The Church is usable despite some damage in the tornado, and its banquet hall, The Cedars, is also ready for use.

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanResidents of East Forest Park sift through storm debris on Pennsylvania Avenue the day after the June 1 tornado hit Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – When the main roads through East Forest Park were closed in the hours after a tornado swept through the neighborhood June 1 it did not stop the parish pasta dinner from being served, but it did change who got to eat.

Trees knocked across major roads about 4:30 p.m. that day kept away most of the people who had been planning to attend the meal at 5 p.m., but many motorists driving down Island Pond Road could not continue their trip because of the downed trees, so they pulled into the only available place to get off the road, St. Anthony’s parking lot.

“People going home couldn’t go any further,’’ said Norman Hannoush, financial administrator of the church. “We ended up being a shelter by default.’’

The meal had already been cooked and was ready to serve, so, without lights or the normal parish crowd, the volunteers served meals in St. Anthony’s banquet hall, The Cedars, to about 100 stranded people, many of whom stayed until 9 p.m.

And when the volunteers learned that there were 40 school children stranded at Bethany Lutheran Church a few hundred yards away, they packed up meals and brought them to the children as well.

Hannuosh said the church had to cancel its Sunday services for the first time ever because of some damage and having access roads still blocked on June 5, but the church is usable again, the banquet hall is in fine shape and both are ready for a scheduled celebration on Sunday.

The Feast of St. Anthony falls on June 13 and the parish will have its celebration of the feast at 10:30 a.m. Sunday with a pot luck meal in the hall afterwards.
Hannoush said the church community is grateful that the damage to its property was so limited.

Two glass sections of the dome at the top of the church were blown to pieces in the storm and some trees came down in the parking lot area, but the level of damage was low in a neighborhood where houses were destroyed and enough trees were knocked down to completely revise the landscape.

With so many trees wiped out for miles in the tornado, it is important to the parish that a Lebanon cedar tree, brought over from Lebanon and planted in front of the church when it was built in 1969 is still standing tall and not damaged.

“Look at it, still standing, even though the tornado came right by and took the larger trees,’’ said Sal LaBella, a member of the parish stewardship committee.

Hannoush said events that were scheduled at the Cedars will go on as planned and the hall is still available for rent for weddings and other functions.

He said the parish will also make the hall available for groups that want to hold fund-raising functions to help the neighborhood. They may call (413) 737-7896 with inquiries.
“We have the facilities to do something for the community,’’ Hannoush said.

When he looks out at the destruction on the landscape, Hannoush says he sees a future of rebuilding in the East Forest Park neighborhood that will make it better than before.

“We will be here for another 200 years,’’ Hannoush said.

LaBella said there is a cohesion in the neighborhood that will withstand the destruction, including the heavy damage at nearby Cathedral High School.

Obama's team insists it will compete for the first time in traditionally solid Republican states like Georgia and Arizona.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama hosts military fathers and their children for a screening of Disney/Pixar movie 'Cars 2' in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

CHICAGO — Republicans hope voters' fears about jobs and the economy will help them reclaim a handful of Mountain West and Southern states that were crucial to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential win.

Obama's campaign appears just as determined to hold those states next year and force Republicans to spend precious resources defending places they'd like to consider safe.

Every four years, political operatives fixate on the dozen or so states that always decide close presidential elections.

This time, Obama hopes to play on as big an Electoral College map as possible, and his team insists it will compete for the first time in traditionally solid Republican states like Georgia and Arizona. Republicans, conversely, want a compact map, hoping for wins in big, always-contested states such as Florida and Ohio, which were key to George W. Bush's victories in 2000 and 2004.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

Obama won it in 2008 partly by prevailing in states such as Virginia and Indiana that had not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in decades.

But with unemployment now at 9.1 percent, and the economic recovery slowed, many Republicans argue that Obama's chances are notably worse in those states, as well as others in the vote-rich, economically struggling Midwest. They say they can win some, if not all, of three crucial battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania — along with some smaller states that Obama carried, including New Mexico, Nevada and Iowa. Republicans thrived in all those states in the 2010 midterm elections, and GOP strategists hope the momentum will carry into next year, thwarting Obama.

"The map is very difficult for him," said Rick Wiley, political director of the Republican National Committee.

Obama's campaign sees it differently.

"We are going to take the old map and expand it," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in an interview at his office in Chicago. He argues that demographic trends are moving in Democrats' direction in several states, which could help them hold Virginia and North Carolina and possibly win Georgia and Arizona.

"Changes in the composition of the electorate" make the states attractive, said David Axelrod, Obama's top political adviser.

The president carried North Carolina and Virginia in 2008 thanks largely to black voters, Latinos, college-educated workers and non-natives who are more open to Democrats than are many Southern-born whites. Those population groups are expanding in the two states, his backers say. The same is true in Georgia, a GOP-controlled state that hasn't been strongly contested in many years.

Obama insiders say he could have won Arizona in 2008 if John McCain, the state's senior senator, had not been the GOP nominee. They argue that with Arizona's Hispanic population still growing, Obama's chances are better this time because that group leans toward Democrats.

Many Republicans scoff at such talk. But they have their own problems, starting with the task of taking back most or all of the nine swing-voting states that Obama won in 2008 and that Democrat John Kerry lost in 2004: Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

"There are a million different maps," Wiley said. But the GOP's priorities start with those nine "top tier" states.

To oust Obama, the Republicans don't need to win all nine.

If Obama keeps his grip on the Western states of Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico, and the Republican nominee wins the other six of the nine swing states, the GOP would reclaim the White House with 271 electoral votes. That's assuming other states vote the same as in 2008.

Obama's situation becomes more perilous if he loses a state that Democrats have won for several elections, although often narrowly. That might include Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, a state that Democrats took by a whisker in 2000 and 2004. Obama handily won it in 2008.

Republican governors replaced Democrats last year in all those states, along with Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio.

In these battlegrounds with newly elected Republican governors, Wiley said, "you have that infrastructure that doesn't get dismantled, and it's a huge, huge advantage" to the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

Not so, Democrats say.

New GOP governors such as Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio and Rick Scott in Florida have clashed bitterly with various groups, especially unions. The result could be a fired-up Democratic base turning out heavily for Obama.

Top Democrats say it's unlikely that Obama will lose Pennsylvania, which always draws huge attention but has voted Democratic in the last five presidential elections.

Privately, those close to Obama worry more about Ohio, which has 18 electoral votes. Its unemployment rate, 8.6 percent, is slightly below the national average. But its population growth is almost flat, and it doesn't have the large numbers of unregistered minorities and young adults that the Obama campaign is targeting in other states.

No Republican has been elected president without carrying Ohio.

Of the nine targeted states that Kerry lost, Obama needs to hold only Ohio and one small state — say, Nevada or Iowa — to win re-election, assuming the other states vote the same as in 2008.

Florida, with 29 electoral votes, is even more vital.

If Obama holds no other state but Florida among the top-tier nine, he wins a second term.

Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political scientist, said the Sunshine State seems destined to play its toss-up role again.

"The economy is still not doing well here," Jewett said, "and Obama is not very popular." But Scott, the new Republican governor, "is extremely unpopular right now," he said, and that could undo the GOP presidential nominee in a razor-thin race.

Finally, several plausible map scenarios would leave the 2012 presidential nominees in a 269-269 electoral tie. That would hand the decision to the U.S. House, where Republicans expect to hold their majority even if they suffer some losses.

Police have been seeking Cintron, considered armed and dangerous, ever since May 21 stabbing in the North End

Luis M. Cintron

SPRINGFIELD - Luis M. Cintron, a 37-year-old city man wanted for murder in the May 21 stabbing death of Carlos E. Beslanga, turned himself in to city police Monday morning.

Cintron, considered armed and dangerous, allegedly stabbed the 32-year-old Newington, Conn. man once in the chest in an alleyway abutting 66 Cumberland St.

Police said Beslanga was urinating in the alley when Cintron confronted him. Words were exchanged and an altercation ensued, during which Beslanga received a single knife wound that pierced a lung and his heart, police said. He was pronounced dead at nearby Baystate Medical Center, located less than 100 yards from the alleyway where his life ended abruptly around 4:30 p.m.

The stabbing took place in front of Beslanga’s wife, mother and children, according to police. Beslanga was in Springfield visiting relatives and about to travel home to Newington.

Police said that Noemy Ramos, 33, who lived with Cintron at 66 Cumberland St., allegedly ran down the street at Cintron’s behest and hid the knife in the sewer before fleeing with him in a white Honda.

Noemy Ramos

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

U.S. stocks indexes were mixed in early trading after European leaders failed to agree on releasing more financial aid to Greece.

However, a brighter than anticipated opening on Wall Street helped stocks in Europe to recover from earlier lows and shored up the euro currency — an improvement in investors' risk appetite often gives the euro a lift.

On Wall Street, stocks indexes were mixed in early trading Monday after European leaders failed to agree on releasing more financial aid to Greece.

Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, John Lipsky speaks during a press conference in Luxembourg on Monday. European stocks and the euro were down after eurozone finance ministers came up short of a final deal to get Greece its next installment of bailout money. Officials say they expect Greece to get the next euro 12 billion installment in July, that would prevent a default that could cause financial chaos in Europe.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's newly-reshuffled government is expected to prevail in the confidence vote, and officials say they expect Greece to get its next installment of emergency loans in July. If Greece defaults on its debt, it could trigger losses for the banks that hold Greek bonds and more turmoil in financial markets.

The S&P 500 fell 1 point in early morning trading to 1,270. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 2 points to 12,006. The Nasdaq composite index fell 2 points to 2,613.

Greece has been at the center of Europe's debt worries, but other countries are also facing troubles. Moody's warned that it may cut Italy's credit rating because of its mounting debt and sluggish growth prospects. The worries dragged down markets across Europe Monday: Italy's FTSE MIB index sank 2.2 percent, France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.7 percent and Germany's DAX index fell 0.3 percent.

Major U.S. stock indexes broke a six-week losing streak last week as prospects for a solution to Greece's debt crisis improved.

In corporate news fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. raised its forecast for second-quarter earnings after record crop prices pushed up demand for its products. Its stock rose 2.7 percent.

Nabors Industries Ltd., a driller for oil and gas, warned that its pressure pumping and international businesses have been weaker than it expected. The stock lost 3.5 percent.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. fell 2.3 percent after saying it would buy the U.S. retail operations of Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion. The deal will make PNC the fifth biggest U.S. bank with 2,870 branches. The deal follows Capital One Financial Corp.'s $9 billion purchase last week of ING's U.S. online bank.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.94 percent as investors sought out the relative safety of U.S. debt. A bond's yield falls when its price rises. The 10-year yield had been as high as 3.74 percent in February.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.3 percent at 5,699 while Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 7,145. The CAC-40 in France was 0.9 percent lower at 3,137.

All three had been trading even lower as had Europe's worst performing stock market, Italy's FTSE MIB index. The FTSE MIB was hit by a warning Friday from Moody's that it may downgrade its Aa2 rating on the country on account of "long-term structural impediments to growth." The index was trading 2 percent lower at 7,140.

Wall Street's stronger than anticipated opening helped the euro recover its earlier losses to trade 0.1 percent higher at $1.4298, helping it to build on Friday's rally when German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that private creditors, such as banks, would not be compelled to share any pain in a second bailout of Greece. Instead, she backed the line touted by the French government and the European Central Bank that any private sector involvement has to be on a "voluntary" basis.

Greece will likely remain the main driver in the markets this week, especially after the eurozone's finance ministers said they would only hand over Greece's next bailout installment — worth €12 billion ($17 billion) — on condition the Greek Parliament backed further austerity measures.

With the Greek government facing a confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday, there's still an element of political risk and that's clearly weighing on markets at the start of a week that's likely to be dominated again by the country's woes. Though Prime Minister George Papandreou's newly reshuffled government is expected to prevail in the confidence vote, there's still uncertainty over the passage of another €28 billion in austerity measures.

"That has put the ball fairly and squarely back in Greece's court," said Nick Bennenbroek, an analyst at Wells Fargo Bank. "While those votes will probably pass, we may have a nervous few days until those decisions are out of the way."

Though all developments Greek will likely dominate sentiment in the markets, investors will be interested to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve does in its rate-setting meeting on Wednesday.

The headlines will likely be that the benchmark rate will be left unchanged at near zero percent and that the current $600 billion monetary stimulus will come to an end as expected at the end of the month. Most interest, though will likely center on Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's second post-meeting press briefing and specifically on what he says about elevated inflation levels in the U.S.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 was one of the few benchmarks posting gains for the day. The benchmark gained less than 0.1 percent close at 9,354.32 despite data showing the country's exports dropped for the third straight month in May due to massive production losses following the March 11 earthquake.

South Korea's Kospi sank 0.6 percent to 2,019.65, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.4 percent to 21,599.51

Mainland Chinese shares extended losses for a fourth straight trading session amid a lack of funds as banks complied with the central government's latest order to raise the level of deposits they must hold as reserves.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent to 2,621.25, its lowest close this year, while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.1 percent to 1,073.19.

In the oil markets, worries over the global economy pushed prices lower again. Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 16 cents to $92.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Donations to charity rose 2.1 percent in 2010.

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The driver of the motorcycle, 49-year-old Robert Takacs, was not injured.

Republican file photo

EASTHAMPTON - A 48-year-old Connecticut woman was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with non-life-threatening injuries late Monday morning after the motorcycle she was a passenger on, rear-ended a pickup truck on Interstate 91.

State Trooper Michael Tucker said the accident occurred shortly after 11 a.m. as Robert Takacs, 49, rode south on Interstate 91. A lane was closed due to construction and traffic had stopped, Tucker said.

Robert Takacs was not injured. His wife, Donna Takacs, however, complained of leg pain, Tucker said. She was listed in fair condition at Baystate, a spokeswoman said.

The average price of gas has dropped 26 cents in the past six weeks.

Associated Press photoKenny Eley fuels his car with his daughter Kenisha, 4, as they prepare for the Memorial Day weekend in Richmond, Va., Friday. For every $10 a household earns, almost a full dollar now goes toward gasoline, forcing Americans to rethink what they spend on everything else, including the family vacation.

BOSTON – Gas prices are down by an average of three cents a gallon this week in Massachusetts, the sixth week of dropping prices.

The American Automobile Association of Southern New England reported Monday that self-serve, regular averaged $3.68 per gallon over the past week. That’s a 26-cent drop over the past six weeks.

The national average is four cents lower at $3.64. Last year at this time, the average price in Massachusetts was $2.72.

AAA found self-serve, regular as low as $3.53 and as high as $3.99.

The total budget represents an increase of about $3.3 million over current spending.

WESTFIELD – The City Council has approved a $120.9 million municipal budget for the coming fiscal year that maintains essential services, provides no layoffs or furlough of personnel and assumes city officials will follow through on plans to consolidate some school and municipal departments.

The council approved the spending plan, after cutting nearly $800,000 from Mayor Daniel M. Knapik’s original budget proposal, Thursday. The new fiscal year begins July 1 and property taxes will increase later in the year by the standard 2.5 percent to finance the package.

Councilor David A. Flaherty cast the lone opposing vote on the budget, continuing his fight to persuade the council to begin financial planning for the future to offset deferred payment of such things as employee pensions.

But, several councilors including Ward 3’s Peter J. Miller noted pension financing is a “statewide” issue and he expects guidelines to be forthcoming from the state concerning future financing of that issue.

Ward 6 Councilor Christopher M. Crean said “This is not a perfect budget but we are more conservative than in the past.”

Ward 2 Councilor James E. Brown Jr. said the council “must do what it can to preserve the three important (municipal) services of public safety, good education and good roads.”

Ward 5 Councilor Richard E. Onofrey Jr., finance chairman, said “This is a good budget, not a perfect budget. It is a workable budget.”

Councilors cut $504,000 from the city’s insurance trust fund; $250,000 from the School Department; $38,600 from Technology Center and $3,900 in stormwater management budgeting.

School Committee finance chairman Kevin J. Sullivan said Friday the School Department was anticipated. “We will have to sharpen our pencils and make up that amount,” he said.

Sullivan said the reduction will not lead to staff cuts or curtailment of programs and services to students.

“They (councilors) assume there will be a consolidation of some operational functions but that study has not yet been completed and we will need to fill our human resources position for July 1 to prepare for the next school year,” he said.

A consolidation study was launched earlier this year to focus on human resources, purchasing and legal services for both City Hall and the School Department.

Knapik said Friday the budget provides “a level of services that addresses the needs of the city. There are no operational cuts.”

As for consolidation, Knapik said “That will take time. It will require approval by the council and School Committee and new city ordinances will be required. It may come some time after July 1.”

The total budget provides $108.8 million for municipal government including $52.2 million for the School Department. It also provides $12 million for services financed through user fees such as water, sewer, ambulance and storm water management.

Knapik plans to use $1.4 million in reserves, about $600,000 less than this year, to offset spending. That will leave the city an estimated $7.7 million in cash reserves.

Also, he will bank on receipt of $32.5 million in state Chapter 70 education funds and another $4.9 million in state aid to the city to finance operations next year. Combined, state allocations represent a projected decrease of $200,000.

Six months after abruptly leaving MSNBC, Keith Olbermann returns on Current TV.

AP Photo/Current TVIn this undated photo released by Cuttent TV, commentator Keith Olbermann is shown. Olbermann's new show, Countdown With Keith Olbermann" on Current TV premieres on June 20, 2011.

Six months after abruptly leaving his MSNBC show, Keith Olbermann returns to television tonight at 8 p.m., kicking off the new version of Countdown, this time on Current TV.

Entertainment Weekly notes that his first guests will be filmmaker Michael Moore and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas.

Much of the discussion in the days leading up to tonight's premiere has centered around ratings. Current TV is available in 6 million homes, one-third fewer than MSNBC, according to the New York Daily News, and it's safe to say that many viewers may be uncertain if it is even included in their cable package.

In a conference call with reporters, Olbermann showed no signs of ratings anxiety. The Philadelphia Daily News quotes him as saying that his MSNBC show had “a total audience of about 200,000” as recently as 2003.

For tonight's premiere, Olbermann says a "satisfactory audience" would be the 10 people in the show's control room.

As for how much of the old show carries over to the new one, viewers will have to wait and see. For one thing, Current TV currently lacks the news gathering capabilities of MSNBC, meaning Olbermann will not have the same stable of reporters on call for appearances.

But if his conference call with reporters is any indication, Olbermann may continue his antagonistic on-air relationship with Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly. The Washington Post quotes Olbermann on the topic:

Olbermann insisted, he probably won’t have too much to say about O’Reilly on his Current TV program, because, “Bill has lost a little bit of his fastball.”

[...]

“Did you ever get the feeling some people have just stopped trying?” he asked, rhetorically.

It also remains to be seen whether Olbermann's old rivals will take the bait, now that he's moved up the dial.

Despite the drawbacks of the move from MSNBC to Current TV, and whether one enjoys his program or not, the timing for Olbermann's return brings significant ratings potential. This is a time when casual political junkies will be tuning back in. The 2012 campaign cycle kicked off in earnest with last week's first GOP primary debate, and as the field of presidential contenders finalizes, overall viewership of cable news will go up. Olbermann's challenge will be to carve out a piece of that pie for himself, while fighting against more familiar network names like CNN, Fox News, and, of course, MSNBC.

Whether he can become a surprise ratings success on his first night, or even in his first month, may not ultimately matter in the big picture. The Wall Street Journal reported that Olbermann's contract with Current pays him $9 million this year, and $50 million over 5 years. That kind of commitment shows that he's not going anywhere — love him or hate him.

Countdown airs weeknights at 8 p.m. EST. The show's home page includes information to help you find your Current TV station information.

What do you think about Keith Olbermann's return? Will you be watching tonight?

Cauley was a member of the Hill family, who had a new house built for them two years by ABC-TV as part of its "Extreme Home Makeover" show.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 3:55 this morning.

File photo by Manon MirabelliEnvironmental Police search Sunday for the body of a 22-year-old man who jumped or fell into the Middle Pond of the Congamond Lakes in Southwick early that morning.

SOUTHWICK- The body of 22-year-old Larry Cauley of Suffield, Conn., was pulled from the Middle Pond of the Congamond Lakes in Southwick Monday afternoon.

The body was pulled from the same area of the pond where a man was reported missing early Sunday morning.

State Environmental Police had been searched for a man's body ever since it was first reported that someone was in distress.

Cauley was a member of the 13-person Hill family, who had a new house built for them by the ABC-TV show "Extreme Home Makeover" in June 2009. The episode featuring the family aired in October of that year.

The Southwick Police dive team, the state police dive team, and the Environmental Police were on the scene when the body was recovered from a depth of about 30 feet, according to a statement issued by the Southwick Police Department. Police believe Cauley jumped or fell from a pontoon boat early Sunday morning. They responded to a call from Middle Pond at 12:56 a.m. on Sunday.

The case has been turned over to the state police detectives and the medical examiner's office.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

With state tax collections on the rebound, the House and Senate budget bills do not call for new or higher taxes.

BOSTON - Ten days before the start of a new fiscal year, House and Senate negotiators working to resolve differences in $30.5 billion spending plans are closing in on a budget agreement for this fiscal year that starts July 1, according to one of the six conference committee members.

Stung by the expiration of federal aid intended to help states balance budgets as they seek to recover from the recession that began in 2008, negotiators say the final budget will include another cut in local aid to cities and towns and some are calling for reduced growth in the rate of spending on education and health care, although special education is one of the few areas in which significant investments appear imminent.

Budget writers in the House and Senate and in the Patrick administration hope spending cuts next fiscal year will end the longstanding practice of pushing off structural budget deficits into future years. With state tax collections on the rebound, the House and Senate budget bills do not call for new or higher taxes.

Michael Knapik

Legislative leaders have put House and Senate members on standby, advising them to be ready to travel to Beacon Hill and vote on a budget accord, if one is reached, on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

“We expect a resolution in short order,” Sen. Michael Knapik, of Westfield, said late Monday morning during an interview outside the Senate. He said the committee’s goal was to reach an accord “as soon as possible.”

Knapik said committee members were “meeting pretty vigorously” but declined to specify their next meeting and indicated much of the deliberations are taking place in phone conversations.

“It’s ongoing,” he said, referring to committee deliberations. “I mean it meetings and there’s phone conversations and conferences and things like that so it’s somewhat irregular in terms of that. The updates occurred through Father’s Day yesterday, over the weekend, and it’s all good.”

Knapik is one of two Republicans, along with Rep. Viriato DeMacedo of Plymouth, on the budget conference committee. The committee is led by Rep. Brian Dempsey, a Democrat from Haverhill, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Stephen Brewer, a Democrat from Barre, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Their respective vice chairs, Rep. Stephen Kulik, a Democrat from Worthington and Sen. Steven Baddour, a Democrat from Methuen, are also members of the conference committee.

An aide to Dempsey declined to comment on progress in budget talks, citing the ongoing negotiations.

After a break in its session Monday, division chairman Rep. Paul Donato, a Democrat from Medford, said, “They are getting close to some kind of agreement.”

Knapik said dueling versions of municipal health insurance reforms, a controversial topic that has pitted public employee unions against local government managers, are “still under discussion at this point.”

Aside from municipal health reform, an issue lawmakers have been unable to find common ground on for years, the final budget is also expected to feature major reforms in the state’s approach to emergency shelter and public counsel services.

Municipal government officials told Patrick administration officials last week that they prefer the House approach to municipal health insurance reform. Union officials slammed the House’s approach as undercutting collective bargaining rights and were less critical of the Senate’s plan.

After years of late budgets, including talks that stretched into November in 1999, Massachusetts in recent years has “more often than not” produced its annual budget in time for the July 1 start of the new fiscal year, Knapik said.

“Other states have many more problems than we have,” Knapik said.

Asked if an agreement was close, Knapik said, “I think we’re getting there yeah. There’s no dynamic that’s any different than any other years. The reality is that the budget numbers are not that off and the issues to be resolved are not that great either.”

Knapik added, “It’s only June 20 so there’s still plenty of time and the discussions are again, very vigorous and robust and we look for a resolution very quickly.”

Both branches held their sessions open Monday with plans to send Gov. Deval L. Patrick a $54 million spending bill that includes $15 million in tornado relief funds and $10 million for youth violence prevention grants.

Crooker had pleaded guilty to 1 charge of mailing a letter containing a threat to injure an officer or employee of the United States and 1 charge of possession of the biological toxin ricin.

BOSTON – A former Agawam man on Monday was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with credit for time served, on charges of possessing a biological toxin and threatening a federal prosecutor.

In U.S. District Court, Judge Douglas P. Woodlock said that Michael A. Crooker, 57, would receive credit for time served in prison since June 2004.

Michael Crooker

In March, Crooker pleaded guilty to one charge of mailing a letter containing a threat to injure an officer or employee of the United States and one charge of possession of the biological toxin ricin without the required registration. Woodlock accepted the sentence recommended as part of a plea agreement.

William D. Weinreb, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the sentence was a fair and just resolution to the case, given Crooker’s willingness to plead guilty.

Woodlock also noted that Crooker served about six years in jail on a charge that ended up being a wrongful conviction. Crooker was charged in 2004 with illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, but the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals last year threw out a 2006 conviction on the charge.

Crooker had sent a silencer for an air gun in the mail, but the federal Court of Appeals said the silencer was designed for an air gun, not a firearm, and did not fit the definition of a firearm. At the time of his arrest, Crooker believed that he was charged under a law that did not apply.

Crooker was arrested on June 23, 2004 on the firearms charge. When agents searched his Agawam apartment that day, they discovered what appeared to be a weapons lab along with castor seeds, the source of ricin, according to a press release in March from the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

While in jail, Crooker sent a letter to an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the firearms case and invoked the name of Timothy McVeigh, the person responsible for the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma, the press release said. Crooker was angered about his arrest and various searches, including one of his parents’ residence, according to the press release from Ortiz.

Also while he was in jail, Crooker told two fellow inmates that he knew how to make ricin and had made it in the past, the release said.

Woodlock also agreed to recommend that Crooker receive residential drug treatment while in prison, saying it was positive that Crooker asked for such help. Crooker’s lawyer, assistant federal defender Timothy G. Watkins, said Crooker sought the treatment even though his record and the nature of the charges make him ineligible for a year off a sentence that could go to an inmate in drug treatment. Watkins said Crooker is a changed man.

The judge said he would also recommend that Crooker be allowed to enter a pre-release center in Hartford, Conn., near the end of his sentence. Crooker asked for the Hartford location because it is closer to his home in Western Massachusetts.

The president of the Massachusetts Association of Court Appointed Attorneys said it is foolhardy to change a system that works well.

The Republican file photoAt right is Mark L. Hare, a Springfield lawyer and president of the Massachusetts Association of Court Appointed Attorneys. On the left in this 2004 photo at Springfield District Court is William J. Leahy, the now-retired chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which oversees indigent defense in Massachusetts.

BOSTON – State legislators are poised to overhaul the state's system of legal defense for the poor, but the changes won't be as dramatic as those sought by Gov. Deval L. Patrick.

Though the changes fall short of the major shakeup proposed by Patrick, they are moving in the direction the governor wants and are significant enough to spark opposition from leaders involved in the current system.

"It would be foolhardy to tinker with something that isn't broken," said Mark L. Hare, a Springfield private lawyer for the poor and president of the Massachusetts Association of Court Appointed Attorneys.

Right now, the state contracts with Hare and more than 3,000 other private lawyers to provide almost all the defense work for the indigent. The private lawyers receive hourly pay that includes $50 an hour for District Court cases, $100 an hour for a murder case and $60 an hour for Superior Court.

The state currently also has 230 staff public defenders to handle some of the criminal cases.

In moves legislators said are intended to reduce costs of the system, the state House of Representatives approved a plan to hire an additional 200 full-time staff lawyers to defend the poor, while the state Senate approved a separate plan to add 270 full-time staff lawyers along with about 70 additional support staff.

A final compromise plan is expected to be included in the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The fiscal 2012 budget could be released this week.

Under the House plan, 80 percent of the legal work for the poor would be done by private lawyers, down from the current 90 percent, and 20 percent would go to staff, state public defenders. The Senate wants to have 70 percent of the work done by private lawyers.

Patrick proposed abolishing the entire system of private lawyers on contract and replacing them with 1,000 additional new staff lawyers and 500 support workers.

Jay Gonzalez, the state's secretary of administration and finance.

Jay Gonzalez, secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, said the more modest changes approved by legislators are "absolutely" a victory in some sense for the administration.

"It's moving in the right direction," said Gonzalez, the point man for Patrick on the issue. "We have to go in this direction."

Gonzalez said the existing system of private contractors cost about $200 million a year. If the system were eliminated and staff public defenders were hired, it could be $140 million a year, according to Gonzalez.

That $140 million accounts for paying extra pensions, health care, other benefits and overhead for the proposed 1,500 additional state employees, Gonzalez said.

One of the private lawyers' main argument for keeping the current system is that the governor's proposal would be far more costly because the state would pay for fringe benefits and overhead for new state employees. Private lawyers for the poor now fund their own benefits and insurance and operating costs such as office space and utilities.

"The current system now is far, far cheaper," said Julia H. Durchanek, a private lawyer for the poor in Holyoke. "We're not by any stretch overpaid."

Gonzalez said he is hopeful that state legislators will agree next year to move more aggressively in hiring more staff public defenders if the initial additions next year prove to save money.

Gonzalez indicated he was also pleased that legislators will revise the governing structure for private lawyers for the poor. The system now is overseen by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, an agency under the judicial branch with a 15-member board of directors all appointed by the state Supreme Judicial Court.

The governor wanted to eliminate the board and place indigent defense under an independent executive branch, largely because he is concerned with a conflict of interest stemming from some board members billing their own agency for legal work , according to Gonzalez. Four board members billed the state $250,000 in the aggregate this fiscal year, according to Gonzalez's office.

The state Senate plan calls for banning board members from billing the state and could be adopted in a compromise with the House.

Both the House and the Senate plans would also permit the governor, the House speaker and the Senate president to appoint some members to the governing board of the committee for public counsel services. The House and Senate would keep the system under the judiciary.

In other moves that could be approved as part of the budget, the House wants to reduce a yearly cap on billable hours for the private lawyers to 1,650 hours, down from the current 1,800 hours. The House plan would ban lawyers from accepting new cases after 1,350 hours, down from the current 1,400 hours. The Senate is calling for no changes to the billable hours.

The Senate wants to raise a fee that the poor pay for a lawyer to $200, up from $150. Both plans would also aim to save money by improving procedures for verifying that people are poor and truly cannot afford legal defense.

Hare said an independent study is needed to determine how the planned changes would affect the private lawyers, their clients, local businesses, economies and the committee for public counsel services.

“It seems extremely careless to spend taxpayer funds on a vast expansion of state government without an independent review as to whether the plan will save money and improve the delivery of legal services," Hare said.

Sen. Gale D. Candaras, a lawyer and Wilbraham Democrat, said the private lawyers for the poor are important for the economy of at least downtown Springfield. The lawyers rent lots of office space, employ people and help boost the downtown, she said. On the other hand, new full-time state public defenders would be dispersed around the state, she said.

It might save money to replace private lawyers on contracts with more staff public defenders, but Candaras said it could hurt downtown economies in the process.

Candaras sponsored a Senate-approved plan to create a special commission to determine the economic impact of relying less on private lawyers and more on public defenders for indigent defense.

Rep Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo Jr., D-Springfield, a member of the same committee, said the plan by the House is more reasonable than the governor's plan for the state's system of legal defense of the indigent.

"Neither the House, nor the Senate agreed with the governor that it would be an improvement to eliminate the current system," Kulik said. "We believe a hybrid system of public defenders and outside counsel makes a lot of sense."

Investors largely put aside their concerns about the Greek financial crisis Monday and focused instead on value.

By DAVID K. RANDALL and STAN CHOE | AP Business Writers

Associated Press photo

NEW YORK — Investors largely put aside their concerns about the Greek financial crisis Monday and focused instead on value. Stocks rose broadly after the market shook off its longest weekly losing streak in nearly a decade.

The downturn brought the S&P 500 close to its average level over the prior 200 days. So long as the index doesn't sink far below that level, many technical traders see it as a sign to start buying stocks again. The S&P is now 6 percent below the 2011 high it reached on April 29.

"In the short term, stocks have been oversold, and you're going to get some sort of bounce, whether justified or not, just for technical reasons," said Paul Simon, chief investment officer for Tactical Allocation Group, which has $1.5 billion in assets under advisement.

The S&P 500 index rose 6.86 points, 0.5 percent, to close at 1,278.36. The Dow Jones industrial average added 76.02 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,080.38. The Nasdaq composite gained 13.18, or 0.5 percent, to 2,629.66.

Health care companies like Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. rose 1 percent, the largest gain among the 10 industry groups that make up the S&P 500 index. Financial companies like Morgan Stanley, which lost 1.9 percent, were the only group to lose ground.

The S&P 500 notched its third straight day of gains, the longest stretch of increases in the stock market for nearly a month. The index eked out a tiny gain last week, breaking a six-week losing streak driven by concerns that U.S. economic growth would falter in the second half of the year and that Greece's debt crisis would spread. It was the S&P's longest slide since 2002.

Signs that the European financial crisis may be contained helped ease investors' concerns. European Union officials in Luxemburg said Monday that the EU would take steps to prevent Greece's debt problems from affecting other struggling countries like Ireland and Portugal.

European leaders failed over the weekend to agree on releasing more financial aid to Greece, saying the country must first agree to more budget cuts. Greece's recent efforts to slash spending have led to street protests and political turmoil in Athens. The Greek government faces a confidence vote on Tuesday.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's newly-reshuffled government is expected to prevail in the vote, and officials say they expect Greece to get its next installment of emergency loans in July. If Greece were to default, it could trigger losses for the banks that hold Greek bonds and more turmoil in financial markets.

Some analysts say investors are ready to move beyond the Greek crisis and focus on corporate earnings and the U.S. economy.

"There's a little fatigue about hearing about the same problems, and there's no shock factor anymore," said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services. Traders are now starting to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which begins Tuesday, and the next round of corporate earnings reports that begin in July, he said.

Analysts expect that operating earnings per share for companies in the S&P 500 index rose 14 percent in the second quarter. They also expect the Fed to keep interest rates at nearly zero, a record low.

Among U.S. companies, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. fell 2 percent after saying it would buy the U.S. retail operations and related credit-card assets of Royal Bank of Canada for $3.62 billion. The deal will make PNC the fifth biggest U.S. bank with 2,870 branches.

Whole Foods Market Inc. gained 2.2 percent after a BMO Capital Markets analyst upgraded the stock following a recent sell-off. And Wal-Mart stores Inc. rose 0.4 percent after the Supreme Court blocked a sex discrimination lawsuit brought against the retailer by a large group of female employees.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 3.1 billion shares.

Wilk has paid back nearly all the money she took and said she is getting treatment for a gambling problem.

The Republican | Don TreegerElizabeth Wilk wipes away tears during her sentencing in Hampshire Superior Court on charges stemming from her theft of $115,198 from The Friends of the Chicopee Library.

NORTHAMPTON – The past treasurer for the Friends of the Chicopee Public Library was sentenced Monday to serve 90 days in jail and more than two years of probation for stealing $115,198 from the charity.

Elizabeth Wilk, 57, appeared in Hampshire Superior Court Monday to face sentencing after pleading guilty in March to using her position as vice president of Chicopee Savings Bank and volunteer treasurer of the Friends of the Library to siphon money from the charity’s account to feed a gambling habit.

Friends of the Library trustees did not request jail time since Wilk has paid back the money, but Hampden Assistant District Attorney James C. Orenstein said he believed more punishment is deserved because of the size of the theft and fact it had been going on for years.

The case was prosecuted by the Hampden District Attorney's office but moved to Northampton because the judge was assigned there.

“It was obvious to us this was a tremendous amount of money to this organization,” Orenstein said.

Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder could have sentenced Wilk to as much as five years in prison. Orenstein recommended a 2½ year sentence with one year behind bars.

Wilk’s lawyer Michael O. Jennings asked to keep her out of jail, instead recommending probation and suggesting supervised community service, electronic monitoring and treatment requirements.

A gambling problem, which started with a weekly $20 spent on scratch tickets and escalated to regular visits to casinos, was the reason she stole the money, Jennings said.

Since being caught, Jennings talked about how Wilk sold her wedding ring and she and her husband, a retired Chicopee police officer, had to refinance their home to pay back the money. He also emptied his 401(k) retirement account and sold an antique car he had had for 30 years.

Her final payment of $2,000 was made minutes before the sentencing. She continues to owe $198, but that came from a math error, lawyers said.

Through tears, Wilk read a statement apologizing to the city and the Friends.

“It is with tremendous shame, sadness and guilt I take full responsibility,” she said.

She told the judge she has been attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

“It (gambling) turned me to a thief and resulted in personal and professional betrayals,” she said.

Kinder agreed it is the largest theft he has ever presided over but said Wilk’s “spotless record” was a factor in the sentencing.

“It is crystal clear you have abused a position of trust, not in one but in two ways,” he said, referring to her job as bank vice president as well as treasurer for the charity. Wilk has been fired from the bank.

The thefts took place over three years, from December 2007 to the time the embezzling was discovered in September 2010. During that time, she had plenty of time to consider the crime, Kinder said.

Along with the three months of jail time and the more than two years of probation, Kinder required her to continue treatment for a gambling problem and serve 100 hours of community service. She must also pay the remaining $198 to the charity.

Kinder agreed to delay the start of the sentence until June 27 at the request of Jennings.

Several members of the 14-person board of trustees for the Friends of the Library attended the sentencing. Organization president John L. Michon said he was satisfied with the outcome, even though the organization did not receive the requested interest on the stolen money or reimbursement to pay legal fees.

“Having the funds repaid was a priority because it is the people’s money,” he said.

The Friends raised the money mostly through small events such as art shows and spaghetti suppers. It is used to fund library programing and to purchase equipment that cannot be funded with the regular city budget.

The Republican | Don TreegerElizabeth Wilk wipes away tears during her sentencing in Hampshire Superior Court on charges stemming from her theft of $115,198 from The Friends of the Chicopee Library.

The New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had 600 members in the MassMutual Center for a convention just days after the tornadoes.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mid-Hudson Promotions only calls West Springfield home four times a year when the company hosts the Antique & Modern Firearm Show at the Eastern States Exposition grounds.

But one of those four weekends was June 4 and 5, just days after tornadoes cut a devastating swath through Western Massachusetts. One of the hardest-hit neighborhoods was the Merrick section of West Springfield, located right across the street from the Big E.

Mid-Hudson Promotions and patrons at the show teamed up to raise $1,728 for tornado relief.

“We’ve run shows there for 20 years,” said Carole Chittenden, show manager for Mid-Hudson, which is headquartered in Westchester County, N.Y. “Folks there have always been very good to us.”

They aren’t the only convention and tourism-related group or business to help with tornado relief – horse shows, the New England Genealogists, the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have all helped, said Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators won’t even meet in Springfield until April 2012, but the group is donating money to a local elementary school that lost its library to the tornadoes, Wydra said.

“There is this connection to our community from these outside groups,” Wydra said. “I’m just so touched by it.”

She said the fact that groups from outside the area feel such a strong connection speaks well to the way visitors are treated at the attractions, hotels, restaurants and convention venues here in the Pioneer Valley.

“They feel a family connection,” she said. “I’m so touched by it.”

The morning after the tornadoes hit, Wydra said she and her staff checked with major attractions like Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Six Flags New England in Agawam and Yankee Candle in South Deerfield just to make sure those places were up and running and doing business.

Tourism is big business in the region , Wydra said.

Statewide, tourism brings in $14 billion a year to Massachusetts, according to state estimates.

The Lutherans had planed to incorporate public service with their meeting June 3-5 in Springfield even before the storm hit, said the Rev. Alice Kerr Laird, associate to the bishop.

They’d been planning for months to bring 600 people to the MassMutal Center. It’s the first time the group’s annual meeting has been in Springfield.

Once the storms hit, they quickly collected a truckload of food for the Food Bank of Western New England.

“All we needed was the assurance from the venues and the mayor’s office that it was still safe to come,” Laird said. “We were concerned that if we pulled out it would have a negative impact on local businesses.”

Some place where Lutheran conventioneers had planned to work were inaccessible because of the storm. But church members were able to unload food at the food bank, sing in area nursing homes, cook meals and make a garden at the Friends of the Homeless, she said.

This synod meeting had always been designed around a theme of putting faith in action through public service.

“What it showed is that God can use us in ways we could never have imagined,” Laird said. “It really did remind us that when things happen, we can adjust or increase our energies.”

The Lutherans hope to return.

“It was so powerful this year,” Laird said.

The University of Massachusetts in Amherst will host a summer solstice celebration at sunrise and sunset.

SPRINGFIELD – The first day of summer will not bring any surprises for residents in Western Massachusetts.

“ It’s going to be a very uneventful beginning to summer,” said abc40 chief meteorologist Ed Carroll.

Carroll said summer will officially begin at 1:16 p.m. on Tuesday and temperatures will not get higher than the low 80s.

“It will be a nice summer day and later in the week it will be wet and cool,” he said.

Residents encountered a harsh winter with debilitating winter storms that collapsed home and municipal building roofs and left many people stranded in their homes for days. It also cost cities and towns thousands of dollars in extra manpower and supplies to remove the snow.

“We had a rough winter, but there is really no way to predict how the summer will go,” Carroll said.

After the difficult winter, residents were then hit by a series of tornadoes that ravaged the area on June 1. The tornadoes severely damaged neighborhoods in Springfield, Monson, West Springfield and other communities.

Carroll said the tornadoes are not an indicator for a particularly difficult summer.

“There is really no way to predict what the temperatures will be this season, but I don’t think we will be having a heat wave anytime soon,” he said.

The University of Massachusetts in Amherst will host a summer solstice celebration at 5 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to witness sunrise and sunset associated with the summer solstice among the standing stones of the UMass Amherst Sunwheel. These events mark the astronomical change of season when days are longest and nights are shortest in the Northern hemisphere.

Astronomer Judith Young will be on hand to discuss the astronomical cause of the sun’s solstice, or standstill.

Northampton - Olivia E. Vendola, 11, left, of Centerville, MA and Taylor N. Plodzik, 11, of Dover, NH, play in the indoor pool in Northampton.

The median sales price of a home sold in the Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties fell by 0.05 percent from $180,000 in May 2010 to $179,900 in May 2011.

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SPRINGFIELD – Home prices held steady across the Pioneer Valley in May according to statistics released Monday by the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.

The median sales price of a home sold in the Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties fell by 0.05 percent from $180,000 in May 2010 to $179,900 in May 2011.

The number of homes sold fell 21.7 percent though, from 411 in May 2010 to 322 in May 2011.

“The weather killed the first part of our year and last year we had the stimulus to make people come out,” said Linda S. Rotti, sales manager at the Jones Group Realtors in Amherst.

The stimulus Rotti mentioned was the federal income tax rebates offered to home buyers. The statistics released Monday include transactions that closed in May even though offers might have been accepted months earlier.

Those rebates expired in June 2010, said Kevin M. Sears, an owner and broker at Sears Real Estate on Belmont Avenue in Springfield. But Sears said the gap between 2010’s stimulus-inflated sales numbers and 2011’s results has been shrinking in recent months .

Vincent M. Walsh, president of the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley, said it is a good sign that prices held steady while volumes fell.

“Hopefully that’s a sign of stability moving forward,” Walsh, who is an office manager with Coldwell Banker in Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, said.

The statistics do not reflect the impact of the June 1 tornadoes.

Also, sales figures have been increasing month-to-month, up 29.3 percent regionwide from 249 sold in April to 322 in May. The median price fell 1.2 percent month-to-month from $182,000 in April 2011 to $179,900 in May 2011.

Over the past six years, the median sales price has decreased 6.1 percent from $191,600 in May 2005 to $179,900 in May 2011.

In Hampden County alone, the region’s largest real-estate market, sales were down 25 percent from 296 in May 2010 to 222 in May 2011. The median price fell 3.5 percent from $171,000 to $165,000.

In Hampshire County, sales were down just 2.7 percent from 73 to 71. The median price was down 12.1 percent from $282,000 to $248,000.

In Franklin County, sales were down 31 percent from 42 to 29. The median sales price rose 10.6 percent from $160,000 to $177,000.

Walsh said any true recovery in the real estate market depends on improved consumer confidence. the said inventories are good and interest rates are favorable. A 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4.50 percent with an average of 0.7 points for the week of June 16, 2011. It was up from 4.49 percent a year ago . Last year, the average was 4.75 percent, according to FreddieMac.com.

Associated Press file photoA home is listed for sale in Ohio in September.

The first murder of 2011 occurred early Sunday outside a High Street bar.

Republican file photo

View full sizeStaff photo by Michael BeswickA state police detective searches the area behind 341 Appleton St. for evidence following Monday night's fatal shooting. The victim can be seen in the background under a sheet.

View full sizeStaff photo by Michael BeswickHampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni is briefed by a detective at the scene of Monday night's homicide in Holyoke

Update, 11:15 p.m.: Juan C. Perez, 26, of 374 Maple St. has been charged with the killing, Holyoke Police Capt. Arthur R. Monfette said.
» Read the story

HOLYOKE – Police are investigating the city’s second murder of the year and second in two days.

A man’s body was found in a parking lot behind Las Chicas Market, 341 Appleton St., about 7:30 p.m.

Acting Police Chief Federick J. Seklecki confirmed a man was murdered, but said police had limited details and he didn’t have the victim’s name.

“They’re still interviewing witnesses. I don’t have a name yet,” Seklecki said.

Kenneth Torres, 15, said it was his brother, Raynando Fuentes, who was killed. Fuentes was 25, one of eight children and worked at a construction job in Northampton, Torres said.

The family lives in a four-story apartment building at Appleton and Elm streets,’

“I don’t know why this happened. He didn’t get into problems with nobody. I can’t believe this happened,” Torres said.

The brothers used to hang out together, said Torres, who said the victim’s nickname was “Goldo.”

A clerk who said he worked at Las Chicas Market and didn’t want his name used said he heard three or four gunshots but didn’t see anything.

The killing didn’t appear to be related to the city’s first murder of 2011, Seklecki said, which occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sunday outside The Clover Cafe, 104 High St.

In that case, Oscar Castro , 26, of 23 Essex St., died from a single gunshot to the head in what police said was a street gang-related killing.

At Appleton and Elm streets, more than 100 people, many of them visibly upset, had gathered at the site of the killing about 8 p.m. Police closed off parts of Appleton and Elm streets.

Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni was on the scene and later met with detectives at the Police Station on Appleton Street.

Two homicides in Holyoke in 2 days

View Pioneer Valley Homicides, 2011 in a larger map

The incentive is for employees who are ages 60 and above and have 30 years of city service.

File photo | The RepublicanSpringfield City Hall.

SPRINGFIELD – The City Council on Monday voted to set aside $300,000 to fund a retirement incentive program for city employees who are at least 60 years old and have 30 years of service.

Under the program, approved by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the council, any qualified employee who accepts the retirement will receive a one-time payment of $6,000. The program is designed to reduce staff and cut costs under budget constraints.

Up to 28 employees could qualify for the program, and 10 have signed up thus far, officials said.

The $300,000 would fund the incentive for 20 employees and would also include enough money for the required payoff of their unused vacation time and unused sick leave.

The amount they are paid for unused sick leave varies, but in some cases is $30 per day or 15 percent of their daily pay, according to city finance and labor officials.

Police and firefighters were not included in the retirement incentive program in the interest of public safety, officials said.

The list of employees and the amount of money that might be saved is not yet determined, as employees have an extended period of time to consider the program or revoke their acceptance, said City Budget Director LeeAnn Pasquini.

The goal is not to replace those retirees, but it must be considered on a case by case basis, she said. Health insurance is a benefit for all retirees.

In other action at City Hall, the council voted to urge the mayor to adopt a tiered furlough program for approximately 330 non-bargaining employees. Under the proposed tiered system, higher-paid employees would be required to take more unpaid furlough days and lower-paid employees would take fewer furloughs.

Sarno has proposed that all non-bargaining employees be required to take 12 days of unpaid furlough, but said recently that he will have the Finance Department review the council’s proposal for a tiered system. The non-bargaining employees also have a wage freeze in fiscal year 2012.

Councilor Kateri B. Walsh said the tiered furloughs are a matter of “fairness.” Employees who make less face a more difficult burden in taking 12 unpaid days than do higher-paid employees and supervisors, she and other councilors said.

The council’s resolution, which is non-binding, recommends that employees in the salary range of $25,000 or less not be included in furloughs. Thereafter, it is recommended that furlough days vary from one day to 15 days (with 15 days for employees making more than $110,000).

Just one union has accepted furloughs, which is subject to collective bargaining. The building tradesmen have agreed to 24 furlough days, which helped save the jobs of five of its members threatened with layoffs.

The city is laying off 13.5 employees, which takes into account that 10 employees will accept the retirement incentive, Pasquini said.