Vice President Joe Biden's associates have resumed discussions about a 2016 presidential run after largely shelving such deliberations during his son's illness and following his death earlier this year.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden's associates have resumed discussions about a 2016 presidential run after largely shelving such deliberations during his son's illness and following his death earlier this year. But Biden has yet to tell his staff whether he will run or personally ask them to do any planning for a potential campaign, according to several people close to the vice president.

Recent conversations between Biden's associates and Democratic donors and operatives have led to speculation that Biden will challenge front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party's nomination, and individuals close to Biden have started looking into what options might be available to him if he were to run, such as potential staff in Iowa and the filing deadlines for entering the Democratic field.

But the people close to the vice president say his launching a White House run remains uncertain. Biden is expected to make a final decision as soon as early September, according to those familiar with his plans.

The people close to Biden spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations.

The renewed focus on Biden comes amid some signs of weakness for Clinton, including declines in her favorability among voters in recent polling. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is challenging Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has been attracting large crowds with a liberal economic message, evidence of a hunger within the party for an alternative to Clinton's candidacy.

Biden's entry could fundamentally reshape the dynamics of the Democratic primary, giving the party another option that might appeal to a wide swath of voters. Yet Clinton remains enormously popular among Democrats. She has amassed a large staff of seasoned operatives and raised nearly $50 million for her campaign.

There are few signs, meanwhile, that Biden is taking solid steps toward launching a campaign. He has had little interaction with a "draft Biden" group pushing him to run, and has yet to look for office space in early voting states or raise money for a potential bid.

Kendra Barkoff, the vice president's press secretary, said Biden was spending his time working on President Barack Obama's agenda, not on planning his own potential presidential campaign.

"As the Biden family continues to go through this difficult time, the vice president is focused on his family and immersed in his work," Barkoff said.

Biden's son, Beau, died of brain cancer in May. The younger Biden's death prompted an outpouring of support for the vice president, who also lost a daughter and his first wife in a car accident in 1972.

Since Beau Biden's death, his father has surrounded himself with longtime confidants and former aides who can provide comfort and emotional support -- but also have intimate ties to Biden's two previous presidential campaigns. Former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, who has advised Biden for most of his political career, and Mike Donilon, a friend and longtime political aide, have both been given offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, steps from the vice president's West Wing office.

In recent weeks, a bevy of longtime donors, supporters and former staffers have reached out to the vice president and his staff to offer their condolences, as well as to say they'd be on board if he chooses to run.

The intense speculation around a potential Biden run grew even louder this past week when Fox News reported that Biden chief of staff Steve Ricchetti had met for breakfast with Louis Susman, a prominent Democratic donor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. But individuals familiar with the meeting said Susman and Ricchetti are longtime friends and that Susman initiated the meeting.

New York Times columnist Maureen Down also reported Saturday that Beau Biden had, before his death, urged his father to run.

Biden would bring to the race 36 years of experience in the Senate, as well as a breadth of foreign and domestic policy experience from his years as vice president. He's been a key negotiator for Obama during fiscal fights on Capitol Hill and also the point person for administration policy in Ukraine and Iraq.

However, Biden's freewheeling, undisciplined style has caused headaches for the White House and has long been a concern for Democrats as he's weighed the prospect of running in 2016.

A firefighter evaluating a Northern California wildfire was killed by the erratic, wind-stoked blaze while he was surveying an area to decide the best way for crews to handle the flames, a U.S. Forest Service official said Saturday.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A firefighter evaluating a Northern California wildfire was killed by the erratic, wind-stoked blaze while he was surveying an area to decide the best way for crews to handle the flames, a U.S. Forest Service official said Saturday.

Forest Service firefighter David Ruhl, 38, was in a vehicle in the Modoc National Forest and would have been scouting for ways to suppress the fire when crews lost contact with him Thursday evening, Forest Service spokesman Ken Sandusky said.

Officials said they couldn't immediately say whether Ruhl had time to let others know by radio that he was in trouble, or whether flames overtook him too fast to call for help. His body was recovered Friday.

An investigation has begun to determine exactly what happened and whether there are any lessons to be learned from Ruhl's death, Forest Service spokeswoman Heather Noel said.

"We owe that not only to the family and to the friends and to the employees that worked with Dave, but we also owe it to the agency and the rest of the firefighters, so that whatever did happen won't be repeated if possible," she said.

Ruhl lived in Rapid City, South Dakota, with his wife and two children, who are devastated, said Scott Jacobson, Ruhl's co-worker and a spokesman for the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.

"He was a great husband, a great father and a great employee," Jacobson said. "He was loved by everybody."

Jacobson said Ruhl had been on temporary assignment since June in California, where he was an assistant fire management officer for the Big Valley Ranger District of the Modoc National Forest.

He wanted to broaden his firefighting experience and improve his skills because he was so passionate about his job, Jacobson said.

"He was just always eager to get out and about and work with people," he said. "It says a lot about the kind of guy he was that he took time away from his family to do that."

He said co-workers liked Ruhl for his easygoing and humble manner, and for always being there when one of them needed help.

By Saturday, the blaze about 100 miles south of the Oregon border had burned nearly 3 square miles and was 5 percent contained.

Erratic winds were challenging fire-containment efforts and moving the fire in all directions. Gusty winds were expected Saturday evening, when lightning also was forecast, the Forest Service said.

Ruhl grew up in Wisconsin and previously worked for the U.S. Coast Guard and as a correctional officer. He joined the Forest Service in 2001 and had been with Black Hills National Forest since 2011, Jacobson said.

Ruhl was the engine captain for Black Hills' Mystic Ranger District, where he supervised a crew responsible for sizing up and suppressing new wildfires. He also oversaw crews as they contained prescribed burns intentionally set to control forest and prairie growth.

Black Hills National Forest supervisor Craig Bobzien said Ruhl was admired by his peers and cared deeply about his work.

"He was so highly respected, I think the kind of person that people just wanted to be around," Bobzien said, his voice breaking.

Pittsfield police are searching for an 18-year-old Pittsfield man they believe shot and killed one teen, and seriously wounded another.

Conor Berry | cberry@repub.com 

Police told the Berkshire Eagle that they are searching for Thomas Lee Newman, Jr., 18, in connection with the fatal shooting on Tyler Street Friday afternoon.

An arrest warrant was obtained mid-afternoon Saturday charging Newman with one count of murder and one count of armed assault with the intent to commit murder.

Keenan S. Pellot, 18, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on Friday after police responded to a shots fired report shortly after 1 p.m. A second teen, a 17-year-old male, was found nearby suffering from multiple gunshot wounds as well. He was transported to the Berkshire Medical Center where he is expected to live.

Pittsfield detectives are working with Massachusetts State Police detectives, as well as the State Police Crime Scene Services and firearms investigators.

Anyone with information about Newman's whereabouts, or with information about Friday's shooting, is asked to contact Pittsfield Police at 413-448-9700.

Nearly 8,000 visitors and 1,000 historic military reenactors converged on Old Sturbridge Village on Saturday for the 12th annual Redcoats & Rebels event - the largest Revolutionary war reenactment in New England.

STURBRIDGE — Nearly 8,000 visitors and 1,000 historic military reenactors converged on Old Sturbridge Village on Saturday for the 12th annual Redcoats & Rebels event - the largest Revolutionary war reenactment in New England.

Highlights included realistic mock battles and skirmishes between the Colonial and British troops and their allies. Soldiers on horseback and mounted troops from Second Regiment Light Dragoons conducted cavalry demonstrations showing sword work and drill maneuvers throughout the weekend.

Those who didn't make it to the event on Saturday can attend on Sunday as the event continues from 9:30 a.m. through 5 p.m.

Visitors can also see cannon and musket demonstrations, including the Village's own newly constructed Heavy 3-Pounder cannon. Guests can also visit the field hospital, hear fife and drum music, and see what a soldier's life was like during the days of the American Revolution.

For more information, visit the Old Sturbridge Village website here.

A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide met its demise in the U.S.

PHILADELPHIA -- A hitchhiking robot that captured the hearts of fans worldwide met its demise in the U.S.

The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment told The Associated Press that someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday, ending its first American tour after about two weeks.

The kid-size robot set out to travel cross-country after successfully hitchhiking across Canada in 26 days last year and parts of Europe. It is immobile on its own so gets from place to place by relying on the kindness of strangers.

It started in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on July 17 with its thumb raised skyward, a grin on its digital face and tape wrapped around its cylindrical head that read "San Francisco or bust."

It bounced around the Boston area and was briefly taken to sea. One day, it took in a Red Sox game. But hitchBOT never made it off the East Coast.

The creators were sent an image of the vandalized robot Saturday but cannot track its location because the battery is dead. They said they don't know who destroyed it or why. But co-creator Frauke Zeller said many children who adored the robot are now heartbroken.

hitchBOT was designed to be a talking travel companion and could toss out factoids and carry limited conversation. A GPS in the robot tracked its location, and a camera randomly snapped photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels.

During past travels, the robot attended a comic convention and a wedding, and it had its portrait painted in the Netherlands. It once spent a week with a heavy metal band.

A strike planned for midnight, August 1 passed after Verizon workers OK'd continuing negotiations with management.

SPRINGFIELD—Two unions representing more than 38,000 Verizon workers have delayed a planned strike to continue negotiations with company management over job security, health care and pension contributions, the Boston Herald reported. Union representatives said Verizon negotiators submitted a counter-proposal Saturday night that changed some of its original proposals.

The negotiations cover members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America from the mid-Atlantic states to New England.

Strikers had gathered at company locations in preparation for a strike to begin at midnight. But just after an hour before the strike was to begin union representatives called it off.

In Springfield, members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2324 were to begin picketing at midnight when the strike was postponed. Springfield Police Capt. David Martin said he received word that special duty details for the strike locations were cancelled just after midnight.

Negotiations between the company and the unions began June 22, and union workers voted to set a deadline of August 1 at midnight to resolve workers' demands.

According to union representatives, Verizon is demanding workers accept increases in health care costs through higher deductibles, co-pays and co-insurances costs, while at the same time cutting jobs by increased use of outside contractors and off-shoring of work. Workers are also demanding that management continue to fund contributions to 401K retirement plans.

Verizon said the workers demands are, "unrealistic and out of touch with today's marketplace."

Material from the Associated Press was used in preparing this article.

The added tax revenue – which the coalition pegs at $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion a year - would be earmarked for the state to spend on education and transportation.

The added tax revenue - which the coalition pegs at $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion a year - would be earmarked for the state to spend on education and transportation.

"There are great needs that are being unmet," said Lew Finfer, director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a liberal organizing group that is co-chairing the coalition. "Support for education and transportation significantly deteriorated in the last ten years."

The coalition, Raise Up Massachusetts, is the same group that pushed the state Legislature to raise the minimum wage last year, then successfully advocated for the passage of a ballot initiative requiring employers to provide workers with earned sick time. But while the group has significant political clout, the constitutional amendment process, which takes three years, is a difficult one. The effort is also likely to face a backlash from anti-tax groups.

"This proposal is so absurd it's simply going to make a joke out of the whole process," said Barbara Anderson, the head of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which was founded in the 1970s to fight a graduated income tax.

"You have a small group of people getting picked on because they're rich," Anderson said. "Presumably, many of them worked very hard to get there, and they can pick up and leave."

Currently, all Massachusetts residents pay a 5.15 percent flat tax on their income, which is scheduled to gradually decrease to 5 percent. The proposal, dubbed the 'fair share amendment' by its proponents, would raise taxes by 4 percentage points on income over $1 million.

That means if the flat tax rate in 2019 is 5 percent, someone earning $1.3 million a year would pay 5 percent on the first $1 million of his income and 9 percent on the next $300,000.

The increased tax rate would hit around 14,000 of the state's wealthiest taxpayers.

The state push comes at the same time as there have been similar efforts on a national scale to address growing income inequality in the U.S., including calls for higher taxes on millionaires. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, has been one of the leaders in the national movement by Democrats to focus on income inequality.

Both Finfer and Raise Up Massachusetts spokesman Steve Crawford cited an argument that is often used to oppose a flat tax system - noting that rich people pay a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than poor people, since poorer people spend more of their income on purchases subject to the sales tax, while wealthy people save and invest more money. (Unlike state taxes, federal taxes are graduated, meaning the rich pay a higher tax rate than the poor.)

"We're calling it the fair share amendment, because the wealthiest people in Massachusetts pay a smaller percentage of their annual income than middle class and lower income earners in the state," Crawford said.

Supporters of the amendment focus on the fact that it would create a dedicated source of revenue for transportation and education. Lawmakers have over the last several years been talking about the need for greater investment in roads and bridges, as well as in public transportation like the MBTA and Regional Transit Authorities. Funding for education - including early education and higher education - is also a major issue.

"We need a significant amount of new money," Finfer said.

Finfer said since 2002, state education spending has not kept pace with the rate of inflation, leading to cutbacks at many local schools. "There's tremendous holes that impact people's opportunities and lives in terms of education and transportation," Finfer said.

But Anderson argued that the change would result in the state getting less tax revenue, since wealthy individuals could move away.

"My guess is if this passes in November 2018 on Tuesday, there are going to be a lot of UHauls heading out of the state on Wednesday," Anderson said. "These people don't have put up with being picked on because they're 'the rich.'"

Although this is the first time this proposal has been raised, voters previously rejected attempts to move from the flat tax to a graduated income tax. In 1994, a ballot question that would have imposed a graduated income tax and raised the top tax bracket to 9.8 percent was defeated overwhelmingly, 70 percent to 30 percent. A 1972 ballot question establishing a graduated income tax was defeated 67 percent to 33 percent.

Paul Craney, executive director of the fiscally conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said the rejections show voters support the flat tax.

"People like fairness," Craney said. "People like the idea that we're all taxed equally no matter what you make. It gives an incentive for people to try to make more money."

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-oriented Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, noted that there already is progressiveness in the tax code, due to exemptions and credits that are available to low-income individuals. According to 2013 figures from the Department of Revenue, taxpayers earning more than $100,000 already pay 72 percent of the taxes collected in Massachusetts, even though they make up just 19 percent of taxpayers. Those earning more than $1 million annually pay 20 percent of all the income taxes collected in the state.

"They're bearing more of the burden already," McAnneny said.

This proposal may be easier to build support for politically than a broader graduated income tax, since it affects a smaller group of people.

To pass a constitutional amendment, a group must gather around 75,000 signatures. The amendment must be approved by 50 of the state's 200 legislators in each of two consecutive legislative sessions. It would then go to the ballot in 2018, when it would have to be passed by a majority vote. The first deadline for the process comes next Wednesday, when language of the proposal is due to Attorney General Maura Healey.

Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, is a supporter of a graduated income tax, but he has not taken a position on this proposal. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Amherst, also has not taken a position.

Elizabeth Guyton, a spokeswoman for Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, said Baker "does not support tax increases on our hardworking families."

State Rep. Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat who is the chairman of the Joint Committee on Revenue and the former co-chair of the state's Tax Fairness Commission, is one prominent legislative supporter of the proposed amendment. A majority of the Tax Fairness Commission recommend passing a constitutional amendment to institute a graduated income tax.

"The only way to address inequities in our tax system and provide for the revenues we need for the services we need is to amend the constitution so we can have everyone paying their fair share," Kaufman said.

Kaufman said he thinks the world has "changed dramatically" since 1994, when a graduated income tax was last on the ballot. "We're increasingly aware that the wealth and income gap in our country is really hurting the middle class and hurting our economic vitality," Kaufman said.

The number of homes sold in June was 552, a 4.9 percent increase from the 526 completed sales recorded a year ago at this time in June 2014.

SPRINGFIELD - It was a busy week for business news in Massachusetts last week, lead by a fairly positive report from MassBenchmarks, a study of the state economy put out through the UMass Donahue Institute. Here is a list of the top five business stories. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) Economists: Massachusetts economy continues to grow faster than US

Real gross domestic product in Massachusetts grew at an estimated annualized rate of 5.4 percent in the second-quarter of 2015.

2) MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield gets new LED scoreboard, lighting

The new LED lighting provides a savings in power and can be turned on and off quickly. No more waiting for the lights to warm up.

3) Springfield City2City changes name, enlarges regional focus with upcoming Chattanooga trip

This trip follows ones to Grand Rapids, Michigan and to Allentown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

4) Peter Pan Bus Lines wraps bus in message to help fight cancer

The Springfield-based bus company is working with a Massachusetts charity that focuses on getting people ages 15 to 40 into doctor's offices for proper cancer screening.

5) Real Estate: Pioneer Valley home sales up while median price falls

The number of homes sold in June was 552, a 4.9 percent increase from the 526 completed sales recorded a year ago at this time in June 2014.

The new system would be garbage only with recycling handled as it is now in separate containers.

HOLYOKE -- All homeowners would get the same wheeled containers to leave curbside on garbage day under a proposed new automated collection system at a cost of about $475,000.

"Every resident would get the trash barrel, it would be uniform. It would be a much cleaner way of picking up trash, so you wouldn't have trash flying around," Mayor Alex B. Morse said recently.

The plan to buy 9,000 trash containers and install hydraulic barrel dumpers on four refuse trucks will be part of a $3.7 million capital plan Morse said he will submit to the City Council in September.

If the council approves the plan, the new trash collection system could begin in the spring, Morse said. A similar system operates in West Springfield.

Morse was interviewed about the plan before he held a neighborhood meeting July 16 at the Marian Center, 1365 Northampton St.

Funding is available for more than $2.6 million of the capital plan items from road-repair, or Chapter 90, funds from the state, and federal Community Development Block Grants, he said.

The remaining approximately $1,080,000 for the capital items, including for the new trash-collection system, could be paid for using free cash, he said. Free cash is the money that the state Department of Revenue certifies is available to the city in unspent money from the previous fiscal year. That certification usually comes around September.

William D. Fuqua, general superintendent of the Department of Public Works (DPW), said the proposed trash collection system has several advantages. Safety would improved by freeing workers from having to lift heavy containers and come in contact with hazardous materials, he said.

The city would save money thanks to less worker time lost to injuries, he said.

The 65-gallon containers at each household would be for garbage only with recycling handled as it is now in separate containers, he said.

Standardizing the garbage barrels around the city would improve efficiency and reduce litter by stopping the use of breakable plastic bags left curbside, he said.

"The mechanized lift system to empty the containers will allow for more stops to be collected per day by fewer employees," Fuqua said.

Also, he said, "Labor not required for refuse collection can be reassigned to highway maintenance and other duties."

Indeed, Morse said the automated trash collection system wouldn't result in lost DPW jobs.

"The DPW is already a slim operation," Morse said.

Michael Jones, a lifelong resident of Upper Hill in Springfield, is running for mayor in his first run for political office.

SPRINGFIELD - In a crowded field of candidates running for mayor of Springfield in the 2015 election, Michael Jones is hoping his first time run for political office serves as an inspiration.

Michael Jones 

Jones, 43, of 180 Albemarle St., is among six candidates who have been certified to run for mayor on the preliminary election ballot, Sept. 15, all having turned in more than 500 signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot. The two highest vote-getters in the preliminary will move on to the final election ballot on Nov. 3.

Jones is a lifetime resident of Springfield, at his current home in the Upper Hill neighborhood. He has not yet scheduled his campaign kick-off event and formal announcement.

Jones, is a 1989 graduate of Central High School in Springfield, and did not go to college.

"It has always been expected that a person needs a college degree in order to be a politician," Jones said. "There are a lot of qualified people in the work force that could apply for the job of Mayor."

Jones said he has always worked, and most recently worked during a 90-day trial period at WalMart's in Chicopee. He said he used that experience to meet a lot of people, chose to wear a dress shirt and tie to work, and showed his character of "patience and desire."

After the 90 days, Jones said he was informed that he can return to Walmart after the campaign, if the mayor's run is unsuccessful.

Jones said he takes pride in being "community involved."

One experience that helped inspire him to run for mayor was his own effort to bring improvements to Gunn Square Playground, a long-neglected park in his neighborhood, he said.

Jones said he proposed the park improvements in 2009, joined park officials in planting a tree there in 2010, and knocked on doors for support before new playground equipment and improvements were completed in 2014.

"Yes it inspired me," Jones said. "It gave me an opportunity to show I had a desire to help people. The beatification of the playground gave me my foundation."

'Jones had a Facebook page, titled "Mayor Michael Jones" in which he pledges to represent the citizens of Springfield "with honesty and compassion."

"I will dedicate 100 percent of my time to helping Springfield become a world class city," his Facebook post states. "I stand for the provision of a good education to all. I stand for providing a safe city for the people to live, work and play in. I stand for a clear line of communication between citizens and government."

In addition to Jones and Sarno, other candidates for mayor are Johnnie Ray McKnight, Salvatore "Sal" Circosta, Beverly Savage and Ivelisse Gonzalez.

SOUTHWICK - Town officials are looking for two residents interested in serving on the town's Park and Recreation Commission. Long-time members Kelly Magni and Susan Grabowski resigned from the commission in recent weeks and the Board of Selectmen and remaining members of the Parks and Recreation Commission have approved advertising the vacancies for residential interest. Both positions will be up...

SOUTHWICK - Town officials are looking for two residents interested in serving on the town's Park and Recreation Commission.

Long-time members Kelly Magni and Susan Grabowski resigned from the commission in recent weeks and the Board of Selectmen and remaining members of the Parks and Recreation Commission have approved advertising the vacancies for residential interest.

Both positions will be up for election in May 2016 for the remainder of three-year terms.

Residents interested in serving until the election must be registered voters and must submit a letter of interest and resume to town officials by noon on Aug. 14.

Interest should be directed to the Selectmen's Office, Town Hall, 454 College Highway, Southwick, Ma. 01077.

Selectmen and park and recreation commission members will meet following the Aug. 14 deadline to consider appointments.

The trooper was charged with domestic assault and battery

ROYALSTON - An off-duty Massachusetts State Police trooper was arrested after seriously injuring a woman early Sunday morning.

The trooper, 36, was arrested shortly after 3 a.m. at his home in Royalston and charged with domestic assault and battery. He is being held at the Millbury State Police Barracks and will be arraigned Monday at Gardner District Court. A bail clerk set bond at $25,000, said David Procopio, a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police.

The victim, an adult woman, was taken to Heywood Hospital in Gardner for a serious but non life-threatening injury, he said.

The trooper was immediately relieved of duty pending an upcoming status hearing that will be scheduled for early this week. During the hearing, department officials will determine the trooper's job status for the duration of the criminal proceedings, Procopio said.

"The department took the trooper's service weapons and ammunition, cruiser, State Police identification, and other job-related equipment. He additionally was ordered to surrender, and the department took possession of, several privately-owned guns and ammunition found in a secure location in his home. The department additionally will suspend the trooper's license to carry a firearm indefinitely," Procopio said.

The trooper's name was not immediately released by state law, which prohibits release of names of people charged with domestic violence under certain circumstances. State Police does not release the name of victims of domestic violence, he said.

The trooper is a member of the Division of Field Services and is stationed in Troop C, which covers central Massachusetts. The headquarters for Troop C is located in Holden but there are barracks in Athol, Belchertown, Millbury, Brookfield, Leominster, Sturbridge and Devens.

WESTFIELD - Dennis Polisky and the Maestro's Men will perform in concert at Stanley Park Aug. 9. The performance is sponsored by Westfield Bank's Sunday Night Concert Series and will be held weather permitting in the Beveridge Pavilion. The 6 p.m. concert is free of charge and chairs will be provided and a food service available. The band is noted...

WESTFIELD - Dennis Polisky and the Maestro's Men will perform in concert at Stanley Park Aug. 9.

The performance is sponsored by Westfield Bank's Sunday Night Concert Series and will be held weather permitting in the Beveridge Pavilion.

The 6 p.m. concert is free of charge and chairs will be provided and a food service available.

The band is noted for their polka melodies, big band sound and traditional standards.

The band formed in 1996 and its leadere and clarinetist Dennis Polisky was inducted into the Polka Hall of Fame in 2007.

Thomas Lee Newman was arrested in Utica, New York.

PITTSFIELD - An 18-year-old city man has been arrested and is to be charged with the murder of one man and the shooting of a second.

Thomas Lee Newman Jr., of Pittsfield, was arrested on Sunday in Utica, New York, suspected of the double shooting that killed Keenan S. Pellot, Jr., Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless said in a written statement.

Newman was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant by members of a law enforcement task force that included Utica law enforcement officers and federal investigators, he said.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Utica on Monday. At that time the Berkshire County District Attorney's office will seek his rendition to Pittsfield where he will be charged with one count of murder and one count of armed assault with intent to commit murder, Capless said.

The second victim, a 17-year-old man, is in guarded condition at Berkshire Medical Center and is expected to survive.

The investigation is being conducted by members of the Pittsfield Police Department, State Police detectives assigned to the District Attorney's Office and State Police Crime Scene Services and Firearms Identification Sections.

The man suffered serious neck and upper back pain.

HADLEY - A 35-year-old Chicopee man was injured after falling 40 feet from a rope swing into shallow water Saturday evening.

The man was with friends swimming in the Connecticut River. Witnesses said he was on the swing with the intent to jump and instead fell into very shallow water, Police Sgt. Douglas Costa said.

The accident happened at about 6:45 p.m. Friends of the man helped him into their boat and they drove to the Sportsmans Marina, off Route 9, he said.

Hadley Police and Fire departments and Amherst Fire Department ambulance responded and transported the man, who was suffering severe neck and upper back pain, to Baystate Medical Center, in Springfield, Costa said.

HADLEY – A Pittsfield man was arrested after he pulled a gun on a relative Sunday evening during an argument on Russell Street. The 33-year-old man, who was not identified because of a new state law about domestic assaults, was charged with assault and battery on a family or household member and assault with a firearm and threatening to commit...

HADLEY - A Pittsfield man was arrested after he pulled a gun on a relative Sunday evening during an argument on Russell Street.

The 33-year-old man, who was not identified because of a new state law about domestic assaults, was charged with assault and battery on a family or household member and assault with a firearm and threatening to commit a crime, Hadley Police Sgt. Douglas Costa said.

Police were first alerted to a report of people in a car fighting on Russell Street at about 4:30 p.m. Officers found the driver who stopped at Valley Bicycle on 173 Russell St., he said.

"It started in the vehicle and continued in the parking lot," Costa said.

Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused a Pennsylvania doctor on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July.

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused a Pennsylvania doctor on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July. 

Zimbabwe's National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, of shooting the lion with a bow and arrow in April near Hwange National Park, without approval, on land where it was not allowed.

Landowner Headman Sibanda was arrested and is assisting police, it said.

Seski is a gynecological oncologist who directs the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

He's also an active big-game hunter, according to safari outfitters and bow-hunting sites where kill shots identify "Dr. Jan Seski" as the man standing next to slain animals including elephants, a hippo, an ostrich and antelopes such as an impala, a kudu, and a nyala.

The Associated Press called and knocked on the door at Seski's home, which is set back among some woods outside Pittsburgh. The AP also left a message with an answering service for his medical practice, with no immediate response.

One image on the Melorani Safaris Facebook page, since taken down, showed Seski posing with the body of a small antelope in 2012, with a caption saying it was killed two days after he shot it with an arrow. Other captions described how his arrows penetrated organs and split bones.

"This Zimbabwe elephant is the sixth African elephant shot by Dr. Jan Seski," Alaska Bowhunting Supply claims in a caption dated September 2014, below a picture of the doctor posing above the dead beast's trunk and tusks.

"The arrow was shot quartering into the elephant, penetrated a rib and one lung, lacerated the heart and liver, and was recovered in the gut. The elephant went a short distance and died. With results like this, no wonder Jan is a firm supporter of our Ultra-Magnum Arrow System."

Alaska Bowhunting Supply didn't immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment, and it wasn't clear how the hunting supply company learned such details about the hunt.

Images of the doctor wearing camouflage and holding high-powered bows match those on Seski's website, where he wears a suit or hospital scrubs. His address and other identifying information given by authorities in Zimbabwe matches those of U.S. medical authorities.

A handful of Seski's neighbors said he mostly keeps to himself and that he'd been buying up the land around his property. Ernest Hahn said Seski put up no-trespassing signs, breaking the rural area's tradition of people feeling free to cross property lines to hunt.

Hahn said Seski can be "quirky," walking around wearing a low-slung pistol "like a gunslinger," for example, but he appreciates that his neighbor is protecting land from development.

"It seemed to me everything he does is aboveboard," Hahn said. "I've never seen him done anything illegal or unsportsmanlike at all."

Seski provided his name and other identifying information for a government database when he came for the hunt, Zimbabwe National Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said.

"When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place," she said. "The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a have a quota for lion hunting."

Seski seemed like a "perfect gentleman" to Stewart Dorrington, who operates Melorani Safaris and owns a game reserve in neighboring South Africa where Seski hunted in 2012.

"He was a great guy," Dorrington said. "Everything he did was perfectly legal and aboveboard and a great help to our conservation efforts."

Dorrington said he converted his cattle ranch into a game reserve in the 1980s. He said funds from trophy hunting of antelope are essential to conserving wildlife.

Dorrington said he received an abusive phone call Sunday; his Facebook page was later closed from view after people began posting threatening comments.

Two other illegal lion hunts also were recorded last year in Zimbabwe, said Geoffrey Matipano, conservation director for the wildlife authority. He did not provide details on those cases. 

 

Zimbabwean authorities have said they will seek the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, alleging he lacked authorization to kill "Cecil." The lion was lured out of Hwange park, wounded with a bow and arrow and then tracked down and shot, conservationists said.

Palmer said he relied on professional guides to ensure his hunt was legal. Two Zimbabwean citizens were arrested and face charges.

Zimbabwe's wildlife authority has suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area, and said Saturday that bow and arrow hunts can be approved by only by the head of the wildlife authority.

In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., announced the "Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act," which would expand import bans to species proposed for listing as threatened or endangered, as well as those already listed as endangered.

"The logic is that if you keep killing them, they will become endangered," Menendez spokesman Steven Sandberg said Sunday.

The ads, which start on Tuesday and run statewide, focus on Clinton's work on behalf of families and relationship with her late mother — central themes of her early campaign.

WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton is spending $2 million airing the first television ads of her presidential race in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The ads, which start on Tuesday and run statewide, focus on Clinton's work on behalf of families and relationship with her late mother -- central themes of her early campaign. The spots are part of an effort to reintroduce one of the country's biggest political celebrities as a progressive fighter who understands the struggles of average Americans.

"After law school she could have gone to a big firm but instead went to work for the Children's Defense Fund. In Arkansas, she fought for school reform to change lives forever. Then as first lady she helped get health care for eight million kids," says a narrator in one of the ads. " You probably know the rest."

A second ad focuses almost entirely on the life story of Clinton's late mother, Dorothy Rodham, who overcame a bleak childhood marked by abandonment, neglect and poverty.

"I think about all the Dorothys all over America who fight for their families, who never give up," says Clinton in the ad. "That's why I'm doing this. That's why I've always done this. For all the Dorothys."

The new spots come amid fresh speculation that Vice President Joe Biden may challenge Clinton for the party's nomination. While she remains the front-runner in the race, she's faced signs of weakness in recent weeks, including declines in her favorability ratings and views of her trustworthiness. In recent weeks, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has attracted large crowds with his liberal economic message -- evidence his team says -- of a hunger in the party for an alternative to Clinton.

So far, he's resisted attacking Clinton, focusing instead on contrasting his more liberal views with hers on issues like Wall Street regulations and the Keystone pipeline.

"I have a lot of respect for Hillary Clinton," he said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday. But, he added: "She and I disagree on many issues."

Clinton aides, meanwhile, have been trying to lower expectations for her primary performance by arguing that both Iowa, where the state's caucuses bring out the most passionate party voters, and New Hampshire, next door to Sanders home state of Vermont, favor their competition.

The emphasis on family issues is a change in course from Clinton's failed White House bid in 2008, when her campaign focused on her experience and toughness. Though Clinton has spent decades on the American political stage, her team insists that voters don't really know much about her background. They've focused on reintroducing the former Secretary of State, presidential candidate, and New York senator as a grandmother-in-chief, highlighting her family relationships and embracing her role in history as the first potential female president.

A number of Republican candidates have already begun airing ads, attempting to distinguish themselves in a crowded primary field. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign has invested more than $12 million in ads that start airing at the end of the year in Iowa, New Hampshire and other states. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has spent $1 million and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's presidential campaign nearly $500,000 on spots in the early-voting state of New Hampshire.

An early morning shooting on Bowles Street in the McKnight neighborhood left one man hospitalized and police searching for three men.

SPRINGFIELD— One man was wounded in as early morning shooting in Springfield's McKnight neighborhood Monday..

Springfield PoliceCapt. David Martin said officers were dispatched to the vicinity of 87 and 85 Bowles St., just at the rear of the Rebecca Johnson School, at about 1:40 a.m. Dispatchers received a ShotSpotter activation indicating multiple gunshots fired in the area. Moments later, patrol officers requested an ambulance at the fire station at 33 Eastern Avenue for a gunshot victim there.

The victim told police he was walking on Bowles Street when he was shot at by three men. He said he ran through the school yard and across Mason Square to the safety of the fire station. He was transported to the Baystate Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening wounds to the lower extremities.

At the shooting scene, police searched the area and found several shell casings, and a vehicle that had been hit twice by gunfire. The gold Lexus, parked across the street from the shooting location, was hit in the left rear bumper and in the front.

A car parked near the shooting scene was hit by gunfire twice, police indicated. One bullet passed through the left side of the rear bumper, while the front of the vehicle was hit by copper jacketing from a bullet. Dave Canton,Republican 

A witness staying at a Bowles Street home said she heard the loud booms of gunfire from a nearby second floor bedroom.

"I was terrified," she said.

She said she heard perhaps eight or nine shots fired in a string, but didn't see the shooters as she immediately hit the floor when she heard the shots.

"I didn't see anything," she said. "I was too scared."

Neighbors on Marion Street, the next street over, told police their motion detecting flood lights were lighting up after the shooting, indicating some of the shooters may have ran through backyards to make their escape.

Those neighbors know full well the shock of having gunfire suddenly erupt in the quiet, closely packed neighborhood. On June 12, a Marion Street resident was shot and critically wounded as she returned from her job as a corrections officer in a Connecticut facility. She survived the shooting.

The investigation into the incident will continue.

The man can't get away from Deflategate; after a Maine man hired a plane to fly a banner over Roger Goodell's Maine vacation home inviting him to, "jet home to New York."

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com 

The Biddeford man hired a local pilot to fly a banner over Goodell's vacation home and invite him to, "Jet back to New York."

Maine TV station WCSH reported that Pate hired the pilot to fly out of the Biddeford airport and circle the NFL Commissioner's home with the banner reading, "Commissioner Goodell---jet home to New York."

The court hearing scheduled later this month to try to come to a settlement are to be held in New York City.

Pate would not say how much the stunt cost him, except to smile and say, "It was worth every penny."

Pate said he asked the pilot if he would pull the banner and he was delighted.

Earlier this week an airplane, presumably hired by some of the New York Jets team, towed a banner over the Patriots training camp reading, "Look up cheaters."

One wag noted that it was the first time the Jets were able to wave a banner in many years.