Richard Taylor, 45, of Taunton, was eastbound on the turnpike when he struck the tow truck driver just west of Exit 10 in Auburn, police said. Taylor was uninjured in the crash.

An updated version of this story is now available on MassLive.

Richard Taylor, 45, of Taunton, was eastbound on the Pike at about 3 p.m. when his box truck hit the tow truck driver just west of Exit 10 in Auburn, police said. Taylor was uninjured in the crash and wasn't facing any charges as of Wednesday night, police said.

The tow truck driver, who was assisting a disabled vehicle in the breakdown lane, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. His identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.

Troopers from the Charlton barracks and Aburn firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the call.

The crash caused heavy delays and remains under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Section, the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

The crash happened Wednesday in Manhattan. Police say a town car in which he was a passenger hit another car.

NEW YORK -- Longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon, who covered riots, Academy Award-nominated movies and wars and was held captive for more than a month in Iraq two decades ago, died in a car crash on Wednesday. He was 73.

A town car in which Simon was a passenger hit another car stopped at a Manhattan traffic light and then slammed into metal barriers separating traffic lanes, police said. Simon and the town car's driver were taken to a hospital, where Simon was pronounced dead.

The town car driver suffered injuries to his legs and arms. The driver of the other car was uninjured. No arrests were made, said police, who continued to investigate the deadly accident.

Simon was among a handful of elite journalists to cover most major overseas conflicts and news stories since the late 1960s, CBS said. He covered stories including the Vietnam War and the Oscar-nominated movie "Selma" in a career spanning five decades.

He had been contributing to "60 Minutes" on a regular basis since 1996. He also was a correspondent for "60 Minutes II."

Anderson Cooper, who does occasional stories for "60 Minutes," was near tears talking about Simon's death. He said that when Simon presented a "60 Minutes" story "you knew it was going to be something special."

"I dreamed of being, and still hope to be, a quarter of the writer that Bob Simon is and has been," the CNN anchor said. "... Bob Simon was a legend, in my opinion. He was someone I was intimidated by."

Simon joined CBS News in 1967 as a reporter and assignment editor, covering campus unrest and inner-city riots, CBS said. He also worked in CBS' Tel Aviv bureau from 1977 to 1981 and in Washington, D.C., as its U.S. Department of State correspondent.

Simon's career in war reporting began in Vietnam, and he was on one of the last helicopters out of Saigon when the U.S. withdrew in 1975. At the outset of the Gulf War in January 1991, Simon was captured by Iraqi forces near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border. CBS said he and the other three members of CBS News' coverage team spent 40 days in Iraqi prisons, an experience Simon wrote about in his book "Forty Days." Simon returned to Baghdad in January 1993 to cover the American bombing of Iraq.

Simon won numerous awards, including his fourth Peabody and an Emmy for his story from Central Africa on the world's only all-black symphony in 2012. Another story about an orchestra in Paraguay, one whose poor members constructed their instruments from trash, won him his 27th Emmy, perhaps the most held by a journalist for field reporting, CBS said.

He also captured electronic journalism's highest honor, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, for "Shame of Srebrenica," a "60 Minutes II" report on genocide during the Bosnian War.

Former CBS News executive Paul Friedman, who teaches broadcast writing at Quinnipiac University, said Simon was "one of the finest reporters and writers in the business."

"He, better than most, knew how to make pictures and words work together to tell a story, which is television news at its best," Friedman said.

Simon was born May 29, 1941, in the Bronx. He graduated from Brandeis University in 1962 with a degree in history. He and his wife have a daughter, who is a producer for "60 Minutes" in New York.

Amaury Pena, 28, was charged with drug trafficking and other crimes after he was stopped for speeding during a snowstorm, police said.

STURBRIDGE — A New York resident was charged with drug trafficking after a traffic stop in Sturbridge revealed he was driving with a large amount of painkillers, according to Massachusetts State Police officials in Framingham.

Amaury Pena, 28, was eastbound on I-84 when he was pulled over by Trooper Sergio Figueiredo for speeding during a snowstorm shortly after midnight Monday, police said. Pena was "sliding from lane to lane" and driving a car with "a completely snow-covered license plate," police said.

A subsequent search of his vehicle discovered he was traveling with more than 1,200 oxycodone pills, according to police, who charged Pena with trafficking in a class A narcotic. He also was charged with a marked-lanes violation, speeding, and driving with an obscured license plate, police said.

Pena was held on $50,000 bail pending arraignment in Dudley District Court. The outcome of that hearing wasn't immediately known.

The Powerball drawing Wednesday evening offers one of the biggest lottery jackpots in U.S. history.

The Powerball drawing Wednesday evening offers one of the biggest lottery jackpots in U.S. history.

Here are the winning numbers in the drawing:

11-13-25-39-54, Powerball: 19, Power Play: 3x

The estimated jackpot is $564.1 million.

If no one wins, the Powerball jackpot will get even bigger for this Saturday's drawing.

The huge jackpot is a return to form for Powerball, which has been known along with Mega Millions for its record-breaking jackpots in recent years. But the Powerball lottery has experienced a slump, with nearly a year passing since its jackpot total climbed above $300 million.

Powerball's last major jackpot was in February 2014, when it climbed to $425 million. There was a $326 million jackpot won for Mega Millions in November, that game's first major jackpot since March 2014, when it reached $414 million.

Powerball tickets cost $2 each, while Mega Millions tickets go for $1. Lottery officials say there's no particular reason for the Powerball lull, though.

A person's odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175 million, according to the official Powerball website. That's how many combinations are possible with the game's five white balls and one red ball.

Powerball drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays and are offered in 44 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

St. Pierre was struck and killed by a box truck as he helped a stranded motorist in the eastbound breakdown lane of the Pike just west of Exit 10.

Updates story published at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.

The Southbridge resident was pronounced dead at the scene after being hit by a box truck around 3 p.m. while assisting a disabled car in the eastbound breakdown lane just west of Exit 10, police said.

The driver of the box truck, 45-year-old Richard Taylor, was uninjured in the crash, according to police, who had not filed any charges against the Taunton man as of late Wednesday night.

Troopers from the Charlton barracks and Auburn firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the crash, which caused heavy traffic delays.

The fatal crash remains under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Section, the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

The Massachusetts Senate passed its version of Gov. Charlie Baker's budget fix plans on Thursday by voice vote after a lengthy debate, much of it focused on transportation funding.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate passed its version of Gov. Charlie Baker's budget fix plan on Thursday by a voice vote after a lengthy debate, much of it focused on transportation funding.

Baker's proposal, which was passed by the Massachusetts House on Wednesday, cuts $40 million from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, including $14 million from the MBTA. The cuts are in line with the level of cuts Baker is making to other state agencies.

The cuts would come as the MBTA has faced enormous problems dealing with recent snowstorms, with trains breaking down repeatedly, massive delays and the MBTA shutting down subway service because it could not handle the cold and snow. Baker, a Republican, said the MBTA cuts will not affect service, but some senators questioned that assertion.

"We're assured by the governor that $14 million won't have an impact on service. It won't have an impact on Red Line service because there is no Red Line service today," said State Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, whose constituents were being bused along Red Line routes Thursday because a section of that subway line was shut down.

The Senate and House passed identical bills. While some senators were going to propose amendments, they were all withdrawn during the floor debate. The bills will face additional procedural votes before going to Baker for his signature.

The bills were very similar to a plan Baker proposed to fill a mid-year budget gap. The only substantive differences to Baker's plan were that the Legislature's bills restored $12 million in spending to sheriffs and public defenders, since those accounts are running deficits, and they eliminated language that would have given Baker authority to unilaterally restructure MassHealth benefits.

Baker said in collaboration with legislative leaders, "We were able to put the Fiscal Year 2015 budget deficit behind us in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner that protected funding for our local communities without additional burdens to taxpayers."

Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said the cuts are not expected to hurt public transportation services.

"Given the recent MBTA problems with all of the snow and the breakdowns across the state, I can understand ... the hesitance in making these cuts to transportation," Spilka said. "However, the severity of our fiscal situation means that nearly all agencies are taking a cut."

Spilka echoed the Baker administration's assurances that the MBTA cuts come from a hiring freeze, administrative efficiencies and unexpected revenues. "The governor repeatedly assured us that these fiscal changes will not affect direct services," Spilka said.

But some lawmakers said the transportation funding is necessary. "Fourteen million dollars is a heck of a lot of money to them, when you're asking MBTA riders to stand out in the cold," Keenan said.

State Sen. Thomas McGee, D-Lynn, chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said there is a "huge, continuing problem" in Massachusetts of funding transportation infrastructure.

"Clearly, the challenges we face are not only on the MBTA but statewide in terms of roads and bridges and infrastructure that are really struggling on the heels of limited investment or non-investment," McGee said. "Wait until you see what the roads look like when the snow disappears."

While the senators agreed on the problem, there was little consensus on a solution. Some Democrats tied the lack of transportation funding to a lack of taxes. The Legislature passed a transportation funding bill in 2013, but parts of that package were later repealed – the Legislature repealed a tax on software companies while the voters repealed the indexing of the gas tax to inflation.

State Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, criticized Baker for supporting the ballot question that repealed gas tax indexing. Baker has said he does not want to raise taxes and believes the governor and lawmakers should have to vote for every increase.

"I'm frustrated in the lack of leadership by the new governor," Lewis said. "The passage of that ballot question will cost the commonwealth more than $1 billion over the next decade. That's $1 billion that would otherwise have been available to improve our transportation infrastructure, including desperately needed repairs and maintenance at the MBTA."

But Republicans said there are things lawmakers can do other than raising taxes. State Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, urged Democrats not to turn transportation into "a political football." He said Republicans have offered solutions that do not raise taxes, such as limiting expansion of the MBTA until maintenance needs are addressed.

State Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, criticized members of his own party for spending too much money. And he criticized the MBTA for not managing its budget efficiently. "We gave the T direction to sell naming rights on their property," Montigny said. "Tens of millions of dollars was left on the table because the T is not acing like the quasi-private agency that it should."

The speech will be broadcasted live on Charter Cable

CHICOPEE - Mayor Richard J. Kos will present his State of the City speech to a joint session of the School Committee and City Council at 6 p.m., Feb. 25 in City Hall.

His speech will also be broadcasted live to the city on Charter Cable channel 191.

In previous years the state of the city speech has been given during the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce breakfast. The mayor's office is reaching out more to include the City Council and School Committee in the event and make it more public.

Kos will also give an address to the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce that is focused more on business issues.

LUDLOW - Hubbard Memorial Library Children's Department is holding a Valentine's Day Read-A-Thon. Children who read five library books, or whose parents read them five books, and bring a completed form back to the Children's Department are eligible for a free book. The form is due by Saturday which is Valentine's Day.

LUDLOW - Hubbard Memorial Library Children's Department is holding a Valentine's Day Read-A-Thon.

Children who read five library books, or whose parents read them five books, and bring a completed form back to the Children's Department are eligible for a free book.

The form is due by Saturday which is Valentine's Day.

Patrick Phillips wasn't about to let the case of his missing 2002 Lincoln Town Car go cold. When a friend told him the car had mysteriously vanished from a park-and-ride lot on last Saturday, Phillips picked up the phone and called police to report it stolen. Good thing officer David Loader was on the case.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

Springfield Park Commission Chairman Brian Santaniello said that he will call for a special meeting next week to meet with Forest Park zoo director John Lewis for a discussion of three exotic monkey deaths this winter.

SPRINGFIELD — Park Commission Chairman Brian Santaniello said Thursday night that he will call for a special meeting next week to meet with Forest Park zoo director John Lewis for a discussion of three exotic monkey deaths this winter.

Brian Santaniello 

Zoo officials confirmed last week that two monkeys had died in early January after a circuit breaker tripped, and the shed they were kept in lost power and heat. It was learned Thursday that a third monkey had died roughly a week earlier due to injuries suffered in a fight with monkeys, according to a report filed with the city Health Department.

A meeting date is not yet set, but Santaniello said the zoo director, John Lewis, is a city employee on long-term loan to the private zoo, and the zoo is within a public park under a long-term lease for $1 annually. The commission is learning of the deaths of the monkeys a month after they occurred, Santaniello said.

"I couldn't disagree more with his (Lewis') comments regarding the deaths of those animals and not having to report to anyone," Santaniello said. "At the very least, they should have reported them to the park superintendent immediately."

Lewis had stated that animals die by various means, and reports are not required.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture stated this week that it is reviewing the deaths of the monkeys that occurred in the power outage to see if there was any violation of animal welfare laws.

The school resource officer made the arrest.

WILBRAHAM - Police on Thursday arrested a juvenile at Minnechaug Regional High School for distribution of marijuana, a class D substance, and distribution within a school zone.

The arrest was made by School Resource Officer Daniel Menard.

Boston is looking down the barrel of another major winter storm that could balloon into a blizzard and cover the region with well over a foot of snow.

BOSTON -- The 3 p.m. winter storm press conference is becoming a permanent fixture on the Boston City Hall schedule.

Standing behind the city's new podium, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh addressed the news of yet another major snow storm with the region in its crosshairs.

There were the usual advisories to look out for elderly neighbors, pay attention to the city's homeless, clear the tailpipes of cars and, of course, remove snow and ice from sidewalks.

Two things were different about this Groundhog Day-like press conference: the mayor called to close the MBTA during the blizzard and the city is now receiving extensive outside assistance with snow removal.

Given the recent woes facing the MBTA, Walsh suggested that it would probably be a positive move if the agency closed during the blizzard.

"If we get a blizzard storm on Sunday I would suggest the MBTA shut down Saturday night into Sunday and possibly into Monday so that the proper snow removal can happen," said Walsh.

Walsh said he hasn't had those discussions with the governor or MBTA, but he thinks it is a decision the cash-strapped agency will make.

The MBTA closed on Tuesday in the aftermath of the a disastrous Monday where delays and cancellations were rampant across the system. The problems ultimately led to the resignation of MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott on Wednesday.

Boston, like much of the state, is receiving help from communities outside the state as it tries to deal with the massive snow mounds clogging its streets. Walsh singled out New York Mayor William De Blasio for coming to the city's aid with two 135-ton snow melters.

The city is operating two snow melters at snow farms in the Seaport and at Franklin Park. The new snow melters from New York should be operational by midnight. National Guard troops will be on city streets working to remove the clogged snow by the end of Thursday.

With many of the city's snow farms already at capacity, the city is scouting new locations for snow disposal. Walsh said he hasn't ruled out dumping it in the ocean, but he does not think it is necessary at this point, describing the problem the city is facing as a removal problem, not a disposal problem.

Boston is bracing itself for another major snow storm that, as of press time, was being described by forecasters as a potential blizzard that could dump 14-18 inches of snow on the city. Boston has received over six feet of snow in the last three weeks.

The menu includes two complimentary glasses of wine.

HAMPDEN - The Senior Center will hold a Valentine's Day Dance Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at the senior center at 104 Allen Street.

Featuring musical entertainment by the Premier Swing Band, couples can enjoy dancing, dinner and complimentary glasses of wine.

The menu includes an appetizer, spaghetti and meatballs, bread sticks, salad, dessert and two glasses of wine. The cost is $15.

For more information call the Senior Center at 566-5588.

Defense Department officials said Thursday that hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Department officials said Thursday that hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

The officials said the hormone therapy was approved Feb. 5 by Col. Erica Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Manning is serving a 35-year sentence.

The treatment would enable the Army private formerly known as Bradley Manning to make the transition to a woman. Manning changed her legal name in April 2014.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The memo approving Manning's hormone treatment was first reported by USA Today.

Calls to military officials at Fort Leavenworth weren't immediately returned.

The decision came after a lawsuit was filed in September in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It alleged Manning was at a high risk of self-castration and suicide unless she received more focused treatment for gender dysphoria, the sense of being a woman in a man's body.

The Army was providing some treatment but not enough, according to the lawsuit, including psychotherapy from a mental health specialist who lacked the qualifications to treat gender dysphoria. The Federal Bureau of Prisons and many state and local corrections agencies administer hormone therapy to prisoners with gender dysphoria, but Manning is the first transgender military prisoner to request such treatment.

"Such clear disregard of well-established medical protocols constitutes cruel and unusual punishment," ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said in September. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had approved medical treatment in August, but it hadn't started by the time the ACLU filed the lawsuit.

The 26-year-old former intelligence analyst was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks while working in Iraq.

Transgender people are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military, but Manning can't be discharged from the service while serving her prison sentence.

A police officer told a Texas jury Thursday that a former Marine charged in the deaths of two men, including "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, told him he had "taken a couple of souls" and had more to take.

STEPHENVILLE, Texas -- A police officer told a Texas jury Thursday that a former Marine charged in the deaths of two men, including "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle, told him he had "taken a couple of souls" and had more to take.

A police video displayed for the jury showed police in Lancaster, near Dallas, trying to coax Eddie Ray Routh from a pickup in the hours after famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were found dead at a shooting range in February 2013.

Officers in the video are seen trying to talk Routh into surrendering as he makes comments such as, "Anarchy has been killing the world."

"He told us he'd taken a couple of souls and he had more souls to take," Lancaster police Lt. Michael Smith testified Thursday.

Defense attorneys have said Routh, 27, was insane when Kyle and Littlefield took him to a shooting range to provide support and camaraderie. Routh believed the men planned to kill him, his attorneys say. Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

The case has drawn intense interest, largely because of Kyle's memoir, "American Sniper," about serving four tours in Iraq. The Oscar-nominated film based on the book has grossed nearly $300 million.

Officers testified that hours after the bodies were discovered, Routh returned to his home in Lancaster, driving Kyle's pickup. Officers spoke with him as he sat in the pickup but he refused to leave the vehicle, eventually speeding off with police in pursuit. He stopped minutes later after one police vehicle rammed the pickup.

At one point Routh, wanted his parents to come. "There's no trust anymore," the video showed Routh saying.

At different points, Routh made comments such as, "I didn't sleep a wink last night at all," ''I don't know if I'm going insane," and "Is this about hell walking on earth right now?"

Authorities say Routh had earlier driven his sister's house, admitted to the killings and told his sister, "people were sucking his soul."

While two officers tried to talk Routh out of the truck, two others "low crawled" to the back of the vehicle and placed spikes on the back tires, Lancaster police Officer Flavio Salazar said. The spike strips didn't cause the tires to deflate, and Routh sped away, prompting a chase at speeds of about 100 mph.

Finally, police rammed the pickup, eventually disabling the vehicle. Police video showed Routh opening the driver's-side door, emerging with his hands up and sinking to the ground.

Routh's mother had asked Kyle, whose wartime exploits were depicted in his memoir, to help her son overcome personal troubles that twice led him to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Routh had been a small arms technician who served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti before leaving the Marines in 2010.

Prosecutors contend that a history of mental illness should not absolve Routh in the deaths.

Texas Ranger Michael Adcock testified earlier Thursday that Kyle and Littlefield were armed at the time of the shootings but it did not appear the weapons they carried were ever removed from their holsters. Their wounds included multiple gunshots to the back.

Rallies are scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, outside Neal's Western Massachusetts offices at 300 State St., Springfield, and 78 Center St., Pittsfield.

SPRINGFIELD — It's been almost 10 months since protesters opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, rallied outside Congressman Richard Neal's Springfield office to voice concerns about the free trade deal that's been under negotiation for about a decade.

Protesters are once again expected to descend on the Democratic congressman's office next week to ask him to publicly declare opposition to any fast-tracking legislation for TPP. Such legislation would implement the free trade pact with minimal debate and no amendments, with the entire process taking no more than three months.

To date, Neal is the only member of Massachusetts' delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives who hasn't publicly stated his position on fast track, as the issue is known in political shorthand. That's why protesters plan to press him on the matter when they gather outside his State Street office on Feb. 18, from noon until 1 p.m. At the same time, protesters are slated to gather outside Neal's Pittsfield office at 78 Center St.

William Tranghese, Neal's press secretary, didn't immediately respond to an email message for comment about the upcoming rallies.

TPP is essentially a massive free trade deal between the U.S. and Canada and 10 nations in the developing Asia-Pacific region that would account for 40 percent of the world's economic activity, serving as a potential antidote to China's economic inroads into the region.

President Obama, who views the deal as the linchpin of his administration's economic policy in that part of the world, and other advocates say TPP would boost U.S. economic growth, support American jobs, and gain market access for Made-in-America exports to some of the fastest-growing nations in the world. The agreement also would establish trade rules, including rigorous regulation of labor and environmental standards of participating nations.

Congress, over the past couple of decades, has ceded more authority to the president to broker trade agreements, specifically the right to engage in "trade promotion authority" – an approach more commonly called "fast track." This authority essentially strips lawmakers of the ability to debate details of a trade agreement before a final up-or-down vote is taken.

"You're asking members to give away their leverage on a historic trade agreement when there are major issues outstanding," Congressman Sander M. Levin, Neal's colleague on the Ways and Means Committee, told The New York Times in December. Levin said a vote on fast-track authority before the presentation of a completed TPP deal "would be a donnybrook," the Times reported.

Because TPP talks have largely been conducted in secret – that's standard operating procedure for most trade negotiations – trade unions, environmentalists, global health advocates and other critics are concerned about what unknown details might be lurking in the pact.

Leaders of Western Mass. Jobs With Justice, one of the groups organizing the protests outside Neal's Western Massachusetts offices, posted a statement on Facebook that reads: "We are asking U.S. Rep. Richard Neal to stand up against Fast Track – an undemocratic, 1970s-era procedure that has been used to railroad the most controversial and damaging of U.S. 'trade' deals through Congress."

TPP is one of the greatest threats to American jobs, a living wage, clean air and water, and "democracy as we know it," according to the protest organizers. If Neal comes out publicly against trade promotion authority for TPP, "this rally will be a Thank You" to the congressman, organizers said.

Other protest sponsors include local AFL-CIO labor councils, Progressive Democrats of America, MoveOn.org, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, and Communications Workers of America.

At last year's demonstration, held outside Neal's Springfield office in late April, fellow Democrats said they wanted the dean of the state's U.S. congressional delegation to know that fast track is bad news for American workers.

"Too often we are told that these trade agreements are good for jobs, good for the economy, and for the people, but those promises rarely are true," Bill Shein, a Berkshire County resident and one-time challenger to Neal's congressional seat, said at the 2014 rally.

"It is good for corporate profits and the politicians who they write checks to – not the average working people. The benefits just don't flow down to the working class," he said.

The price of oil rebounded following two days of heavy losses.

By STEVE ROTHWELL

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks climbed back close to record levels on Thursday as technology, materials and energy companies all notched big gains.

Cisco Systems led the technology sector higher after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Energy stocks rose as the price of oil rebounded following two days of heavy losses.

There were also big gains for online travel companies. Expedia and Orbitz jumped after Expedia said that it was acquiring its rival. TripAdvisor also surged on speculation that the wave of consolidation in the industry would continue.

Stocks have logged big gains in February after a slumping to their worst month in a year in January on worries about the outlook for the global economy. Reports this month have shown that company earnings are still growing and the U.S. economy appears to be maintaining its recovery as hiring picks up.

"People were getting a little bit overly pessimistic," said Karyn Cavanaugh, a senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management. "I still think we're going to see a pretty decent year for the market."

The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 19.95 points, or 1 percent, to 2,088.48. The index is within two points of its record close of 2,090.57, set Dec. 29.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 110.24 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,972. The Nasdaq composite climbed 56.43 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,857.61.

On Tuesday, stocks opened higher on encouraging news from Europe, where world leaders clinched a cease-fire deal for Ukraine and as investors remained hopeful that Greece would be able to reach an agreement with its creditors.

An emergency meeting Wednesday between Greece's new government and finance ministers from nations that use the euro ended in a stalemate. Greece wants its creditors to ease the terms of a bailout program that has imposed years of austerity on the country.

Despite the setback, investors are hopeful that a deal will be reached before the country's financial rescue program expires at the end of the month. The main Athens stock index jumped 6.7 percent.

In the U.S., TripAdvisor was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, surging $15.13, or 23 percent, to $82.40, after the announcement of Expedia's bid for Orbitz.

Cisco, a major maker of computer networking equipment, was another big gainer. The stock jumped $2.53, or 9.4 percent, to $29.46 after it reported earnings late Wednesday that exceeded analysts' expectations. The company's outlook for the full year was also better than expected.

The S&P 500 index is up 4.7 percent for the month. If the market closes out the month at this level, it will be the best performance for the index since July 2013.

Still, not all investors are convinced that the prices of stocks will keep going up this year.

Katrina Lamb, head of investment strategy and research at asset manager MV Financial, says that the most likely path for the market is sideways. Concerns about the potential impact of higher rates in the U.S. and the outlook for overseas growth will likely keep the stock market in check.

"I don't really see much of a breakout potential (for stocks) in either direction," said Lamb. "It's going to be more of muddling along."

On Thursday, American Express was among the day's losers after the company said that it failed to reach an agreement to renew and exclusivity deal with Costco. The current agreement covers U.S. stores and dates back 16 years. It will end March 31, 2016.

Amex slumped $5.53, or 6.4 percent, to $80.48.

In energy trading, the price of oil rose sharply as the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell said he expects crude demand will grow faster than supply this year. Benchmark U.S. crude rose $2.37 to close at $51.21 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $2.39 to close at $57.05 in London.

Oil has recovered since falling 60 percent in the past seven months. It fell as low as $45 a barrel at the end of January. The rebound is encouraging to investors who had worried that the slump was signal of a slowing global economy.

In U.S. government bond trading, prices rose slightly. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged down to 1.97 percent from 1.99 percent on Wednesday.

The dollar fell to 119 yen from 120.16 yen the previous day. The euro rose to $1.1406 from $1.1319.

In metals trading, gold rose $1.10 to $1,220.70 an ounce, silver rose three cents to $16.79 an ounce and copper rose five cents to $2.60 a pound.

In other energy trading, In other futures trading on the NYMEX:

1. Wholesale gasoline rose 5.3 cents to close at $1.596 a gallon.
2. Heating oil rose 10 cents to close at $1.914 a gallon.
3. Natural gas fell 8.4 cents to close at $2.713 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The appeals court rejected the defense request to suspend jury selection immediately, but agreed to hold a hearing next week.

By DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON -- A federal appeals court on Thursday agreed to hold a hearing on a bid by lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to move his trial outside Massachusetts.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled the hearing for Feb. 19.

Tsarnaev's lawyers have repeatedly argued that he cannot get a fair trial in Massachusetts because of the emotional impact the deadly 2013 attack had here. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon finish line.

The appeals court rejected the defense request to suspend jury selection immediately, but agreed to hold a hearing on the defense request to order Judge George O'Toole Jr. to move the trial.

O'Toole has rejected three change-of-venue motions and has insisted that an impartial jury can be found in Massachusetts. Last week, the judge said the jury selection process so far has successfully found people who have shown they can be fair and impartial.

The appeals court rejected an earlier request from the defense to essentially take the decision on whether to move the trial out of O'Toole's hands.

In its order Thursday, the court made it clear that only one judge out of the three-judge panel requested the hearing. Judge Juan Torruella wrote a brief opinion in which he said he believes jury selection should be suspended until both the defense and prosecution can make arguments at the hearing. The court's order said the argument may be granted at the request of a single judge.

Torruella said he also disagrees with the appeals court's order to keep certain juror-related materials sealed from public view and to not discuss the sealed material during next week's hearing.

"It will be quite an interesting hearing since the parties will be forbidden from discussing the details of facts directly at the heart of the issue presented: whether the answers given during the jury selection process have demonstrated that the jury pool is so tainted and prejudiced that it is impossible for the Defendant to receive a fair trial," Torruella wrote.

Tsarnaev, 21, has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges in connection with the bombings. Seventeen of the charges carry the possibility of the death penalty.

Tsarnaev is being charged under the federal death penalty law. Massachusetts abolished its state death penalty in 1984.

On Thursday, the judge continued to question prospective jurors about whether they have already formed an opinion on Tsarnaev's guilt and about their attitudes on the death penalty.

To be eligible to serve on a death penalty case, jurors must be willing to meaningfully consider both the death penalty and life in prison as possible punishments.

Several people said they were strongly opposed to the death penalty and could never vote to sentence someone to death.

One man, a retired banker and a veteran of the Vietnam era, said his son, a Marine, served three tours of duty in Iraq, where many of his friends were killed or maimed.

"I think there's been too much killing during my lifetime, and I'm not prepared to participate in any more," he said.

Another man, a physician's assistant, said he has spent his life trying to heal people and could never vote to sentence someone to death "under any circumstances."

Another prospective juror, a teacher's aide for special-needs students, said she believes the death penalty should be used in heinous cases. There was an awkward moment when she said she would "be OK with the death penalty" in the case of Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman who was convicted of drowning her two young sons in 1994. Two of Tsarnaev's lawyers, David Bruck and Judy Clarke, represented Smith and persuaded a jury to sentence her to life in prison instead of giving her the death penalty.

The woman said several of her co-workers have expressed strong opinions on what Tsarnaev's punishment should be.

"They basically said, 'Fry him,'" she said.

The woman said she respects the judicial process and believes she could be fair and impartial.

The coldest winter weather of the season, with sub-zero wind chills, is expected to put much of the state into a deep freeze over the next few days.

FRAMINGHAM — Just when you thought this winter couldn't get any worse, it just did: The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency on Thursday said "bitterly cold" temperatures are expected to move into the Bay State on Friday night and stay with us through Tuesday.

The coldest temperatures of the season are expected to occur Sunday night through Tuesday, according to the Framingham-based agency.

According to MEMA, there's also a good chance for a "significant snowstorm this weekend," with accumulations of 10-18 inches along coastal sections of Massachusetts, 10-14 inches in Metro West and Central Massachusetts, and 4-10 inches in Western Mass.

Light to moderate snow will begin spreading across southern New England by Saturday afternoon, intensifying after dark. By Sunday morning, coastal sections of eastern and southeastern New England and the Cape and islands could be experiencing blizzard-like conditions.

The storm is also predicted to pack northerly winds of 35-45 mph, with gusts of more than 50 mph in some coastal sections of the commonwealth.

Other potential hazards associated with this storm include:

• blowing and drifting snow;


• poor road conditions;


• power outages;


• minor to moderate coastal flooding;


• and beach erosion.

Nick Morganelli, meteorologist with CBS 3 Springfield, the media partner of MassLive / The Republican, says Pioneer Valley residents could wake up Friday morning to wind chill temperatures near 20 below, with afternoon highs only reaching 8-12 degrees and a wind chill below zero.

Temperatures will rise into the lower 20s by Saturday, producing light snow by midday, before nosediving again on Sunday afternoon, when the sub-zero wind chill is expected to return, according to Morganelli.

New York Times media columnist David Carr has died at his office at age 58.

NEW YORK -- Media columnist David Carr, who wrote the Media Equation column for The New York Times and penned a memoir about his fight with drug addiction, collapsed at his office and died on Thursday. He was 58.

Just hours before his death he had moderated a "Times Talks" conversation with Edward Snowden, director Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald about the documentary "Citizenfour." Engaged as always, he drew them out with pointed questions and wry observations to speak candidly about the film.

Carr's column focused on issues of media in relation to business, culture and government, said the Times, which confirmed his death.

Carr joined the Times in 2002 as a business reporter, covering magazine publishing. His Media Equation column appeared in the Monday business section.

Before joining the Times, Carr was a contributing writer for The Atlantic Monthly and New York magazine. He also was a media writer for news website Inside.com.

He served as editor of the Washington City Paper, an alternative weekly in Washington, D.C. He also was editor of a Minneapolis-based alternative weekly called Twin Cities Reader.

Carr, who lived in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and their daughter and had two other children, also wrote "The Night of the Gun," a 2008 memoir about addiction and recovery.

The book, published by Simon and Schuster, traces Carr's rise from cocaine addict to single dad raising twin girls to sobered-up media columnist for the Times.

Carr said he wrote up a book proposal "on a dare to myself" in two days. After an agent sold the idea, Carr ended up interviewing about 60 people and working on the book for three years. He took the transcribed interviews, numerous documents and pictures to his family's cabin in the Adirondacks, where he wrote the book.

Last year, Carr began teaching a Boston University class that explored the creative business models to support digital journalism. It was among the first professorships dedicated to evaluating how media organizations can sustain themselves financially as readers and advertisers migrate to digital platforms, a crisis that has doomed some news organizations and threatens the viability of others.

Carr had written about the issue extensively.

"I think a lot of journalism education that is going on is broadly not preparing kids for the world that they are stepping into," Carr told The Boston Globe.