Hours after an appeal for a timeout from the next attorney general, the Massachusetts Legislature retreated from its late-session push for broader access to cash machines at casinos.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON — Hours after an appeal for a timeout from the next attorney general, the Massachusetts Legislature retreated from its late-session push for broader access to cash machines at casinos.

The House and Senate on Wednesday agreed to remove ATM measures from a banking laws reform bill before sending that bill (H 4110) to Gov. Deval Patrick's desk.

The decision to leave in place the current ban on ATMs from the premises of gambling facilities will excite anti-casino advocates who blasted the proposed changes, but will leave in place confusion over how a 33-year-old banking law applies to the new world of casinos in Massachusetts.

Senate leaders say under existing law federally chartered banks could be free to strike deals with casino operators such as MGM and Wynn Resorts to locate ATM machines anywhere within a casino resort, while state-chartered banks regulated by the Division of Banks would be subject to the ban.

Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, an East Boston Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr both said after Wednesday's session that they were unaware of any agreement to revisit the issue of ATMs in casinos in the next session, but Tarr said it would be hard to ignore.

"I think we will have to come back to it. The current inequities for different banks is untenable," Tarr said.

Rep. Paul Donato, a Medford Democrat who presided over Wednesday's House session, acknowledged the confusion that still exists.

"Now, in most of the casinos that I've visited, one or two, they're always in the lobbies and never inside the actual casino," Donato said of ATMs. "That was the whole discussion relative to this bill, where the anti-casino people were saying don't put ATMs in casinos. Now the question becomes, do the federal chartered banks still have the right to put them into casinos and only the state banks not allowed? That's the question. Or is it that state law overrides the federal to say that we don't allow ATMs in the casino at all?"

Anti-casino advocates argue the Division of Banks is within its rights to impose stricter rules on federally-chartered banks than the federal government.

After the House in July passed a banking bill that would have lifted the prohibition on casino ATMs altogether, the Senate on Monday approved a Sen. Stephen Brewer amendment to put in place a narrower restriction on ATMs in gaming areas at casinos and give regulatory control to the Gaming Commission. The House refused to agree to the Senate plan Wednesday and the bill was moved to Patrick's desk without any ATM-casino language.

Senate Majority Leader Stanley Rosenberg told the News Service the amendment would put state and federally chartered banks on equal footing while keeping ATMs off the gaming floor. He said he called Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby on Monday to tell him he would prefer to see ATMs placed "as far away as possible" from the gaming floor.

While the state's banking laws prohibit electronic banking at gaming facilities, the 2011 expanded gambling law references ATMs and how they should be prohibited from accepting electronic welfare benefit cards. The mention of ATMs has been interpreted by some lawyers to be an implicit authorization to locate ATMs within casinos.

The Gaming Commission has requested an interpretation from the Division of Banks on ATMs at casinos, and in the meantime adopted a temporary policy restricting their placement to at least 15 feet from the gaming floor of a casino or slot parlor.

With casinos not due to open for at least a couple years, Attorney General-elect Maura Healey urged restraint.

"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 as the House and Senate were preparing to meet. "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."

Petruccelli said the broader bill sent to Patrick on Wednesday provides an update to 1981 banking laws to accommodate for new technologies, and to address duplicative federal banking processes and changes made to the banking industry by the federal Dodd-Frank Act.

Both branches will reconvene Monday at 11 a.m. to keep advancing bills, aware that any legislation not signed by Patrick before he leaves office Wednesday will be pocket-vetoed

Thirty-five people have been killed in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

SHANGHAI -- Thirty-five people died in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported -- the worst disaster to hit one of China's biggest cities in recent years.

The report early Thursday cited the Shanghai government in saying that another 42 people were injured amid the chaos about a half-hour before midnight.

The deaths and injuries occurred at Shanghai's popular riverfront Bund area, which can be jammed with spectators for major events.

CCTV America, the U.S. version of state broadcaster China Central Television, posted video of Shanghai streets after the stampede, showing piles of discarded shoes amid the debris.

One Xinhua photo from the scene showed at least one person doing chest compressions on a shirtless man while several other people lay on the ground nearby, amid debris. Another photo showed the area ringed by police.

The cause of the stampede remained under investigation, the Xinhua report said.

Last week, the English-language Shanghai Daily reported that the annual New Year's Eve countdown on the Bund that normally attracts about 300,000 people had been cancelled, apparently because of crowd control issues. The report said a "toned-down" version of the event would be held instead but that it would not be open to the public.

The stampede appeared to be near that area.

Meanwhile, Xinhua's top story on its website was not the stampede but President Xi Jinping's New Year's message. Xinhua's story in Chinese remained just two paragraphs long hours after the disaster.

Shanghai's historic Bund riverfront runs along an area of narrow streets amid restored old buildings, shops and tourist attractions. The China Daily newspaper in February reported that the city's population was more than 24 million at the end of 2013.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 7.5 percent for the year, but fell 160 points on New Year's Eve.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks ended a strong 2014 with moderate declines Wednesday.

Even with the losses, the Standard & Poor's 500 index finished the year up 11.4 percent, or 13.7 percent when dividends are included. It was the sixth straight year of gains for the stock market.

Oil, by contrast, had its worst annual performance since 2008, ending down 45 percent for 2014 after a sharp slump in the second half of the year.

The market's annual gain exceeded even most optimistic forecasts made at the beginning of the year.

"It turned out to be a great year for U.S. economic growth, which got us higher corporate profits as well," said Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Most strategists believe the stock market will also rise in 2015, but they expect more modest gains of between 4 percent and 6 percent.

There was no major catalyst for Wednesday's selling. Trading has been slow all week because of the holidays and most fund managers have closed their books for the year. However, some investors do reshuffle their portfolios in the last few days of the year for tax purposes.

Roughly 2.6 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with the 3.6 billion traded on an average day.

Energy stocks edged lower as the price of oil fell. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 85 cents to $53.27 a barrel in New York. Oil has plunged by half since June amid abundant supplies and weak global demand.

Oil drillers fell the most Wednesday. Diamond Offshore was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, declining 3.6 percent. The energy component of the S&P 500 is down 10 percent this year.

"I think most of the selling you're seeing today is related to the fall in oil, as well as repositioning before the end of the year," Hinds said.

U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for New Year's Day and will reopen on a normal schedule on Friday.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 160 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,823.07. It ended 2014 up 7.5 percent, lagging behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq lost 41.39 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,736.05. The Nasdaq rose 13.4 percent in 2014.

The S&P 500 fell 21.45 points, or 1 percent, to 2,058.90.

Prices for U.S. government bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.17 percent. Bonds were an unexpected strong spot for the market in 2014. The 10-year note started 2014 at around 2.99 percent. Bond yields fall as prices rise.

Gold fell $16.30 to $1,184.10 an ounce. The precious metal barely budged in 2014, falling 0.2 percent, compared with its drop of 28.3 percent in 2013.

Silver fell 68 cents to $15.60 an ounce and copper fell three cents to $2.83 a pound.

In other futures trading on the NYMEX:

1. Wholesale gasoline fell 1.8 cents to $1.435 a gallon.
2. Heating oil fell 2.2 cents to close at $1.847 a gallon.
3. Natural gas fell 20.5 cents to close at $2.889 per 1,000 cubic feet.

As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, only the left lanes of the westbound and eastbound travel lanes of the Pike remained closed, but backups still stretched for about 10 miles in both directions, according to State Police.

Updates story posted at 2:24 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31.

Things were still moving slowly through the Charlton crash site several hours later, with 10-mile backups reported in both directions, according to Massachusetts State Police officials in Framingham.

As of 5:45 p.m., the left lanes of both the eastbound and westbound travel lanes remained closed, while all other lanes were open to motorists, police said.

The rollover crash happened on the eastbound side of the Pike. The tractor-trailer came to rest across the highway median, partially blocking travel lanes in both directions.

There were no serious injuries reported, although the incident significantly slowed traffic through the afternoon into the evening.

At one point, eastbound traffic was backed up to Interstate 84, while westbound traffic was backed up beyond Interstate 290 in Auburn.

Outbid in its quest for a casino license, Suffolk Downs is now poised to become the second former track to hold on to a "simulcast" license that over the years has been tied to the availability of live racing.

By MICHAEL NORTON

BOSTON - Massachusetts lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to allow Suffolk Downs patrons to continue wagering on races broadcast from other tracks even though the East Boston track has ceased its live horse racing.

Outbid in its quest for a casino license, Suffolk Downs is now poised to become the second former track to hold on to a "simulcast" license that over the years has been tied to the availability of live racing.

Raynham Park, a facility that for many years offered live dog racing before such racing was outlawed by voters in 2008, also continues to offer wagering on races broadcast from other tracks. On its website, Raynham Park says it features greyhound, thoroughbred and harness racing seven days a week in its "simulcast center."

Plainridge Racecourse, which features live harness racing, has also offered simulcast betting over the years. With Penn National Gaming, the racecourse operators secured the state's sole slot parlor license and are building a facility called Plainridge Park Casino that will feature 1,250 slot machines, including video poker and video blackjack.

Under the bill approved Wednesday, the simulcast license at Suffolk Downs will be extended until March 31, rather than the 17-month extension favored by the Senate.
The absence of live racing on premises that offer wagering only on broadcast races essentially turns those facilities into off-track betting parlors, which were once hotly debated on Beacon Hill.

State gaming regulators have issued licenses to developers who plan to build resort casinos in Everett and Springfield, and the casinos will add to the competition for gambling dollars in Massachusetts.

Sen. Anthony Petruccelli of East Boston said that the extended simulcasting rights will preserve 100 jobs at Suffolk Downs, and provide more time for long-term planning.

Suffolk's simulcasting rights are due to expire at midnight Wednesday, according to the New England Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, whose thoroughbred owners and trainers praised Wednesday's move by lawmakers.

Association president Anthony Spadea said in a statement after Wednesday's sessions that the bill's passage will allow horsemen to continue negotiations on a lease agreement at Suffolk Downs that might restore live thoroughbred racing in 2015 and 2016.

"The extension of the track's simulcasting rights, although without live racing, will preserve jobs at Suffolk Downs and maintain the 50-50 simulcasting revenue split between the horsemen and the track," Spadea said. "We are thankful for the wisdom and cooperation of all parties. We are pleased that this extension will keep track employees working, and in the short term, it helps to protect the 62 thoroughbred breeding farms with 6,650 acres of open green space across the state and the rest of the 1,500 direct and non-direct jobs in the Massachusetts thoroughbred industry."

State House News Service writer Matt Murphy contributed to this report.

Julio Resto said he and his wife had an argument that began over Christmas presents.

WALTHAM -- Prosecutors say a Waltham man showed up at the city's police station holding a knife and told officers he had just killed his wife.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says police arrested 51-year-old Julio Resto Wednesday and when officers then went to his apartment, they found the body of 42-year-old Gloria Resto.

Julio Resto pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in Waltham District Court and was ordered held without bail.

According to court records, Resto said he and his wife had an argument that began over Christmas presents.

Ryan said in a statement that when Resto arrived at the police station at about 5:20 a.m., he had blood on his clothes and lunged at officers with the knife. Police used what was described as a less lethal force weapon to subdue the man.

Veronica Rutledge, 29, was shopping with her son and three nieces in Hayden, Idaho, when the small-caliber handgun discharged one time, killing her.

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

SPOKANE, Wash. - Concealed weapons are part of everyday life in Idaho, and that's unlikely to change in the Mountain West state despite a shocking accident in which a 2-year-old boy reached into his mother's purse, got hold of her gun and shot her in the head inside a Walmart store.

Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, was shopping Tuesday morning with her son and three nieces in Hayden, Idaho, when the small-caliber handgun discharged one time, killing her.

Terry Rutledge, Veronica's father-in-law, told The Spokesman-Review that the boy unzipped the special gun compartment in the woman's purse where the weapon was kept while she was looking at clothing.

Terry Rutledge said his daughter-in-law did not put the weapon "loosely into her purse."

Victoria Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, and guns were a big part of Rutledge's life, her father-in-law said.

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

Meanwhile, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday afternoon released a few more details about the incident. The boy removed the 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his mother's purse and shot her once in the head, killing her instantly, the sheriff's office said.

The manager of the store, who was nearby when the shot was fired, stepped in and took the firearm from the child, the sheriff's office said. The manager and other employees secured the scene and evacuated customers.

The woman's purse was new and was designed to carry a concealed firearm, the sheriff's office said. Detectives continue to analyze video from the store, examine the weapon and interview witnesses, the sheriff's office added.

Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.

About 7 percent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.

Kootenai County, which has about 140,000 residents, has issued close to 16,000 concealed weapons permits, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said Wednesday.

"It's very commonplace in northern Idaho for folks to have a concealed weapons permit," Miller said, and most businesses do not prohibit firearms.

Veronica Rutledge lived in Blackfoot, in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the Hayden area to visit relatives for Christmas.

She was an employee of the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was a nuclear scientist. The laboratory supports the U.S. Department of Energy in nuclear and energy research and national defense.

"We're deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Nicole Stricker, a spokeswoman for the lab.

Rutledge graduated from high school in Harrison, a lakeside town in the Idaho Panhandle. She was the valedictorian of her class. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in chemistry.

She had taken the children to Walmart on Tuesday morning to spend their Christmas gift cards, family members said. Her young son, her only child, was in a shopping cart.

Responding deputies found Rutledge dead in the electronics section of the Walmart in Hayden, a rural town of about 12,000 people 40 miles northeast of Spokane.

Colt Rutledge, 32, arrived at the store in Idaho's northern panhandle shortly after the shooting around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, Miller said. All the children were taken to a relative's house.

Officers viewed surveillance video provided by the store to determine what happened, Miller said.

Like other Western states, gun rights are a big issue in Idaho. State 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.

Terry Rutledge told the AP that his daughter-in-law "was a beautiful, young, loving mother."

"She was taken much too soon," he said.

Some 18 ships were being used to survey the Java Sea area.

By EILEEN NG and
ROBIN McDOWELL

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - A much needed break in the weather gave searchers a window Thursday to "fight with full force" to find the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501, with officials also hustling to locate the fuselage of the plane that crashed in the sea four days ago.

Only seven of the 162 bodies have been recovered so far, with four of them found over the past two days arriving Thursday morning in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo island. They will later be flown for identification to Surabaya, where the two-hour flight to Singapore originated on Sunday.

"The visibility is good this morning, we are ready to fight with full force to search for bodies, wreckages that can reveal what went wrong with this accident," said First Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, an Air Force Operation commander helping to lead the search, adding four aircraft were dispatched to the area just after sunrise.

Choppy conditions had prevented divers from entering the water on Wednesday, and helicopters were largely grounded. But 18 ships surveyed the narrowed Java Sea search area. Sonar images identified what appeared to be large parts of the plane, but strong currents were moving the debris.

Thursday's break in weather -- blue skies and calm seas despite earlier storm predictions -- could greatly speed up recovery efforts that have been severely hampered since the first bodies were spotted on Tuesday. Vice Air Marshal Sunarbowo Sandi, search and rescue coordinator in Pangkalan Bun, the closest town to the targeted area, said he was hopeful divers would be able to explore the wreckage site.

"It's possible the bodies are in the fuselage," he said. "So it's a race now against time and weather."

It is still unclear what brought the plane down. 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 airliner disappeared from the radar without issuing a distress signal.

The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, or black boxes, must be retrieved before officials can start determining what caused the crash. Some items recovered so far include a life jacket, an emergency exit window, children's shoes, a blue suitcase and backpacks filled with food.

Simple wooden coffins -- numbered 001 and 002 -- with purple flowers on top contained the first two bodies, which were sent Wednesday from Pangkalan Bun to Surabaya for autopsies. The two victims were a woman wearing blue jeans and a boy. Three males and two females were also recovered, all but one was transported from a warship Thursday.

Nearly all the passengers were Indonesian, and many were Christians of Chinese descent. The country is predominantly Muslim, but sizeable pockets of people of other faiths are found throughout the sprawling archipelago. Around 10 percent of those in Surabaya, the nation's second-largest city, are Christian.

Many family members have remained at the Surabaya airport since getting word that the plane had disappeared. Some, like 15-year-old Chiara Natasha, are now alone.

Her entire family was coming to visit her in Singapore for New Year's.

She had just moved there in November to study at a Methodist girls' school on a government scholarship. Her parents and two brothers had promised to join her to celebrate the holiday and help her settle into dormitory life.

But instead of greeting her relatives at the airport, she returned home Sunday to Surabaya, Indonesia, to seek any word about the fate of AirAsia Flight 8501, praying that they had somehow survived.

Families who lost loved ones aboard the jetliner endured another excruciating day of waiting Wednesday as bad weather hindered efforts to recover any more bodies and sent wreckage drifting far from the crash site.

"Help us, God, to move forward, even though we are surrounded by darkness," the Rev. Philip Mantofa, whose church lost about 40 members in the disaster, told families gathered in a waiting room at the Surabaya airport.

On Wednesday, about 100 relatives gathered for the airport prayer service where Mantofa urged them to hold onto their faith despite their pain. About 40 members of his Mawar Sharon Church died in the crash.

"Some things do not make sense to us, but God is bigger than all this," he said. "Our God is not evil."

Before breaking up, those gathered stood together and sang with their hands reaching upward. "I surrender all. I surrender all," they repeated. "I surrender all to God our savior."

Many family members had planned to travel to Pangkalan Bun, 100 miles from the area where bodies were first spotted, to start identifying their loved ones. However, the manager of the Surabaya airport, Trikora Hardjo, later said the trip was canceled after authorities suggested their presence could slow down the operation.

Instead, some relatives gave blood for DNA tests and submitted photos of their loved ones along with identifying information such as tattoos or birthmarks that could help make the process easier.

AP writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos and Margie Mason in Jakarta contributed to this report.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson is again reminding people that firing guns into the air to mark the arrival of the new year isn't just illegal, it's potentially lethal.

ST. LOUIS — For many people, New Year's Eve is a night of merriment that may include fair amounts of dancing, drinking and partying. But in St. Louis, some people like to usher in the new year with random bursts of gunfire, and officials of Missouri's second-largest city are trying to end the bad tradition.

"Reminder: 'celebratory gunfire' or firing a gun into the air is illegal AND can be deadly. Have #FunWithoutGuns!" the St. Louis Police Department said in a Dec. 31 tweet on the department's official Twitter feed.

For several years now, police Chief Sam Dotson – in a nod to Blood, Sweat & Tears, perhaps – has taken to the airwaves and social media to hammer home a simple message: "What goes up, must come down."

In a 30-second spot uploaded to YouTube, Dotson says:

The Metropolitan Police Department is asking you to put an end to a senseless New Year's Eve tradition. The firing of weapons in the air is not just illegal, it's dangerous. Remember, bullets that go up must come down. Let's end this tradition and start the New Year safely by having fun without guns. Together we can make St. Louis safer.

Jeff Bernthal, a reporter for KPLR/FOX 2 TV in St. Louis, admits that some people think "it's ridiculous that we need to issue a warning" for people not to shoot off guns to celebrate the new year, but gunfire at midnight is the norm in some parts of the city.

"Just ask the people who live there or the police officers who patrol the areas. They hear it," Bernthal said in KPLR's "The Way It Oughta Be" segment on Wednesday.

Below is a YouTube clip of gunfire in North St. Louis from last New Year's Eve.

Authorities say one of two bodies found in a wooded area of Brockton has been identified as that of a 20-year-old woman who lived in the city.

Robert Rizzuto | rrizzuto@repub.com 

BROCKTON — Massachusetts authorities say one of two bodies found in a wooded area of Brockton has been identified as that of a 20-year-old woman who lived in the city.

The dismembered remains of Ashley Mylett were discovered this week along with a set of skeletal human remains that investigators said had apparently been there for a much longer period of time.

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Wednesday that the second body has not been identified, but the medical examiner has determined that it was that of a female.

The Enterprise of Brockton reported that Mylett had been missing for several weeks.

Cruz said in a statement that both deaths remain under investigation.

Police were called to the woods on Sunday and began the search. Investigators have not said who made the call.

A Brandeis University junior who caused an uproar on campus for tweeting that she had "no sympathy" for two New York police officers slain in an ambush is standing by her widely shared comments.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

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

The new mystery book club meets in the afternoon to make it easier for people who don't like to drive at night.

AMHERST - Tina Swift loves a good mystery and knows there are many kindred spirits. So the Jones Library Business manager has a created a Mystery Lovers Book Club that will meet beginning Jan. 14.

The idea is for the group to read half the book, meet and talk and then return two weeks later for a meeting with the book's author.

She is launching the the group with a reading of Rory O'Brien's "Gallow's Hill." She said people might know his work and she is hoping to generate more interest for the Salem resident's first novel.

On Jan. 28, O'Brien will talk about his book and answer questions, she said.

"I think it's very exciting to meet the author," Swift said. People can ask "what were you thinking when you wrote that?"

The group will meet at 3 p.m. helpful for people who don't like to drive at night. The Friends of the Jones Library is sponsoring the group so they can offer an honorarium to the writers, she said.

Kate Flora, a former assistant attorney general for the state of Maine, an author of 14 mysteries including the Joe Burgess series, is slated for May, Swift said. Flora is a founding member of the New England Crime Bake Conference.

Swift pointed out that this is the latest club, launched at the library bringing to seven the number of clubs.

Other new clubs include a dog lover's club and one on nature and the environment.

These are in addition to a science fiction and fantasy, classics and contemporary book club and on called "understanding Differences: Expanding Our Social Awareness.

For more information and to see a schedule visit the Jones website.

All are welcome to join the clubs. 

Patrick Sullivan, a 17 year old Rockland High School student, was killed and another person was sent to the hospital.

ROCKLAND - A teenager was killed in a three-car crash early New Year's Day after his speeding SUV rolled onto its roof and was hit by another car.

Patrick Sullivan, a 17-year-old Rockland High School student, was killed and another person was sent to the hospital, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said Thursday. Two other people involved were not injured.

Witnesses said Sullivan's Toyota Highlander was traveling beside a Nissan Sentra, which was on the wrong side of the road, when the two vehicles touched and went off the road around 2:50 a.m., according to the D.A.'s office.

Seconds later, a Mitsubishi Galant rounded a curve and slammed into the SUV.

First responders found Sullivan dead at the scene.

The operator of the Nissan was taken to South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth with nonlife-threatening injuries. The two occupants of the Mitsubishi were not injured.

Students at Chicopee Academy are allowed to play sports on teams for Chicopee High and Comprehensive High schools.

CHICOPEE - Chicopee Academy seniors are asking for a policy change that would give them permission to attend the prom and other activities at one of the two larger high schools.

Already students at the alternative school are allowed to join sports teams at the Chicopee and Comprehensive high schools if they meet all the eligibility requirements including passing classes and good behavior, said Naomi Rivera, a senior at the Academy.

A member of the Student Advisory Council, Rivera approached the School Committee to ask for a change in policy that will allow the Academy students to participate in the events.

She said two other alternative schools in other communities have their own prom. At Chicopee Academy, 10 students are slated to graduate this year so there are not people to organize a dance just for the school.

Academy students are allowed to attend proms at Comprehensive High or Chicopee High now, but only as a guest of another student. The proposal would allow students at the alternative school to attend the dance at the school they would normally attend and to bring their own guest, Rivera said.

"We would have to have good grades, attendance and attitude," she said.
Some students at Chicopee Academy do have behavior problems, but many others are there simply because they need a smaller environment to learn and have no discipline issues, she said.

School Committee members said they were impressed with Rivera's presentation and research and voted to discuss a change in policy in subcommittee.

Members told Rivera they would contact her when the issue was discussed so she could attend the meeting and give her input.

The candidate is opposed to building a new school at Ashley and Cross streets.

The mayor of Westfield announces he won't run for re-election.

WESTFIELD — Michael L. Roeder, who lost by a mere 333 votes to Mayor Daniel M. Knapik in 2013, today announced he is a candidate for mayor in this year's city elections.

Roeder said he was unsure of his future political plans when he awoke this morning but after reading Knapik's announcement today that he is not a candidate, the decision to run was made.

"I will be a candidate in 2015," Roeder said. "Whether it be in a special election or the regular municipal election," he said.

Roeder, 70, of Western Avenue, challenged Knapik in 2013 but fell short by only 333 votes.

"I had a good run two year ago and this will prove to be a very interesting year," the retired Army National Guard and Army Reserve lieutenant colonel said.

"The issues will be similar to those I raised in 2013 including tax relief for homeowners," he said.

Roeder said he is not opposed to the construction of a $36 million elementary school but "I will not build it at the Cross Street playground site. That location is too small to support a school of this size and it will cost to much to address traffic and safety issues there."

Residents have fought the Cross Street school proposal and delayed the project.

The candidate also plans a "comprehensive" review of all municipal debt along with a review of all pending capital projects as well as those currently underway to "determine what is absolutely needed and what the city can afford to delay."

Knapik, who started his sixth year as mayor today, announced he will not be a candidate in the 2015 city elections. He said "accomplished" the goals he set when he became mayor in 2010 and "it is time to seek out new challenges."

Knapik also said he believes he "will leave office with Westfield in a little better position than he became mayor."

The flight was diverted after other passengers on board noticed that the woman was having pains.

A pregnant passenger caused a Delta Air Lines flight out of San Francisco to be diverted from Minneapolis to Salt Lake City on the morning of New Year's Eve.

Salt Lake City International Airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann told KUTV-TV, CBS2, in Salt Lake City that the woman went into labor mid flight.

The flight was diverted when the woman started having pains and passengers aboard thought she might be going into labor.

A pediatrician aboard Flight 2566 helped the passenger until the flight landed shortly before 10 Wednesday morning, according to CNN.

According to KSTU-TV, Fox13 in Salt Lake City, the woman had an emergency C-section.

The station interviewed a local doctor who said that pregnancy complications during flights are rare, and most women can fly unrestricted.

"Airplane flight, travel is very safe," Kathryn Walker, a doctor at Alta View Hospital told the station. "And going through security is also very safe."

Changes in altitude can induce labor, she added.

She told the station that women who have a history of pregnancy concerns or preterm labor should consult a doctor before flying.

"You swell a little during flights," she said. "So you want to make sure every hour, hour and a half you get up and move your circulation around, do some stretches."

Hospital officials told CNN that both mother and child were in good condition following the delivery.

For its part, Delta Air Lines, on its website, said that the airline does not impose restrictions on flying for pregnant women.

"If you're traveling after your eight month, it's a good idea to check with your doctor to be sure travel is not restricted," the airline states.

After dropping the woman off at Salt Lake City, the flight continued on to Minneapolis.

The public hearing is Jan. 8 at 5:45 p.m.

WILBRAHAM - The Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing Jan. 8 at 5:45 p.m. in Town Hall on a petition by Kid's Dentist Realty for a special permit to allow professional and business offices within an existing building on property owned by JCE Realty at 1984 Boston Road.

The applicant is seeking to conduct a dental and related orthodontics practice and to lease space to a medical clinic treating dermatology and facial cosmetics patients.

The applicant is requesting a waiver from the parking requirements required under the Wilbraham Zoning Bylaw. Plans are on file with the Board of Appeals.

Jeffrey Souza, 24, was charged with carrying an illegal, loaded firearm after being arrested in Rhode Island.

FALL RIVER - Police arrested a man in Newport, Rhode Island on Thursday in connection with a New Year's Day murder in Fall River.

The Bristol County District Attorney's office said that Jeffrey Souza, 24, of Fall River, has been charged with carrying an illegal, loaded firearm. The district attorney's office said it could not comment further on Souza's connection to Thursday's murder as state and local police are still investigating.

Police responding to the intersection of Albert Street and Huard Street at around 1:17 a.m. found a man shot. Kyle Brady, 28, of Fall River, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Souza was arrested without incident by police in Newport, Rhode Island shortly before noon Thursday. He has been charged in Rhode Island with being a fugitive from justice and will be arraigned Friday morning in Newport County District Court on that charge.

If Souza waives rendition, he will be transported back to Massachusetts to be arraigned on the illegal firearm charges either Friday or Monday, the Bristol district attorney's office said.

Police say anyone who may have been in the area of the shooting or has information about the murder should contact Fall River Police's Major Crimes Division at 508-324-2796.

If individuals want to make an anonymous tip, they can do so at tipsubmit.com or by texting the phrase "Call50" to the phone number 274637, which spells "CRIMES."

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at 413-787-6355.

Updates story published at 10:29 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 1.

Other than that, there's no trace a teenager was gunned down early New Year's Day near the corner of Mill and Knox streets, a section of southwestern Six Corners that's served as the setting for at least three homicide investigations in the past few years.

Springfield's first murder victim of 2015 was an 18-year-old boy who was walking with his 39-year-old father shortly after midnight Thursday, according to city police, who have yet to publicly release the victim's identity. The father also was wounded in the 12:23 a.m. shooting near 258 Mill St., but his injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

Makeshift memorials with candles, flowers, photos and other items tend to sprout up at city homicide scenes, but there was no trace of any roadside shrines by late Thursday afternoon. The neighborhood seemed like a ghost town thanks to below-freezing temperatures, which put a chill on street activity in the normally busy residential area along the border of the Six Corners and Forest Park neighborhoods.

Shortly after midnight Thursday, police were suddenly inundated with a flurry of gunfire calls, including reports of shots fired on Sherman Street and along a stretch of White Street between roughly Pasadena Street and the Golden Eagle Apartments.

But it was the Mill Street incident that required two AMR ambulances to respond to the scene. A police officer drove one ambulance to the hospital while EMTs worked on the teenager in the back of the rig, according to police reports from the scene.

The teen sustained a gunshot wound to the upper back and died shortly after 1 a.m. at Baystate Medical Center, police said.

Homicide detectives, under the command of Capt. Thomas Trites, are investigating and by midday were seen going door to door near the shooting scene, according to CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican.

"Detectives are following leads and collected forensic evidence during the early morning hours," said Sgt. John Delaney, a police spokesman.

A black or dark-colored SUV or Jeep-style vehicle was seen fleeing the scene shortly after the shots rang out. Authorities say they believe the gunfire may have come from the vehicle after it pulled up alongside the father and son.

Police cruisers searched the Knox and Cherry street areas, as well as other sections of the neighborhood, which will now get special attention via extra patrols, according to police Commissioner John Barbieri, who expressed condolences to the victim's family.

Anyone with information about the crime can send an anonymous "Text-a-Tip" or call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at 413-787-6355.

This is not the first time police have been called to this corner of Six Corners for a homicide investigation.

Last year, 20-year-old Tavis Humphrey-Frazer, a former standout high school football player from Springfield, was shot in the head while driving in the vicinity of Smith and Knox streets on Sept. 21. His vehicle crashed near the corner of Knox and Mill streets, just a few yards from Thursday's homicide scene.

A little more than four years ago, 34-year-old Ramon Leonardo-Cruz was killed in his apartment at 265 Mill St., just across from Knox Street, after he was shot and stabbed during a Dec. 14, 2010, home invasion.

MAP showing approximate location of city's first homicide of 2015:

Forests in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York have ideal cougar habitat, meaning plentiful cover and large animals to sustain a cougar population, according to Sue Morse of Jericho.

By WILSON RING

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A Vermont animal tracker known nationally for her expertise in tracking cougars believes the big cats will eventually return to the Northeastern United States and neighboring parts of Canada, but she says the region won't see large numbers of them anytime soon.

The forests of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York have ideal cougar habitat, meaning plentiful forest cover and large animals to sustain a cougar population, said Sue Morse of Jericho, the science director and founder of the organization Keeping Track.

"Back in the '80s, I just looked at that huge expanse of country between the Rockies, the western slope of the Rockies and here, and I thought to myself 'how can this happen?'" said Morse.

Since then, scientists have tracked the animals moving out of South Dakota into Midwestern states. Cougars also are moving north into Manitoba, the Canadian province to the west of Ontario, which Morse considers their most likely route back to the Northeast.

"We need our apex carnivores in a big way," Morse said. "We need them for the health of our forests. Our forests are being ravaged by too many deer in some places."

The animals are known by a variety of names: mountain lion, puma, panther, catamount. Vermont's last known cougar was killed in 1881 in Barnard. The animal, now stuffed, is on display at the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier.

"It's a known fact that dispersing tom cougars will go hundreds, if not thousands of miles as they search for a habitat in which they can settle down in the company of females and call home," said Morse, who is planning a lecture on the topic Jan. 7 in Richmond.

The challenge is the females are more likely to stay near their home range, but they too will sometimes move into new territory, she said.

Scientists say sightings of individual cougars are possible, but they're skeptical that breeding populations of cougars will return to the region on their own.

Mary Parkin, endangered species recovery coordinator for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, agrees the region has suitable habitat for cougars and male cougars do pass through.

"The trick is getting that female there, they would have to be brought in," she said, adding that was unaware of any effort to bring cougars back to the Northeast.

Mark Scott, director of wildlife for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, said his agency regularly receives reports of cougar sightings and it's possible that individual cougars could be spotted in Vermont, but he calls the possibility of a breeding population returning to the state "a long shot."

"It used to be if someone saw a mountain lion they'd say 'I'm not going to tell anybody because they're going to think I'm crazy,'" Scott said. "But people shouldn't feel that way today. There really is a possibility that if they see a large cat, obviously it needs to have a long tail ... they could be seeing the real thing."

Other scientists say there's no question the animals are moving far from what is considered their current range. In 2011, a cougar was hit by a car and killed on a Connecticut highway. Subsequent DNA testing found that the animal was from South Dakota.

Morse said the animals regularly confound scientists by doing the unexpected. It could take 30 years (Morse hopes less) for a breeding population to return.

"I am looking forward to seeing how these animals pull it off because I'm convinced they will," she said.