Associated Press reporters saw more than 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move Saturday in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine

NATALIYA VASILYEVA
Associated Press

SNIZHNE, Ukraine (AP) -- Associated Press reporters saw more than 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move Saturday in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, indicating that intensified hostilities may lie ahead.

Three separate columns were seen -- one near the main separatist stronghold of Donetsk and two outside the town of Snizhne, 80 kilometers (50 miles) further east. The vehicles were mainly transportation trucks, some of them carrying small- and large-caliber artillery systems, and at least one armored personnel carrier. Several of the trucks were seen to be carrying troops.

Ukrainian officials said this week that they believe rebel forces have received substantial consignments of weaponry and manpower from Russia. Moscow denies such claims.

It was not immediately possible to establish the provenance of the vehicles seen Saturday. Separatists have always insisted they are armed with equipment captured from Ukrainian forces, but the sheer scale and quality of their armaments have strained the credibility of that claim.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Volodymyr Polevoy said rebel reinforcements have also been observed moving toward front-line locations around 150 kilometers (95 miles) northeast of Donetsk, in the Luhansk region.

Polevoy said rebel authorities are boosting their ranks by forcibly mobilizing residents in a number of occupied towns.

Despite a cease-fire being reached in September, Ukrainian and rebel troops engage on a regular basis, with some of the heaviest fighting focused on Donetsk airport.

One government paratrooper was killed Friday by a sniper at the airport, military authorities said in a statement. Polevoy said two other Ukrainian troops were killed on the same day, but gave no details.

The statement added that Ukrainian positions came under artillery fire in several towns and villages east of Donetsk, including Debaltseve, which has begun to be increasingly encircled by rebel forces.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko said that additional troops were being deployed to the east to defend cities still under government control against possible incursions. That followed rebel statements of intent to expand the amount of territory under their control.

The truce signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, by Russia, Ukraine and the separatists stipulates the pullback of heavy weaponry.

In Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference for what was expected to be a discussion about the unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Asked if Russia still respects the legitimacy of the cease-fire agreement, Lavrov said it is for the "rebels and the government" of Ukraine to finalize a disengagement line -- a process that he said is continuing.

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia rose further after the rebels held an election last Sunday that Ukraine and the West denounced as a violation of the truce. Russia, however, quickly lent its support to the vote.

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Peter Leonard in Kiev, Ukraine, and Lara Jakes in Beijing contributed to this report.

The cases stem from the more than 17,000 poison center calls about the products received in the past two years.

LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Accidental poisonings from squishy laundry detergent packets sometimes mistaken for toys or candy landed more than 700 U.S. children in the hospital in just two years, researchers report. Coma and seizures were among the most serious complications.

The cases stem from the more than 17,000 poison center calls about the products received in the past two years. The calls involved children younger than 6 and most weren't seriously harmed. But one child died last year and the potential risks highlight a need for even safer packaging, the researchers said.

Laundry detergent pods 'delicious looking' to kids, but toxic when eaten

Some manufacturers already have revised packaging and labels in efforts to make the detergent packets or "pods" safer for children. The study found calls dipped slightly after some of those changes were made.

The products contain concentrated liquid laundry soap and became widely available in the U.S. two years ago. Some are multicolored and may look enticing to young children. Poisoning or injuries including mouth, throat and eye burns can occur when kids burst the capsules or put them in their mouths.

In the study, 144 had eye injuries, 30 went into comas and 12 had seizures.

Exposure to household cleaning products is among the top reasons for calls to poison centers involving young children. In 2012, detergent packet calls accounted for a fraction — about 6 percent — of the 111,000 calls involving young children and cleaning products, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Many calls involve regular laundry detergent, which can cause mild stomach upsets, but poison center experts say the new concentrated laundry packets seem to cause more severe problems.

Jessica Morin of Houston says her 9-month-old daughter, Marlow, was sickened earlier this year when Jessica's grandmother mistook a detergent pod for a teething toy and put it in the baby's mouth.

"I called poison control and they said to take her to the ER immediately," Morin said. Marlow was repeatedly vomiting and underwent tests, but doctors at Texas Children's Hospital found no serious damage and she didn't need to stay overnight.

"We were very lucky," Morin said. "We don't have those pods in our house anymore."

The researchers examined 2012-13 data from the poison control centers group. Their study was published online Monday in Pediatrics.

Overall, there were 17,230 poison center calls about young kids getting into the packets, including 769 children who were hospitalized. Dr. Gary Smith, the study's lead author, said his hospital had two recent cases — kids who developed breathing problems and required treatment in the intensive care unit. He's director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The American Cleaning Institute, which represents makers of cleaning products, issued voluntary guidance in March encouraging manufacturers to use labels that prominently list safe handling information. The cleaning institute said it is also working with manufacturers to educate parents. But a survey the group released last week suggests many consumers still don't know about the risks.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says children should not be allowed to handle the packets and advises parents to store them out of children's sight and reach.

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Online:

American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

American Association of Poison Control Centers: http://aapcc.org

The fire caused minimal damage to the exterior of the vehicle

Patrick Johnson | pjohnson@repub.com 

SPRINGFIELD - No injuries were reported early Monday when somebody attempted to set a food truck on fire in the South End.

The blaze at 2 Loring St. was reported shortly before 4:30 a.m., Dennis Leger, aide to Commissioner Joseph Conant, said.

The fire did minimal damage to the front driver's side of the 1986 Ford 3500, Leger said. Those with information are asked to call the Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad at (413) 787-6370.

The order wasn't mentioned when GM CEO Mary Barra testified before Congress.

DETROIT (AP) — Emails from a court case show that General Motors Co. ordered 500,000 replacement ignition switches almost two months before telling government safety regulators that the switches would be recalled.

The emails released by Texas attorney Robert Hilliard show that GM placed an urgent order for switches from Delphi Corp. on Dec. 18 for a safety issue. The cars weren't recalled until Feb. 7.

The order wasn't mentioned when GM CEO Mary Barra testified before Congress.

Hilliard says that at least 85 injuries and one life could have been saved if GM had warned customers in December.

The switches can slip out of the run position and cause cars to unexpectedly stall.

GM says it is normal procedure to order parts before a recall.

ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When audio of former "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins purportedly confessing to molesting underage girls appeared on the website TMZ last month, it did more than just damage the veteran actor's career. The recording, made during a therapy session and given to police by the actor's estranged wife, led to re-runs...

ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When audio of former "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins purportedly confessing to molesting underage girls appeared on the website TMZ last month, it did more than just damage the veteran actor's career.

The recording, made during a therapy session and given to police by the actor's estranged wife, led to re-runs of "7th Heaven" disappearing from cable TV and Collins swiftly losing acting roles. Three law enforcement agencies confirmed investigations into allegations that Collins molested underage girls several decades ago, although no charges have been filed.

The audio, which has not been authenticated by The Associated Press, will likely never be played in a courtroom. It will, however, linger over the actor's upcoming divorce trial, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Los Angeles. The audio's impact will be a major issue in how Collins and his estranged wife, actress Faye Grant, divide up assets they accumulated during more than 25 years of marriage.

As a result of the audio's release, Collins' future earnings have been reduced to only what he can earn off investments, his attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, wrote in a court filing last month.

Few Hollywood divorces in recent memory have been as ugly as the Collins case. The actor filed for divorce in 2012 and most of the issues in the case have been about money, although Grant included details about the molestation allegations in court filings last year.

Grant has said she gave police the audio of a 2012 couple counseling session in which Collins admitted to molesting young girls. She said she did so only after he refused to seek appropriate treatment. But Grant has denied giving the recording to TMZ.

California's "no fault" divorce laws generally make the cause of a breakup irrelevant in court, and divorcing couples who don't have an agreement on how to split assets acquired during marriage are generally required to divide them evenly. Collins' divorce case will focus on how to divide property and earnings with Grant.

At issue in the trial is a pair of properties in the posh Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and whether Grant should receive more than $13,000 a month in spousal support. Grant's attorneys wrote in court filings that Collins is expected to have more than $5 million in assets once the case is resolved.

"I am seeking no more than that to which I am legally entitled under the laws of the State of California," Grant wrote in a recent statement. She added the audio has not been part of the divorce proceedings.

Kaplan said pertinent issues in the case will be addressed in court and not in public statements. "I refuse to participate in a trial by sound bite," the attorney said Friday.

Beyond the divorce case, the Collins audio has raised a number of ethical and legal issues about how it was recorded, and what it now means that the revelations apparently made in the privacy of a therapy session have been made public.

"Clients knowing what they're saying in a therapeutic setting is confidential is hugely important," said Stephen Behnke, the director of the American Psychological Association Ethics Office.

The ethical standard is for psychologists to obtain permission from patients before they record them, he said. There are legitimate reasons why a therapy session might be recorded, such as reminding a patient what is said during the treatment, Behnke said.

He noted that while psychologists are bound to strict guidelines about disclosing details divulged in treatment sessions, other people in the room are not.

"I think that there's an understanding that therapists control his or her office," said Benjamin Fenton, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in medical privacy cases. However, Fenton said it would be difficult to hold the therapist accountable for a recording made in secret.

"It would be hard for him or her to be liable to the husband," Fenton said.

Surreptitious recordings aren't uncommon in divorces and other situations where one person is trying to get the upper hand in a case, said Douglas Mirell, a Los Angeles-based media lawyer of the firm Harder Mirell & Abrams.

"People do record each other with some alarming degree of frequency in hopes that they can use it for what some might characterize as extortionate purposes," Mirell said.

That doesn't mean, however that the audio can be used in court, Mirell added.

"It does test the limits on what doctor-patient confidentiality is," said Alison Triessl, a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer. She cited a litany of issues the audio raised, including whether the therapist reported Collins' remarks and whether or not Grant will face any legal repercussions.

"This is like a law school exam on steroids," Triessl said.

Since Grant provided the audio to authorities, it is unlikely she will face any criminal charges, Triessl said. She might face a civil lawsuit from Collins over damage to his career, and it could lessen the amount the actress obtains through the divorce if her husband is no longer a working actor.

Kaplan has noted in court filings that Collins' is unlikely to obtain work again as an actor. After TMZ posted the audio, scheduled re-runs of "7th Heaven" were canceled, Collins was dropped from the upcoming film "Ted 2" and he lost a role on TV's hit show, "Scandal."

Police identified the suspect as 36-year-old Jennifer L. Gonzalez of 30 Center St.

Republican file photo 

CHICOPEE - Police arrested a 36-year-old city woman early Sunday and charged her with the armed robbery of the Chicopee Convenience Store on Exchange Street.

The department's arrest log identifies the suspect as Jennifer L. Gonzalez of 30 Center Street. Police arrested the suspect shortly after 6:10 a.m.

Public Information Officer Michael Wilk said the woman had a knife. No injuries were reported.

The store is located at 201 Exchange St.

Nine endangered sea turtles rescued from Cape Cod beaches over the weekend are recovering at the New England's Aquarium's sea turtle hospital.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) -- Nine endangered sea turtles rescued from Cape Cod beaches over the weekend are recovering at the New England's Aquarium's sea turtle hospital in Quincy.

Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) NOAA.gov 

The cold-blooded turtles have trouble finding their way out of Cape Cod Bay and assume the temperature of the water. Many of those rescued were hypothermic and lethargic. Most were covered with accumulated algae from lack of activity due to body temperatures in the mid-50s.

Their preferred body temperature is in the 70s, and biologists and veterinarians will slowly re-warm them over the next three days. Many will still need additional attention due to malnutrition, pneumonia, and other ailments. The goal is to release them into warmer waters off Georgia or Florida.

AMHERST - Police in Hadley and the animal welfare officer here are looking for the owner of a Brittany spaniel that was found at Amherst Farmer's Supply Friday. The dog is believed too be the same dog that bit a Hadley police officer last week. Animal welfare officer Carol Hepburn said they'd like to find the owner to find out if...

AMHERST - Police in Hadley and the animal welfare officer here are looking for the owner of a Brittany spaniel that was found at Amherst Farmer's Supply Friday.

The dog is believed too be the same dog that bit a Hadley police officer last week.

Animal welfare officer Carol Hepburn said they'd like to find the owner to find out if the dog is up to date on its vaccine's because the Hedley officer started treatment for rabies.

She said the dog nipped at her but did not break the skin and was scared when she tried to catch it.

She said the dog now shows no signs of aggression and is subdued. She does not know how old the dog is and is asking anyone with information to call 413-478-7084.

Hadley Police have posted the dog on its Facebook page. 

The campaign seeks to use the leverage of city and state buying-power to push the industry to respond to demands to improve safety.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- Religious leaders from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey are joining elected and police officials to call on gun manufacturers to tighten distribution systems and develop smart gun technologies.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson and Newtown First Selectwoman Pat Llodra are scheduled to join others Monday issuing their request as part of the Do Not Stand Idly By campaign.

The campaign seeks to use the leverage of city and state buying-power to push the industry to respond to demands to improve safety.

The group said it organized in response to the fatal shooting in December 2012 of 20 children and six educators at a Newtown elementary school and gun violence in U.S. cities.

The gathering is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday at Margaret Morton Center in Bridgeport.

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On the Internet: www.donotstandidlyby.org

country crime spree. Lewis was ordered temporarily held without bail last week after he was brought back to Massachusetts and arraigned on 17c harges in the girl's rape and an alleged attack on his stepfather

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Massachusetts prosecutors planned to ask a judge to keep a man suspected of raping women in several states locked up while he's awaiting trial.

Authorities said Gregory Lewis cut off his court-ordered electronic monitoring device and fled Massachusetts after being charged in the rape of a 13-year-old girl. He was captured in New York last month after what police said was a cross-country crime spree.

Lewis, 26, of Southbridge, was ordered temporarily held without bail last week after he was brought back to Massachusetts and arraigned on 17c harges in the girl's rape and an alleged attack on his stepfather. Lewis pleaded not guilty.

A hearing was scheduled in Worcester Superior Court Monday, when prosecutors were expected to argue that Lewis is a danger to the public and should continue to be locked up.

Lewis is suspected of robbing and raping female escorts in Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, North Carolina and Utah.

Massachusetts state police have said Lewis told several people that his goal was to return to Massachusetts to kill his 13-year-old accuser.

Lewis was captured in the village of Fort Edward, New York, after driving into the Hudson River while fleeing from a traffic stop.

During an interview with Southbridge police, Lewis said he met the girl after she prank called him with her friends in June. He denied having any sexual contact with her.

A controversial conservation commission replacement and a proposed planning board ordinance have recently stirred discussion in Westfield city council about mayoral appointees.

WESTFIELD -- A Conservation Commission member who donated to Mayor Daniel Knapik's opponent's campaign in 2013 is being replaced. 

Conservation Commission member George Martin is about to be replaced after an unusual appointment procedure that has raised hackles at City Hall. Martin worked on conservation issues in Westfield for about 20 years and has been on the commission for the past six years before a friend told him in October that the mayor had submitted a replacement for him to the City Council.

Martin hadn't resigned, nor had he expressed any interest in leaving the commission; and weeks after his replacement was submitted, the mayor's office has yet to explain the decision to the council or even respond to Martin's phone calls and requests for information.

The mayor holds appointment power over many boards and commissions in Westfield. Excluding the youth commission and Cultural Council, Westfield has 108 current board or commission members who are appointed by the mayor. Of those, about 36 percent of current appointees donated to Knapik's 2013 campaign for mayor, or a member of their household donated. But only one of those 108 appointees donated only to Knapik's opponent in the most recent mayoral election.

George Martin gave $60 to mayoral candidate Michael Roeder in 2013.

Knapik said Martin's term expired in February, and he decided to replace him, but would not explain why. He said it is the mayor's prerogative to make appointments, and boards and commissions have lots of turnover.

But the move was unusual enough to stop the personnel action committee from approving Martin's replacement. Councilors held the appointment in committee, hoping to get answers from the mayor's office about why Martin was being replaced, but they received none.

A close look through items on the City Council personnel action committee's agendas in the past two years shows there are many more reappointments than new or replacement appointments on these boards and commissions. And many of the replacement appointments note what happened to the previous member. In each item with that note, the previous member resigned. Martin's item simply says that he is being replaced -- a designation given to no other appointment as written in the meeting agendas of 2013-2014.

Each current board and commission member in the city has been appointed or re-appointed within Knapik's time as mayor. The only other current member of a Westfield board or commission to donate to Roeder's campaign also donated an equal amount to Knapik's campaign in that year.

Martin's proposed replacement donated to Knapik in 2013, but last week his appointment was taken off the table due to a previously overlooked requirement in the city ordinances. Councilors agreed that the replacement was an excellent candidate, but the board requires a woman member.

The driver was taken to Baystate Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, state police said.

SPRINGFIELD - A wrong-way driver, taken to Baystate Medical Center after allegedly causing a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 291 early Tuesday, faces charges of drunken driving and negligent operation, state police said.

State police told abc40 the driver was going the wrong way in the westbound lanes of the interstate when the crash occurred near Exit 4.

State police closed the interstate after the crash, reopened one lane after a short period and reopened the remaining lanes by 3 a.m., according to abc40.

The driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Those in the other vehicles did not suffer any significant injuries.

This is a developing story. Additional information will be added as soon as it is available.

The court acquitted him of homicide, concluding there was no proof he knew his actions would cause more than 300 deaths.

HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A South Korean ferry captain was sentenced Tuesday to 36 years in prison for negligence and abandoning passengers when his ship sank earlier this year, but the court acquitted him of homicide, concluding there was no proof he knew his actions would cause the more than 300 deaths that shocked and outraged the country.

The highly anticipated verdict came on the same day searches were called off for the final nine victims and amid continuing grief and finger-pointing over one of the worst disasters in South Korean history. Victims' relatives immediately criticized the sentences for Capt. Lee Joon-seok and other crew members as too lenient, with some weeping and shouting during the court proceedings.

"Do you know how many children are dead?" one relative said, according to Kook Joung-don, a lawyer for the relatives.

The Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea also concluded that Lee had issued an evacuation order and had left the ship after rescue boats arrived on the scene, the court said in a statement.

Most of the ferry passengers were teenage students taking a school trip, and many student survivors have said they were repeatedly ordered over a loudspeaker to stay on the sinking ship and that they didn't remember any evacuation order being given before they helped each other flee the vessel.

View full sizeLee Joon-seok, the captain of the sunken South Korean ferry Sewol, arrives for verdicts as the ship's crew members are charged with negligence and abandonment of passengers in the disaster at Gwangju District Court in Gwangju, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. South Korea said Tuesday it has ended underwater searches for the remaining missing people from April's ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people in one of the country's deadliest disasters in decades. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Hyung Min-woo) 

Lee, 69, has said he issued an evacuation order. But he told reporters days after his arrest that he withheld the evacuation order because rescuers had yet to arrive and he feared for the passengers' safety in the cold, swift waters.

The widely vilified captain could have received a death sentence had he been convicted on the homicide charge.

The court sentenced the ship's chief engineer to 30 years in prison and 13 other crew members to up to 20 years in prison, the statement said.

The engineer, Park Ki-ho, was convicted of homicide because he abandoned two injured colleagues, escaped the ferry and failed to tell rescuers about them, even though he knew they would die without help, the court said.

However, it cleared two other crew members of homicide charges for the same reasons it acquitted the captain. Those crew members got 15 and 20 years in prison, it said.

Prosecutors and the crew members have one week to appeal, according to the court. Relatives of the victims said they will ask prosecutors to appeal the ruling, but senior prosecutor Park Jae-eok said his office hasn't decided whether to do so.

The 15 crew members tasked with navigating the ferry Sewol have faced scathing public criticism because they escaped the sinking ship while many passengers were still trapped. A total of 476 people were aboard the ship and only 172 were rescued in the April disaster.

Prosecutors have accused the crew members of tacitly colluding to abandon the ship even though they knew that passengers would be trapped and killed after it sank. The defense in the trial has denied any collusion among the crew members, saying they were confused, injured and panicked.

Nearly seven months after the sinking, 295 bodies have been recovered but nine are missing. Officials said Tuesday they've ended searches because there was only a remote chance of finding more bodies while worries have grown over the safety of divers. Two civilian divers have died after falling unconscious during searches.

"As our loved ones remain trapped in the cold waters, this decision is unbearably painful for us. But we requested that the search operations be stopped" because of safety concerns, Min Dong-im, 36, the wife of a missing teacher, tearfully said at a televised news conference.

The sinking has prompted widespread grief and a rare bout of soul-searching about lax safety practices in South Korea. Authorities blamed overloaded cargo, improper storage, untimely rescue efforts and corruption by the ship's owners that prevented enough spending on safety, along with the crew members' behavior, for the sinking.

The ship's billionaire owner was found dead about four months ago after fleeing arrest, and three of his relatives were sentenced last week to up to three years in prison for corruption. Last Friday, South Korean lawmakers approved plans to disband the coast guard and transfer its responsibilities.

South Korea has spent months debating public safety issues that critics say were largely ignored while the country rose to an Asian economic power in the decades after the 1950-53 Korean War. But a series of smaller deadly accidents have occurred since the sinking. In mid-October, 16 people watching an outdoor pop concert fell to their deaths when a ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed.

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

The "Guardian Active Shooter Detection System" is triggered by the sounds of gunfire, sending an alert to police within seconds.

PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) -- A city school will become the first in the nation to deploy an automated system to detect and track a gunman on campus.

City and school officials planned to attend a demonstration of the technology by Shooter Detection Systems, a Massachusetts-based company, on Tuesday afternoon at the undisclosed school.

Mayor Stephen Zanni, Schools Superintendent Judith Scannell, Police Chief Joseph Solomon and Congresswoman Nikki Tsgonas are among those who were expected to be on hand, along with police chiefs and police officers from across the northeast.

The demonstration will simulate an active shooter in a school building and show how police would respond using the new technology.

The "Guardian Active Shooter Detection System" is triggered by the sounds of gunfire, sending an alert to police within seconds.

Then, using smoke alarm-sized sensors installed throughout the school's classrooms and hallways, it can transmit audio recordings in real time, so that emergency responders can track the shooter and monitor other developments before, during and after the person enters the building.

School officials said the investment would dramatically improve current school lockdown procedures.

New England saw one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history when 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 20 elementary school pupils and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.

Methuen school officials first announced plans for the system in July. They have said the system is being paid for by Shooter Detection Systems as a pilot program and not from city funds. The district hopes to install the system in other schools as well.

Shooter Detection Systems was founded in 2013 and is trying to market the systems to the owners and operators of malls, airports, government offices, schools and other public buildings. The system is based, in part, on those developed for the military.

Methuen is a city of about 47,000 residents about 29 miles north of Boston. It is located near the New Hampshire border.

Finding people willing to work on a board or commission can be difficult, but long delays in filling some board positions in Westfield has raised questions during recent city council meetings.

WESTFIELD - Finding people willing to work on a board or commission can be difficult, but long delays in filling some board positions in Westfield raised questions during recent city council meetings.

Currently, more than a dozen board and commission seats are empty. While Mayor Daniel Knapik recently made an appointment to a seat that was filled by an experienced and willing commission member, there were seven other city boards with open positions. A recently proposed ordinance to amend the planning board membership brought up a city council discussion about years-long vacancies on that board.

The ward 1 position on the planning board has been left vacant for three years after the previous member resigned. An at-large position on the board -- in which an appointee can live anywhere in the city -- has been vacant since former member Matthew VanHeynigen was elected to city council last year.

At an October meeting, Councilor Brian Hoose said it was difficult to get people interested in working on boards and commissions. Councilors said the issue with the vacancies was not a lack of candidates, just a lack of appointees coming from the mayor's office.

The ordinance was amended, then passed, and in part changed the ward representation requirement to a limit of two board members from any single ward. Councilors noted, however, that the change would not encourage appointments at this time, because the at-large position remains open. Appointments still are made at the mayor's discretion.

Councilor Robert Paul said the council should ask the mayor's office to explain the lack of appointments to the planning board.

"There must be some reason for this," Paul said. "It isn't 'just because.'"

Ford thinks a truck that is lighter and more fuel efficient, but even more capable, will win buyers while its competitors struggle to catch up.

DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — It's Ford Motor Co.'s biggest bet in decades: an aluminum-sided F-150 that could set a new industry standard — or cost the company its pickup truck crown.

Ford was scheduled to start production of the 2015 F-150 Tuesday at its Dearborn Truck Plant, four miles from the company's headquarters. It will arrive at U.S. dealerships next month.

Ford thinks a truck that is lighter and more fuel efficient, but even more capable, will win buyers while its competitors struggle to catch up. Aluminum — which is lighter than steel but just as strong — isn't new to the auto industry, but this is the first time it will cover the entire body of such a high-volume vehicle. Ford made 647,697 F-150 pickups at its two U.S. plants last year; that's one every 49 seconds.

There are big risks. F-Series trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in the U.S. for 37 straight years; last year, Ford sold nearly 100,000 more full-size pickups than General Motors. Any quality problems, production hiccups or customer doubts about aluminum could slow sales and hurt Ford's bottom line. Morgan Stanley estimates F-Series trucks account for 90 percent of Ford's global automotive profit.

CEO Mark Fields told the AP he is confident Ford made the right decision. The new truck has been through 10 million miles of testing, which is more than any other vehicle in Ford's history, he says.

Top managers agreed unanimously to switch to aluminum at a meeting in 2012.

"Were we recognizing that it was a risk? Sure," Fields says. "But it was a very calculated and informed risk that gave us the confidence that we were going to get this done."

If Ford's bet pays off, it could gain an even more commanding lead in the lucrative truck market. More importantly, aluminum "future proofs" the truck — and the company — in an era of rising fuel economy standards, says Karl Brauer, a senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book.

"If Ford masters the art of delivering an aluminum vehicle at the level the F-150 sells, they are going to be able to expand that to Mustangs, Edges and Lincolns," Brauer says.

Truck buyers are among the most loyal in the auto market, and Ford can count on many of them. The company says more than 224,600 potential buyers have already asked for more details about the truck.

But even some Ford loyalists have their doubts. Ginny Pruet, who runs a wedding rental business in Rockwall, Texas, recently traded her 2012 F-150 for the 2014 version because she wanted a backup camera.

Pruet, 54, has checked out the 2015 version at auto shows. She is impressed by the new truck's bells and whistles, like the movable LED spotlights on the side mirrors. But she's concerned that aluminum is untested and not worth the extra cost. Ford has raised the price of the base model by $395 to $26,615, including destination fees. A fancier King Ranch version costs $3,615 more.

Ford's promise of better fuel economy also failed to sway Pruet, who is paying less than $3 a gallon for gasoline in her area. Fuel economy numbers won't be released until later this month, but Ford has said the 2015 truck will have up to 20 percent better fuel economy than the outgoing model, which gets up to 23 mpg on the highway.

Ford has the disadvantage of introducing the truck as gas prices are hitting a four-year low. But Fields says even when gas prices were $1.25, truck buyers still asked for better fuel economy.

"These vehicles are not just vehicles to our customers. They're tools to help them do their job," Fields says. "This thing has to deliver."

John Krafcik, the president of the car buying site TrueCar.com, says pickup drivers will be drawn by the truck's capability. The F-150 sits on a high-strength steel frame that's carrying less weight from the truck, so it can carry more cargo and haul heavier trailers. The new F-150 can tow up to 12,200 pounds compared with 12,000 for the Silverado and 10,500 for the Ram.

Ford is spending more than $1 billion to retrofit its plants in Dearborn and Claycomo, Missouri, where the trucks are assembled, as well as the metal stamping plants that make the parts, says Bruce Hettle, Ford's vice president of manufacturing, who spent three years planning the changeover.

Sparks used to fly from the noisy robots welding steel in the Dearborn body shop. Now, 500 new robots quietly rivet aluminum parts together. At Ford's Dearborn stamping plant, new machines collect and sort aluminum for recycling, which couldn't be done with steel.

Ford also helped dealers with the $30,000 to $50,000 cost to retrofit their repair shops, says spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt.

Around 700 of the company's 1,500 dealers who do collision repairs have gone through company training on aluminum, along with 700 independent repair shops. Weigandt says Ford took steps to minimize repair costs. Because of the way the aluminum is sectioned, for example, the roof doesn't have to be removed to repair to the B-pillar, which sits just behind the front doors.

Russell Barnett updated the repair shop at his Ford dealership in Winchester, Tennessee. Barnett figures that in three to four years other brands will be adopting the same technology, so the investment will pay for itself.

Jason Cannon doesn't haul much more than an occasional Christmas tree in his 2006 F-150. But Cannon, 34, a writer who lives in Demopolis, Alabama, says he wouldn't drive anything else.

Cannon's only wish is that he got better fuel economy than the 15 to 16 mpg he averages around town. That's why he's eyeing the 2015 F-150 with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine, a V6 that could give him similar horsepower to his current V8.

Cannon says he wouldn't hesitate to buy aluminum.

"This is an F-150. The technology is proven," he says. "This is the same song, just a different verse."

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Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed from Detroit.

A Chicopee man is facing several assault charges following an incident with an former girlfriend where he allegedly attempted to strangle her and cut her with a knife. A neighbor is credited with intervening during the incident, preventing serious injury.

HOLYOKE -- A Chicopee man is facing several assault charges following an incident with an former girlfriend where he allegedly attempted to strangle her and stab her with a knife. A neighbor is credited with intervening during the incident, preventing serious injury.

Just before 6 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, Holyoke police responded to a call from a Jarvis Avenue neighborhood home regarding a domestic dispute.

Upon arrival, the victim told police that Mickie Barreto, her ex-boyfriend whom she'd broken up with two days earlier, showed up at her home and accused her of talking to other men since they separated, according to the police report. She told police they were together for eight months.

After an unspecified amount of time, the victim told police the interaction turned violent. Barreto grabbed her "by the neck and choked [her] out of anger," according to her statement to police.

When the woman was able to break loose, she told police she ran into the kitchen. Barreto followed, she told police, grabbing a knife from one of her kitchen drawers.

The woman told police she then screamed, "He will [expletive] stab me."

Hearing this, a fellow Yoerg Circle resident intervened. After Tenisha J. Hunter was unable to enter her neighbor's home through the front door, she climbed in through a front window of the house. While inside the home, Hunter told police she put herself physically between the two, allowing her neighbor to run upstairs and call police.

Barreto followed his ex-girlfriend soon after, slapping the phone out of her hand while she was speaking, according to court documents. He then left the house and drove off in a white minivan, according to the women.

Upon arrival, police saw a broken lamp on the floor near where the ex-girlfriend said he attempted to choke her, a knife on the floor in the kitchen and a cordless phone in another area of the house with the batteries missing.

When asked about the incident by police, Hunter explained why she intervened. She said that if she hadn't been able to get in the home and get between the pair, she didn't know what would have happened to her neighbor, only that it "wouldn't have been good."

Barreto was arrested on charges of one count of suffocation and strangulation, attempting to intimidate a witness and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Barreto was in Holyoke District Court for a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday. He's due back in court on January 8.

Martin Jiminez was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years after pleading guilty Monday to second-degree murder.

BOSTON (AP) -- A Boston man has pleaded guilty to fatally beating his ex-girlfriend with a baseball bat and a hammer.

Martin Jiminez was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years after pleading guilty Monday to second-degree murder for the June 2013 killing of 33-year-old Melissa Hardy.

Prosecutors say the 44-year-old Jiminez killed Hardy when she went to his apartment to collect some of her belongings after their breakup. Her family reported her missing.

A bat found at the scene had Hardy's DNA on it.

Jiminez said in court that he suffered from mental illness and drug addiction. He made an attempt to apologize to the victim's family, but they cut him off and told him they didn't want to hear it.

She was fired in May after the hospital said she had accessed the files of 2,400 patients.

WEBSTER, Mass. (AP) — A former employee of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester has been charged with stealing the identities of 22 people, including nine patients, to buy cellphones and utility services.

Authorities say 54-year-old Katherine Benitez, of Webster, has been freed on $250 bail after pleading not guilty to charges including multiple counts of identity fraud, conspiracy, forgery and larceny.

Police say they have issued warrants for Benitez's daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend, for their alleged involvement.

The Telegram & Gazette reports the alleged scheme was discovered when a man said he was receiving an electric bill from an apartment where he'd had never lived. The cellphone number on the application was Benitez's.

She was fired in May after the hospital said she had accessed the files of 2,400 patients.

The final countdown is approaching for one of the most audacious space adventures ever -- the European Space Agency's attempt to land a robot on a comet.

BERLIN (AP) -- The final countdown is approaching for one of the most audacious space adventures ever -- the European Space Agency's attempt to land a robot on a comet.

The maneuver marks the climax of the unmanned Rosetta space probe's decade-long journey to study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Early Wednesday, scientists at the mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, will decide whether to give Rosetta the go-ahead to release its sidekick, Philae.

The 100-kilogram (220-pound) landing craft will drop in an uncontrolled manner down to the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) wide comet and shoot harpoons into its icy surface to prevent it from bouncing off.

Scientists hope that the data collected by Rosetta and its lander will provide insights into the origins of comets and other objects in the universe.