An incident that occurred during the Great Depression has powerful modern meaning.

What would you have done?

"I would like to think I would do the same thing,'' said Josh Cobb, the coach of Gastonia (N.C). Post 23, which traveled to Springfield on a goodwill tour that came 81 years after Springfield Post 21 walked out of an American Legion baseball tournament in Gastonia because its one black player, Bunny Taliaferro, would be banned from playing.

But Cobb acknowledged it's a tough question. Doing the right thing is always easier in the hypothetical sense, but the 1934 team from Post 21 did it at the very real sacrifice of a lifelong dream - a chance to win the Legion World Series.

Most players were around 15, including Tony King, the last survivor of that team. King, 97, was part of commemoration ceremonies Sunday at Forest Park, where a goodwill game between Posts 21 and 23 was called off by rain and wet grounds.

The day was marked by speeches from dignitaries and organizers, and reflections of what a weekend of baseball and friendship meant in 1934 - and moreover, what it means today in a nation still plagued by racial tension and concerns.

Gastonia defeated Aldenville Post 337 and East Springfield Post 420 in days prior to Sunday. On this symbolic weekend, it was perhaps symbolic that Sunday's rainout meant there were no losers, only winners.

Cobb played in the 1998 Legion World Series, so he understood the magnitude of the event Post 21 rejected in 1934. Post 21 coach Jeff Garrow similarly said he wants to think he would have done what was right, but that's easy to say in theory.

"I would like to say yes, but I don't know if you can answer that unless you are there. That's what made the 1934 team such a great group,'' he said.

"It's definitely a hard question, but being a good teammate is more important than anything,'' Gastonia player Avery Patton said.

"I'd do the same thing they did. Everybody deserves equal rights,'' Post 23 player Landon Maness said.

The 1934 boycott was led by King, the Post 21 captain. The 2015 Springfield team is a multi-cultural mix from five high schools, and Carlos Gonzalez said he understands the power of the legacy.

"To me, being a teammate is more important than being a ballplayer, the Post 21 player said.

"It was horrible back then,'' Post 21 teammate Geovanny Rodriguez said. "It's better now. It's not perfect, but we're working on it.''

Working on it was what the weekend events were all about. Obviously, no one connected with Gastonia's team today had anything to do with the 1934 episode.

The North Carolina city of 73,000 is more than one quarter black, with sizeable populations of Hispanics and other minorities as well.

"We were shocked just to hear about it, because we're such a multi-cultural city today,'' Cobb said.

The 1934 story was largely forgotten in Springfield, too, until 2002 and 2003. A local doctor, Martin "Tim" Murray, helped raise funds and the interest to construct a monument at Forest Park, noting the event.

Without the work of Murray and the support of Springfield Mayor William Sullivan, the goodwill weekend would have probably never transpired. Springfield College professor Richard Andersen later wrote a book about it, and a copy was received by Gastonia Mayor John Bridgeman, who apologized to Springfield and entered discussions about a baseball weekend of redemption and healing.

Bridgeman was part of the North Carolina entourage. So were Moe Hill and Willie Gillispie, who in 1964 became Gastonia's first black Legion players - 30 years after the boycott, and 17 years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League baseball's color line.

"That experience got more pleasant as it went on,'' said Hill, who played 15 minor league pro seasons and turned 68 Sunday.

Whatever tensions greeted them, Hill and Gillispie said their teammates supported them. Hill said the 1964 team still gets together at times, and he also said the experience made him appreciate Robinson's 1947 breakthrough with the Brooklyn Dodgers even more.

Rediscovery of the story in modern Springfield has had a positive ripple effect that went beyond even race. It energized the movement to bring back the long-dormant Post 21 baseball program, which has doubled the number of city kids playing Legion baseball each summer.

King does not dismiss the significance of the boycott, but he downplays any suggestion of his team as heroes. It was simply a matter of doing what was right, he maintains.

The players on both teams understand that's not always so easy in real life. What the weekend events did, however, was strengthen their belief that when they are tested to choose the right path - whether that test come in baseball or in life - they will have a point of reference, and will feel more strongly about which path to take.

Murray

The fire started in the kitchen ceiling of Carrabba's Italian Restaurant and spread to the roof.

This updates a story filed at 12:15 p.m.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - A fire that started in the kitchen of a restaurant in the Riverdale Shops has closed the business until repairs can be made.

The fire started at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the kitchen ceiling of Carrabba's Italian Grill at 955 Riverdale St., said Deputy Fire Chief Mike Culver.

"It spread up to the roof and got into the roof membrane," Culver said.

Firefighters arrived quickly and were able to get the fire under control within about 15 to 20 minutes. Because the flames had spread to the roof, firefighters then spent some time making sure it had not set the insulation and other parts of the structure on fire, he said.

There was also smoke and water damage to the rest of the restaurant. The majority of the water damage was in the kitchen while the damage in the dining area was mostly due to smoke. Firefighters helped to ventilate the smoke from the restaurant, he said.

Firefighters did not leave the restaurant until about 3:15 p.m., Culver said.

Culver estimated the fire caused between $75,000 and $100,000 in damage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Staff was in the restaurant preparing for diners for the Father's Day holiday. Smoke alarms sounded and they were able to evacuate uninjured. The restaurant had not opened for customers at the time, he said.

Holyoke Catholic supporters were disappointed while Cathedral supporters were excited.

Pope Francis High to be built in Springfield: What people are Tweeting

SPRINGFIELD - After months of waiting and controversy, Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski announced the Surrey Road property which once housed Cathedral High School will be the location of the new Pope Francis High School.

The $50 million school will be constructed for about 500 students and will combine the students of the former Cathedral High School, which was destroyed in the June 1, 2011 tornado and Holyoke Catholic, which is currently located in a Chicopee school which has no gymnasium, auditorium and limited parking.

The decision, announced Friday, followed four months of study and review of potential locations for the new regional high school.

The finalists for the site were Surrey Road where Cathedral stood before being damaged by the June 1, 2011 tornado and St. Stanislaus parish property on Memorial Drive in Chicopee.

The selection of a new site has been divisive and the bishop urged Catholics to come together in support of the new school with a new name.

Officials also announced the school's new mascot would be "the Cardinals" and its colors would be red, black, gray and gold.

Here are some of the things people were Tweeting after the decision was announced.

This is the second accident at that intersection this month.

CHICOPEE - A three-car accident sent one driver to the hospital and severed a light pole Sunday evening.

The crash occurred at about 5:50 p.m. at the corner of McKinstry Avenue and Arcade Street, Chicopee Police Lt. Donald Strange said.

One of the drivers suffered a leg injury and was brought to the hospital by Chicopee Fire Department ambulance. All three cars were damaged.

The circumstances of the accident are under investigation by Chicopee Police, Strange said.

Part of the busy McKinstry Avenue was closed for more than an hour and traffic was rerouted while police and fire officials dealt with the accident, Strange said.

This is the second accident that occurred in this intersection this month. On June 2, a female operator was taken to the hospital after a collision. In the accident one of the cars, a red Jeep, rolled onto its roof.

The crash happened near 95 Boston Road, which is just east of St. Michael's Cemetery in the Pine Point neighborhood.

SPRINGFIELD — City firefighters used the Jaws of Life hydraulic extrication tool to free an injured woman from the wreckage of a car crash on Boston Road Monday evening.

The two-car collision occurred near 95 Boston Road around 5:49 p.m., according to Dennis G. Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Department Commissioner Joseph A. Conant. The woman was taken to Baystate Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Leger said.

The crash happened just east of St. Michael's Cemetery in the city's the Pine Point neighborhood.

The victim initially identified the suspects by their Facebook names - Roman as Jimmy Brooks, and Thompson-Clay as Brandon Savage Life - before picking them out of photo arrays.

SPRINGFIELD - A second suspect has been arrested in a shooting outside Dunkin' Donuts in the South End that left a teenage victim paralyzed below the waist.

Brandon J. Thompson-Clay, 19, of Springfield, was ordered held on $50,000 bail following his arraignment Friday in Springfield District Court on attempted murder and firearms charges.

Springfield police arrested him early Thursday afternoon at 3 Central St., according to police and court records.

In addition to the attempted murder and gun charges, Thompson-Clay was wanted on default warrants from two 2014 cases, one for larceny and one for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

His arrest came two days after Jimmy E. Roman, 21, of Springfield, pleaded innocent to attempted murder and two firearms charges in connection with the midday shooting of an 18-year-old outside Dunkin' Donuts at 805 Main St. on May 29.

The victim, who was shot in the back and upper torso, believes he was targeted in retaliation for the killing of Caleb Worrell in 2014, according to a police report filed in court.

Two males, one black and one Hispanic, approached the victim as he walked out of Dunkin' Donuts, the report states. The Hispanic male pulled out a gun and shot the victim several times, and then both suspects ran off toward the Six Corners neighborhood.

The victim initially identified the suspects by their Facebook names - Roman as Jimmy Brooks, and Thompson-Clay as Brandon Savage Life - before identifying their faces in photo arrays.

Thompson-Clay provoked the shooting and Roman shot him, the victim said.

Due to his wounds, the victim was unable to complete all the paperwork involved in the photo array identifications, police said.

Thompson-Clay is a student at Springfield High School, an alternative high school on Dickinson Street, and Roman worked as a clerk at the Citgo Food Bag at 770 Dickinson St., police said.

Both defendants have a pretrial conference scheduled for July 14.

Darryl Hamilton, a standout center fielder with several MLB teams, was killed in a murder-suicide in a suburban Houston home.

PEARLAND, Texas (AP) -- Darryl Hamilton, a standout center fielder and a member of the New York Mets team that reached the 2000 World Series, was killed in a murder-suicide in a suburban Houston home, authorities said Monday.

Hamilton was found Sunday after he was fatally shot in a house in Pearland. He was 50 and had worked for the MLB Network since 2013.

An initial investigation determined Hamilton was shot several times and that a woman in the home died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was identified as 44-year-old Monica Jordan, Pearland Police Lt. Patrick Savage said. The 14-month old child of Hamilton and Jordan found unharmed at the home and turned over to Child Protective Services.

Hamilton, who was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, played for five teams over 13 seasons in the majors before retiring in 2001. He reached the postseason in four of his final five seasons.

He had a career batting average of .291 in 1,328 games with Milwaukee (1988, 1990-95), Texas (1996), San Francisco (1997-98), Colorado (1998-99) and the Mets (1999-2001). He batted left, but threw with his right arm and had a career fielding percentage of .995 with only 14 errors in 2,770 defensive chances.

In Hamilton's only season with the Rangers, they made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history after winning the AL West title. He also went to the postseason with the Giants and two consecutive years in New York.

Hamilton later worked in operations for the commissioner's office and for baseball's digital arm, MLB Advanced Media.

"All of us at Major League Baseball are shocked and saddened by this tragedy," Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "He was a talented and personable individual, and we were proud to call him a member of the baseball family. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest sympathies to Darryl's family and his many friends throughout our game."

The Mets mourned the loss and said they planned to hold a moment of silence before Friday night's home game to honor both Hamilton and Nelson Doubleday Jr., their former owner who died last week at the age of 81.

The Rangers praised Hamilton as well and singled out his "memorable" year in Texas.

"He was not only an offensive catalyst and defensive standout on the field but also was a club leader and an outstanding teammate," said the team, which planned a moment of silence before Tuesday night's home game against Oakland.

Hamilton never played for the Houston Astros, but the team said he was a strong supporter of their youth baseball efforts. Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said the team was stunned by the tragedy, "something that is impossible for us to even begin to comprehend."

"Darryl was a wonderful player for our organization, but more importantly, he was a true gentleman and a great friend to many here," said Melvin, who was with Texas during Hamilton's season with the Rangers.

Police responded to the home Sunday afternoon after receiving a 911 call. Hamilton's body was found near the home's main entry, while Jordan's body was located in another area of the house, Savage said. Autopsies on both were pending and Savage said the investigation was ongoing.

The news hit hard at Nicholls State, the Louisiana school where Hamilton still holds the record for stolen bases with 140.

"It's an awful situation that happened to a great person," coach Seth Thibodeaux said. "He was a great ambassador of this program and any time he could be a part of anything we did, he was there. I am proud to have known him and proud to have known what type of person he was."

Gov. Nikki Haley's about-face comes just days after authorities charged Dylann Storm Roof, 21, with murder.

By SEANNA ADCOX, JEFFREY COLLINS
and MEG KINNARD

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- South Carolina's governor declared Monday that the Confederate flag should be removed from the grounds of the Statehouse, reflecting what she described as a new consensus that the slayings of nine black churchgoers has changed what the banner stands for.

Gov. Nikki Haley's about-face comes just days after authorities charged Dylann Storm Roof, 21, with murder. The young white man appeared in photos waving holding Confederate flags and burning or desecrating U.S. flags, and purportedly wrote of fomenting racial violence. Survivors told police he hurled racial insults during the attack.

"The murderer now locked up in Charleston said he hoped his actions would start a race war. We have an opportunity to show that not only was he wrong, but that just the opposite is happening," she said, flanked by Democrats and Republicans, blacks and whites who joined her call.

"My hope is that by removing a symbol that divides us, we can move our state forward in harmony, and we can honor the nine blessed souls who are now in Heaven," Haley said.

Only days after the massacre inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, what was long thought politically impossible in South Carolina became the go-to position for the state's politicians.

Haley, a Republican, urged the state's GOP-led House and Senate to debate the issue no later than this summer. If not, she said she will call a special session and force them to resolve it. "I will use that authority for the purpose of the legislature removing the flag from the statehouse grounds," she said.

Making any changes to the banner requires a two-thirds supermajority in both houses under the terms of a 15-year-old deal that moved it from atop the Statehouse to a position next to a monument to Confederate soldiers out front.

Efforts to remove the Confederate battle flag have proven to be career suicide for other South Carolina politicians. The Sons of Confederate Veterans have already warned that they will fight to keep it.

Haley acknowledged that there are very different views about what it symbolizes.

"For many people in our state, the flag stands for traditions that are noble," she said. "The hate-filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag. In no way does he reflect the people in our state who respect, and in many ways, revere it."

For many others, "the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past," she said.

South Carolina can survive and thrive "while still being home to both of those viewpoints. We do not need to declare a winner and a loser," she said. "This is a moment in which we can say that the flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state."

Only a few months have passed since Haley, an Indian-American, described an opponent's rally to bring down the flag as a campaign stunt.

She claimed that businesses weren't bothered by the flag's presence on the Statehouse grounds, despite continuing calls by black groups to boycott the state, and said "we really fixed all that" with her election as the state's first female and first minority governor, and the election of Republican Tim Scott as the first black U.S. senator since Reconstruction in the South.

The day after the shooting, Haley's posture had changed.

"We woke up today and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken," she said.

The Confederate battle flag was first placed atop the Statehouse in the 1960s as an official protest of the civil rights movement. It was moved from the dome to a flagpole on a corner of the grounds in 2000, as part of a compromise between a group of black lawmakers and the Republicans who have controlled South Carolina for a quarter-century.

That deal has kept it flying high since the shooting, even as state and U.S. flags were lowered to honor the victims. It also means that when thousands of mourners honor the Emanuel's slain senior pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, they will likely see the Confederate flag before or after filing past his coffin in the Statehouse.

Haley was flanked by Scott and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, now running for president, as well as South Carolina's only other black congressman, Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn. The chairman of the Republican National Committee has also called for the flag's removal.

"Last week's terrorizing act of violence shook the very core of every South Carolinian," State House Speaker Jay Lucas said earlier Monday. "Moving South Carolina forward from this terrible tragedy requires a swift resolution of this issue."

The White House said President Barack Obama respects the state of South Carolina's authority to decide the issue, but believes the flag belongs in a museum. Obama new Pinckney personally, and plans to deliver his eulogy in Charleston on Friday.

"The flag got appropriated by hate groups. We can't put it in a public place where it can give any oxygen to hate-filled people," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat.

The last governor to take this political risk, Republican David Beasley, was hounded out of office in 1998 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the group's influence also doomed his front-running Senate campaign for the seat won by Republican Jim DeMint.

"Do not associate the cowardly actions of a racist to our Confederate Banner," the group's South Carolina commander, Leland Summers, said in a statement. "There is absolutely no link between The Charleston Massacre and The Confederate Memorial Banner. Don't try to create one."

It remains to be seen whether two-thirds of both houses will vote against such sentiments.

Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Columbia, helped broker the compromise in 2000, and raised these concerns Monday before the governor declared her intentions.

"It is my opinion -- as someone who's fallen on that sword before and shed blood and had the scars to prove it and the threats to prove it -- I think the House should do it first. That's the largest body. If the House is serious, send us a two-thirds 'sine die' amendment, and I think the Senate will do the right thing," Jackson said.

Baystate teams up with state's only public medical school. Watch video

This story updates University of Massachusetts Medical School to open Springfield campus.

SPRINGFIELD - Smiles abounded on every person in at least one area of Baystate Health Monday, as the city's largest employer formally announced a new partnership with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

The partnership, which includes the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, establishes the regional clinical campus of UMMS-Baystate Health at Baystate Medical Center, something Mayor Domenic J. Sarno called "a great announcement for the city of Springfield."

It ends Baystate's 27-year-designation as the western campus of Tufts Medical School, in favor of the commonwealth's only public medical school. It also marks UMMS's first such campus in Western Massachusetts.

The intent is to make the cost of medical school more affordable to a more diversified group of students, and to address the need for more primary care physicians both in Springfield and in surrounding communities. The establishment of the UMMS-Baystate Health campus will allow UMMS to increase its yearly enrollment by 25 students over the next two years, and to allow these future students, recruited specifically for rural and urban primary care, to begin their concentration in the 2017-2018 academic year here, pending approval by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

These students will do their primary science courses at UMMS, in Worcester, and their third- and fourth-year clinical requirements at UMMS-Baystate Health.

"UMass Medical School students are all residents of the state of Massachusetts and the affordability, together with UMass' nationally recognized focus on primary care education, means that the majority enter the primary care field," said Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, in his welcoming remarks to a range of dignitaries.

"This focus pairs up well with Baystate's vision for a higher state of caring which rests on a commitment to clinical excellence."

Those in attendance were from both the partnering institutions, as well as area politicians, including U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield.

Annual medical school costs at Tufts, including living expenses, are around $90,000. Cost for UMMS is around $65,000.

In his remarks, Dr. Micheal F. Collins, UMMS chancellor, said than half of the school's graduates remain in the commonwealth and that the intent of the regional clinical campus, which will also allow for a focus on population health and integrated health management, will be to recruit, from both in and outside the commonwealth, "people who will stay in the community."

In a separate interview, Keroack said he hoped recruitment efforts would eventually help increase the number of Latino and African American doctors to help the hospital better address health issues in underserved communities. Besides its neighborhood clinics and other outpatient facilities, Baystate has four area hospitals with plans to acquire a fifth, Noble in Westfield.

In his remarks, UMass-Amherst Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy noted that Baystate Health and UMass-Amherst have already been collaborating through the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, and that the partnership will allow for new collaborations.

The partnership will create an Institute for Integrated Health Care Delivery Research, as well as new Center for Clinical Trials.

Consideration is also being given to the creation of an M.D./Master of Public Health program involving UMass-Amherst's School of Public Health and Health Sciences and building on UMass-Amherst's first satellite campus at Tower Square in downtown Springfield.

On a day when Springfield got the final $12 million for Union Station, state Rep. Jose Tosado, D-Springfield, called the partnership's regional clinical campus at Baystate Medical "part of Springfield's revitalization."

Students from Tufts University School of Medicine will continue to train at Baystate, but in fewer numbers. Other collaborations will continue, as noted in a statement from Tufts.

"Tufts University School of Medicine has enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with Baystate Medical Center, one of our premier teaching affiliates," the statement read.

"We are pleased that Baystate will remain a major clinical affiliate of TUSM and our students will continue to experience the same outstanding quality of teaching in their clerkships at Baystate. After the affiliation with the University of Massachusetts Medical School takes effect, we anticipate remaining engaged with Baystate and will continue to send students there, although in smaller numbers than at the present time. Meanwhile, we will look for opportunities to continue to strengthen our other outstanding clinical affiliations."

There were no reported injuries or delays tied to the fire, according to a trooper at the Massachusetts State Police barracks in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — A car fire along an elevated section of I-91 in Springfield Monday evening prompted some rubbernecking, but no injuries or delays, according to authorities.

The fire was reported around 6:15 p.m. and was quickly extinguished. The disabled vehicle was expected to be towed from the scene.

There were no backups related to the incident, according to a state trooper from the Springfield barracks.

Fifty-three percent of the graduates plan to attend either two or four-year colleges in September.

WESTFIELD - The Class of 2015 was the last group of graduates from Westfield Vocational Technical High School.

The new name, Westfield Technical Academy is now in place after installation last week of a new sign at the entry to the 33 Smith Ave. school.

The 110 seniors who graduated June 4 behind Valedictorian Susan Mosijchuk and Salutatorian Alina Yurovskiyh did so under the banner of Westfield Vocational Technical High School.

Principal Stefan Czaporowski said of the 110 member class, 53 percent of the graduates plan to attend either two or four-year colleges in September.

He said 42 percent of the class will immediately join their chosen career fields and the remaining five-percent plan to, or already have, enlist in the military.

Fran O'Connell, 56, founded O'Connell Care at Home for senior citizens in 1987.

HOLYOKE -- Fran O'Connell said Monday (June 22) he wants to bring the leadership and management expertise he has shown in running a business to City Hall in formally launching his campaign for mayor.

"I am running for mayor because I want to lead our city in a new direction, a direction in which we properly educate our children, effectively manage the people's government, attract and retain business and create a safe environment for all of our citizens," O'Connell said.

The campaign kickoff took place in the Opera House at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., before an enthusiastic crowd.

O'Connell, 56, said he has spoken to Holyokers for a while and they are concerned about leadership here to ensure strong public safety, public education, economic development and management of city government.

"You're concerned and I'm concerned," O'Connell said. "I believe that we can and must do better."

O'Connell founded O'Connell Care at Home, which helps elderly people stay in their homes instead of going to a nursing home, in 1987.

O'Connell criticized Mayor Alex B. Morse directly in a May 1 interview with The Republican and MassLive.com, in which he declared his plan to run for mayor, saying that Morse lacked experience in management and a record of making smart decisions. But O'Connell didn't refer to Morse by name in the Opera House.

Morse, 26, is running for a third term in the Nov. 3 election.

Anthony Soto, the Ward 2 councilor here, also is running for mayor.

O'Connell said he will work to ensure the School, Police and Fire departments have the resources necessary so that the quality of services match residents' tax dollars. Again referring to his business experience, he said he understands the importance of an investor, or taxpayer, getting a return on an investment.

"I have the experience and expertise," O'Connell said.

O'Connell said the answer to the question of whether the city schools today provide as strong an investment in educating youngsters as they did when he grew up, was no.

"I pledge to you to work as hard as I ever have in my life to change that," O'Connell said.

The mayor in this city of about 40,000 also is chairman of the School Committee and public education is in a crisis here. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education April 28 seized control of the Holyoke schools because officials said they were not only chronically underperforming but had been for years and failed to improve despite warnings.

Such a decision means that as of July 6, a state-appointed receiver has complete authority over the schools to make hiring, firing and other decisions, supplanting the school superintendent and School Committee.

It's unclear how long the receiver -- Stephen K. Zrike, most recently superintendent of schools in Wakefield -- will be in charge of the Holyoke schools, but receivership is likely to be a major issue in the campaign for mayor.

O'Connell, who is married to Kim O'Connell and has three daughters and a stepson, acknowledged the teachers present at the campaign kickoff.

"It's not your fault that our schools are in receivership. Don't let anyone try to blame you for that," O'Connell said.

O'Connell was a lieutenant and a nurse in the U.S. Army Reserves. He graduated with a bachelor's in science and nursing from Columbia University in New York City in 1984. He then received a master's as a family nurse practitioner from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, he said.

The deadline for candidates to file nomination papers is July 28. Those for mayor must file papers with at least 250 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

If necessary, a preliminary election will be held Sept. 22 to narrow the field to the top two vote getters, who would then compete on Election Day.

A story elaborating on this event will be posted Tuesday morning.

State police Maj. Charles Guess said at a news conference that authorities had "specific items" from the Adirondack cabin some 20 miles west of the prison and sent them to labs for DNA and other testing.

By MIKE GROLL

BELLMONT, N.Y. -- Items recovered from a remote hunting cabin might be linked to a pair of convicted killers who escaped from a nearby prison more than two weeks ago, authorities said Monday as searchers swarmed rugged woods in the hamlet in far northern New York.

State Police Maj. Charles Guess said at a news conference that authorities had "specific items" from the Adirondack cabin some 20 miles west of the prison and sent them to labs for DNA and other testing. He would not elaborate on the items but characterized the latest search effort -- one of many over the past 17 days -- as a confirmed lead.

"There are a number of factors that make this a complex search: the weather, the terrain, the environment and frankly the vast scope of the north country of the Adirondacks," Guess said.

He urged residents and seasonal camp owners to call police if they notice anything out of place or capture footage on trail cameras of any suspicious activity.

Acting Franklin County District Attorney Glenn MacNeill had told WPTZ-TV on Sunday that a hunter had reported seeing a person fleeing from a camp in the area.

Terry Bellinger, owner of nearby Belly's Mountain View Inn, said the hunter told him he saw a man run into the woods as he approached the camp Saturday on an ATV. When the hunter went into the cabin, he noticed two things out of place: a jug of water and an open jar of peanut butter on a table. Bellinger said the hunter went to his restaurant, where he talked to police for several hours.

"He was visibly shaken. He wanted a glass of water," Bellinger said.

Inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped June 6 from the Clinton County Correctional Facility. Sweat, 35, was serving a life sentence without parole for killing a sheriff's deputy. Matt, 48, was doing 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnapping, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss.

Prison worker Joyce Mitchell remained in custody on charges she helped the two men escape by providing them hacksaw blades, chisels and other tools. She has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say she had talked to the inmates about killing her husband, Lyle, who also works at the prison. Andrew Wylie, Clinton County district attorney, said Joyce Mitchell told authorities that she and Matt discussed having Matt and Sweat go to her house after they escaped to kill Lyle Mitchell.

Monday's search area is about 20 miles east of Mitchell's home in Dickinson Center.

Busloads of officers, search dogs and helicopters began arriving in the Adirondack hamlet of Bellmont late Sunday as a parallel search more than 350 miles away from the prison wrapped up with no sign of the inmates.

The search had been focused over the weekend on two towns in Allegany County along the Pennsylvania state border. An unconfirmed but credible report came in that two men resembling the prisoners had been spotted near a railroad line that runs along a county road.

New York State Police said Monday morning that the search in the towns of Amity and Friendship in western New York had concluded.

Since Sweat and Matt escaped from the prison in Dannemora, more than 800 law enforcement officers have gone door-to-door checking houses, wooded areas, campgrounds and summer homes.

Vermont State Police also have joined the Adirondack-area search.

Officials said a corrections officer has been placed on administrative leave as part of the investigation into the men's escape.

Attorney Andrew Brockway told Plattsburgh television station WPTZ that the officer, Gene Palmer, was completely forthcoming during 14 hours of questioning Saturday.

"I can 100 percent confirm that he did not know they were planning on breaking out of the prison," Brockway said.

Palmer has not been charged.

The public is invited to witness the training exercise.

SOUTHWICK - The Town Hall complex on College Highway will become an emergency communications and disaster site this weekend with the Southwick Emergency Management Agency volunteers join in a national training exercise.

For 24-hours, from 2 p.m. Saturday until 2 p.m. Sunday, volunteers emergency personnel will establish communications and test their skills under simulated throughout the United States and Canada, Emergency Management Director Charles H. Dunlap said.

It is an annual exercise and the scenario this year will be based on a seismic earthquake in the Ramapo Fault at Rye, N.Y. The emergency scenario will included the total disruption of normal communications channels and the disabling of the ISO New England power grid.

The exercise will test various methods of communicating under the blackout and facilitate emergency message communications, evacuation and treatment procedures.

Dunlap said the public is welcomed to view the exercise which will include assistance from amateur radio operators.

In 1967, Moran joined the English Department at UMass, where he realized his passion for teaching writing to his students, as well as tutoring students in New York and Springfield.

AMHERST -- Former University of Massachusetts English professor Charles Moran III died Sunday night after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was 78.

Charles Moran 

"We will all miss him tremendously," professor Jen Spencer, Chair of the English Department at UMass-Amherst said.

Moran graduated from Princeton University in 1958, and then he taught English at St. George's School in Newport, R.I, and at the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, before receiving his PhD in English from Brown University in 1967.

Moran joined the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, later that year. This is where he realized his passion for teaching writing to his students, as well as tutoring students in New York and Springfield, according to his obituary.

He directed two federally funded writing institutes for primary and secondary school teachers in 1979 and 1981, which led to a decade of work in Massachusetts high schools. This led to the creation of the teacher-directed UMass-Amherst Writing Project, now the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, which he directed from 1994 to 2003.

Moran also helped with the development of the UMass Amherst University Writing Program in 1982, which he also directed.

"Charlie Moran was a devoted teacher and also a savvy creator of programs for both students and teachers, foremost among them being the University Writing Program," said professor Anne Herrington, director of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project.

The University Writing Program requires students to take a mandatory freshman writing course, and then later to take a major-specific writing course in their junior year. Under Moran's leadership, the writing program won the Conference on College Composition and Communication Program's of Excellence Award in 2009.

Moran retired from UMass Amherst in 2005, but continued to work with graduate students until this past winter.

"Charlie Moran was an active and valued colleague in our department for over 35 years; he was one of the first to really understand the importance that technological innovation would have for research and teaching in the field of composition," Spencer said. "He stayed engaged with the university even after his retirement, working with graduate students and helping with the UMass Rising Campaign." Moran also co-chaired the UMass Rising campaign committee for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Moran won UMass' Distinguished Teacher award for 1981-82, the University President's Award for Public Service in 1998, the Outstanding Teacher award from the Massachusetts Council of Teachers of English in 1999, and the Outstanding Technology Innovator award from the national Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication in 2003.

A distinguished writer, he co-authored and co-edited six books and a number of articles in professional journals.

"His enduring legacy lies in the many, many students and teachers whose lives he touched as a teacher, mentor, and colleague. He had a generosity of spirit and belief in the potential of others that came through in all he did," Herrington said.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years Kay Johnson Moran, a son, a daughter and a brother, among other relatives.

The family plans a celebration of his life at a later date.

The trampoline park is the second project proposed in Springfield by separate developers.

SPRINGFIELD -- Plans for a "family friendly" indoor trampoline park were approved by the City Council on Monday night by a unanimous vote, generating no public opposition.

City councilors said they were pleased that the cinema property at 1250 St. James Ave., adjacent to the Springfield Plaza is planned for a positive reuse after the cinemas closed in January.

Bounce! Trampoline Sports hopes to open the business, located in half of the building, by late Novembber, said Bill Merrill, managing partner.

Merrill described it as a "family-focused" indoor recreation facility."

Under conditions suggested by the Hungry Hill Neighborhood Council, no alcohol will be served in the trampoline area, and the entrances and exits will not be changed without city approvals.

There is a separate unrelated proposal for an indoor trampoline park on Avocado Street, involving an unrelated developer.

Albany Road-St..James Avenue LLC was granted the special permit for the Entertainment Cinemas site. The company is an affiliate off the new ownership of the Springfield Plaza.

The business will have large-format trampolines for uses such as "slam dunk" basketball, hoops and foam pits, trampoline dodge ball courts and "ninja" courts.

Councilor Orlando Ramos said there is always a concern when "you see a building like that go dark" such as when Entertainment Cinemas closed. He said he is pleased a positive reuse is now planned.

Councilor Bud Williams praised the family focus, calling it a win for the neighborhood and city.

There were no reported injuries in the blaze, which destroyed the tour bus. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Updates story published at 11:46 a.m. Monday, June 22.

No passengers were on board at the time of the 10:45 a.m. fire near the interchange of the MassPike and I-495, police said. The driver of the bus, owned by AA Transportation of Shrewsbury, escaped unharmed.

Police said passengers who had been on the bus prior to the fire were transferred to another bus when a fluid leak was discovered, leaving the vehicle empty except for the 34-year-old driver from Worcester.

The burned remains of a charter bus that caught fire Monday, June 22, in Hopkinton. (MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE) 

He was driving the vehicle back to the bus company when he noticed smoke and stopped on Exit 11A leading to I-495. The bus caught fire moments later and was destroyed in the blaze, police said.

Hopkinton firefighters extinguished the fire, which prompted authorities to close the ramp between the pike and I-495 for about two hours.

Troopers and investigators from the state Department of Public Utilities, which regulates tour buses, were expected to examine the charred wreckage in the next few days, according to officials in the State Police Office of Media Relations in Framingham.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 104 points to close just under 18,120.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks advanced Monday as investors grew more optimistic that there would be a breakthrough in talks between Greece and its lenders.

Stocks also got a boost from deal news in the health care and energy sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 103.83 points, or 0.6 percent, to 18,119.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12.86 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,122.85 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 36.97 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,153.97.

European nations were cautiously optimistic on Monday that a deal on Greece's bailout was within reach this week, easing fears that the country would default on its debt and leave the euro region. The country needs more loans from European lenders and the International Monetary Fund to enable it to make a June 30 debt payment.

Greece and its creditors have been negotiating for months over what economic reforms the Mediterranean nation should implement in return for the loans. U.S. stocks slumped earlier this month, in part on investors' concerns that a Greek default could potentially cause turmoil in global financial markets.

"An eleventh hour compromise was always the likely scenario and it looks like that is what we are getting," said Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock.

The Greek stock market surged 9 percent and the yield on the 10-year Greek government bond dropped 1.48 percentage points to 10.90 percent as traders bought the bonds.

The main stock indexes in Europe closed broadly higher. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 each rose 3.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.7 percent

In the U.S., health insurers Cigna and Anthem were sharply higher after Anthem made a $47 billion bid to buy its competitor. Anthem, which runs the largest Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance network, was up $5.98, or 3.6 percent, to $171.04. Cigna was up $7.34, or 4.7 percent, to $162.60.

Cigna described the bid as "inadequate" and not in the best interests of its shareholders.

Other health insurers rose on speculation of more mergers in the industry. Aetna rose $3.98, or 3.2 percent, to $128.05.

In the energy markets, the price of oil finished little changed from Friday. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 7 cents to close at $59.68 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 32 cents to close at $63.34 in London.

In other futures trading on the NYMEX, wholesale gasoline fell 2.9 cents to close at $2.030 a gallon. Heating oil rose 0.2 cents to close at $1.869 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8.3 cents to close at $2.733 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The energy sector also had some merger news. Williams Cos. rejected a buyout offer from Energy Transfer Equity for $48 billion, but said that it may still put itself up for sale.

Williams shares rose $12.52, or 26 percent, to $60.86.

U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose to 2.37 percent from 2.26 percent on Friday. The euro was little changed against the dollar at $1.1361, while the dollar rose to 123.37 yen.

Precious and industrial metals futures mostly fell. Gold lost $17.80 to $1,184.10 an ounce, silver rose three cents to $16.14 an ounce and copper edged down less than a penny to $2.57 a pound.

City Solicitor Edward Pikula said the host community agreement with MGM can be amended if the amendment is agreed upon by both sides.

SPRINGFIELD - The city's host community agreement with MGM Springfield was amended Monday night by the City Council, to remove one law office building on East Columbus Avenue from the casino footprint, as it was never purchased by the company.

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula and Frank Fitzgerald, representing MGM, said that eliminating the property at 1317-1343 East Columbus Ave., at Howard Street, from the city's formal agreement was justified as it is not purchased and was not included in the gaming license approved by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

The property co-owner, lawyer Jeffrey Burstein, sought to speak against the amendment on behalf of himself and other owner, Leonard D. Michelman, but was informed that it was not a public hearing under state law and thus he would not be heard.

Council President Michael Fenton said the council is required to have hearings, and will have hearings when there is a formal site plan submitted by MGM, and to consider street closures and to consider zoning approval for the casino overlay district.

The owners of the law office property did file litigation in Massachusetts Land Court, still under review, Pikula said.

Pikula, however, said the council had the right to amend the host community agreement, and the council voted 10-0 to do so.

Prior to the vote, some councilors asked to go into executive (closed door) session with Pikula to discuss litigation or potential litigation, but both motions were rejected by 5-5 tie votes.

Pikula said the casino footprint totals 14.5 acres, while Monday's eliminated parcel was roughly 4,500 square feet.

The host community agreement with MGM can be amended if the amendment is agreed upon by both sides, Pikula said..

The amendment to the casino boundary serves to "conform to the boundary as set forth in the property approved by the Gaming Commission," he said.

Burstein said after the meeting that he had hoped to address the council based on his belief the property issue directly affects the zoning of the casino overlay district.

"I think we would have a due process right to be heard on the issue," he said.

Asked if the dispute had to do with price, he said he would defer to MGM on that question.

Fenton said the council heard that matter separate of any litigation.

"Attorneys representing opposing counsel in ongoing litigation do not have a right to address the City Council," Fenton said.

A pizza delivery driver dodged a bullet as he witnessed a car chase and shootout late Sunday night.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

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