The district attorney's office says no foul play is suspected and there is no public safety threat.

MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Authorities are investigating whether the death of a man from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Mansfield gun club was a suicide or an accident.

Police say they received a 911 call reporting a gunshot victim at the Mansfield Fish and Game Protective Association firearms range shortly before 3 p.m. Monday.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The identity of the victim was withheld pending notification of family, but authorities say he was a 65-year-old Mansfield man.

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. The district attorney's office says no foul play is suspected and there is no public safety threat.

Tim Lincoln, vice president of the club, said the incident was "definitely an accident."

It's the fourth such filing for the struggling casino company or its corporate predecessors.

WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy Tuesday and threatened to shut down the Taj Mahal Casino Resort in November.

The company owns Trump Plaza, which is closing in a week, and the Taj Mahal, which has been experiencing cash-flow problems and had been trying to stave off a default with its lenders.

It's the fourth such filing for the struggling casino company or its corporate predecessors.

The company filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, saying it has liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, and assets of no more than $50,000.

It said cost-cutting negotiations with the main casino workers' union have stalled, and that the company is preparing notices warning employees the Taj Mahal may close on Nov. 13.

"Absent expense reductions, particularly concessions from their unions, the Debtors expect that the Taj Mahal will close on or shortly after November 13, 2014 and that all operating units will be terminated between November 13, 2014 and November 27, 2014," the company wrote in its bankruptcy filing.

Donald Trump owns a 10 percent stake in the firm, but no longer controls it. He is suing the company to remove his name from the properties, which he says have fallen into disrepair and do not meet agreed-upon standards of quality and luxury.

The company last went through bankruptcy in 2009.

Three other Atlantic City casinos have closed this year, as the industry struggles with competition in nearby states.

Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos, but could end it with seven if the Taj Mahal closes. So far this year, the Atlantic Club, Showboat and Revel have gone out of business, with Trump Plaza closing next Tuesday.

If the Taj Mahal closes, Trump Entertainment would have no remaining properties and would presumably go out of business.

For some regattas, yacht club parties and even weddings, the maritime agency assigns boats and crews to enforce "safety zones" on the heavily trafficked waterway, just as it does for public fireworks displays such as the Macy's Fourth of July celebration in New York City.

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — At private parties on the waters of Long Island Sound, lined by some of the country's most exclusive real estate, hosts setting off elaborate fireworks displays enjoy a little-known benefit. Security is provided, at no expense, by the U.S. Coast Guard.

For some regattas, yacht club parties and even weddings, the maritime agency assigns boats and crews to enforce "safety zones" on the heavily trafficked waterway, just as it does for public fireworks displays such as the Macy's Fourth of July celebration in New York City.

Unlike police agencies that provide security support for private events on land, the Coast Guard does not seek reimbursement, leaving the bill to taxpayers. The deployment of resources varies for each event, but in the case of a two-hour event for a July wedding on the sound, the Coast Guard sent two 25-foot boats that are worth $1,500 an hour — for a total of $6,000.

The patrols can be ordered at the discretion of Coast Guard officials across the United States, but no sectors are busier than those for New York and Long Island Sound, which are responsible for waterways that are congested with yachts and powerboats during the summer. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests and interviews by The Associated Press show Coast Guard crews are involved in security for dozens of privately sponsored events in those sectors.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said in response to the AP's findings that he was asking the Coast Guard for details on the costs involved with safety zones for private parties.

"There's a strong argument that private organizations, whether clubs or private parties, should bear the cost instead of taxpayers," Blumenthal said.

Coast Guard officials say their patrols are part of their congressionally mandated mission to protect the boating public, including those who might put themselves at risk by approaching for a closer look at fireworks. To them, it makes no difference whether the event sponsor is a town or a private party.

"We're not protecting the wedding. We're protecting the people from the wedding," said Charles Rowe, a Coast Guard spokesman in New York. "The American people have the inherent right to use federal waterways with certain restrictions."

The New York and Long Island Sound sectors dispatch boats for many private events, but such deployments are the exception in at least one of the other busiest sectors, San Francisco, where the Coast Guard has overseen safety measures without conducting patrols itself for events including a "night at sea" fireworks show last December by Google.

Lt. Cmdr. Amy Wirts, of the Northern California sector, said sponsors generally provide on-water security through contracts with police, which do receive reimbursement. The commander of the New Haven sector, Capt. Edward Cubanski, said varied approaches reflect differences in threats and the complexity of waterways.

One evening in July, two orange boats carrying nine Coast Guard service members, all clad in body armor and some carrying handguns, drove into Long Island Sound toward a wedding at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, New York. The mission was to keep other boaters 1,500 feet away from the barge launching celebratory fireworks. Charlie DeSalvo, executive producer of Fireworks by Grucci, estimated the 15-minute display cost close to $100,000.

"This is a world-class Grucci choreographed barge," DeSalvo said. "This is not a fireworks show that would normally be produced for the local fire department at their carnival."

The guests invited for the wedding and fireworks gathered on Glen Island, which is connected to the mainland by a drawbridge and taken up mostly by a park that was first developed as a summer resort by a congressman in the 19th century.

The Coast Guard boats passed a lighthouse and New York City's Throgs Neck Bridge before arriving at the scene around 8 p.m., when they turned on blue law enforcement lights. Petty Officer 2nd Class Geoffrey Burns pointed to direct boaters away from the barge, and the driver sounded a siren as they pulled up to one boater.

"I need you to go this way," Burns told the driver.

As fireworks sizzled in the sky and exploded into brilliant colors, Jason Grimm, a chief warrant officer, said the crew had to stay extra-vigilant. Although there wasn't much boat traffic, perhaps because of the choppy water, boats could have drifted into the zone. The Coast Guard remained at the scene for two hours, lingering after the show ended as the barge cooled.

The safety risks were driven home by an accident in 2012 when a yacht capsized in Long Island Sound during an outing to watch privately sponsored Fourth of July fireworks, killing three children. The skipper blamed a wave, but safety experts said the boat was overloaded.

Sponsors of any event on the water must apply for a permit and, while most are approved, the security measures depend on the complexity of an event. If a "safety zone" is deemed necessary to keep other boats away, the Coast Guard at a minimum publishes a notice in a federal register and advises boaters to keep their distance over a radio broadcast. A Coast Guard official, the captain of the port zone, decides what assets will be deployed judging by factors that include the scale of the event, the time of day and the anticipated amount of boat traffic.

Coast Guard officials in Washington said they do not keep data nationally on how different sectors enforce safety zones. Around the country, sectors said the decision to send out active-duty boats depends on factors that vary widely from one case to another.

The New Haven-based Long Island Sound sector of the Coast Guard deployed active-duty vessels, auxiliary Coast Guard boats or both for most of the safety zones involving fireworks displays last year, according to Lt. Ben Duarte, the sector's chief of waterways management.

Of 60 safety zones listed in the sector's register last year, the agency said, 21 were sponsored by a city or town. The rest were privately sponsored, including many fireworks displays put on by yacht clubs and beach clubs. Some of the privately sponsored events, including a fireworks display by the tribe that owns the Foxwoods Resort Casino, are offered for public benefit.

In the New York sector, 31 of 43 safety zones that received patrols last year were supported by active-duty Coast Guard, with the rest supported by local law enforcement or auxiliary Coast Guard, according to records obtained by the AP. About half of the events are typically privately sponsored.

Coast Guard officials said they could not provide a cost estimate for patrolling the zones because the events vary so widely. But a manual of Coast Guard reimbursement rates lists small response boats at about $1,500 per hour and medium-size boats at more than $8,000 per hour, in the event they are dispatched for what turns out to be a hoax. The Coast Guard does reimburse its volunteer auxiliary for fuel used when helping patrol the zones.

While the Coast Guard's efforts are intended to protect other boaters drawn to events, at least in some cases, the hosts of private events that receive safety zones are clear that the intent is not to benefit the public.

At the Groton-Long Point Yacht Club, where the Coast Guard arranged for a safety zone for a July fireworks display but did not send active-duty patrol boats, administrator Lesley De Labry said outsiders are not allowed to come in for the show, paid for by community residents.

"It's not something that we advertise at all," she said.

AP writer Michael Melia contributed to this report from Hartford.

He allegedly led the children to a secluded dirt road, where their bodies lay wrapped in individual garbage bags.

JAY REEVES, Associated Press
BRYNN ANDERSON, Associated Press

CAMDEN, Ala. (AP) — Authorities expect to charge a South Carolina man in connection with the deaths of his five children after he led them to a secluded dirt road in Alabama where their bodies lay wrapped in individual garbage bags.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr. has been charged with child neglect and police expect to lodge additional charges against him, the Lexington County, South Carolina, Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

Jones, 32, is awaiting extradition to South Carolina from Mississippi, where he has been jailed since his arrest Saturday on a drunken-driving charge, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said in a statement.

Wilcox County, Alabama, District Attorney Michael Jackson told The Associated Press that Jones is suspected of killing the children in South Carolina before bringing their bodies to Alabama.

Police have not released details on how the children died. Lexington County Coroner Earl Wells was arranging for the children's bodies to be taken back to South Carolina for autopsies and identification Tuesday night, sheriff's officials said.

It also was unclear when the children were killed, how much time passed before their bodies were disposed of, and what motivation Jones might have had to do it.

"This is a very tragic situation," Jackson said. "These kids' lives were snuffed out before they had a chance to enjoy life. Justice will be served."

Jones had joint custody of his children with his ex-wife, police said, and had recently told neighbors he and the kids were going to move out of South Carolina.

Marlene Hyder and her husband, Johnny Hyder, said Jones and his wife moved into a house next to them about seven years ago in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, 25 miles west of Columbia. Two years ago, the wife moved in with a male neighbor and Tim Jones moved away with the children, the Hyders said.

Jones led police to the site where the bodies of the children were found, off a two-lane highway near Camden, Ala., said Alabama Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Steve Jarrett.

Investigators could be seen at the site late Tuesday, working in a clearing at the top of a hill lit by floodlights.

Jones was detained in Smith County, Mississippi, on Saturday after being stopped at a motor vehicle checkpoint near Raleigh, Mississippi, and charged with drunken driving, Crumpton said.

The Smith County sheriff said Jones became agitated when a deputy questioned him about an odor of chemicals coming from the Cadillac Escalade he was driving. The deputy found what were believed to be chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine and a substance believed to be the street drug Spice, a form of synthetic marijuana, Crumpton said. A sheriff's office investigator was called and found what appeared to be bleach, muriatic acid, blood and possible body fluids, he said.

During a background check, police discovered that Jones was wanted in South Carolina "regarding a welfare concern of his children," who were on a national missing persons list, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. The children, who ranged from 1 to 8 years old, were reported missing by their mother Sept. 3, authorities said.

Jarrett told a news conference that authorities were not sure why Jones drove through Alabama.

Back in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, Johnny Hyder said that when the Joneses lived next door, the children were often dressed in dirty clothes and were seen home at all hours of the day because Tim Jones had said he didn't believe in the public schools. Hyder said Jones was constantly looking for a reason to argue and often threatened to call the police. He said Jones approached him with a gun on his hip one day and was angry about something, but Hyder couldn't remember what it was. When Hyder said he was going to call police, he said Jones told him it was only a BB gun.

"It wasn't a BB gun," Hyder said. "It was a real gun. I know what one looks like, but I didn't want to cause any more trouble."

Marlene Hyder said Jones threatened to kill one of their dogs when it briefly went onto his property.

"He was a nut," she said.

Marlene Hyder said she also remembered a day when one of the Joneses' younger children came over to the Hyders' house and tried to drink out of one of their outdoor spigots. He was dirty and disheveled and ran back to his house when she tried to speak to him, she said.

A "no trespassing" sign was posted near the driveway of a house where the Hyders said Tim Jones' ex-wife still lived with the other neighbor. Several people were seen walking around the yard, but none responded to questions from a reporter.

Sandoval said the lithium battery "gigafactory" and its 6,500 workers would generate more than 20,000 construction and other related jobs and up to $100 billion for Nevada's economy over the next 20 years.

SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Gov. Brian Sandoval has ordered the Nevada Legislature into a special session to consider $1.3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives for electric car-maker Tesla Motors as part of "an extraordinary opportunity" to seal the deal for its $5 billion battery factory and tens of thousands of jobs he says are needed to recover from the worst economic crisis in state history.

Majority Democrats in the Senate and Assembly intended to open the session Wednesday to begin work on the package the Republican governor says would help further diversify Nevada's hard-hit, tourism-based economy through new and innovative technology.

"An extraordinary occasion exists, which requires immediate action of the Legislature," Sandoval wrote in the formal proclamation signed late Tuesday night. He said Nevada continues to "feel the effects" of the Great Recession — "the worst economic crisis in the history of the state."

Sandoval said the lithium battery "gigafactory" and its 6,500 workers would generate more than 20,000 construction and other related jobs and up to $100 billion for Nevada's economy over the next 20 years — a return on investment he estimated to be $80 for every $1 the state spends.

Little public opposition has emerged among lawmakers since Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced alongside Sandoval on the Capitol steps last week that Nevada had beat out California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico for the factory expected to open in 2017.

The proclamation doesn't name Tesla but covers the seven categories in the blueprint his Office of Economic Development outlined on Thursday when Musk said Nevada was the best fit for his venture critical to cutting costs for his next line of more affordable electric cars.

Lawmakers toured the expansive site at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center along U.S. Interstate 80 about 15 miles east of Sparks on Tuesday and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, said he was prepping for "an all-nighter if necessary" after late-night briefings scheduled with the governor's staff.

The special session was expected to begin Wednesday afternoon and could last days.

"How long it is going to take is anybody's guess," Hickey said.

Ralston Reports' Jon Ralston reported the proclamation was wasn't signed until just before midnight partly because other Nevada companies were making a last-ditch effort to secure a way to win sales tax breaks similar to those being offered Tesla.

Even before Sandoval signed the order, dozens of lobbyists had registered to represent more than 30 companies and organizations at the special session, including labor unions, chambers of commerce, school districts, auto dealers, health care organizations, utilities, manufacturing and other trade groups, and even Black Rock City LLC — the organizers of the annual Burning Man counter-culture festival.

Democrats said one of their priorities would be to make sure the jobs go to Nevadans at prevailing wages. That shouldn't be a problem at the factory where Tesla says hourly pay will average $25 or more, but it could be a sticking point with some Republicans regarding the estimated 3,000 construction jobs projected to build the plant.

Mari St. Martin, Sandoval's director of communications, did not respond to repeated telephone calls or emails seeking comment Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

The child's mother returned home to find her daughter unresponsive. The baby's father had been caring for the child, police said.

Wikimedia Commons 

Five-month-old Emily branch was unresponsive when the child's mother, Tammy Sears, returned home from work late Saturday night. The baby was in the care of Jonathan Branch, the child's father, Vermont State Police said.

Sears called 911 shortly after she arrived at her Oak Street home and found her daughter unresponsive. The baby was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Bellows Falls Police Department are probing the death, the cause and manner of which are still undetermined, police said.

An autopsy performed Monday by the Vermont Medical Examiner's office didn't result in any "big revelations,” Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. John-Paul Schmidt told The Eagle-Times of Claremont, New Hampshire.

Three other men — the restaurant's owner and two other employees — have been charged with intimidating police in the case but no one has been charged with the death.

FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) -- Prosecutors say the death of a 46-year-old man last week outside a Falmouth restaurant is being investigated as a homicide.

The Cape and Islands district attorney's office says Jaswinder Singh died last Thursday after being found bleeding from a "large, deep laceration" on the front of his neck. Singh was found on the lawn of a home that shares an alley with the back entrance to the Golden Swan restaurant, where he worked.

The Cape Cod Times reports he died at a hospital.

Three other men -- the restaurant's owner and two other employees -- have been charged with intimidating police in the case but no one has been charged with the death.

The owner is free on $100,000 bail. The other two men are held on $100,000 bail each.

The United States voted against the resolution, saying such a legal framework would create uncertainty in financial markets.

CLAUDIA TORRENS, Associated Press
EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday in favor of a resolution that calls for adoption of a new legal framework to restructure national debts and avoid the kind of speculative action that led Argentina to a second default.

The resolution, proposed by developing countries, was approved by a vote of 124-11 with 41 abstentions. The United States voted against it, saying such a legal framework would create uncertainty in financial markets.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Hector Timerman hailed the resolution, saying it will create a new system "that respects the majority of creditors and permits countries to emerge from a crisis in a sustainable way."

General Assembly resolutions reflect world opinion but they are not legally binding.

Timerman and Bolivia's U.N. Ambassador Sacha Llorenti Soliz, who heads the Group of 77 which represents 132 mainly developing countries, said members will talk to countries that voted against the resolution in hopes of reaching an agreement with them on a framework. It will then return to the General Assembly next year with a new resolution on debt restructuring.

Argentina was forced into a second default on July 30 following a decade-long legal battle with U.S. investors including hedge funds who refused to accept lower payments for bonds that the South American country defaulted on in 2001.

The investors obtained a U.S. court order, upheld by the Supreme Court, preventing Argentina from making a $539 million interest payment on July 30, triggering the second default. Analysts have warned that the default could derail an already weak Argentine economy.

The resolution adopted Tuesday notes that sovereign debt crises "are a recurring problem that involves very serious political, economic and social consequences."

It states that the right of any country to restructure its debt "should not be frustrated or impeded by any measure emanating from another state" or by commercial creditors, including hedge funds "which seek to undertake speculative purchases of its distressed debt at deeply discounted rates on secondary markets in order to pursue full payment via litigation."

The resolution notes that private creditors of sovereign debt "are increasingly numerous, anonymous and difficult to coordinate," making restructuring complicated.

It said that since the international financial system doesn't have "a sound legal framework for the orderly and predictable restructuring of sovereign debt," there is a need to create one.

The General Assembly therefore "decides to elaborate and adopt through a process of intergovernmental negotiations ... a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes." The resolution said the framework should increase "the efficiency, stability and predictability of the international financial system" and promote economic growth.

The expanded 14,00-square-foot facility on Carando Drive will eventually test drugs that are seized in criminal investigations by police from all four Western Massachusetts counties.

SPRINGFIELD — Col. Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, joined Mayor Domenic Sarno, local district attorneys and other officials for a tour of the new-and-improved State Police Crime Laboratory on Carando Drive in Springfield.

Hampden District Attorney James Orenstein and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan were among the law enforcement officials who toured the expanded 14,000-square-foot facility, one of nine state crime labs in Massachusetts.

The facility had previously hosted ballistics and crime scene labs, but now also includes a new drug lab that eventually will test drug samples seized by police departments in all four Western Massachusetts counties, officials said.

Drug testing had previously been performed at the old state crime lab at UMass, but the Amherst facility closed last year after state chemist Sonia Farak was charged with evidence tampering and stealing drugs from the lab.

"So, I think the enduring message here today is that Western Massachusetts is now part of a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory that's going to contribute ... to criminal justice here in the western part of the state, just as we have done in the eastern district as well," Alben said at a news conference Tuesday at the Carando Drive facility.

Sarno said the improved lab is evidence of the "great collaboration" between State Police, local police departments, and the region's district attorneys.

In August 2011, weeks before he was to testify against Hall, David Glasser and his roommate, Edward Frampton, and their friend Robert Chadwell, all of Pittsfield, disappeared.

SPRINGFIELD — Today is the fourth day of testimony in the Hampden Superior Court trial of Caius Veiovis, the last of three defendants charged with the murder and dismemberment of three Pittsfield men.

Veiovis' co-defendants, Adam Lee Hall and David Chalue were convicted earlier this year in separate trials of three counts of murder, three of kidnapping, and three of intimidation of a witness.

They are now serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In August 2011, weeks before he was to testify against Hall, David Glasser and his roommate, Edward Frampton, and their friend Robert Chadwell, all of Pittsfield, disappeared. Their dismembered bodies were found in Becket 10 days later.

Prosecutors said Hall, 36, of Peru; Chalue, 46, of North Adams, and Veiovis, 32, of Pittsfield, kidnapped the three victims from Frampton's Pittsfield home sometime in the early hours of Aug. 28, 2011, and fatally shot them.

The cases were moved to Hampden Superior Court by Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder after defense lawyers said extensive publicity in Berkshire County would prevent a fair jury from being selected.

David Casey, 65, is a fourth co-defendant in the case but is not charged with murder. He is charged with three counts of accessory after the fact of murder, three counts of accessory after the fact of kidnapping, and three counts of accessory after the fact of intimidation of a witness.

Casey was a key prosecution witness at the trials of Hall and Chalue. He testified Hall forced him to help him bury the dismembered remains of the victims.

Follow Buffy Spencer's live blog from the courtroom. If you're on a mobile device, you can follow the updates here »

I will review what I missed and what is happening and post additional stories.

Today I plan to post a story updating the jury selection in the murder trial of Ryan Welch. The court had selected 15 jurors by the end of the day on Monday. It was aiming for 16, four of whom would be on standby. The trial is scheduled to start on Thursday.

I was off the board on Tuesday covering the Republican primary for the 2nd Franklin District House seat. I will review what I missed and what is happening and post additional stories. I also have an assignment to spend time with someone in a rooming house for a series on poverty. As always, I welcome comments and suggestions.

Backstrom was shot Monday afternoon at the Mansfield Fish and Game Protective Association firearms range.

MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Police have released the name of the man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Mansfield shooting range.

The victim was identified Tuesday as 65-year-old as Stephen Backstrom of Mansfield.

Backstrom was shot Monday afternoon at the Mansfield Fish and Game Protective Association firearms range.

The Sun Chronicle reports that he was a guest of a club member and was handling a .30-30 Marlin hunting rifle at the time.

Police have said no foul play is suspected but are trying to determine whether the shooting was an accident or a suicide.

Club officials say it was an accident.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's preferred candidate for attorney general, former state Senator Warren Tolman, fell far short of what he needed to do to win on Primary Day, so Walsh met with Democratic nominee Maura Healey on Wednesday morning. Watch video

BOSTON — No hard feelings, right?

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's preferred candidate for attorney general, former State Senator Warren Tolman, fell far short of what he needed to do to win on Primary Day, so he met with the recently minted Democratic nominee Maura Healey on Wednesday morning at a popular Dorchester cafe near his Savin Hill home.

Healey received the most votes of any candidate statewide and defeated Tolman 62-38 percent on Tuesday, winning all but five towns in the Commonwealth. Sources close to the Tolman campaign chalked up their blow-out defeat to a poor voter turnout organization outside Boston.

Walsh told the Boston Globe that he was thoroughly impressed with Healey's performance in Tuesday's primary.

"In the vote last night, all but five towns in the state went to Maura. Being a first time candidate, that's an absolutely incredible feat," said Walsh.

The project produced detailed maps of 17 previously unknown ritual monuments and a huge timber building.

LONDON (AP) — There is more to Stonehenge than meets a visitor's eye.

Researchers have produced digital maps of what's beneath the World Heritage Site, using ground-penetrating radar, high-resolution magnetometers and other techniques to peer deep into the soil beneath the famous stone circle.

The project produced detailed maps of 17 previously unknown ritual monuments and a huge timber building, which is thought to have been used for burial ceremonies, Birmingham University said Wednesday.

"New monuments have been revealed, as well as new types of monument that have previously never been seen by archaeologists," said Professor Vincent Gaffney, the project leader.

The project also discovered big prehistoric pits, some of which appear to be aligned with the sun, and new information on Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlements and fields, the university said.

Professor Wolfgang Neubauer of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna says the new maps makes it possible "for the first time, to reconstruct the development of Stonehenge and its landscape through time."

Archaeologists have been digging and theorizing at Stonehenge since the 1620s. The monument, 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of London, attracts more than 1.2 million visitors a year —including, last week, President Barack Obama.

The universities of Nottingham, Bradford and St. Andrews in the U.K., and the University of Ghent in Belgium were also involved in the project.

Hampshire Superior Court Judge Daniel Ford and lawyers for the two sides nearly achieved their goal of 16 jurors during the first day of jury selection on Monday.

NORTHAMPTON - The court will whittle a jury of 18 down to 16 on Thursday as it prepares to begin the Ryan Welch murder trial.

Hampshire Superior Court Judge Daniel Ford and lawyers for the two sides nearly achieved their goal of 16 jurors during the first day of jury selection on Monday. Twelve of those will deliberate. For lengthy trials -- this one is expected to last three week-- judges often seat more than the requisite 12 in case one or more jurors has to leave before the conclusion. If there are more than 12 when the trial ends, alternates are selected at random prior to deliberations.

Welch, 37, faces first degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Jessica Pripstein, who was found with her throat slashed in her Easthampton apartment in the early hours of Feb. 20, 2012. Pripstein had called the police shortly before saying her boyfriend was trying to kill her. Officers found Welch in another room with non-fatal wounds to his throat.

A jury pool of 81 arrived at Hampshire Superior Court on Tuesday as Ford and the lawyers prepared to select juror number 16. At Ford's suggestion, however, they picked two additional jurors, bringing the total to 18. The judge has expressed some concerns about the ability or willingness of several of the jurors picked on Monday to last the entire trial. He will question them again on Thursday, prior to opening statements. If any jurors express hesitation, up to two of them can be replaced.

Opening statements are scheduled for 9 a.m. The first day is scheduled to go only until lunch at 1 p.m.

A beer keg en route to a kegger and several bottles of booze were seized by Hadley police, who posted the news on the department's Facebook page.

HADLEY — Police say they seized a beer keg that was bound for a weekend keg party.

Hadley police said they recovered the keg and several bottles of booze from people who weren't old enough to drink.

"The keg of beer was discovered to have been en route to a party in Hadley," police said, noting that the individuals caught transporting the keg would be summonsed to court.

"This is a college town and alcohol is the fuel for almost everything on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, especially for the dozens of rental properties which house multiple students," Hadley Police Officer Mitch Kuc posted on the department's Facebook page.

Hadley officers were conducting alcohol-enforcement details at local liquor stores this past weekend when they seized the keg and nine bottles of hard liquor.

Kuc said Hadley- and Amherst-area parties can quickly morph into parties with "several hundred students," creating serious quality-of-life issues for area residents.

In neighboring Amherst, police made 13 alcohol-related arrests and summonsed another five young people to court on the first weekend of the fall semester.

Both playgrounds are scheduled to be completed this fall.

NORTHAMPTON -- The public is invited to a meeting on Thursday to help plan the design for playgrounds at Lampron Park and Florence Recreation Fields. The community gatherings will help city planners decide what and components to include in the design of the fields.

Both playgrounds are scheduled to be completed this fall. The City has received state funding for the work, as well as local funding through the Community Preservation Act. The meetings are scheduled for Sept. 11 at the John F. Kennedy Middle School cafeteria. The one for Lampron Park is 6-7 p.m. The Florence Recreation Fields meeting will follow at 7-8 p.m.

For more information or to submit comments, contact Ann-Marie Moggio at the Recreation Department, recreation@northamptonma.gov, or call 587-1040.

Daniel Williams, 29, of Amherst, was charged with OUI-liquor, speeding, driving with a suspended license, failure to stop for a red light, and failure to stay within marked lanes, police said.

HADLEY — A two-car crash at the intersection of Route 116 and Route 9 led to drunken driving charges for a local man.

Daniel Williams, 29, was arrested on OUI and other charges in connection with the 12:49 a.m. Tuesday crash, according to Hadley police, who said the Amherst man shouldn't have been driving because he has a suspended license.

In addition to those charges, Williams was expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown on charges of speeding, failure to stop for a red light, and failure to stay within marked lanes, police said.

There was no immediate word on any injuries related to the crash, which caused extensive damage to both cars. Hadley firefighters responded to the scene.

Coakley defeated Treasurer Steve Grossman and former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Don Berwick. Her running mate will be Steve Kerrigan.

BOSTON - Attorney General Martha Coakley won the Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday, capping a contest that has seen Coakley leading the field throughout the race.

Coakley defeated Treasurer Steve Grossman and former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Don Berwick. She will now face what is likely to be a tough competition against Republican Charlie Baker, a former health care executive who was the Republican Party's 2010 gubernatorial nominee.

Grossman conceded around 10:20 p.m. With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Coakley led 42 percent to 37 percent for Grossman and 21 percent for Berwick.

Since she entered the race in September 2013, Coakley had been seen as the frontrunner. From the beginning, she had higher name recognition than her competitors, and she maintained a double-digit lead in the polls through last week. The primary drew little enthusiasm and low turnout.

Supporters cite Coakley's long-time legal work as a prosecutor and attorney general. Pat Keene, a Coakley supporter and Democratic voter from Reading who works in sales, said she's "been a fan of Coakley forever and ever." "I like how she's one of us, fighting for our values, the things that are important to us...middle class values," Keene said.

Coakley will share the ticket with the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Steve Kerrigan. Kerrigan on Tuesday defeated Mike Lake, the CEO of the urban policy organization Leading Cities, and Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung to win the party's nomination.

Coakley, 61, was raised in North Adams and now lives in Medford with her husband Thomas O'Connor, a retired police deputy superintendent. Coakley graduated from Williams College and Boston University School of Law. She spent much of her career as a prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney's office and spent eight years as Middlesex district attorney, beginning in 1998. She was elected as Massachusetts attorney general in 2006.

In 2010, after U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy died, Coakley lost a special election to replace him in the Senate to Republican Scott Brown. It was a stunning defeat that marked Coakley as a lackluster campaigner. But Coakley would go on to win re-election as attorney general. She has placed a heavier emphasis on grassroots campaigning this year than she did in 2010 and says she has learned her lesson.

Coakley ran a generally cautious campaign. She was more likely than her opponents to say she needed time to think about an issue or was "open to" an idea but would not take a firm stance. While Berwick distinguished himself as the most liberal Democrat, pushing single-payer health care and a graduated income tax, Coakley's stances hewed more closely to the middle of the Democratic Party.

Grossman, 68, had portrayed himself as the only one in the field who had created jobs, as CEO of his family business, Grossman Marketing Group. He has a long history behind the scenes in politics, as a former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee, and was known for being a successful fundraiser for the party. He was elected state treasurer in 2010.

Grossman fought aggressively against Coakley in the campaign's final weeks, criticizing everything from her economic plan to a settlement her office reached with a lobbying firm.

Berwick, who turned 68 on Tuesday, oversaw Medicare under President Barack Obama and was running for office for the first time after a career in health care policy, as the founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. His strong stances against casinos, for single-payer health care and for addressing income inequality drew support from progressives on the left wing of the Democratic Party.

As of the end of August, Grossman and Coakley had both spent around $2 million and Berwick spent $1.6 million.

Kerrigan, 42, has spent much of his lifetime in politics. He took a job working for Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, in 1989, and remained with Kennedy until 2003, working his way up to become national political director. Kerrigan was chief of staff for Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly from 2004 to 2007. He was CEO of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, chief of staff for President Barack Obama's first inaugural and CEO for his second. In 2007, Kerrigan founded the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, which helps families of fallen soldiers, and he remains president of the board today.

Kerrigan raised and spent significantly more money than the other two candidates, though none of the three were well-known in the state.

Coakley's victory sets up what is likely to be a tough general election fight. Baker, who easily defeated tea party aligned businessman Mark Fisher in the primary, is also a second-time statewide candidate, having been the party's nominee for governor in 2010. After a close race that year, Baker lost to incumbent Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, 48 percent to 42 percent. Patrick is not running for a third term.

Baker's running mate Karyn Polito did not face a contested primary.

Baker, 57, is generally fiscally conservative and socially moderate – he supports abortion rights and gay marriage – and fits into the mold of Republicans who have won the Massachusetts governorship in past years. Baker, a former health care executive, was a cabinet secretary under Republican Governors William Weld and Paul Celluci.

Ray LaRaja, associate professor of political science at UMass Amherst, said Coakley holds an advantage among women voters. Democrats in Massachusetts also have a natural advantage in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-1. But Baker has already started making the case against "one-party rule" in Massachusetts, and arguing that his opponents represent the "status quo." 

LaRaja said Baker will likely make the "traditional Republican argument" that "someone's got to watch the store with Democrats in charge of the legislature."

Patrick's comments indicate a likely line of attack that Democrats plan to take against Baker in the general election. Baker has dismissed Democrats' attacks as negative campaigning.

By Shira Schoenberg and Garrett Quinn

SPRINGFIELD — Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday that Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker "has an authenticity problem."

"I like Charlie," Patrick told The Republican / MassLive in an exclusive interview on Wednesday after he attended the opening of MassLive's new downtown Springfield offices. "I think more and more as I listen to him, I'm not sure I know Charlie. He's got a real authenticity problem."

Patrick's comments indicate a likely line of attack that Democrats plan to take against Baker as the general election for governor heats up between Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley and Baker, a former health care executive who was the GOP's 2010 gubernatorial nominee.

Patrick ran against Baker in 2010 and won a second term in the corner office by 6 percentage points after a tight race. Patrick, who is not running for a third term, would not say whether he voted for Coakley in the primary. But at Coakley's victory party Tuesday night, Patrick endorsed her wholeheartedly. He is emerging as a strong cheerleader for the Democratic ticket and says he will campaign with Coakley whenever he can.

On Tuesday, Patrick criticized Baker for shifting his stances on climate change and Cape Wind, among other things.

On climate change, Baker said in 2010 that most scientists agree temperatures are rising, but he also told the Boston Globe he did not know for sure whether humans play a role in global warming. Baker today says the climate is changing and man-made activity plays a role. Baker opposed Cape Wind in 2010 but now says he sees it as a done deal.

Speaking to The Republican / MassLive, Patrick made a similar point. "Last time in 2010, (Baker) was against a whole host of things now he says he's for," Patrick said. "Frankly, he hasn't been asked to explain them other than the obvious explanation, which is that he seems to be wiling to say anything to win."

Baker has parried Democrats' criticism by dismissing it as negative campaigning.

"It's not surprising that Governor Patrick is being a good partisan soldier and delivering the Coakley campaign's negative and misleading talking points," said Baker spokesman Tim Buckley. "Martha Coakley has no vision, and no real plans for the future and so throwing up a bunch of recycled negative stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks is their message right now.  It's rather cynical politics."

Baker made similar comments to reporters on Wednesday as well as in his primary night speech. "They're going to run a very negative campaign against me because they don't have a message for the people of Massachusetts," Baker said Wednesday. "I'm going to continue to pound away on our positive message for Massachusetts."

Recent polling shows Coakley and Baker in a tight competition.

Coakley won the Democratic primary over Treasurer Steve Grossman by just six points, and some Democrats still worry about her stunning loss to Republican Scott Brown in the 2010 U.S. Senate race.

Asked about concerns that Coakley has not been able to generate the type of excitement that Patrick did when he first ran for governor in 2006, Patrick said every candidate is different.

"She has the experience, the depth of character, the compassion, the humanism, the foresight, the thoughtfulness to do the job and do it well," Patrick said.

Patrick added, "She has a record of accomplishment, including finding, facing and fixing problems, which is very different from the Republican nominee who has a record of finding and hiding problems and kicking the can down the road."

(Patrick was apparently referring to Baker's involvement in the Big Dig construction project, which was plagued by cost overruns, as Secretary for Administration and Finance under Republican governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci.)

Patrick said he "loves" the idea of a People's Pledge, something Coakley has called for to bar outside organizations from spending money in the race. Patrick said he believes there is too much money in politics and finds the amount of money it costs to run for statewide office "troubling." (In 2010, Patrick spent $5.4 million to hold on to the governor's office, while Baker spent $6.7 million challenging him.)

Asked about the role of the three independent candidates running for governor – Evan Falchuk, Jeff McCormick and Scott Lively – Patrick said while he thinks Coakley is the candidate with the best vision, plan and record, the state "should take all comers.

I like competitive politics, I like competitive primaries," Patrick said. "Everybody has a story to tell and something they offer."