Twarowski has found his regular campers working with him, and strangers are helping out.

Re[publican photo by Don TreegerVillage Green Family Campground owner Lester Twarowski stands by the new playground equipment that replaced what was destroyed in the June 1 tornado.

BRIMFIELD – Lester Twarowski is keeping Village Green Family Campground partially open, pushing on with rebuilding after the tornado destruction; he has found his regular campers working with him, and strangers are helping out.

“With this response, I guess I made the right decision,” Twarowski said.

When a tornado hit the campground June 1, Twarowski’s entire 100 acres were affected.

One camper, Virginia Darlow, was killed when her Winnebago was blown up in the air. A few other campers were injured; 95 of the 97 campers and trailers at the site were destroyed. Every large tree on the site was blown down.

Twarowski said he now has 50 trailer sites ready for his regular, seasonal campers, and so far 12 have moved new trailers to Village Green, and another eight families have moved back there with tents.

There will be no spots available for transient campers this season, but Twarowski said he plans to open May 1, 2012, with space for seasonal and transient campers.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.

What has happened in the few short weeks since the storm hit this campground on Route 20 at the eastern end of Brimfield is that family, friends, campers and contractors have worked to clear debris, restore limited electricity for the 20 occupied camp sites, start the process of rebuilding the pavilion and put up a new playground to replace the one that blew away.

Twarowski said that Kloter Farms of Ellington, Conn., the business that has supplied some building materials for him at cost, also donated some display model playground equipment, which was quickly put up and has already been a hit with the children.

“It was the first thing the kids saw when they came back,” Twarowski said.

View full sizeThe Republican | Don TreegerVillage Green Family Campground residents, who are helping rebuild the camp, take a break for lunch.

Then the children and their families helped clean debris from the playground area, and some of them joined him when he planted an oak tree.

“It helps settle the emotions,” Twarowski said of the planting.
The campers who are back have settled in an open area that had been used by those who would pull in off the road for a site.

Twarowski said his regular seasonal campers were used to wooded camp sites, but they are willing to stay in what he calls the safari area because they want to be back to camp life for the summer.

A fund-raising campaign started at other campgrounds throughout the state by the Massachusetts Association of Campground Owners, which has designated the July 4 weekend as “Support Village Green Family Campground Weekend.”

Participating parks are pledging $1 per site to be donated to the relief fund to help rebuild Village Green, and association representative Marcia Galvin said that with a base of 12,000 camp sites and pledges of matching donations by some owners, she is expecting strong financial help.

Twarowski said he hopes to use the donations to finish the playground area.

The charge was dropped at the request of Prince’s family.

Austin Renaud

NORTHAMPTON – A Hampshire Superior Court judge agreed Tuesday to seal the record of the statutory rape charge against Austin Renaud, one of the defendants in the Phoebe Prince case.

The charge was dropped at the request of Prince’s family on May 5, the same day the cases of the other five defendants were resolved. Although he was not convicted and his case never went to trial, the charge could have shown up on a background check by a potential employer or school, according to Renaud’s lawyer, Terrence M. Dunphy. Prosecutor Steven Gagne did not oppose the motion to seal the record.

Prince, 15, hanged herself in 2010 following what prosecutors say was a period of bullying in school. Her story made international headlines and helped spark a campaign against school bullying. Renaud was not charged with harassing or bullying Prince.

Her death, and the suicide of a 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover of Springfield, prompted a state law requiring each school district to come up with an anti-bullying policy.

The 2010-11 Stanley Cup champions will raise their banner Oct. 6.

The Republican photo by Amanda BrunoTD Garden

According to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe, the Boston Bruins will host the Philadelphia Flyers for their 2011-12 home opener, which will take place on Thursday, October 6 at TD Garden.

The Bruins swept the Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals on their way to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years.

Last season the Flyers overcame a 3-0 series deficit in the conference semifinals to eliminate Boston from Cup contention.

The rest of the Bruins 2011-12 regular season schedule hasn't been released yet.

Follow Amanda Bruno on Twitter @whatsbruinbruno for more Bruins commentary

James "Whitey" Bulger, a notorious Boston gangster on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list for his alleged role in 19 murders, was captured Wednesday near Los Angeles after living on the run for 16 years, authorities said.

FILE - This is a 1986 FBI handout file photo of New England organized crime figure James J. "Whitey" Bulger. Bulger, a notorious Boston gangster on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list for his alleged role in 19 murders, has been captured near Los Angeles after living on the run for 16 years, authorities said Wednesday June 22, 2011. (AP Photo/FBI, File)

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER & GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James "Whitey" Bulger, a notorious Boston gangster on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list for his alleged role in 19 murders, was captured Wednesday near Los Angeles after living on the run for 16 years, authorities said.

Bulger, 81, was arrested along with his longtime girlfriend, 60-year-old Catherine Greig, in the early evening at a residence in Santa Monica, said a law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. The arrest was based on a tip from the recent publicity campaign that federal authorities had regenerated, according to the official.

The two were arrested without incident, the FBI said. The FBI had been conducting a surveillance operation in the area where the arrest was made, Santa Monica police Sgt. Rudy Flores said.

Bulger was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang when he fled in January 1995 after being tipped by a former Boston FBI agent that he was about to be indicted. Bulger was a top-echelon FBI informant.

Over the years, the FBI battled a public perception that it had not tried very hard to find Bulger, who became a huge source of embarrassment for the agency after the extent of his crimes and the FBI's role in overlooking them became public.

Prosecutors said he went on the run after being warned by John Connolly Jr., an FBI agent who had made Bulger an FBI informant 20 years earlier. Connolly was convicted of racketeering in May 2002 for protecting Bulger and his cohort, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, also an FBI informant.

Bulger provided the Boston FBI with information on his gang's main rival, the New England Mob, in an era when bringing down the Mafia was one of the FBI's top national priorities.

But the Boston FBI office was sharply criticized when the extent of Bulger's alleged crimes and his cozy relationship with the FBI became public in the late 1990s.

He has been the subject of several books and was an inspiration for the 2006 Martin Scorsese film "The Departed."

During his years on the run, the FBI received reported sightings of Bulger and Greig from all over the United States and parts of Europe. In many of those sightings, investigators could not confirm whether it was actually Bulger who was spotted or simply a lookalike.

But in September 2002, the FBI received the most reliable tip in three years when a British businessman who had met Bulger eight years earlier said he spotted Bulger on a London street.

After the sighting, the FBI's multiagency violent fugitive task force in Boston and inspectors from New Scotland Yard scoured London hotels, Internet cafes and gyms in search of Bulger. The FBI also released an updated sketch, using the businessman's description of Bulger as tan, white-haired and sporting a gray goatee.

On Monday the FBI on announced a new publicity campaign and accompanying public service ad that asked people, particularly women, to be on the lookout for Greig. The 30-second ad started running Tuesday in 14 television markets to which Bulger may have ties and will air during programs popular with women roughly Greig's age.

The new campaign pointed out that Greig had several plastic surgeries before going on the lam and was known to frequent beauty salons. The FBI also was offering a $2 million dollar reward for information leading to Bulger's arrest.

The pair was scheduled to make an appearance in Los Angeles federal court Thursday. Bulger faces a series of federal charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering. Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.

Bulger, nicknamed "Whitey" for his shock of bright platinum hair, grew up in a gritty South Boston housing project, and went on to become Boston's most notorious gangster. He led the violent Winter Hill Gang, a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets in the Boston area.

After he fled, he became one of the nation's most-hunted fugitives, charged in a number of murders that included the slayings of businessmen in Florida and Oklahoma. With a place next to Osama bin Laden on the "Ten Most Wanted" list, he had a $1 million reward on his head.

Bulger's younger brother, William, was one of the most powerful politicians in the state, leading the Massachusetts Senate for 17 years and later serving as president of the University of Massachusetts for seven years.

For many years, William Bulger was able to avoid any tarnish from his brother's alleged crimes. But in August 2003, William Bulger resigned his post as president of UMass amid pressure from Gov. Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas Reilly.

His resignation came two months after he testified about his brother before a congressional committee. William Bulger said he spoke to his brother shortly after he went on the run in 1995, but said he had not heard from him since and did not know where he was hiding out.

The committee, in a draft report issued in 2003, blasted the FBI for its use of Bulger and other criminals as informants, calling it "one of the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement."

For $8 per title, people can dedicate a film they feel deserves to be preserved and available for the public to see for years to come.

(Vintage photo courtesy of Bill Dwight/Facebook)Pleasant Street Video will close its doors on July 14, with the last rental day slated as July 3. The business is working on directing fans to the Forbes Library to make a donation so as much of its collection can be purchased by the public institution and enjoyed by the public for years to come.

NORTHAMPTON - With July 14 slated as the last official day of business, Pleasant Street Video in Northampton is asking the public to come forward with donations to send its extensive collection to the Forbes Library.

For $8 per title, people can dedicate a film they feel deserves to be preserved and available for the public to see for years to come.

"While we may not have much, we do have a sense of dignity and a sense of community and a distinct sense of pride," wrote store clerk Bill Dwight in a note on his Facebook page. "We collected a remarkable archive of the best films ever to transmit light over the course of the last quarter century. Our inventory is the product of love, obsession and scholarship. Cinephiles named John Morrison, Richard Pini and Dana Gentes curated a peerless archive."

Dwight said the store didn't want to go out like some businesses do by selling everything inside or by blaming the ever-changing world for its hardships. Instead, they approached the Forbes Library in Northampton to see if they were interested in the collection.

"They were excited to try and thrilled with the prospect of offering a comprehensive catalog of film to not only the people of Northampton and (its) neighborhoods, but for the region (and) the entire state, via inter-library loan, for people and places that don't have access or the bandwidth to see these great things," Dwight wrote.

If you go to Pleasant Street Video's website by clicking here, you can see the remainder of the collection and choose a specific title to donate to the library. Then by visiting the library's website by clicking here, you make the tax-deductible donation directly to the public institution.

"The enthusiasm and comments from the community reaffirm my absurd choice of remaining a video clerk for two and a half decades," Dwight wrote. "I love where I work and I love what I do. And I'm not looking forward to expressing that sentiment in the past tense."

Donations can also be made in person or via traditional mail by writing a check payable to Forbes Library and mailing to Forbes Library, Attn: PSV Fund, 20 West St., Northampton MA 01060.

To see the overwhelming public response to the donation program and the store's closing, visit Pleasant Street Video's Facebook page by clicking here.

The council $250,000 out of the reserve account, but struck a deal to add that amount to educational spending through a yet-to-be-calculated supplemental budget.

AGAWAM - The City Council has adopted a $73.3 million fiscal 2012 budget, cutting $250,000 out of the reserve account of the $73.5 million budget proposed by the mayor, but struck a deal to add that amount to educational spending through a yet-to-be-calculated supplemental budget.

Mayor Richard A. Cohen and the council came to an understanding at Monday’s City Council meeting that they would seek to use the $250,000 to restore some of the 31.8 full-time equivalent positions in the School Department slated for elimination in the mayor’s proposed budget.

Richard Cohen

Among the cuts in the mayor’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget was laying off employees holding four full-time equivalent teaching positions and not filling six open teaching positions. Cohen and the council reached agreement about 11:20 p.m. The council voted 11-0 to cut $250,000 out of the reserve account on a motion by City Councilor Gina M. Letellier.

Meanwhile, Cohen met Tuesday with School Superintendent Mary Czajkowski to urge her to rehire teachers through a supplemental budget that he will submit to the City Council after being approved by the School Committee.

Councilors were frustrated by the fact that they are not allowed to add money to a mayoral budget; they may only cut.

Letellier complained that it is not “fair” to have so much money in reserve and in the free cash account while cutting services.

Cohen’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget had $500,000 in the reserve account and $3.4 million left in free cash after tapping $1.5 million for fiscal 2012.

City Councilor Robert Magovern agreed, saying he believed the mayor could refigure the budget and “come up with some money somewhere.”

Cohen has said his $73,547,630 spending plan for fiscal 2012, which starts July 1, is the first budget in his years as mayor in which he has had to propose layoffs.

The lion’s share of the spending, at $34,194,167, has been proposed for the School Department.

His proposed education budget calls for laying off 13 teacher’s aides, nearly four full-time equivalent teachers and two secretaries and not filling the positions of six teachers, one secretary, the school resource officer and five instructional coaches.

“Agawam has made a decision, as a community, to make education its top priority, and my administration will help to see that through while maintaining the lowest split tax rate in the area,” Mayor Cohen stated in a press release issued by his office on behalf of Czajkowski and himself.

“It was apparent last evening that the mayor, City Council, Agawam School Committee, and school department were working together to do what is in the best interest of the town’s children,” stated Czajkowski.

Cohen has said he has avoided resorting to layoffs in the municipal sector by not filling vacancies in the following jobs: the assistant treasurer, a Department of Public Works senior clerk, a building maintenance employee, a police officer, a half-time secretarial position in the town clerk’s office, a highway and grounds laborer, a working foreman and a heavy equipment operator in the waste water budget.

She was first elected to the School Committee four years ago in a special election,

Laura K. Maloney

WESTFIELD – Laura K. Maloney plans to step down from her School Committee seat effective July 29, setting the stage for a School Committee-City Council appointment, special election or both to fill the remaining two years of her four-year term.

Maloney submitted her letter of resignation to Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, who serves a School Committee chairman, earlier this week.

Anticipated for months, the resignation is the result of Maloney’s husband Barry M. Maloney becoming president of Worcester State University on July 1. The family is currently planning their relocation to the Worcester area.

“I am glad I was able to remain on the committee to finish the search and appointment process for a new superintendent of schools and the Fiscal 2012 budget process,” Maloney said this week.

“It has been a great experience,” she said of her past four years as a member of the School Committee.

Maloney was first elected in a special election, held in conjunction with the city’s 2007 general election. She was elected to fill the remaining two years of a four-year term of the late Sharon A. Merlo-Gosselin.

Gosselin’s son Jeffrey L. Gosselin was appointed, for four months, to succeed his mother by a joint convention of the School Committee and City Council in September, 2007. Maloney defeated Gosselin in the 2007 city election.

Maloney then won a four-year term for the seat, defeating Gosselin, in the 2009 municipal election.

A decision by city officials on the path to fill the vacancy when it occurs is pending and is currently under review by the city’s Law Department.

Maloney’s current term does not expire until 2013.

School Committee veteran members Mary Ann Cleland and Mary Beth Ogulewicz Sacco have already announced they are not candidates for re-election in the scheduled Nov. 8 election. They along with Kevin J. Sullivan, who has not yet announced his intentions, are up for new four-year terms on the school board.

Four residents, including Jeffrey Gosselin, have already secured nomination papers from City Clerk Karen M. Fanion for the three four-year School Committee seats.

The three are Ramon Diaz Jr. of 242 West Rd.; Michelle P. Lesieur, 101 Hubbard St. and Melissa Alvarado of 66 East Glen Dr..

Nomination papers, with at least 60 signatures of registered voters, must be returned to Fanion’s office by Aug. 9.

If a special election is held this year to fill Maloney’s remaining term, those nomination papers will become available upon her official resignation July 29.

Today's Poll: Do you believe the South Hadley School District is obligated to provide financial assistance to Debra Caldieri?

FILE- Early risers gather at dawn for the first 21st Century sunrise in the United States at West Quoddy Head Light, the easternmost point in the United States, in Lubec, Maine, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000. Hundreds of people braved single digit temperatures to witness the event. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The Forecast

A morning with showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10 a.m. A daytime high of 72 degrees and the chance of rain is 80 percent.


Tonight: Showers are likely and a thunderstorm is possible before 8 p.m. Continued showers and thunderstorms are expected into Friday morning.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's poll

South Hadley High School is at the center of another controversy involving the late Phoebe Prince, who killed herself in Jan. 2010 after relentless bullying from classmates at the school.

In December, Latin teacher Debra Caldieri, who is credited by Prince's family as one of the few people in the school that stood up for the teenager, went on unpaid medical leave after her multiple sclerosis flared up in the wake of what she describes as harassment and bullying from school administrators.

Caldieri said that the day after Prince's death, the school was in chaos and out of concern for a male student who previously dated Prince, she drove four students off campus to check on him.

She said this incident sparked the beginning of a chain of events, including Principal Daniel T. Smith from not telling her when Prince's funeral was to be held, that ultimately led to her increased stress which flared her medical condition.

On Wednesday, she appeared at a South Hadley School Committee meeting to ask for financial help as one of Prince's aunts has been helping with medical bills since Caldieri's money ran out.

Caldieri said her doctors attribute her decline to the stress she endured in the workplace, but the schools contends that her multiple sclerosis is a "pre-existing condition" and therefore they are not obligated to pay her while she's out.

The school committee recently honored Smith in light of his retirement and approved a three percent raise for Superintendent Gus Sayer, which was just re-approved after the initial vote was found to have illegally taken place in executive session.

To read the full story, click here.

Yesterday's results: On Wednesday, we asked, "Do you agree with the town of Monson's decision to only allow temporary trailers to be placed where residents' destroyed homes once stood?" 34 people voted. 91.18% said an exception to town code should be made for tornado victims and 8.82% said that the law is the law and tornado victims should have no special exception from it.

Wednesday's Top 5

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on June 22 were:

1. Tornado in the eastern towns [Photo Gallery]


2. South Hadley teacher Deb Caldieri claims harassment and bullying from administrators after speaking out in wake of Phoebe Prince suicide


3. Best of Prom: Kicks, kilts and camo [Photo Gallery]


4. Massachusetts tornadoes aerial photos: Path of the tornado one week later (part 2: Monson, Brimfield, Sturbridge, Southbridge) [Photo Gallery]


5. Best of 2011 Prom: Dance-on, Dance-off[Photo Gallery]

Quote of the Day

“I have been actively trying to get an apartment since this happened and I just keep running into dead ends. I need to find a place for me and my kids.”
— A local mother, living at the MassMutual Center, speaking on her struggle to move on after losing everything in the June 1 tornadoes. To read about the housing difficulties facing affected families, click here.

City councilors will be among the volunteers serving food to downtown residents, employees and visitors

Jose Tosado

SPRINGFIELD – City councilors will be serving the people next week – literally.

At a press conference Wednesday, the council announced it is hosting a cookout next Wednesday at Court Square, with all proceeds benefiting the hardest hit neighborhoods from the June 1 tornado. The proceeds will be divided equally among the neighborhood councils in the South End, Maple High, East Forest Park and Old Hill.

Councilors and staff members will be among volunteers serving food at the cookout which is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. The council is asking for a minimal donation of $5, serving hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, water and soda, and an optional Friendly’s Sundaes-To-Go for an additional $2.

Kateri B. Walsh

The cookout was organized by council President Jose F. Tosado and Vice-President Kateri B. Walsh, who praised the many fundraising efforts that are benefitting the tornado victims. They were joined at the City Hall press conference by Councilors Melvin Edwards and Timothy Allen, East Forest Park President Christopher A. Caputo, and Spirit of Springfield representatives.

Springfield’s 375th Anniversary Celebration lapel pins will also be available for $2.

Businesses and organizations that are contributing to the council cookout include: Baystate Health; Community Music School of Springfield; Elegant Affairs; Friendly Restaurants; MassMutual Center; Performance Food Group; Spirit of Springfield; and Springfield Business Improvement District.

Also, One Financial Plaza, Tower Square, Colebrook and Monarch Place are helping to distribute event information.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact the council office at (413) 787-6170.

A former Boston mob associate speaks on the search for Whitey Bulger; a search of Bulger's Santa Monica home yields cash and weapons; and more of the morning's headlines.

• Stash of weapons and cash seized from Whitey Bugler's Santa Monica home [LATimes.com]


• U.S. to launch trusted air traveler program in fall [Reuters.com]


• Earthquake refugee on Nantucket finds tornado debris from Western Massachusetts [WWLP.com]


• A clean new era for Boston Harbor [Boston.com]


• Federal lawsuit alleges police brutality and coverup by Connecticut police department [Courant.com]




Kevin Weeks, a former associate of the Boston Mob, speaks about the search for Whitey Bulger


• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


• Do you have News Links? Send them our way or tweet them to @masslivenews

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.

Whether or not the application for the state grant is successful, the Parks & Recreation Department will be making $1 million in improvements to the area.

File photo | The RepublicanFishermen are reflected on the still water at Spec Pond in Wilbraham.

WILBRAHAM – The Board of Selectmen at its Monday night meeting will be asked to give its endorsement to an application for a $500,000 state grant to help fund improvements to the Spec Pond recreation area.

The Park & Recreation Department is seeking the same grant it sought last summer, but was denied, Parks & Recreation Director Bryan J. Litz said.

The improvements for which the state grant is being sought range from a new softball field and walking trails to playground renovations.

The Friends of Recreation also has done a $700,000 fund-raising drive for the improvements to the recreation area.

Litz said an additional $300,000 in Community Preservation Funds over two years will help pay for the improvements.

Whether or not the application for the state grant is successful, the Parks & Recreation Department will be making $1 million in improvements to the area, Litz said. A new softball field, walking trails and a dog park are the primary goals of the improvements, he said. Also included are pavilion and beach improvements, playground renovations and creation of a spray park, he said.

Grant funds will help make the facilities, including the beach and pavilion, accessible to the handicapped and create a playground for children of all abilities, Litz said. Creation of a trail system through the park would allow people with disabilities to reach all playing fields, he said.

Litz said a there were a larger number of applicants than usual for the grant application last summer. The town also applied unsuccessfully for the grant in 2008, he said.

“Hopefully, the third time is the charm,” Litz said.

The grant application is due by July 14. The town will hear in 60 to 90 days whether it receives the grant, Litz said.

William Bulger, was one the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts. His brother is the state's most notorious mobster.

William M. Bulger

BOSTON — James "Whitey" Bulger was one of Boston's most notorious mobsters.

His younger brother, William Bulger, was one the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts.

William had little reaction to the news that his brother was captured in California late Wednesday after 16 years on the run.

He said "thank you" and "no comment" to a Boston Globe reporter who told him of the capture.

William Bulger was president of the state Senate for 17 years and served seven years as president of the University of Massachusetts.

He testified in 2003 before a congressional committee investigating the FBI's ties to mobster informants such as his brother.

After receiving immunity, he acknowledged receiving a call from Whitey shortly after he fled, but said he had not heard from him since and did not know where he was.

Information from: The Boston Globe

The FBI’s new publicity campaign pointed out Catherine Greig’s habit of frequent visits to beauty salons and her dental hygiene that included monthly trips to the dentist for cleanings.

View full sizeThis is the newly released wanted poster from the Massachusetts State Police that shows Catherine Greig.

BOSTON – The FBI hunted for James “Whitey” Bulger for 16 years without success. A switch of focus to his longtime girlfriend yielded results in just days.

Bulger and Catherine Greig were captured in Santa Monica, Calif. late Wednesday night just three days after the FBI launched a new publicity campaign that included a public service announcement aired in 14 American television markets during programs popular with women.

It pointed out the 60-year-old Greig’s habit of frequent visits to beauty salons and her dental hygiene that included monthly trips to the dentist for cleanings.

The FBI said in a statement that “recent publicity produced a tip” that led them to the fugitives.

The FBI has already updated its website, placing a bright red “captured” band along the bottom of Bulger’s photo.

U.S. District Court Judge Garvan Murtha is holding a two-day hearing on whether he should block Vermont from closing the plant while the underlying legal battle plays out.

File photo by Glenn Russell / Burlington Free PressVermont Yankee employees drill a well from which tritium-contaminated water will be pumped and stored at th Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in March.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – About 50 protesters were awaiting the start Thursday morning of a federal court hearing that is part of an effort by the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to block the state’s efforts to close the Vernon reactor next March.

U.S District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha is holding a two-day hearing Thursday and Friday on whether he should block Vermont from closing the plant while the underlying legal battle plays out.

Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corp. maintains in court papers that it is likely to prevail when the full case goes to trial. It says it already meets the other legal test of irreparable harm because uncertainty about the plant’s future is causing valuable employees to leave.

The state’s lawyers say they doubt Entergy will prevail in the underlying case.

The pageant is at 1 p.m. at Saint Cecilia's Parish Center on Main Street.

File photo by David Molnar / The RepublicanPast Peach Queen Jenna R. Krzanik is seen in the 2008 Wilbraham Peach Festival parade.

WILBRAHAM - The Peach Queen Pageant is back.

No Peach Queen Pageant was held last year, the first year the Wilbraham Peach Festival was discontinued.

But when the town began planning for its 250th Anniversary Celebration in 2013, Patricia Diolatevi, longtime chair of the Peach Queen Pageant, decided to bring it back.

Diolatevi said the pageant is back permanently, and will be held every year.

The 25th Peach Queen Pageant will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. in St. Cecilia’s Parish Center on Main Street.

There are five contestants, Diolatevi said.

They are Nicole Asselin, Brianna Bateson, Elizabeth Bones, Marissa Halpin and Charlotte Lawson.

The new Peach Queen and her court will be chosen.

The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Wilbraham Community Association, the first runner up will receive a $500 scholarship and the three other court members will receive $300 scholarships each.

The new Peach Queen will march in the 250th anniversary parade which will be held in June, 2013, Diolatevi said.

Diolatevi said she plans to invite the Peach Queens from the last 25 years to march in the parade which will be held in June, 2013.

The new Peach Queen will be judged on four events, Diolatevi said.

In the first event, the contestants will be asked for their name, address and their future goals.

The contestants are usually high school seniors.

In the second event, the contestants are judged on a pageantry walk.

In the third event the contestants are asked to give a speech which explains why they want to be Peach Queen.

In the fourth event, the contestants are judged on their ability to “think on their feet” and answer questions, Diolatevi said.

A variety of events has been planned for the 250th Anniversary Celebration including a First Night Celebration on New Year’s Even, a Quarter Millenium Ball, a parade ending with a picnic and band concert at Fountain Park, a Taste of Wilbraham, a golf tournament, a house tour and a giant town-wide tag sale.

Diolatevi and former Selectman Kevin J. Moriarty are chairing the 250th Anniversary Celebration Committee.

More Americans are convinced the country is headed in the wrong direction and fewer approve of President Barack Obama's economic stewardship.

FILE - In this President Barack Obama outlines his fiscal policy during an address at George Washington University in Washington. Obama said in April that he wants to do away with tax breaks to lower the rates and to reduce government borrowing. His proposal would result in $1 trillion in tax increases over the next 12 years. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly troubled by the economy, more Americans are convinced the country is headed in the wrong direction and fewer approve of President Barack Obama's economic stewardship. The sentiments pose a new complication for the president's re-election hopes and create an obstacle to a recovery that relies in part on public perceptions.

For the first time this year, less than 50 percent of respondents to an Associated Press-GfK poll say Obama deserves re-election. The new poll shows a virtual split of 48-47 in favor, raising a new hurdle for the president as economic concerns strip away the gloss he briefly gained in May after the death of Osama bin Laden.

What's more, four out of five now believe the economy is in poor shape, with 36 percent calling it "very poor," a new high in AP-GfK polling.

The survey findings track with recent independent data that show a dip in consumer confidence, and they reflect the May uptick in unemployment and a stubbornly depressed housing market. Amid anemic hiring, high gas prices and financial turmoil in Europe, Americans are increasingly interested in saving — not spending — their money, adding yet another constraint to the economic recovery.

Yet, 16 months before the November 2012 elections, Obama also is perceived favorably by 56 percent of respondents and 52 percent approve of his job performance overall. Despite the overwhelming sentiment that the national economy is in poor shape, more than three of five of those polled rated the financial situation of their own households as good. And, echoing previous findings, about three-quarters of the survey participants said it is unrealistic to expect noticeable results on the economy in one term.

For Obama, the poll results are a mixed appraisal. In many ways they show him returning to the public ratings he faced before bin Laden's death created a spike of approval. As such, they indicate a certain resilience — an ability to hold steady even as economic indicators worsen.

But the new AP-GfK poll also reveals trouble spots for Obama.

It shows a sharp spike in concern about unemployment. Overall, 86 percent call it extremely or very important, the highest level since just before the 2010 elections. Nearly four in 10 expect there to be an increase in the number of people unemployed in the country over the next year, while just 23 percent say they expect unemployment to drop. In previous AP-GfK polling, those figures had been about even.

Obama has hit new unwelcome highs — in public disapproval over his handling of the economy in general and unemployment in particular — according to the poll. In addition, more disapprove of his handling of health care and the federal budget deficit than in the past.

The erosion of approval is primarily among women. Last month, 57 percent said they felt he deserved re-election, a figure that dipped to 48 percent this month. The decline came almost entirely among white women, just 37 percent of whom say Obama deserves re-election in the new poll. He also lost support among self-described independents, from 62 percent approval last month to 43 percent now, his lowest since June 2010.

With the economy clearly looming as the top political issue in his re-election, the president has been traveling every week for months to campaign battleground states to promote job initiatives. He acknowledges the sluggishness of the recovery, illustrated by May's uptick in unemployment.

The price of gasoline at the pump has declined a bit recently though it is still nearly 90 cents higher on average than a year ago. White House officials are also monitoring the precarious fiscal situation in Greece, where a default by the government could send damaging financial tremors across world markets.

"I just think that he's not doing his job the way he should be," said Mary Perrine, a grandmother of three from West Lafayette, Ind., who said she has struggled to pay her bills.

Obama faced 59 percent disapproval on his handling of the economy and on unemployment. The steepest decrease was among respondents with incomes above $50,000. In May, 53 percent approved of his efforts to fight unemployment; in June, 36 percent approved.

"I kind of sit on the fence about it," Paul Fenger, a Cottonwood, Minn., farmer said about Obama's job performance.

"I think he is trying to do a good job, but the information isn't getting out, and Congress — the Republicans and Democrats — aren't working together."

Obama may have to count on the likes of John Holdnak, a Florida Department of Education administrator, who didn't vote for him in 2008 but believes "he has really stepped up to do this job."

Does Obama deserve re-election? "I don't know yet. A lot of things can happen now and between the election that could be his fault. At this particular juncture, he hasn't done anything in my mind not to be re-elected," said Holdnak, one of the survey participants.

The poll was conducted June 16-20 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

___

Associated Press Polling Director Trevor Tompson, Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

The Wiley and Russell Dam is still set to be removed.

View full sizeThe deteriorated gate control at Greenfield's Mill Street Dam in an undated photo from a 2007 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dam is set to be repaired and the city is planning to install a fish ladder.

GREENFIELD – Instead of removing the Mill Street Dam, the city now plans to repair it and install a fish ladder. The Wiley and Russell Dam is still set to be taken out.

Public works director Sandra D. Shields has said that neither dam serves a modern function and using them for hydroelectric power is not cost-effective. Removing the Mill Street Dam would cause sediment to damage bridges and utility pipes upstream.

“The river would start downcutting and eroding back to its original stream bed,” said Laurence Petrin, engineering superintendent for the DPW. “Any utilities, any bridge abutments, would have a tendency to be affected by that scour.”

“To prevent the scour, we would actually have to build other structures in the river,” he said. Shields said that problem drove the change in the design.

“Our ultimate responsibility is to protect infrastructure along and in the river,” said Shields in a press release. “The removal option at Mill Street dam requires infrastructure protection that is ultimately more expensive and more difficult to maintain than repairing the dam.”

The concrete pier supporting the gate controls is deteriorating, the spillway is in fair condition and the outlet works area is in poor condition, according to a 2007 study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Since 1999, the city has been weighing its options for dealing with the four dams on the Green River that have become financial and environmental liabilities. Fish ladders are planned for the Swimming Pool and Pumping Station Dams, which are still useful.

Removing the Wiley and Russell will help fish such as blueback herring and Atlantic salmon migrate to upstream spawning waters. It is classified as a significant hazard, meaning if it fails it could cause loss of life and property damage. It is in poor to unsafe condition, the corps study said.

View full sizeA failed sluiceway at Greenfield's Wiley and Russell Dam in an undated photo from a 2007 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dam is set to be removed.

According to the press release, the state Office of Dam Safety gave the city an ultimatum: repair it or remove it. Removal will open up 0.3 miles of spawning waters, according to the corps study.

Fish ladders at the other three dams would provide access to another 18.8 miles, according to the same report.

The cost of the project was not available by press time, nor was the expected timetable.

The project is a partnership with the corps, Connecticut River Watershed Council, the non-profit American Rivers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several other public and private organizations.

During the permitting process in the coming months, the public will have an opportunity to offer input.

An Afghanistan intelligence analysis concludes that U.S. special operations raids and special operations-led outreach to Afghan villages are producing tangible results, but that larger counterinsurgency projects --- like the billions of dollars spent to install a credible Afghan government --- are lagging.

Soldiers train in a mock city at the National Training Center. Role players replicate Afghan police, civilians and media on the battlefield.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Afghanistan intelligence analysis concludes that U.S. special operations raids and special operations-led outreach to Afghan villages are producing tangible results, but that larger counterinsurgency projects — like the billions of dollars spent to install a credible Afghan government — are lagging, The Associated Press has learned.

The Afghan National Intelligence Estimate produced early this year gives low marks to some of the set pieces of Gen. David Petraeus' counterinsurgency campaign. The general was to appear Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a confirmation hearing on his nomination as the next CIA director.

While the intelligence report notes the success of the special operations programs and finds conventional troops able to hold the territory they've taken, three U.S. officials who have read it say it notes far less progress on developing Afghan security forces able to hold their own or on installing an Afghan government able to serve its people. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

The report, which covers the final quarter of 2010, says the special operations night raids, combined with village-by-village security operations, have shown more lasting progress in degrading the Taliban and its influence than attempts by conventional military forces to drive out militants, the officials say.

While the document does not favor one strategy over another, the data gives ammunition to those who support Vice President Joe Biden's special operations-centered counterterrorism strategy over Petraeus' backing of traditional counterinsurgency. Petraeus' approach requires a larger footprint of conventional troops and appears to be on the way out, with President Barack Obama confirming the July drawdown of surge troops.

Other U.S. officials argue that the success of special operations troops would not have been possible without the logistical support conventional forces provided in territory the U.S. clawed back from insurgents in large-scale operations. And the NIE says progress has been made in special operations-led counterinsurgency projects, not just raids, the officials said.

Petraeus, together with his predecessor, now-retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, championed the surge in special operations forces to roughly 10,000 — including about 4,000 elite "direct action" forces who hunt militants and 6,000 others, such as Green Berets and Marine special operators, who train local village security forces.

Petraeus has taken issue with previous reports, which are largely taken from CIA analysis, arguing that they draw on snapshots of information that no longer reflect current realities on the ground, according to a U.S. official involved in some of the discussions of previous NIEs. The report described to the AP was issued in February, meaning it was derived from data from December, the official pointed out, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe high-level discussions.

But it shows the rough waters Petraeus could be headed for as the 20th director of the CIA, following the popular Leon Panetta. He'll be running an agency charged in part with finding the holes in the war strategy he helped build and champion.

Petraeus is one of the most decorated generals of his time, having run two of America's toughest and longest-running wars and racking up more front pages and headlines to help foster support for those campaigns. He now has been nominated to run what's known as "the silent service." As director, Petraeus will have to win over a secretive agency that is suspicious of outsiders, by nature and training.

Former CIA counsel John Rizzo lived through 10 CIA director transitions in his 34 years at the agency. Rizzo, now senior counsel at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, ticked off the three qualities he said were needed to succeed as director: a close relationship with the president, a good working relationship with Congress and acceptance by the agency workforce. He said that only Panetta had all three — starting out with the first two in hand and then working hard to reach out to the community. Panetta won over would-be detractors by championing CIA causes on Capitol Hill, such as arguing against the prosecution of CIA interrogators for carrying out harsh techniques such as waterboarding.

Where Panetta faced an agency that initially saw him as an unknown quantity, fearing he did not know enough about the field to direct its staff and operations, CIA staff worry about Petraeus because they know him as a general who did not always agree with them, say current and former intelligence officials.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan, intelligence reports done by the agency frequently have been at odds with the picture of progress the general portrayed to the public, two former officials say.

Then again, it's rare that the picture presented to the public by a general running a war matches the private advice and criticism given to him by the intelligence services, tasked with tracking down what's not working and pointing it out.

"When you are the four-star general running the war, you are the biggest customer for CIA," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. Now, he'll be providing that intelligence to those in the field.

Chambliss predicted Petraeus would make the transition easily. The senator said Petraeus already had started working on CIA budget issues, including how to cut costs despite some large looming investments in satellite and other technical systems.

The general already has made two other signals that have soothed the senators' and the agency's fears about having a military man in charge, Chambliss said. Petraeus agreed to retire from the Army and has told lawmakers he'll bring no staff with him.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray, who now serves in the seat Whitey's brother William once held, said she though he was either dead or out of the country.

By MICHAEL NORTON
and KYLE CHENEY

BOSTON - Four days after launching a new publicity campaign aimed at locating the longtime girlfriend of James J. "Whitey" Bulger, law enforcement authorities captured the former fugitive mobster from South Boston wanted for 16 years in connection with his roles in 19 murders committed during the 1970s and 1980s.

The FBI on Tuesday began running public service announcements in 14 U.S. cities to bring attention to Catherine Greig, 60, Bulger's longtime girlfriend accused of harboring a fugitive, with hopes that the publicity would lead to quality tips about the whereabouts of Bulger, 81.

His capture is expected to touch off a frenzy of reaction from the families of his alleged victims, within the South Boston community where he once lived, and regarding his relationship with his brother, former UMass and Senate President William Bulger.

During a radio interview Thursday morning, Senate President Therese Murray said she thought authorities would never find the fugitive mobster.

"I honestly didn't," Murray told WATD, explaining she thought he might be dead or might have been in Europe, unable to get back to the United States after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Murray described Bulger as "just like Osama, hiding in plain sight."

"The fact that he had a lot of cash and lot of weapons in that apartment means that somebody has been helping him along the way and maybe we'll find out who that is," she said.

Adding to the intrigue about Bulger's disappearance were accounts written throughout the years about Bulger's questionable relationship with the FBI, his years of work as an informant for the agency and whether he had been tipped off to the charges pending against him, enabling is flight.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz was planning a morning press conference at her Moakley Courthouse office on the Boston waterfront to discuss the news that Bulger had been apprehended. She was expected to be joined by state police superintendent Marian McGovern, U.S. Marshal John Gibbons and officials from the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dick Lehr, a Boston Globe reporter who worked on the Spotlight team that chronicled the mysterious Bulger family in the 1980s - Billy's rise to the pinnacle of Massachusetts political power and Whitey's seeming invincibility from prosecution, despite his reputation as a prominent gang boss - and later helped unravel his unseemly relationship with the FBI, told the News Service Thursday morning that he often wondered whether this day would come.

"It's been one of the big water cooler questions of all time. Will he ever be captured? Is he dead? Is he alive?" Lehr said in a telephone interview. "I've always felt that this is obviously the big, unfinished piece was capturing the crime boss who was essential to several decades of corruption in Boston law enforcement."

Lehr said he hoped Bulger's capture would help investigators and reporters fill in the blanks about one of the most mysterious eras in organized crime and law enforcement, not only for historical curiosity, but to prevent the misuse of confidential informants.

"The FBI basically made him and preserved him and enabled him to do all the death and destruction that he did," Lehr said. "The modern significance, at a minimum is, hopefully a fuller understanding of what did happen and what went so horribly wrong for so long.

"It's hard to put your head way back then," he continued. "Whitey Bulger was … a legendary crime boss who somehow magically eluded law enforcement. We started peeling away the onion. At the time it was mind-boggling because he was an Irish crime boss. The fact that he would be a rat was almost unimaginable."

The FBI arrested Bulger after a tip from a recently launched publicity campaign.

Associated Press photoPolice and FBI surround the apartment building in Santa Monica, Calif., where fugitive crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger and his longtime companion Catherine Greig were arrested, Wednesday night. The two were arrested without incident, the FBI said. Bulger was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang when he fled in January 1995 after being tipped by a former Boston FBI agent that he was about to be indicted.

News of the arrest of New England mob boss James J. "Whitey" Bulger in California after 16 years of being on the lam began to reverberate across the United States Thursday.

The FBI arrested Bulger, 81, and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, 60, after a tip from a recently launched publicity campaign, the Christian Science Monitor reported. Both are supposed to appear in a Los Angeles federal court Thursday.

Bulger had a $2 million reward on his head and rose to No. 1 on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list after Osama bin Laden was killed, according to the Monitor.

The Miami Herald reported that authorities are eager to a 1982 murder in Florida.

"Bulger is facing a slew of federal charges in Boston, and is also facing a Miami-Dade murder charge for the 1982 slaying of former World Jai-Alai owner James Callahan, whose bullet-ridden body was found in the trunk of a car at Miami International Airport. A one-time federal informant, Bulger is accused of corrupting his FBI agent handler, John J. Connolly."

FBI officials believe that their recent decision to focus on Bulger's longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, resulted in the couple's arrest.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a new publicity campaign, launched Monday, focused on 14 cities where there had been reported sitings of the couple over the years.

"Recent publicity produced a tip which led agents to Santa Monica where they located both Bulger and Greig," Richard Deslauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Boston, and Steven Martinez, the FBI's assistant director in charge in Los Angeles, said a statement reported by the Times.

The Atlantic noted that the ads highlighted Greig's frequent visits to dentists She once was a dental hygienist and was known to have gotten monthly cleanings and had a "fondness" for plastic surgery, the magazine reported online.

"She had breast implants, a facelift and a nose job before disappearing with Bulger ... before he was indicted on racketeering charges in Boston in 1995," the Atlantic reported.

Bulger was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character, Frank Costello, in Martin Scorcese's "The Departed" - particularly because of his time in the 1970s as an FBI informant, the Baltimore Sun pointed out.

Boston Herald columnist, Howie Carr, who has an afternoon radio talk show that can be heard in Western Massachusetts on radio station WHYN-AM leaped on the air on the air Thursday morning talk show to say how happy he is to hear of Bulger's capture.

"I'm very happy today," Carr said on the WEEI radio network. "My heart feels like an alligator. I'm very happy."

Carr is the author of two books on the New England mob scene, "The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century"
and "Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld."

From England, the Guardian of London reported that the details of Bulger's life on the run could provide more embarrassment for the the FBI if it emerges he had been in California for some time.

"The Pakistani ambassador to the US recently quipped: "If Whitey Bulger can live undetected by American police for so long, why can't Osama bin Laden live undetected by Pakistani authorities?", the a Guardian news report said.

Ultimately, it was the relentless of pursuit of Bulger that lead to his capture, USA today concluded.