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Public auction postponed on South End office building, among sites offered for Springfield health offices

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The city is reviewing proposals received from two landlords,offering office space for the health and human services department.

SPRINGFIELD - A public auction was postponed this week for a South End office building at 935-979 Main St., as the property continues to be offered for lease to the city as a new site for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The auction was scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed to March 26, by the lender, J. Norbert Properties LLC. The specific reasons for the postponement were not available.

The property owner, Brent Bertelli of Bertelli Realty Group, has offered to rent the building to the city for $300,000 a year, for the city health department offices and clinic. Bertelli was one of two landlords submitting a lease proposal for the health department's relocation needs.

The Health and Human Services department must move from its current leased office space at 95 State St., by April 24, because that building is part of the footprint of the MGM Springfield casino project.

A second landlord, 1095 Main St. Irrevocable Trust, has offered an annual lease of $252,920,spread at two sites in the South end: third floor office space at 1095 Main St.,; and space at 816 Main St., for clinic space.

The proposals have been referred to a city review committee, and are far higher than the city's current annual lease of $139,305, at 95 State St.

Timothy J. Plante, the city's chief administrative and financial officer, said all options are on the table for the health department space needs, including city buildings.

Bertelli said recently that he planned to avoid the auction of his building by paying off the mortgage. He could not be reached for further comment after the auction was postponed.


A review of stories from Hampden Superior Court this week: child rape, armed bank robbery, open air drug sales, child pornography

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Westfield on Weekends has new home

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An open house has been scheduled for April 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. and April 11 from 1 to 4 p.m..

WESTFIELD - Westfield on Weekends has started moving into its new home at the Rinnova Building at 105 Elm St.

"Westfield should prepare to be wowed," WOW president Robert A. Plasse said of the new home. "This will allow us to proceed with our regular programs and create and offer new and exciting activities, programs, all that promote Westfield," he said.

WOW will host an open house at its new home, the former Westfield State University Downtown Art Gallery, on April 10 and 11.

Plasse and WOW treasurer Barbara Trant said the organization will offer new programming, a full calendar of community events while promoting the Westfield Creative Arts. WCA will offer both one-day and extended classes and workshops on everything ranging from quilt-making to pottery and painting at the 105 Elm St. location.

Plasse said discussions are on-going with the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in hopes that non-profit organization will join with WOW and WCA to share space and programs at the Rinnova Building.

"WOW was created 12 years ago and we want to continue to promote the fine arts and host a variety of programs and activities for Westfield to enjoy," said Plasse.

He suggested the friends group could assist in coordinating walking and bicycle trips out of the new location.

The new home will also serve as a store that will sell Westfield centric and other artists merchandize.

WOW has already selected four dates as part of its sponsored Westfield Music Festival with concerts being scheduled on the Park Square Green on June 25; July 16 and Aug. 20 and at the Great River Bridges on Sept. 12. Bands performing in the concerts will be announced later.

Plasse said funding to lease the new headquarters comes primarily from a Challenge Grant offered by United Bank. That $10,000 grant was originally offered last fall and to date WOW has received more than $6,000 in donations.

"We are continuing to accept donations to reach the $10,000 goal set by United," Plasse said. People can donate by sending checks to Westfield on Weekends, P.O. Box 154, Westfield, Ma. 01086.

Programs and classes offered by Westfield Creative Arts can be found at its website at www.westfieldcreativearts.com and WOW projects can be found at its website at www.westfieldonweekends.com.

Robert Durst, subject of HBO documentary 'The Jinx,' arrested in New Orleans

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Durst, a real estate heir, is "at the heart of three killings," according to the makers of "The Jinx," whose sixth episode is slated to air Sunday night.

HBO documentary subject Robert Durst, linked to three murders, has been arrested in New Orleans. Durst, 71, was booked by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday (March 14) on a first-degree warrant issued by Los Angeles County authorities, according to sheriff's records.

Durst is being held without bond and will have an extradition hearing before a New Orleans magistrate judge Monday morning. 

He will face murder charges in California, ABC reports.

Durst, a real estate heir, is "at the heart of three killings," according to the makers of "The Jinx." They include the 2000 killing of Susan Berman, a crime writer, and the 1982 disappearance of Durst's wife. Kathie Durst's body has never been found.

It's not Durst's first trip to New Orleans -- nor his only arrest. The Associated Press reported he kept an apartment in the Crescent City. In 2001, he missed a court date for the murder of his Galveston, Tex., neighbor, and fled to New Orleans, according to the Times-Picayune archives. He was found after calling his attorney from a pay phone in the lobby of Memorial Medical Center, Baptist Campus. 

Durst has long been suspected of knowing more than he let on about all three deaths. "The Jinx," which has been called the TV version of the "Serial" true-crime podcast, presented new evidence about Durst's whereabouts during Berman's murder, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles district attorney recently reopened an investigation into that case, the New York Post reports.

"The Jinx" is scheduled to conclude Sunday night.

-- Danielle Dreilinger, NOLA.com @djdreilinger 

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial: Watertown boat was shot over 126 times

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Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev learned during a field trip to the boat that he took refuge in during the Watertown manhunt that it was shot over 126 times before he was captured.

BOSTON -- Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev learned that the Watertown boat that he took refuge in was shot over 126 times before he was captured during an out of court field trip on Monday.

The jurors, attorneys and judge in the case, along with two pool reporters from The Associated Press and WBUR, were accompanied by a heavy security detail as they viewed the Slip Away 2 at an undisclosed location before the start of formal proceedings in Tsarnaev's trial.

The bullet-riddled boat, covered in shrink wrap since it was taken as evidence by the FBI, was largely unchanged from the day Tsarnaev spent inside it. Broken glass was still visible inside and the majority of the bullet holes appeared to be near the center and higher sections of the boat, particularly on the side where the long note by Tsarnaev was found.

FBI evidence teams identified over 200 pieces of evidence on the boat.

Tsarnaev's long note was written mostly in pencil though there was a third portion that was carved. There was no sign of the pencil or a carving utensil.

While jurors inspected the boat in teams of two in the presence of an FBI official Tsarnaev was sitting behind a table and under a canopy of sorts. He was situated between his attorneys Judy Clarke and David Bruck. Tsarnaev was unshackled and appeared much as he has throughout this trial: disinterested.

Judge George O'Toole instructed the jurors to take as much time as needed.

Tsarnaev hid inside the boat after he fled a shootout with Watertown police officers near Laurel and Dexter Streets. While fleeing the scene of the shootout he ran over his brother Tamerlan in a stolen black Mercedes SUV.

It's nearly spring and it might be time to get your pet vaccinated for rabies

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The cost is $15 per pet.

WILBRAHAM - The town will hold a cat and dog rabies clinic April 4 at the DPW building on Boston Road across from the disposal and recycling center.

The clinic hours are 11 a.m. until noon.

The cost is $15 per pet.

The clinic is open to anyone, not just Wilbraham residents.

You are asked to bring a previous rabies certificate if possible.

Licenses will be available for Wilbraham dog owners at the clinic.

School bus hits vehicle in Westfield, no injuries reported

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A Head Start minibus carrying children struck a vehicle in Westfield Friday morning. No injuries were reported.

A Head Start minibus carrying students struck a vehicle in Westfield Friday morning. No injuries were reported.

Anat Weisenfreud, director of Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Region's Parent-Child Development Center, said the bus was taking students to the center's afternoon program in Westfield.

"We had a minor incident with one of our school buses in Westfield on Friday," Weisenfreund said. "There were no children hurt. All parents were notified, and at this point we're just waiting for the report."

It was the first accident involving a Parent Child Development Center bus as it was carrying students, Weisenfreund said.

Westfield police responded to the crash around noon and found that the bus had collided with a car. The driver of the bus told officers he had trouble navigating down East Bartlett Street, according to a police report.

An officer followed up at the Westfield Head Start program on Southampton Road to inspect their busses for damage, according to the report.

There have been several local school bus accidents in recent years. In 2012, three buses collided near the entrance to the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer, sending 14 middle school students to hospitals for medical evaluation. A Springfield school bus driver was cited by police in a four-car accident in 2013. And a Holyoke school bus hit a tree in January, though no students were on board.

Springfield police ID homicide victim; 17-year-old murder suspect to be tried as adult

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The shooting is the city's seventh homicide of the year and the third in less than a week.

This is an update of a story posted at 9:25 a.m. Monday.

SPRINGFIELD - Police identified the man shot to death Sunday afternoon on Lucerne Road as Rakeem Nixon of Springfield.

Nixon, 22, of the city's Indian Orchard section, died at the hospital after he had been shot multiple times just before 3 p.m. on the residential street off Boston Road.

The first officers to arrive on scene found Nixon lying in the road and they attempted first aid until an ambulance arrived on scene, said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney.

Delaney also said that police arrested a 17-year-old suspect at about 8 p.m.

The boy, whose name was not disclosed due to his age, is charged with murder, possession of a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

Delaney did not disclose any possible motive for the shooting.

Witnesses told police they saw two people fleeing the scene after the shooting. One of the suspects was said to be on a bicycle and heading toward North Branch Parkway.

Officers quickly located the suspect on the bicycle but determined he was not responsible for the shooting, Delaney said.

Detectives under the command of Lt. Maurice Kearney learned the identity of the suspected shooting, and obtained a district court warrant for his arrest and to search his residence. He was arrested at his home at about 8 p.m., Delaney said.

The shooting is the city's seventh homicide of the year and the third in less than a week.

On Tuesday, Luis Sanchez, 26, was stabbed to death in the parking lot outside the Friends of the Homeless shelter on Worthington Street. A suspect, Jose Ramos, 34, a resident of the shelter, has been arrested.

On Wednesday, a 29-year-old woman was stabbed to death and two other people injured in an assault on Belmont Avenue in the city's Forest Park neighborhood. There have been no arrests. Police so far have not yet publicly identified the woman.

Police Commissioner John Barbieri issued a statement Monday praising officers and detectives for their work, and offering his condolences to the family of the victim. He said the shooting is an isolated incident and a senseless act of violence, but promised additional patrols in the are of Lucerne Road to alleviate residents' fears.

Delaney said the 17-year-old suspect is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon on the charges.

Massachusetts law allows juveniles between the ages of 14 and 18 who are charged with murder or any serious violent crime to be classified as youthful offenders, which allows them to be tried as adults.

Dianne Lozada of the office of Hampden District attorney Anthony Gulluni said the suspect will be arraigned as an adult in Springfield District Court on the homicide charge.

He will be arraigned as a juvenile in Springfield Juvenile Court for the weapons charges, she said.


Superior court plea change for Daniel Ruiz, chastised last week by federal judge, postponed

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Daniel Ruiz, who was slated to plead guilty in a drug case on Monday, will now plead guilty on March 25 ahead of sentencing on a federal probation violation.

SPRINGFIELD — Daniel Ruiz, 26, was expected to plead guilty Monday in Hampden Superior Court, where he is charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, subsequent offense.

But prosecution and defense postponed that plea until March 25. Defense lawyer Anthony C. Bonavita said it has to be done before Ruiz is next in federal court on March 26 for sentencing on the federal probation violation.

On March 12, U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni reduced Ruiz to tears during a probation revocation hearing. The judge also rejected a mutual sentencing recommendation by a prosecutor and defense lawyer.

Ruiz, 26, appeared before Mastroainni to answer for an arrest in August by Springfield police, who caught him trying to ditch 50 bags of heroin. Ruiz was on federal probation after just having been released from prison after a 2008 conviction for cocaine distribution.

His defense lawyer, Shawn P. Allyn, said Ruiz' good intentions after being released deteriorated when he was fired from a warehouse job. Ruiz began dealing drugs out of his mother's house on Calhoun Street, unbeknownst to her. He had previously betrayed his mother when he was out on bail in the 2008 case, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Grant. She pledged her house as collateral and he defaulted on his bail agreement. She was apparently able to keep her home and was in court on March 12.

Ruiz admitted to the allegations. Lawyers pitched a 30-month prison sentence to run concurrent with the state court sentence he expects to receive when he pleads guilty in Superior Court, Allyn said. When it was time for Ruiz to speak, he offered a mumbled apology to his probation officer, his mother and sister, and to Mastroianni.

Ruiz sobbed as Mastroianni admonished him and demanded he apologize to his mother.

Mastroianni referred to Ruiz' long criminal record as "ridiculous," telling lawyers in the case that he was rejecting their joint sentencing proposal until after the defendant's sentencing in state court.

Before being elected as Hampden District Attorney in 2010, Mastroianni was a criminal defense lawyer for 15 years. He left his District Attorney post when he was appointed a federal judge.


The Republican's Stephanie Barry contributed to this report

Springfield police arrest man, seize handgun reported stolen in Hartford, after seeing suspicious vehicle in Upper Hill neighborhood

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Police arrested Keith L. Bass, 22, of 158 Maple St.

SPRINGFIELD -- Police arrested a man and recovered a loaded.40 caliber handgun, reported stolen in Hartford last year, after spotting a suspicious car in the Upper Hill neighborhood early Sunday.

Officers Nathaniel Perez and Emily Rios spotted a black Infiniti parked idling in the middle of Waltham Avenue about 3:30 a.m. and the driver then drove away without turning on his lights, Sgt. John Delaney said.They continued their patrol and spotted it a short time later idling on Buckingham Street.

Aware that the city's ShotSpotter audio-surveillance system had recently detected shots fired in the area, police approached the car, Delaney said.

The driver began arguing with the officers who then asked to see his license. As he reached across his console, they could see the handle of a firearm.

Officer Joseph Levesque and Joe Dunn arrived as back-up and the driver was safely taken out of the Infiniti and handcuffed. Police then secured the firearm, a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic.

Keith L. Bass, 22, of 158 Maple St., was charged with possession of a high-capacity firearm, possession of a high-capacity feeding device, possession of ammunition without an FID card, receiving a stolen firearm, open container of alcohol in a vehicle and uninspected motor vehicle.

Baker wants to expand caps on charter schools

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During a televised interview Sunday morning Baker said he'll push for "expanding" legal caps on charter school.


BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker made charter school expansion a major plank in his education platform during last year's campaign but has yet to outline a legislative plan to accomplish that goal.

During a televised interview Sunday morning Baker said he'll push for "expanding" legal caps on charter school and noted he mentioned about "lifting" the cap during his inaugural address in January.

Referencing lotteries last week where charter applicants learned whether they were chosen for limited slots, Baker said "everybody cries" at such events either because they were selected or because they were not.

Baker said 40,000 students are on charter school wait lists. "I'm going to fight for expanding the cap, period," he told WBZ's Jon Keller. "When you've got 40,000 families on a waiting list there's a message there for public officials and we should heed it."

Charter school critics say funding for traditional public school districts is eroded when students depart to attend charters, which are independent public schools. The Senate in 2014 rejected House-approved bill to allow more charters in underperforming districts.

MCAS test defended

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One of the authors of the Massachusetts education law that led to the creation of the MCAS exam is calling for the state to stick with the test and resist a "race to the middle" that he says would come with switching to a national exam.

BOSTON — One of the authors of the Massachusetts education law that led to the creation of the MCAS exam is calling for the state to stick with the test and resist a "race to the middle" that he says would come with switching to a national exam.

In an opinion piece published Friday in the Patriot-Ledger, former Sen. Thomas Birmingham said student achievement in Massachusetts "has become the envy of the nation and among the best in the world" since the MCAS was adopted and recommended building on the MCAS. "It is a record that hardly merits scrapping the test, particularly for one that is likely to be less effective at preparing students for college and careers," Birmingham, now a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute, wrote.

Birmingham said Common Core standards that are a basis for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test would reduce the amount of classic literature, poetry and drama that Massachusetts students study by about 60 percent, while delaying Algebra I from eighth grade until tenth grade.

Wilbraham police charge Springfield man with OUI, 2nd offense

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Police said Patrolman Sean Casella was on Boston Road at 11:55 p.m. on March 6 when he observed a black Honda Accord speeding toward him.

WILBRAHAM — A Springfield man has been charged with operating under the influence of liquor, second offense, by Wilbraham police.

Police said Patrolman Sean Casella was on Boston Road at 11:55 p.m. on March 6 when he observed a black Honda Accord speeding toward him. The vehicle was stopped and the driver showed signs of impairment.

Casella charged Peter Brandoli, 31, of Springfield with operating under the influence of alcohol, second offense.

During an inventory search of the operator's vehicle, drugs were found, police said. Brandoli also will be charged with negligent operation, possession of a Class C substance (hash) and speeding.


1989 book 'Heather Has Two Mommies' by Northampton author updated to include gay marriage

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Heather's lesbian parents Mama Kate and Mama Jane wear matching rings in the new version. The book will be re-released this month by Candlewick Press, featuring the updated illustrations by Laura Cornell.

NORTHAMPTON -- The release of 1989 children's book "Heather Has Two Mommies," authored by former Northampton resident Leslea Newman, was groundbreaking and controversial -- to say the least.

It's since been joined by countless other books that chronicle the lives of families that don't fit the nuclear profile. And now it's been updated to reflect modern law and sentiment, with one major change: The moms are married.

Heather's lesbian parents Mama Kate and Mama Jane wear matching rings in the new version, according to the Associated Press.

"I don't specifically say that they're married but they are," Newman told the AP from her home in Holyoke last week. "I don't know where I could have smoothly inserted that into the text. That's not what the story is about. The story is really about Heather."

Heather will be re-released this month by Candlewick Press, featuring all-new illustrations by Laura Cornell. The book hasn't been printed for a number of years, the AP said.

The story tells the story of a little girl with two moms, one who gave birth to her after being artificially inseminated. At Heather's playgroup, her family situation is discussed positively. But she's saddened when the teacher reads a book that focuses on a daddy.

The original story has Heather crying over the incident as her classmates speak of their fathers' occupations. In the update, her peers talk of what their mommies and daddies do for a living, quelling Heather's tears.

Google Books describes it as "the first lesbian-themed children's book ever published."

The book was reportedly inspired by an encounter with Northampton mom Amy Jacobson and her lesbian partner, now wife. Jacobson was looking for books to read her daughter that better reflected their family situation.

Towns nationwide attempted to ban the picture book from public libraries. Some critics even burnt and defecated on copies of the book.

Newman, now 59, was named Northampton's poet laureate in 2008. She has more than 50 books to her credit, but Heather was by far her most well-known.

Westfield State student arraigned in gun case withdraws from university

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A Westfield State University student arraigned last week on charges of carrying a gun on school grounds is no longer enrolled at the university.


WESTFIELD — A Westfield State University student arraigned last week on charges of carrying a gun on school grounds is no longer enrolled at the university.

University spokesperson Molly Watson said Brendan Tefft, a 22-year-old criminal justice major, had left the school after meeting with the university's Office of Student Conduct. Tefft, an Oakham resident and employee at a private security firm, allegedly left his loaded gun in his truck while parked on campus on Feb. 4. A public safety officer noticed the gun case while writing Tefft a parking ticket, launching an investigation that culminated in Tefft's withdrawal.

"Our Student Code of Conduct is very clear: no weapons are allowed on campus," Watson wrote in a statement. "The student cooperated fully with the officers at the time of the incident and with the subsequent investigation."

Watson declined to comment further on the case, citing confidentiality requirements under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Tefft was arraigned in Westfield District Court Friday on charges of carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and improperly storing a large-capacity firearm.

On Feb. 4 at about 10:45 p.m., Westfield State University police officer Michael Hannaford was writing a parking ticket for a brown Ford pickup truck in the school's Lammers Hall lot when he noticed a black gun case lying in plan view on the floorboard behind the driver's seat, police reports said.

Hannaford ran the car's license plate number through the state system and identified its driver as Tefft. Records showed that Tefft is licensed to carry the weapon.

Tefft gave Hannaford permission to search the truck, and the gun was confiscated. The gun wasn't locked, and the magazine was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition, police reports said. The chamber was empty.

A large-capacity weapon is a rifle with a rotating cylinder capable of accepting more than 10 rounds of ammunition or a shotgun that can accept more than five shells, according to Massachusetts state law.

Tefft told police he knew it is against the law to keep a firearm on school grounds. When asked why he had the gun, Tefft said he worked for a private security company and even though he wasn't supposed to carry a firearm while working, he chose to do so anyway.

Tefft gave police permission to search his room, where they found a black fixed 6-inch blade knife with a sharp, serrated edge on top of his desk. The knife was also confiscated, police said, along with Tefft's license to carry a firearm.

Tefft wasn't permitted on campus until he met with the campus Office of Judicial Affairs on Feb 5.

Tefft was released on his own recognizance Friday.


PawSox sale: Economists say stadium in Providence wouldn't be economic boon

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Skeffington says the owners would use their own money to design and build a stadium but might ask for a tax break.

AMY ANTHONY, Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Sports economists are challenging assertions by the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox that building a new ballpark in the state's capital would bring jobs and create new business.

PawSox investor James Skeffington has said the new owners are working on an economic impact statement to show how the proposed Triple-A baseball stadium would be an economic boon. He said the snapshot would be ready by April.

Skeffington says the owners would use their own money to design and build a stadium but might ask for a tax break.

Sports economist Victor Matheson says research shows that using taxpayer money to fund stadiums isn't justified. Matheson says there is typically little -- if any -- permanent economic boost from a minor league baseball stadium.

Monson police investigate torching of 3 mailboxes and shed on Peck Brothers Road

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The fires were discovered about 3 a.m., police said.

MONSON -- Police continue to investigate the torching of three mailboxes and a shed on Peck Brothers Road early Monday.

No injuries were reported due to the fires which responding officers were able to extinguish, Police Chief Stephen Kozloski said. The fire department responded as a precaution.

A resident heard a loud vehicle about 3 a.m., looked out and saw their mailbox was on fire, Kozloski said. Responding officers discovered that other fires had been set.

Additional information was not immediately available.


Ten clinicians with Boston-based Partners in Health, flown from West Africa, agree to self isolate after colleague evacuated with Ebola

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None are showing symptoms.

Ten clinicians working in Sierra Leone, with Boston-based Partners in Health have, or will be flown,"via non-commercial aircraft" to the United States, from that West African country, as a result of having contact with another clinician who is being treated for Ebola, according to the organization.

The infected clinician, who tested positive for the viral disease on March 11, was evacuated by private charter medevac to the United States, and admitted March 13 to the special containment unit of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. An update that day from the NIH described the condition of the individual, whose name or gender has not been released, as serious. Ebola is a highly infectious disease transmitted mainly through direct contact with bodily fluids, like blood, and for which there is only supportive treatment.

This is the 11th person to be treated in the United States for the virus that has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people, in West Africa, since an outbreak of the disease began there in December 2013. It became epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, infecting close to 25,000 individuals, many of them healthcare workers in those countries. The number of new cases has greatly declined, but, in February, an outbreak was diagnosed among fishermen in the coastal area of Aberdeen in Freetown, Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization.

According to Partners in Health website, the 10 clinicians "came to the aid of their ailing colleague were subsequently identified as contacts of the evacuated clinician." As of March 14, these clinicians were said to be showing no symptoms of Ebola, according to the site, but "out of an abundance of caution, and in collaboration with the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention . . . will remain in isolation near designated U.S. Ebola treatment facilities to ensure access to rapid testing and treatment in the unlikely instance that any become symptomatic."

The site adds, "The clinicians have agreed to be monitored, and will voluntarily self-isolate during the remainder of the 21-day incubation period, in accordance with CDC guidelines."

Other sources have identified all the clinicians as American. The Wall Street Journal has reported that four of the clinicians arrived March 14 at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and that a fifth arrived March 13 and is in isolation near Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Besides NIH, the Nebraska center, and Emory, all of which have treated other American health care workers infected with Ebola, St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont., has a biocontainment unit with the space and specially trained staff for treating patients with highly infectious diseases.

Holden resident Rick Sacra, a missionary doctor in Liberia, who is also on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, was treated at the Nebraska center, last fall, as was freelance journalist Ashoka Mukpo.

Two people, who contracted the disease in West Africa, died on U.S. soil. One, a visitor from Liberia, died in a Dallas hospital, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Martin Salia, a surgeon who had been working in Sierra Leone, died at the Nebraska center.

There are some 55 hospitals in the United States that have been designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be able to handle suspected Ebola cases. These include four in Massachusetts: Baystate Medical Center, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, in Worcester, Boston Children's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, also in Boston.

Co-founder of Partners in Health is Dr. Paul Farmer who chairs of the department of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, and who is chief of the division of global health equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. It dates to 1987 and its initial healthcare work was in Haiti.

Going green topic of South Hadley public forum

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Electric automobile owner John Howard, whose home is powered by solar panels will discuss the benefits of the sun as a renewable energy source

SOUTH HADLEY - The not for profit community organization Know Your Town has organized a six-person panel to discuss the community's efforts to practice conservation, adopt renewable energy strategies, and be good environmental stewards.

The informational program on March 19 at the South Hadley High School Library, titled: "It's Easy Being Green! South Hadley's Strides towards Environmentalism," begins at 7 p.m.

Electric automobile owner John Howard, whose home is powered by solar panels will discuss the benefits of the sun as a renewable energy source.

Other speakers include Veronique Smith, solid waste manager for the town; Board of Health member Suzanne Cordes; South Hadley Public Library Director Joseph Rodio; and Tom Gebhart from the School Building Committee. Gebhart will discuss the plans to make the new Plains Elementary School energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Cordes is expected to provide a PowerPoint presentation on environmental concerns related to polystyrene use, and discuss the board's recent vote to limit the substance by restaurants in town.

The Know Your Town event event is free and open to the public.

Refreshments will be served at the conclusion.

Springfield native Daniel Warren earns top military honor for heroism for 2nd time in year

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As a recipient, Warren joins an elite club that includes World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker; flight pioneer and World War II hero Jimmy Doolittle, test pilot and Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom and others whose names are engraved on the trophy at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

SPRINGFIELD — For the second time in a year, Air Force Reserve Technical Sgt. and Springfield native Daniel Warren has earned one of the nation's top honors for heroism under fire.

Seven months after receiving a Bronze Star for Valor for helping to repel a Taliban attack in Afghanistan, Warren and two other members of the Florida-based 920th Rescue Wing had their names added to the Air Force's MacKay Trophy following a harrowing rescue mission in South Sudan.

As a recipient, Warren joins an elite club that includes World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, flight pioneer and World War II hero Jimmy Doolittle, test pilot and Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom and other Air Force legends on the trophy at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

"I'm blown away that we were fortunate enough to be honored," said Warren, 31, a graduate of East Longmeadow High School and Springfield College.

"We were just trying to save our buddies lives with limited time and supplies," he added.

The mission was conducted on Dec. 21, 2013 in South Sudan, but was only recently declassified, allowing participants to discuss it.

Amid a widening civil war, the U.S. State Department sent three CV-22 Ospreys and a special operations team to evacuate Americans from a United Nations base in Bor, a regional capital under siege by rebel fighters.

Also on the mission were Warren and two other pararescue jumpers, or PJs. Trained in advanced combat, life-saving and survival skills and deployed on military and humanitarian missions, the pararescuemen are also known as "Guardian Angels" for all the downed pilots, wounded soldiers and disaster-stricken civilians they saved.

In February 2010, Warren and three PJs were credited with saving 15 Afghan civilians and helping 49 others trapped by a series of avalanches in the Hindu Kush mountain range. Waist-deep snow, -40 degree temperatures, the threat of enemy attacks and the possibility of more avalanches only added to the challenge.

On a second deployment to Afghanistan, Warren earned a Bronze Star for Valor for his role in a five-hour firefight with insurgents at Camp Bastion in September, 2012. Two Marines were killed, nine were wounded and $200 million worth of aircraft and equipment were destroyed during the Taliban raid, the costliest attack on an American installation since the Vietnam War.

The evacuation at Bor, by contrast, was billed as a quick, low-risk operation. Instead, the planes, code named Rooster 73, 74 and 75, were raked by ground fire on their approach to airfield.

"Bullets started bursting through the floor and smashing through the walls," recalled Warren, leader of the 3-man pararescue team on Rooster 74. "Bullets hit one guy's water bottle splitting it in half. Some lodged in back packs."

No one in Warren's plane was hit, but three soldiers in Rooster 73 suffered gunshot wounds to their legs and fourth was shot in the back. More than 100 rounds struck each plane, damaging steering and hydraulic systems and puncturing fuel tanks.

Unable to land, the crippled aircraft took off for an airport in Entebbe, Uganda, where the wounded could receive emergency care before being flown to a hospital in Kenya.

But the airfield was 450 miles and 90 minutes away, assuming the planes could fly that far.

"For the rest of the flight, we were drenched in fuel and smoke and the fumes were so dense in the cabin it was hard to see anything," Warren said.

As air crews struggled to keep the planes aloft, Warren's team devised a plan to help the wounded beyond their reach in Rooster 73.

Using their plane's intercom, Warren collected patient information, blood type and injury status of the four wounded soldiers.

With special medical kits, they began drawing blood from matching Rooster 74 crew members that could be transfused as soon as the planes landed.

The operation is called a "walking blood bank," and Warren and Sgts. Jason Broline and Lee Von Hack-Prestinary had practiced it a few weeks before.

The aircraft, meanwhile, were undergoing midair refueling to replace fuel leaking from their bullet-riddled hulls.

"We were losing more fuel than we were taking on. The planes were waffling, shaking and trailing smoke the whole way," said Warren. "The air crews saved us all."

When the Ospreys touched down in Entebbe, the pararescue team's real work began. With help from airport security, they commandeered two vans, ripped out the seats and loaded the wounded for a trip across the flight line to a waiting C-17 medical support plane.

"It was quite a sight, all doors open, litters and legs sticking out of two Toyota minivans filled with special ops guys," Warren said.

With the bay of the C-17 serving as an emergency room, the pararescue team began treating the soldiers, providing oxygen, fluids, antibiotics, pain medication and more. Medics from the other planes and medical personnel from the airbase also helped.

The most critically injured soldier received two blood transfusions on the runway, and one more on the flight to Kenya.

After the second transfusion, the soldier's "dark, ashen cyanotic skin started to flush with color," Warren said.

"The walking blood bank was only a small part of the treatment we performed, but it saved this guy's life without doubt," he said.

About 30 minutes later, the C-17 carrying the four soldiers lifted off for Kenya.

All the wounded survived and the Ospreys - price: $71 million each - were repaired and returned to service.

"I just marvel at the skill and mental toughness of all involved," said Warren's father, Raymond, retired economic development director for Enfield, Conn. and current member of the Springfield Housing Authority's governing board.

In November, 2014, Warren's team and the crew of Rooster 73 had their names engraved on the McKay Trophy, the Air Force's oldest and most prestigious honor.

During a ceremony in Washington D.C., Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welch III praised the airmen's "surpassing acts of valor, bravery and patriotism."

A month later, while speaking at an Air Force conference in Tampa, Warren received a less formal tribute. After the event, one of the wounded soldiers walked up and gave him a hug.

"It was nothing cheesy. Just thanks," Warren said. "Just seeing him was good enough for me."

 
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