When United Independent Party Chair Evan Falchuk held a community forum in Florence on Sunday regarding his opposition to the Boston 2024 Olympic movement, he said the tone of the crowd was subdued and one of disappointment.

NORTHAMPTON — When United Independent Party Chair Evan Falchuk held a community forum in Florence on Sunday regarding his opposition to the Boston 2024 Olympic movement, he said the tone of the crowd was subdued and one of disappointment.

The disappointment was related to news that former Gov. Deval Patrick, a heralded Democrat who led the Bay State for two full terms, was involved in the movement to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Massachusetts.

"At that point, all we knew was that Patrick was on the payroll. And in Northampton, people seemed hurt that he was involved," Falchuk said of the liberal-leaning community members present. "It was a disappointment regarding how people felt. The tenor of the meeting was kind of disbelief that this was all going on, especially considering they found out in a surprising way."

A day later, news broke that Patrick's involvement with the movement nets him $7,500 a day for travel related to the efforts to bring the Olympics to Massachusetts. Salary information released by the Boston 2024 organizing committee also revealed that former Patrick administration officials, including ex-transportation chief Richard Davey, who serves as the organization's CEO, are making significant amounts of money.

Former Gov. Deval Patrick will be compensated $7,500 per day when he travels on behalf of the backers of a bid to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston, according to organizers.THE REPUBLICAN FILE 

Falchuk said the fact that so many politicians, including members of both parties and people close to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, are involved is curious considering the group has said it isn't looking for any taxpayer money to fund the Olympic bid.

"All of the sudden, here's this non-profit looking for volunteers for sport and to do this for Massachusetts, but it looks more and more like a gravy train," Falchuk said. "They keep saying they don't want taxpayer money, but the people they have on board are the ones you'd enlist to lobby for taxpayer money."

Concerns from Falchuk and others opposing the Olympics bid is that it has the potential to suck project dollars from across the commonwealth into Boston, much like the infamous Big Dig did. Falchuk mentioned several pending transportation projects awaiting state money, including those in Western Massachusetts, and warned that with the Olympics on the horizon they may not be funded.

"With all the transportation projects pending across the state, which will take priority? It's the ones that relate to preparing for the Olympic games," he said.

The pro-Olympic movement has said it is not seeking taxpayer money for the operation of the event, but Falchuk says preparing for and executing a hosting of the Olympic games will inevitably cost public money.

"Fundamentally taxpayer money should not be used to fund this Olympic effort," Falchuk told CBS 3 Springfield, media partner to The Republican / MassLive.com. "The Olympics are cool, I'm a sports fan, but this is a private business looking to make money off of taxpayer guarantees. That's the kind of thing we can't have."

Cece McDonald will speak at the Commonwealth College.

AMHERST - CeCe McDonald, an aspiring fashion student living in Minneapolis who spent several years in jail after killing a man who attacked her will speak Tuesday night at UMass on Black Trans Lives Matter.

McDonald was charged with two murders and was threatened with up to 80 years in prison. While there she met other black, trans women which led her to fight not only for her own freedom but for all the trans women who have been slain or made victims of the criminal injustice system, according to the Facebook posting announcing her talk. 

 Since her release in January of 2014, she has become a leading and outspoken activist, inspiring many to take action against mass incarceration and for racial justice and trans liberation.

"My story wouldn't have been important had I been killed," she said in a Rolling Stone article. "Because it's like nobody cares.

 "But fortunately for me, I'm a survivor. I'm not gonna beat myself up for being a woman, I'm not gonna beat myself up for being trans, I'm not gonna beat myself up for defending myself."  She speaks at 7:30 p.m. in Commonwealth Honors College.

Opening statements were delivered well over a month ago, and nearly 80 witnesses have taken the stand since then. Here's a look back at some of the major events and testimony so far.

FALL RIVER - Attorneys for Aaron Hernandez are trying to convince the jury he did not kill Odin Lloyd in June 2013, while prosecutors are meticulously laying out the evidence that, even if he didn't pull the trigger, the former New England Patriots star was at the crime scene.

Under Massachusetts law, prosecutors don't need to prove Hernandez committed the murder, shooting Lloyd to death in an industrial park with the help of two accomplices. All they need to prove is "joint venture," meaning he intentionally participated.

Opening statements were delivered well over a month ago, and dozens of witnesses have taken the stand since then. Here's a look back at some of the major events and testimony so far.

Were Hernandez and Lloyd actually friends? And does it matter?

Defense attorney Michael Fee has repeatedly stated that Hernandez had no reason to kill Lloyd because they were dear friends. In fact, Fee argues, that would be all the more reason not to hurt him.

They met because Lloyd was dating Shaneah Jenkins, the sister of Hernandez's fiancee. Jenkins testified that the pair were cordial and smoked marijuana together, but they were not close. She said Hernandez and Lloyd never socialized outside her presence except on the night of the murder.

Even if they were friends, prosecutors say it wouldn't stop Hernandez from killing Lloyd. They've asked the judge to let them tell the jury that Hernandez is accused of shooting his friend, Alexander Bradley, between the eyes just four months before Lloyd's murder. Bradley survived and filed a lawsuit over the attack.

The judge has twice refused to allow that subject to be brought up.

Hernandez's DNA found at crime scene

The defense has acknowledged and even volunteered information about Hernandez's extensive marijuana use, saying Lloyd supplied him and the two often smoked together. But they do have plenty to say about the findings of a Massachusetts State Police crime lab analyst, who said DNA from both men was found on a marijuana cigarette butt left at the crime scene.

Diane Fife Biagiotti said the saliva on the rolling paper could have come from two different people, but the odds are extremely remote: Only 1 in 36.94 quadrillion in Hernandez's case.

Attorney James Sultan said that doesn't prove anything. The two could have shared the joint at another time.

Biagiotti also said her tests showed Hernandez's DNA on a shell casing that was found in the rental car allegedly used in the murder. She did not know that, before it was given to her for analysis, a piece of bubblegum had been stuck to it.

Sultan argued the DNA from Hernandez's chewed gum transferred to the shell casing when both were thrown into a trash container at the rental agency. He also pointed out that no DNA sample was taken from Ernest Wallace, one of the other suspects.

Tire tracks match Hernandez's rental car

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Todd Girouard ran into similar questioning from Sultan about his analysis of tire tracks found in the industrial park where Lloyd was killed.

Girouard said a track matched the rented Nissan Altima that Hernandez was allegedly driving that night. Prosecutors say he and the two other suspects, Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, picked up Lloyd in that car and drove him to his death.

Sultan jumped on Girouard's testimony by questioning his expertise, pointing out he had taken a single course in tire tracks in 2009 that lasted less than a week. This was his first court testimony on tracks, and his 15th analysis for a case.

The trooper was able to fend off some of Sultan's attacks on his credibility. He defended his methodology and refuted Sultan's claim that the weight inside a vehicle changes its tire tracks.

Text messages show increasing agitation

On June 16, 2013, Hernandez sent a text message to many of his friends, including Ernest Wallace, wishing them a happy Father's Day. Then he went out with his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, to celebrate.

Throughout the day, Hernandez's texts to Wallace became more anxious. He asked Wallace to come to his home in North Attleboro, Mass., from Wallace's place in Bristol, Conn., because he didn't want to spend the whole day with Jenkins.

Then, hours before the murder, Hernandez texted: "Get your ass up here." Prosecutors say Wallace made the drive with Ortiz, then they all prepared for Lloyd's murder in full view of Hernandez's home surveillance system.

Video shows Hernandez destroying his cell phone, using lawyer's

Surveillance video from the North Attleboro Police Department parking lot shows Hernandez dismantling his own cell phone and using his lawyer's to make a call to Wallace the day after the murder. Jurors were not told to whom the new phone belonged.

Detective Michael Elliott said he made the video after Hernandez came to the station that night.

Defense attorneys tried to get the judge to block the video from the trial, comparing the recording to a drone secretly spying on people.

Hernandez's fiancee granted immunity to testify

Prosecutors have said they believe Shayanna Jenkins got rid of the murder weapon, which still has not been recovered, and Judge E. Susan Garsh allowed her to be granted immunity in exchange for her testimony.

She is facing perjury charges over her grand jury testimony. Her defense attorney said she did not lie about guns in the couple's home; she was simply wrong.

Details of the prosecution's immunity request were sealed, so they are not available to the public.

Did Shayanna Jenkins ditch the gun?

Carlos Ortiz told police that, after the murder, Hernandez placed the .45 caliber Glock handgun into a box in his basement.

After suspicion fell on him, prosecutors say Hernandez sent Jenkins coded text messages telling her to get rid of a box in the basement, and video from their home surveillance system shows her doing so, putting it in her car and driving away. The contents of that box are not clear.

The white towel

On their way to pick up Lloyd, the three suspects stopped at a gas station. Hernandez, who had just rung up a $243 bar tab and smoked marijuana, is seen dancing near the pump, while Ortiz is seen with a white towel around his neck.

A white towel was found near Lloyd's body.

Biagiotti, the state police DNA analyst, said no DNA was found on the towel, and a hair yielded no testable sample.

Hernandez made babysitter uncomfortable, but they shared a kiss

Jennifer Fortier testified that she was the babysitter for Hernandez's and Jenkins' infant daughter. Two nights before the murder, Fortier and a friend ran into Hernandez and his friends, including Lloyd, in Boston's theater district and accepted their offer of a ride.

Fortier said she thought she was being driven to her own car, but instead they went to Hernandez's apartment in Franklin. The trip made her "uncomfortable" because of their business relationship and the fact that she didn't know Hernandez well: She always went through Jenkins.

At the apartment in Franklin, Hernandez and Fortier briefly kissed before Fortier stopped it. Then she called a car service and left.

Jury problems start early and continue

One of the more controversial pretrial matters was jury selection, which CNN argued was being conducted in a way that deviated from legal precedent.

Individual questioning of potential jurors, a process called voir dire, was conducted out of earshot of the public and the media at Hernandez's request.

A letter from CNN's attorneys to Judge Garsh included the following: "The values of openness are preserved only if the public is afforded the opportunity to hear the judge's questions as well as the potential jurors' responses."

Garsh rejected a request to open up the questioning, citing different case law than CNN.

Problems with the jurors continued even after all 18 (12 jurors plus six alternates) were seated and sworn in. In early February, one juror was kicked off the panel and another was dismissed.

The first juror was removed when it was alleged that she lied during the selection process, told people she wanted to be chosen, and said it would be tough to convict Hernandez since the murder weapon is still missing.

The second juror was excused for unspecified personal reasons.

What's going on now?

The prosecution has spent a great deal of time on Monday and Tuesday going over the intricate details of Hernandez's cell phone records. They're trying to show his state of mind, alleged collusion with other people before and after the murder, and his movements around that time.

What's next?

It's hard to tell who will be called to testify, when or about what, although there are several key witnesses who have not yet taken the stand. The most impactful could be Shayanna Jenkins. An immunity deal means she is required to be truthful or else face additional charges.

New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick are listed as potential witnesses, as are NFL players Brandon Spikes and Mike Pouncey.

What happens after the trial?

Whether he's found guilty or innocent in Lloyd's murder, Hernandez has a long legal road ahead of him. He's also charged with a double murder in Boston in 2012, assaulting a fellow inmate and threatening a guard, not to mention several lawsuits related to the murders and the Alexander Bradley shooting.

Stay with MassLive.com for continuing coverage of the trial of Aaron Hernandez. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

The arrest was made on Boston Road.

WILBRAHAM - Patrolman David Diogo stopped a gray Honda Accord on Boston Road for minor traffic violations.

The driver, Carrie Lavallie, 32, of Spencer showed signs of impairment.

She was charged by police with operating under the influence of liquor and negligent operation. The incident took place March 1 at 12:05 a.m., police said.

Stan Kozak, 62, has worked at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum since 1970 and oversees its Victorian garden, a skylit expanse of greenery in the midst of the museum's palazzo-inspired building.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum may still have blank spaces on its gallery walls, the legacy of the still-unsolved 1990 heist that saw thieves dressed as police officers make off with 13 artworks by the likes of Rembrandt, Vermeer and Manet.

But its gardens are as lush as ever, thanks to the work of chief horticulturalist Stan Kozak, profiled in the Boston Globe today. Kozak, 62, has worked at the museum since 1970 and oversees its Victorian garden, a skylit expanse of greenery in the midst of the museum's palazzo-inspired building.

Kozak enjoys the effect his work has on the museum's hundreds of thousands of annual visitors, he said Monday after a ceremony honoring his decades of service.

"When the museum opens, I like to stand here and listen to people say, 'Oh, my God!'" Kozak told the Globe.

It's a job that has its challenges; low light levels in the museum's atrium take a toll on plant health, requiring careful tending and frequent rehabilitation, according to the Globe.

Inside the museum's walls, the last year has brought hope that the $300 million in stolen paintings may yet be recovered. The FBI confirmed recent sightings of the works last May, and a $5 million reward has been offered for information leading to the artworks' safe return.

"The successful return of the paintings to the Gardner Museum would be the final chapter in one of the most significant art theft cases in the FBI's history," said Richard Deslauriers, then-Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston office, in a 2013 statement on the agency's website. "And it is a result we would all welcome - seeing these paintings returned to their rightful home."

A recent trip to Alabama to mark the 50th anniversary of some of the Civil Rights movement's most crucial moments brought U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren points of reflection about where the country has been and thoughts regarding the direction it needs to head toward.

A recent trip to Alabama to mark the 50th anniversary of some of the Civil Rights movement's most crucial moments brought U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren points of reflection about where the country has been and thoughts regarding the direction it needs to head toward.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman John Lewis stand on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights marches in Alabama. (Submitted photo)

The Massachusetts Democrat this past weekend joined nearly 100 fellow Washington lawmakers, including President Barack Obama, and around 80,000 others in honoring the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery.

The pilgrimage included visits to 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Brown Chapel AME Chuch and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and the Alabama State Capital and Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery.

The following is an unedited email Warren sent to supporters, outlining what she took home from the trip, while highlighting what she describes as the ongoing fight for equality.

Hello,

Yesterday morning, the church service at First Baptist in Montgomery started the way so many church services start - with warm hellos and plenty of donuts and coffee in the church basement.

But then I met an elderly man who told me he had been in that basement for 11 hours in May of 1961, along with hundreds of people, while a mob outside tried to burn down the church.

This was Dr. Ralph Abernathy's church, the Brick-a-Day Church. It had been a center for civil rights organizing, and a sanctuary for Freedom Riders and others in the movement who were under attack.

The elderly man described the calls from the church phone, placed by Dr. King to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, asking for help. He said that at first Kennedy had promised to call out the National Guard, but the Guard was local, and many of those men were now part of the mob. The people trapped in the church needed the Army, and Kennedy promised to send it from a military base several hours away. So the man described what it was like to wait in the sweltering basement, listening to the mob outside.

After the church service, I spoke with Rep. John Lewis about that night. I asked him if he had been worried that Kennedy wouldn't send troops. A mob was upon them, and help was far away. But John Lewis said, "I was never, ever, ever afraid. You come to that point where you lose all sense of fear."

Four years after the siege of First Baptist, 25-year-old John Lewis had already faced beatings and threats as he prepared to march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7, 1965. On the day that became Bloody Sunday, the day John Lewis was beaten to the ground and his skull was fractured, he faced it fearlessly, carrying a backpack containing a toothbrush, an apple, and books on religion and politics.

On Saturday, Bruce and I sat behind John Lewis on a bus from Montgomery to Selma to the ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of that march - on the same road the marchers took from Selma to Montgomery. John Lewis pointed out every marker along the way: the airport where people arrived to join the march, the places where they camped, the hospital where people took refuge, until we reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where John Lewis had nearly died.

John Lewis told us that his parents didn't want him to get involved in civil rights. They didn't want him to cause trouble. But he had done it anyway. Sometimes it is important to cause necessary trouble, he told us.

In the past half-century, thanks to the necessary trouble of heroes like John Lewis, our country has made great progress - but not enough progress. There are those who want to take away votes, those who want to make it harder to get an education, and those who believe that justice and dignity are reserved only for some people.

The Supreme Court has now struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act. Too many young men have died in police custody. And the grinding heel of poverty has borne down harder on children of color. We celebrate the brave people of Selma, but it is up to US to make change now.

• It's up to us to make sure every child can walk down the street free from fear and distrust.


• It's up to us to ensure our justice system works fairly for all Americans.


• It's up to us to make sure our government and our political system serve not just the richest people and the most powerful corporations, but that our government serves ALL people.


• It's up to us to build a future so that ALL of our children have the opportunity to succeed.

As Bruce and I left the Pettis bridge on Saturday, Juanita Abernathy, Dr. Abernathy's widow, took my hand. She leaned in and said, "It's not about politics. It's about what's right."

We spent this weekend learning more about the civil rights movement and about the work to be done. It's profoundly important work. But for me, this trip was also a chance to hear first-hand about courage and deep faith, about the certainty of what must be done, and about the willingness to take it on.

The power of Selma is hope - hope that change can happen. It's not a passive hope, but a hope that demands that we make the necessary trouble that will build a better world.

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth

Ducey presented the information at a meeting of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee.

WILBRAHAM - Marc Ducey, chairman of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee and of the Middle School Task Force, said he sought a ruling from the state Ethics Commission regarding whether he faces a conflict of interest in serving on the Middle School Task Force.

Ducey said he received a ruling stating that he has no conflict of interest.

Ducey said he sought the ruling because of rumors swirling around town. The rumor states that because Ducey owns a golf company which sells golf supplies and apparel and there is a separate rumor that the Hampden Country Club wants to purchase Thornton Burgess Middle School in Hampden, that as chairman of the Middle School Task Force "I am lining my pockets."

Ducey said he has no financial interest in the Hampden Country Club and no financial relationship with the Hampden Country Club through his company.

Ducey, a Wilbraham resident, added that he has no ability to sell a school which is owned by the town of Hampden to anyone.

Ducey said the Massachusetts Ethics Commission found that he has no conflict of interest in serving as chair of the Middle School Task Force which is considering consolidating the two middle schools in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District into one regional middle school. The two middle schools are Thornton Burgess Middle School in Hampden and Wilbraham Middle School.

Ducey said the golf course is not a customer of his business. He said that it would be purely speculative to consider whether the golf course ever becomes a customer of his business and, thus, the Ethics Commission found no conflict of interest.

Ducey presented the information at a meeting of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee.

One of the latest pieces of video evidence from the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shows him casually purchasing milk at a Whole Foods grocery store in Cambridge not long after detonated bombs on Boylston Street. Watch video

BOSTON -- One of the latest pieces of video evidence from the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shows him casually purchasing milk at a Whole Foods grocery store in Cambridge not long after denoating bombs on Boylston Street.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan drove to the Central Square Whole Foods in Cambridge less than a 25 minutes after the bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Security footage and store records shows Tsarnaev inside the store and purchasing High Lawn Whole Milk at 3:14 p.m. with cash. Evidence presented in court places the Tsarnaev brothers in the Boylston Street area as late as approximately 2:53 p.m.

Tsarnaev returned to the store shortly after purchasing the milk to exchange it for a different brand. He did not approach the customer service counter to make a formal exchange.

Tsarnaev later traveled to his dorm on the UMASS Dartmouth campus. Additional surveillance footage and evidence showed him on campus Thursday night at a gym.

Harold Tramazzo said he won't be making any changes to the use of the brewery building. .

AMHERST - With plans now underway to buy the Amherst Brewing Company moving forward, Harold Tramazzo will be presenting his management plan to the Zoning Board of Appeals March 19.

The special permit issued to the brewery in 2011 requires that a new owner present a management plan to the board "to determine whether any changes are substantial enough to require a new special permit."

In his letter, Tramazzo, who owns the Hangar Pub and Grill and Wings over Amherst across the street from the brewery, said he doesn't plan to make any changes.

"It is not my intention to change the use of the building at all.  It is not my intention to change the brewery operation, and I will continue to serve food.  I will focus on changing and enhancing the menu and improving the overall service.  To that end, we feel that we are already achieving results."  

The focus currently is on accepting the management plan substantially as it is written.  "It is only through this first step that we can proceed with transferring the licenses and ownership.

"After this step is complete we hope to return to this board with other changes.   None of these changes will change the type of establishment that the ABC is today, a pub and brewery."

He wrote that he wants to change the sentence in the plan that's states the brewery, "would have doormen every night of the week" to read "doorman, host, or manager." 

Last week, Tramazzo, said last week he had taken over the management of the brewery but buying the business was a long time away.

John Korpita and partners opened the brewery downtown in 1997, and moved to University Drive in 2011.

The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at Bangs Community Center.

Formal announcement expected today.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, quoting Italian media sources, slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero will be beatified in El Salvador on May 23.

Related: Area Catholic Sisters call plans to beatify martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero 'wonderful'

Romero, who had spoken for the disenfranchised against the right wing policies of the U.S. and Church- supported government, was murdered while he celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel on March 24, 1980. This was at the start of the country's long civil war during which some 72,000 people died. A recent Vatican ruling that Romero was murdered out of "hatred for his faith," cleared the way toward sainthood for a prelate whose support for the poor was once considered too revolutionary within the Church.

Salvadoran Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande who was murdered on March 12, 1977 is also being considered for sainthood. His commitment to El Salvador's poor is said to have had a transformative effect on Romero.

Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia reportedly made the announcement today during his visit to San Salvador.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Mandie Hewitt 

Mandie A. Hewitt, 21, of Warren, died Friday after being stricken ill at her home. She was born and grew up in Ware before moving to Warren. She attended Ware High School and went on to earn a GED. Her goal was to go to college to become a counselor. She was a dietary aid at the Quaboag Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center in West Brookfield.

Police are investigating the incident both as an act of vandalism and a hate crime.

Graffiti spray-painted on the First Church of Christ, Scientist on Masonic Street in Northampton, March 11, 2015. Submitted photo

NORTHAMPTON — Police have identified a suspect in the vandalism of the Christian Science church on Masonic Street and are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

The vandalism was reported to police by a homeless man who emerged from the cot shelter on Center Street early Wednesday that someone had spray-painted messages and images on the front and side of the building. The letter S was sprayed with orange paint on front. Paint also covered a box on the front pillar and other areas.

A series of letters and numbers that appear unintelligible were painted on the east side of the building, which is directly across from the police station on Center Street. Church members working to remove the graffiti Wednesday declined to comment on the situation.

Police Capt. Jody Kasper said the incident is under investigation, both as an act of vandalism and a hate crime. Police already have an adult suspect, Kasper said.

She estimated that the investigation will be concluded in a day or two.

Goldberg said mid-year cuts by Gov. Charlie Baker decreased 2015 Lottery profits by $12.4 million and will decrease 2016 profits by $27 million.

BOSTON — State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg has warned that budget cuts by Gov. Charlie Baker are cutting into Massachusetts State Lottery profits.

Baker, a Republican, cut $1.7 million out of the treasury's budget this year, as part of unilateral budget cuts referred to as 9C cuts. Baker made the cuts to fill an estimated $768 million budget gap for the current fiscal year.

"9C cuts have already hurt Lottery profits, in effect hurting unrestricted local aid to our cities and towns," Goldberg, a Democrat, told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means at a State House hearing on Tuesday.

In January, Goldberg predicted that 2015 profits from the Lottery would be $947.8 million, and 2016 profits would be $925 million. However, due to the cuts implemented in February, Goldberg predicted that 2015 profits would drop by $12.4 million and 2016 profits would drop by $27 million.

Quizzed by lawmakers over why the cuts will have such a significant impact, Goldberg said the Lottery scrapped plans to add new $1, $2 and $5 games that were going to be released in April and June.

"If you don't come up with new games, you don't bump up the revenue," Goldberg said.

For fiscal year 2016, Baker is proposing giving the treasury a $2.34 billion budget, up from $2.24 billion in 2015.

Goldberg, however, is asking for more money to account for increased labor costs required by collective bargaining agreements; an upgrade to an "obsolete" land line communication system; the hiring of a grant writer; the hiring of new investigators for the commission overseeing alcoholic beverage control; and a $2 million increase in the advertising budget to allow the Lottery to better compete with the state's new casino gambling industry, among other things.

Although casinos may cut into Lottery profits, which flow to municipalities, cities and towns also get revenue from the casinos.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stood outside The Forum restaurant with a bomb at his feet designed to maim and kill in the most horrific way for four minutes while a crowd cheered runners nearing the finish line of the Boston Marthon. Watch video

BOSTON -- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stood outside The Forum restaurant with a bomb at his feet designed to maim and kill in the most horrific way for four minutes while a crowd cheered runners nearing the finish line of the Boston Marthon.

New surveillance footage presented in his federal death penalty trial showed Tsarnaev make his way to the front of a crowd gathered outside The Forum, drop a backpack loaded with a pressure cooker bomb, and make a phone call all in the span of four minutes.

Tsarnaev, wearing a backwards white hat, moves into position in front of The Forum at approximately 2:45:44 p.m. according to the time stamp on the screen.

The first bomb detonated at the finish line at 2:49:27 p.m. according to the time stamp. At this time Tsarnaev appears to begin to leave the area. Approximately 10 seconds later the second bomb goes off and Tsarnaev is moving down Boylston Street away from The Forum.

Additional footage released in court shows the Tsarnaev brothers approach the Boylston Street and leave in the panicked aftermath of the bombing.

Martin Richard, 8, and Lu Lingzi, 23, were killed outside The Forum restaurant by the second bomb.

AMHERST - Hampshire College poetry professor Aracelis Girmay is one of 10 emerging writers in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama to win a 2015 Whiting Award.  The award comes with a prize of $50,000 and is based on early accomplishment and the promise of great literary work to come. Girmay has published two collections - the National Book Critics Circle Award...

AMHERST - Hampshire College poetry professor Aracelis Girmay is one of 10 emerging writers in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama to win a 2015 Whiting Award. 

The award comes with a prize of $50,000 and is based on early accomplishment and the promise of great literary work to come.

Girmay has published two collections - the National Book Critics Circle Award nominated  "Kingdom Animalia" in 2011 and "Teeth" in 2007.

 "Aracelis Girmay's poetry rides upon a huge visceral momentum. Her lines are rhythmic and they push forward into sonic and lyric revelation.

"These poems are always in service of a moral vision, a deep concern for who we are, who we have been," according to the selection committee.

The owner of the car said he had just stepped away from it for a few seconds, police said. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - Police are seeking the public's help in finding a man suspected of stealing a car from Quincy Street on Sunday afternoon.

The car, a 1994 red four-door Honda Accord was reported stolen at about 12:20 p.m. on Sunday, according to police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney.

The owner told officers he had stepped out of his car to retrieve something from nearby when a stranger jumped inside and sped off.

Surveillance video from the scene shows a man in a blue Old Navy hooded sweatshirt jumping into the car and driving away.

On March 8, 2014, at about 12:20 p.m. on Quincy St. in Springfield, the suspect in the video stole a four-door, red, 1994 Honda Accord, MA Tag number 2GV671. The owner stepped away from the car to retrieve something and suspect jumped into the car and drove off.

The suspect was wearing a blue Old Navy hooded sweatshirt. No other description was available.

Delaney said if anyone recognizes the man or knows anything about the theft, they should call Detective Teddy Cass of the Major Crimes Unit at (413) 787-6355.

target="_blank">NORTHAMPTON -- A homeless man charged with setting fire to Forbes Library last July pleaded not guilty to that and other charges in Hampshire Superior Court Tuesday before being sent back to a mental health facility for further observation. Eric Bertrand, 54, is charged with one count of burning a building and seven counts of assault and battery with a...

target="_blank">NORTHAMPTON -- A homeless man charged with setting fire to Forbes Library last July pleaded not guilty to that and other charges in Hampshire Superior Court Tuesday before being sent back to a mental health facility for further observation.

Eric Bertrand, 54, is charged with one count of burning a building and seven counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Bertrand allegedly set fire to a staircase in Forbes Library on July 14, 2014, causing an estimated $100,000 in damage and temporarily closing the library's second floor for repairs. Forbes officials said smoke damaged many of the items on the second floor, where DVDs and music CDs are kept along with books. There was also damage to the 120-year-old woodwork in the stairway.

In addition, Bertrand, who is listed as homeless on court files, is charged with attacking customers at Whole Foods in Hadley with cayenne pepper and kicking a man who tried to intervene. Bertrand was sent to the Worcester Recovery Center after a doctor who examined him said he showed signs of paranoid schizophrenia. Defense lawyer Alan Rubin told Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder that his client has only a superficial understanding of the court proceedings, but prosecutor Matthew Thomas argued that the standards for arraignment are different than the standards for being judged competent to stand trial.

Kinder set bail at $25,000 in the event that Bertrand is released from the Worcester facility and scheduled a dangerousness hearing for May 19.

Police reported two domestic disturbances.

WILBRAHAM - Patrolmen Joseph Brewer and Justin Wall responded to a Red Bridge Road address for a domestic disturbance.

Police said a 48-year-old male assaulted his wife and was charged with assault and battery on a family member. Police said the incident occurred Feb. 19 at 4:19 p.m.

On March 2 Police Sergeant Mark Paradis took a statement at the Police Department stating that a 49-year-old from Wilbraham pushed his wife into a closet. He was charged with assault and battery on a family member.

Buffis spent money pledged to the charity at liquor stores, hardware stores, restaurants and to pay overdue bills, federal prosecutors say.

SPRINGFIELD — Former Lee Police Chief Joseph Buffis, accused of siphoning money from a toy fund for needy children, may have done as much to unwittingly expose his alleged thievery as he did to conceal it.

According to a prosecution motion filed in U.S. District Court, Buffis falsely leaked a story of the arrests of two former innkeepers caught up in a prostitution sting. While Massachusetts State Police were arranging for the couple to expose other prostitution activity in the Berkshires, Buffis got on the phone with a reporter at the Berkshire Eagle, prematurely reporting the couple's arrests. They had not been arrested.

He later forced them to make a $4,000 "donation" to the charity in exchange for secrecy and to avert criminal charges, according to prosecutors. Buffis also attempted to squeeze out other investigators to cover up where the money had gone, court filings state.

Buffis is charged in federal court with extortion, fraud and other crimes. He was indicted in 2013 in a 12-count criminal indictment alleging he pocketed about $120,000 from the police-sponsored LaLiberte Toy Fund over five years. Prosecutors say that public donations designed to buy poor children Christmas gifts instead went to cover Buffis' own expenses and mounting debt.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Steven H. Breslow and Deepika Shukla have said in court that Buffis used the charity to pay overdue credit card bills, make purchases at liquor stores and buy dinners at restaurants, and for cash payments.

Buffis has denied the charges; he was fired in the wake of his indictment.

The former chief is scheduled to go to trial in May. Defense lawyer Lori H. Levinson has filed a motion to suppress statements Buffis made to state police, arguing investigators illegally obtained a copy of a "show cause" hearing in 2012. The hearing revealed Buffis steered the couple to make the "donation" in exchange for dropping the charges.

The government countered in its opposition that Buffis had no right to privacy because he had yet to transition from the prosecutor to the accused. Plus, show-cause hearings – while normally closed to the public – can be opened under state law if it serves the public's interest.

The publicity fiasco over the Laurel Lake Inn investigation triggered suspicion over Buffis' motives, prosecutors contend. When one of his own detectives, Officer Ryan Lucy, asked Buffis about the outcome of the hearing, Buffis responded that "he was not at liberty to say." The chief then issued to his staff what amounted to a gag order on any investigations.

"Violations will result in an immediate three-day suspension followed by an internal investigation," a memo to his staff read, according to court records.

However, state police Sgt. Christopher Meiklejohn persisted, and went to a clerk magistrate to make a copy of a recording of the hearing. Meiklejohn later sought subpoenas for bank records from the toy fund, Buffis and his wife. The records showed Buffis initially deposited the innkeepers' money into the toy fund, which had a balance of only $45 – only to nearly immediately withdraw $3,990.

"Between ... February 23, 2012 and March 20, 2012, Buffis withdrew $3,990 from the Toy Fund account by writing three checks to 'Cash' with blank memo lines, thus reducing the Toy Fund's account balance to $54.92. However, Buffis did not cash any of the three Toy Fund checks. Instead, he deposited each of them into a joint checking account at Berkshire Bank in the name of Buffis and his wife, Janet Buffis," the government's motion reads.

Buffis later lied to state police investigators about where the money went, Shukla wrote.

A hearing on the motions is scheduled for March 18 before U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.

Glock district sales manager Kyle Aspinwall said several frames show Hernandez gripping a gun by its barrel, making several parts of it visible.

FALL RIVER - A firearms expert on Wednesday said Aaron Hernandez can be seen holding a Glock pistol in images taken from his home video surveillance system hours after the murder of Odin Lloyd on June 17, 2013.

Glock district sales manager Kyle Aspinwall said multiple frames show the former New England Patriots star holding a gun by its barrel, making several parts of it visible, chiefly the back strap, the rear of the slide, the slide cover plate, the trigger guard and the magazine well.

Other images showed Hernandez holding the object by what, if it was a gun, would be the pistol grip.

Lloyd was shot to death with .45 caliber bullets in a North Attleboro industrial park, allegedly by Hernandez and two accomplices who are charged separately. The murder weapon has never been found, and prosecutors say Hernandez's fiancee may have disposed of it.

Prosecutor Patrick Bomberg asked Aspinwall to state his opinion about the model of the weapon seen in the video "to a reasonable degree of certainty." He said he believed it to be a .45 caliber Glock.

Aspinwall used a real Glock to point out the pistol's parts to the jury. Judge E. Susan Garsh allowed him to use the prop despite a motion from the defense.

Attorneys for Hernandez objected repeatedly to Bomberg's questions and introductions of exhibits into evidence, but were mostly overruled.

View full sizeFormer New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez shown with an object in his hand, which prosecutors say is a gun, hours after the murder of Odin Lloyd on June 17, 2013.(AP Photo/Attleboro District Court) 

Aspinwall said his training included working in a Glock factory and taking firearm mechanics courses.

Defense attorneys have challenged the idea that the object Hernandez is seen holding is a gun, specifically a Glock Generation 3 Model 21 .45 caliber pistol, saying it could be a remote control or iPod, among other possibilities.

On cross-examination by attorney James Sultan, Aspinwall said there are 42 types of Glock pistols and several take .45 caliber rounds. Sultan and Aspinwall agreed that the Model 20 and the Model 21 look similar.

Sultan asked if other manufacturers make guns that look like Glocks, and Aspinwall said no. But Sultan pressed on, saying many companies like Smith & Wesson make weapons with black polymer frames.

Court recessed for the day at 1 p.m. during Aspinwall's testimony and will continue Thursday at 9 a.m.