Authorities say the victim was part of a group of five riders, but there were no witnesses because the victim was at the rear of the group.

CONWAY, Mass. (AP) — Police say a 63-year-old Uxbridge man has died after his motorcycle struck a guardrail in Conway.

Police Chief Kenneth Ouimette says the victim failed to negotiate a turn on Route 116, and his motorcycle crashed into a guardrail at about 2 p.m. Monday.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His name was not immediately made public.

Authorities say the victim was part of a group of five riders, but there were no witnesses because the victim was at the rear of the group.

The chief says the victim was an experienced motorcycle rider and speed does not appear to be a factor.

The death remains under investigation.

Police cited the driver for failing to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk and other violations.

Conor Berry | cberry@repub.com 

Police cited the driver for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and other violations, Sgt. Patrick Manley said.

The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. and traffic was picking up as vehicles exited from nearby American Saw, Manley said.

When an eastbound motorist stopped to let the jogger cross Chestnut Street, a second eastbound motorist went around the first and hit the jogger, Manley said. “It was a low-speed impact,” he said.

The jogger declined medical treatment at the scene.

The second motorist, Moumouni Amidou , 46, of Slater Avenue, Springfield. He was also cited for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation, Manley said.

Chestnut Street starts to widen shortly before the rail trail but does not become two lanes until after the crossing, Manley said.

The handgun, a Smith & Wesson 9mm, was stolen in Vermont, state police said.

WESTFIELD – State police charged a 21-year-old Chicopee man with illegal possession of loaded handgun early Monday after stopping his car on Little River Road for a motor vehicle violation.

Trooper Matthew Kane stopped the suspect’s Honda Accord after seeing him commit a motor vehicle violation on Route 20 at about 12:10 a.m., state police said.

The handgun, a Smith & Wesson 9 mm, was later determined to have been stolen in Vermont.

Axel J. Gomez, 21, of Chicopee, was charged with possession of a large capacity firearm, improper storage of a large capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without an license (subsequent offense), possession of ammunition without an FID card, receiving stolen property over $250, carrying a firearm with ammunition, marked lanes violation and failure to wear a seat belt.

Patient is said to be in good condition.

In a statement tweeted by WGBH News, and retweeted by the by the Boston Public Health Commission, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center announced Oct. 13 that the man transported, from a medical facility in Braintree, Oct. 12 with Ebola-like symptoms, does not have the disease.

The statement reads in part, "Our evaluation is now complete and we have determined with certainty the patient does not have Ebola Virus Disease. The patient remains in good condition."

The man, who had been in Liberia, where the deadly virus is widespread, had complained of head and muscle aches.

Local traffic can travel as far as the overpass on either side. The closure will be in effect Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.

NORTHAMPTON - The Department of Public Works is closing the section of Holyoke Street will be closed between Pleasant and
and Hawley streets from today, Oct. 14, until Nov. 28 at the railroad overpass. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is making improvements on the overpass to accommodate the high speed passenger rail service due to start late this year

Local traffic can travel as far as the overpass on either side. The closure will be in effect Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Drivers are urged to seek alternate routes because of possible delays.

Amtrak hopes to begin running the passenger trains in December. Commuters will be able to ride between Washington, D.C. and northern Vermont. The line also restores passenger rail service to Northampton and Greenfield for the first time in decades.

The city councilman said he would like to see more surveillance cameras and the expansion of the ShotSpotter system to other city neighborhoods, so technology can help police catch the bad guys.

SPRINGFIELD — "Time to take out the trash," Springfield City Councilor Timothy Rooke said Monday night, reacting to that afternoon's deadly shooting in Liberty Heights, where a teenager was killed in the parking lot of a crowded public housing project shortly after 2 p.m.

At the time of the shooting, there were little kids playing outside, teenagers on the basketball court and mothers sitting on stoops. Yet, a young man still felt comfortable enough to pull out a gun and fire several rounds, injuring one man and killing another.

And Rooke has a problem with that.

"Reoccurring daylight shootings are an indication confidence of the criminals (is) up," the councilman said. "There's a complete disregard for not only the residents, but for the children," Rooke said, adding that the city's criminal element seems more emboldened and less afraid than ever before.

"The brazenness is getting heightened each and every time," Rooke said in a phone interview several hours after a teenager and a 21-year-old man were shot at the Sullivan Apartments, a city-run housing project on Nursery Street just up the hill from Mercy Medical Center.

Police have characterized the incident as a drug-related shooting, but investigators haven't released many details including the homicide victim's identity. However, social media has been buzzing about the death of the 2013 Minnechaug Regional High School graduate, with many people sharing fond memories of him on Twitter and offering condolences to his family.

New tools are necessary to fight crime in the 21st century, according to Rooke, who would like to see Springfield invest in more surveillance cameras and expand ShotSpotter to other city neighborhoods. ShotSpotter is the acoustic gunfire detection system that electronically pinpoints shooting locations, leading to much quicker police response times for potential life-and-death situations.

"Technology is the new witness," said Rooke, who plans to discuss crime-reduction strategies with Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri and other city officials.

If Rooke had it his way, cameras would be strategically placed citywide, from the entertainment district to the high-crime districts abutting downtown. "We have to use technology," he said. "There's essentially a gang war going on in the city of Springfield."

A mother who was outside with her young children when gunfire rang out at the Sullivan Apartments told MassLive / The Republican that she thinks the surveillance camera mounted on the exterior of her building no longer works, but that information couldn't immediately be verified with Springfield Housing Authority officials.

Meanwhile, Rooke said he's volunteering for the "walking school bus" program, which involves adults escorting young kids from the Sullivan Apartments to nearby Boland Elementary School to ensure their safety. "At 2:15 p.m. on any other day, the 'walking school bus' and other school children are walking that route," he said.

City schools were closed Monday for Columbus Day.

Agustin Morales, a former teacher in Holyoke, current president of the teacher's union, made national headlines this week.

HOLYOKE -- Agustin Morales, a former teacher in Holyoke, current president of the teacher's union, made national headlines this week.

On Monday, progressive news website Salon published an article profiling Morales.

The article explores Morales' employment with the Holyoke Public Schools. He was a teacher at Maurice A. Donahue Elementary School who was not rehired in June for the upcoming school year, just short of getting professional teacher status.

Morales believes his contract was not renewed in retaliation for criticizing educational reform — including testing, data walls and administrative changes — in Holyoke Public Schools.

A week after Morales was laid off from his position, the Holyoke Teachers Association filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations on his behalf. The complaint alleges that Morales was fired in retaliation for criticizing educational reform.

The state announced in a preliminary finding last month there is probable cause in the complaint. "Based on the evidence presented during this investigation, I have found probable cause to believe that a violation occurred," Brian K. Harrington, of the Department of Labor Relations, wrote. "Therefore, this Complaint of Prohibited Practice shall issue, and the parties will be given the opportunity to be heard for the purpose of determining the following allegations."

Morales and others spoke to Salon of his situation, and education in Massachusetts overall, to Salon writer Sarah Jaffe.

Morales tells Salon that for the first two and a half years he taught in Holyoke, the western Massachusetts town where he grew up, his evaluations were stellar. But after the school committee meeting last February, his evaluations “just got so unbelievably negative.” He was elected president of the Holyoke Teachers Association, a local chapter of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, in May as a reform candidate, part of the Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU) caucus that also elected Barbara Madeloni president of the state union. A month later, he was fired.

“All of a sudden I start speaking out and I can’t do anything right,” he says. “I can’t write good lesson plans, I can’t control my classroom, I’m doing everything possible wrong. All of a sudden. The writing for me was on the wall.”

Dan Clawson, a member of EDU and a prominent labor sociologist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, connects Morales’s firing to the larger struggles going on nationwide around teacher tenure. In June, a California judge ruled in Vergara v. California that teacher tenure and seniority laws were unconstitutional. Though legal experts questioned the legal reasoning of the decision, anti-union education reformers declared victory and announced plans to move on — Campbell Brown, former CNN anchor turned professional anti-teacher campaigner, launched a similar lawsuit in New York despite sending her own children to private school.

“In some sense, Gus is the poster child for why teachers need tenure,” Clawson tells Salon. “Without tenure, we are all Gus Morales: if we speak up for students, we will be fired, even if what we are pointing to are violations of the law by the school system.”

Clawson has spoken out in support of Morales at a Holyoke School Committee meeting and at a press conference announcing the preliminary findings from the state labor department.

Read the full article on Salon.

The six firefighters who retired earlier this year worked a combined 191 years for the city.

HOLYOKE -- Six Holyoke Fire Department employees received words of praise from the mayor and fire chief in anticipation of a dinner planned for them Oct. 23.

"On behalf of all Holyokers, I want to thank these men for their selfless service protecting life and property in our city for a combined 191 years," Mayor Alex B. Morse said Tuesday. "Their sacrifice has not gone unnoticed and I wish them a healthy and happy retirement, as they all deserve nothing but."

Chief John A. Pond said he enjoyed working with those set to be honored, whose number of years and retirement dates, are: Deputy Chief Christopher Reynolds, 34, Jan. 10; Capt. Joseph Beaulieu, 34, Jan. 10: Lt. Thomas Paquin, 33, Jan. 2; Lt. Peter Lynch, 31, Jan. 9; Fire Inspector Jordan Lemieux, 31, Feb. 28; and Firefighter John Petta, 28, Jan. 10.

"Their commitment and dedication to the Holyoke Fire Department will be greatly missed, but their legacy will continue due to their hard work and efforts to build a stronger department over the years they served," Pond said.

The party for the six who retired earlier this year is set for 6 p.m. at The Wherehouse? restaurant, 109 Lyman St., Capt. Anthony Cerruti said.

Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 after Oct. 16, he said.

Tickets are available from Deputy fire Chief Jeff Przekopowski at Fire Department headquarters, 600 High St., Cerruti said.

Though Sarno and Goldberg disagree on casino gambling, Sarno will hold an event endorsing Goldberg on Thursday.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno will endorse Democratic treasurer candidate Deb Goldberg on Thursday.

Sarno plans to formally endorse Goldberg at Springfield City Hall at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. After that, Goldberg will go on a business walk through Tower Square with City Councilor Bud Williams and former City Council President Bill Foley. She will attend a meet and greet at Palazzo Café with Williams, Foley, City Councilor Justin Hurst, Hampden County Clerk of Courts Laura Gentile, and school committee member Barbara Gresham.

Goldberg is competing with Republican Mike Heffernan and Green Rainbow candidate Ian Jackson.

Sarno and Goldberg have at least one major point of disagreement. Sarno is a strong supporter of building the MGM casino in Springfield. Goldberg opposes the state's casino gambling law, citing problems of addiction, a cut in state lottery revenue that goes to cities and towns and concern for local retailers.

Sarno, a Democrat, recently endorsed Democratic state Senate candidate Eric Lesser. He backed treasurer Steve Grossman during the Democratic primary for governor, but then spoke at a unity rally urging voters to back Democrats in the general election between Democratic nominee Martha Coakley and Republican Charlie Baker.

The World Health Organization projected the pace of infections accelerating in West Africa to as many as 10,000 new cases a week within two months.

EMILY SCHMALL, Associated Press
NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — A second health care worker at a Dallas hospital who provided care for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. has tested positive for the disease, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday.

The department said in a statement that the worker reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Health officials said the worker was among those who took care of Thomas Eric Duncan, who was diagnosed with Ebola after coming to the U.S. from Liberia. Duncan died Oct. 8.

The department said a preliminary Ebola test was conducted late Tuesday at a state public health laboratory in Austin, Texas, and came back positive during the night. Confirmatory testing was being conducted at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The statement said the health care worker, who wasn't identified, was interviewed to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures. It said others who had interactions with the worker or possible exposure to the virus will be monitored.

Officials have said they don't know how the first health worker, a nurse, became infected. But the second case pointed to lapses beyond how one individual may have donned and removed personal protective garb.

"An additional health care worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimize the risk to health care workers and the patient," the CDC said in a statement shortly after the latest disclosure.

The federal agency said its experts had taken part in interviewing the second health care worker to identify any contacts or potential exposures in the community.

Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, has acknowledged that the government wasn't aggressive enough in managing Ebola and containing the virus as it spread from an infected patient to a nurse at a Dallas hospital.

"We could've sent a more robust hospital infection control team and been more hands-on with the hospital from day one about exactly how this should be managed," he said Tuesday.

Frieden outlined new steps this week designed to stop the spread of the disease, including the creation of an Ebola response team, increased training for health care workers nationwide and changes at the Texas hospital to minimize the risk of more infections.

"I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the patient — the first patient — was diagnosed. That might have prevented this infection," Frieden said.

The stark admission came as the World Health Organization projected the pace of infections accelerating in West Africa to as many as 10,000 new cases a week within two months.

In a conference call late Tuesday, the nation's largest nurses' union described how the patient, Duncan, was left in an open area of the emergency room for hours. National Nurses United, citing unidentified nurses, said staff treated Duncan for days without the correct protective gear, that hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling and safety protocols constantly changed.

RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of Nurses United, refused to say how many nurses made the statement about Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, but insisted they were in a position to know what happened.

A total of 76 people at the hospital might have been exposed to Duncan, and all are being monitored for fever and other symptoms daily, Frieden said. Nurse Nina Pham contracted the virus while caring for Duncan. Health officials are monitoring 48 others who had some contact with Duncan before he was admitted the hospital where he died.

Frieden said some of the world's leading experts on how to treat Ebola and protect health care workers are in the new response team. They will review issues including how isolation rooms are laid out, what protective equipment health workers use, waste management and decontamination.

In Europe, the WHO said the death rate in the outbreak has risen to 70 percent as it has killed nearly 4,500 people, most of them in West Africa. The previous mortality rate was about 50 percent.

Pham, 26, became the first person to contract the disease on U.S. soil as she cared for Duncan. She released a statement Tuesday through Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital saying she was "doing well," and the hospital listed her in good condition. She has received a plasma transfusion from a doctor who recovered from the virus, and the hospital CEO said medical staff members remain hopeful about her condition.

Pham was in Duncan's room often, from the day he was placed in intensive care until the day before he died.

She and other health care workers wore protective gear, including gowns, gloves, masks and face shields — and sometimes full-body suits — when caring for Duncan. Health officials have said there was a breach in protocol that led to the infections, but they don't know where the breakdown occurred.

Among the changes announced Tuesday by Frieden was a plan to limit the number of health care workers who care for Ebola patients so they "can become more familiar and more systematic in how they put on and take off protective equipment, and they can become more comfortable in a healthy way with providing care in the isolation unit."

___

Associated Press Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione and AP reporters Martha Mendoza, Maud Beelman, Matt Sedensky and Alex Sanz in Dallas contributed to this report.

The suspect acted aggressively toward the trooper and was shot when he refused to drop his weapon.

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — A man who stabbed passengers on a casino-bound tour bus on Interstate 95 in Connecticut was fatally shot by state police, officials said Wednesday.

The unidentified man began attacking passengers around 10 p.m., state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said. The bus driver flagged down a trooper at a construction site.

As the trooper approached the bus, the suspect and a passenger "were engaged in physical combat, rolled off the bus and onto the pavement of the highway," Vance said.

The suspect acted aggressively toward the trooper and was shot when he refused to drop his weapon, described as a "cutting instrument," Vance said.

The man died at a hospital. Two people were stabbed and another person suffered non-life threatening injuries when a bullet from the officer's gun ricocheted off the pavement.

The trooper wasn't injured.

The bus, carrying about 24 passengers, was headed from Chinatown in New York City to a Connecticut casino.

Police will "get all the facts and circumstances" from the passengers as part of the investigation, Vance said.

The northbound lanes of the interstate were closed more than seven hours from late Tuesday night until early Wednesday morning.

The Middlesex district attorney's office says an arrest warrant has been issued for 46-year-old Matthew McAveeney.

WINCHESTER, Mass. (AP) -- A Winchester woman has been found dead in her home and police are looking for her son.

Police conducting a well-being check found Barbara McAveeney dead in her condominium on Tuesday morning.

The Middlesex district attorney's office says an arrest warrant has been issued for her son, 46-year-old Matthew McAveeney. The warrant is for charges including armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon on a person 60 years of age or older, and cruelty to animals.

Police said because of a smell coming from her second-floor unit, they said they think she was killed days ago.

Anyone who knows of Matthew McAveeney's whereabouts is urged to contact police.

UMass Chancellor Kumble Subaswammy condems racists attacks against two students.

AMHERST – The University of Massachusetts is investigating racist attacks of vandalism against two students in their resident halls  this weekend.

 "Two of our students were the targets of blatantly racist vandalism in their residence halls. Such expressions of hate and intolerance have no place on our campus,"  Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy wrote in an email.

"We condemn language intended to marginalize or make any member of our community unsafe and we will aggressively investigate this matter for criminal and administrative reviews.

" As a community, it is imperative we work together to reaffirm our values of inclusion and respect for all. We must acknowledge the power of language and use it to advance social justice, inclusion and access. We must ensure that all members of our community experience a welcoming and safe environment in which to live, learn and work.

"We must all work together to ensure a University community defined by inclusion, respect and compassion, " the chancellor wrote. 

The Diversity Strategic Planning Steering Committee had already scheduled a University Town Hall Meeting on diversity, equity and inclusion for Thursday, and the chancellor is urging the community to attend. The meeting  begins at 4 p.m. in 106 Thompson Hall.

 Anyone witnessing or experiencing "an act of bias," is asked to report it to residential life staff, the Dean of Students Office at (413) 545-2684 or UMass police at (413) 545-2121.

People can provide information in confidence, by phoning the Tips Line at (413) 577-8477. 

A Pittsfield man has been held without bail as a dangerous person for allegedly beating and threatening the mother of his children as he drove drunk.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A Pittsfield man has been held without bail as a dangerous person for allegedly beating and threatening the mother of his children as he drove drunk.

Prosecutors say 27-year-old Scott Smith Jr. choked the woman at about 4 a.m. Saturday while she was driving him home after picking him up from an acquaintance's house, where he had been passed out drunk.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that authorities allege when she pulled over, Smith jumped into the driver's seat and drove 70 miles per hour while punching her. When he slowed down, the woman jumped from the car.

Smith was held after pleading not guilty Tuesday to charges including drunken driving and assault and battery.

Smith's attorney said there were credibility issues with witnesses and the woman had no marks.

___

Information from: The Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle

A suicide bomber targeted a meeting of anti-Taliban elders Wednesday in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a meeting of anti-Taliban elders Wednesday in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing five people and wounding 10, security officials said.

The attacker, who was wearing an explosive vest, blew himself up as the elders met in the Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal region, two officials said.

They said the dead and wounded were transported to a government hospital.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell on Pakistani Taliban, who have been blamed for previous attacks against elders in Khyber and elsewhere in the northwestern tribal regions.

Khyber is believed to be a hiding place for militants.

Pakistan's army in recent years has destroyed dozens of militant hideouts there, killing scores of suspected insurgents. The military also has been carrying out a major operation against local and foreign militants in the North Waziristan region since June 15.

Pakistan has said it has cleared 90 percent of the North Waziristan of militants during the operation, which displaced over 800,000 residents.

Kasparian, 62, is representing himself; he is serving a 12 to 15-year prison sentence for stabbing his ex-wife in an Agawam pizza shop in 2002.

SPRINGFIELD - The second day of testimony has begun in the civil case imprisoned ex-Hampden County Commissioner Abraham Kasparian Jr. leveled 18 years ago against his former co-commissioner and two court employees.

During an ongoing trial in Hampden Superior Court, Kasparian accused former commission chairman Richard Thomas; Thomas' niece Cathy Thomas, a Hampden Probate Court clerk; and Superior Court probation officer Alberto Perez of improperly gaining access to his criminal history record and leaking it to the press during an election in 1996.

Kasparian, 62, is representing himself; he is serving a 12 to 15-year prison sentence for stabbing his ex-wife in an Agawam pizza shop in 2002. He is suing the three defendants for money damages.

Below see the comments section for live updates.

The two countries traded gunfire Friday after South Korean activists floated balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border.

HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The first military talks between North and South Korea in more than three years ended with no agreement Wednesday, with the rivals failing to narrow their differences on how to ease animosity following two shooting incidents last week, South Korean officials said.

The two countries traded gunfire Friday after South Korean activists floated balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. Earlier last week, their navies exchanged warning shots along the nations' disputed sea boundary. There were no reports of casualties from either incident, but they served as a reminder of how tensions are running high on the divided Korean Peninsula.

On Wednesday, following a proposal by the North, military generals from the two Koreas met at a border village in the countries' first military talks since February 2011, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.

During the closed-door meeting, North Korea repeated its demands that South Korea ban activists from dropping leaflets and media outlets from publishing articles critical of the North, ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a televised news conference. South Korean delegates responded that they cannot do so because South Korea is a liberal democracy, he said.

The sides were also at odds over the sea boundary, drawn unilaterally by the American-led U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War without the North's consent, Kim said. There have been several bloody inter-Korean naval skirmishes along the boundary in recent years.

"The atmosphere of today's talks was very serious because South and North Korea both have wills to improve ties ... but they couldn't narrow their differences," Kim said. The two sides didn't set a date for a next meeting, he added.

After Friday's gunfire exchange, South Korea said it would sternly deal with any further provocations by North Korea, but stressed that the door for dialogue remained open. North Korea urged South Korea to stop hostile acts such as dropping leaflets if it wants improved ties.

Hopes for better relations were given impetus after a group of high-level North Korean officials made a rare visit to South Korea earlier this month and agreed to resume senior-level talks. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which is responsible for relations with the North, said Wednesday that it proposed the senior-level talks for Oct. 30. Seoul officials have said the talks would be among government officials, not military officers.

The North Korean delegation Wednesday was led by Kim Yong Chol, a hard-line general believed to have been behind two attacks blamed on North Korea that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010. South Korean delegates reiterated during the meeting that Pyongyang must take responsibility for the attacks, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.

It was not immediately known how North Korea responded. South Korean officials refused to provide further details of the talks.

The two Koreas remain in a technical state of war because the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. troops are deployed in South Korea to deter aggression from North Korea.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

I welcome comments, questions and suggestions.

Today I will write some notes for the Living blog. I will either cover a plea in an attempted murder case at 2 p.m. or Congressman McGovern at the VA. Either way, I will follow the Congressman to Soldier On at 3:30. I will also try to provide information for the Swift River Fall Fest this weekend.

I welcome comments, questions and suggestions.

After vanishing from the public eye for nearly six weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is back, ending rumors that he was gravely ill, deposed or worse. Now, a new mystery has emerged: Why the cane?

FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After vanishing from the public eye for nearly six weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is back, ending rumors that he was gravely ill, deposed or worse.

Now, a new, albeit smaller, mystery has emerged: Why the cane?

Kim, who was last seen publicly at a Sept. 3 concert, appeared in images released by state media Tuesday smiling broadly and supporting himself with a walking stick while touring the newly built Wisong Scientists Residential District and another new institute in Pyongyang, part of his regular "field guidance" tours. The North didn't say when the visit happened, nor did it address the leader's health.

Kim's appearance allowed the country's massive propaganda apparatus to continue doing what it does best — glorify the third generation of Kim family rule. And it will tamp down, at least for the moment, rampant rumors of a coup and serious health problems.

Before Tuesday, Kim missed several high-profile events that he normally attends and was described in an official documentary last month as experiencing "discomfort."

Archive footage from August showed him overweight and limping, prompting the South Korean media to speculate he had undergone surgery on his ankles. Some experts thought he was suffering from gout or diabetes.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. didn't have any reason to doubt the authenticity of the latest images, although she added that because of the opacity of the North Korean regime, there's always a question about the reliability of publicly available information.

A South Korean analyst said Kim probably broke his media silence to dispel outside speculation that he wasn't in control and to win sympathy from a domestic audience by creating the image of a leader who works through pain.

The appearance may be a form of "emotional politics meant to appeal to the North Korean people's sympathy," said Cheong Seong-chang, at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.

Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, who reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008 before dying of a heart attack in late 2011, was seen limping but never with a walking stick, said Lim Byeong Cheol, a spokesman from Seoul's Unification Ministry. Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, occasionally used a cane when he got too old to walk steep roads, according to another ministry official, who did not want to be named citing office rules.

Cheong said Kim appeared in the recently released images to have lost about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) compared to pictures from May. He speculated that since Kim was holding a cane on his left side he may have had surgery on his left ankle.

Kim "appears to want to show people that he's doing fine, though he's indeed still having some discomfort. If he hadn't done so, excessive speculation would have continued to flare up and anxiety among North Korean residents would have grown and calls by outsiders for contingency plans on dealing with North Korea would have gotten momentum," Cheong said.

The South Korean government has all along seen no signals of any major problems.

In deciding to resume his public activity before fully recovering from his condition, Kim was looking to quickly quell rumors that his health problems were serious enough to threaten his status as North Korean leader, said Lim, the government spokesman.

"The cane aside, he looked to be in good health," Lim said.

The recent absence was, in part, "probably an attention-getting device — and it certainly works," Bruce Cumings, an expert on Korea at the University of Chicago, said in an email.

"The North has been on a diplomatic offensive in Europe and elsewhere, it feels isolated — and is, if we're talking about relations with Washington," he wrote. "All this puts them back on the front page."

___

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

The $3 million will be placed in a separate account and every expenditure must be approved by the mayor and City Council.

CHICOPEE - The City Council last week agreed to raise taxes by a total of $3 million more than needed to fund the city's operating budget for this fiscal year to pay for some capital improvements.

Mayor Richard J. Kos, who proposed the plan, said the improvements are desperately need, especially the replacement of several roofs.

The additional tax money, which is estimated to raise the residential tax bill of the average homeowner by $117 a year, will be placed in a specialized account. Mayor Richard J. Kos and at least nine City Councilors have to agree every time any money is appropriated for a project.

The following list explains how Kos believes the money should be spent. In total there is more than $8 million in capital improvements needed in the city, but these are the most dire, he said.

Actual amounts are estimates and not all project estimates were released publicly.

- Chicopee Schools

The schools are to receive about $1.1 million to repair or replace roofs.

About $300,000 will be used to replace the leaking roof at Szetela Early Childhood Center.

The school department also has problems with the roofs at Edward J. Bellamy Middle School and Belcher School on Montgomery Street. For now it is believed the roofs can be patched with the remaining money, but Kos warned the City Council bigger problems could be found when the work begins. If that happens he may have to return and request to withdraw more money from the $12.4 million stabilization account to replace one or both roofs.

The schools also need a smaller amount of the money to replace alarm systems at two schools. The one at Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School is so old parts are not available, Superintendent Richard Rege said.

The School Department will apply for as much as 80 percent reimbursement for the repairs from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

While the authority does reimburse for work such as replacing new roofs, it has also spend a lot of money in Chicopee to replace two schools and is currently funding about 80 percent of the renovations to the former Chicopee High School, Rege said.

"MSBA has given Chicopee a lot of money and there have been a number of school districts that haven't gotten a dime," Rege said.

- The Golf Course

The roof on the maintenance building at Chicopee Country Club is leaking and needs to be replaced.

Kos said he believes replacing roofs is important because rain in a building can cause other problems.

- The Police Department

The Police Department needs four new detective cars, since they are nearly 10 years old and at the end of their life expectancy. The cars are also real-wheel-drive sedans and cannot be used in winter storms because the Department of Public Works no longer equips them with chains, Police Chief William R. Jebb said.

The Department also needs two new regular patrol cars. Currently there are 15 cruisers used every day for every shift and there are three spare cars, two of which are in poor shape. Jebb said there have been times when there are not enough cruisers available to all the officers on a shift.

If the City Council approves the expenditure he said he does not plan to retire any of the three spare cars so there will be enough if several need repairs at the same time. The specific costs of the cars was not released.

- The Fire Department

A 1995 pumper fire truck had to be taken out of service recently because it is so old is has become a hazard to firefighters. Fire Chief Stephen Burkott said he needs to replace the truck at a cost of about $500,000.

He is also requesting the replacement of a command vehicle for about $40,000.
Burkott said the Fire Department has been forced to borrow a truck from the Springfield Fire Department when one of the city ones need repairs.

"You can't keep putting these things on the back burner and hope they repair themselves," he told the City Council.

- City Computers

About $80,000 is needed to upgrade the computer system. One of the biggest problems is there are security gaps which make the computers for the city and the police department vulnerable to hackers, said Vanessa Oquendo, the information technology director.

"We are not compliance for keeping information," she said, explaining an estimated $40,000 would allow the city to at least move the computers toward compliance and having proper back-up and security measures.

Upgrading the website will be the first priority since the City Clerk's office has found the system is so problematic entered data will sometimes disappear, Oquendo said.