Boston police will not allow potential demonstrators to disrupt city's First Night events, Police Commissioner Williams Evans said.
A digest of news stories from around New England.
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Boston officials said they are prepared to handle any kind of protests that take place on Wednesday when the city celebrates New Year's Eve though they would prefer the protesters not use the First Night festivities as vehicle for protest.
BOSTON -- Boston officials said they are prepared to handle any kind of protests that take place on Wednesday when the city celebrates New Year's Eve though they would prefer the protesters not use the First Night festivities as vehicle for protest.
Two protests are planned for the evening one, a "die-in" against police brutality outside the Boston Public Library in Copley Square and the other an anti-war march down Boylston Street. The two protests are expected to merge together at some point in the evening.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said that his officers will uphold the First Amendment but they will not tolerate disruptions of First Night events.
"I just hope they respect that this isn't the event to hold this," said Evans.
Evans said any kind of disruption of the event would be a "disservice" to New Year's revelers and city residents.
Multiple public safety officials, including Evans, said that they do not expect any problems at First Night and that they do not have any information about credible threats.
Public safety officials, including Evans, said that the protest appears to be driven by people and forces from outside the city. Evans said that police have tried to communicate with protest organizers but have had limited success. On Monday of the protest organizers would not comment when asked what their communication with city officials has been like.
"It's a family event, a lot of children, a lot of elderly. We just want to them to keep the roadways clear so people can walk down the sidewalks and streets," said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh.
Officials said that they do not anticipate a crowd similar to the one that attempted to disrupt the city's annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in early December.
Over one million people are expected to attend First Night events in Boston according to event organizers.
The event has faced financial struggles in recent years but this year features a long list of well heeled corporate sponsors including the Highland Street Foundation, Bank of America, State Street Corporation, Verizon, Liberty Mutual, CVS and John Hancock.
The event, which will take place on Boston Common and at the Hynes Convention Center and Copley Square, costs $1 million to stage, according to city officials.
The MBTA will operate for free from 3 p.m. until 2 a.m. on New Year's Eve.
Annual First Night activities begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Northampton's annual First Night activities begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Find a full schedule of events here [pdf] »
The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit.
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
HAYDEN, Idaho - A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Walmart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday.
The woman was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said. Her family had come to the area to visit relatives, he said.
The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into the victim's purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which discharged one time.
"It appears to be a pretty tragic accident," Miller said.
The woman's husband was not in the store when the shooting happened at about 10:20 a.m. Miller said the man arrived shortly after the shooting. All the children were taken to a relative's house.
The shooting occurred in the Walmart in Hayden, Idaho, a town about 40 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. The store closed and was not expected to reopen until Wednesday morning.
Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Walmart, said in a statement the shooting was a "very sad and tragic accident."
"We are working closely with the local sheriff's department while they investigate what happened," Buchanan said.
In neighboring Washington state, a 3-year-old boy was seriously injured in November when he was accidentally shot in the face by a 4-year-old neighbor. The boy was wounded as the children played in a home in Lake Stevens, about 30 miles north of Seattle.
In April, a 2-year-old boy apparently shot and killed his 11-year-old sister while they and their siblings played with a gun inside a Philadelphia home. Authorities said the gun was believed to have been brought into the home by the mother's boyfriend.
Hayden is a politically conservative town of about 9,000 people just north of Coeur d'Alene, in Idaho's northern panhandle.
Idaho lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year allowing concealed weapons on the state's public college and university campuses.
Despite facing opposition from all eight of the state's university college presidents, lawmakers sided with gun rights advocates who said the law would better uphold the Second Amendment.
Under the law, gun holders are barred from bringing their weapons into dormitories or buildings that hold more than 1,000 people, such as stadiums or concert halls.
AP writer Kimberlee Kruesi in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.
The Chessmen Lounge changed from a restaurant in the early decades to a lounge since the late 1960s. Watch video
SPRINGFIELD — There was sadness and memories being shared at the Chessmen Lounge on Tuesday, as the downtown business sets to close on New Year's Eve after being family-owned and operated for 70 years, including as a restaurant use in the early decades.
A handful of patrons and bartender Kathleen "Kat" Hansen, sat and stood at the bar, saying they will be sad to see the business close. The lounge has been a fixture at 459 Dwight St. at the end of Lyman Street.
"I'm still in shock," said Hansen, of Chicopee, who has worked at the lounge for 20 years. "It hasn't really hit me yet. Tomorrow, when I lock the door, that's when it will hit me."
One of the patrons, Gina Gilligan, of Springfield, said she has been going to the lounge, often with her father, since she was 4 years old, as allowed in those times. She recalls playing pinball on Saturdays, reaching the levers by standing on milk cartons while her father had a couple of beers.
She sat with her father, Bob McClarty, of Chicopee, on Tuesday.
"I'm sad to see it go," Gilligan said. "It's the end of an era. I have a lot of good memories here, and I am very sad to see it close."
The owners and Hansen are like family, she said.
The business has been a lounge since the late 1960s and was previously a restaurant dating back to the 1930s, according to the ownership.
Andrea Arvanitis-Moses, one of the owners, said the business and the property has been owned by her family since the 1930s, begun by her grandfather, George Arvantitis.
The business has struggled in the downtown, Arvantitis-Moses said, believing that a key factor has been concerns about safety in the downtown area. She does not believe the city has done enough to address safety, she said.
James Leydon, communications director for Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, declined comment on Chessmen Lounge on Tuesday, but did comment on the downtown.
"Downtown is safe," Leydon said. "We cannot control the patrons that these establishments attract. Some of these establishments need to step up and police themselves."
Gilligan said she has always felt safe at the Chessmen, and felt the staff and owners were like family to her.
"This is home," Gilligan said, noting that her father would have his birthday parties at the Chessmen.
McClarty, 70, said he has been going to the bar for 52 years, having his first legal beer at the business.
"It's as good as Cheers," McClarty said.
"My father was Norm," Gilligan said.
"No, I wasn't Norm," McClarty responded.
McClarty said there are "a lot of good people who passed through these doors, friends of mine, acquaintances at first and good friends."
The lounge was a very friendly place - the customers, staff and patrons, he said.
Hansen said the business was called the Depot Lunch restaurant prior to being a lounge. The bar is a short distance from the Amtrak train station on Lyman Street.
Arvanitis-Moses praised the staff, saying that many have worked more than a decade there. The bar endured a tornado and microburst over the years and there was a nearby gas explosion, family members said.
"It has stood through a lot of hard times, and unfortunately, it has finally met its end," Arvanitis-Moses said.
The future of the property is not yet determined, she said.
The lounge manager, Nicholas Moses, was beaten with a pipe in the parking lot of the Chessmen Lounge in November 2013, shortly after midnight. He is Arvanitis-Moses' husband.
Two men were found guilty last month of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Hampden Superior court in connection with the crime.
Vestal taught for 46 years and then subbed in the classroom well into her 70s.
CHICOPEE - Connie Vestal was a consummate teacher who spent 46 years in the classroom and then went back as a substitute after she retired.
Her love was reading and teaching children how to read was so well known that when she died in September after a battle with cancer, city teachers wanted to do something more than send flowers.
On what would have been her 80th birthday Tuesday, long-term friends and fellow educators donated $1,400 raised over the past few months to fund a new early-reading program for the Chicopee Public Library.
"I know my mom would have been so proud to have her name associated with this," said Mary Lou Gurney, of Southwick. "I know she would have loved this program."
After Vestal died, Donna Kucinski, a fifth-grade teacher at James Selser School, talked to some of her fellow educators and they agreed the best way to honor their friend and colleague was to make a donation to the Chicopee Public Library.
"She had a passion for reading. When she taught reading, it was not a subject it was something brought to life," Kucinski said.
She talked to Vestal's family, Erin Daly, the youth services coordinator and Barbara Pronovost, youth services specialist, had begun a 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, which is being run in libraries across the country.
"It is a pre-literacy program to encourage families to read 1,000 books to children," Daly said.
The program is designed to introduce children to as many new words as possible before they start school. When parents sign up their children, they are given a packet and they can start recording all the books children hear in their young lives. When they reach each 100-book milestone they earn a sticker, Daly said.
"It is a pre-literacy program to encourage families to read 1,000 books to children," she said.
Even books a child asks to read over and over again are counted multiple times because the repetition helps a child learn, she said.
The money donated will initially purchase a display case where children's names and their book totals will be posted, a number of recommended books will be displayed. A plaque announcing the program is being sponsored in Vestal's memory has already been finished and will be put on the display.
The remaining money will be used to continue purchasing materials for the program, Daly said.
Music was played and several fellow teachers and friends spoke at the reception held on Vestal's Dec. 30 birthday but the most poignant speeches came from Vestal's two children.
"If I can have one-tenth of an impact on one-tenth of the people my mom had, I would leave this world satisfied," said Kevin Vestal of Ludlow.
Vestal grew up in San Antonio, Texas and moved to Chicopee with her husband, who was in the military. She earned two masters degrees and always taught in Chicopee, he said.
She served as a health teacher and as a classroom teacher always in elementary grades. She worked in a variety of schools in the city, Kucinski said.
Vestal had three children, including Mark Vestal, who lives in Maryland and could not make the event, and seven grandchildren.
Kevin Vestal talked about her love of books and said his mother collected books in her garage that she would give away to children.
A number of teachers who Vestal worked with and traveled with also attended the event. Many said if they knew they were going to be out for some time they would call Vestal and ask her if they would serve as the long-term substitute for them.
Fire Departments from Agawam and Longmeadow are assisting with the search.
UPDATE, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, 8:36 p.m.: Springfield fire officials call off rescue search for man who jumped from North End Bridge »
SPRINGFIELD - Firefighters from three different departments are currently searching for a person who may have jumped from either the Memorial Bridge or the North End Bridge.
Someone called police at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday to report a possible suicide. The Springfield Fire Department responded, did not find anyone threatening to jump, and proceeded to launch a boat to start searching the river, said Dennis Leger, assistant to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.
Fire Departments from Agawam and Longmeadow have also put boats in the water and are assisting in the search, Leger said.
Police meanwhile are trying to interview people at the Pride Station on 77 West St., where the call was made to see if they can find more information, Leger said.
"Information is sketchy but we obviously have to pay attention to it," Leger said.
On Christmas Day, one of Hensel's daughters gave birth to a baby girl.
It's not bad enough that Michelle Hensel, 42, of San Antonio, Texas, died after being shot by her boyfriend shortly before Christmas.
Now, her three daughters, with whom she lived, are facing eviction because Hensel was behind on her rent.
USA Today reported that Hensel died Sunday, almost a week after her boyfriend shot her in the head at her home, according to the Bexar County medical examiner.
The girls, ages 17 to 20, were at her side in the days leading up to Christmas and afterwards, as she lay in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center, according to the newspaper.
The man who shot her, John Arthur Regalado, 43, then turned the gun on himself immediately after the Dec. 22 attack, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Then, on Christmas morning, one of Hensel's daughters gave birth to a baby girl, Gizelle Michelle Munoz.
"They are struggling," Delia Leija Hensel said of her granddaughters. "When she passed away, the first thing Alexandria said is, 'Now we are going to be split apart.' "
KENS5-TV, the CBS affiliated television station in San Antonio, reported that Hensel had just landed a full-time before she was killed. She was poised to resume paying rent on the small, white clapboard house they called home.
A memorial fund has been set up on the GoFundMe.com website, and as of Tuesday evening, nearly $9,000 had been pledged by more than 130 people.
Delia Hensel and her husband, Fritz, have stepped in, hoping to keep the family together.
"We are bound and determined to keep our family together, that's the most important thing," Fritz told KENS5.
Fritz Hensel is grateful that his daughter donated some of her organs to other people.
"She donated her liver, two kidneys and her corneas," USA Today quoted him as saying. "One of her kidneys went to her daughter's father-in-law, and it's my understanding that it started working as soon as it was put in."It makes me feel like Michelle is going to live on - and within the family," Frits Henzel said.
The New York Daily News reported that the names of Hensel's daughters have not been released to the media.
Peloquin, a groundskeeper at the Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, had gone to the club to talk his estranged former step daughter out of dancing there. At his bail hearing, his mother testified that Peloquin was incapable of violence and would not even "kill a mouse in the house."
These are a sampling of newsworthy stories from Springfield District Court in 2014.
1. A Springfield man with drug and firearm convictions is being held without bail for allegedly strapping two men to a cross and beating them with sticks and boards for what a judge called "misdeeds in the drug trade. The defendant, Vito Resto, 36, is being held at the Hampden County House of Correction while he awaits trial on kidnapping and assault charges.
2. A Western New England University football player was charged with aggravated assault after his girlfriend suffered a fractured skull during a party at his off-campus house in November.
John Perry, 21, of Marblehead, pleaded innocent and denied knowing how the woman, also a WNEU student, suffered her injuries.
3. A Springfield mother of eight was charged with running a drug operation from her Oak Grove Avenue home and employing family members to sell heroin, OxyContin and marijuana.
Marylin Rosado, 44, allegedly controlled the operation and made drug deliveries in the Mason Square area, despite suffering from bone cancer and Lupus.
4. In what authorities called a horrific case of animal abuse, a West Springfield couple were charged after their pit bull puppy suffered a broken leg, broken ribs and traumatic head injuries while living at their home. An 11-year old was also charged in the case.
The pair, Jason Nieves, 31, and Jacquelyn Hadley, 26, pleaded innocent to three counts each of animal cruelty. A state investigator quoted Hadley as saying she loved the dog and treated him "like a member of the family."
5. South Hadley resident John Peloquin was ordered held without bail after allegedly threatening employees of the Fifth Alarm strip club in Springfield with a shotgun after he was ejected for fighting with the manager.
Peloquin, a groundskeeper at the Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, had gone to the club to talk his estranged former step daughter out of dancing there. At his bail hearing, his mother testified that Peloquin was incapable of violence and would not even "kill a mouse in the house."
6. In December, Holyoke resident John Huckins was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol - the 11th time the 53-year-old house painter has been charged with the offense.
After flunking a field sobriety test, Huckins scored a .20 on the blood alcohol test and told police he hasn't had a license in 30 years.
At the prosecution's request, he was ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing this week.
7. Tow truck driver Robert A. Livingston watched his white Cadillac get towed away in February after state police cited him for driving with a suspended license and without an inspection sticker.
At 39, the Springfield man has already been convicted five times for operating with a suspended license, and has more than a dozen suspensions or revocations listed on his 11-page driving record, state Registry of Motor Vehicle Records show. In the past five years alone, Livingston has 25 entries on his record, including speeding, a surchargeable accident and multiple license suspensions.
In August, he pleaded innocent the new driving violations and was released on personal recognizance.
8. After an 80-year old woman was robbed in the South End in December. Springfield police allegedly solved the case by following the money - right into Titus Crews left hand.
Not only did Crews, 35, of Springfield, fit the description given by the woman, but he was standing next to her with 3 $20 bills in his hand, according to his arrest report.
During the defendant's arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Marie Angers said he had an extensive criminal record, including three arrests since June.
Denied bail, Crews - whose aliases are listed as Fire and Bloody Fire on his arrest report - is awaiting trial at the Hampden County House of Correction.
9. After watching James J. McDonald struggle to control his vehicle in a snowstorm, state police pulled him over on Main Street in Springfield and charged him with operating under the influence of alcohol.
In this case, the vehicle was a motor scooter, and the charge was the 29th on McDonald's criminal record since 2006. After flunking a field sobriety test, McDonald, a 26-year old carpenter, told police he stopped for a couple of beers on his way home from work.
In March, he was placed on one-year probation, but was back in court in November after testing positive for cocaine and missing meetings with his probation officer.
10. Judge Charles W. Groce III assumed the role of life coach last week, giving a defendant a break on a larceny charge after grilling him about his work, education and family life.
Rejecting a plea agreement that included a felony conviction, Groce decided to continue the case of Samuel Rivera, 26, of Springfield, without a finding while placing him on one-year probation.
After learning the defendant has a steady job, no previous criminal record and visits his two daughters most weekends, Groce said a felony conviction on the 2008 charge would only hinder Rivera's education and employment prospects.
"You made a mistake when you were younger," the judge said, referring to his theft of $250 from a Dunkin Donuts.
"Make yourself more marketable; make your self more valuable," the judge said. "It's not rocket science; the only thing that's rocket science is rocket science."
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 55 points to close at 17,983.07.
By KEN SWEET
NEW YORK — Lingering concerns about the political future of Greece pushed U.S. and global stock markets modestly lower on Tuesday.
Trading was slow as most investors have closed their books for 2014. It was the eighth-slowest day of the year on the New York Stock Exchange.
As been the case several times this year, investors turned their eyes to Europe.
Greek stocks stabilized after a volatile day Monday, when the country's government was forced to call elections that could create more economic turmoil. Investors worry that the elections might be won by the left-wing opposition Syriza party, which opposes the austerity measures associated with Greece's international financial rescue deal. The Athens stock market plunged as much as 11 percent on Monday before recovering some of those losses to close down 4 percent that day.
"An election puts all sorts of doubt on the future of the bailout agreement," said Stan Shamu, a market strategist at IG Markets. "Potentially markets had already priced this in, but I would still remain cautious around Greece."
U.S. stocks opened lower and stayed down throughout the day. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 55.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,983.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10.22 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,080.35 and the Nasdaq composite fell 29.47 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,777.44.
European markets also fell. France's CAC 40 lost 1.7 percent, Germany's DAX declined 1.2 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1.3 percent. Greece's stock market fell 0.4 percent.
At this point, most investors are done trading for the year. The market is also expected to be quiet Wednesday ahead of New Year's Day holiday, however oftentimes the last trading day of the year does see a modest burst of trading as some investors shift their portfolios around for tax purposes.
With one more trading day in 2014, the S&P 500 is up 12.6 percent for the year, or 15.4 percent including dividends. That gain is almost double what stock market strategists expected at the beginning of the year.
"There were some negative surprises along the way, including the Ebola scare and increasing social tensions around the globe," Gary Thayer, chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, wrote in a note to investors. "However, U.S. markets were able to weather these problems as (the U.S. economy) improved."
In other markets, the dollar fell against the euro and yen. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.19 percent from 2.20 percent Monday.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 51 cents to settle at $54.12 a barrel in New York. On Monday, the contract plunged $1.12 to settle at $53.61. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, edged up two cents to close at $57.90 a barrel in London.
In other energy commodities, wholesale gasoline was little changed at $1.454 a gallon, heating oil rose two cents to $1.869 a gallon and natural gas fell 10.5 cents to close at $3.094 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose $18.50 to $1,200.40 an ounce, silver rose 50 cents to $16.28 an ounce and copper rose three cents to $2.85 a pound.
Youkyung Lee contributed to this report from South Korea.
In a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a coalition urged the House not to pass the bill, suggesting it could add as much as $8 million to the cost of health coverage for small businesses and employees through higher premiums.
By MATT MURPHY
BOSTON - Insurers, small business advocates and local chambers of commerce are asking House lawmakers to put the brakes on a late moving bill that would require health insurance carriers to cover services from licensed education psychologists for students.
The health coverage mandate, which would expand the state's mental health parity law, has already cleared the Senate, and on Tuesday the bill was teed up by the House Ways and Means Committee for possible passage before a new Legislature convenes next Wednesday.
In a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Tuesday, a coalition led by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and Blue Cross Blue Shield urged the House not to pass the bill, suggesting it could add as much as $8 million to the cost of health coverage for small businesses and employees through higher premiums.
The groups also critiqued the bill in the letter arguing it would "blur the line" between what has traditionally been covered by health insurance and services that are primarily educational.
"Senate bill 2416 would result in a major policy change in the commonwealth that will have the effect of shifting services that are educational in nature from the schools to private insurance," the letter argued.
The letter was also signed by the Massachusetts chapter of National Federation of Independent Business, the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Service Bureau, and Health Services Administrators.
The bill was originally filed almost two years ago in January 2013 at the start of the session by Sen. Richard Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat. The Senate Ways and Means Committee rewrote the bill, and the Senate passed it on Dec. 18 during a lightly attended informal session.
Intended to expand student access to licensed education psychologists, bill would add such providers to the list of licensed mental health professionals whose services must be covered by the Group Insurance Commission, private insurers, non-profit hospital service corporations, medical service corporations and health maintenance organizations.
A Center for Health Information and Analysis report from July estimated the new mandate could cost between $2.2 million and $8.8 million, while Senate leaders said the new costs of the bill to the state could be covered through existing appropriations.
Thirteen members of the House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday, with zero opposed and five representatives reserved their rights.
The House meets next on Wednesday.
Supportive statements suggest party leaders think the flare-up will fade during the holidays, with a new Congress set to convene next week.
By CHARLES BABINGTON
WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders rallied around one of their own, Whip Steve Scalise, on Tuesday after he said he regrets speaking 12 years ago to a white supremacist organization and condemns the views of such groups.
The supportive statements suggest party leaders think the flare-up will fade during the holidays, with a new Congress set to convene next week. Several Democrats criticized the Louisiana lawmaker but did not call for his resignation.
Scalise said that as a state legislator in 2002, he spoke to many groups about a major tax issue.
"One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn," he said in a statement Tuesday. "It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold."
Republican leaders defended Scalise within minutes.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said Scalise "made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate." Boehner said Scalise "has my full confidence as our Whip."
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said Scalise "acknowledged he made a mistake and has condemned the views that organization espouses. I've known him as a friend for many years and I know that he does not share the beliefs of that organization."
Scalise also won a key endorsement Monday from Rep. Cedric Richmond, who will be Louisiana's only Democrat and only black in Congress when the new Congress convenes next week. Richmond told NOLA.com: "I don't think Steve Scalise has a racist bone in his body." He said he has worked closely with Scalise and "I am not going to let them use Steve as a scapegoat to score political points when I know him and know his family."
Louisiana's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, also defended the congressman.
Scalise acknowledged speaking at a 2002 Louisiana convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, which called itself EURO. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke founded the group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group.
In an interview Monday with MassLive's sister news organization, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and NOLA.com, Scalise said he had little staffing as a state legislator, and didn't always know details of groups he was invited to address. "I didn't know who all of these groups were, and I detest any kind of hate group," Scalise told the newspaper.
His statement Tuesday did not deal with the issue of weak staffing or sketchy knowledge of his audiences in 2002. Scalise, who is Catholic, said "these groups hold views that are vehemently opposed to my own personal faith, and I reject that kind of hateful bigotry."
Louisiana Republicans say Duke, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1991, did not attend the 2002 EURO convention, but addressed it at one point by phone.
In his NOLA.com interview, Scalise said he knew about Duke, but indicated he didn't recognize Duke's connection to the group.
"Everyone knew who he was," Scalise told NOLA.com. "I would not go to any group that he was a part of."
Democrats were measured in their criticisms. For instance, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's office issued a statement not from her but from her spokesman, Drew Hammill. It said Scalise's "involvement with a group classified by the Anti-Defamation League as anti-Semitic and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group is deeply troubling for a top Republican leader in the House. "
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized Scalise in an earlier statement on Tuesday, saying he "chose to cheerlead for a group of KKK members and neo-Nazis at a white supremacist rally." The statement questioned why the GOP leadership had remained silent.
Scalise, 49, ascended to his leadership post in June in the chain of events that followed then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor's surprise defeat in a Republican primary.
Scalise won the whip race with the solid backing of House conservatives, particularly Southerners who wanted a greater leadership voice considering the region's role in giving Republicans their largest House majority since President Herbert Hoover's administration at the start of the Great Depression.
AP writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The first proof of the jet's fate emerged Tuesday in an area not far from where it dropped off radar screens.
By DEWI NURCAHYANI
and ROBIN McDOWELL
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - A massive hunt for the 162 victims of AirAsia Flight 8501 resumed in the Java Sea on Wednesday, focusing on an area of the aqua-colored waters where the first bodies and debris were located a day earlier. But wind, strong currents and high surf hampered recovery efforts as distraught family members anxiously waited to identify their loved ones.
The first proof of the jet's fate emerged Tuesday in an area not far from where it dropped off radar screens. Searchers found as many as six bodies and debris that included a life jacket, an emergency exit door and a suitcase about 10 miles from the plane's last known coordinates.
On Wednesday, divers were deployed, but heavy rain and clouds grounded helicopters, said Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo.
The airliner's disappearance halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore triggered an international search for the aircraft involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters. It is still unclear what brought the plane down.
The plane needs to be located and its cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, recovered before officials can start determining what caused the crash.
Images of the debris and a bloated body shown on Indonesian television sent a spasm of anguish through the room at the Surabaya airport where relatives awaited news.
The first sign of the jet turned up about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from its last known coordinates. Parts of the interior, including the oxygen tank, were brought to the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun. Another find included a bright blue plastic suitcase, completely unscratched.
"I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead," said Ifan Joko, who lost seven family members, three of them children, as they traveled to Singapore to ring in the new year. "We still pray they are alive."
First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta, commander of the Naval Aviation Center at Surabaya Air Force base, told reporters six corpses were spotted about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Central Kalimantan province.
Rescue workers descended on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve bodies. Efforts were hindered by 2-meter (6-foot) waves and strong winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi said.
The first body was later picked up by a navy ship. Officials said as many as six others followed, but they disagreed about the exact number.
Supriyadi was on the aircraft and saw what appeared to be more wreckage under the water, which was clear and a relatively shallow 65 to 100 feet.
When TV broadcast an image of a half-naked man floating in the water, a shirt partially covering his head, many of the family members screamed and wailed uncontrollably. One middle-aged man collapsed and had to be carried out on a stretcher.
Their horror was captured by cameras on the other side of windows into the waiting room. Officials later blacked out the glass.
About 125 family members were planning to travel Wednesday to Pangkalan Bun to start identifying their loved ones. Body bags and coffins have been prepared at three hospitals there. Dozens of elite military divers also joined the search.
Malaysia-based AirAsia's loss comes on top of the still-unsolved disappearance of 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 were Indonesians, who are frequent visitors to Singapore, particularly on holidays.
Haidar Fauzie, 60, said his youngest child and only daughter, Khairunnisa Haidar, was a flight attendant who had worked with AirAsia for two years.
On learning about the crash, he struggled to console his grieving wife. They last saw their child six weeks ago, when she returned home on holiday.
"From the start, we already knew the risks associated with being a stewardess," Fauzie said. "She is beautiful and smart. It has always been her dream to fly. We couldn't have stopped her."
AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, the airline's founder and public face and a constant presence in Indonesia since the tragedy started unfolding, said he planned to travel to the recovery site on Wednesday.
"I have apologized profusely for what they are going through," he said of his contact with relatives. "I am the leader of this company, and I have to take responsibility. That is why I'm here. I'm not running away from my obligations."
The jet's last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the jet disappeared from the radar without issuing a distress signal.
Several countries rushed to Indonesia to help with search and recovery efforts.
The United States said it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer, joining at least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters in the search for the jet.
A Chinese frigate was on the way. Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the plane's all-important cockpit voice and flight-data recorders. Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved in the search.
AP writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos and Margie Mason in Jakarka and Eileen Ng in Surabaya, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
A witness said he saw the man on the bridge and then heard a large splash.
This updates a story posted at 7:08 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — Firefighters have called off a search for a man who is believed to have jumped from the North End Bridge Tuesday night.
A witness called police at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday to report a possible suicide. The Springfield Fire Department responded, did not find anyone threatening to jump, and proceeded to launch a boat to start searching the river, said Dennis Leger, assistant to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.
Fire departments from Agawam and Longmeadow also put boats in the water and assisted in the search, Leger said.
The search stretched south down to the South End Bridge. After about an hour, fire officials determined the man could not have survived any longer in the water with temperatures in the low 20s.
"The water was high and there are swift currents and debris in the water. It was dangerous so they called the search off," Leger said.
At first the Springfield police and fire departments were uncertain if anyone had jumped, but a witness said he saw the man on the bridge and heard a splash, Leger said.
Fire Department officials will decide Wednesday morning if they should resume the search to try to recover the man's body, he said.
Celebrations and events were held in Holyoke, Northampton, Easthampton and elsewhere.
Molly Kwiatkowski, 18, of 881 McKinstry Ave., Chicopee, was charged with attempted armed robbery and attempted breaking and entering, according to Chicopee Police Officer Mike Wilk, the department's public information and media officer.
Updates story published at 9:10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, patrol officers responded to the store at 650 Memorial Drive and spoke with a 67-year-old woman, who claimed she was approached by a younger female wearing dark clothing. According to police, the younger woman said, "Let me have your purse, I have a knife in my pocket."
That prompted the older woman to begin yelling at her assailant, who fled the store on foot, police said.
On Wednesday, Chicopee police posted Big Y surveillance photos on the department's Facebook page, hoping that members of the public might be able to identify the blonde-haired woman shown in the images.
"We had several calls from citizens with information about a possible suspect," Wilk said.
Upon further investigation, detectives arrested Molly Kwiatkowski, 18, of 881 McKinstry Ave., Chicopee, and charged her with attempted armed robbery. Detectives, during the course of their investigation, also charged Kwiatkowski with attempted breaking and entering, according to Wilk.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, Kwiatkowski was still being held at the Police Department's lockup. Courts are closed Thursday for New Year's Day, so her arraignment won't likely take place in Chicopee District Court until Friday.
As part of the investigation, officers arranged a controlled buy of drugs from Daniel DeThomas shortly before his arrest, police said.
BRATTLEBORO — A 32-year-old Hartford, Connecticut man was arrested in Brattleboro Wednesday on drug charges after he was found with amounts of cocaine and heroin, according to the Vermont State Police.
Daniel DeThomas was charged with sale of heroin, possession of heroin, possession of cocaine, attempted sale of heroin and giving false information to a police office.
His arrest Wednesday on Western Avenue was the result of an investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force, according to police. As part of the investigation, officers arranged a controlled buy of drugs from DeThomas shortly before his arrest, police said.
When he was being booked at the state police barracks, DeThomas gave police a fake name, which resulted in the false-information charge being added to the list of charges.
He is being held at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vermont pending his court arraignment, police said.
Vermont police have been dealing with what is being called an epidemic of heroin use throughout the state, and officials say much of it is transported to the region from Interstate 91.
A half-hour after receiving a call from her supposedly deceased done, the coroner's office called Karen Robinson asking her to come identify a body.
Police in Washington, D.C., had to apologize to a woman Monday for telling her that her son had been killed in a shoot-out on Christmas Eve.
Karen Robinson was awakened at 2 a.m. Christmas by officers who told her they had shot her son during a robbery. According to the New York Daily News, Robinson told police they had the wrong house, that her son would never do that.
Hours later, Raymond Robinson called his mother to wish her a Merry Christmas.
"He says, 'Merry Christmas, mom,' and I said, 'Who is this?''' Karen Robinson was quoted as saying. "He said, 'Mom, this is Raymond.' I said, 'Boy, they said you died.''
A half hour later, someone from the coroner's office asked her to come to identify a body. Needless to say, Robinson didn't go.
On Monday, police identified the dead man as Gregory Marcus Gray, 33. Later that day, a Metropolitan Police officer showed up at Robinson's door to apologize.
About 3 p.m. on Christmas eve, police cornered a robbery suspect in the southeast section of the city, according to NBC4 in Washington. Gray shot at the officers, who returned fire, killing him. He had allegedly robbed someone outside a bank, police said.
"I think they should make a positive ID on a person before they come because anything could have happened," Karen Robinson told the station. "I could have had a heart attack right here on this floor."
Metropolitan Police admitted that proper protocol was not followed in the identification of the body. "The department is investigating how the occurred so that it does not happen again," police said in a prepared statement.
Police notified the press about the incorrect name, and some news outlets were forced to run a correction on Tuesday.
According to the Washington Post, Gregory Gray's family had been searching for him since just before Christmas. He hadn't visited his mother, which was unusual, and he wasn't with the mother of his 4-year old son. Relatives started calling area hospitals.
When Gray's brother, Gary, heard on the news that police had fatally shot a man on Christmas Eve, and identified him as Raymond Robinson, family members were relieved. They knew Gray had had previous run-ins with police, the Post reported.
But Gray's mother was still worried, so she filed a missing persons report on Monday. Later that day, police called Gary Gray and hold him that they had misidentified the man who had been fatally shot.
All of this caused two families to wonder how police bungled the identification of the alleged perpetrator and why it took them so long to realize the mistake.
"I'm confused," Gary Gray, 36, told the Post. "I don't know what to think, to be honest with you."
Police said they fired at Gray only after he had fired at them. One witness said he heard at least 18 shots. Police said they recovered Gray's gun from the scene.
A 61-year-old woman who lives in an apartment overlooking the scene, said she saw officers repeatedly fire on Gray. The woman, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity because she feared retribution, said she saw Gray stop when he got to the fence. She said she did not see Gray with a weapon, something she said she told police.
"I guess he realized he couldn't get out," the newspaper quoted her as saying. "He turned, and as soon as he turned, police opened fire. I didn't see no gun. . . . I didn't see him point a gun."
If you can't make it to Times Square in New York City for tonight's New Year's Eve 2014 party to ring in 2015, then right here is the next-best place with the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment New Year's Eve live webcast.
We all know that Times Square in New York City is where the New Year's Eve 2014 party takes place to ring in 2015, but if you can't get there – or if you are there and want to see what's going on behind the scenes – then right here is the place to celebrate.
The organizers of the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration, Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, are back again with their six-hour live, commercial-free webcast – embedded at the top of this article – of all the action from the definitive New Year's Eve party. You can also follow tweets from the official Times Square Twitter feed embedded at right.
No matter where or how you're ringing in what we hope will be a happy new year, you can watch the ball drop that marks the end of 2014 and the start of 2015 right here on your favorite device.
Produced with Ustream, the Times Square Alliance webcast puts you smack dab in the middle of the festivities, with all the live music; interviews with celebrities and revelers; and behind-the-scenes stories – and culminating with the ball drop that starts exactly one minute before midnight EST.
The commercial-free show begins at 6 p.m. with the raising of the 12-foot-wide geodesic ball covered by 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles. There will be countdowns at the top of every hour, leading up to the final 60-second countdown when the ball is released at 11:59 p.m.
Here are some details about the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square and the Times Square Alliance's Ustream webcast:
Facts, figures about The Ball
Width: 12 feet
Number of Waterford crystals covering it: 2,688
Weight: 11,875 pounds
Number of Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs illuminating The Ball: 32,256
Number of colors The Ball can display: More than 16 million
Read more about the Times Square Ball »
Who you'll see on the Ustream wecast:
TV and radio personality Allison Hagendorf, who hosts programs on The CW, VH1, Fuse TV and SiriusXM radio, returns to host. Returning New Year's Eve webcast correspondents are Maggie Rulli, Andrea Boehlke and Jeremy Hassell.
At the top of each hour, Hagendorf will be joined by a TV network host or other celebrity who will lead the revelers in an hourly countdown.
Throughout the night, Hagendorf will have details about musical performances and other entertainment in Times Square. Rulli has exclusive interviews and backstage access, and Boehlke and Hassell will get stories from revelers arriving to celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square.
History of New Year's Eve in Times Square
According to the Times Square Alliance, the first New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square was in 1904, which commemorated the opening of the new offices of the New York Times:
The impressive Times Tower, marooned on a tiny triangle of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street, was at the time Manhattan's second-tallest building--the tallest if measured from the bottom of its four massive sub-basements, built to handle the heavyweight demands of The Times' up-to-date printing equipment.
More than 200,000 people attended that first Times Square celebration to ring in New Year 1905. Tonight, an estimated 1 million people will converge on Times Square to celebrate the arrival of 2015.
More about the history of Times Square New Year's Eve celebrations »
Plenty of bills are on the move that carry broader implications for health insurance, casino patrons, and Suffolk Downs, to name a few.
By MATT MURPHY
BOSTON - Time is running out on 2014, but lawmakers on Beacon Hill are taking full advantage of the remaining days on the legislative calendar to try to rush through bills, some of which have been percolating for nearly two years, before next week's deadline.
The House and Senate were meeting on Wednesday - New Year's Eve - in final lame-duck sessions before a new Legislature is sworn in next Wednesday and all legislation enacted upon over the past two years dies.
While Senate President Therese Murray suggested a few weeks ago that the outstanding to-do list included "a lot of local stuff," plenty of bills are on the move that carry broader implications for health insurance, casino patrons, and Suffolk Downs, to name a few of the pending topics.
During the first half hour of Wednesday's House session, the House advanced bills at a rapid clip, about one every three minutes, before a slower pace set in.
The House has yet to act on a Senate amendment to a banking reform bill that would loosen the restrictions on ATMs at casinos, which has been blasted by anti-gambling advocates and prompted Attorney General-elect Maura Healey on Wednesday to call on the Legislature to slow down.
Other bills ping-ponging between the branches would revise the state's laws around direct shipments of wine to consumers, expand the mental health parity law to include education psychologists, and give Suffolk Downs an extension to continue simulcasting races into the new year without renewing its license for live horse racing.
For any bill to have a chance of becoming law before the new Legislature is sworn in and Governor-elect Charlie Baker takes office, it must clear both the House and Senate by next Tuesday when the Legislature may meet in its last session.
Gov. Deval Patrick's staff has said he is prepared to act quickly on any legislation that reaches his desk in time, but at the end of the session he also has the ability to withhold his signature, in effect killing the bill through a pocket veto.
The House on Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill that would require health insurers to cover student access to education psychologists. Small business groups and the insurance industry are fighting the bill, arguing that it will raise premiums for working families and shift what has traditionally been a school expense onto employers.
After the Senate on Monday passed a newly emerging bill to extend Suffolk Downs' license to simulcast horse races at the former racetrack through July 2016, the House Ways and Means Committee was also preparing for a possible vote on Wednesday an amended version that would give the track just a three-month extension until March.
With casino foes blasting an attempt to open resort casinos to automated teller machines while keeping them banned from the gaming floor, Healey on Wednesday urged the House and Senate to delay making a decision.
"Efforts to lift the ban on casino floor ATMs should to be carefully considered and openly debated,not rushed through in the waning days of the legislative session," Healey said in a statement released just before the House and Senate convened. "The impact on consumers needs to be considered up front, not punted until after the restrictions are lifted.I urge the Legislature and Gaming Commission to tread carefully and promise a full, public hearing in the next session."
The Senate has already passed a broad banking reform bill that would lift the ban on ATMs on the premises of legalized gaming establishments and put in place a narrower restriction on ATMs in gaming areas at casinos. The House has not yet taken up the amendment.
The Senate amendment to the banking bill would also give regulatory control over ATMs at casinos to the Gaming Commission, rather than the Division of Banks, in an attempt to level the playing field between state chartered banks and federally chartered banks.
Senate Majority Leader Stanley Rosenberg told the News Service this week that under current law state chartered banks are banned from operating ATMs at casinos, while federally charters banks like Bank of America could strike deals with casino operators to place the cash machines anywhere they want, including on the gaming floors of casinos.
The Gaming Commission's tentative policy on ATMs is to restrict their placement to at least 15 feet from the gaming floor of a casino or slot parlor.
Both branches were in session through Wednesday's lunch hour.
