Neither Speaker Robert DeLeo nor Senate President Stanley Rosenberg specified vetoes they would seek to override.

BOSTON - The House plans this week to start the process of overriding at least some of Gov. Charlie Baker's $162 million in vetoes carved out of the $38.1 billion state budget, leaders said Monday, with the Senate hoping to follow suit "very, very soon."

Neither Speaker Robert DeLeo nor Senate President Stanley Rosenberg specified vetoes they would seek to override.

With many advocacy groups urging to have their vetoed funding restored, UMass President Marty Meehan was on Beacon Hill Monday where he met with House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey and Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka. Meehan urged an override of $5.2 million in funding for the UMass system vetoed by Baker, and is seeking over $10 million in additional funding to pay for collective bargaining contracts with professors and staff, according to someone familiar with the meeting.

"When are you guys planning to override the vetoes that we just did?" Baker asked at a press availability Monday, repeating a reporter's question.

"Very soon. Very, very soon," Rosenberg said.

"That's something I can tell you is going to be done probably fairly soon. No offense, governor," DeLeo said.

A spokesman for DeLeo later said that the House would take up overrides on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday afternoon also began polling its members on legislation to establish a sales tax holiday on Aug. 15 and Aug. 16.

Members of the committee have until 4:30 p.m. to vote on that bill, as well as separate legislation to allow Marion to grant an easement to the Department of Fish and Game for natural resource protection on Bird Island.

BOSTON - A watchdog commission on state salaries will hold a public hearing in Springfield. The Republican file photo 

Flash flooding was reported in Williamsburg and Goshen.

Sections of Route 9 in Williamsburg and Goshen were reported closed Monday evening following thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service, with quarter-size hail reported in the town of Russell.

Lightning was reported in Springfield followed by the sun emerging at 7:16 p.m.

Heavy rainfall was reported in some Hampshire County communities as follows:

• Chesterfield, 2.25 inches
• Goshen reported 1.78 inches
• Easthampton, 1.19 inches.

In Goshen, rain was reported falling at a rate of 1.4 inches an hour.

The rain in Goshen was reported at 4:56 p.m. and the rain in Easthampton at 6:34 p.m.

A flash flood was recorded in Williamsburg at 4:40 p.m. Heavy rain caused the washout of Route 9, with the road impassable and severely damaged between South Street and River Road in Williamsburg, according to the Weather Service.

Hyde Hill Road in Williamsburg also was washed out due to heavy rainfall.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation reported mudslides on Route 9 at Old Goshen Road in Goshen with a portion of Route 9 closed there, too.

In the Hampden County town of Russell, 1-inch sized hail was reported with nickel to quarter-size hail on Woodland Way.

A transformer fire was reported on Melville Street at St. James Avenue in Springfield.

In Westfield, there was a report of a large tree struck by lightning, split in half and leaning on wires on Russellville Road. The road was closed.

The forecast for Tuesday is sunny, with a high near 90. The low forecast for Tuesday night is 67.

High temperatures of 92 are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. A chance of thunderstorms is forecast for Thursday after 5 p.m.

Tommy Sullivan will live on forever in his old stomping ground of East Forest Park, a tight-knit Springfield community that's celebrating the life of the fallen Marine.

SPRINGFIELD — Tom Wolfe was dead wrong. You can go home again.

Tommy Sullivan, one of the four Marines killed for no good reason in Chattanooga, has come home to Springfield, Massachusetts. And Sullivan's family and friends threw one hell of a party for him at the neighborhood pub co-owned by his brother, Joe Sullivan.

No matter what, Tommy – better known to the nation as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan – is still the kid from East Forest Park, that kid everyone seemed to know, scampering about the neighborhood with little brother Joe, big sister Dianne, and a gaggle of friends.

Here, Sullivan is universally known as "Tommy," one of three children born to Jeremiah & Betty Sullivan, city people who now live in suburban Hampden. For many who grew up knowing Tommy, he never truly left his old neighborhood, despite spending nearly two decades as a Marine in some of the most dangerous places on the planet, visiting family when he had the chance.

He was the little boy with the big heart and broad smile, the blue eyes and light hair. That boy became a man, and that man became a hero, surviving two tours of duty in Iraq and earning two Purple Hearts – only to die July 16 in a shooting rampage on U.S. soil for reasons still being debated and dissected.

But on Monday, as photos of Tommy the kid and Tommy the Marine filled the TV screens at Nathan Bill's Bar & Restaurant, the East Forest Park local co-owned by Joe Sullivan, it was a time to celebrate his life.

And celebrate they did.

They packed the place – family, friends, neighbors, Marines, cops and firemen – to drink pints of Guinness and lager and glasses of Jameson and other blends of Irish whiskey. Those who didn't make it inside the bar were outside in the parking lot, where large tents shielded people from the sultry sun and cold beer served as the antidote to the day's heat.

The crowd was there to toast Tommy Sullivan, to show its collective admiration and respect for the selfless Marine who made the supreme sacrifice. People also provided comfort to the Sullivan family, who have endured several days of hell – extremely dark days made a bit brighter by the love and kindness of friends and strangers alike.

Dropkick Murphys, the Boston-area Celtic punk band, were no stranger to Tommy Sullivan. They were his favorite band, hands down. The Murphys had never met Sullivan. But on Monday afternoon, he was "Tommy," an old friend – the man the band had traveled to Springfield to honor with a special show at Nathan Bill's.

Clearly, half of Tommy Sullivan's old neighborhood was on hand to listen to the Murphys offer up "Forever," "Rose Tattoo," "The Wild Rover," "Fields of Athenry," and "The Warrior's Code," changing the chorus from "Mickey" (for Massachusetts boxer Mickey Ward) to "Tommy," the Bay State's latest hero.

The band brought down the house with "I'm shipping up to Boston," leaving the crowd thirsty for more.

Frontman Ken Casey declared Springfield a great Irish town and said he couldn't believe the Murphys hadn't played the city before. Casey said it was a shame the band was playing for such a sad occasion, but he and his bandmates were delighted to do their part to honor the fallen Marine.

As the band packed up, the party went on.

Now, it was time for Tommy Sullivan's family and friends to raise their glasses to a beloved son. On his home turf. In a place where he'll live on forever.

R&B singer Bobby Brown said Monday that his daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was "an angel" and that the family must find a way to honor her memory.

ATLANTA (AP) -- R&B singer Bobby Brown said Monday that his daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was "an angel" and that the family must find a way to honor her memory.

Bobbi Kristina, the daughter of singer Whitney Houston, died Sunday in hospice care, six months after she was found face-down in a bathtub in her suburban Atlanta townhome. Authorities are investigating her death.

"Krissy was and is an angel," her father said in a statement. "I am completely numb at this time. My family must find a way to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss is unimaginable."

Bobbi Kristina had been hospitalized for months in Atlanta -- eventually being placed in hospice care -- after being found in a manner grimly similar to the way her megastar mother died three years earlier.

A police report earlier this year described the incident as a drowning. In a statement Monday, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said an autopsy will be needed to evaluate what led to the death of Bobbi Kristina, but the time that has elapsed since the autopsy will complicate the investigation. The medical examiner did not release a timeframe for the autopsy, but said additional lab testing might take several weeks.

"Interpretation of autopsy findings and other information will also be challenging," the medical examiner's office said. "However, an autopsy could be helpful to address questions which may arise about the cause of her unresponsiveness and eventual death."

Bobbi Kristina was the only child of Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown.

"She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months," Kristen Foster, a representative for the Houston family said Sunday.

Nick Gordon, who shared her townhome with her, said at the time it seemed Bobbi Kristina wasn't breathing and lacked a pulse before help arrived.

"The Roswell Police Department continues its investigation into the circumstances preceding and surrounding the time of the original incident leading to her death," the medical examiner said.

Michelle Gordon, the mother Nick Gordon, said in a statement Monday night that the death of Bobbi Kristina has devastated her son and the rest of their family.

"Nick loved and cared for Krissi deeply, and he has suffered greatly each and every day they've been apart," she said. "Nick and our family are in mourning, and we ask that you respect our privacy. Our thoughts and prayers are with both the Houstons and the Browns during this difficult time."

Born and raised in the shadow of fame and litigation, shattered by the loss of her mother, Bobbi Kristina was overwhelmed by the achievements and demons of others before she could begin to figure out who she was.

Bobbi Kristina -- the sole heir of her mother's estate -- did have dreams.

She identified herself on Twitter as "Daughter of Queen WH," ''Entertainer/Actress" with William Morris & Co., and "LAST of a dying breed." She told Oprah Winfrey shortly after her mother's death in 2012 that she wanted to carry on her mother's legacy by singing, acting and dancing. But her career never took off.

She became a social media sensation, sending more than 11,000 tweets and attracting 164,000 followers.

As the news of her death spread across social media, several celebrities tweeted their condolences.

Grammy-winning performer Missy Elliot tweeted, "My heart is truly heavy. May u rest in peace with your mommy #BobbiKristina sending prayers 2 the Brown/Houston family."

"Empire" star Taraji P. Henson tweeted, "Rest in heaven."

And Winfrey tweeted, "Peace at Last!"

Whitney Houston, known as "America's Sweetheart," was an impossible act to follow.

The late singer sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone during her career. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs like "Saving All My Love For You," ''I Will Always Love You" and "The Greatest Love of All." She earned six Grammys and starred in the films "The Bodyguard" and "The Preacher's Wife."

Bobby Brown, who had a bad-boy image, also became a huge star, selling platinum records with New Edition and going solo before drugs and legal woes derailed his career.

Bobbi Kristina appeared alongside both parents in 2005 on the Bravo reality show "Being Bobby Brown," which captured her parents fighting, swearing and appearing in court. The Hollywood Reporter said it revealed that Brown was "even more vulgar than the tabloids suggest," and managed "to rob Houston of any last shreds of dignity."

After their divorce in 2007, Houston kept custody of Bobbi Kristina and raised her alongside Gordon, an orphan three years older than her daughter. Houston brought Gordon into her family, and while she never formally adopted him or included him in the will, both teenagers called her "mom."

The threesome's tight bond was shattered when Houston's assistant found the singer's lifeless body face-down in a foot of water in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel just before the Grammy Awards in 2012. Authorities found prescription drugs in the suite, and evidence of heart disease and cocaine in her body, but determined her death was an accidental drowning.

Bobbi Kristina, then 18, was at the hotel and became so hysterical she had to be hospitalized. "She wasn't only a mother, she was a best friend," she told Winfrey.

She and Gordon then went public with their romance, posting defiant messages online after the tabloids accused them of incest.

Relations between Gordon and some other relatives soured over the past year after Bobbi Kristina was hospitalized. A protective order barred him from being within 200 feet of Pat Houston, Bobbi Kristina's aunt. A feud erupted over whether Gordon could visit Bobbi Kristina while she stayed in the hospital.

On June 24, Bobbi Kristina's court-appointed representative sued Gordon, accusing him of misrepresenting his relationship with Bobbi Kristina. The complaint accused him of being violent toward her and taking more than $11,000 from her account while she was in a medically induced coma.

The lawsuit also accused Gordon of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unjust enrichment and conversion.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he and his office are interested in reviewing the investigative file to determine whether any charges will be filed.

Bobbi Kristina was fabulously wealthy for a teenager, but her money was in a spendthrift trust, designed to keep creditors and predators from taking advantage of people who can't manage their money. Bobbi Kristina's grandmother, Cissy Houston, and aunt, Pat Houston, eventually took over control of the trust and then took Bobbi Kristina to court to protect the estate.

The size of Houston's estate is a privately held secret.

In May, a judge appointed Bobby Brown and Pat Houston as co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina, giving them joint responsibility in decisions related to her care and medical needs. Lawyer Bedelia Hargrove was appointed conservator to oversee Bobbi Kristina's assets, including her rights and legal claims.

By January 2014, the young couple who grew up as brother and sister were sharing a townhome and calling themselves husband and wife.

They posted images of their hands wearing wedding rings, with the caption "#HappilyMarried. So #InLove. If you didn't get it the first time that is." They got identical "WH" tattoos with flying doves on their wrists, and Gordon added a large portrait of Houston's face on his arm.

Jarne Jones admits to Chicopee housebreak, gets 18 month jail sentence.

SPRINGFIELD - In February 2014, Jarne Jones had a very special day.

He was the featured speaker as a success story at a luncheon here announcing up to $27 million in state funding for the agency Roca. The money is through a unique pay-for-performance model that will provide vocational training and referrals.

Jones, 24, was featured in various news stories online, in print and on area television stations.

On January 23, 2015, he and another man broke into a Chicopee home but were caught by police after a neighbor called in suspicious activity.

On Monday in Hampden Superior Court, Jones proudly recalled his speech at the luncheon as he pleaded guilty to breaking into the Chicopee home, stealing items belonging to the residents, and being in possession of a passport stolen from a different housebreak.

When Jones, of Springfield, spoke in front of elected officials and others at the luncheon last year, he had a $15-an-hour job packaging saw blades at Lenox American Saw in East Longmeadow.

He got that job through participating in Roca's violence and incarceration prevention program. He thanked Roca for helping him return to a life without crime.

Hearing about Jones' success in Roca and in his job Judge Tina S. Page said - referring to the case before her - "So this is really shameful....You have really disappointed a number of people."

Page sentenced Jones to 18 months to the Franklin County Correctional Center following an 18-month sentence he is currently serving there for a violation of probation on a past case. He was sentenced on the probation violation in March.

After the new sentence Jones will be on probation for three years.

Speaking to Page as his lawyer argued for a jail term rather than state prison, Jones proudly described his work history at Lenox American Saw.

He also said he had been stabbed in the shoulder in September - he said he was at the wrong place at the wrong time - couldn't work, and returned to his drug of choice - marijuana.

"Do you consider yourself addicted to marijuana?" Page asked. Jones answered yes. He also said he had addiction issues to Percocet.

As a condition of his probation Jones "can't smoke weed or take unprescribed medications," Page said.

Assistant District Attorney Clarissa Wright had asked Page to sentence Jones to two to three years in state prison followed by three years probation.

Defense lawyer Daniel R. Bergin asked for a 2½ year sentence to the Franklin County jail, but asked that it be dated to start when he was first arrested on the housebreak and include credit for time spent serving his other sentence.

Page would not give Jones credit for the time served on another crime.

"He's committed new offenses. He was on probation when he committed them," she said.

Jones - whose parents were in the courtroom in support of him - said he went to Commerce High School but only until the ninth grade and got his high school equivalency certificate in 2011. He said he has a one-month old daughter.

Wright said on Jan. 23 of this year, a resident of Waite Street in Chicopee saw a white car in front of his home but when he looked out it drove off.

The resident went to the store and when he got back the car was parked further down the street so he contacted Chicopee police.

Wright said officers heard voices inside the home where the car was parked and surrounded the house at about 11:42 a.m.

When Jones and Troy Dubose were arrested there they had items stolen from the house, including a laptop computer, in a bag. A passport stolen from a housebreak another day was in the rented white car.

The victims of the housebreaks did not know Jones and Dubose, Wright said.

Wright said the two men rented a car for the housebreak so no car could be tied to them.

Jones only denied that part - saying they didn't rent the car just for the housebreak.

Wright said the victims of the Chicopee housebreak were happy with her sentence recommendation and also happy about how quickly the Chicopee police responded so they didn't lose their items.

When Wright first asked for probation, Page said, "I don't think he has ever completed probation (successfully).

Wright said she hopes when Jones finishes his incarceration this time he will "hopefully" be more mature and succeed on probation.

Other conditions of probation are that Jones stay away from the victims and their homes, and have full time employment or work.

She contemplated saying he must stay away from Dubose, his co-defendant, but ultimately did not, saying, "He's getting a little old for me to tell him who to hang out with."

Both Jones and Dubose - at an earlier date - pleaded guilty to breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a felony, three counts of larceny from a building (for each victim of the Chicopee break in) and one count of receiving stolen property in the amount of less than $250 (the passport).

Dubose was sentenced previously by Judge Mary Lou Rup to 2½ years to the Hampshire County Correctional Center, with credit for 168 days held waiting for disposition of the case. He must also perform 100 hours of community service.

The only preliminary election guaranteed in Holyoke so far is a three-candidate battle for mayor Sept. 22.

HOLYOKE -- Voters will know how busy their Sept. 22 will be by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (July 28).

That's the deadline for candidates for city offices to file nomination papers to place their names on the election ballot, and for seats with numerous competitors, a preliminary election will be needed Sept. 22 to narrow the fields of those races heading to Election Day Nov. 3.

As of close of business Monday, the contest for mayor was the only one assured of prompting a preliminary election.

Mayor Alex B. Morse is seeking a third term and facing challenges from Ward 2 Councilor Anthony Soto and Fran O'Connell, owner of the business O'Connell Care at Home.

Only the top two finishers in the mayor's race on Sept. 22 will move onto the Election Day ballot.

Candidates stamp their names on the election ballot by filing nomination papers with signatures of registered voters and having those signatures certified by the city registrar of voters.

Candidates for mayor must gather at least 250 signatures.

Incumbents and challengers running for City Council, School Committee and city treasurer must file papers with signatures of at least 50 voters.

All 15 City Council seats -- eight at large and one each from the seven voting wards -- are contested.

A preliminary election would be held to narrow the field in the race for City Council at large if the candidate field totals at least one more than twice the number of seats, or 17 candidates.

As of close of business at City Hall Monday, 18 incumbents and challengers had taken out nomination papers for City Council at large. But only 15 had returned and had the papers certified to qualify for the election ballot:

Incumbent at large councilors running for reelection are Daniel B. Bresnahan, Jennifer E. Chateauneuf, Howard B. Greaney Jr., James M. Leahy, Rebecca Lisi, Joseph M. McGiverin and Peter R. Tallman.

Challengers for the at large seats are Mike Franco, Jordan M. Lemieux, James Brunault, Darlene Elias, Michael J. Sullivan, Anne N. Thalheimer, Jemma B. Penberthy and Adrian K. Dahlin.

Paul Bowes, of 1244 Northampton St., Planning Board Chairwoman Mimi Panitch and Juan G. Sanchez Jr. of Pine Street also have taken out nomination papers to run for City Council at large but hadn't returned the papers by late Monday, according to the city clerk's office.

What follows is a list of the incumbents and challengers for City Council ward seats whose nomination papers have been certified:

--Ward 1 City Council, incumbent Gladys Lebron-Martinez, challenger Dr. Juan Cruz.

--Ward 2 council, challengers Nelson Roman and Jonathan Moquin. Incumbent Soto is running for mayor.

--Ward 3 council, incumbent David K. Bartley, challenger Bruce Mithcell.

--Ward 4 council, incumbent Jossie M. Valentin, challenger Kurt M. Bordas.

--Ward 5 council, incumbent Linda L. Vacon, challenger Christine Burns.

--Ward 6 council, Kevin A. Jourdain, currently an at large councilor and the council president, and Juan C. Anderson-Burgos.

--Ward 7 council, Todd A. McGee, who currently is the Ward 6 councilor but has moved to George Street in Ward 7, and Jon D. Lumbra, former city treasurer. Ward 7 Councilor Gordon P. Alexander, who is in his second term, isn't running for reelection.

Acting City Treasurer Sandra A. Smith and Joshua A. Garcia, a former School Committee member, had taken out papers to run for treasurer. As of late Monday, only Smith's nomination papers had been certified to put her name on the ballot.

The filing deadline for treasurer candidates has been extended to Aug. 4 because nomination papers for that seat became available only July 21, due to actions related to the state House of Representatives. Nomination papers for all other seats became available Jan. 5.

That election will be to complete the final two years of the four-year term of Lumbra, who resigned Feb. 13.

The School Committee appeared to offer less competition than other races, with all nine seats up for grabs -- two at large and seven ward representatives. The committee's 10th member is the mayor.

The School Committee is in a unique position this year. It is powerless, the state having appointed a receiver with full control over the public schools in a bid to improve academic performances, setting aside the city's superintendent and School Committee.

John G. Whelihan is running for reelection to School Committee at large.

Also running at large is Erin B. Brunelle, currently the Ward 7 School Committee member.

Devin M. Sheehan, School Committee vice chairman and current holder of an at large seat, has not taken out nomination papers to run again, according to the city clerk's office.

Mildred Lefebvre, incumbent Ward 1 School Committee member, is opposed by challenger John C. Pietrzykowski.

Ward 2 School Committee member Rosalee Tensley Williams, Ward 3 member Dennis W. Birks Jr. and Ward 5 member John P. Brunelle are unopposed.

Ward 4 School Committee member Irene Feliciano-Sims is running for reelection. Scott Burns has taken out papers to challenge her, but hadn't returned them by late Monday.

In Ward 6, incumbent School Committee member William R. Collamore is being challenged by Sadie Cora.

Three residents had taken out nomination papers for the Ward 7 School Committee seat -- Rachel L. Middleton, Dorothy R. Albrecht and Nyles L. Courchesne -- but only papers for Albrecht had been certified by late Monday, according to the city clerk's office.

Train tracks that connect Chicopee and Holyoke across the Connecticut River caught fire Monday afternoon. Watch video

HOLYOKE -- Train tracks that connect Chicopee and Holyoke across the Connecticut River caught fire Monday afternoon.

Wooden railroad ties on the tracks sparked, Lt. David Rex of the Holyoke Fire Department said at the scene, and black smoke filled the air. There were no injuries as a result of the fire.

Firefighters put out most of the two-alarm fire within 20 minutes and railroad workers were on the scene soon after. Amtrak Media Relations Manager Christina E. Leeds said a train along the route was delayed an hour due to the fire.

The above video was submitted to MassLive by a reader, shot while crossing the Willimansett Bridge from Chicopee to Holyoke and closer to the fire near the train tracks in Holyoke.

 

As the 80-pound German shepherd police dog lunged at my protective sleeve, from deep in my subconscious I heard the sheriff from "Jaws" saying "You're going to need a bigger protective sleeve." Watch video

SPRINGFIELD — Be careful about what you ask for - especially if it has teeth.

I recently approached the Springfield Police Department about taking part in a demonstration with their K-9 unit in which one of their dogs would attack me. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, the request was accepted pretty much immediately.

And so, I say, and it is with apologies to my MassLive colleague Nick O'Malley: I got attacked by a police dog so you don't have to.

In the parking lot behind the Boston Road Animal Hospital on Thursday, I donned a padded protective sleeve and stood there while K-9 officer Ryan Carter sicced his dog, Cairo, after me.

If you want to see a police officer's face light up, tell him he's allowed to attack journalists. Carter smiled broadly when I said, "I bet when you came to work today you weren't expecting this."

Given the command by Carter, Ciaro, an 80-pound, 3-year-old male German shepherd who seemed fixated on me from the second I donned the protective sleeve, launched himself like a missile right at me. As this was going on – as if in slow-motion – I was aware of, from deep in my subconscious, a voice that sounded curiously like Sheriff Brody in "Jaws" saying "You're going to need a bigger protective sleeve."

Cairo clamped onto the sleeve and would not let go, and began dragging me around the parking lot for several seconds until Carter moved in and gave him the command to stop.

Incidentally, Cairo, as Carter explained later, is not named for the city in Egypt, but for the K-9 that accompanied Seal Team 6 when they took down Osama Bin Laden.

Google would tell me later that an 80-pound German shepherd bites down with about 238 pounds of force. It has one of the strongest jaws of any dog. If you ever had a German shepherd for a pet, and we had one when I was a kid, you know they do not lose games of tug-of-war. Ever.

Without the sleeve, I would undoubtedly have been in pain, bleeding and eager to surrender. While the sleeve spared me from any pain or blood loss, I did get to experience what it is like to wear an 80-pound, growling cuff link.

"If you were a criminal, you're not getting away," said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney, who is also in command of the police K-9 unit.

K-9 teams perform a myriad of functions within a modern police department. They sniff out drugs, hidden guns and even lost people. They perform crowd control and community service, and they visit children in schools and the elderly in nursing homes.

But make no mistake: When it's go-time, they go. And then they don't let go.

And it is only the dog's handler, in this case Carter, who can say when go-time begins and ends.

Carter has different commands for Cairo, commands for attack, bite and release.

Several times before and during the attack demonstration, he says the word "platz," which appears to be German for "space." Each time, the dog would stop and sit down.

Knowing the secret command code would not do me much good, he said; Cairo is trained to listen only to him.

"We go through several months of training and then take refresher training twice a month," Carter said. And each year, dog and partner need to be recertified to make sure they are functioning effectively. Part of the training involved siccing the dog after someone and then calling him off before he makes contact.

In Massachusetts, police dogs are trained to bite and hold, as opposed to bite and tear or bite and bite and bite.

Carter says in actual arrests, the dogs typically go for the suspect's arms or legs, and not delicate flesh parts on the torso. Even so, he cautioned me to hold the sleeve off to the side of my body and not in front of my midsection.

Police dogs have a "deterrent value," meaning people would rather surrender to police before the dog is let go than afterward, he said.

"People don't want to get bit," he said.

But, as in the recent case in Holyoke where a suspect stabbed a police dog, some people don't care, he said.

"Some guys want to hurt the dogs as much as they want to fight us," he said.

Signs 20-year lease with West Springfield.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - The Irish Cultural Center, founded at Elms College in 1999, is moving to the former home of the Elks Lodge at 429 Morgan Road here, where it will be known as the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England.

A capital campaign is planned to renovate the two-story building. The property, which is being leased from the city, includes 27 acres, with parking lots and ball fields. According to a release from the center, the site was chosen from among dozens surveyed over the last 12 months.

Sean CahillaneREPUBLICAN FILE 

"The West Springfield property is the perfect space for us. We have been looking for some time for a suitable property that we can call home, and that can meet all of our needs," said Sean F. Cahillane, center president in the release. "This is clearly it. We're happy to be working with the City of West Springfield on our new home."

West Springfield Mayor Edward C. Sullivan and Cahillane will make a joint announcement about the center's relocation at the Morgan Road site today at 10 a.m

The center has signed a 20-year lease, and Cahillane said the new quarters provides space needed for the center's activities that include a summer camp, as well as cultural artifacts and genealogical resources.

According to the release, the John Boyle O'Reilly Club, the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Hampden/Hampshire Counties (James Curran Division One), the St. Patrick's Committee of Holyoke, and the Sons of Erin are all area organizations now affiliated with the center, and the new name is designed to reflect the center's continuing outreach.

The new facility and name change are said to be the result of two years of strategic planning.

The center had originally been housed in small offices in Elms' Berchmans Hall. It then moved to the college's Alumnae Library when the administrative and classroom building was renovated for the addition of the Center for Natural and Health Sciences.

Cahillane said the center will continue to collaborate with the Elms, including in offering Irish language classes and in having an Irish Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant.

The center was an outgrowth of the showing of film about the Blasket Islands off Ireland's West Coast, where many Irish speaking immigrants migrated from to settle in the Pioneer Valley. The response to the film, shown at the Elms on a winter night with blizzard-like conditions, prompted the establishment of a center devoted to Irish settlement in the area.

Founders were Sister of St. Joseph of Springfield Kathleen Keating, then president of the Elms, Cahillane, whose mother came from the Great Blasket, and Thomas Moriarty, retired Elms history professor and Irish speaker, and the center's first director.

Western Massachusetts could see storms during a brief window from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a chance of continuing showers.

The National Weather Service has issued a special weather outlook calling for "a few" strong to severe thunderstorms in eastern Massachusetts and possibly the Worcester area.

The biggest risks during the afternoon storms would be damaging wind gusts, isolated hail and localized street flooding.

Western Massachusetts could see storms during a brief window from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a chance of continuing showers, but the chance of precipitation is only 20 percent.

The Springfield area can expect mostly sunny skies and high temperatures that hit 90, while nighttime lows make it down to 67. Temperatures in Worcester and Boston vary by just a few degrees.

A Rhode Island woman is accused of trying to hire a hitman to murder the mother of a Providence police officer and burn down two nearby houses.

A digest of news stories from around the Northeast.

Medford police officer placed on administrative leave after yelling at wrong-way driver [WCVB-TV, NewsCenter5, Needham] Video above

Randall E. LintsRick Cinclair / Telegram & Gazette 

A man was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment after he was shot on Reed Street just before 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.

Updated at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, July 28: Another weekend shooting was reported late Sunday night in the city's Forest Park incident. Details of that incident were added to this post.

Multiple patrol units responded to a 5:58 p.m. report of a gunshot victim outside 25 Reed St., quickly sealing off the area. There, officers found a man "bleeding heavily from the leg," according to preliminary police reports.

An update on the victim's condition was unavailable. A phone call to the shift commander's line at Springfield police headquarters was unanswered.

A distraught woman was seen crying and shouting near the scene of the incident, which drew a crowd to the corner of Reed and State streets just east of American International College. Minutes later, a man arrived on Reed Street and proceeded to pass through the yellow police tape blocking off the crime scene. Officers quickly stopped the man, who appeared to be visibly upset.

Investigators recovered an "item," possibly a gun, on neighboring Homer Street. A detailed description of the suspect, or suspects, was unavailable. Initial reports indicated the shooter may have cut through the AIC campus to get from Reed to Homer streets. Campus police also responded to the incident.

Meanwhile, police were also investigating another crime scene possibly related to the shooting. That scene was near the intersection of Middlesex, Norfolk and Alden streets, farther south in the Upper Hill neighborhood near Springfield College. Multiple officers and detectives seemed to focus their investigation on a white sedan, which a detective was seen photographing.

The daylight shooting follows a violent weekend that included multiple gunfire incidents in the City of Homes.

Early Saturday morning, as the downtown clubs were closing for the night, an apparent shootout broke out in the Worthington Street entertainment district just after 2 a.m. About 20 minutes later, gunfire erupted in the McKnight section of the city, damaging a building and vehicle in the area of 133 St. James Ave.

Up to 14 shots were fired in the entertainment district incident. Shell casings from two different caliber weapons were recovered in the parking lot across from a row of restaurants and bars on Worthington Street. Investigators said they also recovered a gun at the scene.

On Saturday night, several gunshots rang out near the intersection of Marlborough and Wellington streets at about 11:30. The first officers on scene found a woman with a wound to her arm and called for an ambulance. However, police later determined that the woman sustained a cut to her arm, not a gunshot wound, though it remained unclear if she was stabbed or accidentally injured.

Officers were previously dispatched to the same section of Marlborough Street for a noisy house party. Investigators were trying to determine if the shooting, the woman's injury and the party were related.

On Sunday night, police responded to a 10:50 p.m. ShotSpotter activation indicating up to four shots fired near the corner of Bloomfield and Ranney streets in the Forest Park section of the city. Multiple shell casings were recovered near 143 Bloomfield St., but police did not locate any victims.

Anyone with information about any of these crimes is asked to call detectives in the Major Crimes Unit at 413-787-6355.

Western Mass News - WGGB/WSHM

The bar owner was badly hurt in the crime.

CHICOPEE - Two men broke into a Willimansett bar and beat the owner with a pipe early Tuesday morning.

The 64-year-old owner of CHIEFS Lounge was badly hurt. He was admitted to the hospital Tuesday morning and underwent surgery, Michael Wilk, media officer for the Chicopee Police Department, said.

The men broke into the lounge at about 5:20 a.m. and started stealing different items. At that time the owner who was still in the business confronted the men, he said.

"Both parties attacked the owner, beating him with a pipe," Wilk said.

When the owner was on the ground, they also went through his pockets and took items from him, he said.

The two men were caught on video but the images are not very clear. Police are asking residents for help to identify them and asking them to pay attention to the clothing, faces and identifying marks.

Anyone with information or believes they can identify either man can call the Detective Bureau at 594-1730. To give anonymous information use Text-a-Tip, by typing SOLVE CHICOPEE, then CRIMES(274637) and then text the information. People can also send a private message to the Chicopee Police Department Facebook page, Wilk said.

Nomination papers from candidates must be filed with city election officials by Aug. 11.

WESTFIELD - Mayor Daniel M. Knapik today rejected a one-one bebate challenge from At-Large City Councilor David A. Flaherty saying any debate before the Nov. 3 election should involve all candidates for the at-large City Council contest.

"I will debate Councilor Flaherty but any such encounter should involve all candidates for the seven at-large seats (on the City Council),'' Knapik said.

Flaherty issued the challenge in a letter dated July 27 to Knapik, asking that the two debate city issues in a series of debates to be scheduled between mid-September and the last week of October.

"Given our history of differences, our shared and divergent views on a variety of topoics, and our shared passion for making Westfield a better place to live , ;work and play, I'd like to invite you to participate in a series of one-on-one debates that will allow us to share our views with the citizens who will elect us," Flaherty said in his letter.

But, Knapik said Tuesday that "the election for at-large city councilor is more than Flaherty vs. Knapik. I believe every candidate deserves the opportunity to discuss the issues facing the city and what they will do or not do to make Westfield a better place to live and work."

Flahaerty expressed disappointment at the mayor's answer and said "I want to debate him because we have history and we have extensive knowledge" of city issues.

Flaherty is currently circulating nomination papers for re-election as an at-large councilor as well as nomination to run for the Ward 6 City Council seat.

Knapik is also circulating nomination papers for one of seven City Council at-large seats up for grabs Nov. 3.

Other at-large candidates include incumbent Councilors Brent Bean II, Dan Allie and Matthew T. Van Heynigan, Ward Councilor Christopher Keefe, former Councilor John J. Beltrandi III, Carl Vincent, Muneeb Moon Mahmood, Rudolph Musterait, Steve Dondley and Mark Butler.

Nomination papers must be filed with city election officials by Aug. 11.

Knapik announced Jan. 1 he would not be a candidate for a fourth two-year term as mayor. Knapik is a former Ward 2 City Councilor who left that seat following his 2009 election as mayor.

The Westfield News has already announced it will host candidate forums this fall.

The 27-year-old victim was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital, according to police, who continue to investigate.

Updates story posted at 8:25 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.

The 27-year-old victim sustained "gunshot wounds to the lower torso," a police spokesman said, adding that officers provided first aid until medical personnel arrived.

Officers under the command of Springfield Police Detective Lt. Mossy Kearney, who's leading the investigation, gathered evidence at the shooting scene on Reed Street, the block bordering the eastern edge of the American International College campus.

Authorities responded to the incident near 25 Reed St. just before 6 p.m., quickly sealing off the crime scene and fanning out across Upper Hill in search of the shooter. Police described the gunman as a shirtless black man in his twenties, who was wearing long jean shorts and black-and-white sneakers. The suspect was last seen running toward Homer Street, where officers under the direction of Sgt. Daniel J. Reigner recovered the weapon used in the crime, police said.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday night, police said.

The victim exited a red vehicle and was shot while walking into a house on Reed Street, a high-crime area, according to police. "The victim is known to the Springfield Police Department," Sgt. John Delaney said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives in the Major Crimes Unit at 413-787-6355.

Bobby V's futile outfit might be outfumbled by the 2015 Red Sox.

With each passing night, the pressure of a race builds on the Boston Red Sox, who celebrated the retirement of Pedro Martinez' number with a 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night.

The loss dropped Boston to 44-57, their first minus-13 on this road to nowhere. People seem to think they're out of the race, but that's only true if we're talking about playoffs.

How about the race to futility? A very plausible 24-37 finish would result in a 68-94 record that would be Boston's worst since a 100-loss dump in 1965.

Why would that matter? Well, it would be worse that Bobby Valentine's 69-93 washout in 2012.

People loved to pile on to Valentine, and he brought a lot of it on himself. This is not a defense of Valentine. As Jack Webb used to say on "Dragnet,'' it's just the facts.

Here's a fact: for all the mess Valentine supposedly made of the Red Sox, they were 55-55 on Aug. 6, 2012. Three weeks later, they traded Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Playing with Triple A lineups in September, the Red Sox ended on a 14-38 slide. It was their first season in last place since 1992, their second since 1932.

This year's Red Sox, who made no effort to temper the swag and fanfare that accompanied their acquisitions and the preseason talk of a great season, will finish last for the first time since 2014.

It's not that easy to lose 90 games, a fact proven by even Butch Hobson being unable to do it. Until Valentine's team started a trend, the Red Sox had not lost 90 since 1966.

A capacity crowd of 38,016 turned out for Martinez. There was no requirement to stay for the game, and there must have been second thoughts by many after the White Sox put up five runs in the first.

The modern Fenway tradition is to stay through "Sweet Caroline'' in the eighth, and most did. But this season has been reduced to looking for gimmicks. How about retiring Jason Varitek's number in September?

The popular theme after the 2012 season was to blame Valentine for giving the players reason to quit on him. Nobody in the clubhouse whispers that they would give up on John Farrell, and the young guys certainly won't, but it's hard not to wonder about some of the others.

Mookie Betts doesn't know it's over. Betts wiped himself out, hurtling over the bullpen fence when he tried to rob Melky Cabrera of a home run.

All that was needed for the photo was a bullpen cop raising his arms. But those days are gone, Betts couldn't quite hold on to the ball, and the reward for his effort will be concussion tests on Wednesday.

People ask me if Farrell and general manager Ben Cherington will be fired. I admit I don't know, but a good guess is that Cherington is in much bigger trouble but neither man can feel very comfortable.

Farrell was the right man for the job in 2013, in large part because he was the anti-Bobby. He was an organization man and one of great dignity, which he has has somehow maintained as his team and organization have collapsed around him,

That might not be enough to save him. If nothing else, last year's 91-loss bummer (a record worsened by the sell-off of pitchers at the trade deadline) and this year's even more toxic season make it it easier to wonder if the 2013 World Series title was just a marvelous fluke - not so much for Farrell but for an entire organization that hasn't had a good grasp on things since 2008.

Down the stretch, the Lost Sox will be playing teams that are playing for something. Boston's August schedule includes nine road games against the surging Yankees, playoff-hopeful Mets and a White Sox club that is mangling them this week.

Plenty of easy teams are also lined up. But that's what other teams must be saying when they look at their schedules and see "Boston.''

The prediction here is Boston will lose at least 94 games, which would make this the worst Red Sox season in 50 years. That doesn't get Valentine off the hook for 2012, but it does mean we are watching a race of historic proportions. Who said these games are meaningless?

This is a race to avoid total futility, embarrassment and the booby prize for modern-era incompetence. Nothing we are witnessing tells me the Red Sox have the stuff to avoid that dubious dishonor.

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A man was reportedly robbed at gunpoint near the entrance to Forest Park late Tuesday night, July 28.

SPRINGFIELD — Police quickly rounded up alleged armed robbery suspects in the city's Forest Park neighborhood late Tuesday night.

A man called 911 at 10:34 p.m. to report a gunpoint robbery by a group of males in the area of 309 Sumner Ave., which is near the entrance to Forest Park. The alleged victim told police at least one of the four suspects was armed with a handgun, and that the suspects fled toward The X. It wasn't immediately known what, if anything, was taken during the incident.

Within minutes, some of the alleged assailants were captured by police after a foot chase while a K-9 unit searched for the remaining suspects.

Investigators were attempting to arrange a "showup" – when police show a crime suspect to a victim to see if the culprit can be identified – but the outcome of that procedure wasn't immediately known.

A responding officer warned fellow patrolmen that a round of ammunition was recovered near the corner of Belmont Avenue and Oakland Street, where one alleged suspect was taken into custody. "So, these guys are probably armed," the officer said.

Sean Lennon and his band Ghost of A Saber Tooth Tiger, local favorite Dinosaur Jr. and Primus performed for an enthusiastic crowd at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Tuesday evening.

Sean Lennon and his band Ghost of A Saber Tooth Tiger, local favorite Dinosaur Jr. and Primus performed for an enthusiastic crowd at Mountain Park in Holyoke on Tuesday evening.

The proposal would create a new "innovative community" program, which connect municipal governments with start-ups so that the governments can purchase technological products and services.

BOSTON - The state Senate is set to consider a proposal that would connect municipal governments to technology startups.

Karen Spilka

"It will help spur startups and new ventures in Massachusetts," said state Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, the founder and co-chair of the Legislature's Tech Hub caucus, who developed the idea and sponsored the bill, S. 1982. "We consider ourselves an innovation economy. Wouldn't it be wonderful to...show that not only are we an innovation economy, we are an innovation government?"

The bill emerged from the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which Spilka chairs, on Tuesday, and it is likely to be voted on by the full Senate on Thursday.

The proposal would create a new "innovative community" program, with an office under the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

The point of the program would be to connect municipal governments with start-ups so that the governments can purchase technological products and services.

The bill came out of an "idea-thon," a session Spilka organized with members of the start-up and technology industries. At the event last November, representatives of the businesses developed and pitched ideas for how government could help the technology industry. A panel of judges chose the best idea to be turned into legislation. Spilka said the idea has since been refined through extensive meetings.

Boskey said as a result, government loses out on the opportunity to use innovative products or services, and the start-ups lose potential customers.Cole Boskey, the co-founder of a health technology start-up who now works for a larger technology company, pitched the idea of Innovative Communities. Boskey, of Boston, said it is difficult for a start-up to sell a new product to government.

"It's time-consuming, requires expertise and can be expensive to work with government," Boskey said. "Because of that, either startups are unsuccessful working with government or don't even try."

The bill includes an education component, in which the executive director of the program would be required to develop informational material about the procurement process for start-ups and government.

It would require the program to set up marketing events, similar to job fairs, in which companies could showcase their technology to municipalities. The program would be required to do specific outreach to minority and women-owned businesses. It would provide financial assistance to organize pilot programs of new technologies. And it would provide technical assistance to companies and municipalities to help them enter into purchasing contracts.

"It connects and educates," Spilka said. "We're pulling together best practices to make the steps of the buying and selling process easier and connecting startups to municipalities and vice versa."

The projects could be anything from hardware - like a bench designed by a start-up in Boston that has solar panels to allow people to charge their cell phones - or software that helps governments communicate with their employees.

Municipal participation in the program is voluntary. If a city or town opts in, it is committing to attend program events and beta test at least one technology a year through the program.

It is expected to cost $750,000 to set up and operate the program for a year.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Greater Springfield and Hartford metro areas in anticipation of near record high temperatures and oppressive humidity.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Greater Springfield and Hartford metro areas in anticipation of near record high temperatures and oppressive humidity.

The advisory will be in effect from noon to 7 p.m. It reminds those in the city to stay out of the sun, avoid strenuous activities during those hours, drink plenty of water and check on neighbors to ensure their safety.

Temperatures in the Springfield area are expected to soar to 96, with a nighttime low of 70.

Conditions in Worcester won't be much better. The weather service calls for a high of 94 and a low of 72, while Boston hits 96 and comes down to 73.