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Teen's arm severed in NY eatery's pasta machine

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A teenage employee at an Italian restaurant in northern New York has severed his arm while cleaning a pasta machine.

MASSENA, N.Y. -- A teenage employee at an Italian restaurant in northern New York has severed his arm while cleaning a pasta machine.

A spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital tells The Associated Press that 17-year-old Brett Bouchard was listed in serious condition there Sunday morning.

He was flown there after the accident Thursday night at Violi's Restaurant in Massena on the Canadian border.

Restaurant manager Mia Violi tells The Watertown Daily Times that Bouchard was cleaning the pasta machine when his right arm got caught and severed at the elbow. She says employees are trying to figure out how the machine got activated while he was cleaning it.

It's not yet clear whether the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the accident.


Northampton death: Authorities have yet to release much information about Brandon LaFreniere, 24-year-old Easthampton man who fell from Conz Street building

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LaFreniere died after falling from the sixth floor of a seven-story building at 81 Conz St. early Saturday morning.

NORTHAMPTON — Officials have yet to release much information about Brandon LaFreniere, the 24-year-old Easthampton man who fell to his death from a Northampton building around 3 a.m. Saturday.

LaFreniere fell from a sixth-floor balcony at the Walter Salvo House, a large housing complex at 81 Conz St. He was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Mary Carey, a spokeswoman for Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan.

Foul play isn't suspected, though Northampton police and state troopers assigned to Sullivan's office continue to investigate the circumstances leading up to the fatal plunge.

The Northampton Housing Authority, a quasi-public agency, maintains Walter Salvo House and several other public housing properties in the city. It remains unclear if LaFreniere was visiting someone at the building, which is located next to the Daily Hampshire Gazette newspaper building on Conz Street.

LaFreniere attended Northampton's Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and worked as a process technician at Plastipak Packaging Inc. in East Longmeadow, according to his Facebook page. Plastipak representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, LaFreniere's friends are reacting to his death on social media. Some have even changed their Facebook profile photos to include images of him.

"Rest in peace Brandon. I can't even handle writing this because I can't believe it's true. You'll never be forgotten," said Mike Hathaway, of Greenfield.

"I can't believe he's gone," said Christopher Wozniak, of North Hatfield.

Authorities searching for unoccupied runaway boat on Connecticut River

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The 18-foot vessel apparently began drifting down river some time after 2:30 p.m. Sunday, according to emergency dispatch reports.

connecticut river longmeadow.jpgThis 2011 file photo from The Republican shows higher-than-normal water levels in the Connecticut River in Longmeadow. Authorities on Sunday were searching the area around Dunn Road for a report of an 18-foot vessel that was adrift and heading toward Enfield.  
LONGMEADOW — Authorities were searching for a runaway boat on the Connecticut River Sunday afternoon.

The unoccupied boat apparently broke loose from its berth and began drifting downstream shortly after 2:30 p.m.

It wasn't immediately clear where the boat was first spotted, but Longmeadow police were searching the Dunn Road area of town around 2:45 p.m., according to police radio reports.

Authorities in Agawam and Enfield were notified that the 18-foot vessel may be coming their way, thanks to a swift current sweeping the boat southward toward the Enfield Dam.

Additional information was not immediately available.


MAP showing section of Longmeadow where authorities were searching for a runaway boat:


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Springfield police investigating shots fired on Main Street in Indian Orchard section of city

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Police at the scene reported finding several shell casings on the 200 block of Main Street in the orchard.

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield police are looking for a white Honda Accord they suspect may have been involved in a shooting incident on Main Street in the Indian Orchard section of the city Saturday night.

Around 9 p.m., officers on patrol near the intersection of Worcester and Healey streets reportedly heard at least six shots fired on Main Street in between the houses they were passing. They issued a be-on-the-lookout bulletin (BOLO) for a white Honda Accord, which may have been heading toward Ludlow.

Neighboring police departments were alerted and watching for the vehicle, which was said to be occupied by a black female driver and a black passenger wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Preliminary reports also indicated a Hispanic male wearing blue and gray clothing with a beanie may have been involved.

Police at the scene reported finding several shell casings on the 200 block of Main Street in the Orchard, while a weapon was reportedly found by a house on the 300 block.

At 9:40 p.m., a Springfield police shift commander said there didn't appear to be any injuries and that officers were still on scene piecing together the chain of events that led to the gunfire.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355. Anonymous text-message tips may be sent to CRIMES (or 274637) and should begin with the word SOLVE.


The map below shows the location of Bowles Street in the city of Springfield.



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This is a developing story and any additional information will be reported as it becomes available.

Paul Simon, Edie Brickell say rare argument led to disorderly conduct arrests

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Simon and Brickell each said they did not feel threatened by the other and they saw no need for a protective order.

Paul Simon has told a Connecticut judge that it was a rare argument with wife Edie Brickell that led to the two of them being arrested on disorderly conduct charges over the weekend.

Simon and Brickell held hands during the hearing Monday in Norwalk Superior Court.

Simon and Brickell each said they did not feel threatened by the other and they saw no need for a protective order. The judge asked the singers to return to court on May 16.

Police say a caller from their New Canaan home dialed 911 Saturday night and hung up. Police say officers who responded found minor injuries and believed it was a case of domestic violence.


ABC US News | ABC Business News

Rollover crash injures one on Route 20 in Auburn

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One person was transported to the hospital after a rollover crash on Route 20 in Auburn Monday morning.

One person was transported to the hospital after a rollover crash on Route 20 in Auburn Monday morning.

The crash, reported at 8:45 a.m. near Prospect Street, involved two vehicles, one of which rolled over onto its side, the Auburn Fire Department said.

One person was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center with minor injuries, the fire department said.

There should have been a Stern reaction to Donald Sterling years ago

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The former NBA commissioner's inaction has led to a dilemma for the new one.

Racial remarks attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling shocked the sports world and handed NBA commissioner Adam Silver the challenge of a lifetime.

It comes three months after Silver replaced David Stern, who has been called the best commissioner in the history of sports, with the possible exception of Pete Rozelle.

But Stern's own version of the no-look pass regarding Sterling is getting closer scrutiny. As this horror show unfolds, Stern may draw comparisons not to Rozelle but to Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who saved baseball from game-fixers in the 1920s and was elected to Cooperstown in 1944.

Similarly, Stern is coming to Springfield in August. He has been held in such high regard that upon retiring in February, he was immediately elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In Landis' case, debate over whether he helped keep blacks out of baseball has only recently been given much attention. In one very important respect, the comparison is unfair because Stern is the anti-Landis on race.

Stern earned his reputation as a hard-boiled businessman but also a man of decency, an open-minded and progressive individual whose own views fit perfectly with the modern, diversified NBA.

In 2005, when Stern pushed for a dress code that some saw as culturally biased, others said he was simply trying to make the NBA more appealing to greater masses so that everyone, including the players, could get richer.

Nonetheless, Stern's blind eye toward Sterling means that what Sacramento Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson calls a "a defining moment'' in NBA history - will have to be defined by a rookie commissioner, not the man who ran the league with unparalleled clout since 1984.

What could Stern have done? I confess not to know, just as we don't yet know what legal or punitive influence is within Silver's power.

It's still hard not to wonder if a man with Stern's influence could have acted sooner instead of stuffing all those red flags into the closet.

Stern wrestled with moral values all the time. But he never forgot that his mission, as he saw it, was to make the NBA a booming business - which is why he's going to the Hall of Fame.

That's why he expanded the NBA's involvement with China, even as that nation with its huge market was besieged by human rights questions. The NBA fined players, coaches and owners huge sums for saying a ref blew a call, because that did not reflect well on the product.

Neither did any recognition that one of his teams was owned by guy who didn't respect black people. So, Stern never took on Sterling, and other than Elgin Baylor, neither did anyone else - not even players like Baron Davis, a Clippers guard from 2008-2011 who tweeted on Saturday that Sterling's attitudes have been known for some time.

For most of the 33 years since Sterling bought the team, the Clippers were so bad that nobody paid much attention to them. Their boss was considered a kooky wacko but not a menace to society.

Sterling's track record, though, was no secret. In 2006, he paid $2.725 million but avoided admission of liability on charges he refused to rent apartment complexes to blacks.

In 2009, he was sued by Baylor, a longtime Clippers executive and one of the pioneers of black superstardom in the NBA. Baylor reported examples of what he called the owner's "plantation mentality,'' but eventually lost the wrongful termination suit.

And just in case we think Sterling has soured with age, there are published reports of Rollie Massimino's contention that in 1983 (a year before Stern became commissioner), the Clippers owner used the N-word in an interview regarding the coaching position.

Massimino walked away from the job, saying he could never work for Sterling. But a coach or a player needs a job, and the NBA has only a limited number of them, so no one else walked away.

Once they finally became a good team - better, even, than the Lakers - coaches and players became interested in joining them.

Doc Rivers, who is one of the finest human beings in sports, played for the Clippers for one year (1991-92). He left the Celtics in 2013 to coach in LA, because the Celtics were rebuilding and the Clippers were contending.

He couldn't have known, could he? Countless players, black and white, either didn't know or, like Davis, chose not to let it affect their personal career decisions.

Many of them - Golden State coach Mark Jackson sounds like one of them - are probably now wrestling with their own consciences over being involved with this guy.

Stern is going to the Hall of Fame. Silver is going for the Tylenol. We don't know what will happen to Sterling, but hindsight tells us we should have known for years this was coming.

That still makes it Sterling's fault, and no one else's, but the most surprising part of it is that so many people seem so surprised. We are left to wonder if such a decent, perceptive and brilliant man as David Stern is one of them.

Few parties on wet Amherst weekend, the last before UMass classes end

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Amherst police arrested three on relatively quiet weekend in town.

AMHERST — On the final weekend before the end of classes at the University of Massachusetts, things were relatively quiet in town helped by the rain.

Amherst Police Lt. Ronald Young in an email said the inclement weather of the past weekend "certainly had an impact on our activity level.”

On warm weather weekends, police have responded to large gatherings throughout town with the worst this year on the weekend of the March 8 Blarney Blowout in which police had to use pepper spray and arrested or summonsed more than 70. Fewer than half were UMass students.

During the weekend, police made three arrests, responded to few and relatively small gatherings, according to the police log which said about 100 people were at the largest event. The Fire Department answered a handful of medical calls involving intoxicated people.

Police issued several noise bylaw warnings.

While police here and on campus had prepared for large student gatherings, students were asked to enjoy themselves and be good neighbors.

UMass spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski said from what he heard, things were quiet on campus as well.

Amherst police arrested Tyler D. Chambers, 25, early Saturday morning after he was involved in a head-on crash on North East and Main streets and fled the scene, according to police. He was later found and charged with operating under the influence, marked lane violation and leaving the scene of an accident. Police said there were no injuries.

Police also arrested Jennifer M. Rivers, 29, and charged her with a marked lanes violation, operating under the influence and operating a motor vehicle to endanger, police said.

At 1:26 a.m. Sunday morning, police responded to a call there was a fight outside of Antonio’s Pizza on North Pleasant Street. They arrested De Angelo L. Smith, 27, and charged him with disorderly conduct. The other person was not charged.


Indian Orchard Citizens Council prepares for board election

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Election papers are available until May 19.

SPRINGFIELD — The Indian Orchard Citizens Council will conduct its election of its board of directors on June 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the citizens council office, 117 Main St., in Indian Orchard.

All residents over 18 years old, regardless if registered voters, are welcome to participate and take out election papers. The election papers are available until May 19.

The papers can be picked up at the citizens council any Wednesday or Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proof of age and address is required when picking up papers.

Election papers must be returned to the office by May 19, or they can be mailed to the Indian Orchard Citizens Council, 117 Main St., Indian Orchard, Ma 01151 postmarked on or before May 19.

For any questions call (413) 543-3172 or e-mail yarberl@yahoo.com

New US sanctions on Russian officials, companies

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Obama said his goal was not to target Putin personally but to "change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."

JULIE PACE
AP White House Correspondent

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States imposed new sanctions Monday on seven Russian government officials, as well as 17 companies with links to Vladimir Putin's close associates, as the Obama administration sought to pressure the Russian leader to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine.

The U.S. sanctions were implemented in coordination with the European Union, which moved to slap visa bans and asset freezes on 15 individuals alleged to be involved with stoking instability in eastern Ukraine.

The new penalties were a response to what the West says is Russia's failure to live up to commitments it agreed to under an international accord aimed at ending the dispute. The White House says Russia's involvement in the recent violence in eastern Ukraine was indisputable and warned that the U.S. and its partners were prepared to impose deeper penalties if similar Russian actions continue.

President Barack Obama announced the U.S. sanctions while traveling in the Philippines, the last stop on a weeklong trip to Asia. He said his goal was not to target Putin personally but to "change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."

Among the targets of the new sanctions is Igor Sechin, the president of state oil company Rosneft, who has worked for Putin since the early 1990s. Sechin was seen as the mastermind behind the 2003 legal assault on private oil company Yukos and its founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who at the time was Russia's richest man. The most lucrative parts of Yukos were taken over by Rosneft, making it Russia's largest company. Rosneft has a major partnership deal with ExxonMobil.

In addition to the new sanctions, the U.S. is adding new restrictions on high-tech materials used by Russia's defense industry that could bolster Moscow's military.

Obama has been building a case for this round of penalties throughout his trip to Asia, both in his public comments and in private conversations with European leaders. The new sanctions are intended to build on earlier U.S. and European visa bans and asset freezes that were imposed on Russian officials, including many in Putin's inner circle, after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine last month.

But even with the new measures, Obama voiced caution: "We don't yet know whether it's going to work."

The new sanctions were milder than many in Moscow had feared. They did not affect any public companies or major sectors of the economy, and the Russian RTS index jumped 1 percent on the news. Reflecting relief that state banks had not been targeted, Sberbank's stock was up 5 percent. Shares in gas giant Gazprom rose more than 2 percent when chief executive Alexei Miller was unexpectedly left off of the list.

On the U.S. list were Aleksei Pushkov, the Kremlin-connected head of the Russian parliament's lower house, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak and Sergei Chemezov, another longtime Putin ally. The White House said Putin has known Chemezov, CEO of the state-owned holding company Rostec, since the 1980s, when they both lived in the same apartment building in East Germany.

Most of the 17 companies on the list are controlled by three businessmen with close links to Putin: Gennady Timchenko, and brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, all of whom were targeted by the first round of U.S. sanctions imposed in March.

One of the companies Timchenko owns is Stroytransgaz, a construction company that has amassed millions in contracts to build oil pipelines for state-owned Transneft. The company has recently expanded and won lucrative deals to build highways and soccer arenas for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

None of the 17 is a public company.

The European Union did not immediately release a list of the individuals targeted by its measures, which were awaiting formal approval from the bloc's national governments. U.S. officials said they did not expect the two lists to be identical.

Neither the U.S. nor Europe plans to announce broader sanctions on Russia's key industries this week, though Obama said they were keeping those measures "in reserve" in case the situation worsens and Russia launches a full military incursion into eastern Ukraine. Among the targets of those so-called sector sanctions could be Russia's banking, defense and energy industries.

White House officials say they decided last week to impose additional penalties after determining that Russia had not lived up to its commitments under a fragile diplomatic accord aimed at easing the crisis in Ukraine. But the U.S. held off on implementing the sanctions in order to coordinate its actions with Europe.

The EU is Russia's biggest trading partner, giving it much greater economic leverage over Moscow than the U.S. However, the EU treads more carefully in imposing sanctions since Russia is also one of its biggest oil and gas suppliers.

The failed diplomatic agreement reached in Geneva just over a week ago called on the Kremlin to use its influence to persuade pro-Russian insurgents to leave the government buildings they have occupied in eastern Ukraine. Those forces have not only balked at leaving the buildings, but also have also stepped up provocations, including capturing European military observers and parading them before the media Sunday.

U.S. officials said there is evidence that those observers have been abused while in custody.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Washington and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Worcester police seek suspect in Chandler Street bank robbery

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Worcester police are seeking a man who reportedly robbed the Webster Five Cent Savings Bank on Chandler Street Friday night.

Worcester Police 
WORCESTER — Worcester police are seeking a man who reportedly robbed the Webster Five Cent Savings Bank on Chandler Street Friday night.

"Police learned that a male suspect entered the bank and passed a threatening note to the teller," said the Worcester Police Department in a press release about the robbery that occurred around 6 p.m. "The suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of cash."

The man was chased to the Big Y parking lot entrance by a customer. He then got into a white Nissan on the passenger side, according to police, and the vehicle drove off towards May Street. There were no injuries reported during the robbery.

The alleged robber is described as a thin, 5'5" Hispanic man in his 20s, according to police that continue to investigate the robbery.

If anyone has information about these incidents, they can send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD + your message or send an anonymous web based message at the Worcester Police Department website. Calls can also be made to the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.

Worcester accident sends motorcyclist to hospital with broken bones

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A motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with several broken bones after a collision Sunday afternoon with a six-wheeled construction vehicle.

Worcester Police 
WORCESTER — A motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with several broken bones after a collision Sunday afternoon with a six-wheeled construction vehicle.

Worcester police responded to Route 20 Sunday shortly before 4:30 p.m. after reports came in of a motorcycle accident, according to a Worcester Police Department press release. When police arrived on the scene, they found a 51-year-old motorcycle driver with several broken bones. He was treated at the scene by Worcester EMS and transported to the UMass Medical Center University Campus where he is in serious but stable condition, according to police. The 24-year-old driver of the truck was uninjured.

The preliminary police investigation reportedly revealed that the truck, a 2005 Chevrolet, pulled out onto Route 20 from the Bee Zee gas station and was struck from behind by the motorcycle shortly after. The truck had minor damage to the driver's side rear bumper. The 1984 Harley Davidson had extensive front end damage.

A commercial vehicle inspection of the truck at the scene resulted in it being taken out of service and cited for not having a fire extinguisher and having a defective parking brake.

The investigation is ongoing and no other citations have been issued.

Former Hadley Walmart employee Lisa Lacroix not rehired by the company

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Fired Walmart employee not rehired, drops charges against company for retaliatory firing.

HADLEY – Lisa Lacroix, who lost her job at Walmart will not be rehired, according to an update from Jon Weissman, coordinator for Western Mass Jobs with Justice.

Last month, more than two dozen union members and Lacroix's colleagues delivered a petition to store manager James Schall asking that she be rehired after being fired in March. He agreed to meet with her and a meeting was held April 14.

 But according to an email, Weissman wrote that she was not rehired and that “Lisa has decided to drop her charges against Walmart for retaliatory firing. We respect that decision.”Walmart Media Relations said in an email that Lacroix, said "she wasn't interested in returning to her old position.


In an email Kory Lundberg, from Walmart Media Relations, “It’s my understanding that during her meeting, Ms. Lacroix told management that she was not interested in getting her job back.”

 Lacroix had participated in a rally on Black Friday in November and signed a petition for better hours and scheduling. Out of the 20 who signed the petition, five were fired and two disciplined.

 Lacroix was told she was fired because her register was short $100 after she was targeted by a scammer.

 Lacroix, is a member of OURWalmart, Organization United for Respect at Walmart. She had  worked at the store for five years.



Sewer main replacement will slow down traffic on Laurel Street In Longmeadow for the next 8 weeks

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The sewer project is expected to take eight weeks to complete.

longmeadow town seal longmeadow seal small.jpg 

LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow Public Works Department is preparing to begin the replacement of the sewer main on Laurel Street. Work will begin in the area of Farmington Road and proceed north to Converse Street and then from Greenacre Road to Bliss Road.

GEG Construction, Inc. of Indian Orchard, MA has been contracted to complete this work. The project is scheduled to begin tomorrow and it is expected to take 8 weeks to complete.

Laurel Street will be reduced to one-lane traffic from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. while the contractor is performing construction work.

Motorists should add a little time for traffic delays or take another route to avoid congestion.

To report any problems or concerns, please contact the DPW at (413) 567-3400

Westover general confirms downsizing will happen despite politicians efforts: 334 jobs, 8 planes lost

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Half of the fleet of C-5B's will be transferred to Texas.

CHICOPEE – Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain has confirmed that a much discussed plan to downsize Westover Air Reserve Base will happen, despite efforts from local politicians and others to prevent the reduction.

In a press conference Monday, he said half of the base’s 16-plane fleet of C5-B Galaxy jets will eventually be transferred to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and 59 full-time positions and 275 part-time Reserve positions will be cut from the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover.

The timeframe on when everything is happening is still in question. At the moment, the first plane is scheduled to leave the base in March 2015 and it will get a major upgrade to become a C-5M model, which is more fuel efficient and quieter. For now, it is believed that plane will be sent to Texas after it is overhauled, he said.

The positions are expected to be cut in about 18 months, but in the interval some people will retire, some will be retrained for new jobs and some may transfer to other units such as the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes National Guard Base in Westfield.

All the jobs cut are those that are involved with maintaining the aircraft. Vautrain said he expects to be able to absorb the 59 full-time positions through retirements, other resignations and retraining people for different jobs on the base.

“The traditional Reservists will be more difficult because there are 275,” he said.

Along with making the base smaller, Vautrain also acknowledged the reduction will be seen in the local economy where employees eat and shop.

“We haven’t figured out the impact on the community, but there will be an impact on the community,” he said.

This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.


Absentee ballots available in Wilbraham town clerk's office for May 17 town election

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WILBRAHAM – Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield said that absentee ballots for the May 17 annual town election are now available in her office for voters who will be absent from town during polling hours, are physically disabled, preventing them from going to the polls or prevented from going to the polls by religious belief. A request in writing...

WILBRAHAM – Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield said that absentee ballots for the May 17 annual town election are now available in her office for voters who will be absent from town during polling hours, are physically disabled, preventing them from going to the polls or prevented from going to the polls by religious belief.

A request in writing is required to obtain an absentee ballot. Call 596-2800, ext. 200 with questions. Absentee ballots will be available until May 16 at noon.

Peter Salerno of Wilbraham running for reelection to Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee

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Salerno has served on the regional School Committee for 15 years.

petersalerno.JPGPeter Salerno 

WILBRAHAM - Peter T. Salerno, 15-year member of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee, has announced his candidacy for reelection in the May 17 town election.

There are three candidates running for two seats in the town election. They are Republican Town Committee endorsed candidates Salerno and D. John McCarthy and Patricia Gordon, a retired science teacher at Minnechaug Regional High School.

Salerno, who has seven grandchildren attending school in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District, said, “At the core of America’s greatness lies the quality education of its children.”

Salerno added, “It is for this reason that I ask you to join with me in continuing to be an active partner in the continuing development in knowledge for all of your children and grandchildren.”

“You are their foundation,” Salerno said. “They are our future.”

Salerno said the children in the regional school district “will soon be leading our country, guiding our industries and businesses to be second to none in the world, protecting our freedoms from those set on destroying them, establishing the tone for our charitable efforts, prudently overseeing our governmental support systems to be sure they are both essential and being operated in a sensible and affordable manner, raising their children to be loyal and productive American citizens imbued with the principles set forth in our Constitution and setting the moral compass and pathways which our country will follow.”

Salerno said all three of his children and one of his grandchildren are proud Minnechaug graduates.

Salerno said that over the past years taxpayers and parents have invested their hard-earned money into schools in the district, including the new Minnechaug Regional High School.

He said taxpayers have passed budgets which allowed for the hiring of quality teachers and staff to instruct children, have joined booster clubs and PTO organizations, have attended sporting and extra-curricular events for students and have made it clear they want a challenging and appropriate educational curriculum.

Salerno said the School Committee’s position is that “educating our children is primarily a local matter.”

“We have a great educational system, and I assure you that we will never allow our educational quality to slip – no matter what the current challenges might be,” Salerno said.

“Please take time to vote,” Salerno said. He said the election will be held at the new high school on May 17 between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Annular solar eclipse 2014: When and where to see the potential 'ring of fire'

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An annular solar eclipse, and its potential "ring of fire," will take place early Tuesday morning, April 29, and will be visible in Australia and small parts of Antarctica and south Asia.

It won't be observable from Massachusetts or anywhere in the United States – or most of the planet – but an annular solar eclipse, and its potential "ring of fire," will take place early Tuesday morning, April 29 (Eastern Daylight Time), and will be visible in Australia and small parts of Antarctica and south Asia.

But fear not, rest of the world: You can observe it too, thanks to plans to live stream the eclipse by Slooh, which connects land-based telescopes to the Internet, and The Virtual Telescope Project, a service that makes robotic telescopes available over the Internet.

Slooh's live stream is scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. EDT, when it will be about 4 p.m. in Melbourne, Australia, where the greatest eclipse is at 5:07 p.m. local time, and 2 p.m. in Perth, where the height of the eclipse is 2:43 p.m. local time.

EarthSky.org has a fantastic summary of Tuesday's annular eclipse here »

EarthSky.org's page includes eclipse maps, animation and safety procedures for observing an eclipse.

For those wondering what makes a solar eclipse annual, NASA provides this definition in its Glossary of Solar Eclipse Terms:

A solar eclipse in which the Moon's antumbral shadow traverses Earth (the Moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun). During the maximum phase of an annular eclipse, the Sun appears as a blindingly bright ring surrounding the Moon.

Antumbra, umbra and penumbra are explained in the NASA glossary »

According to NASA, this solar eclipse is extremely rare – the April 29 event is considered a non-central annual eclipse, and in the 5,000-year period from 2,000 BC to 3,000 AD, only 1.7 percent of 3,956 annual eclipses are non-central.

The next time a total solar eclipse will be visible in the U.S. is Aug. 21, 2017. NASA's eclipse website has loads more eclipse information here »

Arbitrator sides with West Springfield in awarding mitigation funds for MGM Springfield casino

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Under the arbitration ruling, MGM Springfield is slated to pay West Springfield $425,000 annually, plus a cost of living increase, as well as $665,000 in upfront funds to reconstruct Memorial Avenue.

SPRINGFIELD — An arbitrator has sided with West Springfield, ruling that the town will receive $425,000 annually from MGM Springfield and other payments if MGM’s casino is approved in the South End.

The ruling will be reviewed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission at a meeting in Boston on Friday, commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said Monday.

The arbitrator notified the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that it had accepted West Springfield’s “best and final offer” rather than a lower amount proposed by MGM, Driscoll said. The payments are for mitigation if the casino wins a state license.

According to a report on TheReminder.com, MGM will pay $425,000 annually, which will increase based upon the consumer price index. In addition, MGM will provide an upfront payment of $665,000 for the reconstruction of Memorial Avenue, and will pay the town’s consultant expenses expected to total $150,000.

Carole Brennan, MGM Springfield spokeswoman, said the company is disappointed by the decision.

“While MGM respects West Springfield's advocacy and both the arbitrators’ and the town's work in this matter, we are disappointed with the arbitration decision,” Brennan said. “We will continue to seek a fair and equitable outcome, as we have done with all our surrounding communities, and look forward to discussing the terms of the agreement before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the coming weeks."

West Springfield Mayor Edward Sullivan could not be reached for comment.

The state gaming commission will discuss the arbitrator’s decision at the public meeting, “and will release all of the relevant documentation,” Driscoll said.

“The next step in the process is for the Commission to review the decision to ensure consistency with the statute,” Driscoll said. “That discussion will take place this Friday.”


This story will be updated as reporting continues.

Westover to lose 300 jobs under new Pentagon budget cuts

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The cuts are part of an effort to slash $487 billion from the nation's defense budget over the next eight years.

CHICOPEE — Westover Air Reserve Base will shed 300 jobs and half of the 439th Airlift Wing's C-5 fleet under new budget cuts, Air Force officials announced Monday.

The cuts include the expected loss of 59 full-time enlisted personnel and 275 drilling reservists. No timeline has been released, and the final numbers have not been determined, officials said.


Under the plan eight of the Airlift Wing's C-5 cargo aircraft will transfer from Westover to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas beginning in 2015.

"These changes affect the core of our mission here — our dedicated men and women. These reductions will incur hardships on our people," said Brig. Gen. Steven Vautrain, 439th Airlift Wing commander, in a press release. "We will take care of our people; we will place as a many as possible in other positions within the wing and programs will be available to assist those displaced by this change in force structure. We will continue to fulfill our global mobility mission before, during and after these changes."

The cuts are part of an effort to slash $487 billion from the nation's defense budget over the next eight years under the Budget Control Act, and a new national defense strategy calling for the Air Force to reduce the size of its forces.


This is a developing story. Updates will be posted as our reporting continues.

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