Waterways in New York and around the Northeast are beset by ice that is more than a foot thick in some places.

Waterways in New York and around the Northeast are beset by ice that is more than a foot thick in some places, making life miserable for those who make their living on the water.

In New York, where the Coast Guard is cutting ice on the Hudson River so barges carrying heating oil, gasoline and jet fuel can reach destinations. The thickest part is in the area of Germantown and Hudson, north of New York City. In some spots the ice is a foot-and-a-half thick, Coast Guard officials said.

"The barges traveling from New York City to Albany have the most difficult time transiting through that one area, so that's where the Coast Guard is devoting its effort to keep clean," Coast Guard Lt. Ken Sauerbrunn said.

Iced waterways are a problem in other Northeast locations, such as off of Boston, where a commuter ferry carrying more than 100 passengers got delayed by about 45 minutes when it was slowed down by the coastal ice pack on Feb. 20.

Scott Werner of Portland said this winter has been "a horror show" for lobster fishermen like himself. The ice has prevented him from getting his boat out to fish in recent weeks, and cut into his ability to make money in the already slow winter lobstering season, he said.

"I'm not going to risk it. I don't want to break anything," Werner said. "It's been brutal, but what are you going to do?"

It was the coldest February on record in Portland according to National Weather Service records that go back to 1940. The frigid temperatures froze more than 10 lobster fishing boats in ice off of Portland, said Bill Needelman, the city's waterfront coordinator. Fewer fishermen have been able to pursue key food fish such as haddock and pollock, which has cut into landings at the city's fish pier and lessened activity at the Portland Fish Exchange auction, he said.

The ice also is causing damage to piers and could contribute to erosion, Needelman said. He said this year's ice likely will take a heavy toll on waterfront infrastructure in the city.

"It's a highly destructive force and we can anticipate that there will be a lot of maintenance needs and repair needs," he said.

The Coast Guard experienced an approximately two week period in February when it's ice-cutting tug, Shackle, was out cutting ice every day, Chief Warrant Officer Bob Albert said. Cutting was needed in Portland Harbor, the Fore River and parts of Casco Bay to allow for petroleum deliveries and for commuter ferries and fishing vessels to traverse the waterways, he said.

"The demand for ice breaking this year has exceeded any demands that have been placed on the Coast Guard at any time in the last ten years," Albert said.

Police shot and killed a man Sunday who struggled with officers on a sidewalk in the Skid Row section of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police shot and killed a man Sunday who struggled with officers on a sidewalk in the Skid Row section of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.

The officers, who were answering a robbery call in the area at about noon, got into a struggle with the man, and tried to use a stun gun on him before shooting him, LAPD spokesman Sgt. Barry Montgomery said. He was later declared dead at a hospital.

VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC FOOTAGE AND LANGUAGE

Witnesses told the Los Angeles Times that the man is known on the street in the area as "Africa," and that he had been there for four or five months.

Five or six officers were involved in the struggle, and two of them broke away to handcuff a woman who had picked up one of their dropped batons as the others wrestled the man to the ground, witnesses said.

One witness, Jose Gil, 38, told the Times he saw the man swinging at police then heard one of them shout, "he's got my gun!" before multiple shots were fired.

Dennis Horne, 29, said the man had been fighting with someone else in his tent before officers arrived.

"It's sad," Horne said. "There's no justification to take somebody's life."

Tents and cardboard shelters cover the sidewalks of Skid Row, the downtown neighborhood where an estimated 1,700 homeless people live. Many of them struggle with mental illness and addiction.

Los Angeles Police Commission President Steve Soboroff told the Times that the LAPD, the independent inspector general and the district attorney would all investigate the shooting "very, very carefully."

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, head of the activist group the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, called on the Police Commission to hold special hearing on use of force by officers in Skid Row encounters.

Hutchinson said in a statement that the shooting "underscores the need for the police commission to hold a special hearing to fully examine police tactics and training in the use of deadly force by LAPD officers involving skid row residents many of whom have major mental challenges."

Other recent deaths during police actions in New York and in Ferguson, Missouri, and the lack of prosecution of the officers involved, have brought nationwide protest.

The violence Sunday had echoes of the August shooting by Los Angeles police of 25-year-old Ezell Ford, whose death in a struggle with officers brought demonstrations in the city.

Ford was unarmed, but police officers said he was shot only after reaching for an officer's gun.

Ice jams are a concern as frozen rivers and a deep snow pack could combine for spring flooding.

 

The Boston Globe reported that the National Weather Service said below normal temperatures throughout the months of January and February have left many Western Mass. rivers and streams ice-locked. Even larger rivers can have more than a foot of ice covering, hydrologists say, leaving some to worry about ice-jam flooding.

Nicole Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service told the Globe that ice-jam flooding comes when the ice on flowing rivers breaks up and beings to flow, but is blocked by bridge abutments or similar impediments. The ice continues to pile up and block the flow of water. Combined with a sudden melting of the substantial snow pack, ice jams could cause significant flooding.

Belk said she has located a frozen in ice jam in the headwaters of the Westfield River, but it is not causing problems yet.

The record setting cold felt across the Northeast has created unusual conditions. The Coast Guard has had to use its ice breakers to keep sea traffic operating around Boston Harbor. That prompted an unusual confrontation between a coyote and an ice breaker. As an ice breaker worked to keep a ferry channel open near Quincy, a coyote dashed across its patch.

Commuter ferries bringing suburbanites from Hingham and Hull into Boston have had to shut down several times due to the amount of ice on Boston Harbor.

A fishing boat near Woods Hole on Cape Cod needed the help of an ice breaker when it became stuck in ice more than half a mile from shore between Pasque Island and Nashawena Island. The Coast Guard boat circled the fishing boat, breaking up the ice to the point the commercial fisher could make way toward Buzzards Bay.

Although roads have been cleared of snow, temperatures below freezing mean there could be spots that are icy.

02.04.2014 | NORTHAMPTON -- Northampton DPW crews were kept busy with last week's snowstorm, and crews in that city and across Western Massachusetts are expecting to have plenty to do during Thursday's expected nor'easter.Photo by John Suchocki / The Republican 

SPRINGFIELD - State police report little to no problems on area highways as a result the overnight snowfall.

The state police barracks in Springfield, and Northampton reported no accidents during the overnight and the start of the morning commute.

The barracks in Shelburne reported one minor spin-out on Interstate 91 northbound between Northfield and the Vermont line just before 8 a.m. No injuries were reported.

State police report the traffic flow is fine and people should experience few problems providing they adjust their driving to match the road conditions.

Although roads have been cleared of snow, temperatures below freezing mean there could be spots that are icy.

Several communities declared emergency parking bans as a result of the snow.

No schools cancellations were announced, but schools in Monson, Ware, Palmer, Belchertown and the Hampshire Regional School District declared a two-hour delayed start. Easthampton Public Schools announced a one-hour delay.

Overnight snowfall totals range from 2 to 3 inches in most of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, although Wales, Hampden and Wilbraham each reported 4 inches.

In a court filing, the defense said prosecutors plan to call a witness who will testify that an object Hernandez is seen holding in his own home surveillance video is a specific type of Glock, and they want to introduce that type of gun as evidence.

FALL RIVER - After testimony from a state police investigator who said shell casings found around the body of Odin Lloyd matched those found in a car rented by Aaron Hernandez, the defense is asking the judge to bar prosecutors from introducing any Glock handgun into evidence.

Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star tight end, is one of three men accused of murdering Lloyd in a North Attleboro industrial park in June 2013. When cross-examining the ballistics expert, his defense tried to cast doubt on the shell casing match by pointing out the murder weapon has never been found, making any test results unreliable.

In a court filing, the defense said prosecutors plan to call a witness who will testify that an object Hernandez is seen holding in his own home surveillance video is a specific type of Glock, and they want to introduce that type of gun as evidence.

The witness, Glock district sales manager Kyle Aspinwall, is expected to say he bases that identification on the gun's back strap, which shows it's a Glock Generation 3 Model 21 .45 caliber pistol. But the defense argues that the strap "is not unique to Model 21 or even .45 caliber Glocks in general."

"The display of the fully functional firearm to the jury under these circumstances as a surrogate for the alleged murder weapon ... would be inflammatory, unduly and improperly suggestive, and far more unfairly prejudicial than probative," the defense's filing reads. "Indeed, the particular firearm the Commonwealth wants to show the jury has nothing to do with this case!" (Emphasis in original.)

The filing continues that Aspinwall could be allowed to show a picture of a Model 21 Glock back strap to illustrate his points, but introducing any firearm into evidence would be a violation of Hernandez's right to due process.

An email from Aspinwall to prosecutors, included in the court filing, shows Aspinwall is not confident in identifying the magazine of the gun in the video as that of a Glock, and it's not possible to see certain other characteristics that could narrow it down.

The defense has not asserted what the object in the video actually is, but they say prosecutors can't prove it's a gun, let alone the murder weapon.

Monday's proceedings have been delayed until 10:15 a.m. because of inclement weather south of Boston.

Juan Rodriguez was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card.

GREENFIELD - Greenfield police, responding to a disturbance early Saturday at Forbe Court, arrested a 25-year-old man after finding him carrying an unlawful firearm, police said.

Juan RodriguezGreenfield police photo 

Juan Rodriguez of 66 Forth St., Apt. 2L, was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card.

He was arrested without incident, police said.

He was book at the Greenfield police station and then transported to the Franklin County House of Correction for holding. He is due to be arraigned Monday in Greenfield District Court.

Boston and Cambridge are scheduled to begin removal of parking space savers on Monday in conjunction with regularly schedule trash collection.

BOSTON -- The trash man cometh.

The removal of parking space savers from Boston streets is set to begin on Monday when regular garbage collection begins. The city warned residents last week that the period for space saving, extended by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh due to the historic snowfall, would end today.

The controversial local custom of marking one's parking space after shoveling it out in the aftermath of a snowstorm has been around for decades, though as of late there have been efforts to stamp it out.

The practice is officially recognized by the city, though space saving is limited to 48 hours after a snow emergency expires, a rule rarely followed.

The South End has formally banned the practice, but a Saturday visit by a MassLive reporter to the neighborhood found more than two dozen space savers on the streets of the neighborhood.

Cambridge is following Boston's move and removing space savers all week in conjunction with trash pickup. Cambridge officially bans the practice, but space savers are widespread throughout the city.

Austin Hiller, who is listed as a University of Massachusetts student, is slated to be arraigned Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown

AMHERST - Police arrested a 19-year-old North Andover man on drunk driving and other charges after being stopped at 3:15 a.m. Saturday near Cumberland Farms on Route 9.

Police charged Austin M. Hiller, with a lights violation, failure to stop or yield, operating under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle to endanger.

Other charges could be filed.

Hiller, who is listed as a University of Massachusetts student, is slated to be arraigned Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown

It has topped more than 100 inches of snow this season, but Boston is just short of surpassing its 20-year-old snowfall record.

BOSTON (AP) -- It has topped more than 100 inches of snow this season, but Boston is just short of surpassing its 20-year-old snowfall record -- for now.

Sunday's snowfall brought the city's total to 103.9 inches. It needs 3.7 inches more to break the 1995-1996 record of 107.6.

Two small snowfalls, Tuesday night and Wednesday into Thursday, could be just what's needed, said Frank Nocera, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Taunton, Massachusetts, office.

Elsewhere, heavy snow was falling in the southern Rockies and Great Basin and heavy rain was soaking parts of the Southwest. A flood watch was in effect until Monday evening for east-central and south-central Arizona, including Phoenix.

Snow fell from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast for much of Sunday and freezing rain hit the Mid-Atlantic.

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RECORD COLD

February 2015 was one for the record books in the Northeast.

The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University says Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton and Ithaca, New York, shivered through their coldest months ever.

The average temperature was 10.9 degrees in Buffalo, beating the 1934 record of 11.4. The monthly average was 9.0 in Syracuse, 12.2 in Binghamton and 10.2 in Ithaca.

February record lows were also set in Hartford, Connecticut, at 16.1; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at 20.9; and Portland, Maine at 13.8.

In Rhode Island, Providence set a record with 31.8 inches of snow for the month.

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SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND DELAYS

In the West, public schools closed Monday in Flagstaff as a winter storm dropped snow in Arizona's high country and rain in the deserts.

In northern and east-central Arizona, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Flagstaff and other areas of the Mogollon Rim region. A flash-flood watch was issued Monday for the Phoenix area, while snow was forecast for southeastern Arizona mountains.

In Colorado, weather forecasters issued blizzard and avalanche warnings. The storm was expected to last through Monday, with another storm expected Tuesday.

In Southern California on Sunday, crews cleaned up a mudslide that shut down a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway northwest of Los Angeles early Sunday. The area received between a quarter-inch to half an inch of rain.

In the East, a number of school districts delayed opening for up to two hours Monday, providing some melting time for a coating of ice that blanketed states from the Mid-Atlantic northward.

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WEATHER-RELATED DEATHS

Authorities reported four people, including one child, died in weather-related incidents in Missouri.

Two passengers were killed when a driver lost control on a snow-covered highway in Lebanon on Saturday.

A 25-year-old eastern Missouri woman was killed Sunday morning on a snow-covered stretch of Interstate 70 when she collided with a tractor-trailer, state police said. In Nevada, Missouri, a boy died after falling through an ice-covered farm pond.

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, state police said a 22-year-old woman died after being ejected from a car that overturned while the driver was trying to avoid snow in the roadway.

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MICHIGAN TOT HOSPITALIZED

A 3-year-old Lansing, Michigan, girl was hospitalized in critical condition after getting stuck overnight outside her family's apartment during frigid weather that marked the end of one of the coldest Februaries on record in Michigan.

According to police, the girl was treated for severe hypothermia. A relative found the girl on a sidewalk in front of the apartment complex about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Lansing police Sgt. Joe Brown told the Lansing State Journal (http://on.lsj.com/1M0N4PH). The temperature was 5 degrees at the time.

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SNOW DELAY FOR HERNANDEZ

The weather is again delaying the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez.

The court has delayed Monday's start until 10:15 a.m. There already have been 5.5 snow days since jury selection began in the trial Jan. 9.

Hernandez is charged with the 2013 killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee's sister.

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TRUCK FALLS THROUGH ICE

A pickup truck drove onto a frozen river in New Jersey early Sunday, spun around repeatedly and then plunged through the ice, police said, and rescue teams found a dead dog but no people inside.

Later, the driver, who owned the dog, and a passenger turned themselves in, state police said. They were in custody and were being questioned, but police had not said whether they would face criminal charges including for the death of the dog, which apparently drowned.

The passenger had gotten out of the truck just before the driver took it out onto the ice, police said.

BOSTON — With the jury selection process complete the trial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to begin on Wednesday when attorneys are scheduled to deliver opening statements. Judge George O'Toole will hold two final hearings Monday and Tuesday before the trial begins. O'Toole is expected to hear arguments about limiting presentable evidence on Monday. Tuesday's...

BOSTON -- With the jury selection process complete the trial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to begin on Wednesday when attorneys are scheduled to deliver opening statements.

Judge George O'Toole will hold two final hearings Monday and Tuesday before the trial begins.

O'Toole is expected to hear arguments about limiting presentable evidence on Monday.

Tuesday's hearing will focus on the make up of the jury. A jury of 12 plus six alternates will be assembled from the 64 suitable people found during the voir dire process. Just 256 people went through the voir dire process in February.

The latest effort by Tsarnaev's attorneys to move the trial from Boston was rejected on Friday by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Three snowmobile riders had to abandon their machines after they became stuck in deep snow.

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com 

Three riders had to be rescued from the New Hampshire woods Saturday when their snowmobiles became stuck in six-foot-deep snow.

New Hampshire conservation officers located the stranded riders, two from Plymouth, Mass. and one from Fort Ann, N.Y., at about 10 p.m. Saturday night on 3,627-foot-high Stub Hill in Pittsburg.

Officer Christopher Egan said that the three tried to ride off a groomed trail and found themselves in deep snow. They tried to free their machines from the 5 to 6 foot deep snow pack for several hours, but eventually gave up and started to walk out of the woods. They called for help at about 8 p.m. Conservation officers located the men about one-and-a-half miles from the abandoned machines.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.

This would be the third tax amnesty program the state would be run in less than two years, and the second under Baker.

BOSTON - Gov. Charlie Baker will propose raising an additional $100 million next year by granting amnesty to people who have not filed their taxes.

This is the third tax amnesty program the state would run in less than two years, and the second under Baker, although each program has generally applied to different groups of taxpayers.

"Creating incentives for businesses to follow through and pay what they owe will help generate much needed revenue as our administration fixes the budget problems we inherited and brings filers into the system for future payments," Baker said in a statement.

The tax amnesty program, which Baker, a Republican, announced Saturday, would run for all of fiscal year 2016 and would waive penalties for individuals and businesses who owe back taxes to the state because they have not filed a return. This includes people who are known to the Department of Revenue because they filed in one year but did not file in another year, but for whom the department has not yet gotten around to assessing the fines. It also includes people who have failed entirely to file their taxes and are unknown to the state.

Brendan Moss, a spokesman for the Secretary of Administration and Finance, said the goal would be to get people who never filed taxes into the system, which would also generate new revenue in future years. He estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 people would file their taxes under the proposal.

The last time the state ran a tax amnesty program for non-filers was in 2002, and the program brought in $176 million. That amnesty lasted for two months.

The state has run other tax amnesty programs.

In September and October 2014, former Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, ran a tax amnesty program for people who owed personal income taxes and non-corporate business taxes like the meals and rooms tax. That raised $69.1 million. Baker ran another tax amnesty this February for corporate tax filers. The state is still tallying the revenue from that program.

Before that, the state last ran tax amnesty programs in 2009 and 2010. The 2009 program covered personal income and use taxes, and raised $32.2 million. The 2010 program covered sales, rooms and meals and other non-personal, non-corporate taxes. It raised $32.6 million.

Carolyn Ryan, a policy analyst for the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said tax amnesty programs tend to be used occasionally by state government. "Often, it's in situations like this where government's facing a large deficit and there's not necessarily an obvious way of closing that deficit, so people work for more creative solutions," Ryan said.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has estimated that Baker will have to fill a $1.5 billion gap in 2016 between the revenues that are coming in and the amount of money needed to maintain current services.

Ryan warned that government cannot do tax amnesty programs with any regularity because people would then anticipate amnesty and would not file on time.

Ira Jackson, dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was the commissioner of revenue under former Gov. Michael Dukakis, a Democrat. Jackson proposed the first successful tax amnesty program in the country in 1984. The Legislature estimated the amnesty would raise $5 million; it brought in $87 million.

Jackson said he proposed amnesty as a one-time event. "I anticipated a non-recurring opportunity for tax evaders and delinquents to come in, settle up and never look back," Jackson said. "It was a resounding success and was emulated by many states across the country."

Jackson, a Democrat, said his feeling is tax amnesty should be "few and far between," with an effective enforcement of tax evaders the rest of the time.

"Every once in awhile, if folks on the inside think a cleansing of the system is appropriate, it's certainty an efficient and effective way of bringing in a number of non-filers," Jackson said.

"If $100 million in non-filer income is out there, cha-ching," Jackson said. "That sure beats cutting back on service on the MBTA or furloughing state employees."

At a recent hearing on 2016 revenues, Department of Revenue Commissioner Amy Pitter said she has mixed feelings on tax amnesty. If programs happen too frequently, Pitter said some taxpayers will not pay their bills because they are waiting for the next amnesty. She said there are also concerns that tax amnesty programs accelerate but do not increase payments.

Pitter, through a spokeswoman, referred questions about Baker's proposal to Moss.

Baker will release his proposed 2016 budget on Wednesday, and it will then go to House and Senate budget writers.

The chairmen of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, and Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill, could not be reached Monday.

Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, vice chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said he will consider the tax amnesty program as part of Baker's budget proposal, and he looks forward to hearing more details. "The issue with tax amnesty programs is you cannot do it very often because then you create an incentive for people not to remit their taxes on time, if they think there's going to be an amnesty program coming down on a fairly regular basis where they can avoid the penalties for late payment of taxes," Kulik said.

Kulik said the best tax amnesty programs are those that are "unexpected and infrequent" but give people incentives to pay back taxes.

"The fact that we've had two recently gives me some pause about the effectiveness of another one coming on the heels of those," Kulik said. But he said he will let Baker make the case for why it is a good idea.

Chris Geehern, a spokesman for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a business trade group, said as long as tax amnesty is implemented rarely, it can be effective. "Our view on this is if it's something the administration could do to both bring taxpayers into compliance and increase revenue to the commonwealth, it's a good thing," Geehern said. "We encourage companies to pay their taxes and certainly the state's looking for every piece of revenue they can."

He also threatened to punch the woman, causing her to raise her hands in self-defense, then grabbed the phone from her hands and threw it against the wall, the report said.

SPRINGFIELD - Instead of punching his pregnant girlfriend Sunday morning, Jesus Pizarro-Reyes decided to kick a hole in her television and hurl her phone against the wall, according to his arrest report.

"It looks like you won't be calling (the police) after all," Pizarro-Reyes, 18, told his girlfriend after damaging her phone during a fight at their Lionel Benoit Road apartment, the report states.

But his girlfriend managed to reassemble the phone and call 911, leading to his arrest later Sunday morning on felony assault charges.

In Springfield District Court Monday, Pizarro-Reyes pleaded innocent to aggravated domestic assault and battery, witness intimidation, threat to commit a crime and malicious property damage.

During the arraignment, defense lawyer Randy Milou said his client never struck his 22-year old girlfriend and their argument had ended by the time police arrived.

But Pizarro-Reyes acknowledged taking his anger out on his girlfriend's television and cell phone and also admitted striking her in the past, the arrest report states.

Pizarro-Reyes is listed as both an employee and student at Balliet Middle School in Springfield in the police report.

The girlfriend, described as being "visibly pregnant" with the defendant's child, is also mother of a young boy who was sleeping in the apartment as the couple fought. The boy is not Pizarro-Reyes' child, the report states.

The couple began arguing late Saturday night and by 4 a.m. Pizarro-Reyes was enraged, the woman told police.

When she asked him to leave, he refused; when she threatened to call police, he responded, "If the cops show up, something bad is going to happen," according to the report.

Then the defendant kicked a hole in the television and began damaging furniture, saying "this is what I can do," the woman said.

He also threatened to punch her. When she raised her hands in self-defense, he grabbed her phone and threw it against the wall, the woman told police.

After collecting pieces of the phone, she locked herself in the bathroom; as he banged on the door, she managed to reassemble it and call 911, the woman said.

When police arrived, the defendant admitted damaging the television and phone, but offered an explanation.

"Mr. Pizarro-Reyes told officers ... that he hit and destroyed those things to keep from hitting her as he had the urge to," the report said.

At the defense lawyer's request, Judge Jacklyn Connly released the defendant on personal recognizance and scheduled a pretrial conference April 19.

She also ordered the Pizarro-Reyes to have no contact with the defendant.

The stolen items included $5 in loose change, five one dollar bills, two cell phones, two credit cards, an Ipod and a Springfield public library card, the prosecutor said Monday.

SPRINGFIELD — In a two-month car burgling spree, Cristian Mercado started out swiping loose change, credit cards and cell phones and ended up driving a Cadillac SRX.

A month after the 2012 sport utility vehicle was reported stolen, city police found it near the corner of Lexington and Narragansett streets, a prosecutor said Monday in Springfield District Court.

They also found Mercado's fingerprints on the gas tank latch and elsewhere, leading to his third arrest in five months, Assistant District Attorney Hector Zavala said.

Mercado, 19, of Oswego Street, initially pleaded innocent to larceny, breaking and entering, receiving stolen property and other charges from two arrests in September and a third in January after the Cadillac was recovered.

But during a hearing Monday, he pleaded guilty to all charges, and was given a one-year sentence at the Hampden County House of Correction, with six months suspended. He was also placed on probation until March 2016.

The sentence was recommended by Zavala and defense lawyer John A. Rasmussen, who said his client had no criminal record and a work history including odd jobs and a stint at a Laundromat.

Judge Jacklyn Connly agreed to the proposal, and gave the defendant credit for time served dating back to Dec. 18.

But she also expressed concern for the defendant's future, adding: "You're not off to a very good start in District Court."

According to Zavala, the defendant and an accomplice were first arrested on Sept. 25 and charged with breaking into three vehicles on Willow Street.

The stolen items included $5 in loose change, five one dollar bills, two cell phones, two credit cards, an iPod and a Springfield public library card, the prosecutor said Monday.

Several days later, Mercado was arrested for allegedly breaking into vehicles in the parking lot at the Springfield Cinemas on St. James Street.

Bail details were no available Monday for either arrest. But in both cases, police were alerted by witnesses spotted the burglaries in progress and called 911, the prosecutor said.

On Nov. 20, the Cadillac disappeared from a Liberty Street parking around dusk; Springfield police recovered it on Jan. 20, Zavala said. The defendant was already in custody at that point, and was charged after police matched his prints to those on the vehicle, Zavala said.

After hearing the prosecutor recount details of the crimes, Connly warned the defendant he could return to jail after his six month sentence if he violates terms of his probation.

"Good luck, Mr. Mercado," the judge added.

Lavoie said she hopes to travel, spend more time with family as well as on Cape Cod, and remain an active volunteer in the community.

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Eastern States Exposition Vice President Sue Lavoie will retire at the end of March after a 49-year career with the Big E.

Lavoie joined the staff of The Big E in June 1966 and has held a number of positions, culminating in her appointment of vice president in 1986. She oversees the fair's sales department, which is responsible for selling of all commercial exhibit space for The Big E, obtaining sponsorships and booking the facility for events throughout the year. There are more than 100 events each year, according to a news release.

Lavoie also acts as the fair's liaison to the Avenue of the States and the governments of all six New England states that run the state buildings at the fair.

"I remember the Exposition with dirt roads and old buildings and have seen this organization grow and change with numerous new structures and a thriving year-round show business," Lavoie said in the release. "I am proud of the spectacular showcase Eastern States Exposition has become and pleased to have been a part of its evolution."

Eastern States Exposition president and CEO Eugene J. Cassidy said, "Sue's list of accomplishments at ESE and in life is long and honorable. She is an impressive woman who worked hard to guide and mold our organization into the fifth-largest fair in North America and one of the top 10 economic engines in Western Massachusetts."

Lavoie is an active member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, and served as its first female president in 1997-1998. She received the Rotary's Paul Harris honor in 1998.

According to the news release, her awards include the Women's Partnership (now the Professional Women's Chamber) Woman of the Year (1998) as well as the two highest awards for volunteerism bestowed by the YMCA: the Outstanding Layperson of the Year (1990) and its Red Triangle award (2002).

She is board chair and Finance Committee member of the Mount Marie Health Care System; past chair of the Springfield YMCA, Pioneer Valley American Red Cross and Springfield School Volunteers; past president of the Women's Partnership and the Massachusetts Agricultural Fairs Association; past board member of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Women's Partnership, New England chapter of the International Association of Exposition Managers, West Springfield Boys & Girls Club and the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control Shelter, the Springfield Parking Authority Commission and the Springfield Board of Parks Commissioners. She also served on several committees for the Springfield YWCA, and is a Certified Fair Executive of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions.

Lavoie said she hopes to travel, spend more time with family as well as on Cape Cod, and remain an active volunteer in the community.

Though Interstate 95 is one of the busiest roads on the East Coast, the rural stretch where the robbery occurred is relatively isolated, bordered by trees and farms

This is an update to a story posted at 12:40 p.m. Monday.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Shortly after dusk along a lonely stretch of Interstate 95, armed robbers hijacked an armored truck, tied up the two guards and disappeared into the night with 275 pounds of gold bars.

The guards working for Transvalue Inc. of Miami reported pulling off to the side of the interstate about 6:30 p.m. Sunday after their vehicle began having mechanical problems in eastern North Carolina, according to the Wilson County Sheriff's Office.

The guards told police they were surprised by three armed men driving a white van who ordered the guards to lie on the ground, tied their hands behind their backs and then marched them into nearby woods.

Transvalue chief executive officer Jay Rodriguez said the truck carrying the gold bars left Miami about 4 a.m. Sunday. The load was headed to Attleboro, Massachusetts, a town south of Boston nicknamed "Jewelry City" for the large number of manufacturers based there.

"At this time we are working with the authorities to try and resolve this matter," Rodrigez said. "We are offering a $50,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of these criminals."

Though Interstate 95 is one of the busiest roads on the East Coast, the rural stretch where the robbery occurred is relatively isolated, bordered by trees and farms.

Animated reenactment of gold robbery

Shelley Lynch, spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Charlotte field office, said agents are assisting the local sheriff and are working to determine whether a federal crime has been committed.

According to its website, Transvalue specializes in transporting cash, precious metals, gems and jewelry in armored trucks. The company says its shipments are insured for up to $100 million.

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Peterson was charged in February with soliciting an unidentified person to find someone he could pay to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow.

CHESTER, Ill. (AP) -- The former suburban Chicago police officer convicted of killing his third wife and suspected in his fourth spouse's disappearance is returning to court on charges of trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who helped put him in state prison.

Drew Peterson was charged in February with soliciting an unidentified person to find someone he could pay to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow.

The 61-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant has been in prison since being convicted in 2012 in Kathleen Savio's bathtub drowning death eight years earlier. His fourth wife disappeared in 2007.

The murder-for-hire charges were filed in Randolph County, where Peterson is an inmate at the Menard Correctional Center. Peterson will appear in court Tuesday

CHESTER, Ill. (AP) -- The former suburban Chicago police officer convicted of killing his third wife and suspected in his fourth spouse's disappearance is returning to court on charges of trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who helped put him in state prison. Drew Peterson was charged in February with soliciting an unidentified person to find someone...

CHESTER, Ill. (AP) -- The former suburban Chicago police officer convicted of killing his third wife and suspected in his fourth spouse's disappearance is returning to court on charges of trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who helped put him in state prison.

Drew Peterson was charged in February with soliciting an unidentified person to find someone he could pay to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow.

The 61-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant has been in prison since being convicted in 2012 in Kathleen Savio's bathtub drowning death eight years earlier. His fourth wife disappeared in 2007.

The murder-for-hire charges were filed in Randolph County, where Peterson is an inmate at the Menard Correctional Center. Peterson will appear in court Tuesday

The suspects distracted the owner of Mark's Beverage liquor store and stole the money that was supposed to go to a girl name Haylie, the granddaughter of a customer.

NEW BEDFORD - Police have released photos of two women suspected of stealing a donation jar meant for a girl with cancer.

SouthCoastToday.com reports the suspects distracted the owner of Mark's Beverage liquor store and stole the money that was supposed to go to a girl named Haylie, the granddaughter of a customer.

It's not clear how much money was taken in the incident on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

In addition to the pictures, police also posted a brief video of the women on the police department's Facebook page.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Det. Barry Pacheco at (508) 991-6300 ext. 133 or leave an anonymous tip at (508) 961-4584.

 

The all-time snowfall record of 107.6 inches set during the winter of 1995-96 could fall before the end of the week if two snowstorms moving into the region perform as expected.

BOSTON -- The all-time snowfall record of 107.6 inches set during the winter of 1995-96 could fall before the end of the week if two snowstorms moving into the region perform as expected.

A fast moving Tuesday afternoon storm is forecast by the National Weather Service to drop two to three inches of snow with isolated areas seeing over four inches. The rain-snow line for the storm lingers along the MassPike with areas to the north seeing snow and areas to the south receiving rain.

Temperatures will drop during a brief lull in active weather on Wednesday.

Questions remain though about a snowstorm moving into the region overnight Wednesday. Forecasters are watching this one closely to see where the storm stalls out. A plowable snow could develop in southern portions of the state.

Boston has received over 104.1 inches of snow to date this winter.