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Sinkhole swallows car-size chunk of Main Street in Springfield's South End

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The sinkhole occurred in front of 1038 Main St., outside the Caring Health Center and near the Red Rose Restaurant.

UPDATE - 6:51 p.m.: Workers have now installed those steel plates. So it is patched now..

SPRINGFIELD - A sinkhole swallowed a chunk of pavement on Main Street in the South End on Saturday afternoon, roughly the size of a parking spot.

The sinkhole occurred in front of 1038 Main St., outside the Caring Health Center and near the Red Rose Restaurant.

Traffic was diverted around the sinkhole and there was no visible flooding.

A work crew was preparing to place large metal plates over the sinkhole late Saturday afternoon, pending repairs.

The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission and Police Department responded.


Brush fire reported on River Drive in Hadley

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The state remains under a Red Flag Warning meaning any fire may spread and get out of control very quickly and be very hard to put out.

HADLEY - Firefighters were called to a brush fire on River Drive in Hadley at about 2 p.m. Saturday, dispatchers said.

Amherst -area blogger Larry Kelley shared this photo from the scene.

This is prime brush fire season now that warm weather has dried out vegetation and no new, green and less flammable plant life has had a chance to develop. add to that strong winds that could whip up flames to an inferno and homeowners burning n brush this time of year and foresters are left with a worried.

Last week, fire broke out in a part of Monson where trees were damaged in the 2011 tornado and tree limbs presumably remain.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for nearly all of the state on Wednesday. A red flag warning means that any fires that start may spread rapidly and be difficult to extinguish.

The National Weather Service has a rundown of fire conditions at its website here.

Texas veterinarian who shot cat with bow and arrow is facing police probe

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Kristen Lindsey posted a photo holding up what she described as a dead feral tomcat, but there are reports since that it was a neighborhood family pet named Tiger.

A Texas veterinarian who bragged on Facebook about killing a cat with a bow and arrow is now under investigation by authorities for animal cruelty.

Kristen Lindsey, 31, of Brenham posted a photo holding up what she described as a dead feral tomcat shot in Austin County, but there are reports since that it was a neighborhood family pet named Tiger.

Since posting the photo Wednesday and drawing widespread condemnation, Lindsey has been fired by the operators of the Washington Animal Clinic in Brenham, Texas.

"We are absolutely appalled, shocked, upset, and disgusted by the conduct," the clinic posted on its website. "We do not allow such conduct and we condemn it in the strongest possible manner."

A sign outside the clinic that lists its vets had her name covered with tape on Friday.

kristenlindsay.jpg Authorities are investigating whether animal cruelty charges should be pursued against Texas veterinarian Kristen Lindsey shown in a Facebook posting bragging about killing a cat with a bow and arrow.

The photo has since been removed and her Facebook account canceled, although copies have widely circulated on the Internet. Her original post with the photo read: "My first bow kill, lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it's head! Vet of the year award ... Gladly accepted," KWTX-TV reported.

Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes said deputies were investigating the incident and would be talking with prosecutors about the possibility of charges.

"This kind of stuff shouldn't happen in our society," Brandes said. "It's a very sad thing. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of it and get the truth, 100 percent truth, and get it to the DA and put it in his hands if it needs to go any further."

Lindsey planned to meet with authorities next week, accompanied by an attorney,
Houston TV station KTRK reported.

No telephone listing could be found Saturday for Lindsey.

The Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners says she'd held a valid license since June 2012, with no disciplinary actions, The Associated Press say.

Since the controversy erupted, some Texas residents have come to Lindsey's defense, KBTX-TV reported.

Washington County Resident Preston Northrup told the station that "all these people in the cities just don't understand what goes on in the country and they get in an uproar. They ought to just mind their own business."

Traffic moves to a crawl as Extravaganja swells in Amherst

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Crowds spilled from North to South Common as crowds at marijuana festival swelled.

AMHERST - Traffic through the downtown moved to a crawl Saturday afternoon as crowds at the 24th annual Extravaganja swelled.

Vehicles were backed up on Route 9 and Route 116 heading into the downtown. 

Crowds at the annual marijuana festival were so large that people were gathered on the backside of the performance tent and spilling from the North Common, where the University of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition event was held, to the South Common.

This is the last year that Police Chief Scott Livingstone said he will sign off on the festival's permit for that Town Common location because of how large it has grown.

"It's reached capacity," said Terry Franklin, an auxiliary member of the reform coalition. While it started small, he remembers gatherings of about 50, the last five years the gathering has drawn thousands.

But as the festival reaches its 25th anniversary next year he said, "We're certainly going to have it somehow."

Delaney Ratner, a Cannabis Reform Coalition member, said  the group wants to keep its options open. She loves the Town Common because it's the center of the town, but they will explore other options, which Livingstone suggested.

But on this day, she said there were some parking and traffic issues and they had to clean the porta-potties sooner than they planned but everything had been peaceful.

 Police, meanwhile, were riding bikes on the perimeter as many on the common lit up.  People were smoking pot in joints and pipes and the smell mixed with the scents of kielbasa and other food served on the edges of the common.

Speakers at the event interspersed with the music included Christopher Wellington from Vaporbrothers, who advocated the smoking of marijuana with a vapor pipe instead of cigarette papers or a traditional pipe because it was healthier and more of the medicinal properties of marijuana would be taken in.

Cara Crabb-Burnham administrator at the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis talked about the classes the institute offers to people who want to work in the growing field.

Keith Sanders, the school's director of education, said people need to advocate for the legalization and turn out at the legislative hearing on a legalization bill when its held and also to write their representatives.

He also criticized the Deval Patrick administration for dragging its feet on licensing dispensaries. Voters in 2012 approved the legalization of medical marijuana but no dispensary has opened. Sanders said a dispensary should he opening in Northampton by the end of the summer.

Tour bus fire snarls traffic on I84 in Sturbridge, no one injured

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The bus caught fire at 1:30. Wreckage cleared 3:30 p.m.

STURBRIDGE - A tour bus loaded with University of Connecticut students on their way to Boston caught fire at the Sturbridge toll interchange Saturday afternoon.

No one was injured, said Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Jonathan Swift of the State Police Station E-2 in Charlton.

The bus, operated by Atlantic Travel & tours, suffered a brake fire coming down the Interstate 84 exit ramps onto the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The driver was able to pull off to the side. The passengers got off.

"It was a pretty good fire by the time our cruisers got there," Swift said.

Traffic backed up a mile or so down Interstate 84 until wreckage could be cleared at about 3:30 p.m.

Firefighters from Charlton took primary control of the scene. They were assisted by crews from Sturbride, Spencer, Southbridge and East Brookfield.

The interchange is a frequent traffic bottleneck for the region.


Melha Shriners attracts drum and bugle corps from New England, beyond for annual competition

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The competition attracted drum and bugle corps from throughout New England and neighboring states.

melha shriners.png 


SPRINGFIELD -- Music and applause filled the hall at the Melha Shrine Center on Longhill Street on Saturday during the 5th annual Melha Shriners Bulglers Hall of Fame competition.

Drum and bugle corps from throughout New England and beyond participated during the event with judges, shriners and the public in attendance.

The Melha Shriners Miltary Band also performed a concert.

The event featured an overall corps competition, as well as individual brass competition, percussion ensemble competition and brass ensemble competition.

Ohio murder suspect begs cop to shoot him; rookie officer's reply: 'No, man'

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The tense confrontation at about 8 p.m. Thursday in the Cincinnati suburb of Elsmere, Kentucky, was caught on a body camera worn by New Richmond Officer Jesse Kidder.

An Ohio man, a suspect in the killing of his girlfriend and his best friend, repeatedly charged at a Kentucky police officer this week, begging him to shoot.

New Richmond Officer Jesse Kidder is now being praised for the judgment call he made that night.

He didn't shoot.

Instead, he backed away while talking to Michael Wilcox, 27, who kept repeatedly telling Kidder, "Shoot me. Shoot me."

The tense confrontation at about 8 p.m. Thursday in the Cincinnati suburb of Elsmere, Kentucky, was caught on a body camera worn by Kidder, according to video posted by WLWT-TV in Cincinnati and other media.

The video shows Kidder backpedaling while telling the charging Wilcox he didn't want to shoot him, despite the suspect's pleas to do so.

"No, man, I'm not going to do it!" Kidder yelled as he pointed his gun.

The suspect charged at Kidder several times before he finally dropped to the ground a few feet away as backup arrived.

Kidder said one reason he didn't shoot is he noticed the suspect's hands were empty.

"For him to make the judgment call that he did shows great restraint and maturity," New Richmond Police Chief Randy Harvey told WLWT, referring to Kidder, a rookie cop. "This video footage, it eliminated all doubt that this officer would have been justified if in fact it came to a shooting."

Kidder told WLWT said he wasn't going to pull the trigger unless he felt it was absolutely necessary.

"Law enforcement officers all across the nation have to deal with split-second decisions that mean life or death. I wanted to be absolutely sure before I used deadly force," Kidder said.

According to authorities, Wilcox admitted he killed girlfriend Courtney Fowler, 25, who was found dead Thursday in a home where they lived in Felicity, Ohio, according to WKRC-TV. He also is a suspect in the Kentucky death the same day of best friend Zach Gilkison, police said.

Kidder's encounter with Wilcox followed a three-county police chase that ended with Kidder stopping the suspect. Kidder has been warned by dispatchers that Wilcox was heading his way and that he might seek to commit "suicide by cop," authorities said.

Wilcox, who is charged with murder, was being held Saturday on $2 million bond.

Kidder said a relative gave him the body camera following the deadly officer-involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, The Associated Press reported.

Firefighters respond to Southwick brush fire

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the fire is on college highway.

Update 8:10 p.m.: The fire is apparently out and firefighters have left the scene.

This story follows the report of a still-ongoing fire in Hadley: Brush Fire Reported on River Drive in Hadley

SOUTHWICK - Firefighters from Southwick and surrounding departments responded Saturday night to a brush fire in the farm fields near 299 College Highway, also known as Route 10/202, according to police dispatchers in town.

The call came in at about 5:15 p.m. and firefighters called for additional water tankers.

CBS3, the news partner of the The Republican and MassLive.com, reported that the the fire is in the vicinity of the Arnold Farm, where a tobacco barn under construction burned in February 2014 causing $30,000 in damage.

the National Weather Service has nearly all of Massachusetts under a  red flag warning of high fire danger. There is lots of dry vegetation and very little new, green growth. Also, high winds are apt to spread flames quickly.

People are asked to be careful and refrain from burning.

Many homeowners dispose of brush this time of year by burning, and firefighters war n that those fires can quickly leap out of control.


Amherst Extravaganja on social media, what people are tweeting about the 24th annual marijuana festival

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Crowds filled the Amherst Town Common, and their Twitter feeds.

Update 8:15 p.m.: Amherst police report that "a number" of cars were towed and there "might have been one" arrest at the event. They were unable to be more specific Saturday night.

This story follows: Mellow start to 24th annual Extravaganja as thousands gathered

AMHERST - The weather was perfect and the vibes were apparently gentile for the  the 24th annual Extravaganja on the Amherst Town Common.

Thousands attended the event, filling the center of Amherst for the marijuana-centered music and art  festival  put on each year by the The University of Massachusetts Amherst Cannabis Reform Coalition.

And because these are neo-hippies it wasn't all hackey-sacking, drum circles and long jam-band music sets. A lot of these cannabis fans hit their twitter accounts as well.

This one was funny, in a Cheech'n Chong kind of way.


And longtime Amherst blogger Larry Kelley had one of the best photos of the day, shot with a drone.

700 feared dead in Mediterranean boat capsizing

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A crowded fishing boat that one survivor said carried 700 migrants capsized north of Libya overnight.

ROME (AP) -- A crowded fishing boat that one survivor said carried 700 migrants capsized north of Libya overnight, and only a few dozen people were rescued Sunday, raising fears that it could become the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant sea disaster.

The capsizing prompted more dismay among exasperated Italian officials, refugee aid officials agencies and Pope Francis, all of whom are demanding more European or international action to stop a deadly tide of migration. Migrants have aimed for Europe's shores for many years, fleeing war, persecution and conflict in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. But the turmoil and warfare in Libya has made it easier for smugglers to take to the sea.

Rescuers Sunday were "checking who is alive and who is dead" among the bodies floating on the surface, said Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose tiny Mediterranean nation joined the rescue operations. He called it the "biggest human tragedy of the last few years."

The 20-meter (66-foot) vessel may have overturned because migrants rushed to one side of the craft late Saturday night when they saw an approaching Portuguese-flagged container ship, the King Jacob, which the Italian Coast Guard had dispatched to help them.

The Coast Guard said at least 28 survivors had been rescued by Sunday morning. Muscat put the number of survivors at 50, and International Organization for Migration spokesman Joel Millman said 49 survived.

"Since the waters of the Mediterranean Sea are not too cold at the moment, the authorities hope to find more survivors," a statement from Millman said.

The container ship received the Coast Guard's request to help the migrants at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) Saturday night "when an overloaded fishing boat was spotted close by the King Jacob's port side," according to a statement from a spokesmen for the ship owner.

The crew "immediately deployed rescue boats, gangway, nets and life rings. Twenty-two people were pulled to safety" and transferred Sunday to Italian coast guard vessels, that statement said.

A United Nations refugee agency spokeswoman Carlotta Sami tweeted that according to one survivor, the boat had set out with 700 migrants aboard.

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi summoned his top ministers to a strategy session in Rome Sunday evening, saying that the numbers of dead are still provisional but "are destined to rise.'

"How can it be that we daily are witnessing a tragedy?" Renzi asked.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement Sunday that 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean by sea and 3,500 died last year. This year, 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have reached Europe so far and more than 900 are known to have died in failed crossings. Last week, 400 people were presumed drowned when another boat capsized.

The smugglers are capitalizing on the migrants' desperation and taking advantage of chaos and violence in Libya, where rival militias, tribal factions and other political forces have destabilized the country since bloody end of the long dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

In Italy's Parliament, the leaders of foreign affairs and defense commissions pushed for the EU and the UN to prepare a naval blockade of Libya's coast to stop the human trafficking.

Without a military blockade, "the traffickers will continue to operate and make money and the wretched will continue to die," said Pier Fernando Casini, the Senate foreign affairs commission president.

The pope lent his moral authority to the political calls for action, urging "the international community to act decisively and promptly, to prevent similar tragedies from occurring again."

Until this Sunday's tragedy, calls for a naval blockade had mainly risen in Italy from the anti-immigrant Northern League party. That top lawmakers are now joining the chorus reflects rising impatience for decisive European action.

"Europe can do more and Europe must do more," said Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament. "It is a shame and a confession of failure how many countries run away from responsibility and how little money we provide for rescue missions."

The EU's foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, added migration as a last-minute emergency issue to an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday in Luxembourg.

Europe must mobilize "more ships, more overflights by aircraft," French President Francois Hollande told French TV Canal +. He said he called Renzi to discuss emergency action.

The prime minister of Spain, another Mediterranean nation, also urged Europe to take swift action.

"Today, and this is the umpteenth time, we hear of yet another human tragedy in the Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast," Mariano Rajoy told a political rally. "It's a daily drama. Three days ago it was 400 people. Four days ago they were 10. Words won't do any more."

There was no immediate way to determine how many were on board the fishing boat, nor how many might still be rescued, the Coast Guard and other authorities said. The total number of passengers was expected to be clarified as authorities interview survivors.

Given that the sea is as deep as 3 miles (5 kilometers) or more in the area, it is possible that many bodies will never be recovered, as was the case in similar tragedies off the coasts of Libya, Italy, and other Mediterranean nations in recent years.

"There are fears there could be hundreds of dead," Pope Francis told the faithful in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. He bowed his head in silent prayer, as did many of the tens of thousands below him.

When asked whether migrants rushed to one side as the Portuguese vessel pulled alongside, Italian Border Police Gen. Antonino Iraso replied: "The dynamics aren't clear. But this is not the first time that has happened."

Rescuers reported seeing wreckage in the sea.

"There are large fuel stains, pieces of wood, life jackets," added Iraso, whose force has boats deployed in the rescue effort, told Sky TG24 TV.

The numbers of migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from Libya in overcrowded or unseaworthy boats swells as the springtime weather improves, providing calmer seas and warmer water.

Southwick track hosts JDay motocross season opener, attracts thousands

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Riders from across New England and New York participate in JDay events.


SOUTHWICK— Nearly 1,000 motocross riders from across New England headed to Southwick Sunday for the JDay Offroad season opener.

"This is a great track," said Luis Vendrell, of Billerica, who has been riding for three years. He said the track is mostly motocross, but also has wooded areas and tricky spots that make it a challenging ride.

The event attracts thousands of spectators every year.

"For us here in New England this track is known worldwide, it was closed last year, but when the JDay Offroad fans heard it was coming back here everyone was going crazy," said John Day who organizes the JDay Offroad events across New England and New York. "It's also been a long winter. People have been cooped up and they are ready to ride."

Day said the races will come back to Southwick this fall and will also make stops in Greenfield and the Berkshires before the season is over.

Sperm bank provided inaccurate donor information, lawsuit claims

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An Ontario couple is suing Xytex Corp., its parent company, sperm bank employees and the donor, claiming the sperm they received was misrepresented.

ATLANTA (AP) -- He was good on paper: Eloquent, mature, healthy and smart to boot.

That's why Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson say they chose Donor 9623 to be the biological father of their child.

Then last June, almost seven years after Collins gave birth to a son conceived with his sperm, they got a batch of emails from the sperm bank that unexpectedly -- and perhaps mistakenly -- included the donor's name. That set them on a sleuthing mission that quickly revealed he is schizophrenic, dropped out of college and had been arrested for burglary, they said in a lawsuit filed March 31 in Atlanta.

On top of that, the photo of him they'd seen when deciding on a donor had been altered to remove a large mole on his cheek, the suit says.

Collins and Hanson said the Atlanta sperm bank promoted the donor's sperm, saying it came from a man with an IQ of 160, an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and a master's degree in artificial intelligence, who was pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience engineering. He was eloquent, "mature beyond his years" and had "an impressive health history," sperm bank staff told them, according to the lawsuit.

"They represented him, both orally and in their donor literature, to be the best of the best," a lawyer for the pair, Nancy Hersh, told The Associated Press.

The women, who live in Ontario, Canada, sued Xytex Corp., its parent company, sperm bank employees and the man they say was the misrepresented donor -- the biological father of at least three dozen children, according to the lawsuit.

The AP was unable to find a phone number for Collins and Hanson, and Hersh declined to make them available for an interview. A message left at a number matching the donor's name was not returned.

The AP is not identifying the donor because it was unable to verify all of the claims in the lawsuit.

James Johnson, a lawyer for the donor, said they are trying to get the lawsuit dismissed and declined to comment further.

A Xytex spokeswoman referred the AP to an open letter company President Kevin O'Brien posted on the company's website in which he wrote the couple's claims "do not reflect the representations provided to Xytex."

The donor had a standard medical exam, provided extensive personal information, said he had no physical or medical impairments and provided photos of himself and copies of his undergraduate and graduate degrees, O'Brien wrote.

The couple was "clearly informed the representations were reported by the donor and were not verified by Xytex," he wrote.

Hersh contests that: "They don't say, 'This is what he told us.' They say, 'This is who he is.'"

The case shines a spotlight on an industry that has existed for decades but remains loosely regulated.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for screening sperm donors are limited to screening for contagious or infectious diseases, like syphilis or HIV. They don't require genetic testing.

Two professional associations -- the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American Association of Tissue Banks -- also provide guidelines that include additional screening, but those are only recommendations.

Xytex has been in business for 40 years and is a major player in the sperm bank industry.

Most of the big commercial sperm banks in the U.S. follow a pretty consistent standard of practice, said Rene Almeling, a sociology professor at Yale University who has done extensive research on sperm and egg donation. Those practices include asking donors for three generations of family medical history, and doing physicals, blood tests and some genetic testing on them in a process that takes four to six weeks.

Some donors, however, may not have completely accurate information for three generations of their families. And for many diseases there's not just one genetic marker that allows for a definitive test.

"It's not like you have a machine you can put them through or like you can do a blood test for mental illness. That's the scary part," said Andrea Mechanick Braverman, a health psychologist and professor at Thomas Jefferson University.

Donated sperm must also be seen as capturing "a snapshot in time," Braverman said. Most donors are in their early 20s, and it's entirely possible a troubling genetic mutation or hereditary disease could manifest itself years or even decades later.

Even if the screening is incomplete, the information provided to customers is often far more extensive than what the average person might know about his or her partner before having children, Almeling and Braverman both said. How many people know three generations of their spouse's medical history?

Because the screening process is expensive, most sperm banks ask that a donor provide donations once a week for a full year, Almeling said. A sample provided by a donor is generally split between anywhere from two to eight vials, which are sold individually. Samples are frozen and can be held for years, even decades.

No one regulates or keeps track of how often a donor donates or how many children are born as a result of their donations; Xytex sets its own maximum at 60 families reporting births from the same donor. That can lead to dozens of children having the same father, Almeling said. That can have serious implications if a donor is found to carry a genetic defect.

Collins' and Hanson's 7-year-old son has not shown any of the donor's alleged undesirable traits, Hersh said. But the lawsuit says the revelation that their son's biological father has schizophrenia means they have to pay to have the boy evaluated regularly and, in the event that he does become schizophrenic, get him treatment.

The couple wants a medical monitoring fund established for the children of Donor 9623 so they can be tested and treated, if necessary. Collins and Hanson are also seeking punitive damages and other compensation.

Hersh, who said she has handled cases related to fertility for years, said people who are turning to sperm banks to conceive a child are often in an emotionally fragile state.

"What I really want to see happen is some regulation and some evidence of a consciousness of the fact that they are dealing with vulnerable people who are relying on them," she said.

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover Foundation awards 15 anti-bullying scholarships

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Top receipient is Biraj Adhikari of Springfield Central High

HOLYOKE - In his essay, that helped him earn the top anti-bullying scholarship this year from the Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover Foundation, Springfield Central High senior Biraj Adhikari wrote, "Whenever I see something wrong happening around me, I never hesitate to speak out or report to a teacher or an adult, so that something good could be done or it could be prevented."

"Bullying is a behavior that may hurt others deeply and put them in critical depression. It is important for us all to unite and fight it," Adhikari concluded.

Adhikari, who plans to attend Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, to study computer science and programming, received a check for $1,500 toward his college education during the foundation's 5th annual scholarship gala on April 19 at the Log Cabin.

Three other college-bound seniors, Kadeja Miller, Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, in Springfield; Cassandra Sarno, Cathedral High School, Wilbraham; and Vivian Yu, Longmeadow High, received a $1,000 each.

Recipients receiving $500 each included Cole Burdell, of Hopkins Academy in Hadley; Emily Carroll, Samantha Cox, Allison Haryasz, and Collin Strassburg, all of Longmeadow High; Katherine Erdman, Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, Maryland; Ariana Sarmiento Fielding, and Kyle Richmond-Crosset, both of Springfield Renaissance School; Cassidy Fournier, Chicopee High School; Sydney Nelson, East High School in Duluth, Minn.; and Julian Paredes-Gotamco, Lincoln High School in Stockton, Calif.

gwynnettasneed.jpgGwynnetta Sneed 

Nelson's resume highlights her efforts to combat bullying through a school-wide program called "East for Peace Month." Paredes-Gotamco created an anti-bullying campaign called "More Friends, Less Bullies." Erdman helped plan a conference that showcased cyberbullying and modern non-physical harassment

Kirk Ray Smith, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, was scheduled as keynote speaker. Other scheduled participants included Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, whose daughter was among the scholarship recipients; Springfield Health and Human Services Commission Helen Caulton-Harris, a foundation committee member; and the Rev. Peter Sylver, of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church, in Springfield. Dave Madsen, anchor for ABC40/FOX 6, was schedules as master of ceremonies.

Gwynnetta Sneed established the foundation, in 2010, in honor of the Springfield sixth grader who hanged himself a year earlier after repeated bullying at school. His mother Sirdeaner Walker is a supporter of the foundation. Walker, who was instrumental in the passage of the state's 2010 anti-bullying legislation, has attended its yearly spring gala, with her three other children and ofamily members, as well as participated in the foundation's fall back-to-school anti-bullying fund-raiser walk and run in Springfield's Forest Park. This year's walk is Sept. 12.

Sneed, who chairs the foundation's scholarship committee, said about 50 applications, from across the country, were received this year, with a total of 15 scholarships given. Applicants are judged on the basis of academic merit, as well as community service and submitted essay. Other committee members included Linda Belton, Kitty Brightwell, Helen Bushey, Tony Pettaway and Nicholas Sneed.

Sneed said past scholarship winners in touch with her recently include Morgan Oh, a 2014 winner from North Carolina, who took a gap year to teach in El Salvador, and plans to return this summer to enroll in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Shooting at Delaware State University leaves 3 injured

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Three men were shot and injured Saturday night at a cookout on the Delaware State University campus, officials said, and authorities are searching for the shooter.

DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Three men were shot and injured Saturday night at a cookout on the Delaware State University campus, officials said, and authorities are searching for the shooter.

The shooting happened at about 8 p.m. at a university-sanctioned fraternity and sorority event, DSU spokesman Carlos Holmes said.

The victims were taken to Kent General Hospital in Dover with injuries that were not life-threatening, Holmes told The Associated Press.

"We can definitely tell you that the three victims were not DSU students," Holmes said Sunday. "The event had a lot of guests ... a lot of people that came from the surrounding communities and other schools."

While confirming that the victims were all male, Holmes did not provide their ages or hometowns or any other details, including a possible motive for the shootings or whether any suspects have been identified.

DSU President Harry L. Williams said in a news release Saturday night that students were told to stay inside their dormitories, while non-students were asked to leave campus.

"The safety of our students continues to be paramount and our police will aggressively continue their investigation until an arrest or arrests are made in this shooting incident," Williams said. DSU campus police is handling the investigation, although officers from the Dover Police Department, Delaware State Police and other agencies assisted in responding to the campus shootings.

A second shooting occurred early Sunday at University Courtyard apartments, a university-run housing complex just off campus, but no one was injured. Holmes said it was unclear whether the two shooting incidents were related.

The apartment complex and campus were quiet late Sunday morning, although visitor access to the campus remained restricted to those with university ID cards. A group of students gathered at the shooting site for a cleanup, but several students declined to comment when asked about the shootings.

Holmes said the university will resume regular operations and classes on Monday.

In early November, a student was shot at a residence hall near the campus in what authorities determined was an isolated act. Two people were charged.

Delaware State University is a historically black university that has more than 4,100 full- and part-time students.

Watch New Jersey cops save woman before car bursts into flames

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Two New Jersey police officers are being credited with saving a woman from a fiery death in a rescue caught on camera. Watch video

Kinnelon cops save woman before car bursts into flamesKinnelon cops pulled a woman from a car wreck Thursday evening moments before the vehicle burst into flames, police said. 

KINNELON -- Police released video Friday of officers pulling a woman from a car wreck moments before her vehicle burst into flames on Kinnelon Road. 

UPDATE: Officer Mark Ehrenburg told NJ Advance Media he and his partner "got there in the nick of time."

The video, which was captured by Officer Mark Ehrenburg's dashcam, shows the officer and fellow officer, Rickey Ferriola, removing the unconscious driver from the seat after cutting her seat belt, Kinnelon Police Chief John Schwartz said.

The driver -- Dawn Milosky, 45, of Beachwood -- was charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain a lane of travel, failure to keep right, reckless driving and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, Lt. Joseph Napoletano said in a news release.

At about 6:13 p.m., borough police received a 911 call reporting an erratic driver driving east toward Kinnelon from Boonton Township on Kinnelon Road, he said.

While monitoring traffic, police received another report that a motor vehicle ran off the roadway and crashed near mile-marker 7.5 on Kinnelon Road, Napoletano said.

Officers found the wrecked vehicle -- a white 2006 Toyota Solara convertible -- flipped over in a culvert partially on its side and its roof and smoking. Milkosky, the driver, was still seat-belted in the vehicle, he said.

Ehrenburg and Ferriola extricated the driver from the vehicle and moved her to safety before her smoking vehicle became engulfed in flames, according to the dashcam video.

Milkosky was taken by the Triboro First Aid Squad to a landing zone in Boonton Township, where she was flown by medical helicopter to Morristown Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

The Kinnelon Fire Department later extinguished the car fire.

Based on the preliminary investigation, Milkosky's car drifted to the right side of the roadway while traveling east, then across the roadway and up a small embankment before rolling over and coming to a rest in a culvert.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash and no other injuries were reported, Napoletano said.

Milosky, who remains in the hospital, was released without bail pending an appearance in Kinnelon municipal court, he said.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ.


Heroin epidemic leading to car breaks at Vermont hiking trails

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People are asked to avoid leaving iphones, wallets and other valuables in their cars.

VERMONT - State Police are reporting a number of car breaks across the state at parks and hiking trail heads this week.

"Last year there were numerous car breaks at various hiking access locations in Vermont. This is in part due to the ongoing heroin and opiate challenges the state currently faces," police officials said.

Addicts are searching for money and items to steal so they can purchase drugs, police said.

There have been frequent car breaks in a variety of places including the Mount Philo State Park in Charlotte; Camel's Hump State Park in Huntington and Duxbury, Underhill State Park in Underhill; Snake Mountain Hiking Access, Addison and the Robert Frost Trail in Ripton.

Police will be conducting patrols at hiking access points throughout the state. Officers ask people to report any break-ins or suspicious activities near cars at any trailheads or hiking access points.

Police are also warning citizens to not leave valuable items in vehicles at the trailheads. Some examples would include: purses, cell phones, money, credit cards, wallets and jewelry in their cars. They are also told to lock their cars.

Victims of theft should immediately cancel debit and credit cards and if a social security card is stolen, contact one of the three major credit reporting bureaus to freeze credit reports, police said.

Ludlow Fire Department battling brush fire

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Wilbraham Fire Department is assisting at the fire.

LUDLOW - The local fire department is battling a persistent brush fire near the Springfield Reservoir.

The fire was reported mid-afternoon Sunday and has burned about two acres of woodland, fire department officials said.

It is burning it the area of upper Center Street and Reservoir Road, officials said.

The State Department of Conservation and Recreation has been called in to assist and Wilbraham Fire Department is also helping to battle the fire.

The Chicopee Fire Department is also currently fighting a brush fire off Medina Street.

This is a breaking story. Masslive will update as more information becomes available.

Thailand search continues for Western Mass native who disappeared on a diving trip

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The search will continue with a focus on small islands and hospitals.

Intensive searches in the waters off the coast of Phuket, Thailand have not found any evidence into the disappearance of retired Connecticut National Guardsman and Chicopee Comprehensive High graduate Joshua Devine.

Devine's mother Marie Major and sister Jennifer Bakowski left their Enfield homes on Thursday and arrived in Thailand and are now getting more information about Devine's disappearance. Two of his friends who live in Kuwait have also joined them, said Alison Podworski, owner of Alison May Public Relations and spokeswoman for the family.

Devine, who had served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan with the active-duty military and later the National Guard, currently lives in Kuwait and works on information technology for a military contractor. He was also an experienced diver and instructor.

Devine and his wife Thadsana left last Saturday for a five-day diving trip in Thailand. At about 4 a.m. Saturday, about four hours after they boarded the boat, Devine disappeared.

His wife told family members Devine had been drinking and was upset. Two acquaintances who had been on other diving trips with him before, took him to a storage room to calm him down. At his request, they left for about 10 minutes and when they returned Devine had disappeared.

Despite initial concerns about the fact the initial search had been delayed and a second search was aborted because of weather, efforts now have intensified, Podworski said.

Bakowski, Major and Thadsana Devine are working with officials from the U.S. Embassy. They have also used some of about $1,200 raised in a GoFundMe account to hire a private detective and an attorney to help them in Thailand, she said.

"The U.S. Embassy told (Major) it's been the largest search ever conducted in Thai waters," Podworski said.

The search has been done with a combination of boats and helicopters. It will continue this week, but the focus will change, she said.

Adding to the difficulty of the search is it covers a large area and the water is very deep so visibility is limited, she said.

The Navy will now be searching many of the small islands, hoping he may have been able to swim ashore. They are also checking hospitals with the idea that Devine could have been picked up by a passing boat and brought to a medical facility for treatment, Podworski said.

The dive company Mermaids Dive Center 5Star PADI also responded to complaints about its lack of a search when Devine was initially reported missing and the fact it continued with the dive trip.

"Upon learning that the passenger was missing, members of the dive trip immediately searched the vessel, and failing to locate the missing passenger, the vessel backtracked to the area the missing passenger was last seen. The dive boat then conducted an ocean search for the missing passenger in a logical, planned manner using large spotlights while many members of the dive trip assisted with torches," company officials posted on Facebook.

Efforts to contact the Royal Thai Navy and other vessels in the area was also initiated. The boat was not within cellular coverage so there was a delay, but radio contact was made by 6:30 a.m. and rescue services arrived at about 10 a.m., officials said.

Ludlow firefighters extinguish 3-acre brush fire

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The cause of the fire is unknown. It is believed to be accidental.

This updates a story posted at 5:22 p.m.

LUDLOW
- About 18 firefighters battled a brush fire for nearly three hours that burned about three acres of woodlands.

The fire was first reported at about 4 p.m. by a passerby who reported seeing smoke from behind Contemporary Structures at 1102 Center St. When firefighters arrived they found a large area of brush on fire behind Center Street, said Ludlow Fire Capt. Richard Machado.

"Once the wind started picking up the fire was spreading," he said.

Initially 10 Ludlow firefighters with two brush trucks and other vehicles responded. The department then requested assistance from the Wilbraham Fire Department, which sent a brush truck and four personnel and the State Department of Conservation and Recreation, which sent another about four firefighters and a brush truck, Machado said.

The crew was able to get the stubborn fire under control at about 6:45 p.m. Some firefighters remain at the scene to make sure the fire does not rekindle, he said.

No one was injured during the blaze and no buildings were threatened, Machado said.

The cause of the fire is unknown. It is believed to be accidental, he said.

Plan to save Curtis Blake Day School in Springfield fails

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There are 38 students attending the Curtis Blake School.

SPRINGFIELD - Parents and students' hopes to keep the Curtis Blake Day School open were dashed late last week when American International College declined to transfer the state certification to another education company interested in continuing the program.

"We were too far along in the process to stop it without disruption the children and their families," said Timothy Grader, director of marketing and communications for the college.

The process to receive a special education certification from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is complex and to transfer the certification after college officials already began the process of closing out the certification would not work, he said.

On March 2, college officials announced the Curtis Blake Day School for students with language disabilities, including dyslexia, would close at the end of the year because of declining enrollment.

Meanwhile parents of the 38 children in the school thought they found a way to save the school when the Children's Study Home offered to transfer the teachers and students to its Old Mill Pond School for children with learning disabilities.

"We had a viable option in the Children's Study Home. They gave AIC (the college) a proposal and it was rejected," said Melissa Sullivan, of Suffield, whose son attends the fifth grade at Curtis Blake.

With the college unwilling to transfer the certification with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the idea died, she said.

While the Children's Study Home could apply for a new license, it would take a year or longer and the school needs the certification for September, Sullivan said.

"We have the staff and the kids all we needed was an accreditation," she said. "Without the accreditation there is no school."

Since the announcement, parents have been raising money to save the school. She said it is frustrating to have their efforts crushed because of the license.

So far state officials, who she has been working with, have not returned her calls and the college will not explain why they will not transfer the accreditation, she said.

Sullivan said she is now pursuing alternative schools for her son, who has been at Curtis Blake since he was in the second grade.

At least a quarter of the students have already found another school for next year and American International College trustees questioned if the Children's Study Home could operate a school with so few students, Grader said.

"It is an extremely complex process," he said.

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