The University of Massachusetts plans to open an academic center at One Beacon Street and move the president's office back to the building after a 10-year stint in Boston's Financial District.

The University of Massachusetts is relocation if academic center in Boston. Submitted 

BOSTON — The University of Massachusetts plans to open an academic center at One Beacon Street and move the president's office back to the building after a 10-year stint in Boston's Financial District.

University officials on Thursday announced plans to offer academic programs at One Beacon starting in January 2016, when the UMass Club and some other administrative offices will be moved to the building, which is at the foot of Beacon Street and a short walk from the State House.

According to the university, all five UMass campuses will be able to offer classes in downtown Boston, a bid to appeal to people who work in that area of the city, which abuts the Suffolk University campus, and wish to advance their education.

"The UMass Center on Beacon Hill will allow UMass to expand its mission of service to the Commonwealth and continue its upward trajectory of progress and growth," UMass President Robert Caret said in a statement. "This effort is the product of thoughtful analysis and significant deliberation. It represents a major step for UMass."

Four classrooms with a capacity for 120 students are planned. University officials say they believe they'll save more than $5 million over the 15-year lease of floors 31 and 32 of One Beacon, compared to what they were being asked to pay to stay on Franklin Street where the lease expires at the end of 2015.

The university is opening an academic center in Springfield.

The goal is to help residents take back the neighborhood from drug dealers and other bad guys, officials said.

Updated at 9:54 p.m. Thursday, July 17, 2014 to include additional comments from Sgt. Henry LaFortune of the Hampden County Sheriff's Department; comments from audience members Melvin Malave, Sandy Rojas and Dori Dean; text a tip information; and a photo of Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez at the meeting.

HOLYOKE -- Like any fungus, drug dealers require effort to remove, and that means calling police and calling them again if necessary and staying alert, officials said Thursday at the first Ward 1 neighborhood crime watch meeting.

"Winning the safety of the neighborhood back is the ultimate goal," said Henry LaFortune, a sergeant with the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and the Ward 1 neighborhood watch coordinator.

Ten people showed up for the meeting at the Sargeant West Community Room at East Dwight and West streets.

LaFortune, who grew up on North Bridge Street, said he wants to instill a sense of possibility in the residents of the Flats Neighborhood and other parts of Ward 1 by informing them of places they can get help. Making such connections routine will help them feel the neighborhood belongs to them and not the dealers and other bad guys, he said.

"It's not just about telling on somebody. It's about providing services for people that need them in the Flats," LaFortune said.

Ward 1 is one of the poorer sections of a city that overall, has about 30 percent of its population of 40,000 living below the federal poverty line.

Melvin Malave asked what services were available. He said he works in Holyoke as a senior youth worker for the group Roca: ("rock" in Spanish) Truth, Trust & Transformation in Springfield.

LaFortune said that among among the places available for help listed in the brochure about the Ward 1 neighborhood watch that he distributes are the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke, CareerPoint, the office of Mayor Alex B. Morse, Holyoke Public Library, Holyoke School Department, including Kelly Full Service Community School down the road, and the police.

Initially, he said, his efforts at knocking on doors to meet residents and merchants will focus on the area of lower Cabot Street. Ed Caisse, sheriff's department program coordinator and veteran neighborhood watch commander, advised he start small and expand, he said.

"There's a lot of drug activity here," said Sandy Rojas, pointing at the door and asking why the area was limited.

Rojas works at the Sargeant West Community Room for Mount Holyoke Management, a real estate company.

LaFortune said he is starting in the Flats but plans to contact as much of Ward 1 as he can.

"I'm not just stopping here," LaFortune said.

Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Holyoke Ward 1 city councilor, makes a point Thursday at the Ward 1 neighborhood crime watch meeting.(MIKE PLAISANCE / THE REPUBLICAN) 

Dori Dean, of Lyman Street, asked what residents who see dealers selling drugs should do.

Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Ward 1 city councilor, said many people in such cases are afraid to come forward. Some fear even showing up at such a meeting because of backlash from drug dealers, she said.

LaFortune said those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to “CRIMES,” or “274637,” and then begin the body of the message with the word “SOLVE.”

The truth is that the process of calling police or texting tips can take a while to stop the problem of drug dealing. Police are unable to arrest on suspicion alone and the criminal justice system often returns arrestees to the streets, said Michael J. Moriarty, president of Olde Holyoke Development Corp., a private nonprofit housing provider.

Some areas are "a blatant open-air drug market," said Moriarty, who said nevertheless that the response is to keep fighting it.

"To me, it's just that consistent disruption," Moriarty said.

"I think Mike said it, be persistent," LaFortune said.

The next meeting will be July 31 at 6 p.m. at the same place.

Among topics at the next meeting will be Lebron-Martinez' idea to schedule a block party for the neighborhood. Such event could include speakers about getting jobs and dealing with substance abuse, as well as tables with information about counseling and other help, she said.

The people who live in Ward 1 want to improve the neighborhood, she said, but they need help in figuring out how to do that.

"We want to show the people we're here to work with you, support you," Lebron-Martinez said.

To join the Ward 1 neighborhood watch or to get information, call LaFortune at (413) 858-0958 or email him at henry.lafortune@sdh.state.ma.us.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the most recently enacted Beacon Hill tax increase, ballot activists hoping to repeal the indexing of the gas tax to inflation on Thursday released a “State House Tab” delineating areas where they say state government has “wasted” $2 billion.

BOSTON — Marking the one-year anniversary of the most recently enacted Beacon Hill tax increase, ballot activists hoping to repeal the indexing of the gas tax to inflation on Thursday released a “State House Tab” delineating areas where they say state government has “wasted” $2 billion.

The mock tab, printed up to appear like a retail receipt and signed by “Hardworking Taxpayers,” places a $332 million cost on the state’s crime lab evidence tampering scandal, a $500 million cost on the state’s failed health exchange website and related insurance coverage problems, and says welfare fraud has cost $200 million.

The tab also lists $175 million in health costs associated with “ineligible” residents, and describes as waste the $9 million makeover of Gov. Deval Patrick’s office and $2.6 million for transgender reassignment coverage.

Reps. Shaunna O’Connell of Taunton, Lenny Mirra of West Newbury, Marc Lombardo of Billerica, Jim Lyons of Andover, and Geoff Diehl of Whitman are pressing for passage of the anti-indexing measure, Question 1. Indexing law supporters say it will help the gas tax hold some of its purchasing power and help Massachusetts meet some of its infrastructure repair needs.

“One year ago the House voted to raise taxes. Our focus should be on stopping the wasting of tax dollars rather than raiding the wallets of the hard working taxpayers,” Mirra said in a statement.

Last year’s take hike was originally designed to generate $500 million in new annual taxes, but lawmakers quickly revisited their tax law and excised a new tax on technology services. State tax collections in fiscal 2014 rose 5.6 percent above fiscal 2013. The $23.37 billion tax haul last fiscal year represented an increase of $1.246 billion over fiscal 2013.

The Massachusetts Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of the state's gun laws Thursday, but not before stripping out a key element of a similar bill approved by House.

By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of the state's gun laws Thursday, but not before stripping out a key provision that would have given local police chiefs more discretion over issuing firearms identification cards needed to buy rifles or shotguns.

The Senate bill had initially included the measure — which is part of a similar bill passed by the House — but it was eliminated during debate. The Senate bill would maintain current law which limits chiefs to conducting background checks before issuing FID cards.

The bill, which mirrored many other aspects of the House bill, was approved on a voice vote. That means the votes of individual senators were not recorded.

Gun rights activists hailed the change.

"I'm very pleased with what the Senate did today," said John Hohenwarter, the National Rifle Association's government affairs director for Massachusetts. "The bill's in much better shape that it was when it came over from the House."

Gun safety advocates said the change guts the bill.

John Rosenthal of the group Stop Handgun Violence, said giving police chiefs added discretion over the issuing of FID cards was the single most important aspect of the bill.

"Without it, it's not worth the paper it's written on," Rosenthal said. "Shame on the Massachusetts Senate. Sadly they voted against police chiefs and against public safety and for the special interest gun lobby and people will die as a result."

James Timilty, Senate chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the change was in keeping with the Constitution's Second Amendment.

He rejected the idea that the Senate bowed to pressure from the gun lobby when it accepted the amendment on a 28-11 vote.

"There was no pressure from angry gun owners," said Timilty, D-Walpole. "This was something I felt very strongly about."

Sen. Cynthia Creem, who opposed the amendment, said she was told that the NRA had pressed lawmakers to strip out the language.

"It wasn't until today that I had any inkling that that amendment would have had any traction," the Newton Democrat said.

Jim Wallace, head of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League, credited the change on lobbying efforts by members of the group, who made calls and sent emails to lawmakers.

"It was an education process, It's not just a matter of slamming your fist on the table and demanding somebody vote some way," he said. "It's explaining why you want something to happen or don't want to happen."

Like the House bill, the Senate proposal would create a web-based portal within the state Executive Office of Public Safety to allow for real-time background checks in private gun sales and would stiffen penalties for some gun-based crimes. It would also create a firearms trafficking unit within the State Police.

Both bills would also require schools to have access to two-way communication devices with police and fire departments and mandate that Massachusetts join the National Instant Background Check System, which requires the state to transmit information about substance abuse or mental health commitments to a federal database for use by police in reviewing firearms applications.

Both bills now head to a six-member House and Senate conference committee to hammer out a single, compromise bill.

Injured motorcyclist transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

HADLEY – A motorcyclist was injured Thursday night in a collision with a motor vehicle on Bay Road in front of Hartsbrook Farm.

Hadley police said the motorcycle operator suffered multiple injuries in the crash. He was rushed by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, police said.

The accident was reported just after 7 p.m. on Bay Street near East Hadley Road.

Police were not releasing any information about the accident other than to say there was a collision between a motorcycle and a motor vehicle.

The occupants of the motor vehicle were not injured, police said.

The state Police Collision Analysis Unit responded to the scene to aid Hadley police in the investigation.

Hadley police, and the Hadley and Amherst fire departments helped treat the injured man at the scene, police said.

One hundred and fifty-four of the 298 people killed in the crash were from the Netherlands.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 that was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine on Thursday was carrying 298 people from at least nine countries. Here is a breakdown of the nationalities of those on board:

Netherlands: 154

Malaysia: 43 (including 15 crew and two infants)

Australia: 27

Indonesia: 12 (including one infant)

United Kingdom: 9

Germany: 4

Belgium: 4

Philippines: 3

Canada: 1

Unconfirmed nationalities: 41

While most of the world is trying to diminish child labor, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalize it from age 10. Congress approved the legislation early this month, and Vice President Alvaro Garcia signed it into law Thursday in the absence of President Evo Morales, who was traveling.

EL ALTO, Bolivia -- Alicia weaves through El Alto's stalled traffic under a blazing sun, hawking colorful woven flowers to grumpy drivers and lovers.

With luck, the 12-year-old and her mother will together muster $18 by day's end, all the while keeping watch over her younger brother and sister, ages 8 and 6.

"It is difficult for my mother to sell alone because she has to look after my siblings," said Alicia, who normally goes to school in the afternoon but is using her vacation to help her mother by working the entire day. As her siblings sleep, her mother knits the flowers that Alicia sells.

While most of the world is trying to diminish child labor, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalize it from age 10. Congress approved the legislation early this month, and Vice President Alvaro Garcia signed it into law Thursday in the absence of President Evo Morales, who was traveling.

The bill's sponsors say lowering the minimum work age from 14 simply acknowledges a reality: Many poor families in Bolivia have no other choice than for their kids to work. The bill offers working children safeguards, they say.

"Child labor already exists in Bolivia and it's difficult to fight it. Rather than persecute it, we want to protect the rights and guarantee the labor security of children," said Sen. Adolfo Mendoza, one of the bill's sponsors.

Under the legislation, 10-year-olds will be able to work as long as they are under parental supervision and also attend school. It sets 12 as the minimum age for a child to work under contract. They also would have to attend school.

"To eliminate work for boys and girls would be like eliminating people's social conscience," Morales said in December in support of unionized young workers who marched on Congress to prevent it from ratifying a bottom-end work age of 14.

"The president gave us his support. He also worked as a boy, herding llamas," Rodrigo Medrano, head of the Union of Boy, Girl and Adolescent Workers, told The Associated Press. He said there is no alternative in a society where half the population is poor.

Jo Becker, the children's rights advocacy director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, disagrees.

"Bolivia's move is out of step with the rest of the world," she said. "Child labor may be seen as a short-term solution to economic hardship, but is actually a cause of poverty."

Becker said people who start work as children end up with less education and lower earnings as adults. They are then more likely to send their own children to work, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Bolivia should instead invest in ways to lift families out of poverty, she said. It already does in a limited way, paying a per-child subsidy of $28 a year to families whose children attend school.

Carmen Moreno, an International Labor Organization official working to reduce child labor, said Bolivia's law contravenes a U.N. convention designating 14 as the minimum work age.

It also runs against the regional current. Mexico has set age 15 as the minimum and Chile age 16, Moreno said.

The U.N. agency says child labor is down one-third globally since 2000, with Latin America and the Caribbean together accounting now for just 13 million of the planet's estimated 168 million working children.

A 2008 study done by the ILO and Bolivian government found that 850,000 children ages 5 to 17 were working in Bolivia, roughly half in the countryside and half in the cities. Nearly nine in 10 were in the worst kinds of jobs, including sugar cane harvesting and underground mining, a proven life-shortener.

More recent statistics are lacking, but it's estimated that 1 million Bolivian children work regularly, accounting for 15 percent of the workforce. They toil in textiles, on farms and as street vendors, coca leaf pickers and porters at markets.

One in three don't attend school, studies show.

For Alicia, a childhood of play and leisure is not an option, especially since her father died two years ago. She says some days she is so tired from standing constantly that studying is difficult.

"There are days when I want to go out and have fun like those children I see go to the movie theater, but I see the effort my mother makes and I forget about all that," she said. "How can I rest when she doesn't?"

BOSTON — Authorities investigating a former Dorchester funeral home director discovered human remains in a Weymouth storage facility on Thursday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced in a public statement. Boston Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA’s Special Investigations Unit, investigating a unit inside of the Public Storage facility on Main Street in Weymouth, discovered "multiple sets...

BOSTON — Authorities investigating a former Dorchester funeral home director discovered human remains in a Weymouth storage facility on Thursday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced in a public statement.

Boston Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA's Special Investigations Unit, investigating a unit inside of the Public Storage facility on Main Street in Weymouth, discovered "multiple sets of adult remains," according to the DA's news release. The remains were transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Investigators do not believe the deaths of those found were the result of foul play, according to the release. Authorities said there was no threat to public safety.

The search warrant was obtained amid an ongoing investigation of Joseph V. O'Donnell, 55, of Mattapan, a former Dorchester funeral home director currently in custody on larceny charges.

O'Donnell, whose funeral director's license expired in 2008, is currently being held on $10,000 cash bail on two counts of larceny over $250 in Dorchester Municipal Court for allegedly taking more than $12,000 in pre-payment funds from an elderly couple to cover two future funerals. O'Donnell was arrested by Boston Police on April 10, and is due back in court on Friday.

On Wednesday, investigators executed a search warrant at a storage facility on Linwood Street in Somerville, where they discovered cremated remains that they seized pending further investigation.

"Our top priority right now is determining the identity of the remains we've discovered," Conley said. "We've seized records and documents that could help us locate those people's families, but this will be a time- and labor-intensive task."

Anyone with concerns about a payment to O'Donnell for funeral or cremation services may contact the Suffolk DA's Special Investigations Unit at 617-619-4010.

Police said they received two separate complaints on Wednesday afternoon from women and the descriptions of the suspect in each lead police to believe the same man in involved.

 

Police said they received two separate complaints on Wednesday afternoon from women and the descriptions of the suspect in each lead police to believe the same man in involved.

The two cases involve a single woman and a group of young women, police said.
In each, the man drove up to them in the parking lot and asked for directions. When the women walked up to his car to help, they could see he was naked from the waist down.

He was described as white, in his mid-30s, and balding. The car was an older small sedan, possibly a Honda. It was rust colored or tan, police said.

Police were checking surveillance footage from the parking lot to see if they could identify the vehicle or see the license plate, police said.

Police were advising women that if it happens to them, they should get away from the car and immediately call 911. Anyone who sees anything suspicious is also asked to call Sunderland police at (413) 665-7036.

Secretary of State John Kerry says it's still unknown if any Americans were on board the plane.

WASHINGTON -- American intelligence authorities believe a surface-to-air missile took down a passenger jet in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, a U.S. official said, but the Obama administration was still scrambling to confirm who launched the strike and whether there were American citizens killed in the crash.

Vice President Joe Biden said the incident was "not an accident" and described the Malaysia Airlines plane as having been "blown out of the sky."

Among the unanswered questions was whether the missile was launched from the Russian or Ukrainian side of the border they share, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name and insisted on anonymity. But the official said U.S. intelligence assessments suggest it is more likely pro-Russian separatists or the Russians rather than Ukrainian government forces shot down the plane.

The U.S. has sophisticated technologies that can detect missile launches, including the identification of heat from a rocket engine.

President Barack Obama, speaking during a trip to Delaware, made no mention of who might be responsible for the crash of the plane carrying 298 people, and called the incident a "terrible tragedy."

Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration said U.S. airlines voluntarily agreed not to operate near the Ukraine-Russia border. The agency said it was monitoring the situation to determine whether further guidance was necessary.

A global air safety group said an international coalition of countries should lead the investigation of the crash. Safety experts say they're concerned that because the plane crashed in area of Ukraine that is in dispute, political considerations could affect the investigation.

Kenneth Quinn of the Flight Safety Foundation said only "an independent, multinational investigation can truly get to the bottom of it without political interference."

The incident came one day after Obama levied broad economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for its threatening moves in Ukraine. Moscow is widely believed to be supporting pro-Russian separatists fomenting instability near the border, though the Kremlin denies those assertions.

Obama discussed the new sanctions by phone Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said reports of the downed plane surfaced during that call and Putin mentioned the incident to his American counterpart.

Speaking later during a trip to Delaware, Obama said "the world is watching" the deadly incident.

"It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy," he said. "Right now we're working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority."

Secretary of State John Kerry said late Thursday that authorities still were trying to determine whether any Americans had been on the plane.

Obama went ahead later Thursday with a scheduled evening of fundraising for Democrats in New York, but called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as he traveled to the events. The White House said Obama and Poroshenko agreed that all evidence from the crash site must remain in Ukraine until international investigators were able to examine it.

The president also called both Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, where the flight originated. Officials said Obama and Rutte discussed the need for international investigators to have immediate access to the crash site.

The U.S. planned to send a team of experts to Ukraine to assist with the investigation.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said on his Facebook page that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.

U.S. officials said Russia has sent a wide range of heavy weaponry into eastern Ukraine in recent months, although it is uncertain whether that includes the Buk air defense system, which is operated by a tracked vehicle. The U.S. suspects that Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons have been provided to the separatists.

According to a Ukrainian state-owned import-export firm that specializes in military technology and weaponry, known as Ukroboronservice, the Ukrainian military operates the Buk-M1 system, which is designated by NATO as the SA-11 Gadfly. It is designed to shoot down military aircraft, including helicopters, as well as cruise missiles.

The Russians also are believed by U.S. officials to have provided the separatists in eastern Ukraine with other heavy weaponry such as artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned U.S. pilots earlier this year not to fly over portions of the Ukraine in the Crimea region, according to notices posted on the agency's website.

The notices were posted on April 23. The U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization and the aviation authorities in most countries issue similar notices for areas where unrest or military conflict creates a risk of being shot down.

As the officer tried to find out the source of the dispute, Kimberly Welc became irate and shoved him, police said.

HADLEY – Police arrested a 29-year-old Chicopee woman Wednesday night after she repeatedly kicked the police officer who tried to resolve a domestic argument between the woman and her husband, police said.

Kimberly Welc of Chicopee was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer.

According to police, a Hadley officer pulled up to what appeared to be a car accident at Bay Road and East Street. Two cars were pulled off to the side of the road, police said.

The officer found a man and woman in one car were in a heated argument and occupant of the other call pulled over to call 911.

As the officer tried to find out what was happening, Welc became irate and shoved him, police said.

He attempted to place her in custody and she kicked him. The officer used his pepper spray to subdue her and as he placed her in handcuffs, she kicked at him one more time, police said.

Police said Welc had been drinking prior to the altercation.

She was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court. Information from the arraignment was not available.

Jeff Flynn was charged with three counts of statutory rape.

WEBSTER - A Palmer man who is employed as a music teacher at Bartlett Junior Senior High School is charged with having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female student at the school, according to reports.

Jeff Flynn 

Jeffrey M. Flynn, 40, was charged with three counts of statutory rape, according to the Worcester Telegram and the Webster Times.

The Telegram reports that Flynn denied the charges at his arraignment Thursday in Palmer District Court. He was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

He was apparently arrested following an investigation by the Webster police.

Webster Superintendent of Schools Barbara Malkas issued a statement for the community addressing the allegations.

Without mentioning Flynn by name, Malkas wrote that she was saddened to report that a teacher had been charged with rape of a minor.

“There is a sacred trust between parents and schools which commits districts to not only provide an education to children, but an oath to provide for their safety. Schools need to be places where childhood is preserved and protected, and it is incomprehensible to us as a community that an adult could abuse a child,” she wrote.

Although the schools are closed for the summer, she said there will be counselors and school administrators available to meet with students, parents and teacher on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Bartlett Junior Senior High School.

A Westfield man faces drug-related charges after Westfield police say they found pot plants, more than a pound of packaged pot and more than $17,000 in cash in his home.

WESTFIELD - A Westfield man faces drug-related charges after Westfield police say they found pot plants, more than a pound of packaged pot and more than $17,000 in cash in his home.

Antonio Bottone, 19, is charged with two counts of possession of class D drugs with intent to distribute, possession of a class B drug and possession of a class C drug. Judge Philip Contant released him on personal recognizance Thursday in Westfield District Court.

According to the police report, officers executed a search warrant Wednesday on the first floor of 12 Gold St. The report said officers found a dozen pot plants with a grow light, a digital scale, more than a pound of pot in a vacuum-sealed package and $17,220.

Officers also found Suboxone and Clonazepam, for which Bottone does not have prescriptions, the report said.

A punch list of issues related to the HVAC system was circulated at the meeting and will be taken up in days to come.

LONGMEADOW — Sometimes it's too hot, sometimes it's too cold, there's a leaky HVAC unit and one field of grass hasn't come in yet.

These are some of the glitches at the year-old new Longmeadow High School, but the school superintendent said she was "delighted" with the building at a meeting of the Longmeadow School Building Committee this week.

While the halls of the high school stood dark and empty Thursday evening, the quiet was misleading, belying the intensity with which the building was being considere as the building committee met to go over business that has become pertinent since the official opening of the facility in September 2013.

Tom Murphy, project manager for the new high school, kicked off the proceedings with a presentation that went over items ranging from the warranties of various elements of the school – from the HVAC system to the trees – to the grass on the athletic fields, down to the need to install stairs to ease entry into the orchestra pit.

The HVAC system has had a few problems – temperatures have been alternatively warm or cool in different parts of the school, and one rooftop unit is leaking oily water into the building. A punch list of issues related to the system was circulated at the meeting and will be taken up in days to come.

The grass on the north athletic field has not come in yet, as a fledgling crop did not survive the spring. It is expected to be up to snuff in spring 2016.

Town Manager Stephen Crane followed by discussing the options for funding these projects, which include going to community residents at the next Town Meeting or consulting the town Select Board, as well as the need to hire a new facilities director for the school and replace trees on the grounds that were struck and killed by a motorist in April.

"We are delighted with the building – the design, how everything is user-friendly," said Superintendent Marie Doyle. "Right now, we're bogged down in the details, but I don't want to leave people thinking that we don't appreciate the excellent work that's been done here ... it really is a state-of-the-art building, and we're happy to have it."

The University of Connecticut will pay $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit by five women who alleged the school did not take seriously their claims of sexual assaults on campus.

By PAT EATON-ROBB

STORRS, Conn. — The University of Connecticut will pay $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit by five women who alleged the school did not take seriously their claims of sexual assaults on campus.

The bulk of the settlement, $900,000, will go to Silvana Moccia, a former UConn ice hockey player who alleged she was kicked off the team after reporting she had been raped by a male hockey player in August 2011.

The other four women will receive payments ranging from $25,000 to $125,000.

University officials adamantly denied that they have been indifferent to reports of assaults and did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement. They said the legal fight would be costly and bad for UConn's image.

"It was clear to all parties that no good would have come from dragging this out for years as it consumed the time, attention and resources — both financial and emotional — of everyone involved," said Larry McHugh, the chairman of the school's Board of Trustees. "In order to do this, compromise was required on both sides, which is reflected in the settlement. I hope this resolution will help the students find closure on this issue."

The university remains the subject of a Title IX investigation by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights.

The high-profile case is one of several underscoring the issue of sexual assaults on campuses across the country. The prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses took on new focus in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State and after a high-profile battle on Capitol Hill about military sexual assault led college campus assault victims to demand the same attention.

Sexual violence investigations are pending at nearly 70 postsecondary institutions whose actions, policies and procedures are being questioned.

Colleges and universities need to do a better job investigating sexual assaults, said Christopher Mallios, an attorney at Washington-based AEquitas: The Prosecutors' Resource on Violence Against Women. Schools should have investigators who are trained by experts who know how traumatizing sexual assault is, he said.

"You're dealing with victims of sexual trauma. The last thing you want to be doing is re-traumatizing the victims," Mallios said.

The UConn lawsuit alleged discrimination based on gender and retaliation in violation of Title IX, which guarantees equal educational opportunities to students at schools that receive federal funds. It sought unspecified monetary damages and changes in university policies.

The two sides issued a joint statement, which includes an acknowledgment by the plaintiffs that "certain UConn employees provided compassionate care and assistance to them," although they alleged the response of the school as a whole showed deliberate indifference.

UConn officials detailed steps the school has taken to ensure women can report sexual assaults to police or schools and receive proper guidance and counseling.

"This lawsuit may have been settled, but the issue of sexual assault on college campuses has not been," school President Susan Herbst said. "Our hearts go out to all victims of sexual violence. The University has taken many positive, important steps in the battle against sexual assault in recent years, which are described in the joint statement, but there is still more to be done."

The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights began the Title IX investigation in December based on complaints by four of the plaintiffs and three other women.

Department spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said Friday the office will continue to investigate "whether the university responded promptly and effectively to complaints and other information related to sexual violence and sexual harassment that may have subjected students to a sexually hostile environment." That investigation could result in the loss of federal funds for the school.

School officials said they would continue to cooperate with that investigation.

One plaintiff, Kylie Angell, said a police officer told her, "Women need to stop spreading their legs like peanut butter or rape is going to keep happening until the cows come home."

Angell said Friday in a written statement that it was healing for her to see her claims taken so seriously.

"I look forward to seeing UConn continue to respond with such seriousness to reports of sexual assault, with the hope that future women who find themselves victims of sexual assault will be empowered by reporting to a university that supports them and protects their rights," she said.

Angell receives $115,000 in the settlement. Carolyn Luby will get $25,000; Rosemary Richi receives $60,000 and Erica Daniels receives $125,000. The Associated Press normally does not release the names of victims in sexual assault cases but the women decided to make their names public.

None of the men involved in the complaints ever faced criminal charges. The assaults allegedly occurred between 2010 and 2013.

A Westfield man is accused of sexually assaulting a teen girl in March.

WESTFIELD - A Westfield man could face up to 10 years in prison after being accused of sexually assaulting a teen girl.

Collin Pacheco, 20, is charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He was arraigned Thursday in Westfield District Court and Judge Philip Contant released him on personal recognizance.

According to the police report, officers responded March 22 to Noble Hospital, where a 13-year-old girl said Pacheco touched her.

The alleged victim told police that she spent the night at a friend's house where Pacheco also lived. She was watching TV next to Pacheco when he kissed and touched her inappropriately, though she told him not to, the report said.

She told police Pacheco told her not to tell anyone or he would go to jail, the report said.

After being called to the police station, Pacheco denied touching the girl, but later said he hugged her and then said he pushed her, the report said.

Pacheco's pretrial conference is scheduled for Sept. 25. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The state police conduct periodic checkpoints throughout the state to look for drivers who are impaired by drugs or alcohol.

SPRINGFIELD - Massachusetts State Police plan to hold a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in Worcester County beginning Thursday night and into Friday morning morning.

The exact location was not disclosed.

The state police conduct periodic checkpoints throughout the state to look for drivers who are impaired by drugs or alcohol.

State police say such checkpoints are operated during varied hours and that the selection of vehicles is not arbitrary. Announcement of the event is made in advance by the state police as a way of minimizing any inconvenience, anxiety or fear on the part of drivers.

The checkpoints are funded by a grant from the Highway Safety Division of the state Executive Office of Public Security and Safety.

World leaders demanded Friday that pro-Russia rebels who control the eastern Ukraine crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 give immediate, unfettered access to independent investigators to determine who shot down the plane.

By PETER LEONARD and DMITRY LOVETSKY

ROZSYPNE, Ukraine — World leaders demanded Friday that pro-Russia rebels who control the eastern Ukraine crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 give immediate, unfettered access to independent investigators to determine who shot down the plane.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. pointed blame at the separatists, saying Washington believes the jetliner carrying 298 people, including 80 children, likely was downed by an SA-11 missile, and "we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel."

Both the White House and the Kremlin called for peace talks in the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-speaking separatists who seek closer ties to Moscow. Heavy fighting was reported less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the crash site, with an estimated 20 civilians reported killed.

Emergency workers and local coal miners recovered bodies from grasslands and fields of sunflowers, where the wreckage of the Boeing 777 fell Thursday.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, center, prepares to leave following a U.N. Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Friday, July 18, 2014. Britain's U.N. Mission says it requested an emergency meeting after Thursday's downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people over eastern Ukraine. John MinchilloAP Photo/John Minchillo 

About 30 officials, mostly from the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, arrived at the crash site between the villages of Rozsypne and Hrabove, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border.

The rebels allowed the team to perform a very partial and superficial inspection. While the delegation was leaving under orders from the armed overseers, two Ukrainian members lingered to look at a fragment of the plane by a roadside, only for a militiaman to fire a warning shot in the air with his Kalashnikov.

The dead passengers were from nearly a dozen nations — including vacationers, students and a group heading to an AIDS conference in Australia — when the plane was shot down Thursday while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

President Barack Obama, disclosing that one American was among those killed, called it "a global tragedy."

"An Asian airliner was destroyed in European skies filled with citizens from many countries, so there has to be a credible international investigation into what happened," he said.

In Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk vented his anger in calling for an international investigation.

"We ask all respective governments ... to support the Ukrainian government to bring to justice all these bastards who committed this international crime," he said.

All sides in the conflict — the Ukrainian government, the pro-Russia rebels they are fighting and the Russian government that Ukraine accuses of supporting the rebels — denied shooting down the plane. Moscow also denies backing the rebels.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed accusations that Moscow could be behind the attack.

"Regarding those claims from Kiev that we allegedly did it ourselves: I have not heard a truthful statement from Kiev for months," he told the Rossiya 24 television channel.

At the Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the missile was likely fired from a rebel-held area near the Russian border.

Power said that early Thursday, a journalist saw an SA-11 system — known in Russia as a Buk missile system — in separatist-controlled territory near Snizhne, "and separatists were spotted hours before the incident with an SA-11 SAM system close to the site where the plane came down."

"Separatists initially claimed responsibility for shooting down a military transport plane, and claimed responsibility and posted videos that are now being connected to the Malaysian Airlines crash," Power said. "Separatist leaders also boasted on social media about shooting down a plane, but later deleted these messages."

"Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11, it is unlikely that the separatists could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel. Thus, we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the systems," she said.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin did not respond to the U.S. allegations.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry released a video purporting to show a truck carrying the Buk missile launcher it said was used to fire on the plane with one of its four missiles apparently missing. The ministry said the video was shot by a police surveillance squad at dawn Friday as the truck headed toward the Russian border.

There was no way to independently verify the video.

The entire Security Council called for "a full, thorough and independent international investigation, in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines, and for appropriate accountability." It stressed the need for "immediate access by investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident."

Obama also called for such an investigation, adding: "The eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out."

He also called for a cease-fire in the conflict between the separatists and Ukrainian forces. At a Kremlin meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged that "all sides in the conflict should halt their fighting and enter into peaceful talks," according to an official website.

On Thursday, Putin blamed Ukraine for the crash, saying Kiev was responsible for the unrest in its Russian-speaking eastern regions. But he didn't accuse Ukraine of shooting the plane down and didn't address the key question of whether Russia gave the rebels such a powerful missile.

Ukraine's state aviation service closed the airspace Friday over two border regions gripped by separatist fighting — Donetsk and Luhansk — and Russian airlines suspended all flights over Ukraine.

Luhansk, a rebel stronghold northeast of Hrabove, saw sustained fighting Friday as Ukrainian government forces reportedly retook part of the city from the rebels.

City officials estimated at least 20 civilians had been killed in shelling. One resident told The Associated Press that street-to-street fighting had continued into the night.

Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said government troops had retaken the southeast section of the city.

There was uncertainty over whether Flight 17's flight data and cockpit voice recorders had been recovered.

Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai said "no 'black boxes' have been found," although earlier in the day, an aide to the military leader of Borodai's group said authorities had recovered eight out of 12 recording devices from the plane. Since planes usually have two recorders, it was not clear what the aide was referring to.

At the sprawling crash site, lines of men — including about 70 off-duty coal miners — disappeared into thick, tall growth that reached over their heads as they conducted their search. One man fainted after finding a body. Another body was covered in a coat.

A large number of sticks, some made from tree branches, were affixed with red or white rags to mark spots where body parts were found.

Smashed watches and cellphones, charred boarding passes and passports were among the debris.

In the distance, the thud of Grad missile launchers being fired could be heard Friday morning.

Ukraine's government said it is already preparing for the bodies to be taken to the city of Kharkiv, 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of the crash site. But Andrei Purgin, a leader of the separatists, said they would go to the government-controlled Black Sea city of Mariupol.

A fire racing through rural north-central Washington destroyed about 100 homes, leaving behind smoldering rubble, solitary brick chimneys and burned-out automobiles as it blackened hundreds of square miles in the scenic Methow Valley.

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS and GENE JOHNSON

PATEROS, Wash. — A fire racing through rural north-central Washington destroyed about 100 homes, leaving behind smoldering rubble, solitary brick chimneys and burned-out automobiles as it blackened hundreds of square miles in the scenic Methow Valley.

Friday's dawn revealed dramatic devastation, with the Okanagan County town of Pateros, home to 650 people, hit especially hard. Most residents evacuated in advance of the flames, and some returned Friday to see what, if anything, was left of their houses. There were no reports of injuries, officials said.

A wall of fire wiped out a block of homes on Dawson Street. David Brownlee, 75, said he drove away Thursday evening just as the fire reached the front of his home, which erupted like a box of matches.

"It was just a funnel of fire," Brownlee said. "All you could do was watch her go."

Firefighters work on the still-smoldering remains of a house destroyed the night before in a wildfire, Friday, July 18, 2014, in Pateros, Wash. A fire racing through rural north-central Washington destroyed about 100 homes, leaving behind smoldering rubble, solitary brick chimneys and burned-out automobiles as it blackened hundreds of square miles. Friday's dawn revealed dramatic devastation, with the Okanagan County town of Pateros, home to 650 people, hit especially hard. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson 

Next door, the Pateros Community Church appeared largely undamaged.

The pavement of U.S. Highway 97 stopped the advance of some of the flames, protecting parts of the town.

Firefighters poured water over the remnants of homes Friday morning, raising clouds of smoke, steam and dust. Two big water towers perched just above the town were singed black. Ash fell like snowflakes.

The fire consumed utility poles from two major power lines, knocking out power to Pateros as well as the towns of Winthrop and Twisp to the north.

Gov. Jay Inslee said about 50 fires were burning in Washington, which has been wracked by hot, dry weather, and gusting winds and lightning. Some 2,000 firefighters were working in the eastern part of the state, with about a dozen helicopters from the Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard, along with a Washington State Patrol spotter plane.

Karina Shagren, spokeswoman for the state's Military Department, said 100 National Guard troops were on standby, and up to 1,000 more in Yakima could receive additional fire training. Active duty military could be called in as well, Inslee said.

"This, unfortunately, is not going to be a one-day or one-week event," he said.

Sections of several highways were closed in the Methow Valley, a popular area for hiking and fishing about 180 miles northeast of Seattle.

"There's a lot of misplaced people, living in parking lots and stuff right now," said Rod Griffin, a fly-fishing guide who lives near Twisp. "The whole valley's in disarray."

He described long lines for gasoline, with at least one gas station out of fuel, and said cellphone towers must have been damaged as well because there was very little service.

In Brewster, 6 miles to the south, a hospital was evacuated as a precaution. The smoke was so thick there Friday it nearly obscured the Columbia River from adjacent highways. The smoke extended all the way to Spokane, 150 miles to the east.

Officials said the fire, known as the Carlton Complex, had blackened 260 square miles by Friday morning, up dramatically from the prior estimate of 28 square miles.

It continued to grow Friday, with evacuation orders issued for a small cluster of homes at Davis Lake, southeast of Winthrop, fire spokeswoman Jessica Blethen said. No further update on the size was expected before Saturday morning.

"Mother Nature is winning here," Don Waller, chief of Okanogan County Fire District 6, told The Wenatchee World newspaper.

The county sheriff, Frank Rogers, said his team counted 30 houses and trailers destroyed in Pateros, another 40 in a community just outside the town at Alta Lake, and about 25 homes destroyed elsewhere in the county of about 40,000 people.

About 100 miles to the south, the Mills Canyon complex of fires chased people from nearly 900 homes as it sent a dusting of ash over the Bavarian-themed village of Leavenworth. Some of those evacuation orders were eased Friday, but there was no indication on when U.S. Highway 2 would reopen in the area, said fire spokeswoman Mary Bean.

Worsening wildfire activity has prompted the governor's offices in both Washington and Oregon to declare states of emergency, a move that allows state officials to call up the National Guard.

Fifteen large fires were reported throughout Oregon on Friday, burning across more than 565 square miles of timber, rangeland and grass. Dozens of homes were evacuated as incident management teams and hotshot crews were brought in from at least nine states to supplement Oregon's strained resources.

Jury deliberations in the Massachusetts probation trial will extend beyond the weekend as Friday passed with anxious idle for the lawyers and defendants awaiting the jury’s verdict at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston.

By ANDY METZGER

BOSTON — Jury deliberations in the Massachusetts probation trial will extend beyond the weekend.

Friday passed with anxious idle for the lawyers and defendants awaiting the jury’s verdict at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse. The 12 members of the jury deliberated solely among themselves, providing only their legal and logistical questions and their countenances as sources of speculation about what their discussions entail.

On Friday afternoon, before going home for the day, jurors requested sticky notes, tape and tabs, and the office supplies were given to them, perhaps signaling a new level of discussion. Before U.S. District Court Judge William Young dismissed them around 3 p.m., one of the jurors let out a sigh, though it was unclear if it was meant as any type of commentary.

The jury is working to determine whether former Probation Commissioner John O’Brien and two of his former deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III, committed crimes by operating a secret patronage system within the probation department. “This whole entire process now turns on you,” Young advised the jurors.