WESTFIELD — Two vocational high school students were struck by a car in front of the school just before dismissal Friday afternoon, sending at least one to an area hospital with injuries. Police Capt. Michael A. McCabe said the accident in front of Westfield Vocational Technical High School was reported at 1:53 p.m. The lights on the school buses lined...

WESTFIELD — Two vocational high school students were struck by a car in front of the school just before dismissal Friday afternoon, sending at least one to an area hospital with injuries.

Police Capt. Michael A. McCabe said the accident in front of Westfield Vocational Technical High School was reported at 1:53 p.m. The lights on the school buses lined up at the curb were not yet activated.

"A child was struck in front of the school, and somebody was bleeding in the road," McCabe confirmed at about 3:40 p.m. He was unable to provide more details, such as the severity of the injuries, as officers continue their investigation.

"The reports aren't even done yet," he said. "There were numerous witnesses who are still being interviewed and dealing with the trauma of the event."

McCabe said the male driver of the vehicle that hit the students "did nothing wrong."

Westfield Voc-Tech student Myra Marin, 16, said she was changing for cheerleading practice when other members of the team came into the locker room crying. The practice was subsequently cancelled because the students were too upset.

McCabe said more information will be released after the investigation is completed.

The rate increase takes effect Jan. 1 and will last six months.

SPRINGFIELD - The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Friday approved a 29 percent Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s  basic rate for electricity customers.

The utility, also known as WMECo, asked for the rate increase because natural gas, the fuel used to generate most of the electricity in New England, is in short supply.

Hydraulic fracturing has created a glut of gas in Pennsylvania and the Midwest. But pipeline capacity leading to New England is constrained, especially during a cold snap when demand is high.

Gas meant for home heating gets first priority.

ISO New England, which runs the region's wholesale market, pointed out this week that a number of non-gas power plants have shut down or are about to  shut down.

•  Mt. Tom Station, a 150-megawatt coal-fired station in Holyoke, has shut down due to its not being able to compete economically.
• Salem Harbor Station retired its two remaining coal and oil units totaling about 585 megawatts on May 31.
• Vermont Yankee Nuclear station, will retire its 615 megawatts of capacity by the end of 2014. 
• Norwalk Harbor Station at 350 megawatts  of oil-fired power has shut down.
• Bridgeport Harbor Station 150 megawatts at the are no longer providing power to the grid.

WMECo said the rate increase will go into effect Jan. 1 and last for six months until July.

It would increase the average customer's bill by about $26. The average monthly bill would increase from $90.40 to $116.26 based on the use of 500 kilowatt hours a month at 14.015 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Investor-owned utilities in Massachusetts have to go out to bid for electricity every six months. The Department of Public Utilities checks to make sure they bid for the power appropriately and fairly, the department said Friday.

In September the state approved a National Grid rate hike of 37 percent. That added an average of 33 to a typical monthly bill for national Grid customers.

Public utilities can own their own generating capacity and sign long-term contract, said David Tuohey, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co. director of communications and external affairs.

Long-term deals allow the municipal, or customer-owned  utilities, to avoid the volatility in the market and helps them keep prices low and stable, Tuohey said

WMECo provides power to to 210,000 customers in 59 cities and towns in Western Massachusetts including Springfield. It is a unit of Northeast Utilities.

The company also passed along the following tips for saving energy:

WMECo included the following energy efficiency tips:

•  turn down the thermostat
• caulk drafty doors and windows
• make sure heating vents aren't blocked
•  switch to energy efficient light bulbs

Depending on the weather, the effort will be carried out and managed by Forest Service wildland firefighters and Westover fire crews, who will burn about 140 acres of grassland at the base.

CHICOPEE — Weather permitting, the U.S. Forest Service will assist Westover firefighters with a controlled burn at Westover Air Reserve Base this weekend in Chicopee.

The effort will be carried out and managed by Forest Service wildland firefighters and Westover fire crews, who will use safe-burning practices to control about 140 acres of grassland at the base. Depending on wind, rain and temperature conditions, the burning will begin Saturday and possibly last into Sunday, officials said.

Airfield areas to be burned this year include those near Runway 15 and the MacMillan Gate near the former Westover Golf Course.

Precautionary plans are in place to contain the fire to the intended burn zone, including soaking bordering vegetation with water and various other mitigation procedures.

Local fire departments have been alerted about the prescribed burn, a recognized management tool to maintain healthy grasslands and to reduce potential fuel sources for wildfires. The burn will also help control invasive weeds such as spotted knapweed, Japanese knotweed and autumn olive, according to officials.

Conor Berry | cberry@repub.com 

The senior center currently leases space from the Scantic Valley YMCA in Post Office Park.

WILBRAHAM - The current senior center does not have room to seat all the seniors who wanted to come to a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, Council on Aging Director Paula Dubord said.

The senior center currently leases space from the Scantic Valley YMCA in Post Office Park.

If the senior center wants to hold a lunch, it has to request use of the exercise space in the Y, Dubord said.

She said that on Thursday she had to cut the list of those who signed up for Thanksgiving dinner off at 100 because that is as many people as the room can hold.

The senior center only had the space between 11:40 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., which limits the amount of time that seniors who come to lunch can socialize, Dubord said.

Before lunch they have to wait outside in the hallway, she said.

"We don't have enough socialization space," Dubord said.

A Senior Center Feasibility Committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen has contracted with New Hampshire architect John Catlin to do preliminary design plans for a proposed new senior center.

Dubord said a new senior center should have a large room which can hold 300.

It also should have a library and cafe area, an exercise room and some small classrooms, Dubord said.

She said a senior center for a town of 14,000 and a senior population of 3,800 should be between 10,000 and 15,000-square-feet.

Catlin designed both the Hampden Senior Center and the Holyoke Senior Center.

Catlin said a senior center can help seniors to stay in their homes. He said senior centers built in the last five years contain exercise rooms, a drop-in cafe, meeting rooms for lectures, arts and crafts and computer learning and a room large enough for a meals program.

Some of the rooms can be used for more than one purpose, he said.

The town's existing senior center is located in a 3,840-square-foot space leased from the Scantic Valley YMCA in Post Office Park off Boston Road.

Voters at the May annual town meeting approved $35,000 for an architect to do a feasibility study for a new, larger senior center.

A proposed senior center will be competing for approval of funding from town residents with a proposed 15,000-square-foot police station which also is being planned.

In February 2007, Yale clinicians identified in Adam Lanza what they believed were profound emotional disabilities and offered him treatment that could give him relief for the first time in his troubled life. But the eventual Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter angry and anxious, and didn't want to go, and his mother, the now deceased Nancy Lanza didn't make him go, a new report reveals.

A digest of news stories from around New England and beyond.

Do you have news or a news tip to submit to MassLive.com for consideration? Send an email to online@repub.com.

A proposed zoning change, which would have made possible a plan to expand the Longmeadow Shops, was voted down by the slimmest of margins at Tuesday's meeting - between 1-3 votes, depending on which decimal place one rounds to.

LONGMEADOW — A special meeting of the Select Board has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 21, in order to consider "voting irregularities" that may have occurred during Tuesday's Special Town Meeting.

"The Select Board will be having a special meeting to discuss reports of voting irregularities during the Special Town Meeting November 18," said Town Manager Stephen Crane in a brief statement. "The town moderator will be there to address the reports."

Votes on individual articles were counted only a few times during the meeting. Most notably, they were tallied as those in attendance considered Article 13, which would have enacted a zoning change that would have made possible a plan to expand the Longmeadow Shops retail center.

As announced at the Special Town Meeting Tuesday, residents decided against the change by the slimmest of margins – between one and three votes, depending on which decimal place one rounds to. Article 13 failed to garner the required support of the two-thirds of those in attendance by a 280-142 margin.

A blow-by-blow account of the Special Town Meeting has previously been posted on MassLive.

The complete posted agenda for Monday's Select Board meeting, which largely contains the information found above, reads as follows:

Agenda:

1. Report from Town Moderator, Michael Kallock regarding the Special Town Meeting.
2. Discussion regarding the report.
3. Take any action deemed necessary relative to the report and discussion.

Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, Al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for a Saturday dawn attack on a bus in which 28 non-Muslims were singled out and killed.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, Al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for a Saturday dawn attack on a bus in which 28 non-Muslims were singled out and killed.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack through its radio station in Somalia, saying it was in retaliation for raids by Kenyan security forces carried out earlier this week on four mosques at the Kenyan coast.

Nineteen men and nine women were killed in the bus attack, said Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo.

The bus traveling to the capital Nairobi with 60 passengers was hijacked about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the town of Mandera near Kenya's border with Somalia, said two police officers.

The two officers said the bus was first waved down but it didn't stop so the gunmen sprayed it with bullets and when that didn't work they shot a rocket propelled grenade at it, the officers said.

The gunmen commandeered the bus off the road and ordered all the passengers out of the vehicle and separated those who appeared to be non-Muslims from the rest and shot them at close range, the officers said.

The police insisted on anonymity because Kenya's police chief ordered that officers should not speak to the press.

Some of the dead were public servants who were heading to Nairobi for the Christmas vacation, the officers said.

A shortage of personnel and lack of equipment led to a slow response by police when the information was received, the officers said. They said the attackers have more sophisticated weaponry than the police who waited for military reinforcements before responding.

Kenya has been hit by a series of gun and bomb attacks blamed on al-Shabab, who are linked to al-Qaida, since it sent troops into Somalia in October 2011. Authorities say there have been at least 135 attacks by al-Shabab since then, including the assault on Nairobi's upscale Westgate Mall in September 2013 in which 67 people were killed. Al-Shabab said it was responsible for other attacks on Kenya's coast earlier this year which killed at least 90 people.

Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia which is bolstering Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government against the al-Shabab insurgency. Al-Shabab has continued to carry out attacks in Somalia's capital despite being pushed out of Mogadishu in August 2011. Somali government troops backed by AU forces are making progress in seizing the remaining al-Shabab strongholds. Recently, they captured the port town of Barawe.

Al-Shabab was also dealt a heavy blow when their leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in early September by a U.S. airstrike. Godane has been replaced by Ahmed Omar, also known as Abu Ubeid.

Kenya has been struggling to contain growing extremism in the country. Earlier this week the authorities shut down four mosques at the Kenyan coast after police alleged they found explosives and a gun when they raided the places of worship.

Some Muslims believe the police planted the weapons to justify closing the mosques, Kheled Khalifa, a human rights official said Friday warning that methods being used to tackle extremism by government will increase support for radicals.

One person was killed during the raid on two of the mosques on Monday. Police said they shot dead a young man trying to hurl a grenade at them.

The government had previously said the four mosques were recruitment centers for al-Shabab.

Enrollment in grades 9 through 12 at Cathedral High School was declining before the building was severely damaged by a 2011 tornado, according to statistics released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — Enrollment in grades 9 through 12 at Cathedral High School was declining before the building was severely damaged by a 2011 tornado, according to statistics released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

The figures, released Thursday, showed the Surrey Road school hosted 726 students in the four grades in 2005-2006. By the time the tornado hit on June 1, the enrollment had dropped by 300 students to 426, an average annual drop of 60 students.

After the tornado, when the students were relocated temporarily to Wilbraham's vacant Memorial School, the number dropped to 345. For the current year it is at 217, marking a decline of 555 students in 10 years, according to the diocese. In comparison, the school had 2,073 students in 1983-1984.

St. Michael's Academy Middle School, which was also located in the high school area, was relocated to Holy Cross campus on Eddywood Street.

Enrollment is an issue to be considered in the conversation about whether to rebuild the school, according to the diocese's new website devoted to the subject. The building has been demolished and insurance money awarded.

Members of the community are pushing for the rebuilding of the school following a letter earlier from Bishop Mitchell Rozanski saying that he wanted a review of opinions and options on the subject.

A precipitous drop in enrollment has been recorded in other Catholic high schools, according to the diocese. Between the 1983-1984 school year and 2014-2015, enrollment at Holyoke High School in Chicopee dropped from 542 to 253, St. Mary High School in Westfield from 245 to 125, and St. Joseph High School in Pittsfield from 403 to 97.

Factors contributing to declining enrollment, according to the diocese, include "a shift in city demographics and the local economy, movement of families into surrounding surburbs, the decline in religious and priests on staff, the increase in tuition, and in later years the inception of Charter schools and availability of School Choice."

Erollment Trends

The firefighter offered his air mask to the victim, and when the two reached the ground floor and made it outside the building, the firefighter collapsed, Leger said.

An update to this story was posted at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

SPRINGFIELD — A man was severely burned and a lieutenant with the Fire Department suffered a heart attack during a rescue after a blaze broke out at the Costello House on Roosevelt Avenue.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis Leger said a male resident of a sixth-floor apartment in the building lit a cigarette, forgetting that his oxygen tank was on and uncapped. The machine's catheter and the area around the machinery caught fire. The man suffered burns down the right side of his body.

Leger said that the lieutenant, whom he declined to name at this time, was moving the burn victim down a stairwell that was heavily filled with smoke. The firefighter offered his air mask to the victim, and when the two reached the ground floor and made it outside the building, the firefighter collapsed, Leger said. Medical personnel began tending to both the burn victim and the firefighter: both were rushed to the hospital in ambulances.

Leger said the firefighter has been stabilized at Baystate Medical Center and believes the man is doing well. No further information was available on the burn victim.

"It was really quite heroic. The lieutenant put himself in harm's way by giving the victim his air mask," Leger said.

He added that the apartment where the blaze broke out sustained about $10,000 in damage and 12 to 18 additional apartments sustained water damage.

"We're still mopping up the water; we're not sure yet how many people will be displaced," Leger said.

Additional details to come as they are made available.

The woman was able to call 911 for help after the dog attacked her.

STRATFORD, Conn. — A 91-year-old Connecticut woman has died after receiving severe bite wounds when her own dog attacked her at home last Friday.

A Bridgeport Hospital spokesman tells the Connecticut Post that Stella Antanantis of Stratford died Tuesday at the hospital. She had been in critical condition.

Police said the woman had owned the dog, a keeshound mix, for eight years. They are trying to determine why the dog attacked.

Police said the woman was able to call 9-1-1 for help.

Neighbors tell the New Haven-based ABC affiliate WTNH-TV she adopted the dog as a puppy and cared for it well. They said they had not heard of the dog behaving aggressively before.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Daniel Sullivan 

Daniel T. Sullivan, 94, passed away on Friday. He was a graduate of Cathedral High School and attended American International College and William & Mary College. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a 1st class petty officer from 1942 to 1946, serving in the South Pacific from 1944 to 1946. He was the general manager of Bailey Wagner Retail Stores in West Springfied and Holyoke from 1952 to 1960. He became vice president of sales and marketing for WWLP-Channel 22 from 1961 until his retirement in 1991. He also served as vice president of sales and marketing for the Executives of Western Mass. from 1988 to 1990.

Two men and two women were killed and the 10-year-old girl was hurt and has been taken to a hospital after the shooting Friday night

CLEVELAND -- A pregnant woman and her unborn child were killed along with three other people in a shooting at a Cleveland home. The woman's 9-year-old daughter was wounded but the pregnant woman's toddler son unharmed, police said Saturday.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said 41-year-old Sherita Johnson was 28 weeks pregnant. A 17-year-old girl and two men ages 19 and 60 were also killed in the Friday night shooting. Their identities weren't released.

Police said Saturday that Johnson apparently arrived home with her children and allowed her daughter to go inside for clothes. Investigators say a masked gunman ran toward the girl and shot her, grazing her chest.

Authorities say the suspect then shot Johnson in her vehicle. Her 2-year-old son was in the backseat.

Police haven't determined a motive.

"Only an animal would do something like this to another human being," Williams said told the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Video breaks down the immigration changes in three minutes.

Announced Thursday, President Barack Obama's executive order would delay the deportation of up to 5 million people who are in the country illegally. Most of those are people who have been in the country illegally for more than five years but have had children born in the United States, so these children are thus U.S. citizens.

The above video from AL.com reporters Kyle Whitmire and Ian Hoppe breaks down the immigration changes in three minutes. 

Obama speaks about immigration at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 

The moves, affecting mostly parents and young people, marked the most sweeping changes to the nation's fractured immigration laws in nearly three decades and set off a fierce fight with Republicans over the limits of presidential powers.

While sweeping in scope, Obama's measures still leave more than half of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally in limbo. The president announced new deportation priorities that would compel law enforcement to focus its efforts on tracking down serious criminals and people who have recently crossed the border, while specifically placing a low priority on those who have been in the United States for more than 10 years.

According to analysis from David Espo of The Associated Press, Obama has the upper hand in the fierce struggle over immigration now taking shape, with a veto pen ready to kill any Republican move to reverse his executive order.

The political debate is well underway, although the two parties seem to be appealing to different segments of the electorate. Polls show that the country as a whole and especially Hispanics favor allowing immigrants to remain in the country and work even if here illegally. Conservatives tend to prefer deportation.

"We're considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act," said Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who will become majority leader when Republicans assume control of the Senate in January.

MORE COVERAGE ON MASSLIVE.COM

• Immigrants in Boston respond to Obama's plan

• Editorial: After immigration power play GOP must make right move 

• Viewpoint: President Obama is failing the leadership test 

- Information compiled from The Associated Press

A Springfield firefighter who suffered a heart attack while rescuing an elderly man who mistakenly lit a cigarette while his oxygen tank was on and uncapped on Saturday is expected to survive.

This is an update to a story first posted at 12:01 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - A Springfield firefighter who suffered a heart attack while rescuing an elderly man who mistakenly lit a cigarette while his oxygen tank was on and uncapped on Saturday is expected to survive.

Dennis Leger of the Springfield Fire Department identified Lt. Brian Tredo as the firefighter who suffered a heart attack, after helping the 72-year-old victim from an apartment fire at the Costello House on Saturday morning.

In this Feb. 2014 Republican File Photo, Springfield Fire Department Lt. Brian Tredo, left, and firefighter Xavier Cody shovel out a fire hydrant on Florida Street following a snow storm. On Saturday, Tredo suffered a heart attack after rescuing a burn victim from an apartment fire at the Costello House on Roosevelt Avenue. Mark M. Murray

The burn victim apparently forgot his oxygen tank was on and uncapped when he lit a cigarette in his sixth floor apartment, causing the machine's catheter and the area around the machine to catch fire. The man suffered burns down the right side of his body.

Leger said previously that Tredo was rushed to the hospital from outside the building on Roosevelt Avenue when he collapsed after emerging from the fire with the burn victim. Tredo took off his air mask and offered it up to the victim in a smoke-filled hallway, according to Leger.

Tredo is stable and recovering at Baystate Medical Center, according to Leger, who said the apartment where the fire broke out sustained about $10,000 in damage and 12 to 18 additional apartments sustained water damage.

A 26-year-old from Boston is facing charges after allegedly stripping naked, climbed into a drop ceiling and then assaulted an elderly man while covered in blood.

BOSTON — A 26-year-old is in police custody following a bizarre incident at Logan International Airport on Saturday.

According to Massachusetts State Police, they were called around noon to investigate after Cameron Shenk, a 26-year-old from Boston, allegedly walked into a female restroom at the airport and removed all of his clothes before climbing up and into the drop ceiling. Since drop ceiling's typically aren't hung in a way to support the weight of an adult, he fell through it, sustaining numerous cuts to his head and body, according to troopers.

But for reasons still unknown to police, Shenk then ran from the bathroom, naked and bleeding, and allegedly proceeded to attack an 84-year-old man. The victim sustained significant injuries, according to police, but is being treated at a local hospital and is expected to live.

Troopers were able to subdue Shenk in the terminal and are still investigating to determine just what led to the strange series of events. Shenk was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment and once he's released, he'll be facing charged including attempted murder, mayhem, assault and battery on an elderly person, assault and batter on a police officer, committing a lewd and lascivious act and malicious destruction to property.

Shenk is scheduled to be arraigned in East Boston District Court.

On April 29 and 29, 1875, the Springfield Rod and Gun Club sponsored the first dog show ever to be held on this continent.

The thirty-third annual Thanksgiving Classic Cluster Dog Show is underway on the grounds of the Eastern States Exhibition in West Springfield and will run through Sunday, Nov. 23. This is "Pilot" a Chow Chow from Lubbock, Texas just before he went into the ring and won a first place. (Don Treeger / The Republican)Don Treeger 

This weekend's dog show at the Big E rounds in West Springfield should be a reminder that Springfield was the site of the very first dog show in the United States.

Back in 1875, Springfield was literally going to the dogs.

On April 29 and 29, 1875, the Springfield Rod and Gun Club sponsored the first dog show ever to be held on this continent. The show was held at the old Springfield City Hall, which burned in 1905.

Dogs from all over the country arrived in the city until nearly 150 were entered in the competition. Entry fee was $2 and rules of the London Kennel Club were adhered to, except that dogs with mutilated ears and tails were not barred.

The show was also a chance for Springfield blue bloods to strut their prize pups while the world looked on. The familiar names of Bowles, Morris, Lathrop, Gunn, Rice, Handy and others graced the entry book.

The expensive prizes, including a silver cup donated by "Forest and Stream,” were on display at Stowe’s Jewelry Store on Main Street.

According to an account in the Springfield Republican, the dog show was “unworthily prefaced by a shamefully mismanaged fox hunt in Hampden Park.”

A throng of dog lovers gathered at Hampden Park by the river and watched as a fox was led around the track and the hounds were later let loose to “try their noses.”

However, this passive display was not enough to satisfy the spectators who “clamored for a hunt.”

The frightened fox was let go with the hounds about 50 feet off his tail. In a matter of seconds the fox was brought down and torn to pieces by the dogs.

The Rod and Gun Club was quick to absolve itself of any responsibility in the fatal fox hunt.

When the dog show opened, hundreds filed past the well-trained dogs. Admission was 25 cents at the door.

The names of the slain and wounded deputies were not immediately released. The gunman has also not been identified.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A man set his house on fire and then fatally shot a sheriff's deputy and wounded another Saturday when they responded to the scene, before he was shot to death by other law enforcement officers, authorities said.

Deputies and firefighters responded to the blaze about 10:15 a.m. As the first deputy approached the house, he was fatally shot. The gunman picked up the deputy's gun, walked down the street and used it to shoot a second deputy before he was killed, Lt. James McQuaig of the Leon County Sheriff's Office said.

It wasn't known yet whether anyone was in the home when it was set on fire. Pockets of flames could still be seen in the smoldering wreckage hours after the fire was set.

The gunman was shot to death by a Tallahassee police officer who lived nearby and heard the initial shooting. That officer threw on his bullet-resistant vest -- a decision that would later save his life -- and grabbed his gun and ran toward the house, according to a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly release the information.

The wounded deputy was saved by his vest and his injuries are not believed to be serious, said the official, who had spoken to law enforcement officials handling the case.

The names of the slain and wounded deputies were not immediately released. The gunman has also not been identified.

The house, at the end of a cul-de-sac in a middle-class neighborhood just outside the Tallahassee city limits, was destroyed by the fire. Neighbors were not being allowed onto the street.

Dana Harrison, 20, said she was babysitting three young boys in a nearby house when she heard approaching sirens, went outside and saw the fire. She then heard popping sounds, which she thought was caused by the fire but a neighbor said they sounded like gunshots. She had hustled the boys inside when two police officers banged on the front door and then ran through the house into the backyard, which is near the burning house. The police told Harrison to get everyone into the bathroom.

"I was scared," she said.

Neighbor Joan Cabbage said she called 911 to report the fire while her husband Henry went outside. She said she could see two patrol cars pull into the cul-de-sac when she heard "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop" that she also thought was from the house burning.

"I saw fire truck and he started backing up real fast -- I couldn't figure out why," she said. Her daughter, who had just left the house, then called to say police officers were running down the street with guns drawn.

"That's when I knew something big was going on," she said.

The shooting near Florida's capital comes just two days after a police shootout at Florida State University left a gunman dead after he wounded two students and an employee.

Older Hondas and Acuras are relatively attractive targets when not equipped with an alarm or a theft-deterring device such as The Club.

SPRINGFIELD — Two city men were arrested on Friday after police say they were caught removing the rims and tires from a Honda Civic which was stolen earlier in the day from Enfield, Connecticut.

According to Springfield Police, they were called around noon to investigate a report of suspicious activity on Randall Place, a dead end street off of Allen Street in the city's Forest Park neighborhood. Upon arrival, police say two young men were spotted taking high-end rims with tires off of a Honda Civic and putting them on a Honda CRX, a variation of the popular Civic sold in the U.S. from 1983 to 1991.

While questioning the men, one told officers that he just purchased the car on Craigslist and he was just swapping its custom rims for the stock rims on his car. The story sounded fine but a simple check of the Civic's license plate revealed it was stolen from Enfield an hour earlier.

20-year-old Jonathan Torres and 21-year-old Jose Alicea

Arrested were Jonathan Torres, 20, of 24 Dickinson Street and Jose Alicea, 21, of 72 Malden St. Both men were charged with receiving a stolen motor vehicle, taking stolen car parts and possession of burglarious instruments. Both Torres and Alicea were held awaiting arraignment in Springfield District Court.

Police say they are investigating the duo's potential involvement in a recent series of similar thefts of older-model Hondas and Acuras in the city.

Older Hondas and Acuras are relatively attractive targets when not equipped with an alarm or a theft-deterring device such as The Club. The door locks are considered among the easiest to pop and many ignitions can be started with tools like punch keys.

In the past three years, at least two reporters from The Republican have had Honda Civics from the 1996-2000 model years stolen from the Forest Park neighborhood and recovered in the North End. While one vehicle was found intact, the other was completely stripped and chopped.

Police are encouraging people who own such cars to take steps to limit their attractiveness to would-be thieves by using some type of theft-deterring device.

Sax allegedly told officers he had been using "dope" and then began to experience symptoms consistent with an opioid overdose and fell unconscious.

GREENFIELD — A 27-year-old man was taken to the hospital early Saturday morning after an incident where he was stabbed in the chest on Main Street.

Brandon Sax, 31, of Greenfield(Greenfield police booking photo) 

According to the Greenfield Police Department, it was around 1:15 a.m. when an officer was parked downtown in anticipation of the bars closing. Police say officer Jay Butynski heard yelling and saw a group of people scattering near Chapman Street. After reporting the incident and calling for backup, he came upon a the victim who said he was stabbed.

The victim's girlfriend corroborated the account, and both pointed to 31-year-old Brandon Sax.

Police say Sax was trying to flee the scene when they followed him down an alley and confronted him in a parking lot. He allegedly told officers he had been using "dope" and then began to experience symptoms consistent with an opioid overdose and fell unconscious.

Since Franklin County first responders are all too familiar with what an overdose looks like, they administered nasal naloxone, also known as Narcan. Sax was brought out of the overdose and taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center for further treatment. The stab victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and a short time after admittance was listed in stable condition.

Sax is facing charges including attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of several unspecified drugs. He was ordered to be held without bail awaiting arraignment in Greenfield District court on Monday.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is asked to call the Det. Sgt. Dan McCarthy of the Greenfield Police Department at 413-773-5411, ext. 1305.

She had surgery Nov. 10 at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital to remove her left leg below the knee.

KATY, Texas -- A woman injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing who had several surgeries before having part of her leg amputated recently was discharged from a rehab facility Saturday and has vowed to run the race next year.

Rebekah DiMartino said she looks forward to getting her stitches out in early December and being fitted for a prosthetic left leg.

"The prognosis is great. I chopped off what was holding me back," DiMartino said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press as she packed up to leave. "The prognosis, is you'll see me running the Boston Marathon next year."

DiMartino had more than a dozen operations but still dealt with lingering pain. She had surgery Nov. 10 at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital to remove her left leg below the knee. She entered rehab Nov. 14 and was going home Saturday to nearby Richmond.

Rebekah Gregory was watching last year's Boston Marathon when bombs exploded. Her son, now 7, and her then-boyfriend, Peter DiMartino, were also hurt. The couple wed last spring in Ashville, North Carolina.

Their Houston-area home still needs some modifications for accessibility, she said.

"I have been wheelchair bound for the last 18 months basically, so when we built our house we built it with wider doors," said DiMartino, 27.

She does not expect her loss of a limb to adversely affect the rest of her life.

"This is about to be Rebekah unleashed. They haven't seen anything yet. This is the good part of the story," DiMartino said. "Not only am I moving on, I am trying to do my part in changing the world while doing it."

A suspect charged in the bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, awaits trial. His older brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police after the bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260.