The Labor Department said U.S. employers added 321,000 jobs last month, the biggest burst of hiring in nearly three years, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8 percent.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK — A strong jobs report boosted U.S. and European stocks Friday, and left the Dow Jones industrial average just short of the 18,000 mark.

The main focus in the markets was the monthly hiring numbers. The Labor Department said U.S. employers added 321,000 jobs last month, the biggest burst of hiring in nearly three years, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8 percent.

Despite the good news, stock gains were restrained. Investors now expect that the robust jobs growth — and other signs the economy is accelerating — could lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than anticipated.

Banks, whose profit margins increase when interest rates rise, were among Friday's biggest gainers. Safety-focused utility stocks, which tend to perform poorly in an improving economy, were among the biggest decliners, along with energy companies, which were hurt once again by lower oil prices.

With Friday's modest increases, the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed out a seventh-straight week of gains. The stretch was its longest winning streak in a year and in stark contrast to the near-correction in the market only a month-and-a-half ago.

"We continue to see this steady drip into the equities markets, and I don't think it's going to stop any time soon," said David Kelly, chief global strategist for J.P. Morgan Funds.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 58.69 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,958.79. The S&P 500 index climbed 3.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,075.37. The Nasdaq composite gained 11.32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,780.76.

November's jobs report, as well as other positive economic data, could raise expectations among investors that the Federal Reserve will soon start raising interest rates. Last month marks the 10th straight month of job gains above 200,000, and would put 2014 on track to be the best year for hiring since 1999.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed to 2.31 percent Friday from 2.24 percent the day before as investors sold bonds in anticipation of higher rates.

"The bottom line is this was yet another very solid employment report and another strong data point reaffirming the strength of U.S. growth versus a sluggish global (economy)," Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of fundamental fixed income at BlackRock, wrote in a note to reporters.

Investors like seeing a healthy U.S. economy, but are also aware that stock prices are higher partly because of ultra-low interest rates. If the Fed believes the U.S. economy is overheating, they could raise interest rates and it could cause stock prices to decline.

Not all stocks would be losers in a higher interest rate environment. Bank stocks rose Friday, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo up 1 percent to 2.5 percent. Higher interest rates would allow banks to charge more for loans and that would boost their profits.

Still, those gains weren't enough to push the Dow to another round-number landmark. Just five months after cresting the 17,000-point level for the first time, the Dow is on the verge of 18,000. The blue chips came within nine points of that figure Friday, before pulling back.

Still, the Dow's performance this year has trailed the other major indexes. The average is up 8.3 percent in 2014, while the S&P 500, which is tracked more by mutual funds and Wall Street, is up 12.3 percent. The Nasdaq is up the most, rising 14.5 percent.

The price of oil fell Friday to its lowest level since July of 2009 on continued expectations of high global supplies and Saudi Arabia's decision to cut its prices.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 97 cents to close at $65.84 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell for the ninth time in the last 10 trading sessions, closing down 57 cents to $69.07 in London.

Energy stocks followed oil prices lower. Chevron fell $1.41, or 1.3 percent, to $110.87. Marathon Petroleum lost $4.52, or 4.7 percent, to $92.15 and Phillips 66 fell $1.95, or 2.6 percent, to $73.02.

Along with the improving economy, the drop in oil prices has been encouraging to investors. Lower oil prices and, in turn, falling gas prices, are effectively a tax cut for the average person, and it could translate into higher spending down the road.

The dollar rose against other currencies as traders anticipated more robust growth in the U.S. and higher interest rates.

The price of gold fell $17.30, or 1.4 percent, to $1,190.40 an ounce. Silver fell 32 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $16.26 an ounce. Copper slipped a penny to $2.90 a pound.

The fire chief issued the shut-down order after a request for more overtime funding was tabled.

HOLYOKE -- Mayor Alex B. Morse and other officials are kidding themselves if they think reductions in Fire Department services won't affect public safety, a union official said Friday (Dec. 5).

"It's going to mean longer response times," said firefighter Christopher Butler, president of Holyoke Fire Fighters Association, Local 1693, International Association of Fire Fighters.

Butler also told ABC40, "It's definitely a risk to the public and it could be a matter of life and death, seriously."

Fire Chief John A. Pond said the "brown-out" steps will include shutting down a fire truck and two tactical vehicles that function as ambulances and reassigning the aide to the deputy chief who responds to fires.

The reductions will occur when firefighter staffing is too thin. When firefighters are on vacation or otherwise unavailable, to ensure adequate staffing, off-duty firefighters are paid overtime to staff shifts, but the overtime account is dwindling.

Pond issued the order Thursday, it took effect Friday and will stay in effect until July 1.

Morse told The Republican and MassLive.com the reductions were a response to the city's " tough financial times" but were done to give the city breathing room to finish the fiscal year and were planned in a way to maintain vital services.

Morse said he will submit a request to the City Council to transfer $100,000 from the free cash account to increase Fire Department overtime funds.

The council Finance Committee's decision Monday (Dec. 1) to table an original request of $200,000 for Fire Department overtime led to Pond's brownout order.

"I want to thank the mayor for his commitment to restoring funds but we disagree that the reduction in Fire Department services will not impact public safety," Butler said.

Engine 2 out of Fire Department headquarters at 600 High St. will be the truck shut down in a brown out. Engine 2 covers the Elmwood and South Holyoke neighborhoods,he said.

Also, the tactical units are small trucks that respond to emergencies. They provide life-savers like Narcan, which can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose, and EpiPens, which provide a shot for emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reaction. Private ambulances also respond in emergencies and carry such supplies.

Firefighters on vehicles that are shut down will be reassigned where needed, Pond said.

The aide drives the deputy chief to fires to free the deputy to make phone calls en route to an emergency. The aide also is responsible for keeping track of firefighters at a scene, to ensure none are trapped in a burning building, for example, Butler said.

Also, he objected to this comment made to ABC40 by Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee:

"It is really important and excellent that we're taking care of the front line and having state of the art responses to things, but when we're in a real tough situation we need to focus on the core mission which is putting out fires and preventing fires," Vacon said.

Such a comment is a "disservice" to the community and shows a lack of knowledge on Vacon's part because firefighters do more than just put out fires, Butler said.

"The Holyoke Fire Department is a fully equipped and highly trained group of men and women that when called upon will fulfill our core mission of preserving life and property no matter what the emergency," Butler said.

Each of the four city fire stations operates round the clock. To ensure adequate staffing is available at a fire scene and other emergencies, throughout the city, a minimum of 23 firefighters must be available per shift. Each truck in service must have at least three firefighter on it for the truck to function, officials said.

The stations are Station 6, 640 Homestead Ave., Fire Department headquarters, Station 1, 600 High St., Station 3, 1579 Northampton St. and Station 5, 33 Whiting Farms Road.

The department is supposed to have 88 firefighters. It actually has 78 but nine are in fire academy training, meaning the day-to-day complement of available firefighters is 69, Butler said.

The Fire Department began the fiscal year July 1 with $405,000 for overtime. As of Monday, that was down to $91,000.

But Pond said staffing shortages because of an increase in vacation time taken around the holidays will reduce the amount of overtime money available after the current pay period to $50,000 for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

"The union is working with the mayor to find a long term solution in the hope of the 'brown-outs' being only a temporary solution and not become a permanent loss of services to the city," Butler said.

Cosby's attorneys called a suit by Judy Huth's extortion, and said she attempted to sell her story to a tabloid a decade ago.

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

LOS ANGELES - Graffiti commenting on sex abuse allegations against Bill Cosby were removed Friday from the comedian's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The word "rapist" was scrawled on Cosby's star three times, according a photo that Houston television station KRIV-Fox 26 said it received from a viewer and posted on its website Thursday. The comedian has been accused by more than a dozen women of drugging them and sexual abuse, but he has never been charged with a crime.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which manages the stars embedded in several sidewalks in Hollywood, wrote in a statement that the stars were intended to celebrate the positive contributions of its inductees.

"When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways then to vandalize a California state landmark," the chamber wrote in a statement.

Cosby received his star in 1977. It's placed near the busy intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue.

A Southern California woman sued Cosby on Tuesday, claiming he forced her to perform a sex act on him with her hand in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion when she was 15 years old. The incident occurred around 1974, according to the sexual battery complaint.

Cosby's attorneys denied the accusation in a court filing Thursday and sought to dismiss the case. Their motion called Judy Huth's lawsuit extortion and said she attempted to sell her story to a tabloid a decade ago. They also cited discussions with her lawyer in which her price for silence rose from $100,000 to $250,000 in recent weeks.

The renewed accusations of sexual misconduct against Cosby have cost him projects on NBC and Netflix, a trustee position at Temple University, a fund-raising relationship with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and have forced the cancellation of numerous shows on his comedy tour.

The school district learned of the cuts just before Thanksgiving.

WILBRAHAM - The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District is looking at $450,000 in budget cuts imposed by the governor for the second half of the school year, School Committee Chairman Marc Ducey said.

Ducey said that while there has been much publicity about the cuts not affecting local aid to the schools, the regional school district, just before Thanksgiving, learned that its regional transportation aid from the state would be cut.

When the Hampden and Wilbraham schools regionalized, they did so with the understanding that allowable transportation costs would be reimbursed 100 percent by the state. Then the reimbursement dropped to 62 percent, Ducey said.

This year the school district learned that its regional transportation would be reimbursed at 90 percent, until the cuts announced by the governor prior to Thanksgiving.

Ducey said he has arranged meetings with state Reps. Angelo Puppolo, D-Springfield, and Brian Ashe, D-Longmeadow, to discuss the situation and with state Sen. Elect Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow.

In the meantime, the School Committee's budget subcommittee is scheduled to meet Tuesday night at 5:45 p.m. in the superintendent's conference room to discuss the fiscal 2015 budget and the district's response to the announced reductions.

The regional School Committee will discuss the announced budget cuts at its meeting on Dec. 16, Ducey said.

"Recently, budgets have been very tight," Ducey said. "During this time we have restructured for increased efficiency, negotiated concessions with our workforce, cut materials and supplies, reduced classroom teachers and aides, and have strategically optimized class size."

" We have also delayed investments in new textbooks, technology, and put off the hiring of additional trained classroom educators," he said.

Taupier was Holyoke mayor from 1968 to 1975 and Lowell city manager from 1975 to 1979.

HOLYOKE -- William S. Taupier had established himself in the city of Lowell by the time Joseph M. McGiverin joined the City Council here in 1980, but he recalled two points about Taupier, the former mayor here who died Wednesday.

Taupier (obituary below) kept returning to Holyoke.

"He'd come back a lot. You'd seem him at the dinner for the Dwight Award, he'd show up. Just a good guy. You could tell Holyoke always meant a lot to him and was in his heart," McGiverin said Thursday.

Also, he said, stories handed down showed that Taupier in managing the city could be blunt.

"He'd just tell you something even if you didn't want to hear it," said McGiverin, dean of the 15-member council with 34 years.

Taupier, who was mayor here from 1968 to 1975, died Wednesday (Dec. 3) in Lowell after a long illness. He was 78.

Taupier was Lowell city manager from 1975 to 1979 and co-owned a real estate appraisal and professional services business there. He also lived in Lowell.

In August, Mayor Alex B. Morse submitted a letter to the City Council urging that a landmark here be named to honor Taupier, given Taupier's reputation as a mayor who tried to focus on development.

"Mayor Taupier's memory will be long remembered in Holyoke. He was an honorable leader who served the city with distinction and class. My thoughts go out to his loved ones during this difficult time," Morse said.

The City Council voted Nov. 18 to rename the Suffolk Street parking garage the William S. Taupier Parking Garage. A ceremony with an unveiling of a sign will be scheduled, City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said.

Taupier is survived by his wife, Patricia, to whom he'd been married for more than five decades, as well as five children, according to the Lowell Sun.

Taupier also was on the Lowell School Committee from 1995 to 1999, the Sun reported.

The award to which McGiverin referred, The William G. Dwight Distinguished Service to Holyoke Award, is given by the Holyoke Rotary Club. It began in 1939 in memory of William G. Dwight, who founded the now-defunct Transcript-Telegram daily newspaper in 1882.

The Boston Globe published the following obituary for Taupier:

Taupier, William S. Former Mayor of Holyoke and Lowell City Manager. Born Sept. 24, 1936 to Alexander and Alice (McCarthy) Taupier in Holyoke,MA. Was the third of eight children and grew up swimming in the canals of the Mill Town that he would become the Mayor of at the age of 28. Graduated Holyoke High School and then Boston College, where he met Patricia McGuire, of Hartford, CT, to whom he was married for 54 years. They lived with their 5 children in Holyoke until 1976 when Bill was hired to become the City Manager of Lowell, MA. He served as Manager for three and a half years. Although he left the public sector to open his own businesses, he remained a faithful servant to both of his Mill Towns. An enthusiastic participant in the political and business life of Lowell, he served as mentor, confidant and loyal friend to many of the people with whom he had worked through his long history in both cities. He was a strong leader with an unflagging sense of decency and hard work. He never avoided a difficult discussion and was honest with his opinion. He was a loving, generous, funny, big-hearted father and grandfather, and he was proud of the family that he and Patricia raised. He spent his final days being visited by many good friends and died peacefully in his own home on Wed., Dec. 3, 2014, where he had been lovingly cared for by his devoted wife, Patricia and his children, Alan and his wife, Lisa, his daughter Anne, daughter Kim Wright and her husband Zach, son William, Jr and his wife, Kristen, daughter Tara, and his five grandchildren, Hazel, Olivia, Mac, Owen and Soren. William is also survived by his brother, Alan 'Ted' Taupier and his wife, Dorothy, of Holyoke and a sister, Alice (Terry) Caughey of Corrales, New Mexico, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was deeply loved and respected and he will be terribly missed. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to either: William S. and Patricia Taupier Scholarship Fund, 77 E. Merrimack Street, Suite 2, Lowell, MA 01852 or the Immaculate Conception Building Fund, 3 Fayette Street, Lowell. MA. 01852. Calling hours from 2-6pm on Sun., Dec. 7 at the Mahoney Funeral Home, 187 Nesmith St., LOWELL. Funeral will begin at 10 a.m. on Mon. at the Funeral Home. Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Mon.,Dec. 8, at Immaculate Conception Church, 144 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, MA 01852. E-condolence site MahoneyFuneralHome.com Mahoney Funeral Home 187 Nesmith St., Lowell 978-452-6361

Dillan Letellier, 30, of Saco, Maine, met his alleged victims, both minors, online, then traveled to their Massachusetts towns to have sex with them, according to U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

BOSTON — Dillan Letellier was already facing federal charges of allegedly using the Internet to persuade a minor to rendezvous for sex in Massachusetts.

This week, however, things got a whole lot worse for the 30-year-old Maine man, who was charged with a similar scheme involving a second minor, according to prosecutors.

A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a seven-count superseding indictment charging the Saco man with two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor; one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor; three counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct; and one count of possession of child pornography.

Prior to Thursday's grand jury action, Letellier was only facing "coercion" and "travel" charges related to one alleged victim. He was arrested on those charges in October 2013 and has been in federal custody since then.

Authorities say Letellier met the minors online and subsequently persuaded each one to meet with him in person for sexual intercourse on separate occasions.

On two separate occasions, he traveled from Maine to Massachusetts to have sex with one of the minors, prosecutors said. On another occasion, he traveled from Maine to the second minor's Massachusetts town to engage in sexual intercourse with that individual, prosecutors said.

Authorities have not identified the alleged victims' genders or hometowns.

Child pornography was found on Letellier's computers when police searched his Saco home in Ocotber 2013, prosecutors said.

If convicted on the charges, Letellier could face 10 years to life in prison, probation and a fine of $250,000 for each count – or fines totaling more than $1.7 million.

The investigation was handled by prosecutors from the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Massachusetts State Police, and law enforcement officials from the communities in which the alleged victims reside.

The case is being prosecuted by attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus, a member of Ortiz's Major Crimes Unit.

THE REPUBLICAN / FILE PHOTO 

The event featured hayrides, a performance by The Minuteman Marching Band and Santa on an Amherst Fire Department ladder truck. The event marks the beginning of the holiday season.

The annual Merry Maple tree lighting celebration was held Friday on the Amherst town common.

The event featured hayrides, a performance by The Minuteman Marching Band and Santa on a Amherst Fire Department ladder truck. The event marks the beginning of the holiday season.

Also performing were members of the Amherst Middle school choir before the Maple tree on the town common came to life with thousands of white bulbs.

Police say a crowd that grew to about 1,000 people marched from Somerville to Cambridge and blocked traffic on several streets including Massachusetts Avenue.

CAMBRIDGE -- Demonstrators rallied for a second-straight night in the Boston area Friday to protest grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men.

Police say a crowd that grew to about 1,000 people marched from Somerville to Cambridge and blocked traffic on several streets including Massachusetts Avenue. Several hundred people lay down in Harvard Square. No violence was reported.

Social media posts indicated the march was organized by students at Tufts University.

The crowd protested grand jury decisions to not indict a New York City officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner and a Ferguson, Missouri, officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

On Thursday night, several thousand people took part in mostly peaceful protests at Boston Common, the Statehouse and other locations. Ten people were arrested.

The 10 who were arrested were arraigned Friday and five were fined $200. Charges against eight were changed to civil infractions, while two protesters refused similar offers and said they wanted to go to trial, according to the Suffolk County district attorney's office. All 10 defendants were released.

Police said three women were arrested trying to breach a gate at the Statehouse, six people were charged with trespassing on highway ramps and a woman was arrested for blocking stairs at a subway station. The arrests were made by Boston, state and transit police.

On its Twitter account, the Boston Police Department thanked the thousands who demonstrated peacefully and cooperated with law enforcement Thursday night, saying: "You too should be proud."

Police Commissioner William Evans, in a prepared statement, thanked his officers for showing "restraint and professionalism" during the protest.

Gov. Deval Patrick urged demonstrators before the rally on Thursday to be peaceful and said he sympathized with their concerns.

Patrick said he was frustrated and discouraged by the grand jury's finding in the New York City case. He said it was even more upsetting since there is a videotape showing police Officer Daniel Pantaleo holding Garner in what appeared to be a chokehold, which is banned under New York Police Department policy, as Garner repeatedly gasped and said, "I can't breathe."

Rolling stone reportedly found discrepancies in its story about the alleged rape of a woman identified only as "Jackie."

Rolling Stone magazine apologized Friday for an article it published last month about a brutal gang rape of a woman at the University of Virginia who reportedly said she was assaulted at a fraternity house.

According to a report in USA Today, the magazine said it found discrepancies in its controversial story about the alleged rape of a woman named "Jackie," and had lost faith in the piece by Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

"Because of the sensitive nature of Jackie's story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her," managing editor Will Dana wrote in a statement published on the magazine's website. "In the months Erdely spent reporting the story, Jackie neither said nor did anything that made Erdely, or Rolling Stone's editors and fact-checkers, question Jackie's credibility."

While Dana said Jackie's friends and rape activists on campus stronly supported her account, the national leadership of the fraternity where Jackie said she was attacked said it has concerns about the evidence.

"In the face of new information," Dana continued, "there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced. We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account. We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story."

CNN said that the article, published online Nov. 19, chronicled the school's failure to respond to that alleged assault.

According to the original story, Jackie, who at the time had just started her freshman year at the school, claimed she was raped during a party by seven men at Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, while two more gave encouragement.

"However, the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi chapter did not have a party the night of Sept. 28, 2012, the date when the alleged attack occurred, or at all that weekend, the chapter said in a statement Friday. The chapter's lawyer, Ben Warthen, told CNN email and fraternity records are proof."

Warthen told CNN that other discrepancies in the Jackie's account, such as that the accused orchestrator of the rape did not belong to the fraternity, the fraternity house has no side staircase, and there were no pledges at that time of year.

A group of Jackie's close friends told the Washington Post that they believe something traumatic happened to her, but they also have come to doubt her account.

"They said that details have changed over time and that they have not been able to verify key points in recent days," the Post reported. "An alleged attacker that Jackie identified to them for the first time this week, for example -- a junior in 2012 who worked with her as a university lifeguard -- was actually the name of a student who belongs to a different fraternity, and no one by that name has been a member of Phi Kappa Psi."

Reached by phone, the University of Virginia graduate said he worked at the school's fitness center, and was familiar with Jackie's name, but said he had never met her. He said he was not a member of the fraternity.

Women's safety advocates told the New York Times that the questions about the article should not undermine the university's heightened attention to sexual assault issues that have festered for years.

"But," the Times reported, "the questions raised about the article have left unclear which elements of Jackie's account will hold up to a new review, and whether the article will become less about rape than about standards of journalism and the credibility of people who say they have been assaulted."

Rolling Stone has not identified other errors in the article beyond those that have been made public, Dana told the Times.

"I don't know what happened that night," he was quoted as saying. "I don't know who is telling the truth and who is not." There should never be, he added, "a story in Rolling Stone where I feel that way."

The Springfield-based company continued to collect paychecks from the city even as it racked up more than $45,000 in personal property and excise tax debt, struggled from month to month to put up municipal bonds and scrambled to make payroll.

SPRINGFIELD - The city is scrambling to hire a new vendor to plow its dozens of schools, libraries and other municipal parking lots as another potentially snowy winter approaches, and after its longtime contractor appears to have crumbled financially.

The hasty deletion of Northeast Grounds Management from the city payroll - where the company was earning up to $1.5 million annually - raises questions about how consistently City Hall vets its vendors. The Springfield-based company continued to collect paychecks from the city even as it racked up more than $45,000 in personal property and excise tax debt, struggled from month to month to put up municipal bonds and scrambled to make payroll.

City officials said the first sign of trouble cropped up over the summer, when Northeast failed to produce the $1.5 million bond required to renew its contract. The city's top financial officer and its facilities director both said the city allowed the company to work and bond on a month-to-month basis, which they concede was an unusual arrangement.

The original contract was a one-year agreement with optional renewals for two additional years. Northeast was in its final year of renewal when the company appeared to implode financially. When contacted by The Republican/MassLive, Northeast President William Milbier responded that he would be unavailable to talk until Tuesday.

The struggling company was tested during the season's first storm on Thanksgiving Eve, according to a record obtained by The Republican generated by the city Parks Department, which fielded numerous complaints about the state of school parking lots days after the storm.

Fifteen schools registered complaints, according to the document. Some were minor while others were less so. For example, entire lots remained unplowed at Bridge Academy and Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, according to the document. Other lots at Springfield High School of Commerce, Central High School and Rebecca Johnson School were shoddily done, the document states. Officials at other schools found their sidewalks, handicap parking spots and other areas still covered in snow.

Patrick Sullivan, the city's Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreational Management, said he was only personally aware of issues at Central High School and believed the company returned to improve their work after the Thanksgiving break.

"There are always hiccups during the first storm of the year. And every contractor usually gets a punch-list after a project, whether it's painting, plowing or whatever." Sullivan said, adding that Milbier had been a reliable vendor for years.

The city privatized certain municipal services in the mid-2000's.

Sullivan said he believed Milbier had as many as 80 employees, but a longtime landscaper for the company said he was laid off two days before Thanksgiving and the staff had dwindled sharply over the past several months.

"Maybe six?" out-of-work landscaper Patrice Horton answered when asked to estimate how many employees were left when he was laid off.

He had worked for the company for seven years, Horton said, when employees began having sporadic trouble cashing their paychecks.

"Hopefully the checks will clear. That's what he always said: hopefully," Horton said, referring to his former employer. He was unable to cash about one out of every 20 weekly checks in recent months, said the father of four, of Springfield.

A spokeswoman with the state Department of Revenue also said Northeast had fallen months behind on filing its payroll withholding returns.

City department heads seemed unaware of the depth of Milbier's financial troubles.

Timothy J. Plante, the city's chief administrative and financial officer, said officials put the contract back out to bid recently when Northeast remained on less-than-solid footing with its bonding requirements. Plante said the city interviewed two prospective new contractors but were attempting to help Milbier retain the contract. City officials met with Milbier on Monday when he discussed his recent challenges.

"We sat down with Bill and said what's going on? He was open about things and said here's what it is; he said he was coming out of it," Plante said, adding that for its part, the city was trying to be prompt with its payments to the company to help Milbier's cause.

But, Plante said he and other officials were unaware of Northeast's city tax debt until today. All city contractors are required to sign an affidavit vouching that they are free and clear of tax debt, but whether anyone actually attempts to confirm the information is unclear.

Plante conceded that the scenario with Northeast has raised a need for a new, more consistent process to verify a vendor's financial health and tax status annually, as opposed to simply at the execution of a contract.

"What is clear to me is that we need a policy," Plante said. "I need to find out whether we could have picked this up sooner. I need to find out if there was just a breakdown in the process or if it was something else."

Plante said the city terminated its contract with Northeast on Friday afternoon, invoking the 30-day notice option in light of Milbier's tax debt. Of $140,000 the city owed the company, it withheld $45,000 to cover its outstanding excise and personal property tax debt, Plante said.

"We like to do what we can to help a local vendor, but our duty is to the taxpayers," he said.

He said the city is poised to award the contract to Gleason Johndrow Landscaping, of Northampton.

Sullivan said he was saddened over the dissolution of the contract with Northeast.

"He always did a good job, but with his financial troubles ... I wish he had come to us sooner. But, our job is to make sure the teachers and the kids can get to school and that we keep the city safe," he said.

The cardinal asks the nation to pray for the families of Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, and Eric Garner, who died after a white officer placed him in a chokehold.

BOSTON (AP) -- Cardinal Sean O'Malley is calling for prayers in the aftermath of the deaths of unarmed black men in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri.

The Archdiocese of Boston released a blog post from O'Malley, who says the Christian Advent season is a time to spread hope, peace and compassion.

The cardinal asks the nation to pray for the families of Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, and Eric Garner, who died after a white officer placed him in a chokehold.

Grand juries in both cases did not return indictments against the officers, triggering widespread and sometimes violent protests.

O'Malley said in his blog Friday that every person's dignity, regardless of race, "must be respected and protected."

 

Kansas City police have confirmed that an SUV involved in the death of a teenager outside a Somali community center had an anti-Muslim message displayed in the rear window at the time of the crash.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An SUV involved in the death of a Missouri teenager outside a Somali community center had an anti-Muslim message displayed in the rear window at the time of the crash, Kansas City police confirmed Saturday.

Authorities say 34-year-old Ahmed H. Aden deliberately ran the boy over and have charged him with murder in a case that the FBI is investigating as a potential hate crime.

Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein died at a hospital Thursday evening after his legs were nearly severed in the crash. He was 15.

Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp told The Associated Press in an email that the SUV had been seen in the area by patrol officers in late October with a message that compared the Quran to the Ebola virus.

Aden was being held in the Jackson County jail on Saturday. No attorney was listed for him in online court records.

A funeral for the teen was scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City, a service that comes a day after dozens of friends and family members gathered for a prayer service where Sheikh-Hussein was remembered as kind and faithful.

Friends said Sheikh-Hussein had been going to play basketball when he was run down so violently that a witness reported seeing the teen "fly through the air" after he was hit, according to a probable cause statement.

Court documents said Aden crashed the SUV and got out of the vehicle with a knife. Witnesses told officers they followed Aden and pointed him out to police. One said the suspect swung what appeared to be a baseball bat at people, and another said Aden threatened them with a handgun as he tried to get away on foot.

Aden initially told authorities that he lost control of his vehicle and that there had been an accident. He later said he struck the teen because he thought the boy looked like someone who had threatened him several days earlier, the probable cause statement said.

Mark Anthony Andre was charged with one count of a burning a dwelling.

AMHERST - State and local police and fire officials have arrested a resident of a Belchertown Road home on an arson charge following a fire there Nov. 29.

Mark Anthony Andre, 54, was charged with one count of burning of a dwelling and is being held in the Franklin County House of Correction pending arraignment Monday morning, according to a press release.

The Amherst Fire Department, Amherst Police Department, jointly investigated the fire along with State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Police have been searching Andre all week. He was located in Greenfield where he was arrested Friday night, according to the release from the State Fire Marshal's office.

The house, owned by Judith Gearing, is valued at $343,600, according to town records. Residents were able to leave safely and the fire was contained quickly by first responders. Amherst Fire Chief Tim Nelson said damage was limited to one room. 

Police have been searching for Andre all week until he was spotted in Greenfield last night, where he was arrested. The arson was jointly investigated by the Amherst Fire Department, Amherst Police Department and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Ramos and the unnamed drunken driver were charged with attempted car theft and operating under the influence, respectively.

SPRINGFIELD - City officers responding to an overnight shooting in the downtown entertainment district Saturday morning had an eventful shift: including saving their cruiser from a car thief and another car from a drunken driver following the call, according to police.

A second man told police he had been robbed at gunpoint for a gold necklace in the same vicinity of the shooting - Hampden Street and East Columbus Avenue. Investigators said the shooting victim didn't appeared to be the target, based on surveillance video.

The robbery victim told police he had been held up by a Hispanic male dressed entirely in black, Delaney said.

Meanwhile, as police officers were performing first aid on the shooting victim, they heard the engine of their nearby cruiser revving loudly with an attempted car thief in the driver's seat, Delaney said.

"They turned and observed that a black male had climbed into the driver's seat and was attempting to steal the marked cruiser. The officers had removed the key from the cruiser and had activated the disengagement feature when they had retrieved their medical kit. The subject tried to put the vehicle into drive, which caused the engine to cut out," Delaney said.

After foiling the alleged cruiser thief identified as 29-year-old Angel Ramos of Hartford, Connecticut, a third officer in an unmarked car returning from the shooting scene narrowly escaped being rammed by a drunk driver, according to Delaney.

Ramos and the unnamed drunken driver were charged with attempted car theft and operating under the influence, respectively.

The shooting remains under investigation. The victim is expected to recover from his injuries, Delaney said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355. Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to "CRIMES" or "274637" and then beginning the body of the message with the word "SOLVE."

President Barack Obama said Saturday that he authorized the rescue attempt because the U.S. had information that Somers' life was in "imminent danger."

Luke Somers, an American who was killed during a rescue attempt against his al-Qaida captors in Yemen, had been working as a freelance photographer and editor in that country, and those who knew him say he had "wanderlust" and was drawn to new experiences.

Lucy Somers told The Associated Press on Saturday that that she learned of her 33-year-old brother's death from FBI agents. He had been kidnapped in September 2013 in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

President Barack Obama said Saturday that he authorized the rescue attempt because the U.S. had information that Somers' life was in "imminent danger."

U.S. special forces had tried to rescue Somers last month.

"My life is in danger," Somers said in video footage, which appeared to mimic hostage videos released by the Islamic State group.

Lucy Somers said her brother had worked tirelessly to raise awareness of people's plight in Yemen, and improve things with his work.

"Through his photographs we can see the humanity through conflicts, the familiar in a turbulent tribal region," she said from near London.

Family friend Penny Bearman said he had a sensitivity for people and had become a well-loved and respected member of the local community in Sanaa.

"I think Luke would have wanted issues of extremism and terrorism to be addressed by stepping up the dialogue instead of resorting to conflict between nations."

Somers, who was born in Britain, earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing while attending Beloit College in Wisconsin from 2004 through 2007.

"He really wanted to understand the world," said Shawn Gillen, an English professor and chairman of Beloit College's journalism program.

Fuad Al Kadas, who said Somers is one of his best friends, said Somers spent time in Egypt before finding work in Yemen. Somers started teaching English at a Yemen school but quickly established himself as a one of the few foreign photographers in the country, he said.

"He is a great man with a kind heart who really loves the Yemeni people and the country," Al Kadas wrote in an email from Yemen. He said he last saw Somers the day before he was kidnapped.

"He was so dedicated in trying to help change Yemen's future, to do good things for the people that he didn't leave the country his entire time here," Al Kadas wrote.

Al Kadas said in Yemen, Somers enjoyed making friends with neighbors, youth activists and ordinary people.

Gillen said Somers wanted to seek out experiences that would matter to him, noting he traveled to Egypt as part of the school's study abroad program. The professor said he wasn't surprised when he heard Somers had moved to Yemen.

"He'd want to be in places where world events were happening," the professor said, adding that liberal arts instructors want their students "to go on and lead meaningful, purposeful lives. Luke was trying to do that. That makes (his capture) all the more horrible for us to ponder."

Gillen said Somers was in his advanced non-fiction writing course and a small-group seminar that focused on William Butler Yeats and James Joyce. He said Somers would often stop by his office just to chat.

"He would come by and say, 'I was walking across campus and I was thinking about something Joyce wrote,' and he'd want to talk about it. In many ways that's a professor's dream come true," Gillen said.

In 2007, Somers worked as an editor at The Teaching Drum Outdoors School in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. Family members of Somers live in Washington state.

Tamarack Song, the school's director, said Somers was hired to edit a book for the school. He came to the school with his girlfriend who also was an editor.

"He was born in England, raised in America. He had wanderlust." Song said. "He wanted to know what made people tick. He has an undying curiosity for human dynamics and for the way people worked. He was constantly doing research."

Song said he thought Yemen and the Middle East was a symbol for Somers, and that Somers wanted to be at the epicenter of culture and ideology.

Song said he speculates that Somers went "to be where the action was, to get a feel for the pulse of contemporary conflict."

"He wanted to be in the center of things, and to get a feel for it. To get closer and closer, to interview people, to research, to write, to get right there," Song said.

In Western Massachusetts, various communities are holding vigils and events to commemorate those lost in the attack and the resilience of the survivors.

Although there aren't many survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor still around, the few along with veterans and civilians across Massachusetts will hold vigil on Sunday to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the attack that left thousands dead and injured.

It was just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941 when more than 350 Japanese bombers, fighter planes and torpedo planes launched an attack that left more than 2,000 dead and more than 1,000 injured. The surprise attack was to prevent United States interference from Japan's plans relating to Southeast Asian territories held by the Allied Powers.

The unintended consequence, however, was that the attack turned the tide of World War II by officially drawing the U.S. into the conflict, leading to the eventual defeat of the Axis Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan.

Across the commonwealth on Sunday, U.S. and state flags will be flown at half-staff at the orders of outgoing Gov. Deval Patrick to officially observe National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy issued a similar order ensuring that flags will be lowered from sunrise to sunset.

In Western Massachusetts, various communities are holding vigils and events to commemorate those lost in the attack and the resilience of the survivors.

The Veterans Council of Northampton is holding a ceremony from noon to 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Anyone wishing to participate is asked to gather in the parking lot next to the Pearl Harbor Survivors' Bridge on Route 5 between Easthampton and Northampton just before noon.

In Westfield, commemorations typically take place in the morning at Kane Park, which is located on Elm Street, at the southern side of the twin bridges.

U.S. military veteran Ed Borucki, a survivor of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, is thanked for his service as he participates in the 2014 Holyoke St. Patrick's Day parade. Greg Saulmon | gsaulmon@repub.com

In the southeastern part of the state in Fall River, the Battleship Cove Naval Heritage Museum is hosting a ceremony aboard the Battleship Massachusetts at 12:55 p.m. The ceremony is open to the public and completely free of charge. Additionally, all veterans will receive free admission to the museum for the entire day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

One local veteran who appears in much of The Republican's archival coverage of Pearl Harbor anniversaries is Hampshire County resident Ed Borucki, who was a 21-year-old chief petty officer aboard the USS Helena when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Borucki narrowly survived the attack and recounted that hallowed day in a 2011 interview which appears on MassLive.com here.

In a letter to the town manager and the council president, Police Chief Robert Frydryk expressed his love for Palmer, thanked municipal leadership and pledged to assist with the hiring of a new chief

PALMER — Robert Frydryk, the town of Palmer's long-serving police chief, has announced he will retire on Jan. 31, closing the book on more than 37 years of public service.

The town council will officially accept his decision to step down at Monday's meeting.

In a letter to the town manager and the council president, Frydryk expressed his love for Palmer, thanking municipal officials for their leadership and he pledged to assist with the hiring of a new chief.

Contacted Saturday, Town Manager Charles Blanchard said he would make an interim appointment and hire an acting police chief while the search for a permanent chief takes place. He said the town uses the state civil service process to fill such positions.

"It has been an extraordinary privilege for me to serve my community as a police officer for more than 37 years," the chief wrote in the letter announcing his retirement. .

"I truly love my hometown and cannot imagine any other career that would have been as rewarding . . . which has allowed me to serve Palmer's fine people for nearly four decades."

A Monson, Massachusetts man is facing charges and was seriously injured Saturday afternoon following an accident on Route 103 in Vermont.

ROCKINGHAM, Vermont — A Monson, Massachusetts man is facing charges and was seriously injured Saturday afternoon following an accident on Route 103 in Vermont.

According to Vermont State Police, it was just before 12:30 p.m. when they got a call from a New York resident who said a black GMC Yukon Denali SUV with Massachusetts license plates rear ended him and took off. As troopers were speaking with the complainant in that crash, a second accident was reported a few miles south of the location.

Troopers say both crashes involved 23-year-old Michael Woloshchuk, who suffered a broken neck and was taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

"At this time the crash is still under investigation but speed and alcohol are believed to be a factor in this crash," Trooper Kim McLeod wrote in a press release where she also noted a wintry mix of precipitation and icy spots on the pavement.

Woloshchuk was issued a citation for DUI refusal, leaving the scene of an accident and gross negligent operation. His passenger, 25-year-old Monson resident Matthew Wood, suffered scrapes and bruising to his head and face as he was not wearing a seatbelt, according to police.

The New York resident which was initially allegedly rear ended by Woloshchuk was uninjured, although his brand new Toyota Camry did sustain damage to the tail lights, the rear bumper and the trunk.

Woloshchuk is scheduled to answer the charges in Windham County Court on Jan. 20, 2015.

A feline named Frank and Louie, after he was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses and three blue eyes, has died at the age of 15.

NORTH GRAFTON, Mass. (AP) -- This cat had two faces -- but only nine lives.

A feline named Frank and Louie, after he was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses and three blue eyes, has died at the age of 15.

The Telegram of Worcester reports that Frank and Louie died Thursday at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton.

The cat's owner, Marty Stevens, said veterinarians believe the cause of death was cancer.

Frank and Louie made it into the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records as the longest-surviving member of a group known as Janus cats, named for a Roman god with two faces.

Janus cats almost never survive, and most have congenital defects.

A Springfield fire truck was involved in a car accident on its way to another nearby crash.

SPRINGFIELD — When the 911 call reported a serious car crash at the corner of Dwight and Carew streets in the city's Memorial Square neighborhood Saturday evening, the Springfield Fire Department's Ladder 3 truck was dispatched.

But after being involved in a traffic accident of its own at the corner of Spring and Taylor streets, it never made it to the scene.

According to Dennis Leger, the fire department's spokesman, around 6:30 p.m. crews were called to a scene in the North End where a crash left two people trapped in a car. Firefighters helped free them with their tools and the two injured passengers and a third person involved in the crash, were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Meanwhile, the three people who were in the Toyota Camry which collided with Ladder 3 also suffered minor injuries and were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The Springfield Police Department's traffic bureau is looking into both accidents while Ladder 3 is said to have only sustained cosmetic damage. No firefighters were injured in either incident.