A Chinese military plane scanning part of a search zone the size of Poland for signs of debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 spotted several objects floating in the sea on Saturday, including two bearing colors of the missing jet.

PERTH, Australia (AP) -- A Chinese military plane scanning part of a search zone the size of Poland spotted several objects floating in the sea on Saturday, including two bearing colors of the missing jet.

But it was not immediately clear whether the objects were related to the 3-week-old investigation, and the second day of searching in the area ended with no evidence found of the jet, officials said.

The Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 spotted three floating objects, China's official Xinhua News Agency said, a day after several planes and ships combing the newly targeted area closer to Australia saw several other objects.

Ships from China and Australia scooped up items described only as "objects from the ocean," but none were "confirmed to be related" to Flight 370, said a statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the search.

Relatives and friends of the passengers said they were tortured by the uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones, as they wait for hard evidence that the plane crashed.

"This is the trauma of maybe he's dead, maybe he's not. Maybe he's still alive and we need to find him. Maybe he died within the first hour of the flight, and we don't know," Sarah Bajc, the American girlfriend of U.S. passenger Philip Wood, said in Beijing.

"I mean, there's absolutely no way for me to reconcile that in my heart," she said.

The three objects spotted by the Chinese plane Saturday were white, red and orange in color, the Xinhua report said. The missing Boeing 777's exterior was red, white, blue and gray.

An Australian PC3 Orion search plane also sighted objects in a different part of the search area, but the maritime safety authority did not describe those objects in greater detail.

An image captured a day earlier by a New Zealand plane showed a white rectangular object floating in the sea, but it was not clear whether it was related to the missing jet or was just sea trash.

Flight 370 disappeared March 8 while bound from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and investigators have been puzzled over what happened aboard the plane, with speculation ranging from equipment failure and a botched hijacking to terrorism or an act by one of the pilots.

The latter was fueled by reports that the pilot's home flight simulator had files deleted from it, but Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said checks, including one by the FBI, had turned up no new information.

"What I know is that there is nothing sinister from the simulators, but of course that will have to be confirmed by the chief of police," he said.

Newly analyzed satellite data shifted the search zone on Friday, raising expectations that searchers may be closer to getting physical evidence that the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.

That would also help narrow the hunt for the wreckage and the plane's black boxes, which could contain clues to what caused the plane to be so far off-course.

The U.S. Navy has already sent equipment that can detect pings from the back boxes, and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Sydney that the equipment would be put on an Australian naval ship soon.

"It will be taken to the most prospective search area and if there is good reason to deploy it, it will be deployed," he said, without giving a time frame. Other officials have said it could take days for the ship -- the Ocean Shield -- to reach the search area.

The newly targeted zone is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) northeast of sites the searchers have crisscrossed for the past week. The redeployment came after analysts determined that the Boeing 777 may have been traveling faster than earlier estimates and would therefore have run out of fuel sooner.

The new search area is closer to Perth than the previous one, with a flying time of 2 1/2 hours each way, allowing for five hours of search time, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA said five P-3 Orions -- three from Australia and one each from Japan and New Zealand -- plus a Japanese coast guard jet, the Chinese Ilyushin IL-76, and one civilian jet acting as a communications relay took part Saturday.

"The weather in the area was reasonably good -- most of the area we were able to see four or five kilometers (two or three miles) or more," Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lt. Russell Adams said. "The sea state was up, however, which meant there were quite a few whitecaps in the area so the crew would have had a bit of difficulty discerning between objects in the water and the whitecaps, so it made it hard for the guys today."

Some family members in Beijing said they want to fly to Kuala Lumpur to seek more answers from the government, but an airline representative said it may have to wait a day because of a lack of hotel space this weekend because of the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix race on Sunday.

Steve Wang, a representative of some of the Chinese families in Beijing, said about 50 relatives wanted to go to Malaysia because they were not happy with the responses given by Malaysian government representatives in China.

"Because they sent a so-called high-level group to meet us, but they have not been able to answer all our questions," he said. "It's either they are not in charge of a certain aspect of work or that it's still being investigated, or it's not convenient for them to comment."

Malaysia Airlines' commercial director, Hugh Dunleavy, said Saturday in Beijing that the airline was trying to facilitate the relatives' travel to Kuala Lumpur, but that plans had not been confirmed because of the difficulties in booking hotels this weekend.

If investigators can determine that the plane went down in the newly targeted zone -- which spans about 319,000 square kilometers (123,000 square miles) -- recovery of its flight data and cockpit voice recorders could be complicated.

Much of the sea floor in the area is about 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) below the surface, but depths may reach a maximum of about 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) at its easternmost edge.

The hunt for the plane focused first on the Gulf of Thailand, along the plane's planned path. But when radar data showed it had veered sharply west, the search moved to the Andaman Sea, off the western coast of Malaysia, before pivoting to the southern Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia.

The National Commission on Voting Rights will hold a hearing in Boston to hear testimony on challenges, successes and opportunities for reform in all aspects of voting in New England.

BOSTON (AP) — The National Commission on Voting Rights will hold a hearing in Boston to hear testimony on challenges, successes and opportunities for reform in all aspects of voting in New England.

The commission is expected to hear from voters, community leaders and election officials. The hearing will be held Monday at Suffolk University Law School.

The Boston event is the 11th of a series of nationwide hearings being held to gather testimony on the current landscape of voting and elections in the U.S. The testimony is expected to cover several topics, including voting changes, voter registration and access to the ballot for communities of color and people with disabilities.

The hearing was organized by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its local affiliate in Boston.

Experts caution that the results released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not necessarily mean the condition is on a steep rise, but could represent a greater awareness among parents and caretakers.

An update to this story was posted at 3:21 p.m.

HOLYOKE - Members of the western New England "Autism Speaks" chapter are hosting a fund-raiser and awareness-raising event outside Target at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.

Hope Tremblay and Monica Donnelly, mothers of autistic sons, were out front as shoppers stopped by to purchase blue light bulbs (in honor of the cause's blue theme) and collect educational materials about the wide-ranging diagnosis. The event coincidentally came on the heels of a new government study estimating that autism affects 1 in 68 children - a 30 percent increase over two years.

Experts caution that the results released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not necessarily mean the condition is on a steep rise, but could represent a greater awareness among parents and caretakers.

Donnelly said she believes a higher profile for autism is good for everyone.

"The world needs to be a kinder place," said the mother of two, of West Springfield. Her son, Jason, 2, was diagnosed at 14 months and has progressed by leaps and bounds with intensive therapy.

Donnelly said that on the up-side, the hours of therapy have boosted her son from a severe diagnosis on the so-called autism spectrum to a moderate to mild diagnosis. Watch video

This is an update to a story first posted at 2:31 p.m.

HOLYOKE- For Monica Donnelly and her husband, every waking moment with their 2-year-old son is intensive therapy.

Diagnosed at 14 months with severe autism, Jason Donnelly has gotten 30 hours per week of primarily state-financed therapy (which ends when he enters preschool). But, that doesn't end when the boy arrives home, his mother said.

"Every hour with Jason is therapy," said Monica Donnelly, of West Springfield, who works full-time as a paralegal while her husband works as a mechanic to keep up with insurance deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket costs related to their child's care.

She was one of the lead organizers of an "Autism Speaks" fund- and awareness-raiser at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on Saturday. A group distributed educational materials and sold blue lights and puzzle pieces outside Target, in honor of the blue hue that marks the cause's charity events. The mall will sell Autism Speaks puzzle pieces throughout April, National Autism Awareness Month.

The event coincidentally came on the heels of a new government study estimating that autism affects 1 in 68 children - a 30 percent increase over two years.

Experts caution that the results released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not necessarily mean the condition is on a steep rise, but could represent a greater awareness among parents and caretakers.

Donnelly said that on the up-side, the hours of expensive therapy have boosted her son from a severe diagnosis on the so-called autism spectrum to a moderate to mild diagnosis. She said she knew something was not quite right with her son by the time he was three months old.

"He's now testing out as a normal kid," in preschool screenings, she said, which is a far cry from the unresponsive, distant baby she once encountered. "But my son didn't know I was his mom until he was over 2."

On the flip side, co-chairwoman Hope Tremblay, of Westfield, found her son, Ryan, now 5, a fountain of words and wisdom when he was smaller.

"He could recite the beginning of the Gettysburg Address when he was 22 months," said Tremblay. "The doctor asked me when he was smaller if he could say three words. I said: he can say about 30."

Ultimately diagnosed as a high-functioning autistic child, Tremblay later realized her son's interests were just a little too specific.

"You realize you're having an entire conversation, but he's having an entirely different conversation," she said.

Both credit early diagnoses and early intervention with progress for their children.

Donnelly said she believes a higher profile for autism is good for everyone.

"The world needs to be a kinder place," said the mother of two.

Other area events for autism awareness month include:

· - Autism fundraiser at MoFroYo in Westfield on April 1 from 4 PM to 9 PM

· - Light It Up Blue events April 2 include lighting of Springfield and Westfield City Halls and a proclamation ceremony with Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik at noon at Westfield City Hall

· - Pancakes For Autism fundraising breakfast at Moo-licious Farm in Southwick on Sunday, April 13 from 8 AM to noon

· - UNICO wine and beer tasting event Friday, April 25 at the Greek Orthodox church in East Longmeadow.

Volunteers man the table for the Western New England Walk Now for Autism Speaks event Saturday at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside. The event featured "Light IT UP Blue" a sale of blue light bulbs to kick off April as Autism Awareness Month with April 2nd as World Autism Day. (DAVE ROBACK /THE REPUBLICAN). 

Gov. Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m. The huge slide that destroyed a neighborhood in Oso north of Seattle struck at that time on March 22.

DARRINGTON, Wash. (AP) -- Crews searching for victims in the tangled debris field from the Washington state mudslide halted their work Saturday for a moment of silence to honor those lost.

Gov. Jay Inslee had asked people across Washington to pause at 10:37 a.m. The huge slide that destroyed a neighborhood in Oso north of Seattle struck at that time on March 22. Authorities say they've found at least 25 bodies and scores remain missing.

The grueling work with heavy equipment and bare hands in the mass of smashed homes, tree limbs and quicksand-like mud stopped briefly late Saturday morning.

"People all over stopped work --all searchers -- in honor of that moment, so people we are searching for know we are serious," Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief Steve Mason said.

An American flag had been run up a tree and then down to half-staff at the debris site, he said.

The slide that struck 55 miles northeast of Seattle is one of the deadliest landslides ever in the United States.

Finding and identifying victims could stretch on for a very long time.

"It's a very, very slow process. It was miserable to begin with, and as you all know, it has rained heavily in the last few days, it's made the quicksand even worse," Snohomish County Executive Director Gary Haakenson said at a Friday evening briefing. "I cannot possibly tell you how long this will last, or when, or if they will find more bodies. We hope that we do, but right now there's no telling."

Crews may be finding more remains amid the destruction, but Haakenson said the official death toll will remain at 17 until medical examiners can further complete their work.

Authorities have located at least eight other bodies in addition to the 17, and they previously said they expect the number of fatalities from the March 22 mudslide to rise substantially.

Ninety people were listed as missing, but hope for them began fading by midweek when they had not checked in with friends or relatives, and no one had emerged from the pile alive.

Leslie Zylstra said everybody in town knows someone who died, and the village was coming to grips with the fact that many of the missing may remain entombed in the debris.

"The people know there's no way anybody could have survived," said Zylstra, who used to work in an Arlington hardware store. "They just want to have their loved ones, to bury their loved ones."

Haakenson described for the first time Friday the difficulty of the searchers' task. When a body is found, the spot is marked for a helicopter pickup. That only happens when the helicopters are able to fly in the wind and rain that has pummeled the search area. The victim is then placed in a truck in a holding area.

At the end of the day, all the recovered victims are transported to the medical examiner's office about 20 miles away in Everett.

"Autopsies are performed, the process of identification takes place -- if possible," Haakenson said. "The identification process has been very, very challenging."

Authorities have had to rely heavily on dental records, Haakenson told The Seattle Times. In a few cases, medical examiner's investigators have had to use DNA testing.

In addition to bearing the stress of the disaster, townspeople were increasingly frustrated by the lack of information from authorities, said Mary Schoenfeldt, a disaster traumatologist who has been providing counseling services at schools and for public employees and volunteers.

"The anger and frustration is starting to rise," she said.

That's normal for this phase of a disaster, as is the physical toll taken by not having eaten or slept normally in days, she said.

The catastrophe, which followed weeks of heavy rain, was shaping up to be one of the deadliest in U.S. history.

Previous slides triggered by storms included one that killed 150 people in Virginia in the wake of Hurricane Camille in 1969 and another that killed 129 when rain from Tropical Storm Isabel loosened tons of mud that buried the Puerto Rican community of Mameyes in 1985.

A dam in San Francisquito Canyon, Calif., collapsed in 1928, causing an abutment to give way and killing 500 people, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

As she runs to succeed Patrick in the governor's office, Juliette Kayyem is trying to carve out her own political niche, pointing to twin legacies as a lawyer championing civil rights causes and as a public security official.

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — When Juliette Kayyem graduated from Harvard Law School in 1995, she landed a dream job working as a civil rights attorney in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Her boss was a young attorney and fellow Massachusetts resident serving as Clinton's assistant attorney general for civil rights — Deval Patrick.

Years later, Kayyem would again find herself working for Patrick. By then, the fellow Democrat had been elected governor of Massachusetts, and he tapped Kayyem to serve as his Homeland Security adviser.

As she runs to succeed Patrick in the governor's office, Kayyem is trying to carve out her own political niche, pointing to twin legacies as a lawyer championing civil rights causes and as a public security official. Kayyem also served as assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama.

Kayyem, 44, isn't shy about pushing back against forces in her own party that she sees as trying to narrow the field of contenders prematurely — including EMILY's List, a fundraising group that helps elect Democratic women who support abortion rights. The group has endorsed fellow gubernatorial hopeful, Attorney General Martha Coakley.

"I've pushed back on the women's groups who have been very, very nervous about me being in the race. I've said to them: 'Your strategy of one woman at a time has gotten you one Democratic governor in all the United States,'" Kayyem said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I am not the attorney general's problem at this stage. I am running my own race irrespective of gender, and I'll lose if I think women should vote for me because I'm a woman."

Kayyem faces a series of hurdles, from increasing her name recognition to raising the millions needed to mount a statewide campaign.

But she's spent much of the year trying to clear her most immediate challenge — rounding up the delegates needed to land a spot on the Democratic primary ballot.

The party requires that candidates for statewide office win the backing of at least 15 percent of delegates to the June 14 convention in Worcester.

Securing those delegates has been Kayyem's top priority. Part of her strategy has been to try to expand the number of delegates — many of whom are expected to back party veterans Coakley and state Treasurer Steven Grossman, also running for governor.

Despite the challenges, Kayyem said, she decided to enter the race.

"Sometimes you just have to jump because you cannot know how everything unfolds until you get in," she said. "Will people support you? Will they give you money? Will they be excited about your campaign?"

The campaign hasn't been a cakewalk. She recently had to loan her campaign $200,000 and has struggled to explain her position on the question of whether to decriminalize other drugs besides marijuana.

On other issues, she's been clearer.

She is opposed to repealing the state's casino law and backs the recent 3-cent hike in the state's gas tax and the decision to automatically link future increases to the rate of inflation.

She also supports proposals to raise the state's minimum wage and to mandate earned sick time for workers.

Kayyem said she also welcomes talk about taxes. She faults Republicans for suggesting that "any tax on industry somehow curbs innovation."

"The notion that the other party can talk about taxes only as relief for the private sector rather than as tools to support what the private sector is dependent on — any rational person knows that's not how the world works," she said.

Kayyem, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, grew up in Los Angeles before moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard College. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children.

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is appearing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell to speak to students and raise money for scholarships.

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is appearing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell to speak to students and raise money for scholarships.

Streep will be interviewed by bestselling author and UMass-Lowell English professor Andre Dubus III on Tuesday. She will also take questions from the audience of 3,500 at the Tsongas Arena.

All net proceeds from the event — including a raffle of a director's chair autographed by Streep — will go toward scholarship funds, one for an English major and one for a math major.

Streep has been nominated for 18 Oscars, and won three, most recently in 2012 for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

Streep was originally scheduled to appear at the school in February, but that was postponed because of a snowstorm.

The initiative is intended to reduce costs tied to diseases such as diabetes, obesity and asthma that can be prevented if people know how to maintain and manage their health.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick is set to celebrate the launch of the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund that officials hope will help cut health care costs by preventing chronic illnesses.

The initiative is intended to reduce costs tied to diseases such as diabetes, obesity and asthma that can be prevented if people know how to maintain and manage their health.

In January, Patrick announced that nine community-based partnerships, including the Boston Public Health Commission, city of Worcester and city of Lynn and the Berkshire Medical Center will receive initial funding from the program.

Funding will be subjected to the specific health and cost savings benchmarks administered by the Department of Public Health.

On Monday, Patrick will travel to the Holyoke Health Center to celebrate the launch of the program.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Barbara Kane 

Barbara (Clarkson) Kane, 70, of Sun City Center, Fla., passed away on Wednesday. She was born in Chicopee, graduated from Chicopee High School, earned a bachelor's degree from Westfield State University and a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts. She was a teacher for 35 years in the Holyoke Public Schools and at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She was also an active member of her Lutheran congregations, where she was a Eucharistic minister and Sunday school teacher. She was an artist who worked in a variety of media including stained glass, ceramics, painting and knitting.

Michael Pascal, who has homes in Park City, Utah, and Texas, was found guilty Thursday by a jury after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

SALT LAKE CITY -- An airline pilot was convicted this week of two counts of abusive sexual contact for groping a 14-year-old girl while he was a passenger on a flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City last year.

Michael Pascal, who has homes in Park City, Utah, and Texas, was found guilty Thursday by a jury after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

Michael Pascal, seen here in a police photo, was found guilty Thursday of two counts of sexual contact by a jury after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

The girl told investigators that she woke up from a nap on an Oct. 26 Delta Airlines flight and found Pascal's hand under her, gripping her buttocks. She was sitting next to a window, and Pascal was in the middle seat.

Pascal, 45, who worked at the time as a pilot for a regional airline carrier that contracts with Delta, told investigators he fell asleep with his hands in his lap and doesn't know how one ended up underneath the girl.

He's scheduled to be sentenced July 29 and could face up to five years in prison.

The girl told authorities she elbowed Pascal after waking up with his hand underneath her and said, "What the hell are you doing?" court documents show.

She says Pascal pulled his hand out from under her and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was asleep, I have to use the bathroom."

She said the armrest that she had pushed down was in the upright position. Pascal said he pulled up the armrest between him and the girl because the man on the other side of him was taking up a lot of room, according to documents.

The girl, who was flying alone, told flight attendants what happened and changed seats. She maintained Pascal was "clearly awake" and put some of his body on her.

Pascal's attorney, Rhome Zabriskie, has said his client was in shock about being charged. He has a teenage daughter of his own, Zabriskie said, and any touching that occurred was inadvertent.

It took the jury a couple of hours to reach the verdict.

Authorities say an incident between two cars driving south on Route 3 in Duxbury escalated with the driver of a luxury vehicle opening fire on a SUV and wounding him.

DUXBURY, Mass. (AP) — Authorities say an incident between two cars driving south on Route 3 in Duxbury escalated with the driver of a Bentley opening fire on a Dodge SUV and wounding him.

 

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz says the victim left his vehicle on Saturday and a passer-by took him to a police station, from where he was taken to hospital for treatment. Authorities did not describe the severity of his injuries.

Cruz says it appears that people in the two cars know each other and the incident took place during a funeral procession heading to Plymouth from Quincy.

Authorities did not release the names of the gunman or the victim.

Cruz says the gunman has been arrested and charged with armed assault with intent to murder. He will be arraigned Monday in the Plymouth District Court. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.

State Police Sgt. Paul Coakley said that the call came in around 5:15 p.m. reporting the grim discovery.

CHESTER — The Massachusetts State Police are leading the investigation into a dead body which was found near a set of railroad tracks on Main Street in Chester.

 

State Police Sgt. Paul Coakley said that the call came in around 5:15 p.m. reporting the grim discovery. Troopers were immediately dispatched to the area and are currently investigating.

He said information was still scarce as it is early in the investigation and it wasn't immediately clear whether foul play is suspected or not. Chester is a small town of just over 1,300 residents located in the Western stretches of Hampden County.

Caitlyn Garcia, 24, of Palmer, was charged with assault and battery for allegedly attacking a woman in Ludlow, according to a news report.

 

The incident happened on Wedegwood Drive at about 4:30 p.m., according to CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican. Ludlow police said the victim suffered potential head and neck injuries, the TV station reports.

Details of what prompted the assault were still unclear Sunday morning, but 24-year-old Caitlyn Garcia, of Palmer, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, 22News reports. Garcia apparently knows the woman she's accused of attacking.

Ludlow police Sgt. Mike Brennan told 22News that the fight started after an argument over some property. The victim, who was going in and out of consciousness, yelled to a neighbor for help, the TV station reports.

More information will be posted on MassLive.com as it becomes available.

Police said they are investigating residential break-ins in several city neighborhoods, including Six Corners, Sixteen Acres, Indian Orchard, the North End and the South End.

 

All four break-ins were reported Thursday, according to Springfield police, who are asking the public for help in solving the crimes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355.

In the Indian Orchard neighborhood, a Myrtle street resident told police that two laptop computers, a pair of iPhones, a Kindle Fire and various other items were taken after someone pried open a window to gain entry to the home.

In Sixteen Acres, thieves made off with an Xbox 360 and a 22-inch plasma television after entering a Parker Street home through an unlocked window, police said.

In Six Corners, a 42-inch Sanyo TV was taken from a Clifton Avenue home that showed no signs of forced entry, according to police.

In the South End, a burglary victim told investigators someone entered a Morris Street address through an unlocked window and took jewelry and a 47-inch flat screen RCA TV.

Police are also investigating the theft of a 1995 Honda Accord from the driveway of 23 Calhoun St. in the city's North End. Authorities did not say when the vehicle was reported stolen, but the car has a Mississippi license plate of MQQ265.

A car crash on I-91 between exits 3 and 4 led to criminal charges for a driver who slammed into the crash scene, injuring two people.

The Republican [file] 

An update to this story was posted at 2:50 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — Things went from bad to worse early Sunday in Springfield, where an Interstate 91 car crash led to OUI and other charges for a driver who slammed into that crash scene and injured two people.

The initial crash happened just after 1 a.m. in I-91's northbound lane between exits 3 and 4 , according to a Massachusetts State Police official, who declined to release the name of the driver who was arrested. The trooper from the Springfield barracks said he could not divulge that information because the suspect had yet to be arraigned on criminal charges.

As vehicle occupants involved in the first crash were inspecting damage to their car, which came to rest near the guardrail in the passing lane, the driver of the second vehicle struck one of them and crashed into the damaged car, police said.

The person who was hit and a passenger in the suspect's car were taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment of unspecified injuries. Updates on their conditions were unavailable.

The suspect driver fled the crash scene, but he was caught a short time later on Orange Street in Springfield, police said. He was charged with drunken driving, negligent operation and leaving a personal-injury crash scene, police said.

The incident led to temporary lane closures.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Kenneth Rieck 

Kenneth R. Rieck, 60 of Hampden, passed away on Friday. He was born in Springfield and was a graduate of High School of Commerce, Class of 1971. He was employed at Friendly Ice Cream for 20 years. He most recently was district manager and carrier for The Republican newspaper.

Apple already has won nearly $1 billion in judgments against Samsung over patent infringements involving older-model devices. Now Apple is alleging Samsung’s newest devices, such as its Galaxy S III, also copied Apple technology.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The fiercest rivalry in the world of smartphones is heading back to court this week in the heart of the Silicon Valley, with Apple and Samsung accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features.

The trial will mark the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between the two tech giants that underscore a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.

"There's a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented," Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. "Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition."

The latest Apple-Samsung case will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900 million but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.

Now, jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in another round of litigation, with Apple Inc. accusing Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

"Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices," Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. "Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple's innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices."

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.

"Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry," Samsung attorneys wrote. "Apple has copied many of Samsung's innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products."

In the upcoming case, Apple claims Samsung stole a tap-from-search technology that allows someone searching for a telephone number or address on the web to tap on the results to call the number or put the address into a map. In addition, Apple says Samsung copied "Slide to Unlock," which allows users to swipe the face of their smartphone to use it.

Samsung countered that Apple is stealing a wireless technology system that speeds up sending and receiving data.

The most attention grabbing claim in the case is Apple's demand that Samsung pay a $40 royalty for each Samsung device running software allegedly conceived by Apple, more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies. If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple's costs, if it lost, are expected to be about $6 million.

"You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high," said German patent analyst Florian Mueller. "But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it."

The problem, he said, is that each smartphone has thousands of patented ideas in it; Apple is challenging just five.

Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung's market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15 percent of the global market.

Apple claims the following Samsung products now infringe on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1, and Stratosphere.

Samsung claims the following Apple products infringe on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and MacBook Pro.

With the San Jose federal courtroom just a 15-minute drive from Apple's Cupertino headquarters, even jury selection can be difficult. In the previous case, several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.

The tower contained communications equipment for many of the region's public safety agencies, including the Massachusetts State Police.

NORTH ADAMS — Heavy wind and rain is being blamed for toppling a major communications tower near North Adams on Sunday, knocking out cell phone service and police and fire communications for a large swath of the northern Berkshires, according to officials, who were working to restore service as quickly as possible.

Stormy weather on Saturday night through early Sunday caused the tower on top of Florida Mountain to collapse, said Kurt N. Schwartz, undersecretary for homeland security and emergency management for the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

"This has resulted in the loss or significant interruption of cell and Internet services in the North Adams area," Shwartz said in an email alert.

The tower fell some time between midnight and 3 a.m. Sunday, according to officials, who cited wind speeds of up to 100 mph.

The tower houses critical public safety communications systems, including portions of the system that powers Massachusetts State Police and state Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) communications in Western Massachusetts.

With cell service down, North Adams police were urging people to use land lines for service calls.

"The North Adams Police Department also wants everyone to be aware that, if you have a home phone line that is still connected from your house to an outside line, regardless of whether you currently have service or not, you can still utilize 911. By dialing 911, it will still put you through to our 911 Dispatch," a message on the department's Facebook page states.

State Police troopers and technicians from Motorola were dispatched to the site in Florida, a rural town bordering the city of North Adams. The State Police Crime Scene Services Section also was dispatched to "document the scene" and to ensure that the tower failure was not the result of an intentional criminal act, officials said.

As a result of the communications breakdown, North Adams activated its Emergency Operations Center to manage the incident. North Adams Mayor Richard J. Alcombright and state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, were among the officials who went to the center to monitor the situation.

A number of state agencies were developing short- and long-term solutions, including the State Police, MEMA, the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department and other organizations. "These agencies, along with North Adams, are working closely with the private-sector owner of the downed communications tower," Schwartz said in the alert.

The implementation of short-term solutions, including moving critical communications antennas and equipment to a nearby building, was expected to begin Sunday. However, a long-term fix would require the owner of the failed tower to rebuild the structure, officials said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was expected to help MEMA coordinate with the three cellular companies that had equipment on the tower. The companies will be moving temporary equipment to the area.

Additional information is available on the North Adam Police Department Facebook page or by calling (413) 664-4944 (press #1 for dispatch). The department can also be reached by email at NAPD911@gmail.com.

• North Adams Police Department
• North Adams Fire Department
• North Adams EMS
• Berkshire County EMS 385
• State 7/800MHz Trunking Radio System and related microwave links
• And numerous commercial and cellular carriers

A black math teacher at Amherst Regional High School who has been the target of racist graffiti has again been the subject of graffiti.

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — A black math teacher at Amherst Regional High School who has been the target of racist graffiti has again been the subject of graffiti.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that graffiti intended for Carolyn Gardner was on a boy's bathroom wall.

Sonji Johnson-Anderson, who says she is Gardner's sister, says they are hurt and bewildered. She says the community should pressure school administrators to end the graffiti.

An anonymous tip line has been set up on the high school's website.

Racist graffiti was left in a bathroom In October and on Gardner's classroom door. In February, the school was closed following a social media threat that had racial undertones.

On March 20, a racial slur intended for Gardner was left in a girls' bathroom.

Principal Mark Jackson says an individual was found responsible for one of the incidents and punished.

A 44-year-old woman from Milton and a juvenile girl were taken to area hospitals for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, State Police spokesman Lt. Daniel Richard said.

 

Police said troopers from the Foxboro barracks responded to an 8:08 a.m. report of a crash in the southbound lane of I-95, where a 2002 Ford Explorer crashed through a guardrail and traveled down an embankment.

Both occupants of the Explorer were removed by members of the Norwood Fire Department. The driver, a 44-year-old Milton woman, and a juvenile girl were taken to area hospitals for treatment of non-life threatening injures, police said.

A 22-year-old Boston woman was driving the other vehicle involved in the crash, a 2013 Kia, but she was uninjured, police said.

Trooper Kevin Young is investigating the cause of the crash, which didn't require any lane closures. However, the guardrail sustained damage and needs to be repaired, said Lt. Daniel G. Richard, a State Police spokesman at Framingham headquarters.

"We expect there will be some travel lane restrictions at sometime during the day (Sunday) while that repair is completed," he said.