By JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG and PETER LEONARD  SEVASTOPOL, Crimea – Surrendering to Russia’s inexorable seizure of Crimea, Ukraine announced plans Wednesday for mass troop withdrawals from the strategic peninsula as Moscow-loyal forces seized control of Kiev’s naval headquarters here and detained its commander. Attempting to face down the unblinking incursion, Ukraine said it would hold joint military exercises with...

By JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG and PETER LEONARD 

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea – Surrendering to Russia’s inexorable seizure of Crimea, Ukraine announced plans Wednesday for mass troop withdrawals from the strategic peninsula as Moscow-loyal forces seized control of Kiev’s naval headquarters here and detained its commander.

Attempting to face down the unblinking incursion, Ukraine said it would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Britain.

Hours after masked Russian-speaking troops forced their way onto Ukraine’s main naval base here, forlorn Ukrainian soldiers streamed out carrying clothing and other belongings in bags. A group of local militia and Cossacks, later joined by officers from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, looked on.

Just how many retreating troops Ukraine will have to absorb in what amounts to a military surrender of Crimea was unclear. Many servicemen have already switched sides to Russia, but authorities said they were prepared to relocate as many as 25,000 soldiers and their families to the Ukrainian mainland.

Humbled but defiant, Ukraine lashed out symbolically at Russia by declaring its intent to leave the Moscow-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 11 former Soviet nations. The last nation to leave the group was Georgia, which lost a brief war with neighboring Russia in 2008 and ended up losing two separatist territories.

Vice President Joe Biden, in Lithuania trying to reassure nations bordering Russia alarmed by the sight of an expansion-minded neighbor, said the U.S. would stand by them.

“We’re in this with you, together,” Biden said.

Ukraine has been powerless to prevent Russian troops from taking control of Crimea, which President Vladimir Putin formally annexed Tuesday with the stroke of a pen. Crimea’s absorption came after a hastily organized referendum in which the population overwhelmingly, albeit under conditions akin to martial law, voted in favor of seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia.

Russia’s Constitutional Court chairman, Valery Zorkin, said Wednesday the treaty signed by Putin has been ruled valid, meaning it now only requires ratification by the Russian parliament.

On Wednesday morning, militiamen under apparent Russian command barged their way into Ukraine’s naval headquarters in Sevastopol, detaining the head of Ukraine’s navy and seizing the facility. The incursion, which Ukraine’s Defense Ministry described as being led by a self-described local defense force, Cossacks and “aggressive women,” proceeded with no resistance.

Upon gaining entrance to the base, the storming party raised a Russian flag on the headquarters square.

The unarmed militiamen waited for an hour on the square and, following the arrival of the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, they took over the building.

By afternoon, they were in full control of the naval headquarters, a set of three-story white concrete buildings with blue trim.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Rear Adm. Sergei Haiduk was detained and a news agency close to the Russian-backed local authorities reported that he had been summoned for questioning by prosecutors. Later in the day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the Crimean authorities to release Haiduk.

With thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and sailors trapped on military bases, surrounded by heavily armed Russian forces and pro-Russia militia, the Kiev government said it was drawing up plans to evacuate its outnumbered troops from Crimea back to the mainland and would seek U.N. support to turn the peninsula into a demilitarized zone.

“We are working out a plan of action so that we can transfer not just servicemen, but first of all, members of their family who are in Crimea, quickly and effectively to mainland Ukraine,” said Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

Parubiy also announced Ukraine would hold military maneuvers with the United States and Britain, signatories, along with Russia, of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. He provided no details.

The document was designed to guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity when it surrendered its share of Soviet nuclear arsenals to Russia after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. Ukraine has accused Russia of breaching the agreement by taking over the Crimean Peninsula.

In Washington, the Pentagon said it would participate as planned in a multinational military exercise this summer in Ukraine. Dubbed “Rapid Trident,” the ground maneuvers have been held annually for a number of years with forces from Britain and other NATO countries as well as Ukraine, which has a partner relationship with NATO but is not a member.

The Pentagon gave no details on the number of U.S. forces expected to participate or when the exercises would be held. Last year, the two-week maneuvers involving 17 nations were held in July.

Meanwhile, in a warning to Moscow, Biden declared that the United States will respond to any aggression against its NATO allies, including neighbors to Russia.

Standing with two Baltic leaders in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Biden said the U.S. was “absolutely committed” to defending its allies, adding that President Barack Obama plans to seek concrete commitments from NATO members to ensure the alliance can safeguard its collective security.

“Russia cannot escape the fact that the world is changing and rejecting outright their behavior,” Biden said after meeting with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and Latvian President Andris Berzins.

Beyond the grander political gestures of the day, Parubiy said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had been instructed to introduce a visa regime for travel between the two nations. The move could badly affect Ukrainian migrant laborers, many of whom work in Russia and send home money. It came against the backdrop of claims that Russian citizens were pouring across the Ukrainian border to foment secessionist unrest in bordering eastern regions.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was headed to the region to try to seek a diplomatic way out of the crisis. He was to meet with Russian leaders in Moscow on Thursday, followed by talks Friday with Ukraine’s new government.

Ban has repeatedly called for a solution guided by the principles of the U.N. Charter including sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine.

A 34-member U.N. human rights monitoring mission was also scheduled to be in place by Friday. Ivan Simonovic, assistant secretary-general for human rights, expressed particular concern over the security of Tatars and other ethnic minorities in Crimea.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin dismissed Simonovic’s assessment as “one-sided.”

The man apparently provided a fake name before he was booked Wednesday as "John Doe" after being treated a hospital.

LAS VEGAS -- A man who tried to make off with a suitcase full of costumes and props used by the all-male revue Thunder From Down Under fired a shot at the head of one cast member before being subdued and left with a black eye, police said Wednesday.

This image shows a booking photo of a man identified only as "John Doe."  AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

The bullet struck a wall, the gun fell to the floor, and six well-muscled members of the Australia-based group held the man until security arrived, the report said.

The suspect, who appears to be in his 20s, identified himself, but police suspect he provided a fake name. He suffered unspecified injuries and was hospitalized before being booked as "John Doe" into the Clark County jail.

A jailhouse booking photo shows a black eye and facial bruises from the backstage scuffle.

"The suspect definitely got the worst of it," Las Vegas police Officer Laura Meltzer said.

The suspect was awaiting an initial court appearance on felony attempted murder, armed robbery and burglary with a weapon charges that could get him decades in state prison if he is convicted. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

One cast member was treated at the Excalibur for minor injuries.

The weapon was seized as evidence. Police said it wasn't registered.

Several people told investigators they noticed the man walking around the showroom before Tuesday's performance wearing a SWAT hat, fireman's shirt and police-style boots. They told investigators that no one approached him because they thought he was a new dancer.

When confronted, the man allegedly told the show director that he bought the items for his girlfriend.

Performers later realized the items he wore had been taken from their dressing areas, according to the police report.

Thunder From Down Under, an all-male group featuring chiseled shirtless men, has wowed millions of viewers, mostly women, since 1991.

A Thunder From Down Under executive didn't respond Wednesday to several messages from The Associated Press.

Hotel operations and the show schedule weren't affected, said Gordon Absher, a spokesman for hotel owner MGM Resorts International.

Yellen stressed that with the job market still weak, the Fed intends to keep short-term rates near zero for a “considerable” time.

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

WASHINGTON – Janet Yellen tried at her first news conference as Federal Reserve chair to clarify a question that’s consumed investors: When will the Fed start raising short-term interest rates from record lows?

Yellen stressed that with the job market still weak, the Fed intends to keep short-term rates near zero for a “considerable” time and would raise them only gradually. And she said the Fed wouldn’t be dictated solely by the unemployment rate, which Yellen feels overstates the health of the job market and the economy.

Those points reinforced a message the Fed delivered in a policy statement after ending a two-day meeting Wednesday. The statement said that even after it raises short-term rates, and even after the job market strengthens and inflation increases, the Fed expects its benchmark short-term rate to stay unusually low.

The statement also said the Fed will cut its monthly long-term bond purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion because it thinks the economy is steadily healing.

But Yellen might have confused investors when she tried to clarify the Fed’s timetable for raising short-term rates. She suggested that the Fed could start six months after it halts its monthly bond purchases, which most economists expect by year’s end. That would mean short-term rates could rise by mid-2015.

A short-term rate increase would elevate borrowing costs and could hurt stock prices. Stocks fell after Yellen’s mention of six months. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down more than 100 points.

The Fed’s latest statement said its benchmark short-term rate could stay at a record low “for a considerable time” after its monthly bond purchases end. The Fed has been gradually paring its bond purchases, which have been intended to keep long-term loan rates low.

“This is the kind of term it’s hard to define,” Yellen said of “considerable time.”

“Probably means something on the order of six months, or that type of thing.”

Though stocks sold off after that remark, the Fed’s statement and Yellen’s comments made clear that borrowing rates for consumers and businesses could remain low for many more months. Yellen also stressed that rate increases, once they occur, would occur only incrementally.

Some analysts said they thought Yellen’s reference to six months didn’t really change expectations for the timing of the Fed’s first rate increase.

“We’re not sure the comments suggest rates would begin to rise any earlier than the mid-2015 date already priced into rate futures markets,” Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

In fact, Yellen devoted much of her news conference to explaining why the economy still needed a boost from the Fed. She stressed that low inflation and meager pay raises for many workers reflected a weaker recovery than the decline in the unemployment rate might indicate.

“She sounded a lot more dovish than hawkish,” said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial, referring to someone who favors low rates rather than one who worries more about inflation. “She spent a lot of time talking about how far away we are from full employment.”

The Fed’s benchmark short-term rate has been at a record low near zero since 2008. The Fed has previously resisted specifying the timing of a possible increase in the short-term rate.

One reason for dropping a threshold unemployment rate, as Yellen among others have noted, is that the rate can overstate the job market’s health. In recent months, for example, the unemployment rate has fallen not so much because of robust hiring but because many people without a job have stopped looking for one. Once people stop looking for a job, they’re no longer counted as unemployed, and the rate can fall as a result.

The Fed’s previous statement had said it planned to keep short-term rates at record lows “well past” the time unemployment fell below 6.5 percent. The rate is now 6.7 percent. Several Fed officials had recently suggested scrapping the 6.5 percent threshold and instead describing more general changes in the job market and inflation that might trigger a rate increase.

The Fed’s decision to drop the 6.5 percent unemployment threshold “represents the difficulty in finding the perfect economic indicator for explaining something as complex as the state of the labor market recovery and other considerations such as financial stability,” James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics, wrote in a research note.

The Fed cut its benchmark short-term rate more than five years ago to a record low near zero, where it’s remained since. Most analysts think the Fed will keep its target for short-term rates near zero until mid to late 2015.

The Fed also updated its economic forecasts Wednesday. Fed officials expect the U.S. economy to grow at a steady if modest pace in 2014 despite weather-related setbacks this winter. The Fed is forecasting growth of 2.8 percent to 3 percent this year, a bit lower than its December projection of between 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent.

The forecast suggests that Fed policymakers will continue to pare their monthly bond purchases, which are intended to stimulate growth by keeping interest rates low. It is doing so despite challenges the U.S. economy and financial markets face, from a brutal winter that’s depressed growth, to fears about how Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine might slow the global economy.

The Fed’s decision came on an 8-1 vote. Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Fed’s regional bank in Minneapolis, cast the dissenting vote. Kocherlakota felt the changes the Fed made to its guidance on future short-term rate increases had weakened its credibility in raising inflation to the Fed’s target of 2 percent. Inflation is now running around 1 percent.

Matthew Cunningham-Cook, a University of Massachusetts student and member of the Amherst Workers Rights and the Student Labor Project at UMass, said he is disappointed with town meeting vote.

AMHERST – Town Meeting Wednesday night dismissed a request to hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour and with it any option of bringing it before the town for a town-wide vote.

The town counsel said a referendum to call for a town wide-vote could be initiated only if the article was approved or rejected, but not if it was dismissed or referred.

Town Meeting member Larry Kelly proposed dismissal. “When you vote to dismiss, it's referendum proof,” he said.

Matthew Cunningham-Cook, a University of Massachusetts student and member of the Amherst Workers Rights and the Student Labor Project at UMass, filed the article to help students, many of who live in poverty, he said.

“I was disappointed but not surprised.”
He said, “Town Meeting is not dominated by people in poverty.” He said he believes there is wider support for the measure in the town.

“We will be exploring other options,” he said.

John Thibbitts, project manager for Atkins Farms market, said he was relieved the article was dismissed. Atkins employs between 150 to 160 people.

He said if the proposal was passed the town businesses would “not have been on a level playing field with the surrounding towns. Costs would have gone up,” he said.

He said he understands that it is an important issue. The current state minimum wage is $8 but there is legislation to raise it to $10.50 an hour over three years.

The article was changed before the vote to include only employers with 50 or more employees but that still would have had an impact of numerous businesses.

The Finance Committee, Select Board as well as the Amherst Chamber of Commerce and Amherst Business Improvement District opposed the increase.

AGAWAM – Residents are invited to discuss their views on the town’s parks, playgrounds and open spaces at a public information session April 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Agawam Senior Center. The town is updating its Open Space and Recreation Plan. Those wishing to participate should notify the Office of Planning and Community Development at (413) 786-0400 or at...

AGAWAM – Residents are invited to discuss their views on the town’s parks, playgrounds and open spaces at a public information session April 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Agawam Senior Center.

The town is updating its Open Space and Recreation Plan.

Those wishing to participate should notify the Office of Planning and Community Development at (413) 786-0400 or at planning@agawam.ma.us. Pizza and beverages will be served during the meeting.

Bowe School consistently has the lowest MCAS scores among the elementary schools in Chicopee.

CHICOPEE – Improvements are being made slowly but steadily in and attempt to improve lagging test scores at Patrick E. Bowe School.

Principal David Drugan said he has developed an education plan to move students forward which has been reviewed and approved by Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. Teachers have already implemented parts of it and are ready to do more.

“I have a plan and I want to take it through but we are taking it slow,” Drugan said.

Bowe School consistently has the lowest scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests of all the elementary schools in the city and has been a constant concern of the School Committee. Currently 32 percent of students in the school have scored proficient in English, 34 percent are proficient in math and 8 percent are proficient in science.

The school also has one of the highest numbers of students with high needs, which include children with learning disabilities, those who are poor and children who do not speak English. Currently 86.8 percent of the students at Bowe School have high needs; only Gen. John J. Stefanik School has a higher number with 93.5 percent of the students.

This summer Drugan, who was the principal of the high-achieving Anna Barry School, volunteered to transfer to become principal of Bowe School when that position became vacant this summer.

During his annual state-of-the-schools presentation Wednesday, he showed the School Committee some of the physical changes he made when he took over, including moving the principal's office, the nurse's, the computer room and several classrooms to improve the flow of the school, improve efficiency and give teachers and parents better places to meet.

School Committee member Michael J. Pise asked Drugan what the staff is doing to help children who are struggling.

“One of the biggest things I hear is we need time to talk about the students,” he said.

Now he tries to set aside time during staff development days so teachers can look at data and develop learning plans for each student, including those who excel and need a bigger challenge.

“We are looking at the students not only globally but individually,” he said.

During the presentation, Drugan also talked about some of the after-school programs including the new and very popular Minecraft club, the gardening club which is in its third year and a new before-school program that started last month.

After the presentation, School Committee member David G. Barsalou told Drugan that he was working with city councilors to solve a safety problem with traffic on Hampden Street in front of the school, explaining he has received a number of complaints about the problems.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra on Thursday that a Royal Australian Airforce Orion has been diverted to the area to attempt to locate the objects.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Australia's prime minister said Thursday two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery in the Indian Ocean and an air force aircraft was diverted to the area to try to locate them.

The Orion aircraft was expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra. Three additional aircraft are expected to follow for a more intensive search, he said.

But Abbott cautioned that the task of locating the objects will be extremely difficult and "it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370."

He did not say where the objects were. Military planes from Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand were covering a search region over the southern Indian Ocean that was narrowed down on Wednesday from 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) to 305,000 square kilometers (117,000 square miles).

The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by several false leads since it disappeared March 8 above the Gulf of Thailand.

Oil slicks that were spotted did not contain jet fuel. A yellow object thought to be from the plane turned out to be a piece of sea trash. Chinese satellite images showed possible plane debris, but nothing was found. But this is the first time that possible objects have been spotted since the search area was massively expanded into two corridors, one stretching from northern Thailand into Central Asia and the other from the Strait of Malacca down to southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Abbott said he spoke to the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, about the latest developments. Australia's high commissioner to Malaysia, Rod Smith, joined a meeting of senior Malaysia search officials at a Kuala Lumpur hotel after Abbott's announcement. Smith did not respond to reporters' questions.

Nearly two weeks after the plane went missing, the FBI has joined forces with Malaysian authorities in analyzing deleted data on a flight simulator belonging to the pilot of the missing jet.

Files containing records of flight simulations were deleted Feb. 3 from the device found in the home of the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said.

It was not clear whether investigators thought that deleting the files was unusual. They might hold hints of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went, or the files could have been deleted simply to clear memory for other material.

Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference Wednesday that Zaharie is considered innocent until proven guilty. He said members of the pilot's family are cooperating in the investigation.

Zaharie was known to some within the online world of flight simulation enthusiasts.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name, said the FBI has been asked to analyze the deleted simulator files.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington that the FBI was working with Malaysian authorities. "At this point, I don't think we have any theories," he said.

Flight 370 disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next.

Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about 7½ hours after takeoff, based on its last faint signal to a satellite -- an hourly "handshake" signal that continues even when communications are switched off. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in central Asia and down deep into the southern Indian Ocean.

Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks from abroad on all foreign passengers.

Springfield Deputy Police Chief Robert McFarlin is ending a 37-year career with the Police Department, occurring after an unsuccessful bid for police commissioner

SPRINGFIELD — Deputy Police Chief Robert McFarlin, after being bypassed for the police commissioner job, told The Republican and MassLive on Wednesday evening that he will retire shortly.

“I’m going to retire because I feel that Commissioner (John) Barbieri deserves to set his own team,” said McFarlin, who will end a 37-year career with the Springfield Police Department.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced Wednesday that he was appointing Barbieri, also a deputy chief, as police commissioner to replace current Commissioner William J. Fitchet, who is retiring May 31.

Sarno also considered and interviewed in closed sessions McFarlin and Deputy Chief William Cochrane for the commissioner job.

“I was Fitchet’s number two,” McFarlin said. “Commissioner Barbieri deserves to have his own guy.”

McFarlin said he will “retire shortly,” with the date not yet determined.

“Next to my family, being a Springfield policeman for 37 years is the thing I am most proud of,” McFarlin said. “The McFarlin family supported the mayor in all his campaigns. I have to respect the decision he made.”

McFarlin's retirement will leave two vacant deputy chief positions after Barbieri becomes commissioner. The commissioner is responsible for promotions.

Representatives of the Greater Springfield NAACP and Arise for Social Justice, and Timothy Baymon, president of the Council of Churches of Western Massachusetts, had publicly raised concerns about McFarlin earlier this week, alleging he had “a long history of insensitivity toward communities of color and women.”

McFarlin at the time responded in part that he spent a long career in the Police Department “building positive relationships with the good people of Springfield.”

The contract with the town states: “Patriot agrees that it will not open or apply to open a medical marijuana dispensary in” South Hadley.

Patriot Care CEO Robert Mayerson at the March 4 2014 South Hadley selectboard meetingJim Russell 

SOUTH HADLEY – Patriot Care Corp., the would-be owner of a proposed medical marijuana cultivation facility on Gaylord Street, has agreed to a one-time $10,000 payment to the town and $25,000 annually should the state give final approval for the company to operate.

The terms are in a contract, or host community agreement, negotiated between Patriot Care and the town that was unanimously approved by the selectboard Tuesday.

Half of the $25,000 yearly payment will be disbursed by the selectboard as they “deem appropriate.” Patriot Care agreed to pay the balance to town-based social service and community organizations, including the libraries.

The agreement says the company would pay an additional $25,000, to be distributed according to that formula, should the state approve additional marijuana dispensaries. Patriot Care obtained provisional state approval for a dispensary in Lowell; and is seeking one in Greenfield.

The contract with the town states: “Patriot agrees that it will not open or apply to open a medical marijuana dispensary in” South Hadley.

The company says it plans to employee about 30 people with a $1.1 million annual payroll; annual property taxes are currently estimated at $17,100.

“Patriot is committed to hiring local, qualified employees,” the agreement says.

The company agreed to “give first priority to local businesses to bid on” the assortment of business-related vendor services needed to make the facility operational, including contractors. The host agreement will be reviewed every three years.

Police say a man in North Carolina sucked a woman's toes at a Wal-Mart after he convinced her he was a podiatry student and persuaded her to take off her shoes.

LINCOLNTON, N.C. -- Police say a man in North Carolina sucked a woman's toes at a Wal-Mart after he convinced her he was a podiatry student and persuaded her to take off her shoes.

Detective Dennis Harris said the woman agreed to try on several pairs of shoes at the discount store in Lincolnton, and that at some point during the process, the man stuck her foot in his mouth. Harris said the man apparently tried the same thing at another Wal-Mart 15 miles away, where he told a woman he was conducting a survey on the feet of different races and nationalities.

The second woman also agreed to take off her shoes, but left when the suspect asked her to remove her socks.

Both confrontations happened Monday. Police are looking for the man.

Charette was hired as chief in the spring for 2013. Watch video

CHICOPEE – Saying the selection of the police chief was “tainted by personal and political bias,” the state Civil Service Commission has vacated the June appointment of Police Chief Thomas Charette and is turning the hiring process over to Mayor Richard J. Kos.

The commission has also placed Charette in the position of acting chief until a permanent one can be hired.

The decision came Thursday after Deputy Chief William R. Jebb appealed the appointment of Charette, saying under rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission he was the top candidate and should have received the chief’s job. The commission held a two-day hearing in November before deliberating the decision.

“I have concluded that Mayor (Michael D.) Bissonnette’s decision to bypass Mr. Jebb was the result of personal and political bias," commission Chairman Christopher C. Bowman said in the decision. "He ignored the results of the assessment center and the recommendations of his own interview panel when he bypassed Mr. Jebb for promotional appointment to Police Chief. He did so based on his mistaken belief that Mr. Jebb played a role, over seven years ago, in divulging information related to his past criminal record during his first run for mayor."

Bissonnette named Charette as acting chief when John R. Ferraro abruptly retired in June 2012. Charette was appointed permanently in the spring of 2013 following an assessment center review by a four retired police chiefs and an interview process with a panel of city officials, including two city lawyers and the human resources director who were appointed by the mayor.

In the report, Bowman said Bissonnette ignored recommendations to appoint Jebb from the assessment center, his own interview panel and Ferraro and appointed Charette. Police Lt. Stephen Muise was also a finalist for the position.

In addition Jebb scored an 87 in the assessment center review while Charette scored 84 and Muise earned an 83, the report said.

In the hearing, Bissonnette explained he was concerned about Jebb’s integrity because he believed Jebb released his criminal record showing a 1984 arrest for cocaine possession and a 1989 arrest for driving without a valid license while he was running for mayor for the first time in 2005.

Later Bissonnette attributed his arrests to alcoholism problems and said he has been sober for decades.

Jebb was president of the police union, which endorsed incumbent Mayor Richard Goyette in 2005. Goyette was arrested days before the election and later convicted on extortion charges.

Thomas Kenefick, the lawyer who represented Jebb in the hearing, said Bissonnette was mistaken and Jebb never released the record. During the hearing Bissonnette said he was angry at Jebb at the time but did not hold it against him when appointing the chief.

However Bowman said the Civil Service Commission felt that was the reason Jebb was not appointed.

“This is one of the more egregious and overt examples of political and personal bias I have seen during my tenure on the Commission,” he said in the report.

Kenefick said he felt the commission did exactly what it was supposed to do in determining if the appointment was fair and free of political influence.

“It is a great day for the city of Chicopee and a great day for public law,” he said. “He was a cops’ cop and he was passed over.”

Charette’s lawyer Gordon D. Quinn did not immediately return calls for comment.

Mayor Richard J. Kos, who is now assigned to hire a permanent chief, declined comment for now.

The appointment seriously divided a police department that was already in turmoil over a number of incidents including an accidental shooting of one officer by another during an training exercise and the fact that four officers took or shared photographs of a murder scene on their cell phones without authorization.

In the hearing even Charette and Jebb testified their working relationship deteriorated after Charette was appointed acting chief.

Jebb William 032014 by masslive

Jose Tosado was the first Latino to serve as Springfield City Council president.

SPRINGFIELD — Jose F. Tosado kicked off his campaign for state representative with a fundraiser at Samuel's Tavern Thursday night.

Tosado, who was the first Latino president of the Springfield City Council, and ran for mayor in 2011, is running to for the 9th Hampden District seat currently held by Sean F. Curran.

A long-time resident and community leader, Tosado has been out of politics for two years and said he is excited to be running.

"This is my first activity and I am grateful that I have the support of the community, my family, my friends and I feel pretty strong in this race," he said.

Present at the fundraiser were various politicians including State Rep. Benjamin Swan, city council members Bud Williams, Clodo Concepcion and Zaida Luna and businessman Heriberto Flores.

Tosado who has spent his career in public service, including more than 25 years working for the state, currently as Springfield director of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, said he is ready to do the job.

"I have the experience to take this district forward, " he said.

Tosado's campaign manager, Jorge Luis Castilian, said he has worked with him for many years.

"I was with him when he ran for School Committee, for City Council and when he ran for mayor. He is my great friend and I have always supported him, " he said.

For more on Tosado's campaign visit www.facebook.com / JoseFTosado.

The funding requests will have to be approved by residents at the annual town meeting in May.

WILBRAHAM - Anthony Aube, director of Wilbraham Public Access Cable TV, appeared before the town’s Capital Planning Committee Thursday night to request $37,500 to make improvements to the inside of the cable access facility in the Little Red Schoolhouse on Springfield Street.

Aube said he also is requesting $25,500 in Community Preservation Act funds to assist with the renovation.

The two funding requests will have to be approved by voters at the May annual town meeting.

The Little Red Schoolhouse building recently has been used for storage by other town departments, but Wilbraham Public Access has its studio in the central classroom space of the 1906 building and is seeking to do electrical renovation and make improvements to the floor, walls and ceilings to increase the building’s usefulness for studio space and town meeting space.

Wilbraham Public Access now has many volunteers participating in filming municipal meetings and recording and editing other community productions.

He said 164 meetings and committee meetings were filmed in a year.

Aube said groups in town from the Hiking Club to Girl Scouts have expressed interest in using the meeting space if it is renovated.

All cable access productions now must be filmed remotely, Aube said, because the electrical fixtures are not safe for use, Aube said.

“We want to make the electrical work and the lighting safe,” Aube said.

“There is a large classroom available in the building. This would help alleviate the need for meeting space in town,” Aube said.

Robert Quintin, chairman of the town’s Capital Planning Committee asked Aube to return to a future meeting with a more detailed breakdown of how the $37,500 being requested would be spent for a fire retardant curtain and safe studio lighting.

Aube said he will return to a future meeting with detailed quotes for the work which is needed.

The centerpiece of the public hearing and of the proposal to form a historic district was Mater Dolorosa Church at Lyman and Maple streets.

HOLYOKE -- Nearly 40 speakers pleaded for the preservation of Mater Dolorosa Church or criticized a plan to include the closed building in a proposed Polish historic district at a public hearing Thursday.

The hearing lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours at the Senior Center on Pine Street.

The district would be on the southern part of Lyman Street encompassing 28 residential and commercial properties that comprise one of Holyoke's last remaining Polish neighborhoods.

The committee that held the public hearing was not the Historical Commission, but the Fairfield Avenue Local Historic District Commission. That board is involved because it has experience with such tasks, having achieved the historic designation for the street in the Highlands Neighborhood that bears its name in 2010, Historical Commission Olivia Mausel said.

Follow this link to the live coverage posted about the hearing (read from the bottom up to experience the post chronologically):

A Massachusetts man convicted in 2011 of trying to help al-Qaida has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case.

BOSTON — A Massachusetts man convicted in 2011 of trying to help al-Qaida has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld Tarek Mehanna's (TEH'-rek meh-HAH'-nahs) conviction and 17 1/2-year sentence in November.

A notice filed Thursday with the appeals court says Mehanna's lawyers filed the request Monday with the Supreme Court.

Mehanna, of Sudbury, was convicted of four terror-related charges and three charges of lying to authorities.

Prosecutors said he traveled to Yemen seeking terrorist training and intended to fight U.S. soldiers in Iraq. When that failed, they said, he returned home and promoted violent jihad online.

Mehanna's lawyers said he didn't give any tangible support to al-Qaida, and his online activities were protected free speech.

Streeter has been missing since she was last seen on Feb. 25.

GREENFIELD – A police search along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers on Thursday turned up no trace of Rebecca Streeter, a Greenfield woman who has been missing since the end of February.

Greenfield Police Department Detectives organized a search of where the two rivers meet, and were assisted by members of the Greenfield, Deerfield, Turners Falls, and Orange fire departments, as well as the Northfield Dive Team.

The Massachusetts State Police helicopter also assisted in the search until it was called off to aid in the search in a police chase nearby.

Thursday’s search was not based on any new information regarding Streeter. It was the first day since she went missing that river conditions were suitable for searching, Greenfield police Sgt. Daniel McCarthy told CBS3 Springfield, media partners for The Republican and Masslive.

"It takes some extensive planning because going into the river you want a safe and successful operation," said McCarthy.

Streeter was last seen leaving her home on Camp Avenue which is adjacent to the river.

"Right now we really don't have any concrete leads as to whether she left on her own," said McCarthy.

The search primarily focused in on where the Deerfield River meets the Connecticut River.

"As procedure, we should check all avenues and with her house abutting the river, it was a logical choice to check that area," explained McCarthy.

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.

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.

Greenfield Police Department detectives organized a search of the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers for Rebecca Streeter, who's been missing since late February.

Actions taken at the March 10 meeting resulted in recreation commissioners, trust fund commissioner, and tree warden becoming appointed instead of elected offices.

GRANBY – Town meeting approved 20 articles to amend zoning bylaws and said yes to pay Granby’s share of a new roof requested by Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical School District.

The $3.27 million Pathfinder project will cost the town about $164,000 spread over 10 years of borrowing.

The land use changes approved created a new business park overlay zone on the southerly side of New Ludlow Road.

The professional office district is on East State Street for a depth of 500 feet from the Belchertown line to Lyman Street.

A sign bylaw created definitions for types of displays and the function of signs, such as wall sign, window sign and political sign.

Also, temporary “sandwich boards” may advertise an event for up to two weeks and must be removed within 48 hours after the event is over.

Actions taken at the March 10 meeting resulted in recreation commissioners, trust fund commissioner, and tree warden becoming appointed instead of elected offices.

Efforts to raise the state's minimum wage have hit a snag.

BOSTON — Efforts to raise the state's minimum wage have hit a snag.

On Thursday, a House committee had been expected to formally unveil a bill that would increase the hourly wage from $8 to $10.50 over three years while overhauling the state's unemployment insurance system.

Instead, the House chairman of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development abruptly opened and shut down the committee's executive session without unveiling any legislation.

Rep. Tom Conroy, a Democrat, faulted the Senate for the delay.

"Unfortunately, the Senate has not acquiesced to the House's request for the extension of these two bills precluding us from addressing them here today," Conroy said.

He said the bills "are in a state of processing themselves" and left the hearing room without taking questions.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat, previewed the anticipated House plan in a recent speech to business leaders last week. DeLeo told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that the House version would increase the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour over three years but would not be automatically adjusted for inflation.

The Senate has passed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour over three years and automatically index future increases to the rate of inflation.

The Senate has passed a separate bill overhauling the unemployment insurance system. DeLeo hopes to approve a bill combining the two issues.

A spokesman for DeLeo said he still wants the minimum wage increase and unemployment insurance overhaul to pass this session.

"Speaker DeLeo calls for these bills to be voted on by committee, debated on the House floor, voted on and sent to conference committee and ultimately to the governor's desk for signature in prompt fashion," DeLeo aide Seth Gitell said in a statement.

Another member of the committee, Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, blamed the delay on what he called political gamesmanship.

There is a third effort underway to raise the minimum wage: a ballot question being pushed by the labor-backed group Raise Up Massachusetts.

The question, which would be placed on the November state ballot, would raise the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour over two years and index future increases to inflation.

The last minimum wage hike in Massachusetts was in 2008.

Massachusetts' four Roman Catholic bishops also backing a higher minimum wage.

In a statement, the bishops said the state's current minimum, $8 per hour, "is insufficient to support and uphold the dignity of individuals and families" and is "hardly enough to pay for basic necessities such as food and rent, let alone support a family."

They didn't say what the wage should be.

The statement was signed by the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley; Fall River Bishop George Coleman; Worcester Bishop Robert McManus; and Springfield Bishop Timothy McDonnell.

The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission has vacated the June appointment of Chicopee Police Chief Thomas Charette and is calling for new Mayor Richard Kos to restart the process to name a police chief.