Michael Richard's lawyer characterized the incident with Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant as "a fistfight between gentlemen."

This is an update of a story posted at 3:25 p.m. Thursday.

PALMER - The decision of the courts Thursday to release former firefighter Michael Richard without bail as he awaits his trial for attacking Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant was met with ire by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

Sarno issued a statement Thursday afternoon calling the decision by Palmer District Court Judge Michael Mulcahey to release Richard,"unacceptable," "extremely disappointing," and a "dangerous precedent."

Richard, a retired Springfield Fire Department captain, is accused of attacking Conant Tuesday night at Conant's home in East Longmeadow.

He was arrested Thursday morning and charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct. He denied the charges at his arraignment.

Mulcahey ordered Richard to be released on his own recognizance pending his next appearance in court on Nov. 4 for a pre-trial hearing.

Rather than setting bail, Mulcahey tacked on a set of conditions for Richard, including that he stay at least 100 yards away from Conant at all times, that he wear an electronic monitoring device with an exclusion zone for all of Springfield and East Longmeadow, and that he remain drug and alcohol free.

He was also ordered to continue receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration hospital in Northampton.

Sarno, learning of the results of the arraignment dispatched a statement to the local media that read:

“This senseless and vicious attack, witnessed by his young daughters and wife, has been a traumatic and horrifying experience. No family, whether a public official or not, should be subject to this form of attack. I am extremely disappointed in the decision by the court and find it unacceptable. This sets a very dangerous precedent and leaves every public official, public servant or elected official, vulnerable to a physical attack because of a public policy decision he or she has rendered.”

Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Edward Kivari asked the court to set bail at $5,000 cash, calling the attack on Conant "unprovoked and egregious." He said Richard targeted Conant because "this defendant was passed over for a promotion."

He said Conant suffered a concussion, lacerations, and possible soft-tissue injures.

Conant, with visible bruises on his face, was at the arraignment. He was not called upon to speak.

Kivari said the attack was unprovoked, and that Richard walked up to Conant as the commissioner was watering his garden and punched him in the head. Conant fell to the ground and Richard continued to hit him, while yelling "You took food out of my children's mouths."

He said Richard continued to hit him until Conant's wife came out of the house. At that point, "the defendant ran back to his vehicle and cowardly drove away from the scene."

Richard's lawyer Daniel Bergin downplayed the incident, calling it "a fistfight between two gentlemen" and that bail was not necessary.

He said Conant suffered no permanent injuries, and said Richard has "bruises all over his body."

He also said Richard, a decorated veteran who served two tours of duty in the Gulf War, is agreeable to a few more weeks at the VA Medical Center in Northampton.

Richard, after leaving Conant's house on Tuesday night, drove to Northampton and checked himself into the VA center. He was arrested there by East Longmeadow police Thursday morning, according to East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Patrick Manley on Thursday afternoon said.

Former Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas said that the company should return to normalcy within six or seven days now that he has regained control of the popular supermarket chain.

BOSTON — Former Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas said that the company should return to normalcy within six or seven days now that he has regained control of the popular supermarket chain.

Demoulas took control of the company when its board of directors agreed to allow him to buy the remaining 50.5 percent of the company he does not control from his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas and his family. The deal was announced Wednesday.

The sale brings closure to a months long drama that brought a regional grocery juggernaut to its knees and captivated New England.

Following Arthur T. Demoulas' June 23 ouster as CEO by the supermarket's board of directors, store employees mounted an unprecedented movement asking customers to join them in boycotting the 71-store chain until he was reinstated.

Demoulas had nothing but praise for the workers at Market Basket and its customers who stood together demanding his return as the company's CEO.

"(The customers) were just tremendous in the way they supported all the hard working associates in this company here, they were right there with them week in and week out," said Demoulas.

Demoulas said he was amazed by the level of support he received.

"The genuine grassroots effort of this organization and the customers that followed was really something to see," said Demoulas.

The people who banded together and demanded his return saved the company, he said.

"If it wasn't for the customers and the people of this company here protecting the culture of this company it most likely would have been a different company going down the road," said Demoulas.

Demoulas estimates that the company will get back to top form within a week.

"Hopefully in the next six or seven days, no longer than that, we'll have these stores right up to the Market Basket standard," said Demoulas.

Police were tipped off when a witness reported that Molnar had what appeared to be child pornography on his cell phone.

NORTHAMPTON — A Southampton man has been sentenced to one year in the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction after admitting to a single count of possession of child pornography.

Bruce Molnar, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday in Northampton District Court. 

Molnar was arrested earlier this month and has been held on $100,000 bail since his Aug. 11 arraignment, according to a statement issued by Mary Carey, communications director for Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan.

Police were tipped off when a witness reported that Molnar had what appeared to be child pornography on his cell phone, wrote Carey.

Southampton police officer Martin Cook obtained a search warrant for Molnar’s phone, and a forensic examination was conducted by Sgt. Thomas Bakey of the state police detective unit assigned to the district attorney. The search revealed dozens of images of girls between approximately five years of age and their early teens displayed in various states of nudity, and several images of girls under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts with an adult male, Carey wrote.

“The district attorney’s office commends the witness for coming forward with the information about this individual,” said Assistant District Attorney Christine Tetreault, who prosecuted the case. “We encourage citizens who become aware of images of the sexual abuse of children to contact their local police department or the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office immediately.”

Molnar will also have to register as a sex offender.

Superintendent Marlene DiLeo said there is no money available to employ a police officer to work in the schools

WARE – Superintendent Marlene DiLeo said there is no money available to employ a police officer to work in the schools, but a member of her administration told the school board at Wednesday’s meeting that a recently enacted state gun law requires a resource officer in every district.

House Bill 4278 – An Act relative to the reduction of gun violence – was signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick on Aug. 13.

The comprehensive gun control legislation includes language that states: “The school department of a city or town, a regional school district or a county agricultural school shall, subject to appropriation, employ at least 1 school resource officer to serve the city, town, regional school district or county agricultural school. The chief of police, in consultation with the superintendent, shall appoint the school resource officer. In the case of a regional school district or county agriculture school, the chief of police of the city or town where the school lies, in consultation with the superintendent, shall appoint the school resource officer.”

According to DiLeo, the school system applied for a federal grant that would have funded, for three years, half the cost of a full time police officer to serve as the district’s resource officer. She said the Ware Police Chief had agreed to cover the other half of the tab, for the three years.

But the grant was denied, the superintendent said.

Because of the lack of financing, DiLeo told the committee: “We would rather set our own policy, [rather than] mandate something” the state is not providing the money to pay for.

She also said that, in conversations with other school systems, involving the gun law, there is a sense that “they are not sure [if] it is required, or strongly recommended.”

Grades 7 through 9 Guidance Counselor Eric Urban is the school’s safety coordinator.

Ware public schools guidance counselor Eric Urban is also the district's safety coordinator JIM RUSSELL PHOTO 

While outlining the district’s updated school safety protocol, he said, “The new gun law requires a resource officer,” adding: “they can serve as educators.”

The school board took no action to hire a resource officer at the Aug. 27 meeting.

Urban also told the committee that the district plans to hold at least two tornado practice-drills, during the school year, as well as “a handful” of simulated lock down exercises in addition to fire drills.

“If we practice it, we have a better idea of what we should do, if something happens.”

The second water main break in two weeks left a sink hole in the middle of South Street and poured water, rocks and mud down Nonotuck Avenue Thursday.

But the search continues.

WESTFIELD — In an email sent to reporters Thursday, the Virginia state police said that an initial inspection of the downed F-15 wreckage did not include an ejection seat or a parachute.

Troopers also said the news is not definitive evidence that the pilot bailed out. The seat and parachute could have been destroyed in the crash.

The search is ongoing, troopers said.

Searchers are combing the George Washington National Forest for the pilot of a West field-based F-15 fighter jet.

Officials here at Barnes Air National Guard Base promise an update sometime this evening.

Air Force survival training is in Washington State.

WESTFIELD —U.S. Air Force Air National Guard Maj. Matthew Mutti said that if the pilot whose F-15C jet crashed in Virginia on Wednesday ejected, that pilot is trained, if not equipped, to survive in the wild.

Every Air Force member who flies goes through an extensive 19-day survival, evasion, resistance and escape, or SERE, course taught at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State. A parachute and water survival course is taught in Florida and a cold weather survival course is taught in Alaska. Air crew also go through desert survival training prior to deployment to the Middle East.

At Fairchild, students go through extensive classroom training on what to do if they are downed, especially if they are lost behind enemy territory. Classes include first aid, how to capture and purify water, how to signal for help, how to evade detection, build shelter, make tools, get bearings and navigate on land, how to find edible plants and if necessary hunt, clean and cook game.

After classroom training, students spend six days in the mountains of the Colville and Kaniksu National Forests about 70 miles north of base. There, in the rugged Northwest, they put into practice what they learned surviving in the woods with and without access to their survival gear.

"The instructors are always at hand for safety, but the students have to do it themselves," said Mutti, spokesman for the 104th Fighter Wing based at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, where the crashed F-15 was based.

There is a great likelihood that if the pilot was able to eject, the pilot was injured in that ejection," Mutti said.

"I'm not going to pretend that ejecting from an aircraft at that speed is a smooth ride," he said.

Not only getting out of the plane, but landing in a parachute in rough Appalachian terrain can hurt.

SERE lasts 19 days and occurs 49 weeks each year. The majority of the course is taught at Fairchild AFB; however, six days are spent approximately 70 miles north of the base, in the mountains of the Colville and Kaniksu National Forests. This course consists of physical and psychological stresses of survival, hands-on training in post-ejection procedures and parachute landing falls, survival medicine and recovery device training and equipment procedures. In the field, students receive additional training which includes food procurement and preparation, day and night land navigation techniques, evasion travel and camouflage techniques, ground-to-air signals and aircraft vectoring procedures and shelter construction. Finally, students are returned to Fairchild and receive Code of Conduct Training in evasion and conduct after capture.

Mutti said pilots are trained to ditch their survival vests if they are bailing out over a forest so as not to get it caught in a tree branch. That means the pilot may not have an emergency radio.

"We just don't know," he said.

While he has not seen an inventory, most pilots carry water, a knife, some food, a signaling device like a mirror and other survival gear on their person.

Mutti said it's important to remember the pilot was going to New Orleans to get the plane outfitted with new radar.

"Typically the gear on a cross-country trip is different from the gear one would carry on a combat mission," he said.

"Those planes have a great deal of sensory equipment," Mutti said. "That includes electronic gear in case the pilot does have a radio."

Below, check out a video prepared by Air Force SERE course instructors:

Rolls will be sold during the nine-day presentation of the relic of St. Anthony of Padua at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church.

It was a particularly busy Friday morning at LaFiorentina Bakery for owner Anna Daniele. Staff, at the popular bakery in Springfield's South End, was frosting rows of wedding cakes, pastries were being readied for weekend customers and baker Rigoberto Berduo was organizing boxes lined with individually wrapped sweet rolls.

Daniele is donating some 5,000 of the rolls to St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church, in honor of the parish's presentation of a relic of St. Anthony of Padua, from Sept. 6 through 14. The bone fragment, encased in a gold statute, is from the Italian basilica, in Padua, that bears the name of one of the Catholic's Church's most popular saints. Its nine-day veneration, in Springfield, is its only presentation in the United States this year, and the Rev. George Zina has arranged daily ethnic liturgies, novena prayers, and lectures. Food will also be available for purchased, including LaFiorentina's St. Anthony rolls.

Anna Daniele, owner of LaFiorentina Bakery, in Springfield's South End, stands with baker Rigoberto Berduo and some of the St. Anthony rolls they made for nine-day presentation of the relic of St. Anthony of Padua at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church.ANNE-GERARD FLYNN PHOTO 

"I pray to St. Anthony all the time. When you lose something, he helps you find it. Whatever it is, you pray to him, and your dream comes true," said the Italian-born Daniele. "He also gave to the poor."

Many miracles are attributed to the Portuguese-born Anthony, who is known as the Messenger of Hope. His miracles include reviving a drowned child, whose mother promised, if her child lived, that she would give the amount of his weight in wheat to the poor for bread. The Franciscan friars, whose order Anthony eventually joined and became famous for his preaching in Italy, often distribute what is known as St. Anthony's bread on his feast day of June 13, an act symbolic of giving to those in need.

Daniele, who is from Bracigliano in the Province of Salerno, said the tradition in her town, as in much of Italy, is to bring a loaf of St. Anthony bread to church on the saint's feast day.

"You make or buy the bread, and then bring it to Mass, where the priest blesses the bread. You then bring it home for family, or give it to friends or to someone, for example, who is home bound."

Daniele described St. Anthony's bread as "a regular, every day bread," but this is not what her bakery is donating in honor of the relic.

"I understand that the last time Father Zina was in Italy, he bought some sweet bread. This is a little different, from the tradition I was brought up on," said Daniele, who described the dough for the rolls as similar to a brioche pastry eaten for breakfast.

Daniele is having her bakers, like Salvatore Carrano, add raisins to the dough, known for its light, rich taste. The rolls are being sealed in individual plastic with a sticker of St. Anthony holding the Infant Jesus, a reference to another of the saint's miracles.

Daniele said her bakery is "very blessed that Father George asked us to bake the bread for the St. Anthony relic."

"It is quite an honor for us to do it," added Daniele, who plans to attend a number of the events, including the opening procession and liturgy.

The procession, which Zina has described as a "United Nations" of participants, ranging from Portuguese to Vietnamese members of area parishes, begins Sept. 6, at 10:30 a.m. at Overlook Drive, one block from the parish at 375 Island Pond Road.

The Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, and Most Rev. Gregory J. Mansour, bishop of the Epachy (diocese) of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, which oversees the Maronite Church in 16 states, will celebrate the Maronite Liturgy at 11 a.m.

The relic is scheduled to arrive at St. Michael's Cathedral on the morning of Sept. 6, and be presented to the two bishops by a friar from the Padua basilica.

A complete list of activities can be found on the website of St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church.

Christopher M. Williams pleaded not guilty to two counts of open and gross lewdness Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court following his arrest Wednesday on a UMass police warrant.

BELCHERTOWN – The Montague man charged with open and gross lewdness in connection with incidents at the University of Massachusetts last week must remain off the campus while he awaits further court proceedings.

Christopher M. Williams, of 17 Avenue C Apt. #2, Montague, pleaded not guilty to two counts of open and gross lewdness Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court following his arrest Wednesday on a UMass police warrant.

Williams allegedly drove his Honda Civic into UMass Amherst parking lot Aug. 20 and exposed himself while masturbating in the presence of two female UMass students in separated incidents. Lot 25 is on the periphery of the campus along Commonwealth Avenue.

He posted $500 bail, according to court records, and is due back in court Oct. 9 for a pretrial conference.

The City Council certified the district in 2009 and is thus a defendant.

NORTHAMPTON - It is now up to a judge to decide whether or not the process by which the Northampton Business Improvement District was established was valid.

Judge John Agostini, who heard the jury-waived civil suit against the BID this week in Hampshire Superior Court, assumed the plaintiffs and defendants that he will rule as soon as possible. Downtown property owners Eric Suher and Alan Scheinman filed the suit against the BID and the city of Northampton, maintaining that some of the signatures collected for the petition to establish the BID in 2006 were not in accordance with the law. The City Council certified the district in 2009 and is thus a defendant.

Because the trial was not overseen by a jury, there were no closing arguments Friday in the last day of the trial. The final witness called by the BID was Joseph Blumenthal, the owner of Downtown Sounds and a member of the steering committee that helped to create the BID. Blumenthal, who has three properties within the district, told Agostini that all his signatures on the petition are valid.

The judge set deadlines for all three sides to submit memoranda on the validity of the signatures and to ask for findings of law. The latest of these is Oct. 24, meaning Agostini will not rule before then.

Funeral arrangements for the 104th pilot are still incomplete.

 

The fade to black and white came slowly Thursday into Friday.

The Facebook pages of so many members – past and present - of the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at first bore the brightly colored insignia of their 131st Fighter Squadron as their profile pictures in tribute to their lost airman.

Hope still lingered over the course of 24-plus hours as the search continued for Lt. Col. Morris “Moose” Fontenot in the mountains of western Virginia where the F-15C fighter jet he was piloting had crashed on Wednesday morning.

By Friday morning, the colors on the insignia on all those Facebook pages had gone to black-and-white, a simple statement of loss and grief among a family in mourning. No words were needed; the message was clear.

Back in the 1980s as a young reporter just beginning to cover the Air Guard unit in Westfield, I learned that as professional a group as it was and remains, the 104th is more about family, a place where everyone knows everyone, where each member has the other’s back, always together, always supportive in good times and in bad.

The pilots may strap themselves into those monstrous jets and put their lives at risk day in and day out, but the men and women on the ground, from those who care for the aircraft to those who monitor the flights, from those who man the accounting department to those who keep the base secure, are just as vital a part of the rhythm of everyday life at the Westfield Guard base. Each is an important part of the “mission” of the 104th.

And, so it played out this week, in a most painful reminder, not just of the serious business they pursue 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year but also of how united members of the unit are in support of one another.

“It seems the more difficult times, just like with a family, bring us closer and closer,” remarked Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice, the state’s adjutant general, on Friday afternoon after members of the 104th gathered for a quiet ceremony of remembrance for Fontenot in the base hangar.

12.07.2013 | KOMATSU AIR BASE, JAPAN -- Japanese Air Self Defense Force Lt. Col. Miyake Hideaki, 306th Tactical Fighter Squadron commander, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot, 67th Fighter Squadron commander, shake hands during a press conference on Komatsu Air Base, Japan. Fontenot was killed when the F-15C fighter he was flying out of the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, Massachusetts, crashed on Wednesday in the Virginia mountains.U.S. AIR FORCE 

Rice remembers first meeting Fontenot in the officers’ club at Barnes earlier this year when the colonel joined the unit after a distinguished Air Force career which could easily have put him in line to become a general officer serving outside a cockpit: “He told me he was coming to the Guard for stability for his family and wanting to make a big impact on flying the F-15.”

Rice, who, like Fontenot, left active duty Air Force service to join the Guard, considers the 104th an extension of his own family; he flew with the unit in the 1990s before advancing into a leadership position and still lives just up Route 10 from the base.

The general said the emotional support of the men and women of the 104th helped keep him going during the past three days, right up until the time he had to deliver the news to commander Col. James Keefe on Thursday afternoon that there was conclusive evidence Fontenot had not survived the crash.

“I lost it,” he recalled of the telephone conversation. There were tears, Rice acknowledged, and moments of reflection by each of them. On Thursday night, Rice stood at Keefe’s side as the commander made their sad news public.

“I’ve been on active duty, and (my wife) Nancy and I have lost friends in crashes. Each one is tragic, but, for some reason, this one was different,” Rice said. “It’s like I’ve lost a son or a brother. This has hit me much harder than any other loss.”

On Friday morning as the unit returned to work, Rice said he witnessed the 104th family taking care of each other. Ten of the pilots, he said, began the day meeting with the maintenance team, delivering their support to the men and women who care for the jets they fly. “They told them this one blip in our organization has no reflection on their confidence in their maintenance work,” the general said.

As adjutant general Rice commands all of the state’s Army and Air Guard units; over two-and-a-half years as commander, Rice said, he has buried 15 people, some lost in service in Iraq and Afghanistan, others to suicide. He knows each of their names by heart, Rice said, and each time he hears “Taps,” he recites those names.

Now, he will add another.

An American Airlines flight bound for Paris was diverted to Boston on Wednesday after a French passenger became unruly during a disagreement about reclining seats.

BOSTON — An American Airlines flight bound for Paris was diverted to Boston on Wednesday after a French passenger became unruly during a disagreement about reclining seats.

Edmund Alexandre, 60, of Paris was subdued by air marshals after he became aggressive and threatening to passengers and flight crew members when the woman seated in front of him reclined her seat. Marshals handcuffed Alexandre until the aircraft landed at Logan Airport where he was then removed from the plane and booked by police.

Alexandre is facing federal and state charges for interfering with a flight crew on the flight out of Miami. If convicted he faces a maximum 20 years in prison with three years of supervision after his release. He was arraigned on charges Thursday at Massachusetts General Hospital for undisclosed reasons.

This is the second incident in the skies this week where a dispute broke out over the reclining of a seat. A United flight from Newark to Denver was diverted to Chicago on Sunday when passengers fought over the usage of a device that prevents seats from reclining.

While acknowledging the truth of some aspects of a lawsuit brought by a former top aide, Auditor Suzanne Bump in a Friday court filing denied that she conducted electioneering out of her office and pushed out Laura Marlin because she was a whistleblower.

By Andy Metzger
State House News Service

BOSTON — While acknowledging the truth of some aspects of a lawsuit brought by a former top aide, Auditor Suzanne Bump in a Friday court filing denied that she conducted electioneering out of her office and pushed out Laura Marlin because she was a whistleblower.

"Defendants justly ended Ms. Marlin’s employment with the Office because her ongoing rude, disrespectful, and confrontational behavior towards her colleagues, including toward Auditor Bump, were an impediment to the smooth and efficient functioning of the Office and it became apparent that, despite coaching and counseling to which Auditor Bump had referred her, she was unable or unwilling to correct her unacceptable behaviors and negative management style," Bump's attorneys wrote in response to Marlin's Aug. 6 lawsuit.

Marlin claims she was forced to resign after raising concerns about political interference with auditing processes and campaign activities occurring in Bump's State House office. Beyond a statement that denied the claims, Bump and her office have declined to comment.

Marlin had claimed Bump wanted to hold a political meeting to seek the endorsement of a labor group representing social workers in her State House office in May and only moved it after she raised objections. In her suit, Marlin claimed the day after the meeting, Bump told Marlin the group's political director should have been contacted in the course of a recent audit.

In her response Bump said Marlin wrongly objected to holding a "legal and proper meeting" with leaders of SEIU Local 509 about concerns with the process of an audit that was released about seven weeks earlier.

Bump said she moved the meeting to avoid a "further debate" with Marlin and later talked to Marlin about her "unprofessional behavior" and advised her that union officials should have been contacted to identify members who "could provide information relative to the state objectives of the audit."

Bump also acknowledged that on one occasion an unidentified state representative whom she had asked to help her collect nomination signatures had picked up a packet of papers from her office.

Bump also said she had been unaware that a Bump campaign staffer had dropped off campaign paperwork for Marlin, and said the office's general counsel told the staffer he should "never again bring campaign material to the Office."

Marlin's lawsuit has created political hay for Bump's Republican opponent Patricia Saint Aubin, who said in a statement that if the allegations are true they are "unethical and potentially criminal."

The attorney general's office previously said Bump would be represented by outside counsel. The attorneys listed on the response are John Graff and Tobias Crawford, of the firm Hirsch Roberts Weinstein. The judge assigned the case is Leo Sorokin. Crawford clerked for Sorokin when he was judge magistrate, according to his bio on the law firm's website.

Bump conceded that in Marlin's most recent two "formal" performance evaluations she praised Marlin's performance and gave her merit-based pay raises - which was one of the claims in Marlin's suit.

The response contends "outside the formal review process, Auditor Bump provided Ms. Marlin with a memorandum discussing and listing some of her unacceptable interactions with co-workers and colleagues, which they also discussed on numerous occasions, and referred Ms. Marlin to professional counseling and coaching to remedy her negative behaviors."

Marlin had claimed that after she raised objections to Bump's directive that the union's political director should have been included in the audit process Bump "became extremely angry and combative in response to Ms. Marlin’s statements and memorandum. She hurled invectives at Ms. Marlin, at times raising her voice and using foul language."

While acknowledging the truth of some aspects of a lawsuit brought by a former top aide, Auditor Suzanne Bump in a Friday court filing denied that she conducted electioneering out of her office and pushed out Laura Marlin because she was a whistleblower.

By ANDY METZGER

BOSTON — While acknowledging the truth of some aspects of a lawsuit brought by a former top aide, Auditor Suzanne Bump in a Friday court filing denied that she conducted electioneering out of her office and pushed out Laura Marlin because she was a whistleblower.

"Defendants justly ended Ms. Marlins employment with the Office because her ongoing rude, disrespectful, and confrontational behavior towards her colleagues, including toward Auditor Bump, were an impediment to the smooth and efficient functioning of the Office and it became apparent that, despite coaching and counseling to which Auditor Bump had referred her, she was unable or unwilling to correct her unacceptable behaviors and negative management style," Bump's attorneys wrote in response to Marlin's Aug. 6 lawsuit.

Marlin claims she was forced to resign after raising concerns about political interference with auditing processes and campaign activities occurring in Bump's State House office. Beyond a statement that denied the claims, Bump and her office have declined to comment.

Marlin had claimed Bump wanted to hold a political meeting to seek the endorsement of a labor group representing social workers in her State House office in May and only moved it after she raised objections. In her suit, Marlin claimed the day after the meeting, Bump told Marlin the group's political director should have been contacted in the course of a recent audit.

In her response Bump said Marlin wrongly objected to holding a "legal and proper meeting" with leaders of SEIU Local 509 about concerns with the process of an audit that was released about seven weeks earlier.

Bump said she moved the meeting to avoid a "further debate" with Marlin and later talked to Marlin about her "unprofessional behavior" and advised her that union officials should have been contacted to identify members who "could provide information relative to the state objectives of the audit."

Bump also acknowledged that on one occasion an unidentified state representative whom she had asked to help her collect nomination signatures had picked up a packet of papers from her office.

Bump also said she had been unaware that a Bump campaign staffer had dropped off campaign paperwork for Marlin, and said the office's general counsel told the staffer he should "never again bring campaign material to the Office."

Marlin's lawsuit has created political hay for Bump's Republican opponent Patricia Saint Aubin, who said in a statement that if the allegations are true they are "unethical and potentially criminal."

The attorney general's office previously said Bump would be represented by outside counsel. The attorneys listed on the response are John Graff and Tobias Crawford, of the firm Hirsch Roberts Weinstein. The judge assigned the case is Leo Sorokin. Crawford clerked for Sorokin when he was judge magistrate, according to his bio on the law firm's website.

Bump conceded that in Marlin's most recent two "formal" performance evaluations she praised Marlin's performance and gave her merit-based pay raises - which was one of the claims in Marlin's suit.

The response contends "outside the formal review process, Auditor Bump provided Ms. Marlin with a memorandum discussing and listing some of her unacceptable interactions with co-workers and colleagues, which they also discussed on numerous occasions, and referred Ms. Marlin to professional counseling and coaching to remedy her negative behaviors."

Marlin had claimed that after she raised objections to Bump's directive that the union's political director should have been included in the audit process Bump "became extremely angry and combative in response to Ms. Marlins statements and memorandum. She hurled invectives at Ms. Marlin, at times raising her voice and using foul language."

Nicorie Adams was spotted by police fleeing the scene of where shots were heard. Officers saw him toss a gun, police said.

Nicorie AdamsSpringfield police photo 

SPRINGFIELD – A 20-year-old city man was arrested Thursday afternoon on weapons charges following his arrest Thursday for firing several gunshots in the area of James and Walnut streets in the city’s Six Corners neighborhood, police said.

Nicorie Adams of 140 Chestnut St. was charged with possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, as well as for an outstanding warrant for a parole violation.

Nicorie AdamsSpringfield police photo 

Police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney said officer Raul Gonzalez was working an extra-duty road detail on Queen Street at about 2:30 p.m. when he heard several shots. He radioed for backup and officers arrived in time to see running away.

They gave chase and saw Adams toss a gun as he climbed a fence to run though a yard, Delaney said.

He was apprehended on Atwood Place and the gun, a .22 caliber handgun, was recovered.

There was no indication that anyone was hit by gunfire.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday. Information on the arraignment was not available.

Five die before study's publication.

According to a Washington Post report, five African medical personnel, involved with a Harvard based study on the Ebola virus, died before the study, whose results could prove pivotal in understanding and diagnosing its spread, was published on line Aug. 28 in the journal Science.

The five, in conjunction with the Harvard researchers, helped the study uncover the fact that the virus is able to mutate, and information from the study, shared prior to its publication, is credited with helping with response efforts.

According to a report in the Harvard Gazette, the study was able to sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierre Leone, when the outbreak started there this spring. The study, involving some 50 researchers, also traced the outbreak in Sierre Leone, where all five died, to a pregnant hospitalized woman who had attended the funeral of healer who had cared for Ebola victims.

The exposure of pregnant women to the Ebola virus in unsanitary conditions, when it was first discovered in Africa, put them among the highest casualties. The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids.

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal, where a case was confirmed on Aug. 26, have all reported outbreaks of the Zaire strain of the virus, which is considered the most deadly, and the World Health Organization is predicting some 20,000 people could become infected before the outbreak is contained.

To date, the outbreak is said to have infected 2,600 people in West Africa, and killed 1,400. A record number of health care workers -- some 140 -- are among the dead, with some 240 infected. These numbers, from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, are considered to possibly not reflect the actual numbers of dead and sick in some villages. The outbreaks have been in countries not associated with previous outbreaks, and their hospitals, ill equipped to enact infection control measures to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus, have contributed to the deaths of both patients and staff.

Students began arriving at 8 a.m. and College President Mary-Beth Cooper who pitched in to help move students into residence halls, was there to greet them.

SPRINGFIELD — When the sun sets on Labor Day on Monday, thousands of college and university students up and down the Pioneer Valley will be setting their smart phone alarms for an early wake-up call for the first day of classes on Tuesday.

While some students have already returned to classes the week of Aug. 25 – notably Western New England University and American International College – the day after Labor Day is the date when the majority of returning college students receive their first classroom assignments.

Parents of students returning to Springfield College campus got a jump on holiday weekend traffic with Friday's move-in day at the Alden Street campus.

Students began arriving at 8 a.m., and College President Mary-Beth Cooper, who pitched in to help move students into residence halls, was there to greet them.

There are 571 first-year students, according to the college. A few facts:

* 571 first-year students, up at least 40 students from one year ago.

* Of the 571 first-year students, 77 are transfer students.

* Overall, Springfield College has over 4,600 enrolled students.

* Also unveiled today was Springfield College's Humanics in Action Day will be Tuesday, Sept. 23, the first major community event first-year students will take part in. There are no classes scheduled that day and students take part in community outreach programs throughout the city of Springfield.

With an undergraduate enrollment of 20,900 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, it was move-in weekend rather than move-in day.

UMass-Amherst students began returning to dormitories on Friday, followed by successive waves of new arrivals continuing through the weekend.

At UMass, a total of 4,650 students are entering the first-year class, up from last year's 4,621.

The number of students entering UMass' Commonwealth Honors College is also up from 623 in 2013 to 710 in 2014.

And the number of first-year international undergraduate students has increased from 169 to 197, according to the university.

An experimental Ebola drug healed all 18 monkeys infected with the deadly virus in a study, boosting hopes that the treatment might help fight the outbreak raging through West Africa — once more of it can be made.

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Chief Medical Writer

An experimental Ebola drug healed all 18 monkeys infected with the deadly virus in a study, boosting hopes that the treatment might help fight the outbreak raging through West Africa — once more of it can be made.

The monkeys were given the drug, ZMapp, three to five days after they were infected with the virus and when most were showing symptoms. That is several days later than any other experimental Ebola treatment tested so far.

The drug also completely protected six other monkeys given a slightly different version of it three days after infection in a pilot test. These two studies are the first monkey tests ever done on ZMapp.

"The level of improvement was utterly beyond my honest expectation," said one study leader, Gary Kobinger of the Public Health Agency of Canada in Winnipeg.

"For animal data, it's extremely impressive," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which had a role in the work.

It's not known how well the drug would work in people, who can take up to 21 days to show symptoms and are not infected the way these monkeys were in a lab.

Several experts said it's not possible to estimate a window of opportunity for treating people, but that it was encouraging that the animals recovered when treated even after advanced disease developed.

The study was published online Friday by the journal Nature.

ZMapp had never been tested in humans before two Americans aid workers who got Ebola while working in Africa were allowed to try it. The rest of the limited supply was given to five others.

There is no more ZMapp now, and once a new batch is ready, it still needs some basic tests before it can be tried again during the African outbreak, Fauci said. "We do need to know what the proper dose is" in people and that it's safe, he said.

Ebola has killed more than 1,500 people this year and the World Health Organization says there could be as many as 20,000 cases before the outbreak is brought under control. On Friday, it spread to a fifth African country — Senegal, where a university student who traveled there from Guinea was being treated.

There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment, just supportive care to keep them hydrated and nourished. Efforts have focused on finding cases and tracking their contacts to limit the disease, which spreads through contact with blood and other fluids.

ZMapp is three antibodies that attach to cells infected with Ebola, helping the immune system kill them.

Of the seven people known to have been treated with ZMapp, two have died — a Liberian doctor and a Spanish priest. The priest received only one of three planned doses. The two Americans recovered, as have two Africans who received ZMapp in Liberia — a Congolese doctor and a Liberian physician's assistant who were expected to be released from a treatment center on Saturday. A British nurse also got the drug, reportedly the two unused doses left over from treating the Spanish priest.

Doctors have said there is no way to know whether ZMapp made a difference or the survivors recovered on their own, as about 45 percent of people infected in this outbreak have.

ZMapp's maker, Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., of San Diego, has said the small supply of the drug is now exhausted and that it will take several months to make more. The drug is grown in tobacco plants and was developed with U.S. government support.

Kobinger said it takes about a month to make 20 to 40 doses at a Kentucky plant where the drug is being produced. Officials have said they are looking at other facilities and other ways to ramp up production, and Kobinger said there were plans for a clinical trial to test ZMapp in people early next year.

The monkey study involved scientists from the Canada health agency, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease.

Eighteen monkeys were given lethal amounts of Ebola in a shot, then received three intravenous doses of ZMapp, given three days apart starting three to five days after they were infected. Some were showing severe symptoms such as excessive bleeding, rashes and effects on their liver.

All treated with ZMapp survived; three other infected monkeys who did not get the drug died within eight days.

Primates have been good stand-ins for people for many viral diseases, but how well they predict human responses to Ebola, "we just don't know," said Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke University infectious disease specialist. The study also "tells us nothing about side effects" people might have, he added.

Still, it was encouraging that even monkeys with severe symptoms got better, said Wolfe and Erica Ollmann Saphire, a Scripps Research Institute professor who has worked with some of the study leaders on antibodies to Ebola.

"The treatment window in humans needs to be established in a well-controlled trial" that also would explore the correct dose of ZMapp in people, Saphire wrote in an email. "Given its tremendous efficacy in the nonhuman primates, I don't see how it couldn't be helpful in people."

Geovanny Hernandez-Soto, 20, was accused of driving his bicycle through the South End and selling heroin, police said.

SPRINGFIELD - A 20-year-old city man, stopped by police on Adams Street for dealing drugs from his bicycle, volunteered that he was only selling a small amount of marijuana. That was bad, police said, but the stash of heroin in his backpack only made things worse.

Springfield police Sgt. John Delaney said Geovanny Hernandez-Soto was arrested and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Geovanny Hernandez-sotoSpringfield police photo 

Delaney said members of the narcotics bureau spotted Hernandez-Soto peddling drugs as he pedaled his mountain bike through the city’s South End. As police moved in to stop him, he shouted at them “Hey, come on, officers! I’m just selling a little weed.”

Officers Thomas Nehmer, Dennis Hackett and Mark Provost found Hernandez-Soto to have a small amount of heroin in his hands but 42 packets of heroin in his backpack.

Conviction of distribution of heroin can result in a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison or 2 ½ years in the county jail.

Since 2009, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized, meaning police confiscate the drug and issue a fine.

However, possession of any amount of marijuana with the intent to distribute it remains a criminal offense, and conviction can result in up to two years in jail.

Delaney said police are seeking the criminal offense, because “if he admits to it, we’re going to charge him with it.”

Hernandez-Soto was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Springfield District Court. Information on the arraignment was not available.

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife took bribes and used their political muscle to promote a sketchy nutritional supplement because they were in deeply in debt and couldn't refuse the more than $165,000 in loans and gifts, including designer dresses and a Rolex watch, prosecutors said Friday.

By LARRY O'DELL and MATTHEW BARAKAT

RICHMOND, Va. — Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife took bribes and used their political muscle to promote a sketchy nutritional supplement because they were in deeply in debt and couldn't refuse the more than $165,000 in loans and gifts, including designer dresses and a Rolex watch, prosecutors said Friday.

Defense attorneys contended in their closing arguments that McDonnell, once a rising star in the Republican party, made a bad decision but never gave any special treatment to former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams. They said Maureen McDonnell's acceptance of the gifts may have been "tacky," but it was not illegal because she was not a public official.

"You're being asked to render a legal verdict, not a moral verdict," said Bob McDonnell's lawyer, Henry Asbill. "Jonnie didn't get anything. Nothing. This case is all 'quid,' no 'quo.'"

The McDonnells were charged in a 14-count indictment that accused them of conspiracy and bribery. They don't dispute receiving the gifts and money, but say they were never asked to do anything in exchange for them.

Maureen McDonnell also faces an obstruction charge. If convicted, they could face decades in prison.

Bob McDonnell, once considered a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was swept into office in a landslide five years ago. He is also a former attorney general and state legislator.

He earlier testified in his own defense, saying he extended courtesies to Williams like any other elected official would, putting him in touch with officials in his administration.

The five-week, soap opera-like trial aired the McDonnells' dirty laundry with testimony about their fights, crumbling marriage and financial troubles.

The McDonnells were tried together, but had their own attorneys present to jurors, who were expected to begin deliberations Tuesday.

For the first time, Asbill said specifically what the defense has been suggesting for the last five weeks — that the McDonnells' marriage was so strained they could not have colluded to get gifts from Williams.

"In private, they were silent. In private, they certainly weren't conspiring," Asbill said.

A lawyer for Maureen McDonnell, attorney William Burck, said she was operating independently of her husband in her dealings with Williams. She "was gaga for Jonnie" and he capitalized on her vulnerability, Burck said.

"He made her believe he cared about her," he said. "The only thing he cared about was promoting his own interests."

Defense lawyers also challenged the credibility of Williams, who testified under an immunity deal that bars his prosecution not only for his dealings with the McDonnells but also possible securities fraud violations.

"Jonnie has been selling all his life. He's good at it," Asbill said. "But this is his greatest con."

He said the government paid a hefty price for Williams' testimony.

"A case built on the word of Jonnie Williams is the definition of reasonable doubt," he said.

Prosecutor David Harbach said the McDonnells spoke several times in favor of Anatabloc, and held a launch party for it at the governor's mansion. The former first couple used their influence anyway they could — it didn't matter that McDonnell failed to get the state-backed government research Williams needed to help legitimize Anatabloc, Harbach said.

"He was on the Jonnie Williams gravy train, and he and Jonnie Williams had a deal: Do what you can when opportunities arise and I'll keep paying," Harbach said.

Harbach urged jurors to focus on two questions: Why did Williams shower the McDonnells with gifts and cash, and why did the McDonnells accept?

The answer, he said, was the McDonnells were badly in debt, and Williams was willing to provide help if they would promote his tobacco-based supplement, Anatabloc.

"That is bribery. That is corruption ... the real thing," Harbach said.

Harbach questioned McDonnell's assertion that he knew nothing about an April 2011 shopping spree in New York City in which Williams spent nearly $20,000 on designer dresses and accessories for Maureen McDonnell to wear at her daughter's wedding.

Williams also spent $15,000 on catering for a McDonnell daughter's wedding and about $3,200 on golf outings for Bob McDonnell and his sons. He treated the McDonnells to a family vacation that included use of his Ferrari and issued three loans: $50,000 to Maureen McDonnell, which she used to pay credit cards bills and buy Star Scientific stock, and two checks totaling $70,000 to MoBo Realty, the money-losing Virginia Beach vacation rental house owned by Bob McDonnell and his sister.

Prosecutors said a product launch event at the governor's mansion was outside the norm of usual courtesies. McDonnell took time to speak briefly, even though he was dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake and an approaching hurricane.

"Jonnie Williams was on cloud nine," Harbach said. "This is exactly what he wanted. This is exactly what he was paying for."

Star Scientific, which has since changed its name to Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals and moved its headquarters to Sarasota, Florida, said earlier this month it is voluntarily stopping sales of Anatabloc and another supplement called CigRx while it sorts out issues with the Food and Drug Administration.