A second victim was expected to survive, according to the District Attorney's office.

Updates a story posted Friday at 4:18 p.m.

PITTSFIELD — An 18-year-old Pittsfield man died in a shooting Friday afternoon on Tyler Street.

Berkshire County District Attorney David F. Capeless identified the shooting victim as Keenan S. Pellot Jr. of Pittsfield.

A second victim, a 17-year-old Pittsfield man, is undergoing surgery for multiple gunshot wounds, according to a spokesman in the D.A.'s office. The spokesman said the second victim is expected to survive.

Pittsfield police and emergency medical personnel responded to 147/149 Tyler St. shortly after 1 p.m. after receiving a call of shots fired.

The responders found two men with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds, according to the District Attorney's office. Both men were transported to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.

Investigators also are looking into a report of shots fired shortly after the Tyler Street shooting on Hull Avenue in Pittsfield, several blocks away.

A Masspike toll taker was struck and killed at the Auburn plaza, and a worker at a Longmeadow sewer project trench died when the trench filled with water.

BOSTON -- The deaths of two Massachusetts workers in the same day Friday prompted a safety warning and call for action from Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health (MassCOSH), a workers advocacy organization.

Five Massachusetts workers were killed on the job in July, the coalition said.

On Friday:

• An as-yet unidentified worker was killed while working in a sewer-project trench on Hazardville Road in Longmeadow. The trench filled with water Friday morning, trapping the worker.

• Just after midnight Friday, 61-year-old toll taker Bill Pappas of Holden was killed at the Auburn MassPike toll plaza. Pappas was crossing the EZ-Pass lane when he was struck by a 31-year-old Charlton man driving a 2010 Toyota Tacoma who was exiting the lane.

Pappas is the sixth worker this year to be fatally struck by a motor vehicle in Massachusetts, MassCOSH said.

MassCOSH points out that state legislation passed last year through its efforts gave the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards authority to investigate the deaths of state employees on the job, like Pappas.

Trench deaths are highly preventable, MassCOSH said. Prevention measures include:

• Requiring protective systems for trenches five feet and deeper (examples include shoring, sloping or trench box);
• Providing a safe means of access/egress every 25 feet when a trench is four feet long or longer;
• Ensuring employers identify the location of utilities by calling DigSafe at 1-888-344-7233

MassCOSH has ties with organized labor and provides training, technical assistance and legislative advocacy.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 56 points to close just under 17,690.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK -- Stocks closed modestly lower Friday as oil titans Exxon Mobil and Chevron led a slump in energy stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 56.12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,689.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,103.92. The Nasdaq composite closed little changed, down half a point to 5,128.28.

It's was a see-saw week for the market, but all three major indexes closed higher by roughly 1 percent.

Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest publicly traded energy companies, fell roughly 5 percent each on Friday. Both companies posted major declines in their year-over-year profits largely due to the big drop in the price of oil.

In the case of Exxon, earnings fell 52 percent from a year earlier, causing the company to report its lowest quarterly profit since June 2009. Exxon shares fell $3.80, or 4.6 percent, to $79.21.

Chevron, hurt by low oil prices and a write-off of some of its assets, reported its lowest profit in 13 years. The company reported a profit of 30 cents a share, well below the $1.13 analysts expected. Chevron fell $4.55, or 4.9 percent, to $88.48.

Exxon and Chevron dragged down other energy stocks. The S&P 500 energy sector slumped 2.6 percent, its biggest drop since January.

Energy companies have been a major drag on corporate earnings in the second quarter. S&P 500 companies are on track for a 1.3 percent year-over-year decline in earnings, according to FactSet. If energy were excluded, corporate profits would be up 5.4 percent.

Even with oil prices down more than 50 percent from a year ago, crude has continued to fall. Oil prices declined sharply again Friday on continuing concerns over high global supplies and weak demand, helping push oil down 21 percent for the month.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.40 to close at $47.12 a barrel in New York. Crude fell $12.35 a barrel during the month, from $59.47 at the end of June. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.10 to close at $52.21 in London.

A disappointing economic report also weighed on stocks.

U.S. wages and benefits grew at their slowest pace in 33 years in the spring, the Labor Department said, stark evidence that the improving job market is having little impact on paychecks for most Americans. The slowdown likely reflects a sharp drop-off in bonus and incentive pay for some workers.

The lackluster wage growth suggests that companies are still able to find the workers they need without boosting pay, a sign the job market is not yet back to full health. That could cause the Federal Reserve hold of any increase in interest rates.

Bond prices rose after the report, pushing the 10-year U.S. Treasury note down to 2.19 percent from 2.26 percent on Thursday.

"I can't imagine the Fed is looking at (this data) this morning as a reason to increase rates in September," said Tom di Galoma, head of rates trading at ED&F Man Capital.

In other energy markets, wholesale gasoline rose 1.3 cents to close at $1.841 a gallon. Heating oil fell 1.4 cents to close at $1.584 a gallon. Natural gas fell 5.2 cents to close at $2.716 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In currencies, the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 123.90 yen and the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.0985.

In metals trading, gold rose $6.50 to $1,095.90 an ounce and silver rose 5 cents to $14.75 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $2.43 per pound.

The fire started in the kitchen at 14 Quirk Avenue.

Update of a story posted at 5:30 p.m.

HOLYOKE — The Holyoke Fire Department continued to investigate a fire at 14 Quirk Ave. late Friday afternoon.

The fire, which started in the kitchen of the two-family house, displaced about 10 people from the home, Fire Captain Anthony Cerruti said.

Those who were displaced were being assisted by the Red Cross in finding housing.

The electrical power to the house was turned off while the fire was investigated, Cerruti said. He said the Fire Department had to pull down ceilings and open up walls to halt the fire.

One firefighter who was not identified fell and hurt his back and was being treated at Holyoke Hospital, Cerruti said.

The map below shows the approximate location of the fire:

Sunderland selectmen have scheduled a meeting on Aug. 10 to decide who to appoint.

PALMER -- Andrew Golas, the town manager's executive assistant here, is a finalist for the town administrator's position in the Franklin County town of Sunderland, after being interviewed for the job earlier this week.

Sunderland selectmen have scheduled a meeting on Aug. 10 to discuss who to appoint.

The other finalists are Michele Giarusso, of Leyden, and Sherry Patch, of Hardwick.

Giarusso serves on Leyden's finance committee.

Patch is Hardwick's town administrator.

Masssachusetts state police arrested the men late Thursday night in Westminster.

WESTMINSTER - Massachusetts State Police late Thursday night charged three New Hampshire men with trafficking in heroin.

According to a state police press release, Trooper Christopher Call observed the driver of a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu commit motor vehicle violations while the car was traveling west on Route 2 in Westminster.

Call stopped the vehicle and determined that the driver, Edward Lower, 54, of Swanzey, New Hampshire, had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Wrentham District Court.

More than two pounds of a substance believed to be heroin and approximately 16 grams of a substance believed to be cocaine were located in the vehicle, state police said.

Lower and two passengers, Christopher Foster, 27, of Walpole, New Hampshire, and Joseph Machowski, 27, of Brattleboro, Vermont, all were charged with trafficking in heroin and possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute.

Lower also was charged with speeding and failing to change lanes for an emergency vehicle.

The three were booked at the state police barracks in Athol, where they were held on $20,000 bail pending their arraignment in Gardner District Court.

Analysts at the French aviation laboratory where the scrap was headed Friday can glean details from metal stress to see what caused the flap to break off.

By ANDREW MELDRUM
and LORI HINNANT

SAINT-ANDRE, Reunion -- Under a microscope and expert eyes, the wing fragment that washed up on the beach of this volcanic island could yield clues not just to its path through the Indian Ocean, but also to what happened to the airplane it belonged to.

Analysts at the French aviation laboratory where the scrap was headed Friday can glean details from metal stress to see what caused the flap to break off, spot explosive or other chemical traces, and study the sea life that made its home on the wing to pinpoint where it came from.

French authorities have imposed extraordinary secrecy over the 6-footlong piece of wing, putting it under police protection in the hours before it left the island of Reunion. If the fragment is indeed part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, it means the wreckage may have drifted thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean to this French island off the east coast of Africa.

Wrapped and loaded as cargo, it was headed to a military aviation laboratory near the city of Toulouse, Europe's aviation hub.

"With a microscope, that can learn details from the torn metal," said Xavier Tytelman, a French aviation safety expert. "You can tell whether a crash was more horizontal or vertical ... You can extrapolate a lot."

John Cox, president and CEO of Safety Operating Systems and a former accident investigator, said minute characteristics of the metal could indicate attitude and vertical speed of the aircraft when it impacted.

"It won't tell you how the plane crashed, but it will be a step in that direction," Cox said.

Barnacles encrusting the wing's edges would be studied for clues to plot the wing's journey through the Indian Ocean, but Tytelman said there could be other microscopic life clinging to the metal or bottled up inside that could further indicate where the wing traveled.

"It's been 16 months from the crash and everything fits together," said oceanographer Arnold Gordon of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "So I think the probability that it's from 370 is pretty high."

The currents from the Indian Ocean flow in a counter-clockwise way that would take a crash from west of Australia to Reunion Island, Gordon said. The amount of barnacles on the debris is consistent with other debris that he's seen in the ocean for more than a year. And it's the right type of plane.

Pictures of the "flaperon" show that it is missing its drive arm, which directed up-down movement -- but there appears to be relatively mild damage at the location where the drive arm tore away, said William Waldock, a former U.S. Coast Guard officer and a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, who teaches aircraft search and rescue.

"One of the things I guess is a little surprising is how intact the flaperon is," he said. "It argues that it wasn't a very violent impact, which goes along with some of theories that it just ran out of gas and glided down."

The French aviation experts, including a legal expert from the field, will start their inquiry on Wednesday, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. On Monday, an investigating judge will meet with Malaysian authorities and representatives of the French aviation investigative agency, known as the BEA, according to the statement late Friday.

The statement said a shred of suitcase found near the wing fragment would also undergo forensic testing at a Paris-area government lab, and searchers continued Friday to scour the Reunion coastline for other possible debris, including the man from the beach maintenance crew who found the wing fragment.

Officials hope to have at least some answers soon, keenly aware that families of those on board Flight 370 are desperately awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones.

"The most important part of this whole exercise at the moment is to give some kind of closure to the families," said Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss, whose country is leading the search for the plane in a desolate stretch of ocean off Australia's west coast.

Even if the piece is confirmed to be the first confirmed wreckage from Flight 370, there's no guarantee that investigators can find the plane's vital black box recorders or other debris. A multinational search effort has come up empty.

Air safety investigators, including one from Boeing, have identified the component as a flaperon from the trailing edge of a Boeing 777 wing, a U.S. official said. The official wasn't authorized to be publicly named.

Flight 370, which disappeared March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, is the only missing 777.

Scanning the beach's distinctive black volcanic sand and stones on Friday, searcher Philippe Sidam picked up a plastic bottle for laundry detergent. "This is from Jakarta, Indonesia," he said, pointing to the writing on the bottle. "This shows how the ocean's currents bring material all the way from Indonesia and beyond. That explains how the debris from the Malaysian plane could have reached here."

Reunion environmental worker Johnny Begue told The Associated Press that he stumbled across the plane part on Wednesday morning while collecting stones to grind spices.

"I knew immediately it was part of an aircraft, but I didn't realize how important it was, that it could help to solve the mystery of what happened to the Malaysian jet," Begue said.

Australian officials expressed skepticism that the suitcase fragment was associated with the wing part. Truss, the transport minister, noted that there did not appear to be any marine life attached to the suitcase, indicating it probably hadn't been in the water for long. But he described the wing part as a major lead.

Investigators have found what may be a maintenance number on the wing piece, which may help investigators figure out what plane it belongs to, Truss said.

Truss expects French investigators will also try to determine how the part separated from the rest of the aircraft, and whether it shows evidence of fire or other damage, which might explain how the plane crashed.

Ocean modeling predicted that currents would eventually carry any floating wreckage to the African coast from its suspected crash site.

AP writers Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Ian Mader in Beijing, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Joan Lowy and Seth Borenstein in Washington, and Greg Keller in Toulouse, France, contributed to this report.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who trash talked his way to the main event of the first WrestleMania and later found movie stardom, has died. He was 61.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who trash talked his way to the main event of the first WrestleMania and later found movie stardom, has died. He was 61.

The WWE said Friday that Piper had died. It had no additional details.

Piper, born Roderick Toombs, was the second WWE Hall of Famer to die this summer following the June death of Dusty Rhodes. Piper's death also comes days after Hulk Hogan, his biggest rival for decades, was fired by the WWE. Hogan had used racial slurs in a conversation captured on a sex tape.

Piper and Hogan battled for years and headlined some of the biggest matches during the 1980s. Hogan and Mr. T defeated Piper and Paul Orndorff on March 31, 1985, at the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden.

Piper was a villain for the early portion of his career, once cracking a coconut over the skull of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. He later starred in the movie "They Live."

WWE chairman Vince McMahon says Piper "was one of the most entertaining, controversial and bombastic performers ever in WWE, beloved by millions of fans around the world."

SPRINGFIELD - Police, fire and ambulance responded to a roll over accident at the intersection of East Columbus Avenue and Main Street in the South End shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday. A Ford Explorer SUV and sedan collided. No information was immediately available regarding injuries from the accident. This is a developing story. More information will be provided...

SPRINGFIELD - Police, fire and ambulance responded to a roll over accident at the intersection of East Columbus Avenue and Main Street in the South End shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday.

A Ford Explorer SUV and sedan collided.

No information was immediately available regarding injuries from the accident.

This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

The Texas trooper who arrested a black Chicago-area area woman after a confrontation that began with a traffic stop had been cautioned about "unprofessional conduct" in a 2014 incident while he was still a probationary trooper.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas trooper who arrested a black Chicago-area area woman after a confrontation that began with a traffic stop had been cautioned about "unprofessional conduct" in a 2014 incident while he was still a probationary trooper.

The disciplinary entry regarding Trooper Brian Encinia of the Texas Department of Public Safety was contained in Encinia's personnel file. The department released the file Friday in response to Freedom on Information requests.

Encinia arrested Sandra Bland on July 10. She was found dead in a jail cell in Hempstead on July 13. Officials say she used a plastic bag to hang herself.

Encinia's performance evaluation for September and October 2014 referred to him receiving "a written counseling for unprofessional conduct ... occurring while at a school in Austin." The circumstances weren't specified.

After hundreds of rescue workers fanned out across a massive swath of the Atlantic for a full week, the Coast Guard's search for two teenage fishermen ended Friday, a heart-rending decision for families so convinced the boys could be alive they're pressing on with their own hunt.

OPA-LOCKA, Fla. -- After hundreds of rescue workers fanned out across a massive swath of the Atlantic for a full week, the Coast Guard's search for two teenage fishermen ended Friday, a heart-rending decision for families so convinced the boys could be alive they're pressing on with their own hunt.

The agency said it ended the search at sunset, as it had announced earlier in the day. The Coast Guard searched waters from South Florida up through South Carolina without success.

Even as officials announced at noon that the formal search-and-rescue effort would end at sundown, private planes and boats were preparing to keep scouring the water hoping for clues on what happened to the 14-year-old neighbors, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos.

Capt. Mark Fedor called the decision to suspend the search "excruciating and gut-wrenching." He suggested what long had been feared by observers -- that the boys had surpassed any reasonable period of survivability -- with his offering of "heartfelt condolences."

"I know no statistics will ease the pain," he said in recounting the seven-day, nearly 50,000-square-nautical-mile search. "We were desperate to find Austin and Perry."

With volunteers ready to keep searching all along the coastline and about $340,000 in search-fund donations by Friday evening, the families promised to keep looking for their sons.

Nick Korniloff, the stepfather of Perry, addressed a horde of media outside his home on a quiet street in Tequesta, Florida, saying air searches led by private pilots would go on alongside new efforts led by former members of the military and others with special training.

"We know there's a window here and we think there's an opportunity," he said, "and we will do everything we can to bring these boys home."

Those who have met with the families believe the private search could go on at least for weeks.

"How could you go back to normal?" said Tequesta Police Chief Christopher Elg, who has stayed in regular contact with the families. "They may very well devote a large portion of the next few weeks, months, maybe even years just toward hope and doing what they can to bring themselves a sense of peace."

The Coast Guard had dispatched crews night and day to scan the Atlantic for signs of the boys. They chased repeated reports of objects sighted in the water, and at times had the help of the Navy and other local agencies. But after the boys' boat was found overturned Sunday, no useful clues turned up.

The families had held out hope that items believed to have been on the boat, including a large cooler, might be spotted, or that the teens might even have clung to something buoyant in their struggle to stay alive. Even as hope dimmed, experts on survival said finding the teens alive was still possible. The Coast Guard said it would keep on searching until officials no longer thought the boys could be rescued.

The saga began July 24, when the boys took Austin's 19-foot boat on what their families said was expected to be a fishing trip within the nearby Loxahatchee River and Intracoastal Waterway, where they were allowed to cruise without supervision. The boys fueled up at a local marina around 1:30 p.m. and set off, and later calls to Austin's cellphone went unanswered. When a line of summer storms moved through and the boys still couldn't be reached, police were called and the Coast Guard search began.

The boys grew up on the water, constantly boated and fished, worked at a tackle shop together and immersed themselves in life on the ocean. Their families said they could swim before they could walk. They clung to faith in their boys' knowledge of the sea, even speculating they might have fashioned a raft and spear to keep them afloat and fed while adrift.

"It is a mother's prayer that you will be safe and sound in our arms today," Austin's mother, Pamela Cohen, tweeted Friday. "Missing you both more than you could ever imagine."

Many unknowns about the boys' status persisted throughout the ordeal, including whether they were wearing life jackets and whether they had food or water. The Coast Guard said it tried to err toward optimism in deciding how long to press on.

Along the way, some suggested the teens shouldn't have been allowed to boat on their own. Many others, though, voiced support, saying voyages with set boundaries are normal among boating families, and that the parents had no control over what ultimately happened.

Locals turned out night after night for vigils, poured money into the private search fund, used their own boats and planes and walked the coastline in pursuit of any little clue that might make a break. The efforts got an early boost from a high-profile neighbor of the families, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath, who helped garner publicity for the story.

A 60-year-old woman was struck by a pickup truck as she ran across State Street Friday afternoon, and later died of her injuries.

 

In a statement, Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Commissioner John Barbieri, said the woman was taken to the Baystate Medical Center where she later died from her injuries. The woman's name is not being released until notification of family.

According to investigators, the woman was apparently trying to run across State Street at its intersection with Wilbraham Road and Catherine Street, when she was struck by a pickup truck operated by a 63-year-old Chicopee man. The driver remained at the scene and was interviewed by police. No charges have been filed in the incident.

According to reports filed by investigators Raymond Wyszinski and Robert Kalin, the woman was not in a crosswalk when she was struck. Police found her lying in the east-bound lane of State Street suffering from severe injuries. She was taken to the hospital where doctors said she died from extensive internal injuries.

Police said speed was not a factor in the death. The incident remains under investigation by the Springfield Police Traffic Division.

One neighbor reported watching a puppy "screaming because of no anesthesia" while getting his ears trimmed, according to court documents.

SPRINGFIELD - The court-appointed lawyer for a dog breeder charged with performing unlicensed surgery on pit bulls and bulldogs has withdrawn from the case, citing a conflict of interest.

A judge has allowed defense lawyer Amanda Stutman to withdraw from defending Nelson Rios, who is facing two counts of cruelty to animals and one count of cropping dog ears.

Nelson, 49, of Springfield, denied the charges during his arraignment two months ago in Springfield District Court.

The charges capped an investigation by state police and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals into a complaint that Rios had been cutting ears and tails on dogs sold from his apartment for seven years.

One neighbor reported watching a puppy "screaming because of no anesthesia" while getting his ears trimmed, according to court documents.

During a raid on April 15, investigators found surgical tools, syringes, sutures, razors, knives, rabies vaccine and drugs used to sedate and anesthetize animals during surgery, according to court records.

A week before the raid, Rios told an undercover investigator that he charged $150 for ear cropping and $20 for vaccinations - services that only veterinarians can provide, court documents state.

He also showed photos of ear croppings he had performed, and described the procedure, according to an affidavit by MSPCA investigator Christine Allenberg.

"Some of the photos showed the ears recently sutured and still bloody," she wrote.

Stutman, a lawyer with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, was assigned to the case in June, but filed a motion on July 9 to withdraw, explaining that Rios had been an "adverse party" in a previous case.

Judge Charles V. Groce III allowed the motion, and appointed Lawrence Madden as the new defense counsel. Groce also scheduled a pretrial hearing for Sept. 1.

Asthma costs the United States billions of dollars in medical costs and lost work and school days, but symptoms can be controlled.

HOLYOKE -- Parents can learn how to help children deal with asthma Monday (Aug. 3) from 1 to 3 p.m. at Holyoke Health Center, 230 Maple St.

"Healthy Holyoke Asthma Awareness Fair" will include tips about how to reduce asthma triggers and safe cleaning products households can use, according to a post about the event on Facebook.

"Join Healthy Holyoke, Holyoke Medical Center, and many others in raising awareness and promoting healthy living in Holyoke," a notice about the event said on the city website.

A raffle will be held and the grand prize is an iPod Touch, the notice said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Asthma is a lifelong disease that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing. It can limit a person's quality of life."

One in 12 people in the United States, or about 25 million, has asthma and numbers are rising. While it was unclear why rates are going up, specialists say most people with asthma can control symptoms and prevent attacks by avoiding triggers and correctly using prescribed medicines, the CDC said.

Other points from the CDC:

--Asthma cost the U.S. about $56 billion in medical costs, lost school and work days, and early deaths in 2007.

--From 2001 through 2009 asthma rates rose the most among black children, almost a 50 percent increase.

--Common asthma triggers are tobacco smoke; dust mites, which are tiny bugs; outdoor air pollution such as from factories or motor vehicles; pets; mold; smoke from burning wood or grass; sinus infections; bad weather such as thunderstorms or humidity; cold, dry air; and strong emotions that can lead to hyperventilation.

--Doctors and patients can better manage asthma by creating an action plan the patient follows.

Investigators believe the weapons were destined for the streets of Springfield.

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Hand grenades, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, believed to be intended for distribution on the streets of Springfield, have been seized from a public storage facility on Memorial Avenue in West Springfield, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said Friday.

City, state and federal authorities arrested two suspects at the storage unit on Thursday while they were allegedly selling numerous rifles, hand grenades and thousands of round of ammunition, according to a release issued by Gulluni.

The suspects, Reinaldo Pellot, 50, of 33 Florence St., Springfield; and Jenyel Heylinger Garcia, 27, of 29 Locust St., Springfield, were ordered held in lieu of $100,000 cash or $1 million surety following their arraignments in District Court.

They were ordered to return to court for a pre-trial conference on Aug. 31.

7-31-15 -- West Springfield -- Multiple grenades, military-style rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, believed to be destined for distribution in Springfield, were seized at the EZ Storage facility on Memorial Avenue Thursday. Two Springfield men were arrested.DAVE ROBACK / THE REPUBLICAN 

Although the release does not name the storage facilty, Western Mass News reported investigators arrived at the EZ Storage facility at 920 Memorial Ave. at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Western Mass News is the television partner to The Republican and MassLive.com.

The suspects were charged with trafficking in firearms, possession of ammunition without an FID card, possession of an infernal machine, possession of firearms without an FID card and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.

The arrests were the result of an ongoing investigation by state police assigned to Gulluni's office, the Hampden County Narcotics Task Force, ATF agents, members of the state police tactical unit (STOP) and the state police bomb squad and West Springfield police.

Three search warrants were executed as part of the investigation, according to the release.

An on-line charity drive has already raised more than $21,000 in 21 hours for Nascimento's family.

LUDLOW - Friends of Davide Nascimento, the construction worker killed in a tragic accident at a Longmeadow job site on Friday morning, have launched an online fundraising campaign that has already raised more than $21,000 in 21 hours.

According to the website, "gofundme," 399 donors had pledged money as of noontime to help the family with funeral services. Nascimento was a young, married father of two small children from Ludlow.

He became trapped in a trench on Hazardville Road that quickly filled with water, according to Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen Crane. The incident occurred around 7:45 a.m. and Nascimento's body could not be recovered until hours later despite a swift response by a large number of emergency personnel.

Among the hundreds of donors to the family on gofundme, Nascimento was remembered as a wonderful husband, father, friend and coach. Donations began pouring in within hours of his death.

Ludlow Police Sgt. Daniel Valadas said he knew Nascimento well, and called him a "fine, very affable young man" who volunteered each year with a group of friends to clean the grounds of the popular, four-day Our Lady of Fatima Festa.

"They'd stay there all night until Monday morning to clean up, and not get paid for it," Valadas said. "It's awful ... you have a hard-working young man trying to provide for his family and to get killed in such a freak way. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

Valadas added that he expects the community will rally around the Nascimento family in the future.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Nascimento family can visit:

http://www.gofundme.com/4v8gqx24c

The fund-raising goal is $30,000.

 

The skirmish broke out in the Strikers goal as both teams scrambled for the ball, Valadas said.

LUDLOW - Police were forced to call for back-up after a brawl broke out at Lusitano Stadium during the men's Pioneer Valley Summer Soccer League Friday night finals game.

Sgt. Daniel Valadas said a fight broke out between the home team Lusitano Red and the Hummingbird Strikers that cleared both benches as nearly 2,000 fans watched.

Valadas said that with about four minutes left on the clock, the Red scored a goal, bringing the score from 3-1 to 3-2 in favor of the Strikers. A skirmish broke out in the Strikers goal as both teams scrambled for the ball, Valadas said.

"Both benches cleared. It was a fistfight. Some of the Strikers fans tried to get on the field but they were stopped," Valadas said, thankfully, as the incident could have turned into an all-out riot if spectators had jumped in.

There were only two officers on-scene (Valadas included) but several more were called in to quell the melee which erupted around 9:30 p.m.

"This is the town's resources; the town will have to pay for that over a bunch of grown men fighting," he said. "It's ridiculous."

No significant injuries were reported and no arrests were made because none of those involved in the fight came forward to file a complaint. Both teams pointed to their opponents as the aggressors, Valadas said.

He added that one of the players for the Lusitano Red reported that an associate of the other team was carrying a gun. Police were not able to confirm that or locate any individual with a gun, but Valadas said they intend to beef up security efforts at the stadium and prohibit anyone from carrying weapons into the venue.

"We can't have that," Valadas said.

League Commissioner William J. Kolodziey called the game after the fight broke out, handing out trophies to both teams and scolding them for their behavior, Valadas said. The Strikers emerged victorious.

Police closed down the concession stand that was selling alcohol, and everyone cleared out by about 10:30 p.m. The incident remains under investigation.

The lion was protecting its brother's cubs when it was killed by poachers.

Updated ar 5:15 p.m: Johnny Rodrigues, a senior park official and head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told CNN that a hunter illegally gunned down Jericho in Hwange National Park. However, an Oxford University researcher tracking Jericho told CNN that the lion was alive and moving as of 8 p.m. local time Saturday, based on the GPS data from the animal's collar.

__________

Cecil the Lion's brother, Jericho, was shot and killed today, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said, in the wake of Zimbabwe calling for the extradition of the American dentist who admitted killing Cecil in early July.

"It is with huge disgust and sadness that we have just been informed that Jericho, Cecil's brother has been killed at 4pm today," the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said in a Facebook post. "We are absolutely heart broken."

The nonprofit organization said additional details would be forthcoming.

Britain's Daily Express reported the lion was protecting its brother's cubs when it was killed by poachers.

Zimbabwe has called on the United States to extradite Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist who is accused of luring Cecil the Lion off a preserve and killing it last month.

Palmer is accused of luring the lion out of a national park in Zimbabwe on July 6, shooting him with a crossbow, and tracking him on a 40-hour hunt. After finding Cecil, Palmer reportedly shot, beheaded, and skinned the 13-year-old lion, which was wearing a tracking collar.

The dentist, who paid guides $50,000, has said he believed he was acting legally. He has closed practice because of threats and the Zimbabwe guides have been charged with poaching.

On Saturday, 40 youngsters joined in on a fish tank decorating contest as a part of the ongoing American Cichlid Association's 2015 New England ACA Convention at the Sheraton this weekend in Springfield. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD — It was OK it get wet and to make a mess.

On Saturday, 40 youngsters joined in on a fish tank decorating contest as a part of the ongoing American Cichlid Association's 2015 New England ACA Convention at the Sheraton this weekend in Springfield.

According to Keely Roberts of Spectrum Brands, the contest was "A way to get kids involved at an early age and to show them it is not just the fish keeping science behind it, but the creativity that counts."

The convention continues throughout the day into Saturday evening and onto Sunday. For more details, visit the group's website here.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo for security talks with Egyptian officials before heading to Qatar to try to ease Arab concerns about the Iran nuclear deal.

CAIRO -- Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo for security talks with Egyptian officials before heading to Qatar to try to ease Arab concerns about the Iran nuclear deal.

Kerry arrived in the Egyptian capital on Saturday and on Sunday will resume a U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue that was suspended in 2009 due to political unrest.

Despite continuing human rights concerns, the Obama administration is increasing military assistance to Egypt as it confronts growing threats from extremists, particularly on the Sinai peninsula. On Friday, the U.S. delivered eight F-16 warplanes to Egypt, part of a military support package. 

Sinai-based militants have been launching increasingly sophisticated attacks in recent months that have killed dozens of Egyptian soldiers and police. The latest wave of violence began after the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi two years ago.

U.S. military assistance to Egypt had been on hold until earlier this year due to human rights and democracy concerns in the wake of the coup, but was resumed by the administration for national security reasons.

Some lawmakers and numerous advocacy groups are urging Kerry to raise human rights issues with Egyptian authorities, including the arrests of dissidents and journalists, mass trials, and sentencings of Morsi supporters. U.S. officials said those concerns would be raised at all of Kerry's meetings in Cairo and noted that the State Department's top diplomat for human rights and democracy would be accompanying him.

Ahead of his trip, Kerry met on Thursday in Washington with Egyptian-American Mohammed Soltan, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Egypt for financing an anti-government sit-in and spreading "false news." One of thousands imprisoned after the 2013 military overthrow of Morsi, Soltan had been on a hunger strike for more than a year before being freed in May after repeated U.S. requests. He is the son of a prominent member of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The State Department said Kerry and Soltan discussed his experience in prison and "the importance of distinguishing between peaceful dissent and violent extremism in the fight against terrorism." In the meeting, Kerry "reaffirmed America's commitment to promoting respect for human rights and space for civil society as part of our engagement with Egypt," the department said.

Broadening U.S.-Egyptian trade and economic ties will also be on the table during Kerry's visit, which comes just days before Egypt inaugurates a second, parallel waterway to allow two-way traffic on the Suez Canal. Egyptian officials are hoping the opening will boost a flagging economy.

From Cairo, Kerry will travel on Sunday to Doha, Qatar, for talks with Gulf Arab foreign ministers whose countries are wary of the nuclear deal with Iran.

Officials say the Doha discussions are primarily designed to follow-up on a May meeting that President Barack Obama hosted for Arab leaders at Camp David, at which the U.S. promised enhanced security cooperation and expedited defense sales to guard against a potential Iranian threat. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Kerry's trip publicly, said the talks in Qatar would take stock of progress made on those goals, particularly since the Iran deal was signed.

One U.S. official said Kerry would use the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council to "try to respond to any remaining questions they might have, hopefully satisfy them and ensure that they are supporting our effort going forward."

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq in a similar tour earlier this week to talk to his counterparts about the Iran deal.

Saudi Arabia is the largest and most influential member of the council and has been publicly supportive of the Iran deal, albeit with reservations. Just this week, the State Department authorized the sale to Saudi Arabia of $5.4 billion in Patriot missiles and related equipment along with $500 million in ammunition.

In addition to Iran, Kerry and the Arab ministers are expected to look closely at the situation in Syria and Iraq, which continue to be ravaged by conflict and the spread of the Islamic State extremist group, the officials said. Kerry will also meet separately in Doha with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss Syria, Iran and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Despite the focus on Iran, Kerry's itinerary does not include Israel, America's foremost Mideast ally and the primary foreign opponent of the Iran agreement.

U.S. officials rejected suggestions that bypassing Israel signaled that the Obama administration had given up trying to convince Israeli leaders of the merits of the Iran deal. They noted that Defense Secretary Ash Carter had visited the Jewish state in mid-July and say that contacts with Israeli officials continue to be robust.

The last time Kerry spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on July 16, two days after the Iran deal was sealed.