Dean Potter, 43, and his climbing partner, Graham Hunt, 29. They had jumped from a 7,500-foot promontory called Taft Point

LOS ANGELES -- Dean Potter knew the risks every time he flew off a cliff in a wingsuit.

The extreme athlete lost a friend to a BASE jumping accident last year, and at that friend's memorial service he spoke about the death-defying nature of the sport.

"He always recognized how dangerous the sport was and at the same time how magical it was -- the tension between those two things," said fellow climber Chris McNamara.

Potter, renowned for his daring and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, was one of two men killed after jumping from a 7,500-foot promontory called Taft Point in Yosemite National Park.

Someone called for help late Saturday after losing contact with Potter, 43, and his climbing partner, Graham Hunt, 29.

Park ranger Scott Gediman said a search-and-rescue team looked for the men overnight but couldn't find them. On Sunday morning, a helicopter crew spotted their bodies in Yosemite Valley.

The men wore wingsuits -- skin-tight suits with batwing sleeves and a flap between their legs -- to help them glide. However, parachutes designed to slow their descent had not been deployed, Gediman said.

The following is a National Geographic video in which Potter uses a wingsuit to make a BASE jump:

BASE stands for buildings, antennas, spans (such as bridges), and Earth (such as cliffs and mountaintops) that jumpers can parachute from. The sport is illegal in all national parks, and it was possible the men jumped at dusk or at night to avoid being caught by park rangers.

"BASE jumping is the most dangerous thing you can do ... every time you jump it's a roll of the dice," said Corey Rich, a photographer who documented some of Potter's feats. "The odds are not in your favor, and sadly Dean pulled the unlucky card."

Potter and Hunt, who lived near Yosemite, were prominent figures in the park's climbing community, Gediman said.

"This is a horrible incident, and our deepest sympathies go out to their friends and family," Gediman said. "This is a huge loss for all of us."

Potter is famous for pushing the boundaries of climbing by going up some of the world's most daunting big walls and cliffs alone, using his bare hands and without ropes. He took the sport to an extreme level with highlining -- walking across a rope suspended between towering rock formations while wearing a parachute for safety in the event of a fall.

He drew criticism in May 2006 after he made a "free solo" climb of Utah's iconic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. Though the climb was not illegal, outdoor clothing company Patagonia dropped its sponsorship of him, saying his actions "compromised access to wild places and generated an inordinate amount of negativity in the climbing community and beyond."

Potter defended his ascent, saying his intention was to inspire people to "get out of their cars and experience the wild with all their senses."

Last year, Clif Bar withdrew its sponsorship of Potter and four other top climbers, saying they took risks that made the company too uncomfortable to continue financial support.

In recent years, he combined his love of climbing and flying with BASE jumping. He also produced a film that chronicled his adventures BASE jumping with his beloved dog, Whisper.

In 2009, he set a record for completing the longest BASE jump from the Eiger North Face in Switzerland by staying in flight in a wingsuit for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The feat earned him the Adventurer of the Year title by National Geographic magazine.

Potter indicated in his writings that he knew the inherent danger of his sport. Last March, his friend and climbing partner Sean "Stanley" Leary died in Zion National Park in Utah after apparently clipping a rock outcropping during a BASE jump. Potter was among a group of people who recovered Leary's body.

"Though sometimes I have felt like I'm above it all and away from any harm, I want people to realize how powerful climbing, extreme sports or any other death-consequence pursuits are," he wrote in an October 2014 blog posted on his website. "There is nothing fake about it whether you see it in real life, on YouTube or in a glamorous commercial."

Gediman estimates that about five BASE jumping deaths have occurred in Yosemite. He said he himself watched a BASE jumper leap to her death in 1999 when her borrowed chute failed to open.

The woman was participating in a protest against the National Park Service's ban on BASE jumping.

The aircraft was from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California

One Marine died and at least 12 others were injured Sunday when a Marine Corps Osprey aircraft crashed and caught fire Sunday during what authorities described as a "hard landing mishap" in Hawaii.

Injuries ranged from minor to critical, according to U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific spokesman Capt. Alex Lim, The Associated Press reported.

Twenty-two people were aboard, including one Navy corpsman and 21 Marines. The aircraft was from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Here is a picture of what's left at the Osprey crash site. Investigators are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/FdEGxaSgWs

-- Ashley Moser KITV (@AshleyMoser) May 18, 2015

The accident occurred at Bellows Air Force Station on Oahu. Dark smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away following the 11 a.m. crash.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation Lim said.

The MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies like an airplane but can take off and land like a helicopter.

Video just into our newsroom of a downed helicopter at Bellows. Courtesy M. Raquinio @KITV4 pic.twitter.com/y1WvpQEFCX

-- Ashley Moser KITV (@AshleyMoser) May 17, 2015

Several motorcycle accidents injured riders across the state.

Don Treeger | The Republican 

In Leverett, two people were seriously injured just before 7 p.m. when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a car at the intersection of Shutesbury and Cushman roads.

WWLP-TV reported the that the Massachusetts State Police said one rider was air lifted by helicopter to the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

In Lowell, a 56-year-old rider was airlifted to the Boston Medical Center after his motorcycle clipped a utility pole, and forced the rider to slide some 40 yards. Police told the Lowell Sun the rider hit a utility pole at the intersection of Woburn and Eugene streets at about 5:38 p.m.

The rider was taken by ambulance to a landing area not far from the accident scene and was flown by helicopter to Boston for treatment.

Earlier in the day, a Chicopee police officer was injured when the motorcycle he was riding on patrol collided with a car on Memorial Drive. The officer was transported to the Baystate Medical Center where he was treated and later released.

The accident remains under investigation.

The latest working draft would allow the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes to issue a request for proposals to municipalities about possibly building a new casino.

By SUSAN HAIGH

HARTFORD, Conn. — State lawmakers have crafted a new bill that creates a two-step process for a new tribal casino in Connecticut.

The latest working draft, provided Monday evening to The Associated Press, would allow the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes to issue a request for proposals to municipalities about possibly building a new casino.

Any development agreement reached between the tribes and a host community would have to ultimately be approved by the General Assembly.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said the changes would add 8 to 10 months to the tribes' plans to open a casino to combat out-of-state gambling competition. However, he said it's the "best path" to protect thousands of jobs at the tribe's existing casinos.

Duff said the Senate may vote Tuesday or Wednesday on the revised bill.

Anthony Soto, 41, is in his second term on the City Council and works as field representative for the state secretary of state in Springfield.

HOLYOKE — City Councilor Anthony Soto will formally begin his campaign for mayor with an announcement Thursday (May 21) at 6 p.m. at Fernandez Family Restaurant, 161 High St.

"I believe we need a government that will focus on progress (to) make Holyoke a great place to live and work. My time on the City Council has allowed me to work on issues such as public safety, education and transparency. I plan to continue that work as mayor," Soto said in a press release Monday.

Soto confirmed to The Republican and MassLive.com April 24 that he was running for mayor in a challenge against Mayor Alex B. Morse in the Nov. 3 election.

Soto, 41, is employed as field representative for the state secretary of state in Springfield. A two-term councilor, Soto lives at 10 James St. in the Springdale Neighborhood. He has four children.

In November, Soto married Lisa Wong, the four-term mayor of the Worcester County city of Fitchburg. Wong and Soto have kept separate homes in each of the communities they represent to meet residency requirements, but Wong said last month she won't seek reelection.

"It has been a privilege and honor to serve the people of the great city of Holyoke and I'd love to continue that work as mayor," Soto said. "My family has a long history here and as a lifelong resident I care deeply about our community."

Morse will launch his drive for a third term May 27 at 6 p.m. at the Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road, off Route 5.

Besides Morse, the race for mayor includes Francis P. O'Connell, who owns O'Connell Care at Home and goes by "Fran," and Ward 1 School Committee member Mildred Lefebvre.

The field could grow, too, because the deadline for candidates to file nomination papers isn't until July 28. Those for mayor must file papers with at least 250 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

Soto is the first of the four announced candidates for mayor to have filed nomination papers and had signatures certified to place his name on the election ballot, according to the page of the city clerk's office on the city website.

If necessary, a preliminary election will be held Sept. 22 to narrow the field to the top two vote getters, who would then compete in the general election Nov. 3.

The mayor's yearly salary is $85,000.

Equipping officers with body cameras would protect them against false allegations, protect the public from rogue officers and reduce the number of budget-sapping settlements in police misconduct lawsuits, Ramos said.

SPRINGFIELD - The City Council voted 10-0 Monday to support a proposal calling for Springfield police officers to wear body cameras.

The non-binding resolution, sponsored by councilor Orlando Ramos, comes after
several national protests over police shootings and a riot last month in Baltimore.

"This is a win-win for law enforcement, for the citizens and for the city," Ramos said while introducing the measure.

Equipping officers with body cameras would protect them against false allegations, protect the public from rogue officers and reduce the number of budget-sapping settlements in police misconduct lawsuits, Ramos said.

Ramos' initial proposal called for councilors to endorse body cameras over vehicle-mounted cameras, but councilor Kenneth Shea suggested an amendment expressing support for both. The amendment also won approval on a 10-0 vote.

A city proposal to mount cameras in cruisers led to a police contract impasse in 2013; an arbitrator later ruled the city cannot install cameras in cruisers without studying with the possible impact of the move.

A committee of city and police union officials began reviewing the issue last year.

Several councilors, including Bud Williams, said Monday they believe most police officers would favor wearing body cameras.

"It's a step in the right direction," Williams said, adding that 99 percent of city police officers have nothing to worry about from the proposal.

Councilor Henry Twiggs said he was "amused" that something so important had to be negotiated with police unions.

"This is something that will save lives and save money," Twiggs said. "I think lives and money are important."

Under Ramos proposal, federal funds would be used to acquire body cameras if the city and police unions approve their use.

The Russell school had been completly renovated shortly before it closed in 2010.

WESTFIELD - The School Department will pay the town of Russell $250,000 in annual lease payments for use of the Russell Elementary School to house students who now attend Juniper Park School.

The lease agreement, from July 1 through July 1, 2018 was approved by the committee Monday night. Overall the total first year costs of using the Russell School is estimated at about $644,000 which will include moving expenses, utilities, broadband and telephone system, maintenance and supplies and the hiring of two custodians.

The $644,000 represents an increase of about $211,000 over lease and expenses for Juniper Park School for this year. Russell School will be in use when schools open the 2015-2016 school year in September.

The lease was deemed necessary because Westfield State University, the owner of Juniper Park School, determined it needs the building for its own students and programs.

Also, the lease will be temporary until the city is able to move forward with construction of a new elementary school. That $36 million new school is proposed for Ashley and Cross streets but has been in limbo for the past three years because of court action by neighborhood residents.

School officials had consider options other than leasing the Russell school but they proved too costly. Last October the committee reported an estimated cost of $755,000 annually for portable classrooms at the Boys and Girls Club off South Broad Street and $1.1 million annually to assign portable classrooms at South Middle School as options for current Juniper Park students.

Start up costs were estimated at $6 million at the boys and Girls Club and ab out $2.6 million at South Middle School.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik has called the Russell lease "The most cost effective option available."

Currently about 300 pupils, grades kindergarten to grade five, attend Juniper Park School.

The School Department has leased Juniper Park for numerous years and in 2009 the annual lease payment to WSU was $370,000.

The Russell Elementary School was part of the Gateway Regional School District until it closed in 2010. It had been completly renovated just a few years prior to its closing.

The shootout — which killed nine people and wounded 18 — seemed aberrant because the public image of many motorcycle gangs has been burnished in recent years thanks to the many largely benign bike enthusiasts who've co-opted some of the same clothing and style.

Former undercover agent Jay Dobyns says people can be forgiven for thinking Sunday's biker bloodbath in Waco, Texas, was a throwback to a bad 1970s movie.

The shootout -- which killed nine people and wounded 18 -- seemed aberrant because the public image of many motorcycle gangs has been burnished in recent years thanks to the many largely benign bike enthusiasts who've co-opted some of the same clothing and style.

"I think, as a society, and to a large extent even in law enforcement, we fall into the sense that these guys are these big, rough-looking teddy bears that do blood drives and toy runs and are harmless," says Dobyns, who infiltrated the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "These are people that have used the motorcycle culture as camouflage."

The more sinister side of biker culture was thrust into the spotlight after Sunday's shooting in the parking lot of a restaurant where members of several rival gangs were having a meeting. By Monday, authorities had charged about 170 gang members with engaging in organized crime.

Motorcycle culture's image problem goes back at least to 1947, when a race in Hollister, California, descended into two days of bloody riots. The American Motorcycle Association, the race's sponsor, responded to the coverage by declaring that 99 percent of participants were law-abiding.

To this day, gangs like the Outlaws refer to themselves as "1 percenters," says Terry Katz, former commander of the Maryland State Police's organized crime section. Trouble is, it's sometimes hard to tell the dark side of motorcycle groups from the light.

Even the terminology is interchangeable.

Good and bad alike call their organizations "clubs." Both use the term "colors" for the emblems on the backs of their jackets and vests.

"Wear your colors with pride," advertises a California company that makes patches for biker clubs, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, even the Boy Scouts of America.

Don Chambers, founder of the Bandidos gang, modeled his club's emblem -- a sombrero-wearing Mexican caricature carrying a sword and pistol -- after the corn chip company's Frito Bandito mascot, says Katz, who went undercover in the 1970s as an associate to two clubs, the Pagans and the Phantoms. Other clubs that want to operate on their turf are required to wear a patch called a "support cookie," so named because it's the size and shape of a cookie.

"You have a major gang. Then you have like a puppet club or you can call it a farm team that is part of their organization. But they're not a member of the big dogs," says Katz, vice president of the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association.

The names have also grown more sinister. The Boozefighters and Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington of 1947 Hollister have given way to the Outlaws, Cossacks and Hells Angels of today.

Katz says bikers maim and kill each other all the time. The only thing unusual about the Waco confrontation was that it happened in public.

"I get that question all the time: 'Are these guys still around?'" he says. "Of course, they are. But they've lowered their profile, because it's bad for business to be involved in something where you're going to attract a great deal of law enforcement attention. They've never gone away. In fact, they've grown."

Some clubs boast chapters on the other side of the globe.

"You look at crime syndicates. They come to America from other places," says Dobyns, who lives in Tuscon, Arizona. "But the biker culture? That is America's export to the ... world of crime syndicates."

Part of the problem, Dobyns says, is that the entertainment world tends to glamorize these groups.

The Hollister riots spawned "The Wild One," Marlon Brando's 1953 classic. But Johnny, with his dungarees turned up at the ankles and cap at a rakish angle, seems quaint compared to FX Networks' "Sons of Anarchy."

"They prey on the Americana of it," says Dobyns, who used his own childhood nickname of "Jaybird" in his undercover work. "And it's sexy and it's glamorous. The reality of it is that it's a very dangerous world, inhabited by violent men. And the reality of it is that it's very unsexy and it's very unglamorous."

FX spokesman John Solberg declined to respond to Dobyns' comments.

Like the Mafia, motorcycle gangs aren't interested in big public displays, says Katz. But the cornerstone of that culture is a willingness to kill -- and die -- for your club.

"And that's what you saw yesterday," he says. "I mean, there were marked police cars outside that event ... Once the fight started, it didn't matter."

 

___

AP National Writer Allen G. Breed wrote this report.

The victim, a Hispanic man, was shot

SPRINGFIELD — A man was critically wounded after he was shot in the head in the city's Lower Liberty Heights section late Monday afternoon.

The shooting scene at the corner of Franklin Street and Murray Hill Avenue is less than two blocks from last week's homicide in the neighborhood.

At 5:08 p.m. Monday, police responded to a ShotSpotter activation indicating six possible rounds near the intersection, where they found a male victim lying on the ground. "We got a victim on the sidewalk," said one of the first officers to respond. "Start a 7 (police code for ambulance) right away," he said.

Witnesses told police that a black or dark-colored Jeep or similar-style SUV with New York plates was seen fleeing the area. The driver, one of four people inside the SUV, was identified as the shooter, according to preliminary police reports.

Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney told Western Mass News, media partner of MassLive / The Republican, that the victim was a Hispanic man. He was taken to Baystate Medical Center for emergency treatment, Delaney said. The projectile was lodged in the man's brain, diminishing his chances for survival, law enforcement sources told MassLive / The Republican.

The Springfield Police Department Forensic Investigation van, which typically responds to homicide scenes, was parked on Franklin Street near the corner of Murray Hill Avenue. Detectives and crime-scene investigators could be seen collecting spent casings and other evidence, including a fanny pack, baseball cap and other items left behind by the victim. At least 10 orange evidence markers were placed at various points in the middle of the intersection and on the sidewalk where the victim was found.

On May 12, a woman was stabbed to death by her boyfriend about a block and a half way. The boyfriend was arrested and charged with murder.

Springfield already has logged 10 homicides this year, which is less than five months old. The city recorded a total of 14 homicides in 2014.

Western Mass News - WGGB/WSHM

MAP showing approximate location of Lower Liberty Heights shooting scene:

Aponte won 621 votes; Gallagher was next at 563, unofficial results posted by the town clerk show.

Nicholas O'Connor was elected to the Belchertown board of selectmen at the May 18, 2015 annual town election Jim Russell photo 

BELCHERTOWN - An 11 percent turnout in Monday's annual town election, with four men running for two selectmen seats, resulted in the incumbent Ron Aponte easily winning reelection, and newcomer Nicholas O'Connor joining the board.

Aponte won 621 votes with Gallagher next at 563, unofficial results posted by the town clerk show. Selectman Ken Elstein did not seek reelection.

Sean Gallagher finished third with 424 votes, and Nicholas Tirrell finished last with 179.

"I'm ready to begin work," O'Connor said in an interview after being sworn in by Town Clerk Colleen Toothill-Berte.

"I am completely humbled" by the support," he added.

"I am proud of where Belchertown is financially and as a community," Aponte said.

He credited his victory to his vigorous advocacy for development at the former state school property.

"Something is actually happening there," the incumbent said.

School committee member Clare Popowich did not seek reelection.

The seat she held was won by Thomas Laughner.

Thomas Laughner Jim Russell photo 

The newly elected School Committee member said the biggest issue facing the district is "budget - and finding creative ways to get what the schools need. We can't continue cutting and cutting and cutting and not have it effect the schools."

Incumbent school board member Richard Fritsch was also unopposed, winning reelection.

Fritsch, who has been serving as the board chairman, said a pressing need is the condition of some of the buildings, and that a study is underway to determine how to address those issues.

In the two-person race for a seat on the Planning Board, Donna Lusignan won with 567 votes to Sierra Pelletier's 261.

Others winning who were not opposed were Michael Hofler, planning board; Nancy Delgado Bachmann, housing authority; Donald Minney, assesor; and Roger Bonsall, board of health.

Toothill-Berte was also unopposed, winning a three-year term.

Unofficial figures show 1,049 out of 9,280 registered voters cast ballots at the May 18 election.

The shots may have come from a white car that was firing at another vehicle, according to initial police reports.

SPRINGFIELD — Police were called to a stretch of Bay Street near Central High School for reports of gunfire during Monday evening's rush hour.

Police responded to a 5:42 p.m. report of multiple shots fired near 1200 Bay St., several houses east of the high school at 1840 Roosevelt Ave. The gunfire appeared to have come from a white car that may have been shooting at another vehicle, according to preliminary police reports.

Several minutes later, a woman called police to report that a bullet had hit her home at 1171 Bay St., three houses in from the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and close to the location of the initial shooting call.

Investigators reported finding one round in the rear bedroom wall of the woman's home. There were no reported injuries.

The white car was last seen fleeing down East Bay Path Terrace. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at 413-787-6355.

MAP showing approximate location of home struck by gunfire:

As Sarno was touting a reduction in crime in the city, a man was shot in the head and a house was hit by gunfire in separate episodes.

SPRINGFIELD — A man was shot in the head just as Mayor Domenic J. Sarno officially launched his reelection campaign Monday, declaring public safety his top priority as he seeks a fourth term.

"Public safety remains my No. 1 priority. I pledge to you tonight that I will not rest until citizens in every neighborhood feel safe and secure in their homes and on our streets," Sarno said at his campaign kickoff at the Elks Lodge, a roughly hour-long event that began at 5 p.m. with opening remarks from others before the mayor spoke.

At 5:08 p.m., police responded to a report of a man who was shot in the head during an apparent drive-by shooting in the city's Lower Liberty Heights neighborhood. Police say the victim is in critical condition with a bullet lodged in his brain. The shooting happened just up the street from last week's homicide.

Shortly after the Lower Liberty Heights shooting, police were called to Pine Point for a report of a home struck by gunfire that may have come from a moving car shooting at another vehicle. There were no reported injuries in the incident.

 

Back at the Elks Lodge, Sarno was touting efforts taken by his administration to combat crime, which declined by 19 percent from 2013 to 2014.

"When I became your mayor, crime was rampant in many parts of our city. While we have much more work to do in enhancing public safety, we are on the right track in our war on crime," he said.

Springfield Police Detective Lt. Maurice "Mossy" Kearney, pictured at center in yellow ballcap, confers with officers at the scene of a Lower Liberty Heights shooting that seriously injured a man shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, May 18. Around the same time, the mayor declared public safety as the top priority of his administration during his reelection campaign kickoff in Forest Park.DON TREEGER / THE REPUBLICAN 

Sarno said part of the plan is to add 58 new officers to the city police force, once those officers complete the requisite training.

He also cited the C3 policing initiative, a grassroots community policing strategy that relies on public engagement with police officers through monthly meetings, door-to-door outreach and events with neighborhood businesses. The model program, born in Springfield and the subject of national media attention, is credited with reducing crime in the city's North End and his since been expanded to Forest Park, Mason Square, the South End and other troubled neighborhoods.

Communication with other law enforcement partners is key, according to Sarno, citing continued close coordination with state and federal law enforcement agencies, the Hamden County District Attorney's Office, the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.

Despite the 19 percent reduction in crime, more needs to be done, Sarno said.

"My highest priority during my next administration will continue to be fighting crime. Despite our considerable progress in more effective policing, there is still just too much violence in our streets," he said. "You know it and I know it, and it will simply not be tolerated. And you can believe that I will be on this mission with a fierce focus for the next four years."

The Howdy Awards, which celebrated their 20th year during the event held at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke, recognize front-line employees in the hospitality industry.

HOLYOKE - Eleven Pioneer Valley service employees were honored by the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Monday night during the 2015 Howdy Award for Hospitality Excellence gala dinner.

The Howdy Awards, which celebrated their 20th year during the event held at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke, recognize front-line employees in the hospitality industry who go above and beyond in the performance of their duties and provide outstanding service to their guest and customers.

"We are proud and happy to present the Howdy Awards to honor just some of the most important people in the hospitality industry," said GSCVB President Mary Kay Wydra. "They are usually the first person a visitor encounters, and if they're especially nice and go above and beyond, that visitor is likely to return to that, and other, tourism locations."

This year, she added, "is also incredibly important because it is our 20th anniversary."

In addition to the nine award recipients who were nominated for the recognition by customers, two special honors were given to Peter Rosskothen, owner of the Log Cabin, the Delaney House and D.Hotel, as the Spotlight Winner, as well as Donald Hanna Jr., of Casa di Lisa in Agawam as the 2015 People's Choice Winner.

The winners of the 2015 Howdy Awards, by category, are:

• Accommodations, Joe Lusignan, lounge attendant, Springfield Marriott


• Attractions, Susan Ashman, park ranger, Springfield Armory National Historic Site


• Banquet and Meetings, Kevin Doubleday, sous chef, The Lord Jeffery Inn, Amherst


• Beverage, Heather Beck, Riff's Joint and Hideaway Lounge, Easthampton


• Food-Casual, Stella Matos, manager, Agawam Dunkin Donuts


• Food-Tableside, Julie Martial, hostess, 99 Restaurant, Springfield


• Public Service, Judy Butcher, receptionist, Jewish Community Center, Springfield


• Business/Retail, Cheryl Johnson, Yankee Candle Village, South Deerfield


• Transportation, Barbara Eckert, parking lot attendant, Executive Parking, Springfield

Tenants have been living in hotels while the developer and building inspector iron out problems.

EASTHAMPTON -- Dozens of families who were promised an April 1 or May 1 move-in date at Cottage Square, the delayed affordable housing development at 15 Cottage Street, will finally get the keys to their apartments this week after the city's interim building commissioner issued a certificate of occupancy on Monday evening.

A number of families who lost their previous housing after giving notice to their former landlords have been living in hotel rooms, city officials confirmed Monday, adding that the rooms are being paid for by Arch Street Development, LLC, the Boston-based project owners. Arch Street principal Richard Relich, reached by telephone, declined to immediately speak with a reporter about the delays at 15 Cottage and the tenants in hotels, saying he was too busy to talk.

The 50-unit mill renovation project at the former Easthampton Dye Works building has been plagued by delays under the Salem-based general contractor James J. Welch & Co.

The most recent problem had to do with a non-functional sprinkler and fire alarm system, said Interim Building Commissioner Russell Ducharme, who estimated that he's been to the building eight times in the past month alone. "The general contractor was not fulfilling his obligations," said Ducharme. "I'm not about to certify a building that people could not get out of, or one that has a potential system failure."

Contractors also experienced project delays in the inspection of the elevator system at the building, said Ducharme, who added that elevator inspection is a state, not a local, function.

The past several days at the site have been rocky. On Thursday, Fire Captain Wayne Henneman added his signature to the occupancy certificate, based in part upon a letter from J.J. Welch assuring that the sprinkler system was fully functional, said Ducharme. When Ducharme conducted his own inspection Thursday night, he found "flaws in the sprinkler system" and notified Henneman. Henneman retracted his signature on Friday.

Final problems with the fire suppression system were apparently cleared up over the weekend, allowing for the successful inspection Monday after the close of the business day.

Ducharme signed off on the building's occupancy after conducting a walk-through with a team that included representatives from Arch Street and Appleton Corporation, the Holyoke-based property management firm. Mayor Karen Cadieux was also present for the inspection.

Ducharme said any occupancy permit needs sign-offs from various inspectors for the electrical, plumbing, gas, and sprinkler systems before he does a final check and adds his signature.

Arch Street, which broke ground on the $18.8 million project in April of 2014, had asked for a temporary Certificate of Occupancy in March, said Ducharme, but was told no. "We don't issue temporary COs for buildings of that scale," he said. "The sprinkler and fire alarm system were not operational."

J.J. Welch principal Michael Welch, reached by telephone Monday, cited the elevator inspection delay, and said the only problem with the sprinkler system was that a painter had left masking tape on two of the heads -- a characterization that did not match information provided by Ducharme.

When pressed for clarification, Welch terminated the conversation. "This isn't CNN," he said, before hanging up the telephone.

The project makes use of state dollars in the form of low-income housing tax credits from the Massachusetts Depaprtment of Housing and Community Development, affordable housing trust funds from MassHousing, and historic tax credits from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, according to the New England Real Estate Journal. Federal dollars include historic tax credits from the National Park Service.

The city of Easthampton in 2012 provided $200,000 to the project in the form of Community Preservation Act funds. In January of this year, Relich of Arch Street made an unsuccessful plea before the CPA committee for an additional, expedited infusion of cash in the amount of $150,000, saying the project was nearly $350,000 over budget.

Some $93,170 of that overrun was apparently due to three OSHA penalties levied against J.J. Welch for "serious, willful, and repeat" workplace safety violations at the site. The citations from OSHA related to 15 Cottage Street can be read below.

The building has a storied history. Easthampton Dye Works, a factory that made colored thread, closed in 2006. Since then, the project was to be an 86-unit gay-friendly condominium project called Paradise One, but that plan collapsed. In 2009, David F. Oppenheim, one-time director of the Pioneer Valley Arts Center of Easthampton, bid on the property at auction, but his development plans were derailed by his arrest on child rape charges. 

Cadieux emphasized that the current round of project delays has nothing to do with the city, as she heaped high praise upon Arch Street, and proclaimed that the apartments are beautiful.

"The city did not delay this project in any way, shape or form," she said. "We have made our inspectors completely accessible."

Cadieux said Arch Street co-owner Relich and Colin O'Keeffe "are just wonderful people; they couldn't be nicer or more helpful." The mayor said she was confident any frustration felt by tenants inconvenienced by the delay would "dissipate soon after they move in."

OSHA Violations James J. Welch contractors 15 Cottage St Easthampton

_______________________________________________________________ Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com.

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Police have charged the driver of a tractor-trailer that struck two pedestrians, trapping and killing a Hudson woman, last Thursday night in Kelley Square with vehicular homicide.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) Abudanza in Wilbraham, visited in 2014 by Food Network's 'Restaurant: Impossible,' closes; auction scheduled [Suzanne McLaughlin] Photo gallery above

2) Ludlow High School students taken to hospital after ingesting high grade marijuana [Suzanne McLaughlin]

3) Driver of tractor-trailer that ran over, killed 24-year-old woman in Worcester charged with vehicular homicide [Lindsay Corcoran]

4) Springfield crime: Man in critical condition after being shot in head in Lower Liberty Heights [Conor Berry]

5) Westover Air Show attracts 225,000 people despite traffic and heat [Jeanette DeForge]

In both cases, Romeo was arrested early in the morning on Locust Street by the same Springfield police officers, court records show.

SPRINGFIELD - A city man arrested twice in one month for the same crime, on the same street, by the same police officers has been given a one-year jail term.

Carlo Romeo 

"It's so sad it's almost comical," said Assistant District Attorney Daniel Daly.

On March 31, Romeo pleaded innocent in Springfield District Court to breaking and entering into a motor vehicle - the same offense he denied on March 4 after allegedly breaking into nine vehicles at a used car dealership.

In both cases, Romeo was arrested early in the morning on Locust Street by the same Springfield police officers, court records show.

On Friday, he pleaded guilty in both cases in exchange for a 12-month term recommended by the defense and prosecution.

The plea averted the need to require ten vehicle owners, including one from Illinois, to testify at trial, Daly said.

The underlying factor in both cases was the defendant's drug problems, according to Daly, who said the defendant recognizes his need for counseling and treatment.

The judge showed little enthusiasm for one-year sentence, but said he "was not going to stand in the way" of the plea agreement.

Romeo could have been sentenced to as much as five years on the charges, according to the judge, who warned Romeo he will serve more time on any future charges.

"If he comes back here again, indict him," Gordon told the prosecutor.

The city acquired the property in 2005 after foreclosing on the site for nonpayment of taxes.

HOLYOKE -- The city will begin cleaning the former Auto-Mania at 689 Main St. by demolishing the building and removing contaminants like chemicals and heavy metals from the half-acre site, officials said Monday (May 18).

The goal is to have the former auto sales and service property ready for sale by fall for an industrial use. It is near the Springdale Industrial Park and Interstate 391, said Marcos A. Marrero, director of the city Department of Planning and Economic Development.

"As a city, one of the biggest challenges we face is securing the often scarce resources needed to make sites like this ready for redevelopment," Mayor Alex B. Morse said in a press release.

"This has been a focal point of my administration's economic development strategy, and I look forward to getting this property developed and generating taxes again," he said.

A public meeting will be held to receive comments about an analysis of site cleanup options Thursday (May 21) at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall Annex, fourth-floor conference room.

The cost to test the site for contaminants, demolish the building and clean the soil is about $300,000. To pay for that, the city has received $200,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, $85,000 from the MassDevelopment Brownfield Redevelopment Fund and $25,000 from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the press release said.

MassDevelopment is the state's finance and development agency.

Among known contaminants on the site are metals, PCB's, or polychlorinated biphenyl, an industrial chemical whose manufacture was banned in 1979 because of its toxicity, and vinyl chloride, which is used to make vinyls and plastics, according to the press release and an assessment of the site done by Nobis Engineering Inc. of Lowell.

Auto-Mania closed in 2004. The city acquired the property in December 2005 after foreclosing on it for delinquent property taxes. City records showed that the owner, New England Speed Equipment, whose principal was John Keane, of Ashland, owed $116,676 in unpaid taxes dating to 1994, according to The Republican archives.

Construction crews are nearing the end of a six-week project to reconstruct a 280 foot section of coastal bank at Corporation Beach in Dennis.

You think the winter was tough this year?

Well, if you considered the weather to be a big headache this year, you should see what it was like for at least one north facing beach on Cape Cod: It was a migraine.

Corporation Beach on the north side of Dennis, took a beating from a number of storms this winter. Large amounts of sand from dunes behind the beach were washed away during one or more storms and use of the beach's parking lot was threatened.

As meteorologist Tim Kelley, of NECN, points out, north facing beaches, like Corporation and abutting Howes Street beaches in Dennis, are normally protected from ocean swells, somewhat, by the arm of Cape Cod. But over the past two winters, some of the storms have come from the north, resulting in more damage than usual to beach front property on Cape Cod Bay.

While some private property owners along Cape Cod Bay have spent thousands of dollars having stone walls constructed to protect their properties, there are no such stone walls along the beach. Oh, there is some riprap that protects a former small boat harbor that is now just part of the beach, and there is a jetty that protects part of the dune. But other than that, the dunes took a big hit this year, and back in March, construction crews began a six week reconstruction project of a 280 foot section of the coastal bank.

According to the Cape Cod Times, crews from Pastore Excavation in Sandwich are using coir, a natural material made of coconut fiber that is filled with sand, sewn shut, and placed in mesh tubes that are 15 feet deep, to reconstruct the dunes.

Five rows of the tubes, each placed 3 feet back from the row below it to create a terrace, will be installed along the section of bank, the Times reported back in March. The rows will extend about halfway up the 20-foot bank, according to Bob Bartholomew, Pastore's project manager.

Once this part of the project is completed, beach grass will be planted along the slope to retard future erosion.

"Right now that bank is a sheer cliff," Bartholomew told the Times in March. 

Once the coir network is in place, it will be covered with 2,100 cubic yards of sand so that it is completely undetectable, he said. As of last week, beachgoers could get an up-close look at the coir.

Work is supposed to be completed by this weekend, but to the untrained eye, there still looked like there was a lot of work to do last weekend, even though Pastore Excavation has been using some huge pieces of heavy equipment.

"The coastal bank has gotten carved out pretty good," Dustin Pineau, the town's beach and recreation director said. 

Town Administrator Richard White told The Register, a weekly newspaper that serves the Mid Cape area, that Pastore's bid was the lowest bid that the town received. While the town had budgeted up to $450,000 for the project, Pastore's bid came in a $347,450.

In order to restore the dunes, contractors had to move part of a jetty, as well as a flight of stairs that normally goes over the front of a sand dune allowing beachgoers to get from an upper parking lot and snack bar on the bluff, down to the beach below.

During Winter Storm Juno, the January storm that was later dubbed the Blizzard of 2015, the stairs were so badly undermined that they had to be closed, Dennis' Natural Resources Director Karen Johnson told The Register.

The media typically refers to the Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of the summer tourist season on Cape Cod, and so last weekend, Cape Codders were taking advantage the natural resources they live with year 'round, before this weekend's expected influx of tourists, according to the Times.

Even though the biggest section of the parking lot at Corporation Beach was closed for construction last weekend, there were still enough spots so that people could take a good look at the reconstruction project, without running into lines of beach parkers.

Only time will tell if the reconstruction project is done by this weekend, as planned, but even if it isn't, is seems likely it will be done by the official start of the summer tourist season in a few weeks.

Christopher Bullock, 27, testified he was shot by Ernest Fickling, 33, and Quenton Harris, 26, both of Springfield.

The exterior of the Hampden County Hall of Justice is seen Saturday night.Dwight B. Shepard / The Republican 

SPRINGFIELD — A Hampden Superior Court jury heard the 911 call Christopher Bullock made just after midnight on June 4 of last year.

Over and over he said, "I'm going to die" and "help, help, help."

"Somebody drove by and shot me. Hurry up," he said to the dispatcher on the other end of the 911 call.

Bullock, 27, was called to the witness stand Monday in the trial of Ernest Fickling, 33, and Quenton Harris, 26, both of Springfield. They are charged with armed assault with intent to murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Bullock testified he saw Fickling and Harris drive by, stop the car, and shoot him in the side of his chest after they followed him as he rode his bicycle from Maynard Street to College Street.

But Bullock's time on the witness stand did not go easily, as Judge Constance M. Sweeney had to constantly tell Bullock to speak up and sit closer to the microphone as his answers were often inaudible.

He answered many questions from prosecution and defense with "I don't remember" and took long pauses before answering many questions. But he stood by his identification of Fickling and Harris as the men in the car from which he was shot.

Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Eduardo Velazquez, Bullock said he has suffered memory loss since he had an accident at around 3 years old. He said he didn't remember what happened to him then.

He told defense lawyers Andrew Klyman, for Harris, and Daniel D. Kelly, for Fickling, that he smokes marijuana, often laced with PCP, and drinks beer "every other day."

Asked by both prosecution and defense why he didn't say who was in the car from which the bullets were fired right away in the 911 call or to responding police, he usually ended up saying, "I don't remember."

At other times he said he was just focused on getting medical care and was coughing up blood and having difficulty breathing.

Defense lawyers also questioned him about discrepancies between his testimony Monday, his testimony at a previous hearing and his testimony in the grand jury proceeding.

Some of those details were what kind of car the men were in, who was driving and how close the car was to him.

Bullock said he knew Harris and Fickling for more than 10 years. He said he picked their photos out of photo arrays shown him by police.

Sweeney moved the trial from a small courtroom to a larger one as several dozen supporters of the defendants are watching the trial.

The nine arrests were a triumph for embattled detectives whose early work had been criticized because of an embarrassing failure to respond to a midnight alarm at the start of a holiday weekend.

By GREGORY KATZ

LONDON -- With meticulous planning and remarkable good fortune, the thieves who broke into a safe deposit in London's diamond district seemed to have pulled off the perfect jewel heist. But their luck ran out Tuesday when more than 200 Scotland Yard officers closed in on them.

The nine arrests were a triumph for embattled detectives whose early work had been criticized because of an embarrassing failure to respond to a midnight alarm at the start of a holiday weekend. That gave the thieves more than 48 hours to carefully remove the contents of the safe used by jewelers in the Hatton Garden district.

The suspects, all British men between ages 43 and 76, were questioned in a London police station after coordinated morning raids in northern London and the southeastern district of Kent, Scotland Yard said.

It said bags containing a significant amount of high-value property were recovered at one of the addresses but did not assign a value to the heist.

The audacious robbery over the Easter weekend fascinated Britain. Dressed in fluorescent vests and hard hats, the thieves entered the high-security vault area in the London diamond district, carrying bags and wheeled garbage bins for carrying off the booty.

To gain entry, they climbed down an elevator shaft and drilled through concrete walls that were 2 meters (6 feet) thick, later making off with the contents of 72 safety deposit boxes.

Commander Peter Spindler on Tuesday defended the police performance in the face of the earlier criticism.

"At times we've been portrayed as if we have acted like Keystone Cops but I want to reassure you that in the finest traditions of Scotland Yard, these detectives have done their utmost to bring justice to the victims of this callous crime," he said.

Nonetheless, police took the unusual step of apologizing for mishandling the alarm.

"Our call-handling system and procedures for working with the alarm-monitoring companies were not followed," they said. "Our normal procedures would have resulted in police attending the scene, and we apologize that this did not happen."

They asked victims to be patient while police sort out the recovered valuables in order to return them to their owners. They said the investigation is still expanding and appealed to the public for information.

Apparently no one took notice of the group as it went about its business in the diamond district that was nearly deserted over the holiday weekend.

Security footage showed the men, wearing dust masks, entering and leaving the building repeatedly after their arrival late on Thursday, April 2. They worked throughout the night and left Friday morning, returning on Saturday night and leaving again on Easter Sunday morning.

They had picked their spots carefully -- local jewelers routinely store valuable gems in the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit facility overnight and on weekends.

The facility's intruder alarm sounded shortly after midnight on April 3, but police did not respond -- although they asserted Tuesday that a private security guard did check the outside of the premises and found nothing amiss.

The crime was not discovered until the jewelry district sprang back to life Tuesday morning.