A Lenox man was killed in a Pittsfield one-car crash.

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, Pittsfield Police said Connor Graham, of Lenox was driving south on Holmes Road at approximately 3:30 a.m. Saturday, when his car went out of control on a curve and drove off the roadway. The car struck a tree on the side of the road then continued on and struck the porch of a house at the intersection of Holmes Road and Lathers Avenue. The car continued on to slam into the side of an adjacent house.

Graham was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident remains under investigation, police said.

When President Barack Obama on Monday welcomes leaders from across the continent of Africa to the White House for a historic three-day summit, a coalition of U.S. senators led by Sen. Ed Markey are hopeful that the commander in chief will use the opportunity to call for an end to the persecution and prosecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in African countries.

WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama on Monday welcomes leaders from across the continent of Africa to the White House for a historic three-day summit, a coalition of elected federal officials led by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey are hopeful that the commander in chief will use the opportunity to call for an end to the persecution and prosecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens in African countries.

"This historic gathering will serve as an opportunity to stress the importance of human rights protections at a time when we see a backsliding of LGBT protections internationally," Markey and 30 other senators and congressmen wrote in the letter to Obama. "It also provides an opportunity to make clear that the persecution of LGBT individuals is bad for business and undermines investment in Africa. This is why we request that this summit be used as an opportunity to address the importance of advancing human rights for LGBT citizens throughout the world."

Although LGBT rights and acceptance have grown domestically over the course of Obama's tenure in the White House, the same can't be said for the world as a whole. Markey's office says that approximately 80 countries still have laws on the books criminalizing homosexuality, prohibiting public support for the LGBT community or promoting homophobia. Seven countries punish homosexual behavior with death.

In Africa, the countries most notorious for having such laws are Uganda and Nigeria.

Although a Ugandan court on Friday struck down that country's Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was pushed by a group of anti-LGBT American clergy including Springfield's Scott Lively, the narrow grounds on which the law was ruled void leave the door open for its potential revival.

In Nigeria, the torture and killing of LGBT people has led to a worldwide call for civility and a group of senators, including Massachusetts' Markey, calling for a review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act which allows the import of goods from that country to the U.S. without taxes.

5/4/13 NORTHAMPTON- When campaigning to become a U.S. Senator, then Congressman Ed Markey pledged to push for LGBT equality and protections. In June, as he introduced the International Human Rights Defense Act to the U.S. Senate, Markey took another step toward fulfilling that promise. (Staff photo by Michael Beswick)Michael Beswick

In June, Markey took the push for LGBT equality beyond U.S. borders with the introduction of the International Human Rights Defense Act, which would direct the Department of State to consider preventing and responding to discrimination and violence against the LGBT community a foreign policy priority.

A companion bill to that legislation was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. John Tierney, also a Massachusetts Democrat, and both bills have been praised by a myriad of international organizations including Amnesty International USA

"Around the globe, LGBT people face threats, violence, and discrimination on a daily basis. The United States can and must play a lead role in ending the human rights abuses that the LGBT community faces around the world," said the group's Executive Director Steven Hawkins in a statement. "The International Human Rights Defense Act will help to ensure that the United States lives up to its global commitment to protect and advance LGBT rights as human rights."

The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit which starts Monday is the first of its kind and is slated to include high-level discussions on several topics relating to international relations between the U.S. and the more than 45 countries invited to participate.

Letter to Pres. Obama Regarding LGBT Rights in Africa

It remains unknown what caused the fire, which resulted in a fatality. Authorities have yet to release the victim's identity.

SPRINGFIELD — One person died in a fire that broke out in a three-story residential building on Converse Street early Sunday morning.

Dennis Leger, aide to Springfield Fire Department Commissioner Joseph Conant, said one of two people rescued from the burning building was pronounced dead soon after arriving at Baystate Medical Center.

Two firefighters made their way to a third-floor apartment at 25-27 Converse St. in the Forest Park neighborhood, where they found someone lying on the kitchen floor. The person was carried downstairs to waiting medical personnel, who immediately began CPR and rushed the victim a nearby ambulance.

Another woman was rescued from a second-floor porch, where she became stranded after trying to flee the fire. Firefighters were able to take the uninjured woman off the roof by ladder.

Witnesses called authorities at 3:52 a.m., Leger said. City police officers were first to arrive on scene.

Leger said flames apparently gutted the third floor of the building, while the second and first floors sustained mostly water and smoke damage. Twelve people were left homeless as a result of the fire. Red Cross officials were expected to help the fire victims with temporary lodging and other necessities.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad and the state Fire Marshal's Office, Leger said. The Fire Marshal's Office routinely takes part in all fatal fire investigations.

Officials are withholding the name of the victim pending notification of family.

It's the issue that vexed Republicans as much as any in their 2012 presidential loss.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Midterm elections that will decide control of the Senate are three months away, and the 2016 presidential campaign will start in earnest soon after. Yet the Republican Party still can't figure out what to do about illegal immigration.

It's the issue that vexed Republicans as much as any in their 2012 presidential loss. It's the one problem the party declared it must resolve to win future presidential races. And it still managed to bedevil the party again last week, when House Republicans splintered and stumbled for a day before passing a face-saving bill late Friday night.

The fiasco proved anew that a small number of uncompromising conservatives have the power to hamper the efforts of GOP leaders to craft coherent positions on key issues -- including one that nearly two-thirds of Americans say is an important to them personally, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released last week.

"It would be very bad for Republicans in the House not to offer their vision of how they would fix the problem," South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said when the initial House bill on immigration collapsed. While Republicans in the House are able to reject the proposals of Democrats, Graham said, that's not enough: "At least they have a vision."

While often a flashpoint issue among Republicans in their primaries this year, the party could get a grace period of sorts in November. Immigration appears likely to have only a modest impact on the roughly 10 Senate races that will determine control of the chamber. The possible exception is the race between Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and GOP Rep. Cory Gardner in Colorado, where Hispanic voters made up 14 percent of the electorate in 2012.

Even if President Barack Obama moves ahead with a proposal to give work permits to millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, removing the threat of deportation, Democratic strategists say Republicans won't reap much of a benefit. Republicans, they argue, have already squeezed as much as they can from voters angry at the president by hammering at his record on health care, the IRS, foreign policy and other issues.

"There's a ceiling, and nothing the president can do can get them above the ceiling," said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, head of the Democrats' efforts to win House elections. "But swing voters and persuadable voters, they want solutions."

Hispanics made up less than 3 percent of all registered voters in 2012 in seven other states with competitive Senate races: Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, Georgia and Kentucky. So any Democratic benefits from an Obama executive action on immigration could be just as limited.

Still, a few Democratic senators in those tight contests -- including Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Pryor of Arkansas -- are putting some distance between themselves and the president. The White House, Pryor said, is "sending mixed messages: telling folks not to cross the border illegally and then turning around to hand out work permits to people who are already here illegally."

Both parties agree that immigration is likely to play a bigger role in the 2016 presidential election. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP nominee in 2008, has said his party can't win without supporting an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is among the potential candidates to urge the party to liberalize its approach to immigration.

A GOP-sanctioned "autopsy" of Mitt Romney's 2012 loss made only one policy recommendation: The party "must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform," a term understood to include creating pathways to legal status for millions of immigrants living in the nation illegally.

For that reason, some Republicans found the House hubbub discouraging. Party leaders had to yank an immigration bill from the floor Thursday after realizing they lacked the votes to pass it. Democrats mocked House Speaker John Boehner for declaring that Obama should take numerous steps, "right now, without the need for congressional action, to secure our borders," while his website also stated, "More unilateral action from the White House will make (the) border crisis worse."

"I'm just about as conservative, and full-spectrum conservative as it gets, and I was going to go yes" on Thursday, said Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks. "So I'm not certain what happened."

Ultimately, the party's rank-and-file refused to start Congress' five-week break without proving the GOP could pass some type of immigration bill. It would clear the way for eventual deportation of more than 700,000 immigrants brought here illegally as children. It also would allocate $694 million for border security efforts, including $35 million for the National Guard.

The action kept Republicans from ending the summer empty-handed on immigration. But that doesn't mean the party is any closer to untying the nation's immigration knot.

While solid majorities of Americans say the country's current immigration policies are unacceptable, many House Republicans owe their jobs to conservative activists who fiercely oppose "amnesty" for immigrants and dominate GOP primaries in districts where Democrats have almost no chance of winning.

Some of those Republicans were among the House conservatives who met last week in the office of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who urged them to force concessions from Boehner's leadership team. And on Friday, Cruz was talking about immigration in the Senate race in New Hampshire, which will hold the first presidential primary of 2016.

In a fundraising message, Cruz attacked Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen for supporting Obama's "amnesty" immigration policies.

A United Nations school sheltering displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip was hit Sunday by what a U.N. official said appeared to be an Israeli airstrike that killed 10 people as Israel signaled a possible scaling back in the ongoing war.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A United Nations school sheltering displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip was hit Sunday by what a U.N. official said appeared to be an Israeli airstrike that killed 10 people as Israel signaled a possible scaling back in the ongoing war.

The Israeli military had no comment on the Rafah school strike but confirmed it was redeploying along the Gaza border for a "new phase" of an operation aimed at stopping rocket fire toward Israel and destroying the Hamas underground tunnel network.

"We have indeed scaled down some of the presence and indeed urged Palestinians in certain neighborhoods to come back to their homes," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman.

Several Israeli tanks and other vehicles were seen leaving Gaza a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested troops would reassess operations after completing the demolition of Hamas tunnels under the border. Security officials said the tunnel mission was winding down and Israel would soon be taking its troops out of the strip.

In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling continued. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said at least 10 people were killed and 35 wounded after the strike near the boys' school in Rafah. Robert Turner, the director of operations for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said preliminary findings indicated the blast was an Israeli airstrike near the school, which had been providing shelter for some 3,000 people. He said the strike killed at least one U.N. staffer.

"The locations of all these installations have been passed to the Israeli military multiple times," Turner said. "They know where these shelters are. How this continues to happen, I have no idea. I have no words for it. I don't understand it."

The Israeli military said they were investigating.

Inside the U.N. school's compound, several bodies, among them children, were strewn across the ground in puddles of blood.

"Our trust and our fate is only in the hands of God!" one woman cried.

Some of the wounded were transported to the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah and others were treated in what seemed to be a makeshift clinic underneath a tent.

At least six U.N. facilities, including schools sheltering the displaced, have been struck by Israeli fire since the conflict began, drawing international condemnation. In each case Israel has said it was responding to militants launching rockets or other attacks from nearby.

In nearly four weeks of fighting, Palestinian health officials say more than 1,750 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed. Nearly 70 Israelis, almost all soldiers, have been killed.

Israel launched an aerial campaign in Gaza on July 8 to try to halt Palestinian rocket fire on major cities, and later sent in troops to dismantle Hamas' cross-border tunnels that have been used to carry out attacks.

Artillery shells slammed into two high-rise office buildings Sunday in downtown Gaza City and large explosions could be heard seconds apart, police and witnesses said. Al-Kidra said more than 50 Palestinians were killed Sunday, including 10 members of one family in a single strike in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel said it carried out 180 strikes Sunday.

The bodies of the Al Ghoul family, killed early Sunday morning, were lined up on the floor of the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah. Doctors wiped dried blood from the faces of three men. Outside the hospital, men and children shed tears while sobbing women cradled the smallest of the dead, kissing their faces.

In another hospital room at the hospital, at least four children were piled into an ice cream freezer, all wrapped in white cloth drenched in blood. Doctors say that morgues in Rafah are at maximum capacity.

In Cairo, Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators held talks over a potential cease-fire. After accusing Hamas of repeatedly violating humanitarian cease-fire arrangements, Israel said it would not attend the talks and there was "no point" negotiating with the Islamic militant group.

Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the Israelis will have to either withdraw unilaterally or accept a political agreement that addresses Hamas' demands.

"Hamas will not accept any ceasefire deal as long as Israelis are still in Gaza Strip," he said.

Hamas has said it will not stop fighting until Israel and Egypt lift their blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamic militant group overran the territory in 2007. Large swaths of Gaza have been destroyed and some 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the war began.

In a televised address late Saturday, Netanyahu warned Hamas they would pay an "intolerable price" if militants continued to fire rockets at Israel and that all options remain on the table.

From an Israeli perspective, the advantage of a unilateral pullout or troop redeployment to the strip's fringes is that it can do so on its own terms, rather than becoming entangled in negotiations with Hamas. However, a unilateral pullback does not address the underlying causes of cross-border tensions and carries the risk of a new flare-up of violence in the future.

Rocket fire continues toward Israel Sunday. More than 3,000 rockets have been fired since the war began, which have killed three civilians and damaged several homes. Several soldiers have been killed in the current round of fighting by Palestinian gunmen who popped out of tunnels near Israeli communities along the Gaza border.

The Israeli military death toll rose to 64 after Israel announced that Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old infantry lieutenant feared captured in Gaza, was actually killed in battle. His funeral is later Sunday.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon revealed on his Facebook page Sunday that he is a distant relative of Goldin and had known him his whole life. The information was previously kept under wraps while Goldin was feared to be abducted.

Israel had earlier said it feared Goldin had been captured by Hamas militants Friday near Rafah in an ambush that shattered an internationally brokered cease-fire and was followed by heavy Israeli shelling that left dozens of Palestinians dead.

The Ebola virus has killed more than 700 people in Africa and could have catastrophic consequences if allowed to spread, world health officials say. So why would anyone allow infected Americans to come to Atlanta?

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Ebola virus has killed more than 700 people in Africa and could have catastrophic consequences if allowed to spread, world health officials say. So why would anyone allow infected Americans to come to Atlanta?

The answer, experts say, is because Emory University Hospital is one of the safest places in the world to treat someone with Ebola. There's virtually no chance the virus can spread from the hospital's super-secure isolation unit.

And another thing, they say: medical workers risking their lives overseas deserve the best treatment they can get.

Dr. Kent Brantly became the first person infected with Ebola to be brought to the United States from Africa. He arrived Saturday at one of the nation's best hospitals. Fellow aid worker Nancy Writebol was expected to arrive in several days.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC on Sunday that Brantly's condition seems to have improved and that it was encouraging to see Brantly walk out of the ambulance unassisted when he arrived at the hospital.

Frieden said he understands the public's concerns about Ebola, and the public health role is to ensure that the infection is not spread.

"Ebola is very deadly. And it's normal to be scared of deadly diseases," he said.

Few of those nearest the hospital Saturday seemed concerned.

"I just think it's a blessing that we can help possibly make the infected person's life a little more tolerable," said Ashley Wheeler, who was shopping just down the street on Saturday. "If I were that person I would want my country to help me the best way they could."

Emory's infectious diseases' unit was created 12 years ago to handle doctors who get sick at the CDC. It is one of about four in the country equipped with everything necessary to test, treat and contain people exposed to very dangerous viruses.

In 2005, it handled patients with SARS, which unlike Ebola can spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

In fact, the nature of Ebola -- which is spread by close contact with bodily fluids and blood -- means that any modern hospital using standard, rigorous, infection-control measures should be able to handle it.

Still, Emory won't be taking any chances.

"Nothing comes out of this unit until it is non-infectious," said Dr. Bruce Ribner, who will be treating the patients. "The bottom line is: We have an inordinate amount of safety associated with the care of this patient. And we do not believe that any health care worker, any other patient or any visitor to our facility is in any way at risk of acquiring this infection."

Ribner also said the patients deserve help.

"They have gone over on a humanitarian mission, they have become infected through medical care and we feel that we have the environment and expertise to safely care for these patients and offer them the maximum opportunity for recovery from these infections," he said Friday.

Amber Brantly was heartened to see her husband climb out of the ambulance that met his plane at Dobbins Air Reserve Base outside Atlanta. He climbed out dressed head to toe in white protective clothing, and another person in an identical hazardous materials suit held both of his gloved hands as they walked gingerly inside.

"It was a relief to welcome Kent home today. I spoke with him, and he is glad to be back in the U.S.," she said in a statement. "I am thankful to God for his safe transport and for giving him the strength to walk into the hospital."

Inside the unit, patients are sealed off from anyone who doesn't wear protective gear.

"Negative air pressure" means air flows in, but can't escape until filters scrub any germs from patients. All laboratory testing is conducted within the unit, and workers are highly trained in infection control. Glass walls enable staff outside to safely observe patients, and there's a vestibule where workers suit up before entering. Any gear is safely disposed of or decontaminated.

Family members will be kept at a distance for now, the doctors said. The unit "has a plate glass window and communication system, so they'll be as close as 1-2 inches from each other," Ribner said.

Dr. Jay Varkey, an infectious disease specialist who will be treating Brantly and Writebol, gave no word Saturday about their condition. Both have been described as critically ill after treating Ebola patients at a missionary hospital in Liberia, one of four West African countries hit by the largest outbreak of the virus in history.

There is no cure for the virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever that kills as many as 60-80 percent of the people it infects in Africa. There are experimental treatments, but the missionary hospital had only enough for one person, and Brantly insisted that Writebol receive it. His best hope in Africa was a transfusion of blood including antibodies from one of his patients, a 14-year-old boy who survived thanks to the doctor.

There was also only room on the plane for one patient at a time. Writebol will be next, following the same route to Emory in several days.

State police say 54-year-old Mary Newton, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, was driving west on Route 9 in Stoddard on Saturday afternoon when her car entered the eastbound lane and hit the RV head-on.

Republican file  

State police say 54-year-old Mary Newton, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, was driving west on Route 9 in Stoddard on Saturday afternoon when her car entered the eastbound lane and hit the RV head-on.

Newton and her 16-year-old son were killed.

The driver of the RV was seriously injured, and the passenger died. She was identified as 68-year-old Dulce Marie Campo Perez, of West Melbourne, Florida.

The crash remains under investigation.

Massachusetts, which now has 21 drug courts, is adding five more as the state grapples with an increase in heroin overdoses and opioid addiction.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — In a small courtroom in Quincy District Court, Judge Mary Beth Heffernan doles out instructions and advice the way a parent would: sometimes gently, sometimes firmly, but always with an encouraging tone.

Heffernan presides over a specialty court where defendants with substance abuse problems are closely supervised, subjected to random drug testing and required to participate in support groups and treatment programs as an alternative to jail.

Massachusetts, which now has 21 drug courts, is adding five more as the state grapples with an increase in heroin overdoses and opioid addiction that prompted Gov. Deval Patrick to declare the epidemic a public health emergency.

During a recent session, Heffernan scolded one man who had left a rehabilitation center early. "I'm going to watch you closely, and I don't want to hear any excuses. Do you understand me?" she said.

The judge praised another man who told her he had learned during recovery that "asking for help is not a weakness; it's a strength."

"Good for you. I'm proud of you," said Heffernan, the state's former public safety secretary.

Prescription drugs collected from a drug drop-off held across Western Massachusetts.
File Photo | Staasi Heropoulos

All the participants are required to complete a six-month residential program, where they must find a job and are subject to drug testing up to three times a week. During the 18-month program, they meet regularly with a probation officer and go to court to report on their progress to the judge, initially on a weekly basis.

"In some ways, it's easier to go to jail than to do drug court," said Christine Pancyck, a probation officer who has worked in the Quincy drug court for the past year.

"We require them to do a lot," she said. "It's easier to do time and say forget it."

Pancyck said 44 of the drug court's current 55 participants reported that opioids were their drug of choice, including Percocet, heroin and oxycodone.

Eric Bertoni drew a loud round of applause from his fellow drug court participants during a recent session after the judge announced he had successfully completed the first phase of the program.

Bertoni, 22, ended up in drug court after serving four months in a county jail on drug charges and violating his probation. At his worst, he said, he was taking 10 to 15 Percocet pills a day.

"For a while, I just wanted to take my sentence and get back to it," Bertoni said. "But I found another way of life. I found that I can have fun without doing illegal things."

He said the structure of the program and having to appear before the judge every week has helped keep him drug-free.

"I'm under pressure. I have to do it," he said.

Judge Mary Hogan Sullivan, a former drug court judge, said the court targets defendants who are committing crimes because of their addiction.

"The real key in my judgment is the combination of the interaction with the judge. You are held responsible for your actions almost immediately. If the defendant has a slip — they relapse — the court can respond within a week to the relapse," said Sullivan, who now presides over a veterans treatment court.

"The accountability is virtually immediate, and there is a sanction imposed. You may put someone into residential treatment, you may need to step up AA meetings, and other kinds of sanctions."

Bertoni had this advice when asked to speak to drug court participants: "Stick with it. It gets easier. If I can do it, you can do it."

Obituaries from The Republican.

James A. Smith II 

Dr. James A. Smith II, 91, passed away on Wednesday. He was born in Montclair, N.J. He went to Howard University, where he was awarded doctor of medicine and his bachelor of arts degrees. He was the first African-American to be accepted in the child psychiatry residency program at Washington University in St. Louis. Upon completion of his training, he was drafted into the Army and served two years. He moved to Hartford, Conn., and began his career as a child psychiatrist. He spent the next four decades providing psychiatric services to the Springfield, Mass., community. He spent years at the Johnson Life Center and many other programs.

Mary Newton, 54, and her passenger, 16, were killed in a two-car, head-on crash in Stoddard, New Hampshire, which also claimed the life of a passenger in the other vehicle.

 

Fifty-four-year-old Mary Newton and her 16-year-old passenger were killed in a Saturday afternoon car crash in Stoddard, New Hampshire, according to authorities, who continue to investigate events leading up to the fatal collision. A Florida woman also was killed in the incident, police said.

"We're all just so very, very heartbroken over this," said Greenfield Planning Board Chairwoman Roxann Wedegartner, who identified the teenage passenger as one of Newton's children.

"She was one of the finest people I know and devoted many, many hours to the town of Greenfield. She really sacrificed a lot for the town on behalf of her family," Wedegartner said of Newton.

Last month, Newton announced she was leaving the Planning Board after nine years of service. Her resignation took effect Friday, "just the day before she died," Wedegartner said.

Linda Smith, the board's vice chair, described Newton as "a very active member" during her tenure on the panel. "We're just devastated. Our heart certainly goes out to her family," Smith said.

Police said Newton and her young passenger were westbound on Route 9 in a Honda Accord at about 2:15 p.m. Saturday, when the Honda crossed into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a recreational vehicle. The RV's driver was injured and a passenger of the RV, 68-year-old Dulce Marie Campo Perez of West Melbourne, Florida, died in the crash, police said.

The Associated Press and other media outlets reported that Newton's son had died in the crash, but a New Hampshire State Police spokesman in Keene said law enforcement officials did not publicly identify the gender of the teenage victim.

The Outer Belt Civic Association has scheduled its monthly meeting and community police meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 6:30 p.m. the Christian Life Center, 1590 Sumner Avenue Ext.

SPRINGFIELD – The Outer Belt Civic Association has scheduled its monthly meeting and community police meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 5, at the Christian Life Center, 1590 Sumner Avenue Ext.

The Sector 1 community police beat management meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the civic association meeting.

Residents and businesses are invited and are welcome to bring their police concerns to the Sector 1 meeting. Sector 1 consists of Sixteen Acres and Outer Belt.

Vu, one of two women taken from the burning building by firefighters, was later pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center.

Updates story published at 6:19 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 3.

Not much was immediately known about Vu, who died from injuries sustained in a house fire that broke out just before 4 a.m. at 25-27 Converse St., a multi-resident apartment building between Vermont Street and Sumner Avenue.

Vu was one of two people taken from the burning building by firefighters, but she was pronounced dead later at Baystate Medical Center.

Firefighters made their way to a third-floor apartment where they found someone lying on the kitchen floor. That person was later identified as Vu, who was carried downstairs to emergency personnel, who immediately began CPR before taking her to the hospital.

Firefighters used a ladder to rescue another woman, who was uninjured but stranded on the building's second-floor porch.

Leger said the electrical fire began in a third-floor bathroom and caused about $60,000 in fire, smoke and water damage.

Even as Israel said it was close to completing its mission, heavy fighting raged in parts of Gaza, with at least 10 people killed in what U.N. and Palestinian officials said was an Israeli airstrike near a U.N. shelter.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the Gaza Strip on Sunday in an apparent winding down of the nearly monthlong operation against Hamas that has left more than 1,800 Palestinians and 60 Israelis dead.

Even as Israel said it was close to completing its mission, heavy fighting raged in parts of Gaza, with at least 10 people killed in what U.N. and Palestinian officials said was an Israeli airstrike near a U.N. shelter. The United States lashed out at Israel, saying it was "appalled" by the "disgraceful" attack.

And with Hamas officials vowing to continue their fight, it remained uncertain whether Israel could unilaterally end the war.

Israel launched its military operation in Gaza on July 8 in response to weeks of heavy rocket fire, carrying out hundreds of airstrikes across the crowded seaside territory. It then sent in ground forces July 17 in what it said was a mission to destroy the tunnels used by Hamas to carry out attacks.

Hamas has fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel during what has turned into the bloodiest round of fighting ever between the two enemies.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, confirmed the bulk of ground troops had been pulled out of Gaza after the military concluded it had destroyed most of the tunnel network.

He said Israel had detected some 30 tunnels that were dug along the border for what he called a "synchronized attack" on Israel.

"We've caused substantial damage to this network to an extent where we've basically taken this huge threat and made it minimal," he said. The army had thousands of troops in Gaza at the height of the operation.

In southern Israel, armored vehicles could be seen rolling slowly onto the back of large flatbed trucks near the Gaza border, while soldiers folded flags from atop a tank and rolled up their belongings and sleeping bags.

Lerner said, however, that the operation was not over and that Israel would continue to target Hamas' rocket-firing capabilities and its ability to infiltrate Israel.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on against Hamas, he is coming under international pressure to halt the fighting because of the heavy civilian death toll.

U.N. officials say more than three-quarters of the dead have been civilians, including the 10 people killed Sunday at a U.N. school that has been converted into a shelter in the southern town of Rafah.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attack a "moral outrage and a criminal act" and demanded a quick investigation, while the U.S. State Department condemned the strike in unusually strong language.

According to witnesses, Israeli strikes hit just outside the main gates of the school. The Red Crescent, a charity, said the attack occurred while people were in line to get food from aid workers. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said in addition to the dead, 35 people were wounded.

Robert Turner, director of operations for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said the building had been providing shelter for some 3,000 people. He said the strike killed at least one U.N. staffer.

"The locations of all these installations have been passed to the Israeli military multiple times," Turner said. "They know where these shelters are. How this continues to happen, I have no idea."

Inside the U.N. school's compound, several bodies, among them children, were strewn across the ground in puddles of blood. "Our trust and our fate are only in the hands of God!" one woman cried.

The Israeli military said it had targeted three wanted militants on a motorcycle in the vicinity and was "reviewing the consequences of this strike."

In the current round of fighting, U.N. shelters have been struck by fire seven times. UNRWA, the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, says Israel has been the source of fire in all instances. But it also has said it found caches of rockets in vacant UNRWA schools three times.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilian areas for cover and says the Islamic militant group is responsible for the heavy death toll because it has been using civilians as "human shields."

Israeli artillery shells slammed into two high-rise office buildings Sunday in downtown Gaza City, police and witnesses said. Al-Kidra said more than 50 Palestinians were killed, including 10 members of one family in a single strike in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel said that it attacked 63 sites on Sunday and that nearly 100 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel.

Also Sunday, the Israeli military said it found three motorcycles in one of the tunnels leading to Israel. It said the vehicles were meant to facilitate an attack against Israelis and help militants get around more quickly.

Israeli officials said the military would reduce its ground activities in Gaza but would respond to continued attacks from Gaza with airstrikes.

"It's not a withdrawal," Israeli Cabinet minister Amir Peretz told Channel 10 TV. "It's setting up a new line that is a more controlled line with the air force doing its work."

In Gaza, Hamas officials said they would not halt the rocket fire without an end to an Israeli blockade of the territory that has devastated the local economy. Israel imposed the blockade in 2007, saying the measures are needed to keep Hamas from arming.

"If Israel stops unilaterally, Hamas will declare victory and will not grant any security or truce to Israel," said one senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal Hamas deliberations. "In this case, we are going to live under a war of attrition until a political solution is found."

In Cairo, Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators held talks over a potential cease-fire. After accusing Hamas of repeatedly violating humanitarian cease-fire arrangements, Israel said it would not attend the talks and there was "no point" in negotiating with the militant group.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military death toll rose to 64 after Israel announced that Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old infantry lieutenant feared captured in Gaza, was actually killed in battle. Some 15,000 people attended his funeral Sunday.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon revealed on his Facebook page Sunday that he is a distant relative of Goldin and had known him his whole life. The information was previously kept under wraps while Goldin was feared abducted.

More than 300 cars and motorcycles were exhibited at the car show.

SPRINGFIELD — When Eric Cross was 14-years-old he got his first car, a 1979 Trans-Am, he's been working on cars ever since.

"It all started from there," said Cross, owner of Fat Boyz Kustom in Chicopee.

Cross attended the Tuned by Tuna Car show held on the grounds of Smith & Wesson Sunday.

"This is the 30th year of the show and we are just trying to grow it to what it was years ago," said Michael Santos, one of the organizers of the event.

The annual car show benefits Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield. Aside from the car show, music and demonstrations by local police and fire departments, the event also included a parade from Smith & Wesson to Shriners Hospital.

"The hospital is why we do this," said Scott Lavallee, another organizer of the event.

Latoya Bosworth of Chicoppe, and her 2-year-old son Elijah Floyd, of Chicopee came to see the fire trucks and police cars.

"He loves all things fire and police right now," Bosworth said.

The show included nearly 100 police vehicles from the early 1940s to modern day cars.

Reggie Dolan displayed his 2007 Dodge Durango covered in Line-X, a protective spray-on coating.

"After a large hail storm I had thousands of dollars in damage to my truck so I decided to get it done," he said of the very expensive treatment which will protect the vehicle from scratches, crashes and more.

Ken Madeiros, of Agawam, had a more delicate paint job done on his 1955 Chevy Sedan Delivery. The light duty truck has a black cherry paint job, covered in a candy coat and a clear coat. The work was done by Fat Boyz Kustom.

"It took a lot of man hours to get it to look like this," said Madeiros, of the car which he purchased in 2007 and completed in 2012.

Madeiros, who is a fan of 1955, 1956 and 1957 Chevys, said he remembers the Delivery being used as a utility vehicle to deliver everything from diapers to flowers and bread.

Also on display was the Springfield Police Department’s nearly $1 million Com1 Command Post vehicle. Other emergency vehicles included the new 2014 black and white police car, Harley Davidson motorcycle and police rescue boat. The Springfield Fire Department featured its newest heavy duty rescue squad and the new million dollar aerial ladder truck which extended 100 feet into the air.

Santos and Lavallee said they hope to expand the show every year.

Gunfire erupted several blocks away from The X, the heart of Forest Park's main commercial district, just after 10 a.m. Sunday. There were no apparent injuries in the shooting.

Update at 11:20 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 3: The crime scene is just off Belmont Avenue on Sylvan Street, where multiple orange evidence markers indicated the location of spent shell casings and other possible evidence. Several police cruisers and at least one detective unit were on scene investigating. This information has been added to the story below.

As many as eight shots may have been fired in the incident, according to preliminary reports by Springfield police, who found shell casings on Sylvan Street. The shooting scene is several blocks southeast of The X, the neighborhood's main commercial district.

There were no injuries in the daylight shooting, which was reported at 10:07 a.m. and drew onlookers. Police cruisers and yellow crime-scene tape blocked off the area of Sylvan and Taft streets, where multiple orange evidence markers indicated the location of spent casings and other possible evidence.

Authorities issued various descriptions of a car that may have been involved in the shooting, narrowing it down to a newer model black BMW sedan that fled toward The X. The car was described by authorities as a 7 series model with straight, five-spoke rims. The lone occupant of the BMW reportedly fired shots through the car's open sunroof, police said.

"I need DB (Detective Bureau) to respond. We have eight shell casings I want collected," a sergeant at the scene said.

The gunfire didn't trigger a ShotSpotter activation by the city's automatic gunfire-detection system.

This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Meanwhile, police were at the scene of another Forest Park shooting on Saturday night. Several shots rang out around 8:20 p.m. on Belmont Avenue, between roughly Woodside Terrace and Bellevue Avenue.

There were no apparent injuries in the incident, but the gunfire reportedly came from a silver or gray Toyota Camry that headed up Belmont Avenue toward The X.

Anyone with information about either of these incidents is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355.

The project was started this morning and is expected to last six weeks. Crews will be working on the road daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

LONGMEADOW — The flow of traffic down Dwight Road in Longmeadow will be restricted in the coming weeks, as the Longmeadow Public Works Department will be engaging in "drainage and road work" that will limit motorists to a single lane between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.

JL Construction Corporation of West Springfield has been tasked to handle the project, which was started this morning and is expected to last approximately six weeks.

The DPW has issued a notice about the project, which advises local residents to prepare for a slight delay when through the area while construction is ongoing.

Those with questions or concerns are asked to call the DPW office at 567-3400.

For those four-year degree seeking students who daydream of food, eat your heart out in Western Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst was named a top school for best campus food by The Princeton Review.

For those four-year degree seeking students who daydream of food, eat your heart out in Western Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst was named a top school for best campus food by The Princeton Review.

The flagship campus was named second in the nation for best food on campus. Virginia Tech took top honors in the category.

This is not the first time the university's dining services have received acclaim. Last year, the school placed third for best campus food by The Princeton Review. In 2012, The Daily Meal ranked the campus seventh for best food on campus.

Additionally, the school receives notoriety for their oversized cooking competitions. Two years ago, UMass set a world record for cooking a 6,656-pound seafood stew. In 2010, the campus rolled a 422-foot California roll.

The campus was on another kind of roll this year. The Princeton Review ranked UMass-Amherst as one of the most environmentally friendly schools. This is the fourth time in five years the college has received been recognized for being green.

24 institutions - including UMass - received the highest possibly score for sustainability-related practices, policies and academic offerings.

While UMass rated high in the two categories, the college received poor marks in another. UMass made the list for least accessible professors, ranked at 13th.

The Princeton Review released their annual college rankings on Monday. The list ranks schools in 62 categories, from town-gown relations to top party schools. The rankings are created from responses to an annual Princeton Review survey that asks 130,000 students at 379 colleges to rate their schools on dozens of topics and report on their campus experiences. On average, according to The Princeton Review, 343 students from each college are surveyed.

The survey asks over 80 questions in four sections: about yourself, your school's academics/administration, students and life at your school.

RELATED: Smith and Emerson colleges named top LGBT-friendly schools by The Princeton Review

Rob Franek, who oversees The Princeton Review's guidebook publishing program, said of the questions:

We ask about all sorts of things, from "How many out-of-class hours do you spend studying each day?" to "How do you rate your campus food?" Most questions offer an answer choice on a five-point scale: students fill in one of five boxes on a grid with headers varying by topic (e.g., a range from "Excellent" to "Awful"). All of our 62 ranking list tallies are based on students' answers to one or more of these questions with a five-point answer scale. The five-point grid—which is called a Likert scale—is the most commonly used measurement for this type of survey research: consensus-based assessment. Statisticians consider it most accurate because it presents equal numbers of positive and negative positions.

Israel and Hamas on Monday accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal meant to halt a monthlong war, signaling an end to the bloodiest round of fighting between the bitter enemies could finally be approaching.

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas on Monday accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal meant to halt a monthlong war, signaling an end to the bloodiest round of fighting between the bitter enemies could finally be approaching.

The sides said a preliminary 72-hour truce was to begin at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) Tuesday. Egypt was then set to host indirect talks to work out a long-term truce over the next three days.

A delegation of Palestinian officials from various factions, including Hamas, has been negotiating with Egypt in recent days. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the group had accepted the plan.

"It's clear now that the interest of all parties is to have a cease-fire," said Bassam Salhi, a member of the Palestinian delegation. "It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too."

The war broke out on July 8 when Israel launched an air campaign in response to heavy rocket fire out of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel expanded the operation by sending in ground forces on July 17 in what it described as a mission to destroy a network of tunnels used by Hamas militants to stage attacks. The army said it is close to destroying the last of the tunnels.

Several previous cease-fires have collapsed, including a similar plan for a 72-hour truce that broke down last Friday in heavy fighting. Both sides blamed each other.

An Israeli official said Israel would respect the cease-fire, but that it was watching the negotiations "with a certain amount of skepticism" given the previous failures.

He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement by the Israeli government.

About 100 people from different groups attended a similar rally to protest placing immigrant children at Westover Air Reserve Base.

CHICOPEE – A second rally to protest illegal immigration is being planned in the area outside Westover Air Reserve Base for Aug. 10.

The rally is scheduled to be held from noon to 3 p.m. in the rotary at the intersection of Memorial Drive, Granby Road and Westover Road.

Two weeks ago about 100 people from a number of different groups including the Pioneer Valley Tea Party and Impeach Obama joined together to protest a plan to temporarily house illegal immigrant children who have crossed alone into the United States from Central America and Mexico at Westover Air Reserve Base.

Mayor Richard J. Kos and State Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, have also issued statements opposing Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal.

A Facebook page announcing the rally describes it as: “A peaceful protest against bringing the burden of illegal immigrants to Chicopee, and America.”

A California Company is the third owner of the Dunbar's mortgage over the past few months.

SPRINGFIELD - The Dunbar Community Center's mortgage traded hands July 18, the third time it had traded hands since spring, a state of flux that is making it harder of boosters to save the venerable community center from foreclosure.

However a review of documents on file at the Hampden Registry of Deeds showed no notice of foreclosure, typically the first step in a foreclosure process indicating that an actual taking of the property may be some time off in the future.

In the most recent filing, dated July 18, the Dunbar mortgage was transferred to Pacific Western Bank, a state chartered bank in California. Pacific Western officials reached by phone Monday had no knowledge of the transaction.

Records at the Registry of Deeds do not show how much Pacific Western paid for the mortgage, a transaction that likely involved a "bundle" of debt.

Kirk R. Smith, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, went public last week with the Dunbar's mortgage woes. The Dunbar Community Center Inc. ceded operational control of the center to the YMCA in 2011 after suffering financial losses.

The Y took over programing and day-to-day running at the Dunbar, but it didn't take over the mortgage, a $1.2 million loan taken out in 2003 from Fleet Bank.

A $4 million expansion project was completed in 2002.

Dunbar boosters say there is about $1 million left to pay on the mortgage, more than the building is expected to fetch at any auction.

Mortgage holders have rejected offers of $500,000 to buy the property and settle the debt without a time- and money-consuming auction.

The Y has been successful in growing the Dunbar, building membership up to 3,500 children, youths and adults. The YMCA runs the Dunbar on a budget of $300,000 to $400,000. The budget requires a subsidy from the Y of about $100,00 a year, money raised from donors or transferred from Y locations that turn a profit.

According to records at the registry, the Dunbar loan passed from Fleet to Bank of America as Fleet was sold to Bank of America.

The Board at Dunbar Inc. had been negotiating with Bank of America when the mortgage transferred to an entity of Republic Financial of Colorado. Smith said Republic officials even visited the Dunbar.

He hadn't been hearing much from Republic lately, though.

"Now we know why," he said.