According to town by-laws, signs "must be removed no later than two days" after the pertinent election.

LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow offiicals have reminded town residents to take down any campaign signs that remain in their yards, as per the regulations set forth in the town charter.

In the notice posted on the town website, the pertinent piece of the law is cited:

"Excerpt from 6-314: (ii) Temporary signs may be erected no sooner than sixty (60) days prior to the election or meeting at which the candidates or issue will be voted on and must be removed no later than two (2) days after such election or meeting."

The most recent town election took place in Longmeadow on June 3, and determined who would fill open seats on the town School Committee, Select Board, Housing Authority and Planning Board.

In the only formally contested race of the day, Michelle Carrazza Grodsky was re-elected to the School Committee.

The state board is expected which applicants will receive charters by February.

MALDEN — Seven applicants, including two in Western Massachusetts, are seeking to open new charter schools in the Bay State, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced today.

 

The proposals include four requests to open commonwealth charter schools and three proposals to open Horace Mann charter schools, the department announced in a prepared statement. Commonwealth charter schools are fully autonomous and operate independently of the local school district. Horace Mann charter schools are developed and operated in close cooperation with the host school district, and require approval of the local school committee.

Charter schools are open to all Massachusetts students, with enrollment preference given to students in the district or region where the school is located.

In Western Massachusetts, one group seeks to open a commonwealth school called International Academy Charter School targeting Chicopee and Springfield, while another seeks to open a Horace Mann school called UP Academy Charter School in Springfield.

"Across Massachusetts, there are many exceptional public charter schools that set a very high bar for excellence and deliver an outstanding educational program to students," said Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester. "I look forward to reviewing the new batch of prospectuses and inviting the applicant groups with the best proposals to move on to the final stage of the charter application cycle."

Other proposals include one in central Massachusetts in the Fitchburg area, one serving the Brockton area, one serving Cape Cod and the Islands, one in the Boston area and one in the Salem area.

Once prospectuses are reviewed, the department plans to notify the applicant groups whose prospectuses show the most promise by mid September and invite them to submit full applications. Full applications are due on Nov. 5.

For each group invited to submit a final application, their proposal will receive a comprehensive review by department staff and external reviewers with expertise in education, finance, legal and organizational structure. Chester will then decide which finalists to recommend to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The board will vote on the commissioner's recommendations to award new charters in February.

In 2010, the Patrick Administration raised the charter school cap in the lowest performing school districts and made a number of changes to the charter authorizing process.

Since 2011, the board has awarded 27 new charters, which at maximum enrollment will enroll nearly 13,000 students.

For more information on charter schools, visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/.

The Massachusetts House passed legislation Thursday banning robo-calls or automated texts to cell phones.

By ANDY METZGER

BOSTON — The House passed legislation Thursday banning robo-calls or automated texts to cell phones.

Mattapoisett Democrat Rep. William Straus said he first filed the bill last session because he noticed he was getting robo-calls and texts from businesses he had never heard of. He viewed it as a “nuisance,” he said, and more of an interference than marketing calls to his land line.

“It’s just one of those examples where if the Legislature can be helpful to get one added nuisance out of people’s lives every day, I think that’s a good thing,” Straus told the News Service.

Beyond marketers, political campaigns often use robo-call technology to spread their messages, and Straus said he is open to changes in the bill.

“I’m certainly aware as the legislation moves that there may be a First Amendment issue on behalf of candidates who have communication rights, but it’s not unlimited in my mind that just because somebody is a candidate for office that they get to reach you anywhere,” Straus said.

The bill cleared the House last session but not the Senate. The current bill (H 299) still needs passage in the Senate before reaching the governor’s desk, and Straus said, “I have some persuading to do.”

The legislation would create a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each knowing violation, and a minimum penalty of $1,500 for each knowing violation against a senior.

Individuals who receive more than one such automated solicitation to a mobile phone would be allowed to bring their own legal action to recover any losses and up to $10,000 in damages and attorney fees. The bill exempts certain health care entities as well as school officials, messages from employers about work schedules, and messages from correctional facilities and other government entities.

Straus said people on land-lines can sign up for the do-not-call list, and noted some mobile customers might be charged for answering a robo-call or might receive a robo-call while behind the wheel of a car.

Only a handful of mall stores from 1979 are still there, including Foot Locker, Sears and J.C. Penney

Update: 5 p.m. Holyoke Mall: movies, bowling, places to sit, wifi all part of keeping relevant

HOLYOKE — Where have you gone, Crazy Joyce?

Or for that matter, whatever happened to the Country Cookie, Jefferson Pine, Dora Dale or most of the 154 retailers and restaurants that were at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside when the mall opened on July 5, 1979. The mall directory includes a store called Crazy Joyce's.

The mall, which now gets 18 million to 19 million visitors a year, is hosting a  celebration Saturday, July 26, from noon to 4 p.m. that will include entertainment provided by Forest Park's Zoo on the Go, the Springfield Science Museum, the Valley Blue Sox and Clowntique, Mix 93.1 and others. Coupons and discounts will also be available.

Of the original roster of stores, just a handful of retailers remain, including anchor stores J.C. Penney and Sears. Other shopping survivors are: American Eagle outfitters, Deb, Foot Locker, General Nutrition, Kay Jewelers, Motherhood Maternity and Radio Shack,  said General Manager William J. Rogalski.

Hickory Farms gets an asterisk. The purveyor of smoked meats and cheese samplers had a store in the original Holyoke Mall and returns each winter with a Holiday Kiosk.

Rogalski, a West Springfield native, worked at the Holyoke Mall location of Blake's  in 1979. It was a department store with  a main location at the "X" in Springfield.

View full size 

He remembers what a sensation the Holyoke Mall was when it opened as the region's first multi-level mall.

"Of course we all grew up with Eastfield Mall, and there were other malls, but Holyoke Mall was something special," he said.

Two of the mall's anchor stores, local favorites Steiger's from Springfield and G. Fox from Hartford are gone.

Some stores still exist, but just are not at the Holyoke Mall. Falcetti Music is on Boston Road in Springfield today. CVS gave up mall stores in favor of stand-alone locations with drive-through windows.

Orange Julius is gone from the Holyoke Mall, but the company's website says you can still get one at the Dairy Queen location on Memorial Drive in Chicopee.

The original mall boasted the Ingleside Eight Screen Cinema.

The opening-day mall directory also shows how technology has impacted consumer demand. In 1979 the Holyoke Mall had two record stores: Record World and Record Town, serving fans in those per-download days.

Today, FYE sells recorded music, but has also branched out to new and used video games and other goods.

The 1979 Holyoke Mall also had two book stores: A B Dalton and a Waldenbooks. Both chains are no more, and the Holyoke Mall's Borders closed in 2011 as the company went through bankruptcy.

Then and Now by the numbers:

• 1979: 5,000
• Today: 7,052

• 1979: 1.1 million square feet
• Today: 1.6 million square feet

• 1979: 125
• Today: 200 or more, depending on how one counts kiosks and other aspects of department stores

• 1979: 4
• Today: 12

Police charged a Dalton woman after she led them on a high speed chase through Pittsfield.

Two Pittsfield police officers used accident reconstruction techniques to conclude the crash occurred in the eastbound lane of West Street and that Zuber was drunk during the crash. 

According to the Berkshire Eagle, a Pittsfield police officer tried to pull Stephanie M. Carsno, 29 of Housatonic St., over for driving with a suspended license Thursday afternoon. The arresting officer stated she sped away from the police cruiser and ran through a stop sign and a red traffic light at a "high rate of speed." Police report that she led police through downtown Pittsfield for several blocks before they were eventually able to stop her when a second officer was able to maneuver his cruiser in front of her car, forcing it to stop.

In the back seat of Carsno's SUV during the chase was her 10-year-old daughter and a dog.

Carsno was charged with failure to stop for a police officer,reckless operation of a motor vehicle, reckless endangerment of a child and driving with a suspended license. A warrant for her arrest was issued when she failed to appear in court on Friday.

Also in the car with her at the time of the stop was one of Carsno's co-defendants in an open drug distribution care. Carsno was arrested in May, along with Daniel Grimes, of Springfield, for what police say was a cocaine sales operation in Pittsfield.

Carsno does not have custody of her daughter, and a family member was called to take charge of the girl. The state Department of Children and Families was notified of the charges.

Police investigating a Worcester Street home invasion end up witnessing an attempted murder.

 

Springfield Police Lt. Henry Gagnon said police responded to a reported home invasion at 1236 Worcester St. at approximately 1:15 a.m. Responding officers found an 18-year-old man with a cut to the hand from a known female who, among others, forced their way into the home.

The victim was transported to the hospital for treatment.

While at that scene, police heard shots fired at nearby 45 Oak St., and witnessed a single black male shooting at another man. When police called out, the assailant stopped shooting and ran from the scene. He was able to evade officers.

The intended victim was unharmed.

Police continue to investigate the incident.

This story is an update to one filed earlier, and clarifies that the shooting and the home invasion were separate and unrelated incidents. The person injured was not involved in the shooting incident.

If the Worcester Regional Transit Authority truly wants to improve its service, adding routes on the weekend, offering transportation services on holidays and making sure bus stops are clear of snow in the wintertime are good places to start, according to riders.

WORCESTER — If the Worcester Regional Transit Authority truly wants to improve its service, adding routes on the weekend, offering transportation services on holidays and making sure bus stops are clear of snow in the wintertime are good places to start, according to riders.

The WRTA has embarked on a series of listening sessions that started Thursday and will run through August in various locations in the Worcester region. During each session, transit officials hope that riders will provide them with constructive feedback and suggestions on ways for the WRTA to improve its service.

Thursday afternoon in a spacious conference room of Union Station, WRTA administrator Stephen O'Neil told a group of seven people that the information will be shared with a consulting firm and used to determine specific recommendations for proposal by early 2015.

Of those who attended, many complimented O'Neil on the quality of the WRTA service, but like most things, there is always room for improvement.

Worcester resident Michael Dodds offered what could be perceived as minor suggestions, such as having a printed schedule of stops along the Hub route through downtown and asking that drivers wait a minute or less before leaving the Hub if another bus is into the station. Dodds said people on the arriving bus might need to catch the departing bus.

Dodds also suggested some changes to the overall schedule, such as providing service on holidays, an idea applauded by others who attended the meeting. Dodds said that people still work on holidays and it can get expensive having to pay for cab rides to and from work on holidays.

Resident Judith DeSoto Vega added to Dodds' suggestion, saying that increasing service times on the weekends so that people can catch an early train into Boston or the bus home after arriving late at Union Station would benefit riders. She also said that creating a loop route through major parts of the city could be cost effective for the authority and convenient for riders.

Other ideas that could provide an added convenience for riders and might help to increase ridership included having a postal box and a newspaper box at the Hub station and color coordinating the bus route numbers on the buses making the more recognizable from a distance.

Scott Ricker suggested ways to improve access for people with mobility and visual disabilities and asked O'Neil to encourage bus drivers to better educate riders on the limitations on the bus for people with disabilities.

While much of the discussion focused on routes in and around Worcester, Lenny DuPont of Southbridge asked O'Neil to consider offering service in the surrounding towns on weekends. He suggested a full-day option for Saturdays and a half-day option on Sundays. This would help people who work in Worcester on the weekends but do not have cars.

Listening sessions will also be held at Centros Las Americas at 5 p.m. Aug. 4; the Southbridge Town Library at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 7; Our Lady of Angels School at 1 p.m. Aug. 12 ; Union Station at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12; and the South Worcester Neighborhood Center at 1 p.m. Aug. 14. Sessions for the UMass campus and the Great Brook Valley area will be scheduled at a later date.

An attempted home invasion ends with the would be robbers shooting up the house.

 

Springfield Police Lt. Henry Gagnon said three men tried to force their way into 330 Sumner Avenue just before 1 a.m. Saturday, and when they failed, two pulled out guns and started shooting at the front and back of the house.

According to police reports, three men went to the front door of the home and tried to force their way in. As two suspects tried kicking in the front door, one slipped around the house to the rear. When one of the robbers in the front pulled out a revolver and began shooting at the house, the suspect in the rear took out his weapon and did the same.

The city's ShotSpotter system indicated gunfire in that neighborhood alerting police.

Gagnon said the home sustained damage from gunfire, but none of the occupants were injured.

The three, described as one black male and two Hispanic males, fled the scene in a black SUV.

Police said Thursday they were deciding whether to arrest an 80-year-old man who shot a fleeing, unarmed burglar despite her telling him she was pregnant, but they have arrested the woman's accomplice on suspicion of murder for taking part in a crime that led to her death.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, however, was the Stearns Square summer concert series photo gallery, above.

1) Belchertown police investigate serious accident on Main Street [Patrick Johnson]

2) Operation Tidal Wave: Combined Holyoke, Massachusetts State Police, federal operation results in 21 drug arrests

3) California homeowner, 80, shoots, kills 'pregnant' burglar; police debate filing charges [Associated Press]

4) Boy on bicycle struck by truck, dies in Suffield accident

5) Wilbraham selectman and aspiring state rep Robert Russell wiped out $500,000 in debts in bankruptcy court [Stephanie Barry]

Chicopee police believe a man they found unconscious in the street is the victim of a hit and run.

THE REPUBLICAN FILE 

Chicopee Police Capt. Mark Gilbert said officers were called to the intersection of McKinstry and Kendall streets at just before midnight for the report of "a man down." The first officers on the scene said they found a man lying in the street unconscious. He was transported to the Baystate Medical Center where he remains unresponsive.

At last report, the man was in critical condition.

Gilbert said there was little to indicate what happened to the victim. Police did found a black mirror and some broken glass. It is also unclear how long he was lying in the road before he was found.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Chicopee Police at 592-6341.

Ras Fire of Hadley and Zane Linehan of Easthampton were each charged with breaking into a depository and larceny of less than $250, according to Hadley police.

 

HADLEY – Hadley police arrested two men Friday night and charged them with stealing money from a cash box at a roadside farm stand.

Ras Fire, 31, of Hadley and Zane Linehan, 20, of Easthampton, were each charged with breaking into a depository and larceny of less than $250, according to Hadley police.

Fire was formerly known as Daniel Bartusewich, police said.

Police were notified just after 7 p.m. Friday that two people had just stolen money from a farm stand at Comins and Shattuck roads. Some farm stands in rural areas are left unstaffed, and customers are expected to leave money for purchases inside a locked drop box.

The caller gave a description of the car and less than 10 minutes later a vehicle matching that description was spotted traveling south on Route 116. The car was stopped by police and Fire and Linehan were taken into custody, police said.

Police said there was a similar incident at another farm stand in town on Thursday involving a vehicle matching the car in this case. As yet, neither Fire nor Linehan have been charged in connection with the earlier incident.

Fire and Linehan are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court.

The United States shut down its embassy in Libya on Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States shut down its embassy in Libya on Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.

"Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya," spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

The withdrawal underscored the Obama administration's concern about the heightened risk to American diplomats abroad, particularly in Libya where memories of the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in the eastern city of Benghazi are still vivid and the political uproar over it remain fresh ahead of a new congressional investigation into the incident.

"Securing our facilities and ensuring the safety of our personnel are top department priorities, and we did not make this decision lightly," Harf said. "Security has to come first. Regrettably, we had to take this step because the location of our embassy is in very close proximity to intense fighting and ongoing violence between armed Libyan factions."

The evacuation was accompanied by the release of a new State Department travel warning for Libya urging Americans not to go to the country and recommending that those already there leave immediately. "The Libyan government has not been able to adequately build its military and police forces and improve security," it said. "Many military-grade weapons remain in the hands of private individuals, including antiaircraft weapons that may be used against civilian aviation."

American personnel at the Tripoli embassy, which had already been operating with limited staffing, left the capital around dawn and traveled by road to neighboring Tunisia, according to Harf. As the evacuation was underway, residents of the city reported in real time on social media that American military aircraft flew overhead while U.S. soldiers escorted a convoy of vehicles out of town. The State Department would not confirm the evacuation until all staffers were safely in Tunisia.

The department said embassy operations will be suspended until a determination is made that the security situation has improved, it said. Tripoli has been embroiled for weeks in inter-militia violence that has killed and wounded dozens on all sides. The fighting has been particularly intense at the city's airport.

"We are committed to supporting the Libyan people during this challenging time, and are currently exploring options for a permanent return to Tripoli as soon as the security situation on the ground improves. In the interim, staff will operate from Washington and other posts in the region," Harf said. The evacuated staffers will continue to work on Libya issues in Tunis, elsewhere in North Africa and Washington.

The move marks the second time in a little more than three years that Washington has closed its embassy in Libya. In Feb. 2011, the embassy suspended operations amid the uprising that eventually toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. After the formation of a transitional government in July, 2011, the embassy reopened in September. Gadhafi was killed in October of 2011.

The Obama administration has been particularly sensitive about security of U.S. government employees in Libya since the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in the country's second largest city of Benghazi that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The administration is still fending off criticism from Republicans and others that it did not either enhance security in Benghazi or evacuate the mission due to rising violence in that city in the months prior to the attack.

The Benghazi mission was abandoned after that attack and never reopened. The embassy In Tripoli has been operating with reduced staff since but has remained open even as the violence intensified.

On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones appealed for fighting near the embassy to stop. "We have not been attacked but our neighborhood a bit 2 close to the action," she tweeted. "Diplomatic missions 2 B avoided pls." On Sunday, Jones tweeted about "heavy shelling and other exchanges" of fire in the vicinity of the embassy and speculation about the potential evacuation had been rife at the State Department for more than a week.

Libya is now witnessing one of its worst spasms of violence since Gadhafi's ouster. In Tripoli, the militias are fighting mostly for control of the airport. They are on the government's payroll since authorities have depended on them to restore order.

The U.S. is just latest in a number of countries to have closed down their diplomatic operations in Libya. Turkey on Friday announced that it had closed down its embassy and militia clashes in Benghazi have prompted the United Nations, aid groups and foreign envoys to leave.

In Tripoli, clashes near the international airport have forced residents to evacuate their homes nearby after they were hit by shells. On Friday, the official Libyan news agency LANA reported that explosions were heard early in the day near the airport area and continued into the afternoon.

The battle in Tripoli began earlier this month when Islamist-led militias -- mostly from the western city of Misrata -- launched a surprise assault on the airport, under control of rival militias from the western mountain town of Zintan. On Monday, a $113 million Airbus A330 passenger jet for Libya's state-owned Afriqiyah Airways was destroyed in the fighting.

The rival militias, made up largely of former anti-Gadhafi rebels, have forced a weeklong closure of gas stations and government offices. In recent days, armed men have attacked vehicles carrying money from the Central Bank to local banks, forcing their closure.

Libyan government officials and activists have increasingly been targeted in the violence. Gunmen kidnapped two lawmakers in the western suburbs of Tripoli a week ago and on Friday armed men abducted Abdel-Moaz Banoun, a well-known Libyan political activist in Tripoli, according to his father.

An umbrella group for Islamist militias, called the Operation Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, said in a brief statement on its Facebook page on Friday that "troops arrested Abdel-Moaz over allegations that he served under Gadhafi" and "instigated rallies against" the Islamists.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh met with USOC officials in Denver this week to discuss the possibility of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics in Boston.

Boston 2024 logo from the Organizing CommitteBoston 2024 

Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles are the four cities the USOC is soliciting bids from for a possible 2024 host.

"Our discussions this week have created a foundation for something that could be truly unique. There is a great deal of work left to do before we can make a decision, but I'm more optimistic than ever that a U.S. bid for the 2024 Games can be successful," said USOC Chairman Larry Probst in statement.

The Boston delegation included Mayor Martin J. Walsh, his Chief of Staff Daniel Arrigg Koh, Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership Daniel O'Connell and Putnam Investments CEO Robert Reynolds.

Walsh has shown publicly an openness to the idea of hosting the games but has expressed a desire to study the issue more closely. Sources close to the mayor have said the same while expressing both excitement and cost concerns about hosting the massive international sporting event.

Walsh was unavailable for comment before he departed for Denver, but a statement from his press secretary Kate Norton on Thursday said, "The Walsh administration is committed to gaining a full understanding of the impacts hosting the Summer Olympics would have on the City of Boston."

Boston made the final cut of potential host cities in June when the USOC whittled the list of 35 cities down to 4 during their meeting quarterly meeting at MIT in Cambridge.

"Each city has necessarily evaluated how hosting a Games in its community fits into the long-term plans for that city, but equally exciting to me is the universal commitment to making a positive contribution to worldwide sport and the Olympic and Paralympic movements. That's something I truly believe a Games hosted in the U.S. can do and I'm excited about the potential," said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun in a statement.

The USOC is expected to make a decision on bidding the 2024 games in early 2015.

The United States has hosted the Summer Olympics four times: in St. Louis in 1904, twice in Los Angeles, in 1932 and 1984, and in Atlanta in 1996. The Winter Olympics have been held stateside four times, too: Twice in Lake Placid in 1932 and 1980, in Squaw Valley in 1960 and in Salt Lake City in 2002.

The International Olympic Committee's deadline for 2024 bid submissions has not been set, but it will likely be in 2015, while the selection of a host city will likely be made in 2017, according to USOC officials.

A report on hosting the 2024 games released in February said Boston could host the games, but it did not provide details on the costs or security issues facing the city.

Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, appears smiling in the video and speaks in broken Arabic.

BEIRUT -- An al-Qaida-linked group fighting in Syria has released video of the first American to carry out a suicide attack in the country's civil war, showing him smiling and saying he looked forward to going to heaven.

The Nusra Front released the new video late Friday showing American citizen Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, with other fighters before the May 25 attack that targeted several army positions at the same time. It said two of the other three suicide attackers in the assault in the government-held northwestern city of Idlib were from foreign countries, including one who was identified as being from the Maldives.

Abu-Salha appears smiling in the video and speaks in broken Arabic.

"I want to rest in the afterlife, in heaven. There is nothing here and the heart is not resting," Abu-Salha says. "Heaven is better. When people die they either go to heaven or hell. There is happiness beyond explanation."

The video, released by Nusra Front's media arm, al-Manara al-Baydha, was posted on jihadi websites. It corresponded with Associated Press reporting about the attack and Abu-Salha.

Opposition forces previously identified the American who carried out the bombing as Abu Hurayra al-Amriki and said he was a U.S. citizen. The name al-Amriki means "the American" in Arabic.

It's unknown how many people were killed in the bombing. Opposition rebels with the Nusra Front said Abu-Salha's truck was laden with 16 tons of explosives to tear down the al-Fanar restaurant, a gathering site for Syrian troops. The other suicide attackers targeted nearby army positions.

Moner Mohammad Abu-SalhaAP Photo/File 

Abu-Salha grew up in Florida and attended several colleges before dropping out and moving abroad.

Thousands of foreign fighters have come to Syria from around the world to fight against President Bashar Assad's forces after the uprising against his government began three years ago.

The war, which began in 2011, has since taken on strong sectarian overtones, pitting a Sunni-led insurgency that includes al-Qaida-inspired extremist groups against a government dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Syria's uprising began with peaceful protests in March 2011 but escalated into an armed revolt when government forces launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent. The conflict has killed at least 170,000 people, nearly a third of them civilians, according to activists. Nearly 3 million Syrians have fled the country.

On Saturday, a car bomb exploded in a northern Syrian town near the Turkish border, killing and wounding a number of people.

The Aleppo Media Center said the car bomb exploded in a vegetable market in the town of Azaz. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the car blew up near a gas station in Azaz. The Observatory said the blast killed at least four people and wounded several others while the AMC said it killed and wounded a number of people without offering specific figures.

The Observatory also said a missile shot down the helicopter Friday night over a neighborhood of Aleppo known as Camp Nairab. Camp Nairab is adjacent to the Nairab military airport southeast of the city, where government aircraft take off to carry out attacks in northern Syria.

Assad's forces use helicopters to drop barrel bombs -- crude explosives that have killed thousands of people and caused widespread destruction, especially in Aleppo.

Rebels rarely have succeeded in downing helicopters, and have long requested anti-aircraft weapons from Western and Arab nations. The United States and its allies have refused, fearing that such weapons could fall into the hands of extremists, who could use them to target passenger planes.

The Observatory and an Aleppo-based activist who goes by the name Abu Saeed Izzedine said the helicopter crash killed four people, including a child. The Observatory said three of the dead were the helicopter's crew members.

Aleppo, once Syria's commercial capital, has seen heavy fighting since rebels seized part of the city in 2012.

The Observatory also reported Saturday that the number of soldiers killed over the past few days in a northern military base that was overrun by the extremist Islamic State group has risen to 85. It said the fate of 200 other soldiers is still unknown.

The monitoring group, which relies on a network of activists inside the country, said Islamic State fighters have executed and paraded the bodies of "tens" of soldiers in the northern city of Raqqa, the only provincial capital in rebel hands.

Amateur videos posted online by activists showed more than a dozen beheaded bodies in a busy square said to be in Raqqa. Some of the heads were placed on a nearby fence, where at least two headless bodies were crucified. The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting of the events.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Bernard Minor Jr. 

Bernard S. Minor, Jr., 80, of Chicopee, passed away on Tuesday. He was born and raised in Chicopee, graduated from local schools and was a lifelong resident of Chicopee. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and attained the rank of seaman. Following his military service, he returned to Chicopee and was employed for 32 years as a police officer for the City of Chicopee, and retired in 1992 from the Detective Bureau with Badge No. 1. He was a member of the American Legion Post 452 in Chicopee, and served for 15 years as a member of the Chicopee Golf Commission.

The Morgan is America's oldest original breed of horse. The Northampton Fairgrounds are the oldest agricultural fairgrounds in the United States. The New England Morgan Horse Show is the oldest all-Morgan show in existence. Put all that history together and you've got something new: The 75th edition of the New England Morgan Horse Show. Six days of riding, judging, wine...

The Morgan is America's oldest original breed of horse.
The Northampton Fairgrounds are the oldest agricultural fairgrounds in the United States.
The New England Morgan Horse Show is the oldest all-Morgan show in existence.
Put all that history together and you've got something new: The 75th edition of the New England Morgan Horse Show. Six days of riding, judging, wine tasting, music, and parties. There is money to be won, ribbons to be hung, and the constant sight of beautiful Morgan horses everywhere you look.

Northampton's sidewalk sales days run through Sunday, July 26 featuring sidewalks filled with vendors offering special sale items, entertainment in the park, and artists selling their creations. The annual event makes for a crowded downtown and parking is tighter than usual due to many spaces being blocked off. We suggest the parking garage for a hassle free visit.

Northampton's sidewalk sales days run through Sunday, July 26 featuring sidewalks filled with vendors offering special sale items, entertainment in the park, and artists selling their creations.
The annual event makes for a crowded downtown and parking is tighter than usual due to many spaces being blocked off. We suggest the parking garage for a hassle free visit.

Expansion will allow Tree House to go from making 150 gallons of beer at a time to 900.

MONSON – Everyone who has every made beer in their kitchen with a 5-gallon home brew kit dreams about expanding someday.

For Tree House Brewing Co., someday is right now.

The small craft-brewery at 160 East Hill Road, founded six years ago by Dean Rohan, Jonathan Weisbach, Damien Goudreau, & Nathan Lanier, on Saturday celebrated the start of construction of its new facility with a ceremonial ground breaking.

By January, Tree House Brewing will be housed inside a 9,000-square-foot facility that is capable of producing 900 gallons at a time, roughly six times its present capacity

More beer is, of course, welcome news for the fans of the brewery that literally wait in line outside the retail store on Saturdays mornings for the chance to purchase beer.

“People will drive all this way to come here. It’s worth it,” said Parker Siddall of Indiana, who was first in line. Siddall stopped in Monson while crisscrossing New England to visit different craft breweries. He called Tree House Brewing a must-see location on his personal brewery tour.

The new facility will be on the other side of the road and just down the street from its current operation at Koran Farms.

Joined by State Sen. Stephen Brewer, Monson Selectman John Morrell, and Richard Bonnano, president of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, the Tree House owners staged a ceremonial ground breaking.

Brewer presented the brewery with an official proclamation from the state senate congratulating them on their expansion.

A ground breaking ceremony at a brewery gave State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer the opportunity to make a joke or two at the expense of his last name.

“My name is Brewer and I like beer,” he said. When introduced to Lanier the head brewer, the senator expressed a mock outrage and said “I’m the head Brewer.”

Kim Goudreau said the expansion will allow Tree House to go from making 5 barrels, or 150 gallons of beer, at a time to 30 barrels or 900 gallons at a time.

“We’re going to a set up six times our size,” she said.

Rohan said Tree House started six years ago with small batches of beer being made in Lanier’s kitchen. Conditions were somewhat cramped and not exactly optimal for making beer or maintaining proper sanitation.

Thee years ago, Damien and Kim Goudreau bought house in Brimfield and offered them space in the barn. “Damien was like ‘I got a beautiful stove in the barn. Let’s brew there!’”

They were located in Brimfield for two years before zoning disputes with the town led them to relocate to Monson to the Koran Farm, the 100-year-old family farm owned by Kim Goudreau’s parents.

The brewing operation is in a cramped garage that is part of the farm’s farm stand. The retail store is in a rectangular shed just next door.

The new facility will have a retail operation in the front and the brewery in the rear.

Construction equipment is busy clearing the property and a foundation will be poured shortly, said co-owner Damien Goudreau. The building will be up within two months, but it will take another three install all the plumbing and electrical, and then to install the brewing equipment.

He said Tree House is the only farm brewer in the state that is “off the grid,” or is not connected to town water or sewer.

The beer is made with well water that is pumped right out of the ground on the property, and he said it is a key ingredient in the final product.

“We could give our recipes to another brewer and it would not turn out the same,” he said.

As he says this, a man passing by on a bicycle shouts "That's the best beer in Massachusetts!"

Rohan said that in the three years that they have been selling beer, Tree House Brewing has emerged as the little brewer that could.

Beer Advocate, an on-line beer review site, ranks Tree House’s Julius American IPA 55th in its listing of 250 best beers in the world.

Let that sink in for a moment: A tiny little brewery that makes 150 gallons at a time is rated the 55th best beer in the world. The entire world.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Rohan said.

Nathan Lanier, the head brewer, said they have all achieved the dreams and aspirations of everyone who has purchased home-brewing kit.

Making beer for your job is night-and-day different from making beer as a hobby, he said.

“It’s different from the romantic vision everyone has; It’s a lot of hard work,” he said.
That’s not to say that he doesn’t enjoy it, he said. A labor of love still involved labor.

“We love the hard work.”

The protest and counter-protest groups remained peaceful.

NORTHAMPTON — Supporters of Israel holding signs saying "Stop the Sirens" stood quietly in front of the Hampshire County Courthouse Friday evening as a black-dressed crowd protesting Israel's military campaign in Gaza passed in front of them, marching on the downtown sidewalk to the beat of a drum.

Members of the "Silent March in Solidarity with Palestine" and the small counter-protest remained peaceful, with little apparent exchange between the two groups as the latest conflict in the Middle East continues with no sign of abatement.

The silent march was hosted by the Western Mass Coalition for Palestine, and the Israel supporters were members of Jewish communities in the Northampton and Springfield area, and not under the umbrella of any one group, those present said.

A small group of counter-protesters in support of Israel gathered in Northampton Friday evening. Mary Serreze Photo 

Sara Weinberger of Northampton was among those standing in solidarity with Israel, and agreed to speak with a reporter.

"I'm here to let people know that Israelis and Jews are not evil people," said Weinberger. "Our hearts are breaking over the deaths of people in Gaza, as well as the deaths of people in Israel. But we also need to defend ourselves," she said. "When you have thousands of missiles coming over, that's pretty scary."

Weiberger said as the child of Holocaust survivors, "the anti-Semitism I've seen is really frightening — I find that in this community, there just seems to be a lot of vitriolic hatred toward Israel." She said it seems people "don't really believe Israel has the right to exist."

Weinberger said she is confused as to why Israel is being singled out by protesters, when hundreds have recently been killed in Syria by Islamic militants. "Where's the outrage over that?" she asked. "Why is only Israel being put under a microscope?"

Weinberger said Hamas and the people of Gaza are separate in her mind. Hamas, she said, has taken aid money and used it to build tunnels instead of homes, schools, and infrastructure. Hamas does not protect its own citizens, using them as human shields and suicide bombers, said Weinberger.

"I don't think anybody wins in a war like this, but I wish people would realize that this is a horrible situation, and it's not just 'good-guy-versus-bad-guy,'" said Weinberger. "I just want the killing to stop; I just want there to be peace."

Marcy Eisenberg of Northampton said the disproportionate death toll, with far more Gazans having been killed in the conflict than Israelis, doesn't tell the whole story.

"Everyone's heard about the Iron Dome, and the fact that there are bomb shelters," said Eisenberg. "Israel has done quite a lot to protect its citizens, so I don't think mere numbers tell us very much. Hamas is using Gazans as shields. So the disparity is maybe not that simple. I do think that Israel has gone out of its way to try not to target children and civilians," she said.

Weinberger agreed that the Iron Dome missile defense system has kept the Israeli death toll low. "If you think about how many rockets have been fired at Israel, if they didn't have Iron Dome, you would have seen just as many casualties," she said. "I'm heartbroken over those casualties. I'm really heartbroken. But what are you supposed to do when thousands of missiles are being hurled over into your country?"

Weinberger says she believes in the rights of both Palestine and Israel to exist, and hopes that all parties will be able to sit down and negotiate.

Eisenberg said she believes there is not only a war on the ground, but a war in the media, and that Israel is losing.

Meredith Dragon, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Western Mass., was in attendance at the event in support of Israel, but declined to speak with a reporter.

Several participants in the Silent March in Solidarity with Palestine also declined to speak with the press, including a young man with a bullhorn identified by others as one of the lead organizers.

Longtime Northampton activist Patricia "Paki" Weiland said she was marching to protest "the onslaught, the killing of the people of Gaza." She said she was upset about "the death of people I know."

"The question is, who's benefiting?" asked Weiland.  "You know, I look over at my friends with the Israeli flags. The Israeli people are suffering. The people of Gaza are suffering. Who benefits? It's the war profiteers. And that has to stop."

Weiland said the situation in Israel and Palestine "can't go back to what it was before this bombardment started. Because that was intolerable."

UMass student Mahamad Barham said Israel is not justified in killing innocent citizens in Gaza. Mary Serreze Photo

Mohamad Barham, a college student with dual American-Palestinian citizenship, said he is a member of the UMass Amherst chapter of SJP, or Students for Justice in Palestine.

"It's time to end the siege in Gaza; the murder of innocent civilians and children," said Barham. "Also for Palestine to have its own state, and its own recognition in the world."

"Just look at the numbers. More than 800 people are dead, most of them are civilians, and a quarter of them are children. How is that justice?"

Barham called for recognition of a Palestinian state, lifting Israeli restrictions on Gaza's economy, and allowing for the free movement of Palestinians into and out of Gaza.

Barham said he does not support Hamas.

"I'm not for Hamas, not for Jihad, not for any group. I want justice for Palestinians," he said.

As for allegations that Hamas is using civilians as shields, and shooting rockets from civilian areas, Barham said that does not justify killing innocent civilians in Gaza.

"Killing innocent civilians because they are being used as human shields is an unacceptable excuse. Too many civilians have died so far. And we want to put an end to it," said Barham.

Milton Sepulevda and two passengers were injured in the accident.

CHICOPEE - A 32-year-old driver was arrested on a variety of motor vehicle charges after he rolled over his car Saturday morning.

The driver, Milton Sepulveda and his two passengers, both 25-year-old men, were injured in the accident. A Massachusetts State Police spokesman said the men received medical treatment but did not say how seriously the men were hurt.

Police troopers made the arrest after responding to an accident on the ramp from Route 116 to Route 391 southbound. At the scene, troopers determined the 2006 Chevrolet Equinox that had rolled over was the same vehicle they had been seeking earlier Saturday for motor vehicle violations.

Sepulevda, of Springfield, was charged with operating after license revocation, speeding, failure to stop for police and a marked lanes violation, police said.

Officials did not reveal information about the earlier incident that lead to the arrest.