Hundreds of casino supporters showed up at City Hall on Monday to rally against Question 3, the statewide measure to repeal the state's casino law that allows a plan such as MGM's $800 million proposal for Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — Dean Fay knows a thing or two about keeping kids on the straight and narrow.

He's a city cop. But he's also executive director of Western New England Golden Gloves, a program he believes will benefit if Bay State residents vote down a statewide ballot initiative to repeal Massachusetts' casino law.

Voting "No on Question 3" is how Fay plans to vote on Election Day, he said Monday. He joined hundreds of like-minded people on the steps of Springfield City Hall, where a large contingent of MGM Springfield supporters flexed their muscles in favor of a city casino.

Fay, a narcotics detective with a vice grip who's built like a middle linebacker, says MGM has sponsored the boxing organization for the past two years and helped get a team of young boxers from Ireland to Springfield this summer for the popular Irish Night at the Fights event at the John Boyle O'Reilly Club.

"It's going to create so many programs just to help out the city's youth," Fay said of an MGM casino in Springfield.

Instead of dead-end kids with no job prospects, there will be boxing programs to steer at-risk teens away from the thug life and into careers, according to Fay. "You have to vote 'No,' " he said.

Voting "No" on Question 3 on Election Day means that no changes will occur to the state's 2011 Expanded Gaming Act, which allows for up to three casinos and a slots parlor to be built in Massachusetts.

It also means that MGM's plans for an $800 million hotel, gambling and entertainment complex in Springfield, stretching from the heart of downtown into the city's South End, could be open for business by as early as 2017.

Voting "Yes" on Question 3 means that the state's nearly 3-year-old casino law would go the way of the dinosaur. That means the approved casino plans for Springfield and Everett would go belly-up, and construction that's already underway for a slots parlor in Plainville would come to a screeching halt.

The state would also cease any efforts to award a third casino license for southeastern Massachusetts.

The folks who attended Monday's "Vote NO on Question 3" rally outside City Hall don't want to see that happen.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno led the spirited crowd, which included local tradesmen, police officers and members of the public, in a chant of "No on 3" that echoed across Court Square as the sun set over downtown Springfield.

A large crowd gathered on the steps of Springfield City Hall late Monday afternoon to show support for MGM's casino plan for the city. Voting "No" on Question 3 would allow the casino project to go forward as planned. Voting "Yes" on the ballot initiative would repeal the state's casino law and stop the project in its tracks, effectively killing the $800 million proposal for Springfield.CONOR BERRY / THE REPUBLICAN 

The mayor was joined by several MGM officials, including Bill Hornbuckle, president and chief marketing officer of MGM Resorts International. Hornbuckle said Tuesday's vote is really about "10,000 jobs" – the estimated number of jobs associated with the construction and operation of casinos in Massachusetts.

The Springfield project alone is expected to create a minimum of 5,000 jobs, including about 3,000 permanent jobs and some 2,000 construction jobs.

That works for Barry Capponcelli, an Agawam resident and member of Carpenters Local 108 in Springfield, who was wearing his hardhat and carrying a sign supporting a casino in Springfield.

In terms of the regional construction industry, "things are pretty slow in this area," said Capponcelli, who thinks the casino project – and various potential offshoots down the road – will benefit local tradesmen and anyone who's looking for a job.

"We need some projects here, and something like this is perfect," he said, adding that the positives outweigh the negatives. "I haven't heard a good argument against it. You build a casino and everyone will benefit," Capponcelli said.

The children were crossing the road near Calhoun Park when they were struck by a commercial van that was northbound on Chestnut Street.

Updates story published at 9:33 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3.

The kids, two boys and girl, were hospitalized after they were struck by a commercial van about 8:40 p.m. on Chestnut Street, just north of Montmorenci Street. Authorities blocked Chestnut between Jefferson Avenue and Calhoun Street so police traffic investigators could conduct their probe.

One of the youths was in critical condition, according to a TV news report. That information couldn't immediately be verified with police.

The van driver was seen performing an apparent field sobriety test at the scene of the accident. He was handcuffed and taken away a short while later, according to CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican.

Witnesses said the northbound van hit the kids as they crossed Chestnut Street near Calhoun Park. The driver exited the vehicle, but he didn't check on the victims, according to one witness at the scene.

Carl Holmberg, 44, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges including assault and battery on a child with injury.

REVERE, Mass. -- A suburban Boston fire captain who brandished a golf club in a fight with trick-or-treating children on Halloween has been suspended with pay.

Carl Holmberg, 44, pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges, including assault and battery on a child with injury.

Prosecutors said the Revere fire captain hit an 11-year-old boy and two 14-year-olds with the golf club. None of the kids was seriously hurt.

Holmberg's attorney said it was self-defense.

The boys told responding officers Holmberg yelled at them for cutting through yards, and then he confronted them with the golf club. Holmberg smelled of alcohol, police said.

Holmberg told investigators he was trick-or-treating with his wife and son when he saw the boys causing a disturbance. He said he confronted the boys but then feared for his and his family's safety.

One of the underlying storylines heading into Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos was the rematch between tight end Rob Gronkowski and safety T.J. Ward.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed item overall, however, was the gallery of photos from the Noble Hospital ball in Westfield, above.

1) Mini Cooper rolled 3 times after hitting moose on Interstate-91; driver uninjured: state police [Patrick Johnson]

2) Springfield police investigate Dunkin Donuts armed robbery [Dave Canton]

3) Dirty hit or tough play: Did T.J. Ward target Rob Gronkowski's bad knee during Patriots-Broncos game? (Poll) [Nick O'Malley]

4) MassLive Athlete of the Week: Vote for this week's winner [Jim Pignatiello]

5) Hampden County Physician Associates bankruptcy hearing postponed [Jim Kinney]

Before being hired at the Castaway on July, 29, 2011, she supported herself through variety of part-time jobs, including tending bar in Greenfield and booking shows at a Northampton music club, Crncic testified.

SPRINGFIELD - A former bartender at the Club Castaway strip bar in Whately told jurors Monday how her boss responded to requests to stop grabbing, groping and fondling her.

"He would get mad and call me a stupid (obscenity) or a stupid (obscenity)," Cara Lyn Crncic said during the first day of trial in her lawsuit against club owner Demetrious Konstantopoulos.

"Those were pretty much his go-to lines," she said.

Crncic, 32, formerly of Springfield and Northampton, accused the club owner, also known as "Jimmy the Greek," of creating a hostile workplace environment in a lawsuit filed in September 2012 in U.S. District Court.

The club owner grabbed her breasts, buttocks and groin area and subjected her to obscene, gender-based language between July and November of 2011, according to Crncic's lawsuit.

The defendant also punched her in the chest during a Nov. 29 dispute over cash register policy, causing her to quit her job and suffer emotional distress, the lawsuit states.

During the trial, the plaintiff plans to call current and former employees to testify about verbal and physical abuse suffered by other female employees, according to court documents. The former bartender is seeking an unspecified amount of money for lost compensation, job discrimination and emotional and physical distress.

For his part, Konstantopoulos denies all allegations and contends that Crncic quit after being questioned about a cash register discrepancy. The plaintiff suffered no physical injuries during the Nov. 29 dispute, and gave conflicting accounts about it to police and other club employees, the defendant claims.

Following opening arguments Monday, Crncic spent the afternoon on the witness stand, answer questioning from plaintiff lawyer Suzanne Garrow.

She described a childhood of physical and mental abuse, compounded by the death several years ago of her boyfriend, who was pushed from the 15th floor of a building in Atlanta, Ga.

Before being hired at the Castaway on July, 29, 2011, she supported herself through variety of part-time jobs, including tending bar in Greenfield and booking shows at a Northampton music club, Crncic testified.

When her hours were reduced at one job, she applied for a bartending position at the Castaway and was hired the same day. When her lawyer asked if she had reservations about working at a nude dancing club, Crncic responded, "Not really; work is work."

But working for "Jimmy," as she called the club owner, was nothing like her previous jobs, according to Crncic, who described him throwing tantrums and flinging clipboards, door knobs or other objects at employees.

Besides peppering his conversation with obscene female anatomical references, the owner also used racial slurs when referring to a black dancer who worked at the club for a decade, the plaintiff said.

Testimony will continue Tuesday before Judge Mark G. Mastroianni and a nine-member jury. The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.

Humason and Leahy hold opposing views on the casino, bottle bill and guaranteed sick leave ballot questions, among other issues.

HOLYOKE -- Republican Donald R. Humason Tuesday (Nov. 4) will try to secure a full two-year term as state senator on Election Day while Democrat Patrick T. Leahy, a Holyoke police officer, vies for the seat in his first run for elected office.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Both candidates in the competition for the 2nd Hampden-Hampshire state Senate seat said they were confident heading to the showdown.

"Friends, voters and supporters, join me and my family (Tuesday) night after the polls close at 8 p.m. at my victory party at East Mountain Country Club in Westfield," Humason said on his campaign Facebook page.

"All the hard work over the past ten months is coming to fruition and I can feel the momentum building," Leahy said.

The district consists of, in Hampden County, Holyoke, Westfield, Agawam, Granville, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick, Tolland and Chicopee's Ward 7, Ward 8A and Ward 9A, and in Hampshire County, Easthampton and Southampton.

Humason, 47, of Westfield, has held the seat since winning a special election Nov. 5, 2013. That came after Michael R. Knapik, a Republican from Westfield, had held the seat for 18 years and resigned in August 2013 to take another job.

Humason, a state representative for 11 years before winning the special election, is married to Janice Tracey Humason who works at Friends of the Homeless in Springfield. They have a son, Quinn, 3.

Leahy, 37, of Holyoke, has been a Holyoke police officer since 2003 and also is a Realtor. He defeated Christopher Hopewell of Holyoke in the Democratic primary.

Leahy is married to Melissa Leahy, a pharmaceutical sales representative and they have a daughter, Diane, 1.

It might be hard to imagine anyone struggling to choose between Humason and Leahy as they have seized opposing views on key issues.

Humason will vote against repealing the casino gambling law, which will be posed to voters on the ballot in Question 3. He said the area needs the jobs and development of the $800 million casino resort planned for Springfield, whose voters' wishes in support of a casino should be honored.

Leahy said the casino law should be repealed -- meaning he will vote yes on Question 3 -- because gaming is a future of empty promises and a market undermined with a saturation of gambling venues.

Humason opposed the increase in the state minimum wage, saying it was too fast and harmful an adjustment for small businesses.

Leahy said the three-year phase-in of the higher minimum wage curbs such concerns while helping struggling families.

Leahy said he will vote in favor of ballot questions to expand the beverage container law, commonly known as the bottle bill, and to guarantee workers can earn sick days under certain conditions.

Humason said the state will be a better place if the bottle bill and sick leave questions as worded on the ballot both fail.

Humason said he believes marriage is a union between a man and a woman while Leahy supports same-sex marriage.

As Democrats and Republicans fight for cash and victory in key battleground states across the country, a look at the voting records of each party's members give a clue as to what the priorities of the next U.S. Senate will be, depending on who holds the majority.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has said that an election isn't so much about the candidates as it is about the nation's values.

No matter which side of the fence you stand on in relation to the Massachusetts Democrat and her words, the voting record of the 113th Congress demonstrates the statement's veracity.

According to an analysis by Voterama in Congress, in the 113th Congress, Republicans in the House voted more than 100 times to weaken Environmental Protection Agency powers or rules, 18 times to end or weaken the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform package and more than 20 times to pick apart the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

While these bills were all defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate, a shift in control of that chamber would paint a new paradigm for what's been labeled a "do-nothing Congress."

Efforts that the Democrats unsuccessfully pushed in the current session of Congress include an effort to overturn a Supreme Court decision allowing for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby to claim a religious exemption from the Affordable Care Act's stipulation mandating coverage for contraception and birth control.

Democrats also lacked the numbers in the Senate to successfully push a bill introduced by Warren which would have allowed people to refinance their student loan debt and enacted a tax hike on the wealthiest Americans.

Following the election, Democrats are unlikely to evaporate the 17-seat lead Republicans have in the U.S. House of Representatives but the GOP may grow its ranks beyond the 45 seats they already hold in the 100-member U.S. Senate to gain majority control. While a third of the Senate is up for re-election, just nine seats are considered toss-ups.

If Republicans win at least six Senate seats across the country, they will gain majority control over both chambers of Congress, shifting the dynamic of the legislative branch from one of stagnation to persistent clashes with Democratic President Barack Obama, as he finishes his second and last term in the White House.

"This year Republicans are working to nationalize the election and tie it to President Obama. Democrats are working on making it an issues-based race, focusing on their state or district," said Tim Vercellotti, a professor of political science at Western New England University in Springfield. "The Democrats took that tactic in 2006 and it's a tried and true strategy to work with when the president is unpopular."

Tim Vercellotti

When looking at the national political landscape regarding congressional elections this year, Vercellotti said, "The Republicans have more paths to victory than the Democrats do, in terms of controlling the Senate. In many places, it sill come down to turnout because the races are so close. Many of the close races are either tied or moving away from the Democrats."

Vercellotti pointed to Colorado where Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall is facing a tough re-election battle from GOP challenger Cory Gardner. Polling has shown Udall falling behind Gardner, story similar to what is happening in Iowa where Republican challenger Joni Ernst is either tied or polling higher than Democratic U.S. Sen. Bruce Braley.

In this Oct. 23, 2014 file photo, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., left, and former GOP Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown are seen before a live televised Senate debate in Concord, N.H. Polls show Brown is neck-and-neck with Shaheen, who Brown links to President Barack Obama every chance he gets. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) 

In New Hampshire, former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has mounted a tough campaign against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, as he's painted her as a guaranteed rubber stamp vote for the president's policies. Polling which shows Brown in a close race with Shaheen suggests he's succeeded somewhat in nationalizing the race while centering on statewide issues, such as the impact of Obamacare on the New Hampshire health care system.

"There are also wild cards in South Dakota, Kansas and Georgia. These were not seats the Republicans were expecting to have to defend," Vercellotti said. "So it's hard to say with absolute certainty that one party has an upper hand. Most forecasts give Republicans a 50-to-55 percent chance of winning control of the Senate."

In Massachusetts, Republicans may get advances in their ranks regarding the House, but not the Senate. In the 6th Congressional District, Richard Tisei is running a close race with Democrat Seth Moulton to replace Democratic Congressman John Tierney. In the 9th Congressional District, polling has suggested Republican challenger John Chapman has a real shot at unseating Democratic Congressman William Keating.

But in the Senate, the most recent Western New England University poll shows U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is expected to retain his seat and win a full six-year term in the Senate as he faces a challenge from Republican Brian Herr culminating with Tuesday's election.

The poll showed voters prefer Markey over Herr, 54 percent to 34 percent, as Baystate voters prepare to vote on a slew of statewide elections including governor, all other Constitutional offices and four ballot questions which have the potential to sway the future direction of the commonwealth.

More will be known about Hampden County Physician Associates following a hearing at noon on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — A decision on the next step for future of Hampden County Physician Associates will have to wait for a hearing at noon on Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Springfield.

The practice shut down Friday, leaving 50,000 patients who used it asking questions about their health care.

The plan, as it stands now, is for some doctors from Hampden County Physician Associates to join Sisters of Providence Health System, which owns Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, while others will join a medical practice run by Noble Hospital in Westfield. Some doctors have struck out on their own, including five allergists who formed Allergy and Immunology Associates of New England,

MassLive readers have a lot of reactions to this story. Here is a sampling of what readers are saying, including people who called Hampden County Physician Associates' number, (413) 733-3470, with varying degrees of success:

twodognite wrote:

My husband and I are patients of Hampden County Physician Associates. My husband was recently released from Mercy with acute renal failure and cellulitis (both legs). I've called the number several times, it either doesn't ring or there is a disconnect message. I need a referral for him to see a specialist for the cellulitis. I already had him at the (emergency room)on Friday. I am horribly worried, this is a nightmare.

Note: cellulitis is potentially serious bacterial skin infection.

But twodognite followed up later:

We were able to reach the primary care, however, there can be no referrals until the bankruptcy hearing is over.. We were told to go to the (emergency room)

Mary_Askew_730 wrote:

Calls are going to the answering service, just like on holidays and weekends. Doctors are taking calls for their patients. Meds (prescriptions) are getting filled. Emergencies are being sent to urgent care. Routine follow ups will be rescheduled.

FlagShare wrote in reply:

I have an appointment next week. Where am I going? You can't tell me right now what I or any other patient with an appointment. is going to do. I had lab tests done but don't have results. Even if I had them, who compares them to my records that I don't have? Med (Medicine) changes? The judge couldn't care less. I try to coordinate my health care thru phone calls.

The judge in this case, Henry Boroff, has appointed a health care ombudsman to look out for patients' interests. He's also issued an order protecting patient medical records. He ordered that they only be released to patients or to doctors on a patient's behalf. Medical records cannot be transferred in batches.

The polls in Springfield opened at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8, 1864, and closed at 4:48 p.m. (sunset).

Abraham Lincoln was a candidate 150 years agoAnonymous 

If you voted today at 7 a.m you are already 3 hours ahead of your counterparts who were packing the polls 150 years ago as President Abraham Lincoln squared off against Gen. George B. McClellan.

The polls in Springfield opened at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8, 1864, and closed at 4:48 p.m. (sunset). Thanks to Thomas Edison we can vote a bit later for the 2014 election with polls closing at 8 p.m.

For a look at what was happening in our area during the 1864 election, and how it came out, check out the latest installment of our 150th anniversary series on the Civil War. That election guaranteed an end to slavery. How does that stack up against the issues of today?

PELHAM -- In May 2013, Alex Hackman rounded a bend of Amethyst Brook and spotted what he thought were some fallen logs bridging the stream banks. The logs weren't there before. Or at least, Hackman, a restoration specialist with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, had never noticed them. Hackman spent many hours at the brook the previous fall,...

PELHAM -- In May 2013, Alex Hackman rounded a bend of Amethyst Brook and spotted what he thought were some fallen logs bridging the stream banks.

The logs weren't there before. Or at least, Hackman, a restoration specialist with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, had never noticed them.

Hackman spent many hours at the brook the previous fall, when the circa-1820 Bartlett Rod Shop Company Dam was removed -- a $193,000 endeavor. He directed the project for the state and had returned to the site for a follow-up inspection.

It turned out that the logs, situated about 400 feet upstream from where the Bartlett dam once was, are part of a whole other dam - and a really old one, at that.

The Pelham Historic Commission later estimated the structure was built sometime between 1739 and 1820. The dam wasn't featured on any maps, and, as far as the commission could tell, it had never been named.

Sometime between the Bartlett dam removal and spring 2013, quick rushes of sediment unearthed what's since been dubbed the "timber dam." It had been buried under the stream bed for years, Hackman explained.

"Obviously, we were not very happy to find a new dam there because we had just spent three years and a lot of effort removing the other one," he said. "But it's also just neat. You don't find an old dam like that very often."

Hackman said that, while the discovery is historically significant, it's also an ecological setback for the river. And these kinds of dams are considered public-safety hazards, which has propelled a flurry of dam removals across the nation over the past few years.

The plan is to carefully dismantle the timber dam over summer 2015, a project that will cost around $40,000. The demolition will largely be funded by the Department of Fish and Game through Clean Water Action grants, Hackman said.

American Rivers, a national nonprofit conservation organization based in Northampton that helped with the Bartlett dam removal, will also be a project partner.

Eric Derleth, a restoration coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said a big component of the project will be documenting its removal.

"It's a cultural resource, no doubt," he said.

The Bartlett dam

The main goal of the Bartlett dam project was to restore the free flow of the river, allowing fish to travel upstream and thrive in an environment unfettered by man-made structures.

Trapped behind the dam, which ironically powered a fly rod manufacturing facility, was a wall of pebbles and silt.

Such sediment would usually help form a soft riverbed where native fish prefer to lay their eggs. But, because the Bartlett dam had left that part of the river sediment starved, fish like slimy sculpin, sea lamprey and American eel no longer spawned there. Ponds behind dams tend to be deep and warm, inhospitable habitats for species that like clear, fast and cool water.

The brook has made a lot of progress over two years. The stream bed has transitioned from what ecologists call a "boulder field" to a mix of pebbles, sand gravel and bigger rocks. There's also been a dramatic increase in sea-lamprey nests upstream from the Bartlett site, Hackman said.

And researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and Dartmouth College have recently observed Atlantic salmon, slimy sculpin and longnose dace swimming upstream -- species that hadn't been recorded there since the dam was constructed.

"We were surprised how fast these changes happened," Hackman said.

But, just upstream of the timber dam, the same environmental obstacles once caused by the Bartlett dam persist. It's essentially a barrier to fish passage, preventing the brook from being as healthy and ecologically diverse as it could be.

A storied past

Soon after its discovery, an archaeology firm was hired to assess the age of the dam. With the help of the Pelham Historical Commission, they scoured local records for mention of the structure. Researchers eventually found deeds for two dams in that area of Amethyst Brook, one of which is presumed to be the timber dam.

Judging from its construction, the dam could have been built anytime between 1739 and 1820, said Joseph Larson, chairman of the historical commission. The town of Pelham was founded in 1743.

The dam was also mentioned in the 1993 book "Wrights and Privileges: The Mills and Shops in Pelham, Massachusetts 1739-1937" by historian Paul Bigelow. According to the book, the mill was most likely built before 1792, when a man named John Harkness apprehended a property deed for a parcel of land that included the dam site.

"At that time, that deed indicated a dam, a house and a forge on it," Larson said. Harkness likely owned a lot of land in Pelham's early years, he added.

Larson said he believes the dam powered a mill used to hammer and shape metal that had been forged in a blacksmith's fire. Records show the mill had several reincarnations, including a fulling mill and a carting mill -- both of which aid in the process of creating cloth from wool.

Records also show the property was seized by the sheriff of Hampshire County in 1799, likely as a result of the landowner's debt.

The last mention of the site was in 1864, when it was still a sawmill, Larson said. The property appeared to be abandoned shortly after that time.

Larson said it's unlikely the commission will attempt to preserve the timbers once the dam is removed, but the role it played in Pelham's history will be kept alive in photographs. That's especially important for historians studying the area's thriving mill industry of the 18th and 19th centuries, he said, when New England streams were dammed by the thousands.

"We have to be sensitive to the historic resources at the site," Larson said. "We want to learn as much as we can about the dam before it's gone."

The developer is proposing to invest approximately $180,000 in property improvements in the plaza at 870 State St.

SPRINGFIELD - The city recently received a single proposal, for $25,000, from a developer interested in buying and renovating a tax-title business plaza at 870 State St. in the Mason Square area.

The offer for the property, submitted by Ellen Boynton Development of Windsor, Connecticut, follows two previous attempts by the city to sell the property in recent years, with the prior offers not being accepted.

Under the proposal, Ellen Boynton Development states it expects to invest approximately $180,000 in property improvements.

"They will include facade improvements establishing a fresh and inviting appearance through new and consistent signage, new lighting, and possibly awnings," the proposal states. "In addition, ornamental fencing, parking improvements and landscaping will be undertaken."

The latest proposal was referred to a review committee consisting of representatives of the McKnight neighborhood and city's Office of Planning and Economic Development..

The plaza consists of six business spaces, and there is an adjacent lot on Hayden Street. There are two open businesses - a Chinese restaurant in the main plaza, and a mobile phone store in a small adjacent building on the site.

Samalid Hogan, senior project manager for the Office of Planning and Economic Development, said she could not comment on the proposal submitted, pending the review. The city has the right to accept or reject any offer, under the guidelines.

The review committee is expected to submit its recommendation to the city's chief procurement officer and to Mayor Domenic J. Sarno by the end of November, Hogan said. Any sale needs approval from Sarno and the City Council.

The price is one of many factors taken into consideration, according to the city's advertisement for proposals.

The plaza property, along the State Street corridor, is adjacent to Q Smoking Good Food, and is across the street from the Indian Motocycle Apartments building, slated for a $25 million redevelopment.

The property and adjacent lot have an assessed value of $180,000.

Ellen Boynton is the owner of S-Cel-o Corporation, which has been involved in various construction and renovation jobs including Classical Condominiums, the YMCA, Wortthington Street Shelter, Morris School, the South Hadley Housing Authority, and other commercial and residential projects, according to the submitted proposal. In addition, she redeveloped a commercial property at 666 State St., the proposal stated.

Following a grueling campaign where staffers have racked up thousands of miles driving Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Charlie Baker across Massachusetts, today they will each take their last trips as a candidate.

Following a grueling campaign where staffers have racked up thousands of miles driving Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Charlie Baker across Massachusetts, today they will each take their last trips as a candidate.

In the too-close-to-call gubernatorial race, both candidates are starting their day voting in their hometowns, an Election Day tradition. At 8 a.m., Baker will cast his ballot at First Church on Monument avenue in Swampscott before heading to Lincoln's Landing for a meet-and-greet with voters.

Coakley kicks off her public schedule at 7:30 a.m. by voting at the West Medford Fire Station before she hops in the car and heads west to Springfield where at 10 a.m., she is to appear alongside U.S. Rep. Richard Neal at the coordinated Democratic Party office on State Streets to launch the final canvassing effort in the city.

The rest of the day will bring Baker to Peabody, West Roxbury, Dedham before holding his election night party at the Seaport Boston Hotel. Coakley's schedule shows the current attorney general heading to Worcester after Springfield, launching another canvassing effort with that district's U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern. At 3 p.m. Coakley is set to greet voters at Prince Hall in Dorchester and then its on to what she hopes will be a victory party at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel in Boston.

Over the weekend, Baker and other Republicans seeking statewide office held a rally in Springfield alongside Democrats who have crossed party lines to back his candidacy. Coakley had a high-profile swing through Western Massachusetts where her schedule brought her to Springfield to rally with Neal and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and then to Northampton where she spoke to supporters with Democratic attorney general hopeful Maura Healey.

Both candidates have said if they lose the election, they are unlikely to run for public office again.

A Western New England University Polling Institute survey released on Friday showed Baker leading over Coakley among likely voters by 5 percentage points.

The poll, which gauged preferences of 430 likely voters from Oct. 21-30, determined that Baker is up on Coakley, 46 percent to 41 percent. When considering the total 522 registered voters surveyed, Baker's lead shrinks to just 1 percentage point, 41 to 40 percent over Coakley, signifying Tuesday's election may truly come down to a case of voter turnout.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said that he expects final voter turnout numbers to come in around 2.26 million voters, or 52.54 percent of the registered voters.

The WNE poll indicates that just seven percent of those who intend to vote were sill making up their minds while another five percent are split between the independents in the race- Evan Falchuk, Jeff McCormick and Scott Lively.

Falchuk, founder of the United Independent Party, received support from three percent of likely voters. If Falchuk maintains that level of support, his party will receive official state recognition and the ability to run candidates under the party’s banner in 2016, potentially changing politics in Massachusetts forever as the voters will have an official choice beyond the two-party construct.

Nearly 54 percent of registered voters in Massachusetts no longer belong to the Democratic or Republican parties.

The Springfield Veterans Day activities will be preceded by a Veteran of the year award ceremony this Thursday at City Hall

SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Veterans' Activities Committee is hoping for a large crowd next Tuesday, Nov. 11, for the annual Veterans Day parade and ceremony.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., at the campus of Springfield Technical Community College, on 1 Federal St., and will travel down State Street before turning right on Main Street, organizers said. The parade will end at Court Square at approximately noon for a ceremony there honoring veterans.

The public is also invited to attend the committee's 2014 Veteran of the Year award ceremony and the official announcement of this year's parade marshal this Thursday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m., at City Hall in Room 220.

The Veteran of the Year is Ronald P. Drupke, and the parade marshal is Rocky Snow, according to the announcement of the event.

Numerous public safety personnel responded to a report of three youths struck by a van Monday night on Chestnut Street at Calhoun Park in the North End.

SPRINGFIELD — Numerous public safety officials responded to a report of three kids struck by a van Monday night on Chestnut Street at Calhoun Park in the North End.

The accident happened about 8:40 p.m. on the east end of the park between Montmorenci and Calhoun streets in the Memorial Square neighborhood. All three victims could be seen lying on the ground as rescue crews tended to them.

One witness said two boys and a girl were hit. Ages were estimated to be between 10 and 12 years old.

Multiple ambulances rushed victims from the scene to Baystate Medical Center for emergency treatment, but updates on their conditions were not immediately available. At least one of the victims was unresponsive at the scene, according to officials.

Two of the ambulances were driven by city firefighters while medical personnel worked on the patients during the short trip to the hospital, said Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.

City firefighters were joined at the scene by Springfield police, Massachusetts State Police troopers and AMR ambulance personnel, among other public safety officials.

Springfield Police Sgt. Brian Beliveau said members of the department's Traffic Bureau were on scene investigating and that additional information about the accident was unavailable.

Chestnut Street remained blocked between Jefferson Avenue and Calhoun Street as police interviewed witnesses and marked evidence lying in the road, including footwear warn by some of the victims.

A large crowd gathered at the scene. Witnesses said a northbound van hit the kids as they crossed Chestnut Street just north of Montmorenci Street. Police were seen talking to the driver of the van, which apparently belonged to Chicopee-based Valley Communications Systems.

A woman who claimed to have witnessed the incident said the van didn't appear to brake before striking the pedestrians, who flew into the air after being hit. The driver then exited the van and paced back and forth until first responders arrived on scene, she said.

Massachusetts State Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, will head back to Beacon Hill for a 12th term after easily defeating Republican challenger Dylan Korpita on Tuesday in the 1st Franklin District race.

WILLIAMSBURG — State Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, will head back to Beacon Hill for a 12th term after easily defeating Republican challenger Dylan Korpita on Tuesday in the 1st Franklin District race.

By 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, with 71 percent of the precincts reporting, Kulik led Korpita 69 to 31 percent, garnering 8,469 votes to Korpita's 3,878. Korpita even lost his home town of Deerfield to Kulik, 1,385-826.

Kulik, 64, is vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Korpita, 35, waged a campaign where he called for more accountability from state government and claimed that "the status quo has got to go." The Princeton graduate and former bond trader described himself as a fiscal conservative ready to bring efficiency and proactive problem-solving to the state Legislature.

In the end, Kulik's deep understanding of the issues, seniority position in the legislature, and strong personal relationships in the district won the day.

On the campaign trail, Kulik touted his leadership role on Beacon Hill, saying it afforded his constituents a "seat at the table." He pointed to legislation he had crafted over the years to preserve open space, fund the Community Preservation Act, and protect dairy farmers.

"Small town and rural values are at the heart of every decision that I make," said Kulik.

Tuesday night, celebrating his victory at Brewmaster's Tavern in Williamsburg, Kulik said he was humbled by the support of voters. He vowed to continue the process of bringing high-speed Internet to every rural home in his district, and promised to fight the proposed Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas pipeline.

The controversial pipeline would cut through Kulik's district, bringing natural gas from the shale fields of Pennsylvania and New York to a distribution hub in the eastern part of the state, crossing through farms, forests, and conservation land along the way.

Kulik, who first won his House seat in a 1993 special election, had racked up endorsements from Congressmen James McGovern and Richard Neal, from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and other public sector unions, major environmental organizations, pro-choice groups, and the Gun Owner's Action League. A former Worthington selectman, Kulik is a three-time past president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

The 19 towns in the district are Ashfield, Buckland, Chester, Chesterfield, Conway, Cummington, Deerfield, Goshen, Huntington, Leverett, Middlefield, Montague, Plainfield, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Whately, Williamsburg, and Worthington.

Questions concerning abortion, minimum wages, teachers' jobs, gun sales, health care and genetically modified foods were on the ballot in other states.

NEW YORK — Voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures Tuesday allowing the use of marijuana by adults, elating legalization activists who hope to extend their winning streak across the country.

Oregon will join the company of Colorado and Washington state, where voters approved the recreational use of pot two years ago. And the District of Columbia is on the same path unless Congress, which has review power, blocks the move.

Still to come were results from Alaska, which also had a marijuana-legalization measure on its ballot Tuesday.

Other volatile issues on state ballots include gambling and abortion. Two competing measures in Washington state gave voters a choice on whether to expand background checks for gun sales.

The District of Columbia's marijuana measure does not provide for the legal sale of marijuana, leaving that matter up to the D.C. Council. That's different from the measures in Oregon and Alaska, which would follow the example of Colorado and Washington state in setting up systems for regulating and taxing retail sales of marijuana.

The Drug Policy alliance, one of the leaders of the legalization campaign, said Tuesday's results would bolster its efforts to push through a ballot measure in California in 2016

"The pace of reform is accelerating, other states are sure to follow, and even Congress is poised to wake from its slumber," said Ethan Nadelmann, the alliance's executive director.

The campaign in D.C. included a debate about race — the measure's supporters said blacks in the city had been disproportionately targeted for marijuana arrests.

Gary Fulwood, a support staffer for the city's fire and EMS department, voted for the initiative.

"The criminal justice system is getting bogged down by marijuana use, and a lot of the people who use marijuana aren't criminals," Fulwood said. "I don't see it being any worse than alcohol."

In Florida, a measure that would have allowed marijuana use for medical reasons fell short of the 60 percent approval to pass; near-complete returns showed it getting about 57 percent of the vote. Twenty-three states allow medical marijuana.

Some of the other questions before voters Tuesday:

Abortion

In Colorado and North Dakota, voters rejected measures that opponents feared could lead to bans on abortion.

The Colorado proposal would have added "unborn human beings" to the state's criminal code. It was the third measure on Colorado ballots in recent years seeking to grant "personhood" to the unborn.

North Dakota voters rejected an amendment that would have declared in the state constitution "the inalienable right to life of every human being at every stage of development must be recognized and protected."

In Tennessee, voters approved a measure that will give state legislators more power to regulate abortion. Opponents fear it will lead to tough new laws that would jeopardize women's access to abortions.

Minimum wage

Voters in Arkansas and Nebraska approved increases in their states' minimum wages. In Arkansas, it will rise from $6.25 an hour to $8.50 by 2017, in Nebraska from $7.25 to $9. Two other states — Alaska and South Dakota — also were voting on minimum wage increases.

Teachers take stands

In Missouri, voters defeated a measure — bitterly opposed by teachers' unions — that would have tied teachers' jobs and salaries to the performance of their students.

Teachers unions were supporting an initiative in Washington state that would reduce class size and increase staffing support in grades K-12. State financial experts believe the measure would eventually cost the state about $2 billion a year to pay for thousands more teachers and other school staff.

Food fight

Colorado voters rejected a measure that would have required labeling of certain genetically modified foods. The proposal would have applied to raw and packaged foods produced entirely or partially by genetic engineering, but not apply to food served in restaurants.

A similar measure was on the ballot in Oregon.

Opponents of the requirements — including food corporations and biotech firms — said mandatory labels would mislead consumers into thinking engineered ingredients are unsafe, which scientists have not proven.

Gun sales

Washington state had two competing gun-related measures. One seeks background checks for all gun sales and transfers, including private transactions. The other would prevent any such expansion covering purchases from private sellers.

Supporters of the expanded checks, bolstered by gifts from Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, have spent far more than the anti-expansion campaign.

Six states require universal background checks for all sales and transfers of firearms. Washington's law, like the federal law, requires checks for sales or transfers by licensed dealers but not for purchases from private sellers.

If both measures on Washington's ballot pass, it might be up to the courts to sort out the confusion.

Health care

Of the 147 ballot measures nationwide, the two that generated the most campaign spending were health-policy proposals in California. One measure would allow more expensive malpractice lawsuits and make California the first state requiring many doctors to submit to random drug and alcohol tests; the other would require the state insurance commissioner's approval before health insurance rates could be changed.

AP writer Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

Republicans will take control of the governor's office after eight years of Democratic control. Coakley has said she will not run for office again.

BOSTON — Republican Charlie Baker narrowly defeated Democrat Martha Coakley on Tuesday to retake the governor's office for the Republican Party after eight years of Democratic control on Beacon Hill.

Baker and his running mate Karyn Polito ran on a platform of growing the economy, improving schools and bringing, as Baker said this week, "the kind of fiscal discipline and balance and bipartisanship to Beacon Hill that voters are looking for."

The Associated Press called the race around 1 a.m. Coakley's campaign said she would not concede Tuesday night. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, there were 34,000 votes separating Baker and Coakley.

Baker took the stage at the his campaign headquarters at the Seaport Hotel approximately 20 minutes later and quickly thanked his supporters for staying up so late. 

"You stood here and waited all night packed in next to each other in 90 degree heat past the time when I was kid that testing pattern would come on the TVB and Star Spangled Banner would play and you're still here," said Baker.

Baker said that his campaign spoke with Coakley and that they were going to give her until tomorrow morning so all the votes could be counted.

"That's the way it works folks and that's the way it should work," said Baker.

Baker campaign spokesman Tim Buckley said that Baker's speech was a declaration of victory. 

Coakley did not concede the race in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday and left her campaign headquarters without addressing her supporters or the press. WBZ photographed her returning to her home not long after Baker declared victory. 

Sources close to the Coakley campaign said she would not concede until all the votes were counted. 

As of 2 a.m. both campaigns had not announced plans for Wednesday.

"We're within 1 percentage point and there are plenty of communities out there that have yet to count every vote," Steve Kerrigan, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, told a crowd of supporters just after midnight. "Martha and I believe, as I know each of you do, that every vote cast here in the commonwealth of Massachusetts deserves to be counted."

The defeat was a devastating one for Coakley and Kerrigan, coming just four years after Coakley stunned political observers nationwide by losing a race for the U.S. Senate seat that had been held for decades by Sen. Edward Kennedy to Republican Scott Brown.

Coakley said during a recent debate that if she loses the governor's race, she will not run for office again.

Independents Evan Falchuk, Jeff McCormick and Scott Lively also appeared on the ballot. The three combined for 103,260 votes, approximately 4.9 percent of the vote.

Baker, 57, and his wife Lauren live in Swampscott and have three children. Baker served under former Republican governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci in the 1990s as secretary of health and human services, then secretary of administration and finance. He then became CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, an insurer that was failing financially. Baker turned around the company through moves that included outsourcing some work and pulling out of the Rhode Island health insurance market.

Baker ran for governor in 2010 against incumbent Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick and lost by 6 percent of the vote. He has since worked for venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners. The position caused problems for him on the campaign trail, after New Jersey officials began investigating whether Baker broke any laws by donating to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie months before the New Jersey pension fund invested money with General Catalyst.

On the campaign trail, Baker stressed an economic plan that would lower taxes for small business while increasing the earned income tax credit. He talked about the importance of increasing local aid to cities and towns and the need to improve education, connect schools with job training programs, and lift the cap on charter schools. Baker criticized Patrick for management failures relating to the Department of Children and Families and a Health Connector website as he talked about the need to have balance on Beacon Hill, where the legislature remains controlled by Democrats.

Bill Pavlovsky, an architect and unenrolled Cambridge voter, said he voted for Baker because he thinks Baker will be better at creating jobs and helping small businesses. "I think he'll be better for the economy than Martha Coakley," Pavlovsky said. "He has more business savvy."

Coakley, 61, is a two-term attorney general who grew up in North Adams and lives in Medford with her husband, Thomas O'Connor. Coakley spent most of her career as a prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney's office. She was elected district attorney in 1998 and attorney general in 2006.

In her campaign, Coakley stressed the importance of investing in early childhood education and providing earned sick time for all workers. She appealed to women voters by stressing her support for abortion rights and equal pay. Coakley was hoping to become Massachusetts' first elected female governor.

Coakley started the race with an advantage in a state that leans Democratic. But Baker appealed to voters as a moderate Republican, who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal, in the model of former GOP governors Weld and Cellucci. When Coakley pointed out policy differences between the two, Baker tried to narrow the gap – for example, rolling out his own plan to provide earned sick time to workers.

Coakley became increasingly aggressive at the end of the campaign, attacking Baker for his work at Harvard Pilgrim and the investigation involving General Catalyst. She said frequently that the race was about "whose side are you on," and Baker would not help working families.

Baker kept his message largely positive, leaving the negative campaigning to outside organizations. His ads showed a softer side of him, featuring his family and countering Coakley's assertions that Baker cares about numbers, not people. He reached across the aisle, getting support from Democrats. His campaign created a sophisticated voter database.

Paul Santaniello, a Longmeadow selectman and Republican strategist, said during Baker's last campaign, he tried to show how bad a governor Patrick was. This time, Baker focused on a positive message. "When you're trying to knock down a candidate, it's hard to run your own race. This time, Charlie Baker is running his race," Santaniello said.

Coakley and Kerrigan raised just $4.26 million compared to $6.87 million for Baker and Polito. While Coakley spent a significant amount of money to defeat treasurer Steve Grossman and former Medicare executive Don Berwick for the Democratic nomination, Baker cruised to victory over Republican businessman Mark Fisher.

Outside independent expenditure groups widened the gap. A group funded primarily by the Republican Governors Association spent nearly $12 million on negative advertising against Coakley. Pro-Coakley PACs spent around $4 million.

"We haven't been able to compete with that on TV," said Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Tom McGee.

Coakley brought in top national Democrats to campaign with her, including first lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Coakley had a stronger ground game with more volunteers knocking on doors and making phone calls heading into Election Day. State Sen. Ben Downing, a Pittsfield Democrat who chaired the Democrats' coordinated campaign, said the party had 6,700 volunteers out on Election Day knocking on 470,000 doors and making 740,000 phone calls.

But it was not enough.

MassLive reporter Garrett Quinn contributed to this story. 

Boldyga beat DiSanti by a margin of 68 percent to 32 percent.

SOUTHWICK - Republican state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga once again beat challenger Sam DiSanti of Agawam to win a third term representing the 3rd Hampden District in the Massachusetts House.

Nicholas Boldyga 

Boldyga declared victory earlier in the evening when only 50 percent of the precincts were in. At that time he had 64 percent of the vote to DiSanti's 36 percent.

The district includes Granville as well as Southwick and Agawam.

On Oct. 9, DiSanti was not present at debate held by the West of the River Chamber of Commerce.

According to The Reminder, Boldyga took the stage alone and fielded questions from moderator Robert MacDonald, member of the Chamber’s board of directors, as well as Laura Hutchinson of WWLP and Chris Pisano of WGGB.

Prior to the debate, MacDonald informed the audience that Di Santi would not be present, but did not specify a reason," the newspaper reported.

“Seems this is a hot topic that could have been remedied by the chamber letting the audience know that I contacted them three days prior to the debate letting them know that I had a family emergency come up and had to decide [between] the debate or my family issue,” Di Santi was quoted by the newspaper as saying. “It’s obvious they had the reason and in good faith should have made it known prior to the debate."

Two years ago, Boldyga vanquished DiSanti by a vote of 11,672 votes to 7,403.

The 2012 campaign was a bitter struggle between Boldyga and the retired postal worker.

Boldyga was first elected in 2010.

Candaras said she will call for a recount.

UPDATE 2:20 a.m., Nov. 5: Seguin beats Candaras by 278 votes, 62,500, or 50.11 percent, to 62,222, or 49.89 percent, after netting 1,024 ballots in Hampden to Candaras' 1,014.

SPRINGFIELD — Suzanne Seguin has declared victory over state Sen. Gale Candaras for the Hampden County Register of Probate seat in a race where ballots are still being counted.

Seguin declared victory early Wednesday morning when she had a 50-vote lead over Candaras with the votes from Brimfield and Hampden outstanding. The lead widened when Brimfield residents gave her a 268-vote advantage. The vote in Brimfield was Seguin 737, Candaras 519.

Candaras conceded Seguin's 50-vote advantage just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday, but did not concede defeat and said her advisers are focusing on a mandatory recount if the election goes against her.

"My team, which includes attorneys, are assertively recommending that we pursue a recount," Candaras said.

After the Brimfield vote, the tally was Seguin 61,476 votes, Candaras 61,208.

Seguin, who spent the evening at Nathan Bill's bar and restaurant in Springfield, said she was declaring victory.

"I am actually thrilled for the people of Hampden County, because I didn't win – we won," said Seguin, a political newcomer who raised $28,000 to Gale's $100,000-plus.

Each candidate campaigned as an insider/outsider. Seguin, of Westfield, is a first time independent candidate for political office but a 32-year-employee of the court system. Candaras, a Democrat, began in local government in the late 1980s and ascended to the state House of Representatives and then the state Senate by 2007, but would be a newcomer to the courthouse.

Seguin knocked Candaras as a career politician with no knowledge of the office.

"Does anyone know the office better than I do? No," said Seguin, of Westfield, who has suggested Candaras is looking to pad her retirement with a soft landing.

On the other hand, Candaras argued that as a lawyer and leader within the Legislature, she was positioned to make changes to the Probate Court backlog that in-house inertia and Seguin, as an insider, has stymied.

Candaras ticked off proposed initiatives she planned to promote if elected, including court services for pro se litigants and limited representation in a court that focuses primarily on divorces, custody and estate battles. Also, she said the rhythm of a political campaign came naturally to her, as this was her 13th campaign since she first ran for the Select Board in Wilbraham in the late 1980s.

"It's visceral," said Candaras late on Tuesday afternoon.

To complicate matters for both candidates, there is only a small slice of the local electorate who knows what the function of Hampden County Register of Probate does on the fourth floor of the Hall of Justice. The register of probate is the administrative head of filing and funneling all the thousands of cases that come through each year.

"It's not a happy place," Seguin conceded, but she feels it ran efficiently under retired Hampden County Register of Probate Thomas Moriarty Jr., who retired suddenly in 2012 amid the fourth of a six-year term. And, she contends, it runs efficiently under her; Seguin was appointed as interim by Moriarty upon his retirement.

Moriarty advocated for Seguin publicly including in the editorial pages of MassLive/The Republican.

For Seguin's part, she did not take a leave from the office and campaigned for 10 months outside her 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. work hours at Hampden County Probate Court.

"I did consider taking a leave but I thought my first priority was running that court. I didn't want to walk away from it," Seguin said outside a polling station in Longmeadow.

She admits she is inherently shy and was uncomfortable with campaigning from the start, but has shed many of her inhibitions since. The honks and thumbs-up she saw at polling stations were heartening.

"I do notice a big change in myself from January (the start of the campaign) until now," she said.

Not insubstantial in the race was finances. Seguin raised just about $28,000 and spent nearly all of it, according to state campaign finance records. Candaras, on the other hand, raised just over $16,000 in recent months, adding to a war chest of $98,000 as of early April. She has spent just over $99,000 since early March, records show.

While standing on a grassy traffic median outside the Knights of Columbus on Tuesday, Candaras brushed off the suggestions that she sought the post as a soft landing or to boost her pension.

"I have had the tenure and age to retire a long time ago," Candaras said. "I have no interest in being retired."

Candaras said that when the seat became open, several elected officials explored running for the seat including herself and former Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette. Seguin initially said she planned to retire.

The $130,000 annual salary was attractive to many but it is, fair and square, an open seat.

"The idea that elected officials shouldn't run for another elective office is absurd," she said, adding that she is an attorney with administrative experience and is suited for the job. "Somebody has to fill the position."

 

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, a 22-year-old nursing assistant, was seen on surveillance video being carried struggling to a car in the Germantown section of northwest Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA -- Police were seeking a man in connection with the abduction of a woman from a Philadelphia street after investigators collected a trail of video and photo evidence showing him using the woman's bank card and walking through a convenience store in Maryland, where the woman used to live.

Authorities said Tuesday they do not know who the man is. They were seeking the public's help in identifying him as the woman's relatives tearfully pleaded for her return.

The dark, blurry pictures of a man using the victim's bank card at an Aberdeen, Maryland, ATM -- and sharper images of him walking through a gas station minimart nearby -- were captured less than nine hours after Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, a 22-year-old nursing assistant, was seen on surveillance video being carried struggling to a car in the Germantown section of northwest Philadelphia.

The FBI said Tuesday it's offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect. Local officials previously pledged $17,000 in rewards.

"Our goal is the safe return of Carlesha to her family and friends," Christian Zajac, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia office, said at a news conference.