Scores declined at Veterans Park School.

LUDLOW – This year’s MCAS scores demonstrate strengths and weaknesses in the school district, School Superintendent Todd Gazda said Friday.

Gazda said a preliminary look at Ludlow’s scores shows that the high school continues to excel and has climbed from the 33rd percentile in the state to the 52nd percentile in the last three years.

“We have done this while expanding our curriculum and providing necessary opportunities to our students to grow as learners and individuals,” Gazda said.

Gazda added, however, that a slight dip in test scores at Veterans Park Elementary School pulled that school, and thus the entire district into a Level 3 status, as the district is assigned the level of its lowest performing school.

Level 3 is defined by the state as among the lowest 20 percent of schools.

“We have made major organizational changes in the last two years within the school and dramatically changed our instructional practices,” Gazda said. He added, “Although we are disappointed in the slight decline in scores this year, an implementation dip is not unexpected.”

“Setbacks occur,” Gazda said. “I am proud of the way the staff has put aside their disappointment and is examining the data to determine next steps.”

Gazda added, “MCAS scores are only part of the picture. Although the state and federal government rely on test scroes as the primary metric to judge student achievement, we do not believe our test scores alone define our school, whether or not those scores rise or fall in any given year.”

“Test scores are only one piece of the puzzle,” Gazda said. “We believe in helping students gain the skills necessary to succeed in our 21st century global society and not merely excel in taking multiple choice tests.”

The owner of a stable and horse auction told Agawam police that an employee stole money, then tore up receipts and made new ones.

AGAWAM – The owner of a stable and horse auction told Agawam police that an employee stole money, then tore up receipts and made new ones.

Joanna Turner, 30, of Agawam, is charged in Westfield District Court with larceny of more than $250 from a senior or disabled person. At Turner’s Friday arraignment, Judge Philip Contant released her on personal recognizance.

Ofc. Brian Machos wrote in his report that the owner of Crowley’s Commission Sales contacted police July 14 and said she believed an employee was stealing. She told police there were discrepancies between receipts and money on hand, and she believed Turner had made fraudulent receipts to cover up stealing, the report said.

In one case, part of a $700 rent payment went missing, the report said. In surveillance footage, Turner is seen counting out money and placing it in a notebook.

She is then the only person seen near the notebook from which money went missing, though because of the camera angle she is not seen actually taking money, the report said.

The owner told police the money did not match the receipts only on days during which Turner worked.

Machos said calls and text messages sent to Turner were not returned as of early August.

Commissioner John Barbieri said it's the people you associate with, not the place you live, that determines whether you become a victim of violent crime in the city. "I tell people you are safe at the Grand Canyon – unless you are a wirewalker. We've got a lot of wirewalkers in Springfield," he said.

SPRINGFIELD — Founding Father George Washington famously uttered that it's "better to be alone than in bad company," urging people to associate with "men of good quality" if they esteem their reputations.

Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri echoed similar sentiments during a Thursday evening crime discussion with members of the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association.

The Republican's Patrick Johnson reports that when an audience member inquired about the city's murder rate (Springfield has had 11 homicides so far this year) and its impact on the perception of public safety, Barbieri suggested that murders were a poor bellwether for gauging overall safety.

"A better indicator is not where in the city you live, but who you are with," the commissioner said, adding that lifestyle risks contribute to whether people become violent crime victims. When people carry guns, join gangs or deal drugs, there's a pretty good chance of becoming a homicide victim, according to Barbieri.

"I tell people you are safe at the Grand Canyon – unless you are a wirewalker. We've got a lot of wirewalkers in Springfield."

Nuanced messages aside, Barbieri and Deputy Chief William Cochrane shared some good news with the concerned citizens: The city's overall crime rate is down about 23 percent this year, including a 15 percent decrease in downtown Springfield, where the Entertainment District closing ritual has long been a problem.

Issues persist in the Stearns Square area and continue to drain police resources, particularly on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Cochrane said some of these problems could be reduced if bar and club owners did more to keep troublemakers out of their establishments and staggered closing times. The latter might help prevent large crowds from gathering, he said.

Another takeaway from the community meeting: The Police Department is trying to change how officers view the neighborhoods they police, and how residents view the cops who police them.

Barbieri said an unfortunate irony of policework is that "neighborhoods that need us the most want us the least." The goal, he said, is to get residents of high-crime areas to view officers as "guardians of the neighborhood," not members of an "occupying army."

The Agawam Planning Board voted against a zone change Thursday for a proposed sports complex that's garnered stiff opposition from residents who would neighbor the facility.

 

The Agawam Planning Board voted against a zone change Thursday for a proposed sports complex that's garnered stiff opposition from homeowners who would neighbor it.

About 130 people packed Agawam Public Library's community room for the meeting. According to Planning Board Director Deborah S. Dachos, most in the room didn't want the sports-plex in the planned location off South West Street at Tobacco Farm Road, a largely residential area.

Three board members voted against the proposed plan, and two didn't vote.

The contractor for the project, Donald Cameron III of Amherst, has requested a zone change that would allow the land to be used comercially.

Board Chairman Mark Paleologopoulos said he opposed the zone change, citing potential traffic safety issues and the possibility of undesirable commercial use of the land if the sports complex were to shut down.

Board member Tricia O'Grady-Howard said the complex is too dense of a development for the sprawling property, which borders single-family homes.

Cameron has proposed building a $7 million sports complex that would offer a home for his Atlantic Soccer Club, a Massachusetts Premier League youth team, in addition to space for other teams.

The plan calls for two grass 225-by-330-foot fields and two synthetic 225-by-360-foot fields to be used for soccer, lacrosse, football and field hockey. Inflatable 80-foot-high domes would cover the synthetic fields during the winter to accommodate year-round use of the facility.

Agawam City Council is expected to discuss the planning board's recommendation at its Oct. 6 meeting.

Baystate Health enacts new visitor's policy, and awaits, with other hospitals, confirmation of enterovirus strain.

A "surge" in pediatric respiratory illness cases has now been reported at a third hospital in the commonweath.

Although the state has no confirmed cases of Enterovrius D-68, a doctor at Boston Children's Hospital told media outlets Sept. 18 that the hospital has treated more than 150 children with respiratory problems, during the past week.

Dr. Michael Agus, the head of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, told NECN that it is "very likely," that at least some of the cases are caused by the strain of the virus that has made mostly young people ill in some 22 states. The presence of enteroviruses can be confirmed by hospital, or state, laboratories, but confirmation of a particular strain is done by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control. Angus said some of the patients seen at Boston Children's required admission for critical care, with three placed on a mechanical ventilator, for breathing support.

Suspected cases of the virus, whose symptoms include fever, coughing, rash and muscle aches, have also been reported at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, and Baystate Children's Hospital, where some 40 to 50 children, ranging in age form 2 to 6, were treated, during the last eight days for what the hospital described, as a spike in "milder" respiratory illness cases. Baystate said seven children were hospitalized, but none had to be placed on ventilators. Baystate Health is requiring, temporarily, that anyone visiting a child, or a new mother, at Baystate Medical Center, and Baystate Children's Hospital, as well as at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, in Greenfield, and Baystate Wing, in Palmer, to be 14 years or older.

Enterovirus D-68 is part of a large family of seasonal enteroviruses that are not uncommon, from summer through fall. Enterovirus D-68 was diagnosed first in 1962, but outbreaks of the strain have been rare. Since August, the CDC has tracked its outbreak across the country. The virus has mainly affected young people, some with underlying conditions like asthma.

There is no vaccine against EVD-68, or specific course of treatment. In most cases, doctors say, the infection is self-limiting, requires no medical treatment and runs its course, though the virus can remain in the body for several months.

Respiratory illnesses are generally spread through infected bodily fluids, like saliva or mucus, when coughing or sneezing, or stool, as in changing a baby's diaper.

Parents are advised to seek medical treatment if their child starts to wheeze, or develop visible breathing problems. They are also advised to use good hygiene, such as proper hand washing, and avoid rubbing eyes, nose and mouth, to prevent the spread of infection.

Hospitals in the state are awaiting confirmation of EV-D68, from the CDC.

Enterovirus D68 Information for Families by masslive

Federal immigration officials say a four-day enforcement operation in New England has ended with the arrest of 81 immigrants, including those convicted of crimes, fugitives and those accused of other immigration violations.

\ 

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says the operation that ended on Wednesday is part of its effort to focus its resources on the deportation of criminal immigrants and egregious immigration law violators.

Those awaiting deportation include a Dominican Republic citizen who was arrested in Massachusetts on Monday. He had been convicted of several crimes, including possession of a firearm as well as assault and battery.

On Wednesday, immigration agents arrested a Nigerian man who had been convicted enticing a minor in Connecticut. The man arrived in the United States in 2002 as a visitor and never left.

Critics say the state is losing money through the tax credits while backers say they're helping build a local film industry.

BOSTON (AP) — A film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin was one of the biggest beneficiaries of a tax credit program designed to lure movies and television shows to Massachusetts.

A report from the state revenue department says "Labor Day" was awarded a $5.3 million tax credit last year.

The movie was shot in several locations across the state, including the Western Massachusetts community of Shelburne Falls.

Other productions which received tax credits included commercials for Google and Cheetos and the television shows "Extreme Houseboats"" and "I Found the Gown."

The tax credits also benefit some WGBH public television productions including several long-running shows like "Nova," ''Frontline," ''Masterpiece," ''Antiques Roadshow" and "American Experience."

Critics say the state is losing money through the tax credits while backers say they're helping build a local film industry.

The 157th Belchertown Fair held the annual parade with this year's theme "Barnyard Boogie".

The 157th Belchertown Fair held the annual parade with this year's theme "Barnyard Boogie".

The two-plus hour parade route started in the formation area on So. Main St and ran North along the Common on Main St to the corner of Rte 9 an 202.

The parade is a part of the Belchertown Fair which is held on the town common. The fair runs thru Sunday till 6 p.m.

Boston prosecutors who have struggled twice in the last decade with cases involving twins believe they have a new tool to persuade jurors: cutting-edge DNA testing they say can distinguish between identical twins.

BOSTON (AP) -- Prosecutors in Boston were forced to put a rape suspect on trial three times before jurors were willing to convict him a decade ago. It wasn't due a lack of evidence, but because the suspect was an identical twin.

Similar cases have popped up elsewhere, illustrating the challenges of prosecuting a twin. Because identical twins come from a single fertilized egg, standard DNA testing has not been able to differentiate between them.

But Boston prosecutors who have struggled twice in the last decade with such cases believe they have a new tool to persuade jurors: cutting-edge DNA testing they say can distinguish between identical twins.

"The science behind this testing has been used in research, in paternity tests and in a variety of other capacities," said Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office is now prosecuting Dwayne McNair, a twin who is charged in the rapes and robberies of two women in 2004.

"The forensic application is novel, but it's supported by a widely accepted scientific foundation," Wark said.

McNair was scheduled to go on trial last April. But after prosecutors heard about the new DNA test done by a German company, Eurofins Scientific, they decided to temporarily withdraw the charges against McNair so they could get a new round of testing done on DNA taken from a condom used in one of the rapes. Eurofins says it has been able to identify genetic mutations to differentiate between twins.

Prosecutors re-indicted McNair earlier this month after the new test results pointed to McNair and ruled out his twin brother, Wark said.

Boston prosecutors have been through this before. In 2004 and 2005, two different juries were unable to reach verdicts in a rape case against another twin, Darrin Fernandez. Several jurors later said they could not reach unanimous verdicts because DNA found on the victim's pillowcase could have come from either Fernandez or his twin brother. Fernandez was convicted after a third trial.

 

In Colorado, a former Army officer blamed his twin brother for a string of sexual assaults on young girls.

Investigators said DNA linked Aaron Lucas to the abduction of an 8-year-old girl in Colorado Springs and to other cases. Lucas's twin denied involvement, and Lucas ended up pleading guilty in November in nine cases ranging from indecent exposure to kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, months of DNA testing was unable to determine which of two identical twins raped a woman in 1999. Neither brother was charged in the case.

Earlier this year, police in Grand Rapids said they planned to send new DNA samples from the brothers to a DNA analysis company in Greenville, North Carolina, which also says it can look at genetic mutations to differentiate between twins.

After the new DNA tests were conducted in the McNair case, prosecutors said the results showed that McNair was two billion times more likely to have been the source of the DNA evidence than his twin.

McNair's attorney, Robert Tobin Jr., questioned the reliability of the new testing and said he will challenge the prosecution's attempt to put it before a jury.

"It hasn't been accepted in the forensic community," he said.

Robin said he is unsure if "there is any reliable scientific way" to differentiate the DNA of twins.

"That's going to be the issue in this case. Is this reliable? Is it ready for prime time?"

During the weeklong trip, Patrick began in in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also stopped in London, Lyon and Paris.

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick is heading back to Massachusetts after wrapping up his latest trade mission.

During the weeklong trip, Patrick began in in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also stopped in London, Lyon and Paris.

On Saturday, he was scheduled to leave Paris and return home.

Patrick said the trip was intended to expand opportunities between Massachusetts and European countries in the innovation economy, clean tech, digital gambling, financial services and education sectors.

On Friday Patrick announced that Nanobiotix — a Paris-based nano-medicine company pioneering new approaches for cancer treatment — will open its first U.S. office in Massachusetts.

The trade mission was Patrick's fourth this year.

Critics have faulted Patrick for spending too much time overseas.

Since 2010, Patrick has visited Israel, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Panama, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

Emmy-winning actress and singer Polly Bergen, who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President," died Saturday, according to her publicist. She was 84.

NEW YORK -- Emmy-winning actress and singer Polly Bergen, who in a long career played the terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President," died Saturday, according to her publicist. She was 84.

Bergen died at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, from natural causes, said publicist Judy Katz, surrounded by family and close friends.

A brunette beauty with a warm, sultry singing voice, Bergen was a household name from her 20s onward. She made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas. She also hosted her own variety series, was a popular game show panelist, and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name.

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on "Desperate Housewives" and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on "The Sopranos."

Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series "Playhouse 90." She was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for "War and Remembrance."

Talking to women in a business group in 1968, she said her definition of success was "when you feel what you've done fulfills yourself, makes you happy and makes people around you happy."

Bergen was 20 and already an established singer when she starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in her first movie, "At War With the Army." She joined them in two more comedies, "That's My Boy" and "The Stooge."

In 1953, she made her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in the revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." In 1957-58 she starred on the musical-variety "The Polly Bergen Show" on NBC, closing every broadcast with her theme song, "The Party's Over."

Also during the 1950s, she became a regular on the popular game show "To Tell the Truth."

Bergen published the first of her three advice books, "The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm" in 1962. That led to her own cosmetics company, which earned her millions.

Bergen became a regular in TV movies and miniseries, most importantly in the 1983 epic "The Winds of War" and the 1988 sequel, "War and Remembrance." She appeared as the troubled wife of high-ranking Navy officer Pug Henry, played by Robert Mitchum.

Mitchum also had the key role in the landmark 1962 suspense film, "Cape Fear," as the sadistic ex-convict who terrorizes a lawyer (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Bergen) and daughter because he blames Peck for sending him to prison. The film was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.

In 1964's "Kisses for My President," Bergen was cast as the first female U.S. president, with Fred MacMurray as First Gentleman. (In the end, the president quits when she gets pregnant.) When Geena Davis portrayed a first woman president in the 2005 TV drama "Commander in Chief," Bergen was cast as her mother.

Among her other films was "Move Over, Darling" (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, Susan Seidelman's 1987 "Making Mr. Right," and John Waters' 1990 "Cry-Baby," with Johnny Depp.

A fierce ambition prevailed throughout Bergen's entertainment career and in her business life. She walked out of early contracts with Paramount and MGM because she thought her film roles were inadequate.

As the president of the Polly Bergen Co., founded in 1966, she arrived at her office at 9 a.m. and worked a full day. "It was very difficult at the beginning," she said in 2001, "because everybody considered me just another bubble-headed actress."

She sold the company in 1973 to Faberge, staying on for a couple of years afterward to run it as a Faberge subsidiary.

Bergen employed the same zeal in reviving her performing career after a series of personal setbacks of the 1990s. She played successful dates at cabarets in New York and Beverly Hills.

When she was refused an audition for the 2001 Broadway revival of "Follies," she contacted composer Stephen Sondheim. He auditioned her and gave her the role of a faded star who sings of her ups and downs in show business. The show-stopping song, "I'm Still Here," was reminiscent of Bergen's own saga. She was nominated for a Tony award for her role.

In 2002 she played a secondary role in the revival of "Cabaret" and the following year she was back on Broadway with the comedy "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks."

Nellie Paulina Burgin was born in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee, into a family that at times relied on welfare to survive. They family eventually moved to California, and Polly, as she was called, began her career singing on radio in her teens.

"I was fanatically ambitious," she recalled in 2001. "All I ever wanted to be was a star. I didn't want to be a singer. I didn't want to be an actress. I wanted to be a star."

But over the years, Bergen's personal life was not as smooth as her career. Her four-year marriage to actor Jerome Courtland ended in an acrimonious divorce in 1955. Her second marriage to super-agent and producer Freddie Fields. The couple divorced in 1975 after 18 years.

In 1982 she married entrepreneur Jeff Endervelt. She co-signed his loans and gave him millions to invest from her beauty company profits. She said in a 2001 New York Times interview: "He would come home and say, 'Honey, sign this.' I wouldn't even look at it. Because you trust your husband."

The stock market crash of the 1980s wiped out the investments. She divorced him in 1991, and she said he left her with so many debts she had to sell her New York apartment and other belongings to avoid bankruptcy. She also battled emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s, a result of 50 years of smoking.

She is survived by her children Peter Fields, Kathy Lander and Pamela Fields and three grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, her family is asking that donations be made to Planned Parenthood, said her publicist, Katz.orized wife in the original "Cape Fear" and the first woman president in "Kisses for My President," died Saturday, according to her publicist. She was 84.

Bergen died at her home in Southbury, Connecticut, from natural causes, said publicist Judy Katz, surrounded by family and close friends.

A brunette beauty with a warm, sultry singing voice, Bergen was a household name from her 20s onward. She made albums and played leading roles in films, stage musicals and TV dramas. She also hosted her own variety series, was a popular game show panelist, and founded a thriving beauty products company that bore her name.

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on "Desperate Housewives" and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on "The Sopranos."

Bergen won an Emmy in 1958 portraying the tragic singer Helen Morgan on the famed anthology series "Playhouse 90." She was nominated for another Emmy in 1989 for best supporting actress in a miniseries or special for "War and Remembrance."

Talking to women in a business group in 1968, she said her definition of success was "when you feel what you've done fulfills yourself, makes you happy and makes people around you happy."

Bergen was 20 and already an established singer when she starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in her first movie, "At War With the Army." She joined them in two more comedies, "That's My Boy" and "The Stooge."

In 1953, she made her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in the revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." In 1957-58 she starred on the musical-variety "The Polly Bergen Show" on NBC, closing every broadcast with her theme song, "The Party's Over."

Also during the 1950s, she became a regular on the popular game show "To Tell the Truth."

Bergen published the first of her three advice books, "The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm" in 1962. That led to her own cosmetics company, which earned her millions.

Bergen became a regular in TV movies and miniseries, most importantly in the 1983 epic "The Winds of War" and the 1988 sequel, "War and Remembrance." She appeared as the troubled wife of high-ranking Navy officer Pug Henry, played by Robert Mitchum.

Mitchum also had the key role in the landmark 1962 suspense film, "Cape Fear," as the sadistic ex-convict who terrorizes a lawyer (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Bergen) and daughter because he blames Peck for sending him to prison. The film was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.

In 1964's "Kisses for My President," Bergen was cast as the first female U.S. president, with Fred MacMurray as First Gentleman. (In the end, the president quits when she gets pregnant.) When Geena Davis portrayed a first woman president in the 2005 TV drama "Commander in Chief," Bergen was cast as her mother.

Among her other films was "Move Over, Darling" (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, Susan Seidelman's 1987 "Making Mr. Right," and John Waters' 1990 "Cry-Baby," with Johnny Depp.

A fierce ambition prevailed throughout Bergen's entertainment career and in her business life. She walked out of early contracts with Paramount and MGM because she thought her film roles were inadequate.

As the president of the Polly Bergen Co., founded in 1966, she arrived at her office at 9 a.m. and worked a full day. "It was very difficult at the beginning," she said in 2001, "because everybody considered me just another bubble-headed actress."

She sold the company in 1973 to Faberge, staying on for a couple of years afterward to run it as a Faberge subsidiary.

Bergen employed the same zeal in reviving her performing career after a series of personal setbacks of the 1990s. She played successful dates at cabarets in New York and Beverly Hills.

When she was refused an audition for the 2001 Broadway revival of "Follies," she contacted composer Stephen Sondheim. He auditioned her and gave her the role of a faded star who sings of her ups and downs in show business. The show-stopping song, "I'm Still Here," was reminiscent of Bergen's own saga. She was nominated for a Tony award for her role.

In 2002 she played a secondary role in the revival of "Cabaret" and the following year she was back on Broadway with the comedy "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks."

Nellie Paulina Burgin was born in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee, into a family that at times relied on welfare to survive. They family eventually moved to California, and Polly, as she was called, began her career singing on radio in her teens.

"I was fanatically ambitious," she recalled in 2001. "All I ever wanted to be was a star. I didn't want to be a singer. I didn't want to be an actress. I wanted to be a star."

But over the years, Bergen's personal life was not as smooth as her career. Her four-year marriage to actor Jerome Courtland ended in an acrimonious divorce in 1955. Her second marriage to super-agent and producer Freddie Fields. The couple divorced in 1975 after 18 years.

In 1982 she married entrepreneur Jeff Endervelt. She co-signed his loans and gave him millions to invest from her beauty company profits. She said in a 2001 New York Times interview: "He would come home and say, 'Honey, sign this.' I wouldn't even look at it. Because you trust your husband."

The stock market crash of the 1980s wiped out the investments. She divorced him in 1991, and she said he left her with so many debts she had to sell her New York apartment and other belongings to avoid bankruptcy. She also battled emphysema and other ailments in the late 1990s, a result of 50 years of smoking.

She is survived by her children Peter Fields, Kathy Lander and Pamela Fields and three grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, her family is asking that donations be made to Planned Parenthood, said her publicist, Katz.

Students, parents, school employees and politicians gathered at the Holyoke Community Charter School Saturday morning to formally celebrate an addition to the school.

HOLYOKE -- Students, parents, school employees and politicians gathered at the Holyoke Community Charter School on Saturday morning to formally celebrate an addition to the school.

With a pair of oversized scissors, HCCS Board of Trustees President Anne Darcy cut the grand-opening ribbon on the completed construction. Upon doing so, Darcy handed the scissors to Principal Sonia C. Pope and told her to save them for when they open a high school in Holyoke.

School officials, elected leaders and students spoke about what the school means to them and the community.

"This is so much more than a celebration of brick and mortar," said George Saad, Vice President of SABIS Educational Systems, Inc. Saad flew in from Minnesota for the ceremony. "We work tirelessly in Massachusetts and in Minnesota where we're based, and all over the world."

Saad thanked parents for "recognizing the value of the school while it faces fierce opposition."

"This is now my 10th academic year with the school, and I can tell you I feel like it's the very first year," Pope said. "It has been my honor serving the children of Holyoke."

She thanked State Senator Don Humason for supporting the school's efforts to open a high school.

The school currently has 702 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Haley Saltares, an eighth-grade student at HCCS, spoke during the ceremony about her desire to stay in the charter school system. She also called on elected officials in attendance to support further expansion efforts.

As The Republican reported in March:

Charter schools are allowed to have more flexibility with curriculum, length of the school day, teacher pay and hiring than typical public schools. They are tuition-free and draw from the general population of a school district, with admission generally by a lottery system. The money the state would pay to the public school to educate that student is paid to the charter school, although the school district is still reimbursed for part of the cost of that student.

The charter school movement got a boost in 2010 when the legislature increased the number of charter schools in lower-performing districts. Overall, for the 2013-2014 school year, there were 35,300 students enrolled in 81 charter schools, with 53,500 on the waiting list, according to the state Department of Education.

Currently, a low-performing district cannot spend more than 18 percent of its school budget on charter schools. Proposed bills, H. 425, sponsored by Rep. Russell Holmes, a Boston Democrat, and S. 235, sponsored by Sen. Barry Finegold, an Andover Democrat, would remove the existing cap on charter schools in school districts performing in the lowest 10 percent.

State Rep. Aaron Vega voted against the House bill in May.

"It was never a vote against the school," Vega said on Saturday, explaining that he didn't agree with everything in the measure. "Sometimes it's not just about the first line. You need to read the full text," Vega said of “An Act Relative to Improving Student Achievement."

Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse said he was impressed by the new wing and is consistently impressed by the actions and achievements of students within it.

Morse called HCCS "an integral part of the city of Holyoke," and said it is "without a doubt, a part of the public schools."

Factor is running for Secretary of the Commonwealth.

NORTHAMPTON — A statewide Green-Rainbow Party candidate will speak in Northampton Tuesday afternoon as a follow-up to Sunday's People's Climate March in New York City.

Danny Factor, candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth, will appear at the Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue at the corner of Pine and Park streets on Sept. 23 at 4:30 p.m.

Factor will speak on "the potential of the emerging convergence of the justice and environmental movements to force action on the global environmental crisis," according to a press release from the party.

Public interest attorney Factor is a Vermont Law School graduate and Acton resident raised in the South Bronx by activist parents "where he was introduced to issues of social justice by marching with his neighbors to oppose the Vietnam War and rampant poverty," his campaign website states.

At 6 p.m. following his talk, Factor will be interviewed on the Enviro Show on WXOJ radio (103.3 FM). Two other Green-Rainbow candidates — Ian Jackson for State Treasurer and M. K. Merelice for Auditor — will participate as call-in guests.

Factor will face Democratic incumbent William F. Galvin and Republican David D'Arcangelo in November; Jackson is up against Democrat Deborah Goldberg and Republican Mike Heffernan, and Merelice will run against Democratic incumbent Suzanne M. Bump and Republican challenger Patricia Saint Aubin.

Authorities wearing bulletproof vests and carrying heavy rifles fanned out Saturday in the neighborhood around the home of a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper.

CANADENSIS, Pa. (AP) — Authorities wearing bulletproof vests and carrying heavy rifles fanned out Saturday in the neighborhood around the home of a man suspected in the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, exercising extreme caution as they combed a heavily wooded area for a suspect described as a self-taught survivalist.

Although Eric Frein isn't in custody, "our troopers are determined to find him and bring him to justice," said state police spokeswoman Maria Finn.

"Due to the violent nature of his crimes, extreme precautionary measures are being taken," Finn said.

» Live updates from the scene

Police did not release details of their search, including how big of an area they are checking, whether they have Frein surrounded or how much longer it will be before residents can move about freely.

Authorities closed roads in the wooded neighborhood of Barrett Township, in the Pocono Mountains about 100 miles north of Philadelphia, and issued a shelter-in-place warning to residents as they sought a man they said had a grudge against law enforcement and government.

Gunfire was reported around Friday night but authorities have not discussed that report, including if there were any injuries.

State police told residents in the townships of Price and Barrett to stay inside and asked others not to travel to the area because of heavy police activity. Some who had been kept away were allowed to return to their homes Saturday morning.

With dozens of homes on lockdown, Andrew Killinger and Kerriann Sanders had to make alternate wedding plans.

The wedding was supposed to be at their home, but Killinger left Friday evening to pick up the food and, when he returned, police would not let him back in. He spent the night in his sport utility vehicle while Sanders spent a nerve-wracking night at home with their 2-year-old daughter.

The couple got the wedding rescheduled at nearby Pocono Manor on Saturday, and Sanders persuaded local authorities to send a police cruiser to pick her up and drive her and her daughter out of the neighborhood. Police told the couple nothing about what is happening.

"They're keeping it hush-hush," Killinger said.

Police have charged Frein with opening fire outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania on Sept. 12. Cpl. Bryon Dickson was killed and Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded by a gunman with a high-powered rifle.

Frein has been on the run ever since. He was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, and hundreds of law enforcement officials have been searching for him in the dense woodlands surrounding his home in Canadensis. Schools in the area were closed again Friday.

Joe Ksiaskiewicz tried to pass through a roadblock to get home late Saturday morning, but was stopped by officers.

Ksiaskiewicz said the officers told him it was a "critical time" and would not let him pass. He had hoped to get through to be with his 27-year-old daughter, Ellen, who was stuck at home while he and his wife spent the night with their older daughter because they couldn't enter their neighborhood.

"She's ready to be done," Ann Winner said of her sister. "She's been listening to helicopters all night."

Canadensis resident Richard Barry couldn't get home from work Friday night before the roadblocks went up. Barry said Saturday morning that he heard from family members who were at home and they told him police were going through their yard and the dog was barking.

Worried about his family, he said he preferred to wait near police in hopes of hearing something rather than staying overnight at the firehouse.

"I'm hoping that sooner or later he (Frein) just says 'I give up. You win,'" Barry said.

The hew headset -- intended for creators of VR experience -- is nicknamed Crescent Bay and features a higher resolution and refresh rate, integrated headphones and 360-degree head tracking.

LOS ANGELES -- Oculus has unveiled a new prototype of its virtual reality headset. However, the VR company still isn't ready to release a consumer edition.

The hew headset -- intended for creators of VR experiences -- is nicknamed Crescent Bay and features a higher resolution and refresh rate, integrated headphones and 360-degree head tracking.

"That was not easy," Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe told the audience Saturday at the company's first-ever developers conference. "It's still not perfect. None of this is perfect yet, but it's much, much better."

Oculus' headset covers a user's eyes and can create immersive worlds that react to head movement.

The original prototype of the Oculus Rift headset was unveiled in 2012 and has received considerable attention from film and video game makers. Oculus released a second prototype headset to developers earlier this year. Iribe said 100,000 development kits have been shipped to 130 countries.

"I never expected it go this quickly," Iribe said. "None of us did."

The Irvine, California-based Oculus VR Inc. was acquired by Facebook earlier this year for $2 billion. Iribe said Oculus' staff has doubled in the six months since the acquisition.

"We're really spiriting toward the consumer version," he said.

Oculus recently teamed up with Samsung to introduce Gear VR, a $200 headset with a slot for using the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone as a VR display.

Over the past two years, Oculus' technology has been demonstrated at events like San Diego Comic-Con and the Electronic Entertainment Expo with interactive experiences that recreate scenes from the "X-Men" and "Pacific Rim" films and thrust users into an intergalactic dogfight in the game "EVE: Valkyrie."

Iribe reiterated several times during his talk at the Oculus Connect conference that creating a sense of presence would be integral for the widespread adoption of VR technology, which continues to leave some users feeling queasy despite Oculus' strides in creating lower latency and more realistic imagery inside the goggles.

"You should believe you're there and feel great, even if you're super-sensitive like me," Iribe said.

Hundreds of volunteers, some driven by worry for the safety of their own families, fanned out from the University of Virginia campus Saturday to search for a sophomore who disappeared a week ago.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Hundreds of volunteers, some driven by worry for the safety of their own families, fanned out from the University of Virginia campus Saturday to search for a sophomore who disappeared a week ago.

Volunteers met at the university's basketball arena before fanning out in teams throughout Charlottesville to search for 18-year-old Hannah Graham.

"I have two daughters of my own and I would hope that if one of them was missing everyone would come out as well," said Marci Stewart, a volunteer searcher.

City police continue to investigate Graham's disappearance. Police said Friday that they have spoken with a man they believe was with her in a bar on the night she went missing, but did not have enough information to arrest or detain him after searching his car and apartment.

In an emotional appeal, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo asked anyone who might have seen Graham and the man early Sept. 13 on the Downtown Mall to contact authorities. Longo stopped short of calling the unidentified man a suspect, but said police are keeping an eye on him.

Police have focused on Graham's movements the night of Sept. 12 and into the early morning hours of Sept. 13. The sophomore from northern Virginia met friends at a restaurant for dinner, stopped by two parties at off-campus housing units, and left the second party alone, police have said.

Surveillance videos showed her walking, and at some points running, past a pub and a service station and then onto the Downtown Mall, a seven-block pedestrian strip lined with shops and restaurants.

Graham's disappearance has sent a ripple of fear through the quiet college town.

Maria Faidas, a sophomore who volunteered to help search Saturday, said she lives a block from Graham and has walked home alone before without thinking twice of the possible dangers.

"It's definitely a wake-up call, I think, because I always felt safe," she said.

Students said they've started walking in pairs at night and are paying closer attention to their surroundings.

At least three other young women have disappeared in the area in the last five years. Nineteen-year-old Samantha Ann Clarke, who vanished after leaving her Orange County town house in September 2010, and 19-year-old DaShad Laquinn Smith, who disappeared in Charlottesville in November 2012, remain missing.

Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, disappeared from the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena while attending a rock concert in October 2009. Her remains were found three months later in a rural area. No arrests have been made.

Police have said they do not think Graham's disappearance is linked to any of the other missing women.

But Emily Kilroy, a consultant who also helped search Saturday, said the episodes are "starting to feel like a pattern" that's especially unfortunate in a college town with so many young women.

"They should be made to feel safe," she said.

A man who drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave was arrested on Saturday, the Secret Service said, less than 24 hours after another man jumped the fence and made it all the way into the presidential residence before being apprehended.

By JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who drove up to a White House gate and refused to leave was arrested on Saturday, the Secret Service said, less than 24 hours after another man jumped the fence and made it all the way into the presidential residence before being apprehended. The president and first family were not at home.

The second incident started Saturday afternoon when a man approached one of the White House gates on foot, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. He later showed up at another gate in a car and pulled into the vehicle screening area. When the man refused to leave, he was placed under arrest and charged with unlawful entry. Officials have not released his identity.

Bomb technicians, fully suited, could be seen looking through a white four-door sedan with New Jersey plates and pulling out what appeared to be keys. Streets near the White House were temporarily closed as officers responded, but the White House was not locked down.

It wasn't immediately clear who the man was or why he was trying to enter the White House. President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters were at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland where the first family was spending the weekend.

There were no signs that Saturday's arrest was related to the security breach the night before. But the pair of incidents in short succession heightened concerns about security at the White House, one of the most heavily protected builds in the world.

Just minutes after Obama and his daughters had departed by helicopter Friday evening, a 42-year-old man hopped over the fence and darted across the lawn, ignoring officers' commands to stop, Donovan said. He managed to get through the doors of the North Portico, the grand, columned entrance that looks out over Pennsylvania Avenue.

Secret Service officials said the man, Omar Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas, appeared to agents who saw him running to be unarmed, and agents who searched the suspect found no weapons. He was charged with unlawful entry into the White House complex and transported to a nearby hospital complaining of chest pain.

The breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House, with Secret Service officers drawing their guns as they rushed staffers and journalists out a side door.

The Secret Service has struggled in recent years to strike the appropriate balance between ensuring the first family's security and preserving the public's access to the White House grounds. Once open to vehicles, the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was confined to pedestrians after the Oklahoma City bombing, but officials have been reluctant to restrict access to the area further.

Last year, a 34-year-old dental hygienist tried to ram her car through a White House barrier before leading police on a chase that ended with her being killed. Her 1-year-old daughter was in the car but escaped serious injury.

The License Commission will hear applicant presentations on Monday and Tuesday.

NORTHAMPTON — Seven downtown Northampton restauranteurs will compete for a rare, available liquor license at consecutive evening meetings Monday and Tuesday.

The city's License Commission has scheduled the meetings to hear from applicants for the seasonal, all-pour license seized in May from businessman Eric Suher.

The license was revoked from Suher's unopened lounge the "Green Room" at 26-28 Center St. on the grounds it constituted an illegal, unused "pocket license." Suher landed on his feet; in August the commission let him transfer another unused license he holds to the Green Room, with the promise the Center Street venue would open by early September. As of publication time, the front door of the Green Room remains locked, with paper covering the plate glass windows. The original never-used license was first issued to Suher in 2008.

The license revocation led to a certain amount of municipal drama; when Suher neglected to turn it in, the city of Northampton sued him; the lawsuit was dropped a week later with a promise from Suher that he would look for the actual piece of paper and fork it over should he ever find it.

Monday, the commission will hear presentations from Treydon's Bar and Grill at 2 Strong Ave.; Bistro Les Gras at 25 West St.; and Sierra Grille at 41A Strong St. Tuesday, presentations will be made by Hinge at 48 Main St.; Ibiza Tapas at 7 Strong Ave.; Local Burger at 16 Main St.; and Sylvester's at 111 Pleasant St., all of whom are hoping to be awarded the coveted license.

The commission could make its decision Tuesday night, or delay the vote until its October meeting.

As for criteria, the commission has said whoever is awarded the all-pour, seasonal license must convert it to year-round status at the board's November meeting, and must put the license to use within six months of its being issued. They have also ordered that no applicant who has ever had a license revoked will be eligible, which put Suher out of the running for his own former license.

Northampton's seasonal alcohol licenses run from April 1 to January 15, but thanks to a 2008 special act of legislature, may be converted to year-round status with a one-time payment of $10,000 to the city.

The state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission must approve any award made by the local licensing board.

Northampton has more all-pour liquor licenses in play than allowed under a state-determined population-based quota. As a result, the ABCC won't issue the city any more licenses. That means liquor licenses, when sold privately, can be pricey. In 2012, Michael Ladden, proprietor of McLadden's Irish Pub, bought a license from Spoleto's Claudio Guerra for $150,000.

In contrast, the license awarded by the city will require an annual fee of about $1,500, a one-time application fee of $25, a $200 payment to the ABCC, and the one-time $10,000 fee to convert the seasonal license to year-round status. Once converted, the annual fee ups to $2,259, according to the city's website.

Those who wish to attend should note that Monday and Tuesday's meetings will be held in different locations. On Sept. 22, the License Commission will meet in Council Chambers at the Puchalski Municipal Building, 212 Main St. On Sept. 23, the commission will meet at the 2nd floor meeting room at City Hall. Both meetings start at 5 p.m.

Defense lawyer Nikolas Andreopoulos said his client suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and was hearing voices on the night of the attack.

SPRINGFIELD – A Springfield man must serve at least 15 years in state prison after pleading guilty in a rape case described by a prosecutor as something out of a "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" episode.

Felix Marrero, 29, was given a 15-to-18 year sentence Friday by Judge Edward McDonough during a plea-change hearing in Hampden Superior Court.

Marrero was charged with kidnapping, aggravated rape and assault with a dangerous weapon after sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl walking through Van Horn Park in September 2010.

Assistant District Attorney Eileen Sears said Marrero was sitting on a bench when the girl walked past on the way to meet a friend across the park. The defendant approached from behind, placed a knife to the girl's face, and dragged her into bushes where he raped her and stole her cell phone, Sears said.

The girl’s friend saw Marrero minutes later as he fled the park, and he was arrested based on descriptions given by the friend and the victim.

He was tied to the crime by DNA and a fingerprint on the victim’s phone, according to Sears, who called the case an example of stranger rape, a relatively rare phenomenon.

“This was something ripped right out of the headlines in a "Law and Order Special Victims" episode,” Sears said, adding that most sexual assaults involve people who know each other.

“It was egregious to the nth degree,” she added.

The crime, the judge said, was “appalling, atrocious…shocking, terrifying, terrorizing.”

Defense lawyer Nikolas Andreopoulos said his client suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and was hearing voices on the night of the attack.

“The voices in his head were telling him to do something to humiliate himself, to show that he was less than God,” the lawyer said.

Marrero’s mental illness manifested itself in the past four years, a period coinciding with several arrest and convictions for assault, breaking and entering and other charges, according to Andreopoulos, who said his client has been treated at the Bridgewater State Hospital.

“This is a mental health case, your honor” said Andreopoulos, adding that families of the victim and defendant both suffered anguish from the crime.

“No person involved in this case was not devastated by this,” he added.

Under questioning from McDonough, the defendant acknowledged that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, but said his condition was controlled by medication.
The victim was not in the courtroom, but Sears read a statement saying she suffers flashbacks, nightmares, post traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts from the crime.

McDonough took a brief recess to consider a sentence, then returned and gave Marrero the sentence of 15-to-18 years requested by Sears.

HOLYOKE - Mark and Marcia Wilson of Dunstable, MA showed their variety of owls at the "Eyes on Owls" demonstration at Heritage State Park on Sunday, Sept. 21 The event was part of a day long event with owl and raptor demonstrations, bird information and bird-related crafts for children. The event was free to the public.

HOLYOKE - Mark and Marcia Wilson of Dunstable, MA showed their variety of owls at the "Eyes on Owls" demonstration at Heritage State Park on Sunday, Sept. 21

The event was part of a day long event with owl and raptor demonstrations, bird information and bird-related crafts for children.

The event was free to the public.