The victim walked into Holyoke Medical Center with stab wounds Sunday night.

HOLYOKE - Police detectives are investigating a Sunday night stabbing of a man that is believed to have happened downtown.

The victim walked into Holyoke Medical Center with stab wounds at about 10 p.m. It was not immediately known how serious his injuries are, Sgt. Phillip McKay said.

Police detectives are talking to the victim and trying to find out more about how and where he was injured, he said.

This is a breaking news story. Masslive will update when more information becomes available.

Regan was the brother of Fire Chief Mary Regan.

WESTFIELD - Kevin Regan grew up around the corner from one of the Westfield fire stations, his father was a firefighter he joined the department at the age of 19 and still had no plans to retire.

"He was a great guy. A lot of fun to have around," said Deputy Fire Chief James Kane.

Firefighters and the entire city are now mourning Regan, 62, who was killed Saturday night when a driver struck him and his long-term fiancee, Lynda Cavanaugh, while they were walking in the area of Parkers River Bridge in West Yarmouth.

Cavanaugh, was badly injured in the accident. The man accused of hitting them, Paul G. Dennehy, 55, of South Yarmouth, has been charged with drunken driving causing serious injury and motor vehicle homicide.

Adding to the tragedy at the Westfield Fire Department, Regan's sister is Fire Chief Mary Regan and one of his brothers is Fire Capt. Christopher Regan, Kane said.

Both Kane's and Regan's fathers were firefighters and their families were close. Kane also has a number of relatives who have served on the Fire Department including his brother who was chief and a nephew who is a captain.

They grew up together, served as alter boys at Blessed Sacrament Church and eventually joined the Westfield Fire Department and served together for at least 35 years.

"He loved the Fire Department. He got on when he was 19 and made permanent in 1975," he said. "I think they were going to have to throw him out when he hit (the mandatory retirement age of) 65."

Over the years, Regan joined the union board and later the retirement board and gained expertise on the two subjects. As he did, he got involved with the state retirement board and the state union and would travel across the country to attend conferences and training to learn more.

"Anything about retirement or union business, he was the guy to ask," Kane said.

Regan had officially been hired in Dec, 1971 under a special emergency act when more firefighters were needed. He had graduated from Westfield High School just a year or two earlier.

Regan wore Badge #1 which signifies he was the most senior firefighter in the department of about 85 men and women.

Regan drove Engine 3 for many years and worked out of the North Side station, which was the station near his childhood home.

"He knew the North Side like the back of his hand," he said.

Regan had never been married but was engaged to Cavanaugh, who recently retired from the city of Westfield retirement systems department.

She was flown to a Boston hospital by helicopter after the accident. She has been conscious but Kane said he does not know the extent of her injuries. Cavanaugh also has ties to the department since her father was a deputy chief, Kane said.

Kane said Regan was very personable.

"He was good with names. We he met you he would always remember your name. He could have met someone years ago and he would always remember their name," he said.

The flags at all the stations are being flown at half-staff and black buntings have been hung over the doors. Memorial services have not been set yet for Regan, he said.

When he thinks of Regan, Mayor Daniel Knapik said he thinks of him driving a vintage firetruck the union owns and telling kids all about it.

"He became the unofficial historian of the Fire Department," he said. "He knew the history of each of the pieces of fire apparatus and enjoyed telling people about that."

Regan served on the retirement board for at least 15 years and was the longest-serving member. Because of that he was the person everyone would go to when a complicated case came before the board, Knapik said.

"When you think of Kevin he was the consummate firefighter and he loved serving as a firefighter and he was from a big Irish family and he loved his Irish heritage," Knapik said. "When you put the two together that made him a gregarious guy."

Regan also loved the beach and owned a home near Dennis and close to where he was hit, said Albert Masciadrelli, chairman of the Westfield Fire commission.

When Regan traveled, which he did often, he always stopped in fire departments to meet other firefighters. He became friendly with a number from Dennis and they would spend time together.

Several times Masciadrelli said he was invited to attend state events and Regan always made sure he was introduced to statewide fire officials that he knew.

While many hated changes made over the years at the department, Regan embraced technology. Masciadrelli said he thinks Regan was not ready to retire because he did not want to miss the next innovation in firefighting.

"He was a fireman's fireman. That was his whole life," he said.

Paul Dennehy was released on $5,000 bail and is due back in court on Feb. 9.

Westfield Firefighter Kevin ReganSubmitted photo 

The man accused of drunken driving in the Saturday night accident on Cape Cod that resulted in the death of Westfield firefighter Kevin Regan entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment in Barnstable District Court on Monday, according to media reports.

Paul Dennehy, 55, of South Yarmouth, was released on $5,000 bail by Judge W. James O'Neill. He is due back in court on Feb. 9, according to the Cape Cod Times.

As a condition of his release, he is to refrain from drinking alcohol and to submit to random testing for drugs and alcohol.

The newspaper reported he left the courthouse and got in a van to be driven away without saying a word to reporters, the paper reported.

Dennehy is charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol, and operating under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury.

He is charged with striking Regan, 62, and his fiance, Lynda Cavanaugh, 62, as they crossed Route 28 in West Yarmouth.

Regan was killed, and Cavanaugh seriously injured. She airlifted by emergency helicopter to a hospital in Boston.

The Cape Cod Times and the Boston Herald each cite police reports by the Yarmouth police that had Dennehy with a .138 on a breathalyzer, in excess of the state's .08 threshold for intoxication. The report also notes Dennehy appeared to lose his balance during one of the field sobriety tests.

Dennehy, 55, a commercial real estate agent on the cape, told police he had had only two beers with dinner.

According to the Herald, investigators noted the area was not well lit, it was extremely foggy and Regan and Cavanaugh were dressed in dark clothing. Dennehy told officers he did not see them in the road until it was too late to stop.

Both papers also note the police report mentions officers could detect the smell of alcohol coming from Regan as they attempted first aid.

Regan was Westfield's most senior firefighter, and the brother of Fire Chief Mary Regan and Fire Capt. Christopher Regan.

Building inspector Joseph Fydenkevez said he hasn't condemned the building because no one has ever filed a complaint.

EASTHAMPTON - The owner of a derelict former print shop in the city's downtown has not been ordered to secure his building because no member of the public has filed a formal complaint, Easthampton Building Commissioner Joseph Fydenkevez, Jr. said Monday.

The former Hurry & Scurry print shop at 118 Union Street is owned by developer Bernard T. Gawle, who also owns the adjacent Union Street Plaza and other properties on the large triangular city block, assessors' records show.

The 4,792 square-foot building on an odd-shaped one-tenth acre lot remains with a collapsed roof, debris and broken plumbing strewn around the interior, windows open to the elements, and a missing back door.

Found Monday working at his desk, Fydenkevez said he was not aware of the condition of the building, located a few short steps from the 50 Payson Ave. municipal building where his basement office is located.

To further complicate matters, the assessor's card on file for 118 Union St. states, apparently incorrectly, that Fydenkevez issued a Gawle an occupancy permit for the building on Dec. 9. Fydenkevez asserted that his office never issued a 2014 occupancy permit for the property and that the assessor's card is wrong.

Fydenkevez said the occupancy permit in question was issued instead for the Dollar Store at the Union Street Plaza, also owned by Gawle.

Gawle, who stopped by the Building Commissioner's office as a reporter was interviewing Fydenkevez, confirmed that he was not granted a 2014 occupancy permit for the Hurry & Scurry building.

The assessors card further states the last time a city building inspector visited the Hurry & Scurry property was May 13, 2005.

Gawle said he might demolish the building to construct something new, or might instead renovate the existing building.

"That's not a problem; put a new roof on it; we do it all the time," Gawle said.

Gawle said his decision would depend upon whether he could get a zoning variance for his plans. He did not provide a timeline.

Records show Gawle purchased 118 Union St. in 1999 from David M. McCrae for $80,000. The assessed value of the building and land is listed at $175,900. Gawle is current on his real estate taxes for the property, which stand at $2,664.89 annually, according to tax collector's records.

The property was last assessed in June 2005, said Principal Assessor Mark Dimauro. Dimauro said the Hurry & Scurry building would likely be reinspected for assessment purposes in 2015.

A quiet push by lawmakers to update the state's rules around locating automated teller machines, or ATMs, at casinos has sparked a heated debate over whether the cash machines belong at casino resorts and confusion over what the Legislature is trying to accomplish.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON — A quiet push by lawmakers to update the state's rules around locating automated teller machines, or ATMs, at casinos has sparked a heated debate over whether the cash machines belong at casino resorts and confusion over what the Legislature is trying to accomplish.

Lawmakers working on the law change in the waning days of the session said Monday they're simply attempting to level the playing field between state and federally chartered banks, but casino opponents view the proposed changes as a relaxation of the current ban on ATMs at gambling facilities.

The fear of casino opponents is that easy access to automated cash machines will contribute to gambling addiction, but lawmakers behind the proposed change said they share the advocates' desire to keep ATMs far from the slot machines and black jack tables of the state's new casinos, if not altogether out of the hotels and shops.

One high-ranking Senate Democrat said it would be wrong to try to ban ATMs from the hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues that are due to be a part of the resort-style casinos licensed in Springfield and Everett, and so legislators are trying to strike a balance.

On Christmas Eve, the Senate slipped an amendment sponsored by Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer into a banking reform bill (H 4110) that would give the Gaming Commission the authority to regulate the placement of ATMs, rather than the Division of Banks.

While the proposed change would prohibit ATMs from being located in the "gaming area," it would also repeal a 1981 banking statute that banned all electronic banking on the "premises" of a legal gambling facility, except where the Lottery is sold. The bill currently sits before the House, which did not address the amendment on Monday when it met for an extended informal session. Any action on the bill must occur before Jan. 7 when a new session begins and all old bills die and must be refiled.

While the commissioner of banks can currently regulate state chartered banks and credit unions, federally chartered banks could potentially negotiate with the operators of a casino in Massachusetts to locate ATMs directly on the gaming floor, according to Senate officials.

"We can't regulate federal banks, so federal banks can install them with the permission of the operator or licensee. And so what we're trying to do is to say we don't want them on the gaming floor. In fact, some of us don't want them even close to the gaming floor," Senate Majority Leader Stanley Rosenberg said.

Asked about the concern that lawmakers were actually opening the door to ATMs at casinos, Rosenberg said, "There's a subtlety here that people are missing. The intention of the amendment is actually the reverse. No ATMs on the gaming floor."

Les Bernal, executive director of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation, said lawmakers may be rushing to pass a law without fully understanding the ramifications.

"If the intent is to prohibit ATMs on the premises of casinos, then they're way off the mark because this allows ATMs to be on the premises now and the biggest vendor of casino ATMs doesn't meet the criteria that they're prohibiting," Bernal said.

According to Bernal, a company called Global Cash Access markets a brand of non-bank ATM prevalent in casinos around the country that are neither state nor federally chartered that could slip through the cracks of the new rules.

Aides to the Senate say they believe non-bank ATMs would be covered by the proposed ban in the gaming area.

"Why do it on Christmas Eve morning when no one is watching," Bernal said. "This is a huge issue with tens of millions of dollars to casinos at stake and if there are good intentions then why not ban Global Cash Access and don't narrow the definition to the casino floor."

Rosenberg said the Senate is trying to level the playing field by giving the Gaming Commission the authority to set regulations and negotiate with casino licensees around the location of all ATMs. An earlier House version of the bill, according to Senate aides, would have eliminated the ATM ban from the banking regulations without replacing it with new rules.

While the Gaming Commission operates independently, Rosenberg said he intends to send the message publicly that the intent of the proposed law is to keep cash machines far from gambling areas where they might entice players.

He called Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby on Monday morning to deliver that message.

"A lot of people will go to these facilities and they'll be there for entertainment and meals and stuff like that, and shopping. Not fair to keep them from getting access to ATMs. People in the heat of the battle with your slot machine may run out because they're convinced that the next play is going to do it. No. Don't want that dynamic in our casino," Rosenberg said.

Bernal would not say whether he believes ATMs should be barred from hotels, restaurants and shops at the resort casinos, suggesting lawmakers could deal with that later "if and when" the casino operators build those facilities.

While the 2011 expanded gambling law does not address the placement of ATMs in casinos, it does mention that ATMs should be prohibited from accepting electronic welfare benefit cards. Some in the gaming community and at the commission have interpreted the mention of ATMs to be the Legislature's intent that the machines would be allowed at casinos.

The Gaming Commission in August asked for an interpretation from the Division of Banks and is still awaiting an answer. The commission temporarily put in place a regulation that would prohibit ATMs within 15 feet of the gaming floor, but the regulation has not yet been finalized.

"Policy decisions such as this are made by the legislature not the Commission. If the Commission is asked for an opinion, it would support a ban on ATMs from the gaming area, but do not believe that it is reasonable to ban ATMs from the entire destination-resort," said Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Gaming Commission, in a statement.

John Ribeiro, chairman of the group Repeal the Casino Deal, disagreed with the Senate's interpretation of state's regulatory power over federally chartered banks, and criticized the push as one that would add discretion to a process that is currently clear cut in law.

"States can regulate federal banks beyond what the federal banking commission does. They can be more strict, just not less strict," Ribeiro said. "No matter how many feet you apply whether it's 15 feet or 25 feet from the gaming floor, it's a joke."

Two groups are expected to participate in protests on Wednesday during First Night activities in the Copley Square area.

BOSTON -- Two groups are expected to participate in protests on Wednesday during First Night 2015 activities in the Copley Square area.

View full sizeFirst Night 2015 pinFirst Night Boston 

A group of local left-leaning activists going by the name of "First Night Against Police Violence" is organizing a die-in against police brutality at 5 p.m. in front of the Boston Public Library.

Protest organizer Edmund Schluessel said that the group is expecting anywhere from 100 to 1,000 people and that they plan to link up with a nearby anti-war march organized by United For Peace With Justice.

Schluessel, 35, said that the demonstration will be peaceful.

"We aren't trying to disrupt anyone's holiday fun, we're just trying to call attention to the situation," he said.

The planned demonstration is in the same vein as others that have spread rapidly across the nation in the aftermath of controversial grand jury decisions that resulted in white police officers not being charged after killing unarmed black men.

Thousands marched and protested at Boston's Christmas tree lighting when a grand jury did not indict a New York police officer involved in the choking death of a Staten Island man.

Schluessel said he and like-minded activists need to keep pressing forward and not let the issue fade away.

"We need to keep the momentum going. The situation we are facing has not changed just on the backs of a few weeks of action," he said.

Schluessel would not say if the group obtained permits or contacted local law enforcement about their planned demonstration.

A military couple who got married on Hawaii over the weekend was forced to move their ceremony even after having sent President Obama an invitation. The couple, Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., both captains in the Army received an response on Saturday from the president declining the invitation but sending them good wishes. They had previously invited the president...

A military couple who got married on Hawaii over the weekend was forced to move their ceremony even after having sent President Obama an invitation.

The couple, Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., both captains in the Army received an response on Saturday from the president declining the invitation but sending them good wishes. They had previously invited the president to the ceremony expecting that he would return to his family's vacation spot for the holidays, according to Bloomberg News.

Heimel and Mallue were walking from their wedding rehearsal at the 16th tee at Kaneohe Golf Course in Hawaii Saturday when they were informed they would have to move their wedding, scheduled for Sunday.

"It was the second time that day that the couple heard from the nation's commander in chief, whose affinity for golf has, at times, caused political headaches for the White House, according to Bloomberg. "Stationed in Hawaii and knowing the president spends his Christmas holiday on the islands, they invited him to their ceremony on a lark. They had received a letter earlier on Saturday saying Obama regretted he couldn't come and wishing them happiness on their wedding day."

A manager from the company that handled logistics for the wedding told CNN, that the president regularly plays on this course, and anyone who plans an event there is told ahead of time that plans may have to be changed at the last minute when the president is in town.

"It was kind of ironic they got the letter from them and then, within hours, they were told they had to be moved due to him," Jamie McCarthy, Mallue's sister, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "It was emotional, especially for her - she's the bride and in less than 24 hours they had to change everything they had planned."

In fact, USA Today pointed out, whenever a president visits a place, the Secret Service moves most people away. Instead, the couple got married on a lawn near the home of the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

An administration official told NBC News that the White House staff didn't know about the conflict until Bloomberg News called for a comment.

The president spent most of the afternoon Sunday at the golf course, in the company of golf partners Mike Ramos, Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb, the New York Daily News reported.

"But upon learning how the scheduling snafu interrupted the military wedding, Obama reached out to the bride and groom to apologize," according to the newspaper.

"Obama just personally called my sister and her new husband to apologize for foiling their wedding venue golfing. Amazing!" the bride's sister tweeted, posting an Instagram shot of the newlyweds chatting with the president on their iPhone.

The president "saved the day" calling the couple to apologize and to congratulate them, McCarthy told UPI.

"We were all there, it was perfect. Made their day," McCarthy said.

The flight bound for Manchester, New Hampshire, quickly returned to the airport Monday morning

PHILADELPHIA -- A US Airways Express flight has made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport after passengers saw fiery flashes from one of the engines as the plane took off.

View full sizeIn this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, a US Airways jet taxis past an American Airlines jet  in Phoenix. AP Photo/File 

The flight bound for Manchester, New Hampshire, quickly returned to the airport Monday morning before 75 passengers and crew boarded another plane and continued on.

People on the ground and aboard the plane heard a loud boom and saw flames shooting out, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reports.

Passenger Elsa Head told the station that she was terrified, but the crew remained calm.

The plane being operated by Republic Airlines was able to return to the terminal on its own.

The Vermonter train hits a top speed of 79 mph when it gets north of Northampton.

SPRINGFIELD — The ride Monday from Greenfield south to Springfield on Amtrak's Vermonter was smooth and swift, said Alden Dreyer of Shelburne.

"The best Christmas present ever," Dreyer said as he waited in Springfield's Amtrak station for the ride back north to Greenfield. "I'm so happy to have the train in Greenfield again. We are tired of coming down to Springfield to catch the train at 4 in the morning."

Dreyer retired after 20 years with the old Boston & Maine Railroad, some of it spent directing rail traffic from the tower in Springfield. Now, he takes Amtrak trips all over the country.

"I did 20,000 miles last year," Dreyer said. "Highway travel is so aggravating with the traffic. Especially on Interstate 91. This service will be great for people."

On Monday, he and six friends made the trip from Greenfield to Springfield through the Knowledge Corridor and back to test out the new Vermonter for themselves. It was the first passenger service on the former Boston & Maine tracks along the Connecticut River since 1989, when deteriorating track conditions forced Amtrak to switch to a roundabout route through Palmer and Amherst.

Monday was the first passenger train to stop in Greenfield and Northampton since 1989. A stop in Holyoke, also not serviced since 1989, will be added in a few months, but the station there is not yet ready.

The Vermonter runs both ways each day from Washington, D.C., to St. Albans, Vermont. In between, it serves dozens of stops, including New Haven's Union Station, New York's Penn Station and Philadelphia's 30th Street Station in addition to its local stops in the Pioneer Valley.

Amtrak figures fares on a sliding scale based on rider demand.
Fare ranges:

• Northampton to New York Penn Station: $61 to $89
• Greenfield to Penn Station: $61 to $89
• Greenfield to Springfield: $16 to $24

The Vermonter carried 78,000 people in Amtrak's 2014 fiscal year, and Amtrak's Springfield station had 135,243 riders.

Alden DreyerDON TREEGER / THE REPUBLICAN 

The Vermonter was full both ways on Monday. Dreyer wasn't the only one who took it out of curiosity. The trip form Springfield to Northampton took about 40 minutes going 35 to 50 mph or so. North of Northampton, the trains reach 79 mph for a stretch in Hatfield and Whately.

Rail fans and people who photograph trains as a hobby lined up along the route on Monday.

Michael Kusek of Northampton and three friends took the southbound train, went for a beer at The Fort in Springfield, and took the train back.

"It was the first train in Northampton in more than 20 years," he said. "We had to take it. I do take the train all the time to New York City, and it will be great to get it in Northampton."

Others would have taken the Vermonter even if the route hadn't changed.

Hunter Cropsey, 21, of Longmeadow, a student at the University of Vermont in Burlington, was headed back early from Christmas because of his job.

"I've tried other things, getting rides from friends. The train works out best for me," he said.

A lanky fellow, he finds buses don't have enough leg room.

Siyanda Stillwell, 18, of Boston, took his snowboard on the train. He left Boston a little after noon and was meeting friends in Brattleboro, Vermont, and from there they would go on to Stowe.

"I couldn't really figure out another way to get there," Stillwell said.

They were joined northbound by Joseph H. Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak. Boardman's three cars, including the Amtrak presidential observation car, were attached to the regular five-car train.

Boardman said Amtrak is on the upswing, not just here in Springfield. Dec. 9, 10 and 11 were the busiest travel days in the history of Amtrak's Acela high-speed express service from Boston to Richmond, Virginia.

12.29.2014 | SPRINGFIELD -- Hunter Cropsey of Longmeadow waits for the Vermonter train in the Springfield station. DON TREEGER / THE REPUBLICAN 

"Then you see the excitement here today," Boardman said. "It demonstrates the expanding demand for rail travel. People are looking to live without cars or at least to get away from their cars on their daily commutes."

Amtrak is also benefiting from increased highway congestion and the decision by the airlines to either curtail service or pull out of some markets.

But it takes money, Boardman said.

Returning the Vermonter to the Connecticut River Valley took a $120 million state and federal project. The federal stimulus program provided $73 million of the $120 million.

Vermont spent $53 million in state and federal money rehabbing the tracks in the Green Mountain State.

Connecticut is spending $450 million on rail improvements in that state.

Connecticut also plans to add more frequent service from Springfield to New Haven in 2016. Connecticut issued a request on Dec. 18 for potential train operators.

"I know that Connecticut is working on adding more service that would be more of a commuter nature," Boardman said. "We will see how that develops."

He had some insights, but few hard answers, concerning expanded rail service in the Pioneer Valley.

• Increased east-west service from Boston to Springfield and west to Albany would also take more money, Boardman said. It would also take the freight railroads that own the tracks agreeing to give up capacity for passenger trains. Those agreements are not always easy.
• Service to Montreal from Springfield requires political cooperation in Canada, Boardman said.
• Amtrak will adjust the Vermonter's timetable [pdf] to reflect a quicker trip, Boradman said. The train should be able to save a half-hour of travel time through Massachusetts each day.
• Track speeds are set by the track owners, in this case Pan Am Railways, a successor to the Boston and Maine.
• The $82 million rehabilitation of Springfield's Union Station, set to be completed in the fall of 2016, also bodes well for Amtrak. New, expanded stations mean more riders.

"You see how crowded it is here today," Boardman said. "A rehabbed Union Station will make more people feel comfortable choosing Amtrak. It will be more welcoming for people to access our system."

Stocks wavered throughout the day, with the Dow Jones industrial average moving between gains and losses several times.

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK — U.S stocks inched mostly higher in light trading on Monday as investors shrugged off falling energy prices, a plunging Russian ruble and fears that Greece could renege on its bailout.

Stocks wavered throughout the day, with the Dow Jones industrial average moving between gains and losses several times. In the end the blue-chip index closed down slightly, but other major indexes recorded tiny gains.

"Most of the bad news came from overseas ... and that makes the U.S. market more attractive," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. "Investors are shifting money from overseas."

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.80 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,090.57. The Dow fell 15.48 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,038.23. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.05 points to 4,806.91

With little economic or company developments in the U.S., investors focused on news that Greece will have to call snap elections next month that could bring more economic turmoil to the country. The opposition Syriza party, which is against terms of the international bailout of the country, is leading in the polls.

The Athens exchange closed with a loss of 4 percent after falling as much as 11 percent earlier. Several European markets also slumped, with Italy's benchmark index losing 1.1 percent.

In Russia, the ruble fell 8 percent against the U.S. dollar after a rally last week. Russian monetary officials have made stabilizing the currency a priority amid slumping oil revenues and unease about the country's economic outlook.

Despite the troubles abroad developing for several weeks now, U.S. stocks have been rising on optimism over the U.S. economy.

Employers are on track to hire nearly 3 million workers this year, the most since the dot-com boom year of 1999. The unemployment rate has dropped to 5.8 percent, down about a percentage point since the start of the year. And the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 5 percent in the July-September quarter, the fastest in 11 years.

On Monday, six of 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 rose, led by a 1.1 percent gain in utilities.

Trading was light ahead of the New Year's holiday later this week. Volume was about two-thirds of the recent average on the New York Stock Exchange

John Manley, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Fund Management, said he expects that stocks are being pushed higher in part from what he calls "sleepy heads," investors who tend to put off plowing money into IRAs until the closing days of each year.

"All of a sudden they wake up, and realize, 'I need to do this to get my tax deduction,'" he says.

The S&P 500 has hit record highs more than 50 times so far this year and has tripled from the 12-year low it reached in the depths of the financial crisis in 2009.

The index now trades at 17.8 times what companies in the index are expected to earn over the next 12 months, according to FactSet, a data provider. That is above the 10-year average of about 15 times.

In other developments overseas, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday that regulators will change accounting rules for bank deposits to free up more money for lending. That could help boost economic growth, which slumped to a five-year low in the latest quarter.

The news helped lift Asian markets. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.8 percent.

Among stocks making news:

• The Manitowoc Co. rose $1.87, or 9 percent, to $22.79 on news that activist investor Carl Icahn took a 7.8 percent stake in the crane maker and is pushing for the company to split into two.


• Gilead Sciences rose $3.51 to $97.30 for a gain of 3.7 percent, one of the biggest in the S&P 500. The biotechnology company expanded an agreement with a Johnson & Johnson unit to develop and sell an HIV treatment.

Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $1.12 to $53.61 a barrel in New York. On Friday, the contract fell $1.11 to settle at $54.73.

In other futures trading on the NYMEX:

1. Wholesale gasoline fell 5.6 cents to close at $1.453 a gallon.
2. Heating oil fell 5.9 cents to close at $1.849 a gallon.
3. Natural gas rose 18.2 cents to close at $3.189 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In metals trading, gold lost $13.40 to $1,181.90 an ounce, silver fell 37 cents to $15.78 an ounce and copper edged up less than a penny to $2.82 a pound.

The dollar rose to 120.71 yen from 120.35 Friday. The euro edged down to $1.2153 from Friday's $1.2205.

The 10-year Treasury note rose. The yield fell to 2.21 percent from 2.25 percent on Friday.

An unknown man armed with a gun threatened the clerk and made off with money from the register.

03/03/12 Springfield- Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray - A Springfield Police cruiser sits out front of 132 Washburn Street Saturday afternoon, it was the scene of a stabbing which took the life of Jessica Rojas 25.Mark M.Murray 

SPRINGFIELD - Springfield police are looking for an unknown armed suspect who held up a cellphone store on Sumner Avenue near the X in the Forest Park neighborhood, according to police.

The store, Metro PSC at 455 Sumner Ave., was robbed at about 5:30 p.m., police said. A man with a gun threatened the clerk and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.

No description of the suspect was made available to the press.

Police conducted a search of the neighborhood but there were no arrests. Detectives were continuing to investigate Monday night.

Police found several shell casings at the scene.

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating a Sunday night incident in which two deaf people in a vehicle exiting a St. James Avenue car wash were shot at by an unknown man in another vehicle, police said.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just after 9 p.m. but the couple's car had been struck several times by gunfire, said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney.

The two occupants of the car, who police did not identify, told police they had just left the car wash at the Racing Mart service station, 475 St. James Ave., when another car drove up and started shooting at them, Delaney said.

The couple fled the scene and drove to the state police barracks at 600 Liberty St., roughly a mile away off Interstate 291, where they sought help.

Springfield police had just arrived on St. James Avenue for a report of multiple gunshots when the state police contacted them that the victims were at the barracks, Delaney said.

Police found several 9 mm and .45 caliber shell casings at the scene on St. James Avenue.

The couple were able to provide police with a description of the shooter: a light-skinned man in a gray Honda Accord.

They told police they had no idea why they had been targeted, Delaney said.

At least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters were looking for the jet carrying 162 people.

By TRISNADI MARJAN
and MARGIE MASON

SURABAYA, Indonesia - More planes will be in the air and more ships on the sea Tuesday hunting for AirAsia Flight 8501 in a widening search off Indonesia that has dragged into a third day without any solid leads.

At least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters were looking for the jet carrying 162 people, said Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo. Most of the craft were Indonesian but Singapore, Malaysia and Australia contributed to the effort. Aircraft from Thailand planned to join Tuesday's search.

He said the search area would be expanded to land areas, with four military helicopters dispatched just after sunrise near Pangkalan Bun on the western part of Borneo island and to smaller islands of Bangka and Belitung.

"Until now, we have not yet found any signal or indication of the plane's whereabouts," Soelistyo said, adding fishermen from Belitung island were also helping.

The U.S. Navy is also joining the search. It said in a statement that the USS Sampson, a destroyer, which was already on an independent deployment in the Western Pacific, and will arrive in the area later Tuesday. China announced that a navy frigate already on patrol in the South China Sea and aircraft to help the search.

The longer the search goes without turning up any wreckage or hint of what happened to plane, the more the incident will evoke memories of the still-unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March.

The AirAsia pilots had been worried about the weather and had sought permission to climb above threatening clouds. Air traffic control couldn't say yes immediately -- there was no room. Six other airliners were crowding the airspace, forcing Flight 8501 to remain at a lower altitude.

Minutes later, the jet was gone from the radar without issuing a distress signal. The plane is believed to have crashed into Indonesia's Java Sea, but broad aerial surveys so far have turned up no firm evidence of the missing Airbus A320-200.

On Monday, searchers spotted two oily patches and floating objects in separate locations, but it was not known any of it was related to the plane that vanished Sunday halfway into what should have been a two-hour hop from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The area is a busy shipping lane. Officials saw little reason to believe the flight met anything but a grim fate.

Based on the plane's last known coordinates, the aircraft probably crashed into the water and "is at the bottom of the sea," Bambang Soelistyo said Monday. Still, searchers planned to expand their efforts onto land on Tuesday.

The last communication from the cockpit to air traffic control was a request by one of the pilots to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet because of the weather. The tower was not able to immediately comply because of the other planes, said Bambang Tjahjono, director of the state-owned company in charge of air traffic control.

The twin-engine plane was last seen on radar four minutes after the final communication.

A storm alone isn't going to bring down a modern plane designed to withstand severe weather. But weather paired with a pilot error or a mechanical failure could be disastrous.

Pilots rely on sophisticated weather-radar systems that include a dashboard display of storms and clouds, as well as reports from other crews, to steer around dangerous weather.

"A lot more information is available to pilots in the cockpit about weather than it ever was," said Deborah Hersman, former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. But the technology has limits and sometimes information about storms "can be a little bit stale."

Jakarta's air force base commander, Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto, said an Australian Orion aircraft had detected "suspicious" objects near an island about 100 miles off central Kalimantan. That's about 700 miles from where the plane lost contact, but within Monday's greatly expanded search area.

"However, we cannot be sure whether it is part of the missing AirAsia plane," Putranto said.

Air Force spokesman Rear Marshal Hadi Tjahnanto told MetroTV that an Indonesian helicopter spotted two oil patches in the Java Sea east of Belitung island, much closer to where the plane lost contact. He said oil samples would be collected and analyzed.

An Associated Press photographer flew in a C-130 transport carrier with Indonesia's Air Force for 10 hours Monday over a large section of the search area between Kalimantan and Belitung. The flight was bumpy and rainy at times. It flew low, easily spotting waves, ships and fishermen, but there was no sign of the plane.

The suspected crash caps an astonishingly tragic year for air travel in Southeast Asia, and Malaysia in particular. Malaysia-based AirAsia's loss comes on top of the mystery surround Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March with 239 people aboard, and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July over Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers and crew.

Nearly all the passengers and crew are Indonesians, who are frequent visitors to Singapore, particularly on holidays.

Ruth Natalia Puspitasari, who would have turned 26 on Monday, was among them. Her father, Suyanto, sat with his wife, who was puffy-eyed and coughing, near the family crisis center at Surabaya's airport.

"I don't want to experience the same thing with what was happened with Malaysia Airlines," he said as his wife wept. "It could be a long suffering."

Few believe this search will be as perplexing as the ongoing one for Flight 370, where what happened onboard remains a total mystery. Authorities suspect the plane was deliberately diverted by someone on board and ultimately lost in a remote area of the Indian Ocean. Flight 8501 vanished over a heavily traveled sea that is relatively shallow, with no sign of foul play.

The captain, Iryanto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, had more than 20,000 flying hours, AirAsia said.

People who knew Iryanto recalled that he was an experienced military pilot, flying F-16 fighters before shifting to commercial aviation. His French co-pilot, Remi Plesel, had been in Indonesia three years and loved to fly, his sister, Renee, told France's RTL radio.

"He told me that things were going well, that he'd had a good Christmas. He was happy. The rains were starting," she said. "The weather was bad."

AP writers Ali Kotarumalos, Niniek Karmini and Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Joan Lowy in Austin, Texas, Scott Mayerowitz in New York, David Koenig in Dallas and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.\

Properties sold include the office tower at 1200 Main Street built as a headquarters for MassMutual.

SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield has purchased over $16 million in South End real estate as the company continues to patch together the property needed for its planned $800 million casino project.

The purchases were made public this week through the Hampden County Registry of Deeds. MGM used its real-estate arm, Blue Tarp Development, to make the purchases.

Properties changing hands include the one-time MassMutual headquarters at 1200 Main Street. Built in 1908-09, it was Springfield's first steel skyscraper. Former owners C&W Realty Inc. sold the building and the adjacent office buildings at 85-95 State Street for $8.4 million.

MGM Springfield also bought 1156-1178 Main St. for $1.1 million. Built in 1913, 1156-1178 Main St. was the city's first movie theater and was called the "The Edisonia Theatre Block" in honor of the inventor of the medium.

MGM has promised to save historic facades as part of its redevelopment plans. 

Other purchases include buildings and vacant lots on Bliss and Howard streets.

The list includes:

• M&I Frost Realty LLC to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, 1156-1178 Main St., $1.1 million.
• C&W Real Estate Co. LLC to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, 1200 Main St., 85-95 State St., $8.4 million
• 300 State Street Realty Co. LLC to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, 48 Howard St., $1.1 million
• Lyman Taylor Realty Co. to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, Bliss Street, $600,000.
• C&W Equities LLC to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, 1106-1114 Main St., $450,000.
• Lyman Taylor Realty Co. LLC to Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, Bliss Street, $4.4 million.

Last week, MGM Springfield purchased the former Orr Cadillac dealership on Mill St. for $2.3 million as a replacement location for the Springfield Rescue Mission at 19 Bliss St. The Rescue Mission will swap its property for the larger Mill Street location.

Principals at Century Investment Co., the entity that owns 73 State St., have said they expect the sale of that building to go through in January. The 73 State St. building will be turned into an entrance to part of the MGM complex.

Construction on the MGM Springfield complex is expected to begin in 2015.

A statewide referendum challenging the state's casino law put work on hold for months in 2014. But voters in November rejected the ballot question and allowed casino development to move forward.

The deed for 1200 Main Street and adjacent properties

An unidentified driver was killed in a single-car accident Monday night on Route 202, police said.

Conor Berry | cberry@repub.com 

BELCHERTOWN - An unidentified driver was killed in a single-car accident Monday night on Route 202, police said.

The crash, in between Kopec Avenue and Allen Lane, forced police to close route 202, also known as Daniel Shays Highway, to all traffic. The roadway is expected to be closed until after midnight, police said.

The accident was reported just before 7:30 p.m. Police said the department received several calls about a car going off the road, police said.

The first police officers arriving on scene found a car that had gone off the road, struck a tree and then burst into flames.

The driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was not being released Monday night, police said.

CBS 3 Springfield, media partner for The Republican and Masslive, is reporting a state police are being dispatched to the scene to aid in the investigation.

The accident scene is a little more than an a mile north of where routes 202 and 9 meet.

The jet bound from London to Las Vegas carried 447 passengers and 15 crew members.

By JILL LAWLESS

LONDON - A Virgin Atlantic jet bound from London to Las Vegas turned back and made an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport on Monday after developing a problem with its landing gear.

The airline confirmed the Boeing 747-400, carrying 447 passengers and 15 crew members, landed safely about four hours after it took off. Television images showed the jet on the runway as fire trucks and ambulances waited nearby.

Gatwick said several passengers suffered minor injuries.

The incident caused major disruption to travelers. Gatwick's only runway was closed for more than three hours, until about 2 p.m. EDT as the Virgin plane was inspected. Departing flights were suspended, and inbound planes were diverted to other airports.

The airport said in a statement that it would "take some time" for normal service to resume.

The airline said the plane undertook "a non-standard landing procedure" because of "a technical issue with one of the landing gears."

The airport said the flight, VS43, took off at about 11:45 a.m. Monday. Flight-tracking websites show it circled off the coast of southwest England before turning back to Gatwick, south of London. It circled near the airport, and photos appeared to show a set of wheels on its right-side landing gear had not fully descended.

Emergency services were on standby for the landing -- standard procedure when a plane has to land with a technical problem. The plane's emergency chutes were not deployed and passengers disembarked by stairs.

Passenger Mike Kaufman said the crew remained calm and professional throughout the four-hour crisis.

"Everybody gave the crew a big round of applause when we landed," he told Sky News from the plane. "I can't wait to get into the terminal and have a gin and tonic now."

According to the health department, lab results indicate the first actor who tested positive "probably transmitted" HIV to the second.

LOS ANGELES -- California public health officials issued an alert Monday after finding "very strong evidence" that an adult film actor became infected with HIV as a result of unprotected sex on an out-of-state film shoot.

California Dept. of Health 

"During the second film shoot, he had symptoms of a viral infection," the alert states. "The actor went to a clinic and had another blood test that showed he had recently become infected with HIV."

One actor from the second shoot has since tested positive for HIV. According to the health department, lab results indicate the first actor who tested positive "probably transmitted" HIV to the second.

A health department official was unable to immediately release further details regarding the lab testing and investigation. The alert notes that very early in an HIV infection, the test can be negative "even though the actor really does have HIV."

"In this case, the actor and production company thought he was HIV-negative during filming," the alert states. "Shortly after his negative test, HIV levels in his body rose rapidly to where he could infect other actors through unprotected sex.

A California-based trade group for the adult film industry declined to comment.

A health department official declined to release any information regarding when the transmission had taken place or which company it involved, citing privacy restrictions, but said the apparent transmission occurred in Nevada.

"It's happened before, it's happened now, and it will happen in the future," said Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "The big lie the industry has been saying all these years, there are no on-set transmissions, has been proven to be untrue."

The foundation championed an ordinance adopted by Los Angeles County voters in 2012 requiring actors in pornographic films to use condoms. The porn industry has fought the ordinance, saying having actors use condoms would interfere with a film's fantasy element by subjecting viewers to real-world concerns like pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. A federal appeals court recently ruled the ordinance does not violate First Amendment rights.

"Whatever unique message plaintiffs might intend to convey by depicting condomless sex, it is unlikely that viewers of adult films will understand that message," Judge Susan P. Graber wrote in the ruling.

Several porn companies have moved shoots out of the county over the last two years in response to the ordinance. The number of porn filmmakers applying for permits in LA County has declined sharply, from 485 in 2012 to 40 in 2013. Industry officials have contended the ordinance is not necessary, citing their requirement that working actors be tested for sexually transmitted diseases every two weeks.

The last confirmed on-set HIV infection was in 2004. After that, the adult industry adopted the biweekly testing for a range of STDs.

One body was determined to be that of a woman believed to be in her 20s, and it appeared to have been dismembered.

BROCKTON, Mass. -- Two sets of human remains were discovered during a search of a wooded area in Massachusetts and at least one of the bodies, that of a young woman, had been dismembered, authorities said Monday.

File 

The remains were taken to the state medical examiner to try to determine their identities and the cause and manner of death, Cruz said, adding that anyone aware of missing loved ones should contact state police immediately.

The first body was discovered Sunday in a wooded area about a quarter-mile from the parking lot of a Brockton VFW Post and near several single-family homes. Police began a search and found the skeletal remains of the second body on Monday.

One body was determined to be that of a woman believed to be in her 20s, and it appeared to have been dismembered, Cruz said. The gender of the other body, found beneath the other, could not immediately be determined, nor was it possible to know if it had also been dismembered, he said.

Brockton, about 25 miles south of Boston, is a city of about 93,000 residents.

"I realize this is going to be of great concern to residents of the community," Mayor Bill Carpenter said of the discovery of the remains, adding the city would support the investigation in any way it could.

Cruz declined to say who notified authorities of the first body. Asked if investigators feared there could be other remains in the area, the district attorney would not rule out the possibility but added that "every nook and cranny" of the nearby woods had been searched.

Sees such relationships as having intrinsic Christian values.

A statement by a Roman Catholic bishop in Belgium that the Church should bless gay relationships and recognize their commitment values is being called historic by a Baltimore-based ministry that advocates for LGBT Catholics.

"New Ways Ministry strongly applauds Bishop Johan Bonny's call for ecclesiastical recognition of lesbian and gay couples. This is the first time in known history that a Catholic bishop has made such an explicit call for same-gender couples to receive recognition and affirmation that is equal to that of heterosexual couples," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a national Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for LGBT people and the Church.

"His request is based on the fact that the moral qualities of faithfulness, loyalty, and care which characterize lesbian and gay couples are the very same principles which characterize the unique form of heterosexually married couples. These principles are the same ones which the majority of Catholic theologians today say should be the basis of the Church's sexual ethics, instead of basing these ethics on a procreative standard and an outdated concept of male-female complementarity."

During a Dec. 27 interview with De Morgen, Bonny, of Antwerp, is reported as telling the Flemish daily that there should be "a diversity of recognition," within the Church, beyond gender issues, when it comes to relationships, and their comparative values of commitment.

"We have to look inside the church for a formal recognition of the relationality, which is also present in many gay couples." Bonny said. "The intrinsic values are more important to me than the institutional demand. The Christian ethic is based on lasting relationships where exclusivity, loyalty and care are central to each other."

Bonny is considered a possible successor to Andre-Joseph Leonard, archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, and primate of Belgium, who will submit his letter of retirement, as required, when he turns 75 in May of next year. Bonny wrote about Church teachings and relationships in a lengthy letter (pdf) to the Vatican prior to its synod on the family in September.

Rik Torfs, rector of KU Leuven and a canon lawyer, told the Flemish paper not to "underestimate" the significance of Bonny's statement that, he noted, would not have been even been discussed under the more dogmatic papacies of Pope Francis' predecessors.

Angel L. Casiano Jr., 45, was charged with two counts of possessing illegal drugs with the intent to distribute, driving without a license and failing to stop at a red light, court documents said.

A Springfield man will be tried in Hampden Superior Court after police found 37 bags of heroin and some cocaine in his van, according to court documents.

Angel L. Casiano Jr., 45, was charged with two counts of possessing illegal drugs with the intent to distribute, driving without a license and failing to stop at a red light, court documents said.

Casiano was arraigned in Westfield District Court on Dec. 10 and held on $10,000 bail. His case was transferred to Hampden Superior Court Tuesday.

Agawam Police received a call on Nov. 11 at about 3:30 p.m. about suspicious activity in the parking lot of Dave's Soda and Pet City on Springfield Street. The suspicious vehicle was described as a white van with Connecticut plates and two ladders mounted on the roof, police reports said.

Police arrived at the parking lot and noticed a white van pull out of the parking. The van then allegedly took a right turn at a red light without coming to a complete stop, police said.

Police pulled the van over. The operator, identified as Casiano, didn't have a license to operate the car, police reports said. While speaking to Casiano, an officer noticed a clear plastic baggie that appeared to be torn on one side, with a knot tied at the other, inside the van. This method of packaging is commonly used for drugs, according to police reports, and is referred to as "blow out."

Casiano was then asked to exit the vehicle, was placed in handcuffs and patted down by an officer. Police found a large wad of cash, about $300, in Casiano's pocket, reports said.

Casiano was told he was under arrest for not having a valid license, and that his van would be searched. Casiano informed police he had heroin in a black sock in the car.

Inside the sock, police found four wax paper bundles and three clear plastic baggies, which contained a white powder substance identified as cocaine, reports said. The paper bundles contained 37 small baggies that later tested positive for heroin. Police also found $558 in cash in the van, police said.