In California, an operational review of the state-run exchange's first three months showed consumers waiting 45 minutes to an hour for an employee to answer, and insurance agents have said they have waited hours to make human contact. The exchange's goal was to answer 80 percent of the calls within 30 seconds.

"We did not meet our standards," said Yolanda Richardson, Covered California's chief deputy executive director.

The most recent statistics, from the first week of February, show the average wait time for those dialing in to a California call center at about 47 minutes.

Sherrie Larsen, a 49-year-old truck driver in Tacoma, Wash., said the first time she called the exchange, she was told after waiting an hour and 27 minutes that the computer system was down, and she would have to call back. She called the state insurance commissioner's office to complain, and said she didn't get a lot of help or understanding there. The next day, Larsen called the exchange again, and was told the wait time would be about 29 minutes. After more than an hour on the phone, she finally got the help she was seeking, but no apology or explanation.

"It's very, very, very frustrating," Larsen said.

In Nevada, Claudia Lamb complained publicly about spending more than 100 hours on the phone to a call center, then waiting by her phone for hours more for return calls that never came.

Lamb and her husband first tried to apply in early October when the system went live, but she only received confirmation they had been insured on Feb. 12. That was 129 days after she first applied.

"I once waited three hours and 40 minutes to get through to a manager who cycled the problem back through to his subordinate," Lamb testified about her experience with Nevada Health Link, the state's exchange. "The subordinate's solution was to do another application."

Wait times for call centers on the federal marketplace that is running in 36 states have been much shorter to reach a customer service representative. The average wait time in October was just more than one minute, dropping to 38 seconds in November. It rose to about eight-and-a-half minutes in December, when more people were trying to get coverage for Jan. 1.

The federal call centers have about 14,000 employees.

Maryland's problems have been particularly embarrassing because officials there were quick to support President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, a term-limited Democrat who is weighing a White House bid, and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is running to succeed him, had hoped to make Maryland a national model for health care implementation. Instead, the state has had one of the rockiest rollouts of the 14 states operating their own exchanges, with the call center problems coming on top of constant problems with the online enrollment portal.

For example, some Maryland residents early on were prompted erroneously on the exchange website to seek help by calling a telephone number that led callers to the owner of a pottery shop in Seattle.

The disastrous rollout forced the previous director of the Maryland exchange to resign.

Officials in some states, including Maryland, Nevada and California, have taken steps to address the long wait times.

Nevada has boosted its call center staff from 50 to nearly 250, and wait times reportedly have been reduced significantly. California is adding 350 to 400 more call center employees by the end of March, while Maryland has tripled the number of call center employees from 120 to about 360 at the state's call center in Baltimore, said Carolyn Quattrocki, the interim director of Maryland's health exchange.

Quattrocki said she is optimistic the boost in staff at Maryland's call center, expected to cost about $6 million, will be enough to handle the expected increase in activity as the enrollment deadline nears. She said wait times and abandonment rates have gone down since the middle of January.

Covered California also created a dedicated phone line for insurance agents and counselors, increased the number of bilingual staffers and added an online chat feature to help take pressure off the phone lines. Exchange officials there said they were somewhat surprised by consumer behavior that exacerbated the long wait times.

They designed the exchange so people could shop, compare, select a plan and be done with the process in one stop. Instead, they found that people often had questions after visiting the website and wanted to speak to someone by phone. They often called back two or three times before selecting an insurance plan, adding to the volume of calls coming into the service centers.

Still, Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said the exchange is not making excuses and is working hard to reduce wait times.

"We've heard their concerns," Lee said. "We've stepped up to say we're going to make it right."

After years of dormancy at the property and pressure from the city's License Commission over an inactive liquor license, Iron Horse Entertainment Group owner Eric Suher's lounge has reportedly passed inspections and is open for business.

NORTHAMPTON - After years of dormancy at the property and pressure from the city's License Commission over an inactive liquor license, Iron Horse Entertainment Group owner Eric Suher's lounge has reportedly passed inspections and is open for business.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported on Friday that Suher's 26-28 Center St. property passed occupancy and liquor license inspections. The space, which formerly housed Blue Note Guitars, will accommodate patrons of entertainment venue Iron Horse Music Hall, also owned by Suher.

Suher told the Gazette the lounge is open for "certain things." As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday the lounge did not appear to be open for Iron Horse patrons waiting outside for the start of a 7 p.m. show. The sign at 28 Center St. still read "Blue Note Guitars" and the windows were covered with cardboard. Suher said last month that weather was preventing a change in the sign.

A call and email to Suher were not immediately returned Saturday.

A line of Iron Horse patrons waits outside for a 7 p.m. show on Saturday, March 1. Kate Royals, MassLive.com 

In November of last year, the Northampton License Commission cracked down on Suher for two inactive liquor licenses, one of which was connected to the Center Street property. The commission imposed a deadline of Jan. 6 for the lounge to be up and running, but the deadline came and went. At the commission's February meeting, the lounge had still not passed its inspections, which Suher said was caused by issues in the building that were there before he owned it.

Suher originally acquired the Center Street liquor license in 2009. The license is seasonal, meaning alcohol may only be served nine months out of the year.

Suher is also required to report to the License Commission regarding the status of his second inactive liquor license. That license is tied to the First Baptist church building at 298 Main St. The commission gave Suher until June of this year to complete the project, which Suher said will be a multifunction hall that hosts weddings, lectures and other events.

The White House says Obama delivered that message to Putin during a 90-minute telephone conversation.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Saturday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine by pulling his forces back to bases in the country's Crimean region and to refrain from any interference elsewhere in Ukraine.

The White House says Obama delivered that message to Putin during a 90-minute telephone conversation.

But Obama's request was unlikely to be granted. The Kremlin said Putin emphasized to Obama that real threats exist to the life and health of Russian citizens living in Ukraine and that Russia has the right to protect its interests there.

Russian troops took over Crimea on Saturday after the parliament in Moscow gave Putin the authority to send them in.

The newly installed government in Ukraine was powerless to react to the spread of Russian troops.

"President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity," the White House said late Saturday in a statement, calling Russia's actions a breach of international law, including Russia's obligations under the U.N. Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine.

"The United States condemns Russia's military intervention into Ukrainian territory," the statement said.

A statement from the Kremlin said Putin emphasized to Obama the existence of "real threats" to the life and health of Russian citizens and compatriots who are in Ukrainian territory.

"Vladimir Putin emphasized that, in the case of a further spread in violence in eastern regions (of Ukraine) and Crimea, Russia maintains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population that lives there," the Kremlin statement said.

Authorities called it a terrorist attack by Uighur separatists.

BEIJING — More than 10 knife-wielding attackers slashed people at a train station in southwestern China late Saturday in what authorities called a terrorist attack by Uighur separatists, and police fatally shot four of the assailants, leaving 33 people dead and 130 others wounded, state media said.

The attackers, most of them dressed in black, stormed the Kunming train station in Yunnan province and started attacking people in the late evening, witness Yang Haifei told the official Xinhua News Agency from a hospital where he was being treated for chest and back wounds.

"I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone," he told Xinhua, adding that people who were slower ended up severely injured. "They just fell on the ground," Yang said.

One suspect was arrested, Xinhua said. Evidence found at the scene of the attack showed that it was "a terrorist attack carried out by Xinjiang separatist forces," the agency quoted the municipal government as saying. Authorities considered it to be "an organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack."

The far western region of Xinjiang is home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule by separatists among parts of the Muslim Uighur (pronounced WEE'-gur) population.

Most attacks blamed on Uighur separatists take place in Xinjiang, but Saturday's assault took place more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to the southeast in Yunnan, which has not had a history of such unrest. However, a suicide car attack blamed on Uighur separatists that killed five people at Beijing's Tiananmen Gate last November raised alarms that militants may be aiming to strike at targets throughout the country.

In an indication of how seriously authorities viewed the attack — one of China's deadliest in recent years — the country's top police official, Politburo member Meng Jianzhu, was on route to Kunming, the Communist Party-run People's Daily reported.

The violence in Kunming came at a sensitive time as political leaders in Beijing prepared for Wednesday's opening of the annual meeting of the nominal legislature where the government of President Xi Jinping will deliver its first one-year work report.

Xi called for "all-out efforts" to bring the culprits to justice. In a statement, the Security Management Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security said that police will "crack down the crimes in accordance with the law without any tolerance."

A Xinhua reporter on the scene in Kunming said several suspects had been "controlled" while police continued their investigation of people at the train station. The reporter said firefighters and emergency medical personnel were at the station and rushing injured people to hospitals for treatment.

Authorities said five suspects were shot dead but that their identities had not yet been confirmed, and police were hunting for the remaining attackers, Xinhua reported. The news agency said 29 people described as civilians were confirmed dead and 130 injured.

More than 60 victims of Saturday's attack were taken to Kunming No. 1 People's Hospital, where at least a dozen bodies also could be seen, according to Xinhua reporters at the hospital.

At a guard pavilion in front of the train station, three victims were crying. One of them, Yang Ziqing, told Xinhua that they were waiting for a train to Shanghai when a knife-wielding man suddenly came at them.

"My two town-fellows' husbands have been rushed to hospital, but I can't find my husband, and his phone went unanswered," Yang sobbed.

Footage on China's state broadcaster CCTV showed a heavy police presence near the station and plainclothes agents wrapping a long knife in a plastic bag as investigators collected evidence following the attacks.

Pictures on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, showed bodies covered in blood at the station.

The Kunming railway station, located in the southeastern area of the city, is one of the largest in southwest China.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Working breed dogs competed in the Connecticut River Working Group Association, Inc.’s dog show Saturday in the Mallary building at the Eastern States Exposition grounds with a bustling crowd of more than 1,500 people in attendance. The Saturday daylong event is the first competition in a weekend dog show which also includes a separate competition exclusive for...

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Working breed dogs competed in the Connecticut River Working Group Association, Inc.’s dog show Saturday in the Mallary building at the Eastern States Exposition grounds with a bustling crowd of more than 1,500 people in attendance.

The Saturday daylong event is the first competition in a weekend dog show which also includes a separate competition exclusive for puppies on Sunday. In the working breed category, 751 dogs competed.

According to the American Kennel Club, a sponsor of the competition, dogs in the working breed are one of seven types of dogs originally bred to guard property and perform search and rescue services.

In all, 27 different working breeds such as great Danes, Siberian huskies, giant schnauzers, and black Russian terriers are entered into the competition in which each respective dog’s handler leads their dog around a white-fenced ring to be judged based on agility and presentation.

There are eight rings with different competitions for separate breeds taking place in conjunction with one another.

“My decisions are made when judging the dog based upon a standard,” said Dana P. Cline, a judge in the competition with more than 15 years experience judging dog shows.

“You don’t compare dogs necessarily; you compare a dog to their standard, a blueprint of the breed. That’s how you make a decision,” he said.

Trisha Smallman, an Amherst native who is the owner of a 2-year-old Leonberger named Coup de Jour or Cooper for short, said her dog is the first competitive dog that she has owned from a kennel called Panthera Leonbergers in Chicago.

“He’s kind of regal,” she said. “I had understood from someone, his father was brought over from Sweden for the breeding, and I understand his father is kind of aloof, apart from the crowd, and he seems to be going that way. He just couldn’t be a better dog.”

Michele DeTour, Cooper’s handler for the Leonberger competition, said he was awarded with “select dog,” a prize which is equivalent to a first runner-up position.

The competition awards several other prizes such as “best for breed,” an award specific to an individual breed of dog, and “best for show,” the highest award, in which the best of breed winners continue onto a final round, with a process of elimination naming one dog as “best of show,” according to the American Kennel Club (AKC).

Andrew Green, a resident of Readington Township, N.J., whose Samoyed named Bogey, won best for breed, said he traveled nearly four hours to have his dog participate in the competition.

“We’ve had him since he was a baby and now he’s 3 years old,” he stated. “He’s a very happy dog, easy-going, likes the snow, and likes the weather. We’ve been doing these competitions for about 25 years.”

There is also an AKC Sanctioned 4- and 6-month-old puppy competition, designed to be separate from the main competition for adult dogs called AKC National Owner-Handled Series.

Shirley M. Boxer, handler for a puppy bull mastiff named Burning Woods, Up ‘N Atom, said the dog won the 9- to 12-month class and then took reserve or first runner up.

Anthony DiNardo, president and a founder of the Connecticut River Working Group Association Inc., said dog shows often take place across the country on a weekly basis and that his club was founded more than 10 years ago in order to offer competitive dog shows.

“Basically, these people show for love of their dog, love of the sport, they like the competition but it’s only of value to the person.”

Sixty-nine mushers and their teams of 16 dogs each inundated Alaska's largest city for the annual ceremonial start of the race in a fan-friendly atmosphere. The real race starts Sunday, 50 miles north of Anchorage.

Jake Berkowitz of Big Lake, Alaska, drives his dog team along Campbell Air Strip near the end of the ceremonial start of the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, March 1, 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska.Associated Press 

MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Hordes of dogs, mushers and their eager fans mingled Saturday at the jovial celebratory kickoff of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage.

Sixty-nine mushers and their teams of 16 dogs each inundated Alaska's largest city for the annual ceremonial start of the race in a fan-friendly atmosphere. The real race starts Sunday, 50 miles north of Anchorage.

Early Saturday morning, musher trucks lined city streets, and fans like Nancy Alstrand of San Diego spent hours meandering from musher to musher, stopping to chat or pet dogs.

"Absolutely love the dogs," Alstrand said shortly after taking a picture of one Husky with her iPad. "It infects you, their energy does, and it just makes you so happy."

Her brother lives in Healy, Alaska, and they intend to make attending the Iditarod start an annual family reunion.

Later in the morning, mushers left the starting gate two minutes apart in the staggered launch to the race. Each carried an "Iditarider," a person who won their seat on the sled in an auction.

The mushers take a leisurely 11-mile jaunt on urban trails within the city of Anchorage. Snow had to be trucked in to cover the streets of downtown Anchorage until mushers could get on the trail system.

A lack of snow and warm temperatures have been a headache for Iditarod officials this winter. In fact, temperatures in Anchorage were in the mid- to upper 40s in the days preceding the start.

Officials had considered moving the official starting point hundreds of miles north to Fairbanks, but said conditions had improved in the weeks ahead of the race to keep it in Willow, outside of Anchorage.

Concerns about the trail were in areas south of the Alaska Range and in the mountains themselves, race marshal Mark Nordman said. But snow and especially colder temperatures after a long January thaw have alleviated worries there and in areas such as the Yentna River.

"I think the thousand-mile wilderness trail is going to be a little bit of mystery no matter what, if it's warm or if it's cold, or it's windy, or if it's raining," said musher Aliy Zirkle of Two Rivers. Zirkle has finished second each of the last two races.

"Every single year, I have to say, I go into it thinking, 'What is it going to be like?' And I don't think this year is any different. I think it's going to be hard, tough."

Another fan favorite is veteran musher DeeDee Jonrowe, a breast cancer survivor whose signature piece of apparel is a hot pink parka.

"We've been out there a lot of years, I've seen them all," she said of trail conditions. "I'm sure it's not going to be anything I haven't seen at some point of my career."

There are six former champions in the field, including defending champion Mitch Seavey, also the 2004 winner.

"We've had really good training, real good conditioning," Seavey told reporters. "We've been able to get all our training done, all our miles. I feel really ready, and real happy with my team."

"I'd like it to be," Zirkle said when asked if it was her year to win the Iditarod.

"The team is not a wild card; it's the best team I've ever had," Zirkle said. "But it comes down to what a musher's prepared for, what their skills are, if they make the right decisions at the right time."

After Sunday's start in Willow, mushers will travel nearly a thousand miles, crossing two mountain ranges, the Yukon River and up the Bering Sea coast en route to the finish line on Front Street in Nome, on Alaska's western coast.

Police say 104 vehicles were involved in crashes along a roughly 2-mile stretch of highway as a short but intense burst of snow slammed the area. The northbound lanes were closed for several hours, but the interstate has since reopened. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Emergency workers respond to a massive pileup accident on Interstate 25 in Denver, Saturday, March 1, 2014. Authorities say one person was killed and 30 others were injured in the giant pileup.Associated Press 

THOMAS PEIPERT
Associated Press

DENVER — One person died and 30 others were injured in a massive pileup on Interstate 25 as a band of heavy snow moved through south Denver on Saturday, authorities said.

Police say 104 vehicles were involved in crashes along a roughly 2-mile stretch of highway as a short but intense burst of snow slammed the area. The northbound lanes were closed for several hours, but the interstate has since reopened. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Drivers and passengers who were not hurt were put on a city bus to speak with accident investigators, and some wrecked cars were towed to a nearby high school, the Denver Post reported. Meanwhile, about 100 snowplows and four large tankers with deicing fluid were busy clearing roads throughout Denver, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Meteorologists said the storm was part of the same system that has saturated California and is slowly moving across the West en route to the Plains and Mississippi Valley on Sunday.

"We're on the front leading edge of it, so there's some moisture coming up," National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Kalina said. That, combined with a cold front that moved into Colorado on Friday night, made for whiteout conditions and slick roadways across the state.

Highway officials closed the westbound lanes of a section of Interstate 70 west of Denver after treacherous road conditions led to numerous accidents. Traffic is still slow in the reopened lanes.

The transportation department warned that recently fluctuating temperatures in Colorado led to the slick road conditions, and authorities advised motorists to stock their vehicles with water, blankets, windshield wiper fluid, hand warmers and nonperishable food items.

Freezing drizzle and highs in the low 20s were expected in Denver on Sunday, making way for sunny skies and highs in the mid-50s by Monday.

Obama planned an appearance Wednesday at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain with Democratic Govs. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin of Vermont and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

President Barack Obama speaks Friday at the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting in Washington. The president plans an appearance Wednesday at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain with Democratic Govs. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin of Vermont and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Associated Press 

DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Striving to show momentum on a top legislative priority, President Barack Obama is appearing next week with Northeastern governors who back his push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and will pledge to lift the earnings of the lowest-paid workers in their states to at least the same level.

Obama planned an appearance Wednesday at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain with Democratic Govs. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin of Vermont and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

A higher minimum wage and an overhaul of immigration laws are Obama priorities, but it remains doubtful whether lawmakers will send him either piece of legislation this year, particularly when the entire House and one-third of the Senate are up for re-election.

A Senate-passed immigration bill is stalled in the House, while Republicans oppose raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, arguing that jobs will be eliminated, unemployment will rise and the economy will suffer if the government forces businesses to cut bigger paychecks for their workers.

The White House believes momentum for a higher minimum wage is building, however, and wants to keep the pressure on Congress, in part to help draw distinctions between the political parties for November's voters.

"It is time to give America a raise or elect more Democrats who will do it," Obama told Democrats at the party's winter meeting Friday in Washington.

Officials note that California, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have raised the minimum wage since early 2013, when Obama first called on Congress to increase it. Obama recently used his executive power to enact a $10.10 minimum wage for the few hundred thousand people who work on federal contracts. Gap Inc., the clothing chain, recently announced plans to raise voluntarily the minimum hourly wage for its U.S. employees to $10 next year, a move Obama applauded.

The Northeastern governors are joining Obama's campaign, which is part of the president's 2014 strategy to act on his own to help the middle class when he thinks Congress isn't doing what it should.

Obama says a higher wage will help lift hard-working people out of poverty, giving them more money to spend and businesses more customers and higher profits.

"It is a virtuous cycle that we can create," he said Friday.

In Connecticut, the minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $9 an hour, from $8.70, effective Jan. 1, 2015, under legislation Malloy signed last June. After Obama called for a $10.10 minimum wage in his State of the Union address, Malloy called on state lawmakers to raise Connecticut's minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017.

Malloy, who has become an outspoken advocate for raising the minimum wage, said widening income inequality is hurting middle-class families and the economy.

"Part of tackling that critically important challenge is making sure that we recognize that a decent wage is good for workers and for business," he said Saturday.

Rhode Island's minimum wage increased by 25 cents to $8 on Jan. 1, 2014. Pending legislation would boost it even higher.

States can set their minimum wage above the federal minimum but not below it.

In Massachusetts, Patrick recently called for an increase in the state's $8-per-hour minimum wage. The state Senate recently passed a bill to raise it to $11 per hour by 2016; the House has indicated it will take up the measure by mid-April. Separately, advocates are pushing a ballot question for a $10.50 per hour wage.

"Raising the federal minimum wage will bring financial relief to millions of workers and their families, many of whom do jobs we could not live without," Patrick said Saturday.

In Vermont, the minimum is $8.73 an hour.

"Given the lack of progress shown by this Congress on this critical economic issue, I encourage governors across the country to take the lead and work to raise the minimum wage in their own states, as many of us are doing here in New England," Shumlin said Saturday. "We cannot stand idly by while hardworking Americans continue to struggle."

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate last week again delayed debate on a bill by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 and adjust it annually after that to reflect inflation. Debate on the measure now is not expected until late March, at the earliest, after lawmakers return from a break.

Retiring Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced a similar measure in the Republican-controlled House that has gone nowhere.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns roughly 80 subsidiaries, including railroad, clothing, furniture and jewelry firms. Its insurance and utility businesses typically account for more than half of the company's net income. The company also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co., IBM and Wells Fargo & Co., and last year bought NV Energy and a major stake in H.J. Heinz.

In this May 6, 2013 file photo, Warren Buffett smiles during a television interview in Omaha, Neb. Buffett released a positive annual letter Saturday, March 1, 2014. He told investors in the Omaha, Neb., based conglomerate that most of Berkshire’s 80-odd subsidiaries had a good year last year. Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway shareholders should be confident in the company’s prospects, even though the firm’s results lagged behind the S&P 500 last year.Associated Press 

JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett's company said Saturday that fourth-quarter earnings rose 10 percent to nearly $5 billion as its insurance, rail and energy businesses generated major gains in the improving economy.

Berkshire Hathaway's insurance companies, which include Geico and General Reinsurance, reported a $394 million underwriting profit for the final three months of 2013, compared with a $19 million loss a year earlier. The Omaha, Neb., company also benefited from the strong performance of its non-insurance companies including BNSF railroad and electric utility MidAmerican Energy.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns roughly 80 subsidiaries, including railroad, clothing, furniture and jewelry firms. Its insurance and utility businesses typically account for more than half of the company's net income. The company also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co., IBM and Wells Fargo & Co., and last year bought NV Energy and a major stake in H.J. Heinz.

Berkshire's fourth-quarter report and Buffett's annual letter to shareholders released Saturday show the company doesn't face any significant business issues in the coming year, said author and investor Jeff Matthews, who wrote "Warren Buffett's Successor: Who It Is and Why It Matters."

"Life is good at Berkshire Hathaway," Matthews said Saturday.

Quarterly net income rose to $4.99 billion on revenue of $47.05 billion from $4.55 billion on revenue of $44.72 billion in 2012. Buffett has said he thinks operating earnings are a better measure of how Berkshire is performing because they aren't affected by swings in the paper value of investments and derivatives. Operating earnings, which exclude investments and derivatives, grew to $3.78 billion, or $2,297 per Class A share.

Berkshire earned $19.48 billion for 2013 on total revenue of $182.15 billion. That's up from $14.82 billion in profit and revenue of $162.46 billion in 2012. Strong gains in the value of its investments and derivative contracts added $4.3 billion to the results, up from $2.2 billion the previous year. That included gains Berkshire recorded last fall as it redeemed warrants for General Electric and Goldman Sachs stock and Mars and Wrigley repaid Berkshire for an investment made during the financial crisis.

No Spanish guitarist has been held in higher esteem by Spaniards since the death of classically-trained Andres Segovia (1893-1987), Garcia said.

People carry the Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia's coffin to the Nuestra Señora de la Palma Church in Algeciras, southern Spain, Saturday March 1, 2014. Paco de Lucia, one of the world's greatest guitarists who dazzled audiences with his lightning-speed flamenco rhythms and finger work, died in Mexico on Wednesday Feb. 26 aged 66. He is due to be buried in Algeciras later on Saturday. Associated Press 

HAROLD HECKLE
and LAURA LEON
Associated Press

ALGECIRAS, Spain — Hundreds of people gathered in the rain to mourn the death of virtuoso guitarist Paco de Lucia before a funeral Saturday in his hometown of Algeciras at the heart of flamenco music country in Spain's deep south.

As De Lucia's body arrived at the town hall from Madrid early in the morning, mourners threw red roses over his hearse, called out his name and applauded.

He had been flown from Cancun, Mexico, where the 66-year-old died of a heart attack Wednesday while on vacation at a beachside holiday home he owned at Playa del Carmen just south of the Caribbean coast resort.

"I'm speechless. His death is such a great loss, and it caught us all by surprise," said 57-year-old painter and decorator Jose Maria Garcia, also a native of the Mediterranean port town of Algeciras.

No Spanish guitarist has been held in higher esteem by Spaniards since the death of classically-trained Andres Segovia (1893-1987), Garcia said.

De Lucia was one of Spain's greatest musical innovators, winning the admiration of fellow artists and fans alike.

Renowned British guitarist John McLaughlin said that to have worked and played music with De Lucia was one of the greatest blessings in his life.

"In the place where he lived in my heart, there is now an emptiness that will stay with me till I join him," McLaughlin told The Associated Press.

Early on in his career, he adopted a radically different playing technique by crossing his legs and placing the guitar on his right thigh, something that neither his flamenco mentors — Nino Ricardo and Sabicas — nor classical players like Segovia, had done previously.

This enabled De Lucia to hold the guitar almost horizontally and allowed easier access to the fret-board where his fingers could reach chords previously considered too tough to play.

In Andalusian towns like Algeciras — where a bronze statue commemorates the player and his hallmark playing position — De Lucia is best remembered for his work with singer Jose Monge Cruz, whose stage name was Camaron de la Isla.

As a duo, De Lucia and Camaron elevated flamenco music from its roots in small venues and even hillside caves and took it to some of the world's most famous concert halls. With De Lucia as studio producer, they also left a rich legacy of some of flamenco's most thrilling recorded music.

De Lucia's repertoire also included classical music, and his renditions of compositions by Manuel de Falla and Joaquin Rodrigo won praise.

While on one of his world tours, De Lucia became fascinated by the cajon — a box-like percussion instrument used in Peruvian criollo (or creole) coastal music. Today the cajon is as much an integral part of flamenco as is the guitar or staccato hand-clap.

Nowhere was the versatility or technical prowess of De Lucia's style better showcased than in the jazz trios and sextets that he formed with guitarists like McLaughlin, Larry Coryell or Al Di Meola, pianist Chick Corea and jazz fusion percussionist Rubem Dantas.

"What I admire most is his total humility in the face of huge success and his human warmth," Garcia said.

Spain began its formal mourning of De Lucia — who took his stage name from his mother's first name, literally meaning "Paco, Lucia's son" — on Friday at Madrid's National Auditorium music center, where royalty mingled with grieving music fans to pay their last respects before De Lucia's casket and offer condolences to his family.

De Lucia's coffin was visited throughout the night by a stream of people in Algeciras' town hall before being taken just past noon to church where Pepe de Lucia, the guitarist's brother, sang a heart-rending flamenco tribute at a funeral Mass.

A Pittsfield man was arrested after police said he shot at a family member as the two men traveled in separate cars.

 

The Berkshire Eagle reports that Jerome Grandson, 25, of John Street in Pittsfield, was arrested at his home Friday and charged with attempted murder and firearms violations.

Pittsfield Police told the Eagle that the shooting took place Tuesday afternoon, after Grandson and the alleged victim argued over money. The two were sitting in cars parked next to each other on Johns Street, and when the family member left the area Grandson followed and rammed the other vehicle before pulling up along side the car and firing one shot into the passenger side of the vehicle. Police said they recovered a projectile from the interior of the car.

Grandson was arrested at his home and while police did not recover a handgun, they charged him with illegal possession of a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm with 500 feet of a building, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the ramming of the victim car and armed assault with the intent to murder. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail pending arraignment in Central Berkshire District Court.

The Springfield City Council on Monday will consider voting to formally ask Mayor Domenic Sarno to delay the appointment of a new police commissioner until the council acts on a proposal to resurrect the Police Commission.

SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Domenic Sarno is preparing to conduct closed-door interviews with the city’s three deputy chiefs vying for police commissioner, triggering some city councilors, community activists and a former police chief to urge the mayor to have public interviews and a transparent process.

In addition, the council on Monday will consider a vote to formally ask Sarno to delay appointing a new commissioner until the council considers approving an ordinance to resurrect a five-member Police Commission. Some councilors want the commission re-established to oversee the department and have disciplinary powers. This is opposed by Sarno.

Sarno said last week that he will interview the three deputy chiefs in early March in closed sessions, and will choose one of the three to replace Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet. Fitchet is scheduled to retire by June 30, and Sarno said he will appoint the new commissioner well before that date to ensure a smooth transition.

The three deputy chiefs — Robert McFarlin, William Cochrane and John Barbieri — could not be reached for comment. A request to speak to them was sent by email and made by telephone to the commissioner’s office on Friday, and on a recent date, directed to the commissioner’s aide, Sgt. John Delaney, with no response.

Domenic SarnoFile photo / The Republican 

Sarno issued statements through his communications director, James Leydon last week rather than be interviewed on the issue. McFarlin joined the Police Department in 1977, and rose to the rank of deputy chief in 2009. Cochrane joined the department in 1982, and became a deputy chief in 2006, and Barbieri became an officer in 1988 and became deputy in 2009, according to department records.

Former Police Chief Paula Meara, who was the last chief in Springfield, and the last chief overseen by a Police Commission, is urging Sarno to bring back the commission. She said the board helped improve trust of the Police Department and helped bring community-oriented policing to Springfield for improved interactions with the public.

“The roots of police mistrust in Springfield are due to both alleged police misconduct over the decades and misunderstandings of police rules and practices,” Meara said, in a Viewpoint in the Sunday Republican and MassLive. “Community Policing, the Police Commission, and hard work by our police officers alleviated much of the misunderstanding.”

She said one option is to have the top police administrator serve as a member of the commission. Assignment of officers would continue to be handled by the department, not the commission, she said.

Meara sent her concerns by letter to Sarno and Council President Michael Fenton. Sarno chose not to respond on Friday.

Paula MearaThe Republican [file] 

In a separate interview, Meara, a resident of Springfield, said she urges the mayor to have public interviews, as was done for her and other finalists for police chief in 1996, and also occurred when Fitchet was appointed commissioner in 2008, replacing Edward Flynn. Flynn, however , was appointed the city’s first commissioner in 2006, without public interviews, serving less than two years to take the job as police chief in Milwaukee.

“There should be nothing to hide,” Meara said, regarding public interviews. “This is an issue that affects all our lives.”

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula has asked the council to work with the mayor on a potential new ordinance that could improve the powers of an existing citizen Community Police Review Board. The current board has hearings and provides recommendations to the police commissioner on citizen complaint cases.

Sarno said the meetings with the deputies will be closed at this stage “due to security and personnel issues being discussed.” Other officials at the interviews will be Chief of Staff Denise Jordan, Human Resources Director William Mahoney and Chief Administrative and Finance Officer Timothy Plante.

Sarno had no comment if there will be public interviews, and it is not yet determined when a new commissioner will be appointed, Leydon said.

Melvin EdwardsSubmitted photo [file] 

Other elected officials and activists urging the mayor to have public interviews include City Councilors Bud Williams and Melvin Edwards, and community activists Michaelann Bewsee of Arise for Social Justice, and Talbert W. Swan, president of the Greater Springfield Chapter of the NAACP.

Swan said the current process being proposed by Sarno is “devoid of meaningful public input and feedback.”

“The lack of transparency in this process is irresponsible and only exacerbates the lack of trust between the community and the Springfield Police Department,” Swan said in a prepared statement.

Williams said the public deserves to hear the vision of the incoming commissioner.

Bud WilliamsThe Republican [file] 

“It just instills faith and confidence in the system,” he said.

While Williams, Edwards and Swan support bringing back the Police Commission, Bewsee said she instead favors expanding the powers of the existing Community Police Review Board. Bewsee said her group had issues with the prior Police Commission system and “we’re not sure why a new Police Commission would be any better.”

Sarno said he will be acting within his authority as mayor to appoint the next commissioner under the Plan A (strong mayor) form of government in Springfield, and supports keeping a citizen review board.

Both he and Pikula said the council cannot legally resurrect the Police Commission without Sarno’s approval. Some councilors said they disagree, believing they have the legislative powers to approve ordinances to create city boards.

Sarno said he has worked closely with all three deputy chiefs ranging from public safety issues to dealing with weather and non-weather disasters.

“They are very qualified individuals and have done a great job,” Sarno said in a prepared statement. “It is imperative that the next commissioner is prepared to “hit the ground running” in order to continue our war on crime. It is important that this individual know and respect: the fabric of our city, our residents, neighborhood leaders, business leaders and public safety officials, whom we have already been working with on our continued war on urban crime. It is for these reasons that I have chosen to move within the ranks and am very comfortable in doing so.”

Councilor Thomas Ashe, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said he favors keeping the current Police Commissioner system, believing it works well to have a professional in charge of the department with an advisory citizens board.

“We have a mechanism in place right now with the citizen review board that allows for public input,” Ashe said.

Talbert SwanThe Republican [file] 

Swan said that under the current process for selecting a new commissioner, “there will be no media scrutiny, no test, no internal search, no national search, and no requests for applications.”

“Interviews will be held behind closed doors and there will be no transparent review of a candidates record of service,” Swan said. “Further, there will be no transparent review of a candidates Internal Investigations records, no search of injury to prisoner reports, no review of payments or claims for injuries inflicted during arrests or altercations, no record of settlements by the city involving the candidates and no meaningful public input.”

Edwards said there would be “a lot less for us to complain about” if there was a transparent process.

Finalists for police chief, police commissioner, and superintendent of schools have been interviewed in public, given their oversight of public safety and education, he and other supporters said.

Whether it is the fragrance of beautiful flowers, the medicinal quality of herbs or the culinary delight that various roots provide, Holly Shimizu shared her decades of experience and experimentation

Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the United States Botanic GardernJim Russell 

NORTHAMPTON – The annual lecture by United State Botanic Garden Executive Director Holly Shimizu attended by nearly 300 that opened Smith College’s annual Spring Bulb Show on Friday was a master class on how to use plants for human enjoyment.

Whether it is the fragrance of beautiful flowers, the medicinal quality of herbs or the culinary delight that various roots provide, Shimizu shared her decades of experience and experimentation.

Her focus on natural odors emanating from plants framed her perspective.

“I always remember the smells. Seasons and places and life in general is just filled with smells,” Shimizu said. “These plants are chemical factories unto themselves.”

Her wide-ranging lecture referred to ocimum sanctum – known as holy basil – that is revered in India. The plant is used for sacred purposes and as a protector to keep bad things away.

Oil extracted from holy basil is used as medicine and to make tea.

Shimizu said black cumin “is the spice of the Egyptians to ward off evil spirits.”

She mentioned Devil’s dung – or ferula assafoetida – that has been used to exorcise demons for more than two thousand years.

Shimizu said the roots from Cretan Calamint, native to the island of Crete, can make a “not just delicious [but] very hearty teas.”

The medicinal quality of what many consider a weed that causes a minor rash and itching upon contact with flesh, the stinging nettle plant, according to some medical experts, helps attenuate the affects of arthritis, Shimizu said.

“Stinging yourself with nettles is a good help for arthritis,” she said. Some restaurants also use the plant in food.

The US Botanic Garden director said many plants considered weeds are either edible or have sought after fragrance, and are essential to the ecosystem.

She said milkweeds, which can take over a field of hay such as timothy or alfalfa, are needed for the monarch butterflies to thrive. And “they are really fragrant.”

Michael Marcotrigiano, director of the Smith College Botanic Garden said the spring bulb show at the Lyman Plant House has been an annual event at the school for more than a century.

This year’s show that began on Saturday runs through March 16. He said more than 30,000 visitors are expected. Smith.edu/garden.

Smith College Botanic Garden on Feb. 28 2014Jim Russell 

Police say a shooting on School Street and a bullet riddled car found at State and Chestnut streets are related.

 

Springfield Police Capt. Harry Kastrinakis confirmed that police are looking for a tall Hispanic male wearing a red hoodie, that witnesses said fired eight rounds at a car near the intersection of School and High streets shortly before 12:25 a.m.

A gold colored Saturn left the area of 45 School Street traveling west on High Street. Minutes later the driver abandoned the bullet riddled car after he crashed into a Ford Expedition near the intersection of State and Chestnut streets. The apparent target of the shooting, described by witnesses as a tall, thin white male, fled the accident scene on foot.

Kastrinakis said the School Street incident was one of three ShotSpotter activations Sunday morning, but the only one confirmed by hard evidence. He said a shooting report in the vicinity of 1200 Main St. and another on Hadden Street at approximately 4 a.m. are deemed unsubstantiated.

The $53 million project will result in nearly all of the high school being torn down and replaced in stages from now until December 2015.

GREENFIELD — The first phase of a four-phase, $53-million reconstruction of Greenfield High School is scheduled to be completed in August.

The project, being done by Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction, will result in nearly all of the high school being torn down and replaced in stages from now until December 2015, said Michael Kearns a project manager with Shawmut.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority has estimated a maximum state funding for the project at $43.1 million and has approved of the design, according to the authority. The school is designed for an enrollment of 585 students in grades 8 through 12.

The first phase includes 85,000 square feet of classroom space that will be ready for the next school year. The school will not close; rather, students will shift from space to space as parts of the building are torn down and rebuilt.

The next phase, to begin in July, will involve taking down the existing 8th-grade wing and building classrooms and an auditorium in its place.

Kearns said there are about 60 to 80 tradespeople on the work site at any given time, with many of them being local residents.

Greenfield citizens voted in 2012 to borrow up to $24 million for the project.

A Fox Hill Road home was damaged as fire spread through the ranch-styled home.

SPRINGFIELD— A mother and her two children escaped their burning house unharmed Sunday morning, but they are left without a home after fire heavily damaged the single-family structure at 139 Fox Hill Road.

Dennis Leger, aide to Commissioner Joseph Conant, said the fast-moving fire, first reported at 1:23 a.m., started in the kitchen at the rear of the home and spread into the living room area. He estimated damages at approximately $70,000 for the structure and contents.

Neighbors ran to help the family even before firefighters arrived. Fiore Grassetti said his wife alerted him to the burning house after she saw fire from the rear of their Clearbrook Drive home. He ran to alert his neighbor, but found her and the two children, ages 9 and 11, already escaping the home.

"My wife saw the glow in the house and called to me," Grassetti said. "I went over but she was getting her kids and coming out."

Leger said fire investigators classified the fire as accidental. The Red Cross is assisting the family.

Remember to monitor bank accounts and credit scores for identity theft, as tax returns often bring identity theft to light.

SPRINGFIELD — Think of your tax return as a diary of your financial year, tax experts say.

That way you'll have all the supporting documents — bills for property taxes or medical expenses or tuition, cancelled checks, thank-yous from charities — you'll need to make sure you don't miss a deduction.

"A lot of it is just tracking what you do over the year," said Catherine Lowry, a senior lecturer in accounting at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Isenberg School of Management. "A lot of people don't get all the deductions they have coming to them. They might have a lot of medical expenses, but they don't keep track of them. They may not pay attention to all their educational expenses or if they buy things for work."

Lowry, who also leads student volunteers in the the VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, program at UMass, reminded taxpayers to think about child tax credits and dependent care credits if they have a child in day care.

She also advised people to make charitable donations by check, not cash, so there is a paper record of the donation. It can be unwise to rely on a charity to provide a summary of giving at the end of the year.

Many working low-income people miss out on the Earned Income Tax Credit, said Martin O'Connor, the Springfield Partners For Community Action tax advocate. O'Connor also runs a VITA program at Springfield Partners using volunteer students from Western New England University, Elms College, Bay Path College and Springfield Technical Community College.

The credit is for those who work and earn less than $51,567 a year, with added credits for those raising children. The average size of the credit is about $2,800 for a family with children and between $270 and $280 for a family without children.

"It's an incentive for people to work," O'Connor said. "I have people who get $8,000 back because they have a family but they only earned $12,000 or $13,000. They don't apply for it because they think they don't need to file or they are intimidated."

IRS spokeswoman Peggy Riley said there are a number of deductions that have expired but are still available on the 2013 tax returns that people are filing now. That includes energy credits for making energy efficient improvements to a home and a teacher's expense deduction for teachers who pay for their own classroom supplies. Congress can still extend the items and make them retroactive, she said, so be sure to hold onto records of those expenses, as well.

Identity theft related to tax filing also can be a real problem for some, O'Connor said.

What happens is that people's Social Security Numbers get stolen and used by others either to file tax returns and get refunds or to work illegally in the United States. The victim doesn't know about it until the IRS notifies them of income reported elsewhere, or that a return already has been filed.

The answer is to not carry a Social Security Card in your wallet where it can be stolen, O'Connor said, and watch to see that it is kept private. Regularly check credit scores looking for bank accounts and credit authorized fraudulently in your name.

Identity-theft victims need to contact the IRS and get a PIN, or personal identification number.

"Then the IRS will not process any return that doesn't have that PIN on it," he said.

Taxpayers can still file by paper and paper forms can be picked up at the local IRS office as well as some local libraries. You can also order forms by calling (800) 829-3676.

The list includes a Social Security Card and picture ID.

The IRS tells taxpayers to bring the following with them to a VITA (Volunteer Tax Assistance) or TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly) appointment.

Volunteers there can inform taxpayers about special tax credits such as Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled.

VITA sites are generally located at community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls, and other convenient locations; a link to local ones can be found at http://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/ or by calling (800) 906-9887.

The AARP runs TCE programs for seniors; to find a local one, visit www.aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/searchTaxAideLocations.action or by call (888) 227-7669.

• Proof of identification – picture ID
• Social Security Cards for you, your spouse and dependents or a Social Security Number verification letter issued by the Social Security Administration or
• Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) assignment letter for you, your spouse and dependents
• Proof of foreign status, if applying for an ITIN
• Birth dates for you, your spouse and dependents on the tax return
• Wage and earning statement(s) Form W-2, W-2G, 1099-R, 1099-Misc from all employers
• Interest and dividend statements from banks (Forms 1099)
• A copy of last year’s federal and state returns if available
• Proof of bank account routing numbers and account numbers for Direct Deposit, such as a blank check
• Total paid for daycare provider and the daycare provider's tax identifying number (the provider's Social Security Number or the provider's business Employer Identification Number) if appropriate
• To file taxes electronically on a married-filing-joint tax return, both spouses must be present to sign the required forms.

Tickets are limited to one per person and although the gym has a 2,654-seat capacity, it is unclear just how many seats will be made available to the public through general ticketing.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Members of the public interested in hearing President Barack Obama's speech at Central Connecticut State University on Wednesday have an opportunity to get free tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis starting a day before his arrival.

According to the White House Press Office, tickets will be distributed beginning on Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. at the William Detrick Gymnasium in Kaiser Hall, 1615 Stanley St., New Britain, Conn. Tickets are limited to one per person and although the gym has a 2,654-seat capacity, it is unclear just how many seats will be made available to the public through general ticketing.

Obama's return to New England places him alongside Democratic Govs. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin of Vermont and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, all of whom are backing Obama's push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

A Senate-passed immigration bill is stalled in the House, while Republicans oppose raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, arguing that jobs will be eliminated, unemployment will rise and the economy will suffer if the government forces businesses to cut bigger paychecks for their workers.

The White House believes momentum for a higher minimum wage is building, however, and wants to keep the pressure on Congress, in part to help draw distinctions between the political parties for November's voters.

"It is time to give America a raise or elect more Democrats who will do it," Obama told Democrats at the party's winter meeting Friday in Washington.

A higher minimum wage and an overhaul of immigration laws are Obama priorities, but it remains doubtful whether lawmakers will send him either piece of legislation this year, particularly when the entire House and one-third of the Senate are up for re-election.

Obama recently used his executive power to enact a $10.10 minimum wage for the few hundred thousand people who work on federal contracts. Gap Inc., the clothing chain, recently announced plans to raise voluntarily the minimum hourly wage for its U.S. employees to $10 next year, a move Obama applauded.

California, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have raised the minimum wage since early 2013, when Obama first called on Congress to increase it. In Massachusetts, Patrick recently called for an increase in the state's $8-per-hour minimum wage. The state Senate recently passed a bill to raise it to $11 per hour by 2016; the House has indicated it will take up the measure by mid-April. Separately, advocates are pushing a ballot question for a $10.50 per hour wage.

"Raising the federal minimum wage will bring financial relief to millions of workers and their families, many of whom do jobs we could not live without," Patrick said Saturday.

In Connecticut, the minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $9 an hour, from $8.70, effective Jan. 1, 2015, under legislation Malloy signed last June.

Rhode Island's minimum wage increased by 25 cents to $8 on Jan. 1, 2014. Pending legislation would boost it even higher. In Vermont, the minimum is $8.73 an hour.

Obama is scheduled to speak around 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to the White House. Ticketed members of the public will be allowed access to the gym around 11:30 a.m. The White House noted that ticketed members of the public will have to go through a security screening and therefore are encouraged to bring as few personal items as possible.

While cameras are permitted, no bags, backpacks, sharp objects, umbrellas, liquids, or signs will be allowed in the venue. Obama is scheduled to arrive via Air Force One at Bradley Air National Guard Base, but the arrival and departure is only open to credentialed members of the press.