Streeter has been missing since Feb. 25.

GREENFIELD – Friends of Rebecca Streeter, a Greenfield woman who has been missing for more than two weeks, intend to meet Sunday morning to conduct a search of the area around her home, according to a local media report.

The Greenfield Recorder reports that the group will gather at 10 a.m. at Abercrombie Field, behind the Greenfield Center School on Montague City Road, and begin a grid search.

The effort is being coordinated by Lisa Lanno of South Hadley, who works as a psychic medium. Lanno told the Recorder that she has not conducted a search like this before but agreed to participate after being asked by friends of Streeter.

People who have experience with grid searches or who have tracking skills are invited to attend.

Streeter, 35, has not been since Feb. 25. Her family reported her missing to police three days later after several unsuccessful attempts to contact her.

Police said she is believed to have left her home of her own accord, but her prolonged disappearance has authorities and her loved ones concerned for her well being.

Greenfield police said that during the first days of the search, they brought in a bloodhound in an attempt to track her but met with no success. At the time, police said they were uncertain if she left on foot or in a vehicle.

Police said Streeter left some personal items behind at her home. Her younger sister recently died, leading to speculation that Streeter’s disappearance is tied with her struggling to deal with the loss.

Streeter is described as a white, 5-feet, 4-inches tall, and weighing between 120-150 pounds. She has curly, sandy blond hair that is shoulder length.

Anyone with information on Streeter's disappearance or whereabouts is asked to call the Greenfield Police Department at 413-773-5411 and ask to speak to a detective.

The cameras, if they aren't turned off, can go with officers into a bathroom or locker room, or capture private conversations between partners. Footage can become evidence in a criminal case, or be used to discipline officers or exonerate them of false accusations.

This Jan. 15, 2014 file photo shows a Los Angeles Police officer wearing an on-body cameras during a demonstration for media in Los Angeles. Thousands of police agencies have equipped officers with cameras to wear with their uniforms, but they'€™ve frequently lagged in setting policies on how they'€™re used, potentially putting privacy at risk and increasing their liability. As officers in one of every six departments across the nation now patrols with tiny lenses on their chests, lapels or sunglasses, administrators and civil liberties experts are trying to envision and address troublesome scenarios that could unfold in front of a live camera. Associated Press 

TAMI ABDOLLAH
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Officers at thousands of law enforcement agencies are wearing tiny cameras to record their interactions with the public, but in many cases the devices are being rolled out faster than departments are able to create policies to govern their use.

And some rank-and-file officers are worried the technology might ultimately be used to derail their careers if, for example, an errant comment about a superior is captured on tape.

Most law enforcement leaders and civil liberties advocates believe the cameras will ultimately help officers because the devices give them a way to record events from their point of view at a time when citizens armed with cellphones are actively scrutinizing their every move.

They say, however, that the lack of clear guidelines on the cameras' use could potentially undermine departments' goals of creating greater accountability of officers and jeopardize the privacy of both the public and law enforcement officers.

"This is a brave new world that we're entering here, where citizens and police both are going to be filming each other," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit police research and policy organization.

The U.S. Justice Department has asked Wexler's group to help develop guidelines for the cameras' use, from when the devices should be turned on to how departments can protect the privacy of those who are inadvertently captured on the footage.

Equipping police with cameras isn't a new concept. For decades police have used cameras mounted to the dashboards of their patrol cars — initially referred to with suspicion by officers as "indict-o-cams" until they discovered the footage exonerated them in most cases.

As camera technology and data storage has become more affordable and reliable, the use of portable cameras has increased over the last five years. Now officers in one of every six departments are patrolling with them on their chests, lapels or sunglasses, according to Scott Greenwood, general counsel for the national American Civil Liberties Union and an expert on the cameras.

With the push of a finger, officers can show the dangers and difficulties of their work. Unlike dashboard cameras, body cameras follow the officer everywhere — when their cruiser stays parked at the curb, when they go into homes on search warrants or when they are running after a suspect.

The cameras, if they aren't turned off, can go with officers into a bathroom or locker room, or capture private conversations between partners. Footage can become evidence in a criminal case, or be used to discipline officers or exonerate them of false accusations.

Without strong policies, experts say, departments could lose the public's trust. The public needs to know cameras aren't only being turned on when it'll help officers. But there are certain moments such as during the interview of a sexual assault victim or talk with a confidential informant when filming may be sensitive or even compromise a case, said Bay Area attorney Mike Rains, whose firm often represents officers and has worked on body camera policies with departments.

The Los Angeles Police Department is now field testing cameras with an eye toward ultimately deploying them to all patrol officers — a move that would make its program the nation's largest. For the six months of the test, underway now, there will be no official policy. Department officials say a policy will be created with input from the community and union, when they know more about how the cameras work in the field.

Union chief Tyler Izen, who represents more than 9,900 sworn officers, said that while there've been no complaints so far, the strategy is risky and could be problematic for his officers as well as the public, which has become an involuntary guinea pig in the trial. "They're basically taking their chances," Izen said.

There's still very little research into the impacts of these cameras on policing and their ripple effects on the criminal justice system, said Justin Ready, assistant professor at Arizona State's department of criminology and criminal justice. But more studies are underway, including two that Ready is involved in.

The police department in Rialto, Calif., concluded a yearlong University of Cambridge study last year that found an 89 percent drop in complaints against officers during the camera trial. The chief has since mandated its deployment to its roughly 90 sworn officers.

Rialto police Sgt. Richard Royce said he was exonerated by the footage during the study.

"I'd rather have my version of that incident captured on high-definition video in its entirety from my point of view, then to look at somebody's grainy cellphone camera footage captured a 100 feet away that gets cropped, edited, changed or manipulated," Royce said.

Greenwood of the ACLU said he's provided input in drawing up the Justice Department guidelines. He said the proposed policy is pretty good, but gives officers more discretion than is wise.

"It's a far better policy decision to mandate the encounter be recorded and deal with the unwanted video," Greenwood said. Because if a situation goes bad quickly and there's no footage, the officer is in trouble, Greenwood said.

Captured video could protect the department — and ultimately the taxpayer— from a false claim and expensive litigation or result in disciplining a problem officer.

One case, also in Oakland, is being used to educate officers in California about the technology. An officer chasing a suspect said he saw the suspect with a gun in his hand before fatally shooting him three times in ¾ of a second. A gun was later found in the grass.

It cost the city $10,000 to have roughly 15 seconds of video analyzed by an expert, and because of the angle of where the camera was placed — on the officer's chest — no gun was seen in the suspect's hand on film, said Rains, an attorney whose firm represented the officer.

Sgt. Barry Donelan, the police union chief in Oakland, said the department initially moved to terminate the officer for an excessive response, but he was ultimately exonerated because the video analysis backed up the officer's account.

Donelan said the danger with such footage is it taps into a human tendency to over rely on video at the expense of other accounts of an event, and can be especially problematic in high-adrenaline situations.

When that happens, "it's just about the camera," Donelan said. "It's the ultimate Monday morning quarterbacking tool."

A few hours after the reported carjacking, police spotted the same vehicle driving around in Forest Park. After brief chase, 3 were in custody.

SPRINGFIELD - Police have three people in custody in connection with the carjacking of a pizza-delivery driver earlier in the evening on Dawes Street in the city's Bay neighborhood, police said.

A driver was held up a knifepoint and robbed of his car and his cellphone in the area of 250 Dawes Street, police said.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the stolen vehicle was spotted in Forest Park, and after a brief police pursuit, the three suspects abandoned the car near 1 Allen Street and attempted to flee on foot.

All three were in custody, according to police.

Their names were not available. They were being taken to the police station on Pearl Street to be booked.

This is a developing story. More information will be posted as it is known.

Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has been diagnosed with advance cancer of the liver and lymph nodes.

BOSTON — Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has been diagnosed with advance cancer of the liver and lymph nodes.

The Boston Globe reported on Saturday that Menino was diagnosed back in February after visiting his doctor due to chronic weakness in his legs.

Menino, currently the co-director of the Initiative on Cities at Boston University, became treatment in March at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He will undergo chemotherapy sessions to treat the cancer as surgery is not an option in his case.

Doctors said that Menino's cancer is unusually rare because they cannot locate where the cancer originated.

Though this is Menino's third battle with cancer this round is not related to any of the medical issues he dealt with during his final term in office according to his doctors.

Menino told the Globe that he feels "confident" that he will beat cancer.

Experts have previously said that whoever disabled the plane's communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Someone deliberately diverted Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and shut down communications with the ground, and the jetliner continued flying for six hours, Malaysia's prime minister said Saturday. The announcement shifted the focus of the investigation to the crew and passengers on the plane, which has now been missing for more than a week.

Prime Minister Najib Razak's statement also meant the flight path of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to Beijing could have strayed as far as the southern Indian Ocean or northwest to Kazakhstan, complicating the work of search crews who already have been scouring vast stretches of ocean seeking the plane's 12-person crew and 227 passengers.

"Clearly the search for MH370 has entered a new phase," Najib said at a televised news conference. "It is widely understood that this has been a situation without precedent."

Experts have previously said that whoever disabled the plane's communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience. One possibility they have raised was that one of the pilots wanted to commit suicide.

Najib stressed that investigators were looking into all possibilities as to why the Boeing 777 deviated so drastically from its original flight path, saying authorities could not confirm whether it was a hijacking. Earlier Saturday, a Malaysian official said the plane had been hijacked, though he added that no motive had been established and no demands had been made known.

"In view of this latest development, the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board," Najib told reporters, reading from a written statement but not taking any questions.

Police on Saturday went to the Kuala Lumpur homes of both the pilot and co-pilot of the missing plane, according to a guard and several local reporters. Authorities have said they will investigate the pilots as part of their probe, but have released no information about how they are progressing.

The plane departed for an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing at 12:40 a.m. on March 8. Its communications with civilian air controllers were severed at about 1:20 a.m., and the jet went missing -- heralding one of the most puzzling mysteries in modern aviation history.

China, where the bulk of the passengers were from, expressed irritation over what it described as Malaysia's foot-dragging in releasing information about the search.

Investigators now have a high degree of certainty that one of the plane's communications systems -- the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) -- was partially disabled before the aircraft reached the east coast of Malaysia, Najib said. Shortly afterward, someone on board switched off the aircraft's transponder, which communicates with civilian air traffic controllers.

Najib confirmed that Malaysian air force defense radar picked up traces of the plane turning back westward, crossing over Peninsular Malaysia into the northern stretches of the Strait of Malacca. Authorities previously had said this radar data could not be verified.

"These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane," Najib said.

Although the aircraft was flying virtually blind to air traffic controllers at this point, onboard equipment continued to send "pings" to satellites.

U.S. aviation safety experts say the shutdown of communications systems makes it clear the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was taken over by someone who knew how the plane worked.

To turn off the transponder, someone in the cockpit would have to turn a knob with multiple selections to the "off" position while pressing down at the same time, said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. That's something a pilot would know, but it could also be learned by someone who researched the plane on the Internet, he said.

The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System has two aspects, Goglia said. The information part of the system was shut down, but not the transmission part. In most planes, the information section can be shut down by hitting cockpit switches in sequence in order to get to a computer screen where an option must be selected using a keypad, said Goglia, an expert on aircraft maintenance.

That's also something a pilot would know how to do, but that could also be discovered through research, he said.

But to turn off the other transmission portion of the ACARS, it would be necessary to go to an electronics bay beneath the cockpit. That's something a pilot wouldn't normally know how to do, Goglia said. The Malaysia plane's ACARS transmitter continued to send out blips that were recorded by satellite once an hour for four to five hours after the transponder was turned off. The blips don't contain any messages or data, but the satellite can tell in a very broad way what region the blips are coming from.

Malaysia's prime minister said the last confirmed signal between the plane and a satellite came at 8:11 a.m. -- 7 hours and 31 minutes after takeoff. This was more than five hours later than the previous time given by Malaysian authorities as the possible last contact.

Airline officials have said the plane had enough fuel to fly for up to about eight hours.

"The investigations team is making further calculations which will indicate how far the aircraft may have flown after this last point of contact," Najib said.

He said authorities had determined that the plane's last communication with a satellite was in one of two possible arcs, or "corridors" -- a northern one from northern Thailand through to the border of the Central Asian countries Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and a southern one from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

The northern route might theoretically have taken the plane through China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan -- which hosts U.S. military bases -- and Central Asia, and it is unclear how it might have gone undetected. The region is also home to extremist Islamist groups, unstable governments and remote, sparsely populated areas.

Flying south would have put the plane over the Indian Ocean, with an average depth of 3,890 meters (12,762 feet) and thousands of kilometers (miles) from the nearest land mass.

Goglia said that if Malaysian military radar tracked the plane turning west, it then followed a standard route across the peninsula until it was several hundred miles (kilometers) offshore and beyond military radar range. Airliners generally keep to such highways in the sky to avoid colliding with other planes, but the routes are not straight lines, he said. That means it's likely someone was still guiding the plane, Goglia said.

Britain-based aviation security consultant Chris Yates thought it was highly unlikely the plane would have taken the northern route across land in Asia.

"In theory, any country that sees a strange blip is going to get fighter planes up to have a look," he said. "And if those fighter planes can't make head or tail of what it is, they will shoot it down."

Najib said search efforts in the South China Sea, where the plane first lost contact, had ended.

Indian officials said navy ships supported by long-range surveillance planes and helicopters scoured Andaman Sea islands for a third day Saturday without any success in finding evidence of the missing jet.

Two-thirds of the plane's passengers were Chinese, and China's government has been under pressure to give relatives firm news of the aircraft's fate.

In a stinging commentary on Saturday, the Chinese government's Xinhua News Agency said the Malaysian information was "painfully belated," resulting in wasted efforts and straining the nerves of relatives.

"Given today's technology, the delay smacks of either dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information in a full and timely manner," Xinhua said. "That would be intolerable."

Najib said he understood the need for families to receive information, but that his government wanted to release only fully corroborated reports. He said his country has been sharing information with international investigators, even when it meant placing "national security concerns" second to the search. U.S., British and Malaysian air safety investigators have been on the ground in Malaysia to assist with the investigation.

In the Chinese capital, relatives of passengers who have anxiously awaited news at a hotel near Beijing's airport said they felt deceived at not being told earlier about the plane's last signal. "We are going through a roller coaster, and we feel helpless and powerless," said a woman, who declined to give her name.

At least one of the relatives saw a glimmer of hope in word that the plane's disappearance was a deliberate act, rather than a crash. "It's very good," said a woman, who gave only her surname, Wen.

Malaysian police have already said they are looking at the psychological state, family life and connections of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27. Both have been described as respectable, community-minded men.

Zaharie joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of flying experience. His Facebook page showed an aviation enthusiast who flew remote-controlled aircraft, posting pictures of his collection, which included a lightweight twin-engine helicopter and an amphibious aircraft.

Fariq was contemplating marriage after having just graduated to the cockpit of a Boeing 777. He has drawn scrutiny after the revelation that in 2011, he and another pilot invited two women aboard their aircraft to sit in the cockpit for a flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur.

Fourteen countries are involved in the search for the plane, using 43 ships and 58 aircraft.

A U.S. P-8A Poseidon, the most advanced long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft in the world, was to arrive over the weekend and sweep parts of the Indian Ocean, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement.

Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, a political event that is part roast part can't miss campaign spectacle, Watch video

SOUTH BOSTON — Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, a political event that is part roast, part can't miss campaign spectacle, was hosted by a state senator from Dorchester and attended by an Irish prime minster for the first time on Sunday.

Dorchester State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry took over hosting duties this year after being elected to the South Boston senate district, the 1st Suffolk, in a 2013 special election.

After Forry's election, City Council President Bill Linehan, a South Boston native, claimed that the parade was his to host as he was the highest ranking South Boston politician. Linehan's quest to host the breakfast was backed only by South Boston State Representative Nick Collins. In the end, hosting duties went to Forry and Linehan skipped town to march in the Limerick St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ireland.

Linehan's absence was the butt of many jokes made by Forry.

Forry, who is Haitian-American, opened the breakfast with a video of her wishing Linehan in a cab a safe journey on his trip to Ireland before proceeding to give the cab driver instructions in Creole to take the long way to Logan Airport.

"Those Southie boys didn't give this breakfast up without a fight," joked Forry.

The Dorchester vs. South Boston theme continued.

"In Southie, you have Dorchester Street, you have Dorchester Avenue and you have Dorchester Heights, and all you're missing is a senator from Dorchester and here I am," said Forry.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren included Linehan in her series of jokes too.

"We traded a Boston City Councilor for the Irish Prime Minister," said Warren. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny became the first Irish taosiech to attend the breakfast in person on Sunday. Past breakfasts have included Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and Fianna Fail leader Brian Cowen.

Kenny delivered a mostly serious speech by touching on Ireland's relationship with Boston, as well as Haiti, though he did make a handful of lighthearted cracks.

"In the words of Samuel Johnson, the Irish are a very fair people. They never speak well of each other," said Kenny.

Kenny touched on the plight of undocumented Irish immigrants in the United States, of which there are an estimated 50,000 and by some estimates up to 12,000 in the Greater Boston area alone.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the first Irish American mayor in over 20 years, cracked jokes about former Mayor Thomas M. Menino but like most he managed to take a somber tone when referencing the mayor's recent diagnosis with advanced cancer of the liver and lymph nodes.

Walsh said he spoke with the mayor last night.

"You know what he said to me? He said 'I've beaten this before,'" said Walsh.

Many farms have yet to start tapping their trees, said Winton Pitcoff, coordinator for the Massachusetts Maple Production Association.

BY PAIGE SUTHERLAND, The Associated Press

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) — In chilly Massachusetts, maple season is off to a slow start.

Maple season starts at the end of February in a typical year. But despite being well into March, temperatures have been too low for the sap to drip out.

This winter has had more snowfall and lower temperatures than normal, and temperatures are not forecast to rise much over the next two weeks, said Bill Simpson, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.

Many farms have yet to start tapping their trees, said Winton Pitcoff, coordinator for the Massachusetts Maple Production Association. But it's too soon to say whether the late start will affect the overall maple season, which ends in April, Pitcoff said.

"We could still have a very good season," Pitcoff said. "There have been many seasons where it didn't start until late into March."

But drastically fluctuating weather would be bad news, he said. A gradual warm-up is best for maple sugar production, he said.

Last year, Massachusetts produced about 63,000 gallons of syrup, ranking ninth in maple production nationwide. Vermont produced the most with 1.3 million gallons.

Other states are struggling, too. The cold weather has pushed back the start of the season in neighboring Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York and elsewhere.

North of Boston, Turtle Lane Maple Farm in North Andover began its 10th season last weekend after nearly deciding to take the year off.

"Mother Nature has been quite cruel to us this year," said Paul Boulanger, who owns and runs the farm.

Last year, his small farm produced 110 gallons of syrup, but he said he'll be happy with 65 gallons this year. Although he expects the season to be a disappointing one, Boulanger says, he cares more about participating in a New England tradition than in producing a lot of syrup. More than 3,600 visitors took a tour of his farm last year.

The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions against Russia for it.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) -- Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions against Russia for it.

Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow -- referring to the thousands of Russian troops now in the strategic Black Sea peninsula after seizing it two weeks ago.

But after the polls closed late Sunday, crowds of ethnic Russians in the regional Crimean capital of Simferopol erupted with jubilant chants in the main square, overjoyed at the prospect of once again becoming part of Russia.

The Crimea referendum offered voters the choice of seeking annexation by Russia or remaining in Ukraine with greater autonomy. After 50 percent of the ballots were counted, Mikhail Malishev, head of the referendum committee, said more than 95 percent of voters had approved splitting off and joining Russia.

Opponents of secession appeared to have stayed away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play and land grab by Russia.

Russia was expected to face strong sanctions Monday by the U.S. and Europe over the vote, which could also encourage rising pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine's east and lead to further divisions in this nation of 46 million. Residents in western Ukraine and the capital, Kiev, are strongly pro-West and Ukrainian nationalist.

The Crimean parliament will meet Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed and Crimean lawmakers will fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea's pro-Russia prime minister said on Twitter.

In Moscow, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, suggested that joining Russia was a done deal.

"We understand that for 23 years after Ukraine's formation as a sovereign state, Crimeans have been waiting for this day," Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the state ITAR-Tass news agency.

Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the annexation could take "from three days to three months," according to Interfax.

Some residents in Crimea said they feared the new Ukrainian government that took over when President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month will oppress them.

"It's like they're crazy Texans in western Ukraine. Imagine if the Texans suddenly took over power (in Washington) and told everyone they should speak Texan," said Ilya Khlebanov, a voter in Simferopol.

In Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia now leases a major naval base from Ukraine for $98 million a year, more than 70 people surged into a polling station in the first 15 minutes of voting Sunday.

Ukraine's new prime minister insisted that neither Ukraine nor the West would recognize the vote.

"Under the stage direction of the Russian Federation, a circus performance is underway: the so-called referendum," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Sunday. "Also taking part in the performance are 21,000 Russian troops, who with their guns are trying to prove the legality of the referendum."

As soon as the polls closed, the White House again denounced the vote.

"The international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence," it said in a statement. "Russia's actions are dangerous and destabilizing."

Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby-- the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant.

On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant.

"We will not let them advance further into Ukrainian territory," said Serhiy Kuz, commander of a Ukrainian paratrooper battalion.

Despite the threat of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea. At the United Nations on Saturday, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the referendum illegal. China, its ally, abstained and 13 of the 15 other nations on the council voted in favor.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Putin by phone Sunday, proposing that an international observer mission in Ukraine be expanded quickly as tensions rise in the east. Her spokesman said she also condemned the Russian seizure of the gas plant.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke and agreed to support constitutional reforms in Ukraine that could ease the tensions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Ukraine's Regional Policy Minister Volodymyr Groisman told The Associated Press the new government was already working on giving towns and regions more autonomy but said there were no plans to turn Ukraine into a federation.

In Donetsk, one of the main cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia demonstrators called Sunday for a referendum similar to the one in Crimea.

In Sevastopol, speakers blared the city anthem up and down the streets but the military threat was not far away -- a Russian naval warship still blocked the port's outlet to the Black Sea, trapping Ukrainian boats.

At a polling station inside a historic school, tears came to Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, as he talked about his vote.

"I want to cry. I have finally returned to my motherland. It is an incredible feeling. This is the thing I have been waiting for for 23 years," he said.

But Crimea's large Muslim Tatar minority -- whose families had been forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Central Asia during Soviet times -- remained defiant.

The Crimea referendum "is a clown show, a circus," Tatar activist Refat Chubarov said on Crimea's Tatar television station. "This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government with armed forces from another country."

The fate of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in their Crimean bases by pro-Russian forces was still uncertain. But Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, was quoted as saying Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Russia not to block Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea through Friday. It was not clear exactly what that meant.

On the streets of Simferopol, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen but red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered in abundance.

Ethnic Ukrainians interviewed outside the Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of Vladimir and Olga said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an illegal charade stage-managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of the potential for widespread harassment.

"We're just not going to play these separatist games," said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside Simferopol. "Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist."

Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea.

"This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind," he said.

Authorities have said someone on board the plane first disabled one of its communications systems about 40 minutes after takeoff.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Even before someone at the controls calmly said the last words heard from the missing Malaysian jetliner, one of the Boeing 777's communications systems had already been disabled, authorities said Sunday, adding to suspicions that one or both of the pilots were involved in disappearance of the flight.

Investigators also examined a flight simulator confiscated from the home of one of the pilots and dug through the background of all 239 people on board, as well as the ground crew that serviced the plane.

The Malaysia Airlines jet took off from Kuala Lumpur in the wee hours of March 8, headed to Beijing. On Saturday, the Malaysian government announced findings that strongly suggested the plane was deliberately diverted and may have flown as far north as Central Asia or south into the vast reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Authorities have said someone on board the plane first disabled one of its communications systems -- the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS -- about 40 minutes after takeoff. The ACARS equipment sends information about the jet's engines and other data to the airline.

Around 14 minutes later, the transponder that identifies the plane to commercial radar systems was also shut down. The fact that both systems went dark separately offered strong evidence that the plane's disappearance was deliberate.

On Sunday, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference that that the final, reassuring words from the cockpit -- "All right, good night" -- were spoken to air traffic controllers after the ACARS system was shut off. Whoever spoke did not mention any trouble on board.

Air force Maj. Gen. Affendi Buang told reporters he did not know whether it was the pilot or co-pilot who spoke to air traffic controllers.

Given the expanse of land and water that might need to be searched, finding the wreckage could take months or longer. Or it might never be located. Establishing what happened with any degree of certainty will probably require evidence from cockpit voice recordings and the plane's flight-data recorders.

The search area now includes 11 countries the plane might have flown over, Hishammuddin said, adding that the number of countries involved in the operation had increased from 14 to 25.

"The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort," he said. "It has now become even more difficult."

The search effort initially focused on the relatively shallow waters of the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca, where the plane was first thought to be. Hishammuddin said he had asked governments to hand over sensitive radar and satellite data to try to get a better idea of the plane's final movements.

With more information, he said, the search zone could be narrowed "to an area that is more feasible."

Malaysia is leading the search for the plane and the investigation into its disappearance.

In the United States, Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the FBI was supporting the criminal probe.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence, said on ABC's "This Week" that so far "there's nothing out there indicating it's terrorists."

Investigators are trying to answer these questions: If the two pilots were involved in the disappearance, were they working together or alone, or with one or more of the passengers or crew? Did they fly the plane under duress or of their own will? Did one or more of the passengers manage to break into the cockpit or use the threat of violence to gain entry and then seize the plane? And what possible motive could there be for diverting the jet?

Malaysia's police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said he asked countries with citizens on board the plane to investigate their backgrounds, no doubt looking for anyone with terrorism ties, aviation skills or prior contact with the pilots. He said that the intelligence agencies of some countries had already done so and found nothing suspicious, but he was waiting for others to respond.

Police searched the homes of both pilots Saturday, the first time they had done so since the plane vanished, the government said. Asked why it took them so long, Khalid said authorities "didn't see the necessity in the early stages."

Police confiscated the elaborate flight simulator that one of the pilots, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had built in his home and reassembled it in their offices to study it for clues, Khalid said.

Zaharie, 53, who has three grown children and one grandchild, had previously posted photos online of the simulator, which was made with three large computer monitors and other accessories. Earlier this week, the head of Malaysia Airlines said the simulator was not in itself cause for any suspicion.

Malaysian police were also investigating engineers and ground staff who may have had contact with the plane before it took off, Khalid said.

Even though the ACARS system was disabled on Flight 370, it continued to emit faint hourly pulses that were recorded by a satellite. The last "ping" was sent out at 8:11 a.m. -- 7 hours and 31 minutes after the plane took off. That placed the jet somewhere in a huge arc as far north as Kazakhstan in Central Asia or far into the southern Indian Ocean.

While many people believe the plane has crashed, there is a small possibility it may have landed somewhere and be relatively intact. Affendi, the air force general, and Hishammuddin, the defense minister, said it was possible for the plane to "ping" when it was on the ground if its electrical systems were undamaged.

Australia said it was sending one of its two AP-3C Orion aircraft involved in the search to remote islands in the Indian Ocean at Malaysia's request. The plane will search the north and west of the Cocos Islands, a remote Australian territory with an airstrip about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southwest of Indonesia, military chief Gen. David Hurley said.

Given that a northern route would have sent the plane over countries with busy airspace, most experts say the person in control of the aircraft would more likely have chosen to go south. The southern Indian Ocean is the world's third-deepest and one of the most remote stretches of water in the world, with little radar coverage.

Whoever disabled the plane's communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience, putting one or both of the pilots high on the list of possible suspects, Malaysian officials and aviation experts said.

Zaharie, the captain, was a supporter of a Malaysian opposition political party that is locked in a bitter dispute with the government, according to postings on his Facebook page and a friend, Peter Chong, who is a party member.

Chong said that he last saw Zaharie a week before the pilot left on the flight for Beijing and that they had agreed to meet on his return to organize a shopping trip for poor children.

"If I am on a flight, I would choose Captain Zaharie," he said. "He is dedicated to his job. He is a professional and he loves flying."

Ray Morin, chair of the Leprechaun Plunge board, said the six organizations benefitting from Sunday’s event included Shriners Hospital for Children, the Dana Farber Institute Jimmy Fund, USO of Pioneer Valley, Neighbors Helping Neighbors-South Hadley Food Pantry, the Joe Kareta Scholarship Fund and South Hadley youth groups.

SOUTH HADLEY – A crowd of nearly 3,000 spectators gathered at Brunelle's Marina Sunday to cheer on the 400 people who jumped into the frigid water of the Connecticut River to raise money for charity.

True to his word, marina owner Luke Brunelle rallied from a major fire that consumed the facility in July and hosted the fifth annual Leprechaun Plunge.

“You gotta be resilient,” he said while surveying the scene where thousands of people were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day a day early while raising money for this year’s six chosen charities.

It is a resiliency that also served the plungers well, who not only had to face the bone-chilling river water, but also had to contend with bitter, below-freezing temperatures and a brutally cold wind.

Alyssa M. Orcutt, of Chicopee, was drying off in the women’s changing tent and said she couldn’t feel her toes, but looks forward to taking the Leprechaun Plunge again to help support good causes.

3.16.14| SOUTH HADLEY| Photo by Manon L. Mirabelli| A Leprechaun plunger jumps into the frigid water of the Connecticut River Sunday during the Fifth Annual Leprechaun Plunge for charity held at Brunelle's Marina in South Hadley.Manon L. Mirabelli 

“I do a lot of charity events, and I wanted to do a new one,” she said. “I expected the water to be cold, and because the air was cold, too, it wasn’t so bad going in. If it wasn’t windy it would have been easier.”

Laura B. Cadieux, also of Chicopee, said this was her second year participating in the Leprechaun Plunge and the second plunge of the year after the Penguin Plunge in Westfield in January.

“I love doing it, and I plan on doing it again,” she said. “This was not as cold as the Penguin Plunge.”

For Daniel P. O’Connor, of Holyoke, who made his fifth appearance Sunday at the annual event, his military training prepared him for the worst before hitting the water.

“I love this event and wouldn’t miss it,” he said. “Going into cold water was part of my Army training, so for me, this is nothing. The colder the better. Bring it on.”

Ray Morin, chair of the Leprechaun Plunge board, said the six organizations benefiting from Sunday’s event are the Shriners Hospital for Children, the Dana Farber Institute Jimmy Fund, USO of Pioneer Valley, Neighbors Helping Neighbors-South Hadley Food Pantry, the Joe Kareta Scholarship Fund and South Hadley youth groups.

Those who choose to raise money for the South Hadley youth groups, Morin said, “allow our plungers to support any youth group in our host town.

You choose the group, whether it be girls lacrosse, middle school band, high school art department or any other youth group in town.”

3.16.14| SOUTH HADLEY| Photo by Manon L. Mirabelli| A group emerges from the frigid water of the Connecticut River Sunday during the Fifth Annual Leprechaun Plunge for charity held at Brunelle's Marina in South Hadley.Manon L. Mirabelli 

Last year, the event raised $92,000, and Morin said organizers were hoping to exceed that amount this year.

“It takes a lot of money to run this event, and 100 percent goes to the charities,” he said. “We want to top last year and raise more than $100,000 this year.”

Brunelle said the final amount raised will not be known until Wednesday when all donations are calculated. The money collected at the marina on plunge day, he added, is taken off the premises by armored car.

Phelps, 84, is being cared for in a Shawnee County facility, Westboro Baptist Church spokesman Steve Drain said Sunday.

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., who founded a Kansas church widely known for its protests at military funerals and anti-gay sentiments, is in a care facility, according to a church spokesman.

Phelps, 84, is being cared for in a Shawnee County facility, Westboro Baptist Church spokesman Steve Drain said Sunday. Drain wouldn't identify the facility.

"I can tell you that Fred Phelps is having some health problems," Drain said. "He's an old man, and old people get health problems."

Members of the Westboro church, based in Topeka, frequently protest at funerals of soldiers with signs containing messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers," and "Thank God for 9/11," claiming the deaths are God's punishment for American immorality and tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.

Westboro Baptist, a small group made mostly of Phelps' extended family, inspired a federal law and laws in numerous states limiting picketing at funerals. But in a major free-speech ruling in 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the church and its members couldn't be sued for monetary damages for inflicting pain on grieving families under the First Amendment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights nonprofit group, has called Westboro Baptist Church a hate group.

Nate Phelps, an estranged son of Fred Phelps, also said in an email to The Topeka Capital-Journal that members of Westboro have voted Fred Phelps out of the church.

Nate Phelps, who broke away from the church 37 years ago, told the newspaper that church members became concerned after the vote that his father might harm himself and moved him out of the church, where he and his wife had lived for years. Fred Phelps was moved into a house, where he "basically stopped eating and drinking," Nate Phelps said.

Drain declined comment Sunday on whether Fred Phelps had been voted out of the church. Drain said Westboro Baptist Church doesn't have a designated leader.

"We don't discuss our internal church dealings with anybody," Drain told the newspaper.

For the first time in over 15 years, the Minutemen are going dancing.

For the first time in 16 years, the Minutemen are going dancing.

The University of Massachuetts basketball team, which was last seen in an 85-77 loss
to George Washington that ended its Atlantic 10 Championship run, was named to the field of 68 for the 2014 NCAA tournament Sunday night. The Minutemen will be a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region and will face the winner of the No. 11 seed play-in game between Iowa and Tennessee on Friday.

UMass' seed is far more favorable than what many analysts had projected. Experts had speculated that UMass would fall somewhere between a No. 7 or No. 9 seed.

The announcement was made on CBS Sports' live Selection Sunday special. The Minutemen watched the announcement live at a team-organized event at the Amherst Brewing Company and were one of the teams showed reacting to their seeding on the selection special.

The cat was let out of the bag briefly during the broadcast when there was an apparent mixup between host Bryant Gumbel and the production team as UMass' No. 6 seed was shown while Gumbel was talking about Duke's seeding in the region. The official announcement came moments after the brief spoiler, confirming the No. 6 seed.

The Minutemen were one of the later teams who were announced, leaving some interesting scenarios on the table. Speculated possible matchups against former UMass coaches Travis Ford or John Calipari. Instead, the Minutemen are slated to face either the Volunteers or the Hawkeyes, with a possibility of facing the Blue Devils in the second round.

In a drastic change from recent history, UMass enters the tournament as a higher seed than Connecticut. The Huskies earned a No. 7 seed.

The Minutemen were one of six teams from the Atlantic 10 to earn a tournament berth, along with No. 5 VCU, No. 5 Saint Louis, No. 9 George Washington, No. 11 Dayton, and A-10 Tournament champion No. 10 Saint Josephs.

UMass' late-season woes led to some trepidation as to the team's chances of getting its ticket punched from some fans. However, the Minutemen have been a lock to make the tournament for a few weeks.

While the team has gone through a recent stretch of inconsistency that featured a home loss to last-place George Mason and a win over now-No. 5 seed VCU, UMass still had a strong tournament resume. The Minutemen finished the regular season 23-7 and boasted and RPI in the 16-18 range, depending on which outlet provided the rankings.

The governor is planning to lead a delegation of state officials and business leaders on a weeklong trip to Panama City and Mexico City.

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick is heading off on another trade mission.

The governor is planning to lead a delegation of state officials and business leaders on a weeklong trip to Panama City and Mexico City.

The trip begins Monday with a briefing from representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Panama.

Patrick says the goal is to strengthen trade relationships and build new ones between Massachusetts and the two countries.

In 2013, Mexico was Massachusetts' third ranked import partner. Panama is a considerably smaller market, ranking just 84 among Massachusetts' import partners last year.

Among those accompanying Patrick are Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki, Transportation Secretary Richard Davey, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan and Massport CEO Thomas Glynn.

Patrick is becoming one of the state's most-traveled governors.

The Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

The administration cited more legal exceptions it said justified withholding materials and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. Most agencies also took longer to answer records requests, the analysis found.

The government's own figures from 99 federal agencies covering six years show that half way through its second term, the administration has made few meaningful improvements in the way it releases records despite its promises from Day 1 to become the most transparent administration in history.

In category after category — except for reducing numbers of old requests and a slight increase in how often it waived copying fees — the government's efforts to be more open about its activities last year were their worst since President Barack Obama took office.

In a year of intense public interest over the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, the government cited national security to withhold information a record 8,496 times — a 57 percent increase over a year earlier and more than double Obama's first year, when it cited that reason 3,658 times. The Defense Department, including the NSA, and the CIA accounted for nearly all those. The Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency cited national security six times, the Environmental Protection Agency did twice and the National Park Service once.

And five years after Obama directed agencies to less frequently invoke a "deliberative process" exception to withhold materials describing decision-making behind the scenes, the government did it anyway, a record 81,752 times.

"I'm concerned the growing trend toward relying upon FOIA exemptions to withhold large swaths of government information is hindering the public's right to know," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It becomes too much of a temptation. If you screw up in government, just mark it top secret."

Citizens, journalists, businesses and others last year made a record 704,394 requests for information, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. The government responded to 678,391 requests, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year. The AP analysis showed that the government more than ever censored materials it turned over or fully denied access to them, in 244,675 cases or 36 percent of all requests. On 196,034 other occasions, the government said it couldn't find records, a person refused to pay for copies or the government determined the request to be unreasonable or improper.

Sometimes, the government censored only a few words or an employee's phone number, but other times it completely marked out nearly every paragraph on pages.

The White House said the government's figures demonstrate "that agencies are responding to the president's call for greater transparency." White House spokesman Eric Schultz noted that the government responded to more requests than previously and said it released more information. "Over the past five years, federal agencies have worked aggressively to improve their responsiveness to FOIA requests, applying a presumption of openness and making it a priority to respond quickly," Schultz said.

Sunday was the start of Sunshine Week, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information.

The chief of the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy, which oversees the open records law, told the Senate last week that some of the 99 agencies in the past five years have released documents in full or in part in more than 90 percent of cases. She noted the record number of requests for government records, which exceeded 700,000 for the first time last year, and said decisions are harder than ever.

"The requests are more complex than they were before," director Melanie Pustay told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The government's responsiveness under the FOIA is widely viewed as a barometer of its transparency. Under the law, citizens and foreigners can compel the government to turn over copies of federal records for zero or little cost. Anyone who seeks information through the law is generally supposed to get it unless disclosure would hurt national security, violate personal privacy or expose business secrets or confidential decision-making in certain areas. It cited such exceptions a record 546,574 times last year.

"The public is frustrated and unhappy with the pace of responses and the amount of information provided," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said at the same congressional hearing. "There's a common reaction for anybody who has any experience with it that it doesn't function well."

John Cook, the incoming new editor at the Intercept, the online magazine founded by investor Pierre Omidyar, said his experience under the open records law was "abysmal" but not especially worse last year than previously. "It's a bureaucracy," Cook said. "As often as it's about trying to keep data from falling into the hands of reporters, it's the contractor looking for ways to reduce the caseload. It's just bureaucrats trying to get home earlier and have less to do."

The AP could not determine whether the administration was abusing the national security exception or whether the public asked for more documents about sensitive subjects. The NSA said its 138 percent surge in records requests were from people asking whether it had collected their phone or email records, which it generally refuses to confirm or deny. To do otherwise, the NSA said, would pose an "an unacceptable risk" because terrorists could check to see whether the U.S. had detected their activities. It censored records or fully denied access to them in 4,246 out of 4,328 requests, or 98 percent of the time.

Journalists and others who need information quickly to report breaking news fared worse than ever last year. Blocking news organizations from urgently obtaining records about a government scandal or crisis — such as the NSA's phone-records collection, Boston bombings, trouble with its health care website, the deadly shootings at the Washington Navy Yard or the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi — can delay uncovering significant developments until after decisions are made and the public's interest has waned.

The government said the average time it took to answer a records request ranged from less than one day to nearly two years. AP's analysis showed that most agencies took longer to answer requests than the previous year, although the White House said the government responded more quickly and did not immediately explain how it determined that. The Pentagon reported at least two requests still pending after 10 years and the CIA was still working on at least four requests from more than eight years ago.

The AP's request to the Health and Human Services Department for contracts with public-relations companies to promote Obama's health care law has been pending for more than one year. Requests for files about the Affordable Care Act and the IRS's treatment of tax-exempt political groups have languished in government offices for months. Similarly, the AP has waited for more than 10 months for emails between the IRS and outside Democratic super PACs about tea party groups.

After Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was selected as the Republican vice presidential candidate, the AP asked scores of federal agencies for copies of letters he wrote to them. At least seven turned over the records after the election in November 2012. Some didn't even acknowledge AP's request for Ryan's letters until months after Obama was sworn in for a second term.

Last year, the government denied 6,689 out of 7,818 requests for so-called expedited processing, which moves an urgent request for newsworthy records to the front of the line for a speedy answer, or about 86 percent. It denied only 53 percent of such requests in 2008.

The EPA denied 458 out of 468 expediting requests. The State Department, where expedited processing can save 100 days of waiting time for example, denied 332 of 344 such requests. The Homeland Security Department denied 1,384 or 94 percent of expediting requests. The Justice Department, which denied AP's request for video its investigators obtained days after the Navy Yard shooting, denied 900 out of 1,017 such requests.

The U.S. spent a record $420 million answering requests plus just over $27 million in legal disputes, and charged people $4.3 million to search and copy documents. The government waived fees about 58 percent of the time that people asked, a 1 percent improvement over the previous year.

Sometimes, the government said it searched and couldn't find what citizens wanted.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose top official has testified to Congress repeatedly about NSA surveillance programs disclosed by contractor Edward Snowden, told the AP it couldn't find any records or emails in its offices asking other federal agencies to be on the lookout for journalists to whom Snowden provided classified materials. British intelligence authorities had detained one reporter's partner for nine hours at Heathrow airport and questioned him under terrorism laws. DNI James Clapper has at least twice publicly described the reporters as "accomplices" to Snowden, who is charged under the U.S. Espionage Act and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Likewise, Cook, departing as the editor at Gawker, was exasperated when the State Department told him it couldn't find any emails between journalists and Philippe Reines, Hillary Clinton's personal spokesman when Clinton was secretary of state. BuzzFeed published a lengthy and profane email exchange about the 2012 attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi between Reines and its correspondent, Michael Hastings.

"They said there were no records," Cook said of the State Department.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas only faces bad options, from his perspective, as he heads into a White House meeting Monday with President Barack Obama. He could accept a U.S.-proposed framework for an Israeli-Palestinian partition deal, he could reject it or he could agree to extend negotiations. Here's a look at what's ahead.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas only faces bad options, from his perspective, as he heads into a White House meeting Monday with President Barack Obama. He could accept a U.S.-proposed framework for an Israeli-Palestinian partition deal, he could reject it or he could agree to extend negotiations. Here's a look at what's ahead.

WHAT DO THE PALESTINIANS EXPECT TO BE IN THE FRAMEWORK?

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hasn't presented a written proposal, but Abbas aides say they expect it to contain the following. It would endorse the Palestinian position that the border between Israel and a future Palestine would be based on Israel's 1967 frontier, before it captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands the Palestinians want for a state. However, the two sides would negotiate land swaps that would allow Israel to annex some occupied lands and keep an unspecified number of settlements. The Palestinians would recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. The Palestinians would establish a capital "in Jerusalem," but there would be no specific mention of east Jerusalem. Israel would be permitted to maintain a military presence on the Palestinian state's eastern border, with Jordan, for some years after a deal.

WOULD ABBAS ACCEPT SUCH A PROPOSAL?

Most likely not. Abbas said recently there is "no way" he could accept some of these provisions, suggesting his people might rise up against him if he did so and that such a deal would stain his legacy. Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Arab League foreign ministers have also urged him to say no to some or all of anticipated provisions in the framework.

WHAT SPECIFICALLY DOES ABBAS OBJECT TO?

Abbas says he cannot recognize Israel as a Jewish state because this would prejudice negotiations on the fate of several million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, including their "right of return" to what is now Israel. He says it would also harm the rights of Israel's large Arab minority.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues the Palestinians must bestow the special recognition to prove they are fundamentally ready to make peace.

Abbas also is concerned that Kerry is sliding back from a solution for Jerusalem proposed by then-President Bill Clinton in 2000 — Arab neighborhoods to Palestine, Jewish neighborhoods to Israel. The Palestinians fear that if they accept a vague reference to Jerusalem in Kerry's plan, they'll end up with a capital on the edges of the city.

In previous talks, Palestinians agreed to minor land swaps. Palestinian officials have said Kerry is now asking them to take into account "subsequent developments," meaning Israeli settlements. Israel has said it wants to annex "settlement blocs," which according to some officials could mean 12 percent of the West Bank, or six times as much land area as Abbas previously offered to swap.

WILL ABBAS SAY NO TO OBAMA AND KERRY?

He wants to avoid saying no for now. Both Abbas and Netanyahu are afraid of being blamed for derailing U.S. peace efforts, which resumed when Kerry got the two sides back to the table in July for what are to be nine months of negotiations. Rebuffing the U.S. would also mean a major reversal of Abbas' political strategy, which has been based on close ties with Washington.

After the meeting, a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private, said Kerry and Abbas' "a frank and productive discussion set the stage for President Abbas' meeting tomorrow with President Obama."

Kerry "reiterated that we are at a pivotal time in the negotiations and while these issues have decades of history behind them, neither party should let tough political decisions at this stage stand in the way of a lasting peace," the State Department official said.

WILL THE NEGOTIATIONS BE EXTENDED?

For Abbas, it's the least damaging of three bad choices. In committing to nine months of talks with Israel last July, Abbas put aside his long-standing objections to negotiating while Israel continues to expand settlements. Members of the PLO Executive Committee oppose an extension beyond the April 29 deadline if the situation remains unchanged. They say continued talks shield Israel from international criticism of its practices in the occupied lands, while enabling it to build more homes in settlements. Last year, the number of settlement housing starts more than doubled from the previous year.

However, an official close to the negotiations said Abbas leans toward an extension if he gets something in return, such as a partial settlement freeze during the upcoming period or an Israeli promise to release more long-held Palestinian prisoners. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal Palestinian deliberations with the media.

As part of the current negotiations, Israel also promised to release 104 long-held prisoners in four groups. The last release is due at the end of March.

WHAT HAPPENS IF KERRY'S EFFORTS END IN FAILURE?

Such failure could mean the end of more than 20 years of trying to reach a partition deal through U.S.-mediated bilateral talks. Critics of this approach have long argued that it's inherently bad for the Palestinians. They say the U.S. cannot be an impartial broker because of its alliance with Israel and that negotiations between an occupier and those being occupied are little more than a charade.

Abbas has said the Palestinians have other options. Abbas has said that once negotiations have run their course, he could seek acceptance of "Palestine" — recognized by the United Nations General Assembly as a non-member observer state in 2012 — by other U.N. agencies and international conventions. This could include building a "war crimes" case against Israel over its settlements before the International Criminal Court, a move sharply opposed by the U.S. and Israel. A Palestinian-led international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel also has gained momentum. But Israel also could retaliate against the Palestinians, both financially and with new restrictions.

The HOPE Club was created after several students at the school committed suicide.

CHICOPEE – The Chicopee Comprehensive High School HOPE Club is joining the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and organizing a fund-raising Out of the Darkness campus walk to bring awareness to suicide prevention.

The event will be held on April 17 with registration at 2:15 p.m. at the school. Participants can register online at http://afsp.donordrive.com/event/chicopeecomp/ until April 16 but walk-ins will also be accepted. Walkers are encouraged to raise a minimum of $150 which will support the foundation and the local club.

The HOPE club, created after several students at the school committed suicide, is a student group focused on bringing awareness of depression among peers and preventing suicide.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Sunday that it will go public on a U.S. stock exchange in a move analysts say might raise up to $15 billion in the year's biggest initial public offering.

HONG KONG — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Sunday that it will go public on a U.S. stock exchange in a move analysts say might raise up to $15 billion in the year's biggest initial public offering.

The announcement confirming plans for a U.S. offering ended months of speculation over where the company would list its shares after talks for a Hong Kong stock sale fell apart last year.

Alibaba is one of the world's biggest Internet companies and says more than $150 billion worth of merchandise changes hands on its online platforms each year, more than Amazon and eBay combined.

The company began as a service to link Chinese suppliers with retailers abroad and has branched out into retail e-commerce. It is little known abroad but has launched two consumer-oriented services in the United States.

"Alibaba Group has decided to commence the process of an initial public offering in the United States," the company said in a statement. "This will make us a more global company and enhance the company's transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to pursue our long-term vision and ideals."

It gave no details of the timing or size of the initial public offering or on which exchange it would take place.

Analysts have estimated that an Alibaba IPO could raise up to $15 billion and value the company at more than $100 billion.

Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba had previously abandoned plans for an IPO in Hong Kong because the semiautonomous Chinese financial center's stock exchange refused to change its rules to accommodate the company's unusual management structure.

The company failed to persuade the Hong Kong exchange to grant it an exception from listing rules so that it could maintain a "partnership" structure that lets top executives, who own 10 percent of the company, retain control of the board.

The company hinted that the door has not completely shut on listing its stock in Hong Kong.

"Should circumstances permit in the future, we will be constructive toward extending our public status in the China capital market in order to share our growth with the people of China," the statement said.

Alibaba is one of a number of Chinese internet heavyweights planning to cash in with IPOs amid rapid growth. The announcement comes two days after Chinese internet company Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblog unit filed plans for a potential U.S. IPO. Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, indicates it plans to raise $500 million. Another Chinese online retailing giant, JD.com, filed in January for a U.S. stock listing.

Alibaba Group doesn't report its finances. But Yahoo Inc., which owns a 24 percent stake in the company, said Alibaba's revenue for the quarter ending in September rose 51 percent from a year earlier to $1.8 billion.

That was down from 61 percent growth over a year earlier in the previous quarter and 71 percent in the first quarter of 2013.

After landing in Helena, the state's capital, passengers waited for hours on the tarmac because a customs agent couldn't immediately get to the airport.

A flight heading from Canada to Mexico with 181 passengers and six crew members aboard made an emergency medical landing Sunday morning in western Montana after encountering extreme turbulence that slightly injured two flight attendants.

Sunwing Airlines spokeswoman Janine Chapman says the Boeing 737 landed around 7:30 a.m. Sunday at Helena Regional Airport, a small hub unaccustomed to dealing with international travelers. The flight's passengers waited in the aircraft for more than five hours before being told to stay in a cordoned-off area in the terminal as the company dispatches another plane to continue the journey.

As a precaution, responders also checked on a 27-year-old female flight attendant, who was also serving passengers and fell to the floor, Chapman said. The medical team prescribed over-the-counter pain medication.

Chapman said the captain had the seat belt sign on, and no passengers were injured.

After landing in Helena, the state's capital, passengers waited for hours on the tarmac because a customs agent couldn't immediately get to the airport.

Helena Regional Airport Director Ron Mercer said the airport has one agent who wasn't available Sunday, so another one made the 90-minute drive from Great Falls.

He said the airport doesn't typically deal with international commercial flights, so the customs agent had to make sure international rules were followed before the passengers could get off the plane.

They exited into a secure area of the terminal, where the passengers have access to food and restrooms but can't leave the area. Chapman said allowing them to wander the terminal would cause problems when it came to resuming their journey because they're international travelers.

Nonetheless, she said, the passengers "were reported to be in very good spirits."

Another aircraft has been sent from the company's headquarters in Toronto to pick up the passengers so the initial plane can be examined for damage, Chapman said, a move she called customary after severe turbulence is encountered.

The aircraft hit the rough patch northwest of Helena, somewhere over the Continental Divide, Mercer said.

Chapman said the passengers who boarded Flight 559 in Edmonton, Alberta, were mostly families and couples heading to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for vacation.

The second jet and a new crew were expected to arrive in Helena on Sunday evening, pick up the passengers and then take off for Mexico.

"This winter that will not end," Chapman said. "They're attempting to escape it. Hopefully, we'll get them there soon."

China announced on Saturday a modest easing of exchange rate controls that have been criticized by Washington and other trading partners, adding to a flurry of reform initiatives aimed at making its slowing economy more efficient.

BEIJING — China announced on Saturday a modest easing of exchange rate controls that have been criticized by Washington and other trading partners, adding to a flurry of reform initiatives aimed at making its slowing economy more efficient.

The range in which the tightly controlled yuan is allowed to fluctuate against the dollar each day will double in size, though to a still relatively narrow 2 percent.

The move was widely expected after Premier Li Keqiang promised in an annual policy speech last week to give market forces a "decisive role" in allocating credit and other resources in the state-dominated economy.

The ruling Communist Party says it wants to inject more competition into the economy and nurture self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption instead of trade and investment.

In a steady drumbeat of recent changes, authorities also have announced plans to create China's first privately financed banks and promised to ease the tax and regulatory burden on entrepreneurs.

Widening the trading band will help to "optimize the efficiency of capital allocation and market allocation of resources to accelerate economic development," the central bank said in a statement.

The U.S. Treasury Department had no immediate reaction to the announcement.

China's rapid economic growth tumbled to a two-decade low of 7.7 percent last year. This year's official growth target is slightly lower at 7.5 percent, but Li said this week Beijing will be flexible about it as long as the economy generates enough new jobs.

Washington and other governments complain Beijing suppresses the value of the yuan, unfairly making Chinese exports cheaper abroad and hurting foreign competitors.

The relatively small size of Saturday's change appeared unlikely to mollify Beijing's foreign critics. Some U.S. lawmakers have demanded punitive tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing failed to ease controls, but the White House has resisted imposing sanctions.

Beijing reported a $260 billion global trade surplus last year, a $30 billion increase over 2012 and among the largest ever recorded by any country.

Chinese leaders say they plan eventually to let the yuan float freely, but private sector analysts say that might be decades away.

Beijing is reluctant to allow big changes in the currency for fear of hurting exporters that employ millions of workers. But analysts say they might have gained confidence from recent strong trade performance.

Allowing the yuan to rise in value would increase the buying power of Chinese households, helping to achieve the ruling party's goal of nurturing more sustainable economic growth based on domestic consumption instead of trade and investment.

A stronger yuan also could help to suppress pressure for politically sensitive consumer prices to rise by making imports cheaper.

Reform advocates say that by suppressing the yuan's value, Beijing has been forcing even poor households to subsidize exporters.

In recent weeks, the central bank has been guiding the yuan's exchange lower against the dollar in what analysts said was an effort to discourage speculators who are moving money into China to profit from the currency's rise.

Beijing allowed the yuan to gain about 20 percent against the dollar beginning in 2005 but movement stopped after the 2008 global crisis as the government tried to protect struggling exporters.

The yuan has been trading at about six to the dollar. Analysts say Beijing might allow that to rise to 5.88 to the dollar by mid-2014, a rise of about 2 percent. That would be small by global currency market standards but unusually large for China.

The Minutemen will play at 2:45 in Raleigh, N.C.

The first University of Massachusetts men's basketball NCAA tournament game since 1998 will start at approximately 2:45 on Friday afternoon from Raleigh, N.C.

UMass will play the winner of Wednesday's Tennessee-Iowa game. The NCAA considers the games in Dayton, Ohio, which will pare the field from 68 to 64 teams, as first-round games. They are popularly called "play-in games,'' but that is an unofficial label.

That makes UMass' Friday game a second-rounder, at least according to the NCAA.

Tennessee-Iowa taps off at 9:10 Wednesday night, giving the winner of that game about 39 hours to travel from Dayton to Raleigh and take the court against UMass.

Duke will play Mercer at 12:10 Friday. The UMass game will follow its conclusion after a short break between games.