A fire that started in a second floor bedroom forced seven people out of their Dickinson Street home Sunday morning.

SPRINGFIELD— Fire heavily damaged a Dickinson Street home and forced seven people out Sunday morning, fire officials said.

Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said the fire started in a second floor bedroom of 132 Dickinson St. The flames burned through the sheathing of the house and extended up into the building's attic. The first calls to 911 came in at 2:15 a.m.

The front second-floor room was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene. They were able to knock down much of the fire within minutes, but then started the difficult task of opening up the walls and ceilings of the building to get at fire within the structure. Firefighters used chain saws to cut the roof and walls of the building apart to reach fire deep within the wood-framed, two-and-a-half story house.

The fire had apparently been burning for some time before the first calls were made to authorities. James Pirnie said he and his son were home and both were smelling the odor of burning wood. He said they went outside their Keith Street home and saw smoke coming from the abutting house. Pirnie said he called 911.

Leger said the family will receive aid from the American Red Cross as the house is uninhabitable. The second floor and attic of the house sustained fire and water damage, as well as damage caused by firefighters searching for fire extension. The first floor sustained water damage. Leger estimated the damage at approximately $60,000.

Fire investigators say the fire was started by an overloaded extension cord.

A 35-year-old Holyoke woman was able to get out of her car after she drove the vehicle into a canal in Holyoke Saturday night.

HOLYOKE— A 35-year-old Holyoke woman was treated at the Baystate Medical Center after she escaped her car as it sank into one of Holyoke's industrial canals alongside North Canal Street.

Holyoke Police Lt. Larry Cournoyer said the police learned of the incident at about 10:15 Saturday night, after the woman swam to the shore and was able to find a phone.

Cournoyer said the woman apparently drove to North Canal Street by way of Mosher Street, and somehow drove through a chain link fence and over the embankment into the canal.

The driver was taken to the hospital by ambulance with what Cournoyer described as "non-life threatening injuries.."

Divers from the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team were able to locate the vehicle and attach tow cables to remove it from the water.

Troopers Scott Sawicki and Daniel Gill said they were in the water just over 15 minutes. The water in the canal was surprisingly clear, they said, and they were able to find the red SUV in about 10 minutes of searching.

A large tow truck was used to haul the vehicle out of the water and over the embankment. It was taken from the scene on a flat bed vehicle.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated Springfield to be among 17 urban communities nationwide that will be aided with promotion and protection of its outdoor resources.

SPRINGFIELD - Local and federal officials gathered at Riverfront Park on Monday to announce the new "Springfield Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership," one of 17 such partnerships in the country designed to promote the outdoors and wildlife conservation in urban communities.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife announced the designation, which will serve to help promote awareness of issues facing the Connecticut River Watershed, said Deborah Rocque, the northeast deputy director for the agency.

"Beyond wildlife conservation, it's important that we create a lasting connection between young people, our urban residents and the great outdoors," Rocque said.

The program is intended to connect more people to the outdoors and "the wicked awesomeness of nature," Rocque said.

The partnership will include an effort to clean and restore the Abbey Brook conservation area in East Springfield, she said.

A $39,000 federal grant was awarded to a nonprofit organization, ReGreen Springfield, as part of the urban partnership to promote the outdoors and wildlife conservation, ReGreen President David Bloniarz said.

The partnership is a great opportunity to "directly impact the quality of life for Springfield residents," Bloniarz said. The program includes educational and outreach efforts by various organizations and agencies, he said.

As part of the effort, 13 partner organizations have contributed nearly $200,000 to program efforts, Rocque said.

The effort is about making long-lasting connections and encouraging people to "experience nature where they live," Rocque said.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, were among officials who took part in the ceremony to praise the partnership.

Abbey Brook is located behind Renaissance Charter School on Carew Street, and the students now and in the future will be learning about the habitat as part of their science studies, and how they can contribute to the effort, teacher Casey Fletcher said.

She said she stresses to students how they are like a pebble tossed into the middle of a quiet pond and how they can have a far-reached ripple effect.

The brook connects to the Chicopee River and then the Connecticut River.

Other cities with the Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership designation around the nation include Baltimore, Philadelphia and Chicago.

Neal said the Connecticut River serves as the "front yard" of Springfield and praised the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its efforts to protect important waterways.

Sarno said the partnership effort is an important part of "environmental stewardship."

The partnership between the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to build a third casino in Connecticut is the result of an illegal and unfair gaming act, MGM Resorts International said in a statement.

The partnership between the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to build a third casino in Connecticut is the result of an illegal and unfair gaming act, MGM Resorts International said in a statement.

The operators of the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos formalized their partnership to build a new gaming facility that would compete with the planned MGM Springfield casino last week. The deal brings the tribes into compliance with a June Connecticut gaming act that allows them to jointly develop a casino on non-tribal land, and which has been challenged by MGM Resorts International in federal court.

Tribal and union supporters of the deal in Connecticut have described the new development as a way of protecting jobs and revenue from cross-state competition.

But in reaction to the partnership, MGM Resorts International Executive Vice President Alan Feldman described Connecticut's gaming plans as illegitimate.

"Last week's announcement was a continuation of an unconstitutional process that does not allow anyone else to make proposals that could result in greater benefits for the state of Connecticut, its residents and consumers," Feldman said. "This is the result of a flawed, closed-door deal that shuts out voters in the approval process, eliminates all competition and doesn't provide any protections for workers."

Tribal leaders described the deal as a defense against out-of-state companies siphoning revenue from Connecticut. A study funded by the tribes found that 9,300 jobs in the state could be lost from casino expansions in Massachusetts and New York.

"With our partnership solidified, we can begin the hard work of protecting both Connecticut jobs and the critically important revenue our organizations provide to the state," said Kevin Brown, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council, in a statement last week. "Outside interests have made it perfectly clear that their business model depends on taking money and jobs from our state. We're not going to let that happen without a fight." 

MassLive has reached out to the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes for additional comment.

Three municipalities on the Interstate 91 corridor and not far from Springfield have expressed interest in a casino, according to the Hartford Courant. They are East Hartford, East Windsor and Enfield.

The agreement would be a step towards filling the gaming act's requirement that the new casino be a joint venture between Connecticut's two current casino operators, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. But the project is also facing a legal challenge from MGM Resorts International, which has sued Connecticut officials in federal district court, arguing that the new gaming act is unconstitutional.

In the August legal complaint, MGM put forward a two-pronged constitutional argument: That the act violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and that it violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause.

MGM alleges the law violates equal protection by limiting development to the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to the exclusion of other racial and national groups, and violates the commerce clause by discriminating against out-of-state competitors.

While the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos are allowed under federal law granting tribes gaming rights on American Indian reservations, the new casino would be on state land. This, MGM says, makes the preferential treatment of the tribes illegal.

A third Connecticut casino could compete with the opening of MGM Springfield, given MGM's decision to target a 2018 opening to avoid construction on Springfield's I-91 viaduct.

Mayor Domenic Sarno is asking the City Council to authorize a $9.4 million bond for the South End Community Center project.

Springfield City Council President Michael Fenton is seen at an earlaier council meeting.The Republican file 

SPRINGFIELD - The City Council is scheduled to consider a variety of issues Monday night, ranging from a bond authorization for the new South End Community Center to a special tax incentive agreement for a subway car factory on Page Boulevard.

Follow along on MassLive for live coverage of the council meeting that begins at 7 p.m., at the council chambers at City Hall.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has asked the council to approve a $9.4 million bond for construction of the new senior center, that would be covered in part by federal disaster aid. The new center is planned at Emerson Wight Park, replacing the prior center on Howard Street that was heavily damaged in the tornado of June 1, 2011.

The 10-year tax increment financing agreement is being proposed by Sarno, that, if approved, would reduce the new taxes set to be paid by CRRC USA Rail Corp., planning a $95 million subway car factory. The 220,000 square foot factory, and renovation of an existing building is proposed at the 40-acre former Westinghouse property on Page Boulevard, and would create 150 jobs and millions of dollars in new tax revenue, officials said.

If the agreement is approved, the company will pay an estimated $27.4 million in property taxes over 10 years, while saving about $9.95 million, according to estimates by assessor Richard Allen. The new value generated by the factory would come with a 50 percent exemption the first three years, gradually reducing over the next seven years.

While discussions and negotiations have occurred for many months, any tax exemption needs approval from the council, city officials said. The incentives are sometimes offered to companies when there is economic growth, new jobs, or preserved jobs, officials said.

Cybersecurity experts say Massachusetts drivers are at risk of government spying and identity theft by hackers because of E-ZPass transponders.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

David Marchetti 

A Maryland woman who was found pushing her dead son in a playground swing earlier this year has been indicted and charged with manslaughter and child abuse, authorities announced Monday.

LA PLATA, Md. (AP) -- A Maryland woman who was found pushing her dead son in a playground swing earlier this year has been indicted and charged with manslaughter and child abuse, authorities announced Monday.

At an arraignment Monday in Charles County Circuit Court, prosecutors said Romechia Simms, 24, of LaPlata, spent two entire days in a LaPlata playground pushing her 3-year-old son, Ji'Aire Donnell Lee.

Authorities say Lee died of dehydration and low body temperature while he was in the swing. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide.

This photo provided by the Charles County, Md. Sheriff's Office shows Romechia Simms. Simms, who was found pushing her dead son in a playground swing earlier this year, has been indicted and charged with manslaughter and child abuse, authorities announced Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. (Charles County, Md. Sheriff's Office via AP) 

"I'm not a risk to anybody," Simms said, before her public defender advised her to be quiet. "I didn't even mean for this to happen."

Prosecutors said Simms' mental state is in question and they wanted her to remain jailed.

Sheriff's deputies found the toddler dead in the swing the morning of May 22 after receiving a call that a woman had been pushing a child in the swing at odd hours. State's Attorney Anthony Covington said Monday that police found Lee's jacket in the trash, and his shoes off his feet, filled with rain water.

A judge ordered Simms held, with bond set at $150,000, and scheduled a January trial date. She faces up to 45 years in prison -- 30 years on first-degree child abuse, 10 years on the manslaughter charge and 5 years on a charge of child neglect.

Family members have said Simms was suffering from mental illness. She was hospitalized after her son's death, and had been hospitalized for a brief period in the months beforehand.

The public defender representing Simms did not return a call Monday seeking comment.

Simms' mother, Vontasha Simms, said she was "totally flabbergasted" by the decision to bring criminal charges.

"No one in their right mind is going to sit out there for two days in the elements," she said, noting that her daughter was exposed to the weather and had no food or water, either, during those two days.

She said her daughter had just begun taking medication for her mental-health problems a couple of months before, and wondered whether there were problems getting the right medication or dosage. She said her daughter had been complaining of headaches before Ji'Aire's death.

"Somehow, somewhere within that episode, time stopped for her," Vontasha Simms said.

Vontasha Simms said she hopes to retain a private attorney to represent her daughter, but worries that she can't afford it.

Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt University's law school and an expert in mental health law, said prosecutors have leeway in deciding whether to bring criminal charges in cases like this. How much Simms' apparent mental illness affects the case depends on how strong the defense's argument is that she is ill, Slobogin said.

"If she's pushing her dead child in a swing that's pretty good evidence of serious impairment," Slobogin said.

After Monday's arraignment, Covington said he didn't know whether he might revisit the criminal charges if subsequent mental-health evaluations raise questions about Simms' sanity or competency. While he acknowledged that mental-health issues are part of the case, he said it would be up to the defense to bring forward a mental-illness defense.

He said he could not discuss specific facts of the case, including whether Simms had offered an explanation of her behavior to the authorities.

Earlier this year, the boy's father petitioned a District of Columbia court for custody of his son, saying Simms was behaving erratically and jumped out of a moving taxicab with Ji'Aire.

In court papers, Simms acknowledged she had had a mental breakdown but insisted she was doing better.

"This breakdown that I had was the first that I have ever had in my life and I truly believe it was from an extreme amount of stress weighing heavy on me. I am now in a much better productive space," she wrote in a letter to the judge.

In May, just days before Ji'Aire's death, a judge ordered the parents to share custody, and court records indicate both Simms and the boy's father agreed to the arrangement.

Cleveland Police Chief Charles "Buster" Bingham said during a news conference that authorities have identified Shannon Lamb as a "person of interest" in the shooting of history professor Ethan Schmidt.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 2:50 this afternoon.

By JEFF AMY
and EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- A professor was killed in his office at Delta State University in Mississippi, forcing terrified students and teachers to hunker down in classrooms as investigators searched for another school employee in connection with the killing, officials said Monday.

Cleveland Police Chief Charles "Buster" Bingham said during a news conference that authorities have identified Shannon Lamb as a "person of interest" in the shooting of history professor Ethan Schmidt. Lamb is no longer believed to be on the Delta State campus.

Bingham also said police have information suggesting Lamb may have been involved in another slaying in the south Mississippi city of Gautier, about 300 miles away.

Gautier police spokesman Matthew Hoggatt told The Sun Herald that a woman was found dead in her home, and that Lamb is the suspect in her death.

"We're working right now under the assumption that both events are related," Hoggatt said. "We hope that they are not. But at this point in time, information indicates that they probably are linked in some way, shape or form."

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said investigators are searching for a black 2011 Dodge Avenger that they believe Lamb is driving.

The 3,500-student university in Cleveland, in Mississippi's Delta region near the Arkansas-Mississippi state line, was first put on lockdown around 10:45 a.m. amid reports of an active shooter. Everyone on campus was told to take shelter, away from windows.

Charlie King was in a history class down the hall from where the shooting occurred.

"A few minutes into the class, we heard these popping noises and we all went completely silent," he said.

Some people thought that it might be a desk or door closing or firecrackers, but King said he thought it sounded like gunshots. A few minutes later a police officer -- gun drawn -- burst into the windowless room and ordered everyone to get against the wall away from the door. Some people also hid in a storage closet, King said. The officer didn't explain what was going on, but King said the students understood.

"We put two and two together," he said. The professor gave the students chairs to throw if the shooter came in, said King's friend, Christopher Walker Todd.

Eventually police ushered the students into another building and questioned them about what they'd seen and how many shots they heard.

Freshman Noah Joyner, 18, was in his dorm building when reports of an active shooter began to spread. He hunkered down in a bathroom and heard others desperate to get in.

"There were like people banging on the doors to have somebody let them in," said Joyner, a swimmer at the college. "It was pretty terrifying."

Charly Abraham was teaching a class of about 28 students at the university's Delta Music Institute when he and the students received a message through the university's alert system.

"Everybody's phone just sort of went off at the same time," Abraham said. Then a staff member came in and told them that the campus was on lockdown.

"We discovered it was something very serious when we started getting text messages from people all over the world," he said.

Eventually, about two hours or so after the initial lockdown, about 25 heavily armed police officers swept through the building, Abraham said. All of the students were sent back to their dorms and other people such as faculty and students who live off campus were sent to the university's coliseum, Abraham said, though most were later allowed to leave.

The slain professor directed the first-year seminar program and specialized in Native American and colonial history, said Don Allan Mitchell, an English professor at the school, who called him "a gentleman in every sense of the word."

"Dr. Ethan Schmidt was a terrific family man, a good friend, a true son of Peabody, Kansas, and his beloved Emporia State University," he said.

One of his history professors at Emporia State University described him as one of the "brightest students" she'd ever taught.

"He was a super competent human being. He was president of his fraternity, in student government. He was an absolutely delightful student," said Karen Manners Smith.

King, one of the students who was in Jobe Hall when the shooting happened, attended the same Episcopal church as Schmidt. King was studying history, and Schmidt was his adviser.

"I looked up to the man," King said.

AP writers Kevin McGill and Rebecca Santana in New Orleans, Alina Hartounian in Phoenix and Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas, contributed to this report.

At a Sept. 26 reception at the library, those who attend are invited to meet the artists.

WILBRAHAM - The Veterans Art League will have an art show at the Wilbraham Public Library Sept. 12 through 29 during regular library hours.

A reception is scheduled for Sept. 26 from noon to 2 p.m.

The Veterans Art League is a group of artists who have served or are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or their respective Reserve or Guard components, according to Frank Tencza, president of the Veterans Art League.

"We are your neighbors, your fathers and brothers and sisters - the kids next door who went off to serve recently or to wars years ago," Tencza said.

He said the League aims to "exchange ideas, grow our art and support and learn from each other."

The art includes writing, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, poetry, music and writing, Tencza said. He said the art must be original, not done from a kit or photos not done by the artist or under someone's supervision.

The group aims to give artists the experience of exhibiting their art and to help the public realize veterans have many dimensions beyond their military experience.

The group has held exhibits at STCC, UMass, Baystate West, the Dane Gallery in the Indian Orchard Mills, the Suffield, Connecticut Public Library and the Wilbraham Public Library.

The public is invited to see the exhibit, come to the reception and meet the artists.

Anyone with information which could help solve the case is urged to contact the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit at 617-727-8817.

REVERE - On the 23-year anniversary of the murder of Susan Taraskiewicz, the unsolved case remains under investigation, according to the Massachusetts state police.

Taraskiewicz was found, murdered, in the trunk of her car parked outside an auto body shop on Route 1A in Revere Sept. 14, 1992.

Early on the morning of the previous day, she had left her job as a ramp supervisor at Logan Airport and never returned.

The case remains under investigation by the Massachusetts state police, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and Revere police, the Massachusetts state police said on its Facebook page.

Anyone with additional information which can help solve the brutal homicide is urged to contact the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit at 617-727-8817.

Motorist accused of deliberately and fatally hitting a firefighter with his car told police he was angry with the firefighters collecting money for charity and slowing traffic, court records show.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A motorist accused of deliberately and fatally hitting a firefighter with his car told police he was angry with the firefighters collecting money for charity and slowing traffic, court records show.

Grant Taylor told officers during an interview that he expressed his anger with firefighters Wednesday on a Lansing street and that their response to his frustrations did not satisfy him. He said he drove away, then turned around and hit Dennis Rodeman -- a firefighter involved in the conversation, the Lansing State Journal reported Monday.

The 35-year-old firefighter was participating in Fill the Boot, an annual fundraising campaign for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and International Association of Firefighters. Rodeman, whose wife was pregnant with their first child, later died at a hospital.

Taylor, 22, was charged Thursday with murder, failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death and fleeing police. The Associated Press left a message for defense attorney Stacia Buchanan seeking comment about the allegations.

During testimony that led to charges against Taylor, Lansing Detective Lee McCallister said firefighters told Taylor what they were doing and said they would appreciate any donations. Taylor told McCallister he became angrier when firefighters mocked him, according to the testimony.

"At no time during his conversation did (Taylor) express any remorse," McCallister said. "Nor did he ask the condition of the victim."

Taylor's mother, Karen Taylor, petitioned Ingham County Probate Court twice in the past two years to involuntarily hospitalize him for mental health reasons, the newspaper reported, citing court records. Psychiatrists who evaluated Taylor diagnosed him with psychosis and bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

Visitation for Rodeman is Tuesday at a Lansing funeral home, and his funeral is Wednesday at Michigan State University's Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Gov. Rick Snyder ordered U.S. and Michigan flags to be lowered to half-staff on Wednesday at the Capitol and all state buildings in Rodeman's honor.

There were passengers in the bus, but no one was injured, police said.

HADLEY - The Hadley Police and Fire departments were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident at the base of the Calvin Coolidge Bridge just after 6 p.m. Monday.

A PVTA bus, which was traveling west on Russell Street, was struck by an SUV which was pulling out of Cross Path Road, according to Hadley police.

There were passengers in the bus, but no one was injured, police said.

The SUV has to be towed since it sustained heavy front end damage, police said.

Police said traffic heading westbound was backed up for approximately a half hour due to one lane being closed.

The action was taken in response to what the board deemed serious allegations made against the suspended Chief, Francis Fox, which they are investigating.

BELCHERTOWN - Selectmen on Monday formally named Sgt. Bruce Jenks as acting police chief following their decision to place Chief Francis Fox on paid leave.

The board's unanimous vote was taken in response to what selectmen deemed serious allegations made against Fox last week.

Fox was placed on administrative leave following a Granby police report that indicated Fox had driven erratically -- in an unmarked Belchertown police cruiser -- on Feb. 1.

In that report, Granby police said Fox was driving on wrong side of the road, that he nearly hit another vehicle and that a "strong" odor of alcohol was noticed by the officer who pulled him over.

The report said Fox pulled rank on the Granby officer, asking him if he knew who he was, and resisted exiting his vehicle until threatened with arrest. The report said he had difficulty standing and nearly fell over.

Selectmen and the town administrator, in recent interviews, said that although the Granby incident occurred more than seven months ago, Fox did not notify them about about it when it happened. Furthermore, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Ron Aponte, who placed Fox on leave last week, said he only learned about the incident when it was reported in the media on Sept. 9.

Fox, whose earns about $95,000 per year, will continue to collect his pay while selectmen are investigating.

The board has scheduled a private meeting with on Thursday. Fox has the option, however, of requesting that the meeting be held in public session.

Neighbors say Gawle drained and filled a pond on his 125 Northampton St. land.

EASTHAMPTON -- Developer Bernie Gawle committed no wetlands violation on his land at 125 Northampton St., even though his earth-moving operations over the years -- which ramped up over the summer -- obliterated a small body of water on the property.

That's according to an email from the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection, which recently weighed in on the controversy after being asked to do so by Melissa Coady, chair of the city's Conservation Commission.

Coady read the email from Western Division MassDEP Water and Wetlands chief David Cameron at the commission's Sept. 14 meeting. Nearly 20 residents were packed into the tiny basement meeting room, including Gawle himself -- a major landowner and builder -- who said the property off the city's main commercial strip had been run as a hayfield for years.

At the commission's August meeting, neighbors on Highland Avenue had charged that Gawle over the summer drained and filled a pond on the property, then sprinkled hay seed on the area to claim an agricultural exemption to both Massachusetts wetlands law and a local stormwater management ordinance.

Coady at the time said she believed no wetlands violation occurred, because the body of water in question never exceeded 10,000 square feet, the standard threshold for a "pond" under the state's wetlands law. She also said she had no reason to disbelieve the property had an agricultural use, which would grant Gawle more latitude under state and local law to disturb the property.

Coady read aloud Cameron's email, which agreed with her analysis, Monday night at the Conservation Commission's monthly meeting.

"Our analysis concludes that an isolated vegetated wetland, which did retain some open water, existed from at least 1998 through around 2005 in the agricultural field at this site," wrote Cameron. "We have digitally measured and presented square footage for this feature.... It does not exceed 2,567 square feet, and is not observable after 2005."

According to a historical analysis of aerial photos, the water body, including nearby water-loving plants, never exceeded 9,034 square feet total, Cameron wrote, adding that the water body did not occur within other jurisdictional wetlands.

"Based upon the above, the DEP does not see a legal basis whereby the Easthampton Conservation Commission or MassDEP is able to exert jurisdiction over this site under the Wetlands Protection Act," wrote Cameron. "The feature was too small to meet the definition of 'pond' and is well beyond the 200-foot riverfront area of the Manhan River."

Gawle himself was present at the meeting, and said that a farmer had been haying the field for years. Gawle claimed hay on the property was most recently harvested on July 23, and that they hay went to feed cattle in Westfield.

The agricultural use of the property is relevant, said Coady, because otherwise Gawle would be required to file a stormwater management plan with the city for the land disturbance, even if the former "pond" on the property were not truly a "pond" under state wetlands law.

Normal maintenance and improvement of farmland is exempt from the local stormwater ordinance, said Coady.

Easthampton does not have a local wetlands ordinance, after an ordinance that was more stringent than the state's was repealed in 1998, said City Planner Jessica Allan.

City Councilor Daniel Hagan, himself a resident of Highland Avenue, said he was disappointed that nobody from MassDEP conducted an actual site visit. "How can something go from a nine-thousasand-foot-plus vegetated wetland to nothing?" he asked. Hagan suggested that the photos used by the DEP to determine the pond's historical size were not reliable.

The land in question is located off the city's commercial strip near the 121 Northampton St. McDonald's. The front part of the land is zoned for highway business, and the back portion zoned for multi-family housing.

Some Highland Ave. neighbors said they have water in their basements already, and don't want Gawle to diverge water toward their street. Others said they had lived in the area for years, and that a sizable pond once existed on the property.

Gawle, caught in the parking lot of the city's municipal building, expressed little sympathy for the neighbors.

"Obviously, they were wrong, and they're disappointed," said Gawle. "I plan to do something on that land before I die. So they can wish me good health."

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com

 

Trading was light as investors looked ahead to a much-anticipated Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

By MATTHEW CRAF

NEW YORK -- More signs of slowing economic growth in China weighed on companies that produce raw materials on Monday, pulling the stock market to a slight loss. Trading was light as investors looked ahead to a much-anticipated Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for the Commonwealth Financial Network, said the market was likely to drift until the Fed wraps up its meeting on Thursday. "Everybody is waiting to see what happens when and if the Fed raises rates."

Until recently, many in the markets thought that the Fed would raise its benchmark interest rate at the end of its two-day meeting on Thursday. Now, opinions are split. Some analysts suggest China's slower economy and turbulence in financial markets might prompt the Fed to postpone its first rate increase since 2006. But the Fed's deputy chairman, Stanley Fischer, recently said he saw a "pretty strong case" for raising rates.

Major U.S. indexes opened higher, then quickly changed course. They sank slowly through the rest of the morning and remained lower through the remainder of the day. Miners and other materials companies had some of the biggest losses. Metals companies Alcoa and Nucor dropped 3 percent, while Freeport-McMoRan lost 2 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8.02 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,953.03.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 62.13 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,370.96, and the Nasdaq composite fell 16.58 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,805.76.

Apple reported strong demand for its latest iPhones, driving its stock up. The tech giant said that initial sales of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are on track to beat the tally from last year, when it sold a record 10 million large-screen iPhones during the first weekend. Apple climbed $1.10, or 1 percent, to $115.31.

In Europe, Germany's DAX closed with a gain of 0.1 percent while France's CAC-40 lost 0.7 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares slipped 0.5 percent.

Two economic reports out Sunday rekindled concerns over China's economic slowdown. Factory output and investment grew at a slower pace than forecast. China's main stock index, the Shanghai Composite, took another hard fall on Monday, dropping 2.7 percent

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.6 percent, and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 percent.

Back in the U.S., Raptor Pharmaceuticals lost more than a third of its market value after the drug developer said it may scrap development of a liver disease treatment because it failed to pass a key test. The company's stock plunged $4.51, or 37 percent, to $7.52.

Prices for U.S. government bonds barely moved. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 2.18 percent.

In commodities markets, industrial metals finished lower while precious metals ended mixed. Gold gained $4.40 to settle at $1,107.70 an ounce, and silver sank 14 cents to $14.36 an ounce. Copper dropped 5 cents to $2.41 a pound.

The price of oil fell on weakness in the gasoline market brought on by high fuel supplies and the end of the summer driving season. U.S. crude fell 63 cents to close at $44 a barrel in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.77 to close at $46.37 a barrel in London.

In other futures trading in New York:

1. Wholesale gasoline fell 6.6 cents to close at $1.304 a gallon.
2. Heating oil fell 4.6 cents to close at $1.504 a gallon.
3. Natural gas rose 6.5 cents to close at $2.758 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Police say Courtney Newman was spotted by an off-duty offer climbing the fence at what will be known as Dunkin' Donuts Park on Sunday evening.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A 28-year-old Manchester man has been charged with breaking into Hartford's under-construction baseball stadium.

Hartford police say Courtney Newman was spotted by an off-duty offer climbing the fence at what will be known as Dunkin' Donuts Park on Sunday evening.

Police say they detained Newman and found a ski mask along with a bag of .22-caliber ammunition that was hidden in his sock.

He has been charged with illegal possession of ammunition and criminal trespass and was being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

Police say there have been a string of burglaries from the site and its construction trailers.

The $56 million stadium, which is being built to house the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, is slated to open next spring.

The City Council also approved $9.5 million for a new South End Community Center, whose cost will be aided by federal disaster funds.

SPRINGFIELD -- While city councilors strongly praised plans for a $95 million subway car factory on Page Boulevard, a vote on a proposed $10 million tax incentive for the company was derailed -- at least briefly -- when one councilor invoked an occasionally used council rule to halt debate.

Orlando Ramos 

If a 10-year tax incentive is approved, the company will pay an estimated $27.4 million in property taxes over 10 years, while saving about $9.95 million, according to estimates by assessor Richard Allen. The new value generated by the factory would come with a 50 percent exemption the first three years, gradually reducing over the next seven years.

Some councilors urged a vote on the tax incentive Monday, saying a delay would send a bad message to a company investing millions of dollars in the city and creating jobs and new taxes.

Other councilors said they fully support the project but want more information and some object to the tax incentive being revealed to the council so late, after the project is already announced and set to proceed.

Councilor Orlando Ramos invoked Rule 20 -- which automatically halts debate until their is a financial analysis by the city comptroller of whatever issue is being discussed. Ramos invoked that rule after the effort by himself and others to send the issue back to subcommittee for further review was voted down by the council majority.

Kevin Kennedy, the city's chief development officer and CRRC representatives said there have been lengthy discussions and changes in the project, including the project rising in cost and scope, factoring into the so called Tax Increment Financing agreement just coming before the council now.

Some councilors objected to Rule 20 being used, saying it is supposed to be used only for city expenses and payments, not a tax incentive agreement.. Council President Michael Fenton upheld Ramos' action and moved on to other matters on the meeting agenda.

Before the matter was halted, Councilors Kenneth Shea and Clodovaldo Concepcion were among councilors calling for a vote on the matter, saying councilors are always talking about the need for jobs and manufacturing, and have a great opportunity with the CRRC project.

Shea warned councilors they could look like the "laughing stock" of the state if depending on how it acts on the tax incentive agreement. Justin Hurst and Councilor E. Henry Twiggs said there was no effort by any councilor to kill the project, but they have a right to raise questions and concerns when the incentives total $10 million over 10 years.

Some representatives of the buildings trades also urged a vote on the project, saying it will provide critical jobs and training to union people and apprentices.

Some councilors called for the company to give its best efforts to provide at least 50 percent of its jobs to Springfield residents, and company representatives said they were open to that effort.

In other news, the council voted unanimously to approve an approximate $9.4 million bond to build a new South End Community Center at Emerson Wight Park. Approximately $6 million in federal disaster aid will help reimburse part of that cost.

Councilor Bud L. Williams said the vote on the community center was long-awaited and justified in the aftermath of the prior center being destroyed by the tornado of June 1, 2011.

Charges against the driver include operating under the influence of alcohol and operating under the influence of drugs.

Don Treeger / The Republican file 

SPRINGFIELD -- State police have identified a man arrested Sunday morning after a high-speed chase on Interstate 91 that ended in crashes as 50-year-old Robert J. Kopcza of Agawam.

Charges against Kopcza include operating under the influence of alcohol and operating under the influence of drugs, Trooper Dustin Fitch said.

Police initially received multiple reports of a motorist driving erratically on Interstate 91 northbound at around 10:30 a.m.

State police said they spotted him on the highway and attempted to pull him over.
The man refused to stop and led police on a chase that reached speeds of as much as 80 miles an hour, state police said.

He struck at least three other cars, totaling one of the vehicles and causing minor damage to another. The chase, which lasted about three minutes, ended near Exit 9, when he struck a guardrail and totaled his car.

Kopcza was also charged with Failure to stop for police, marked lanes violation, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, speeding and negligent operation.

He was slated to be arraigned Monday in District Court. Information, however, was not immediately available.

The checkpoint will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, into Sunday, Sept. 20, Col. Richard D. McKeon, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, announced Tuesday.

FRAMINGHAM — A sobriety checkpoint will be held at an undisclosed Essex County location on Saturday, Sept. 19, into Sunday, Sept. 20, Col. Richard D. McKeon, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, announced Tuesday.

The goal of the checkpoint is to increase public safety by removing intoxicated drivers from state roadways, according to State Police officials, who routinely conduct statewide roadblocks in search of drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs.

The grant-funded checkpoint will be operated during varied hours and vehicle selection won't be arbitrary, police said.

Essex County includes the North Shore, Cape Ann and lower portions of the Merrimack Valley.

Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia with massive coils of barbed wire Tuesday and began detaining migrants trying to use the country as a gateway to Western Europe, harsh new measures that left thousands of frustrated asylum-seekers piled up on the Serbian side of the border.

HORGOS, Serbia -- Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia with massive coils of barbed wire Tuesday and began detaining migrants trying to use the country as a gateway to Western Europe, harsh new measures that left thousands of frustrated asylum-seekers piled up on the Serbian side of the border.

Human rights activists condemned the move, with Amnesty International saying Hungary's "intimidating show of militarized force is shocking." But Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended the measures, saying he was acting to preserve Christian Europe, which he said had become threatened by the large numbers of Muslims streaming into the continent.

"The supply is nearly endless -- we can see how many of them are coming," Orban said in a televised address just before the new laws took effect at midnight. "And if we look at the demographics, we can see that these people have more children than our communities who lead a traditional, Christian way of life."

"Mathematics tells you that this will lead to a Europe where our way of life will end up in a minority, or at least face a very serious challenge."

By nightfall Tuesday, thousands of migrants, including many babies and children, prepared to spend a night in the open or in flimsy tents erected in the bushes or on the main highway near the Serbian border with Hungary.

Men collected wood in a nearby forest for fires in preparation for a chilly night.

"I had hope until now, but it's all gone," lamented Mohammad Mahayni, a 32-year-old Syrian from Damascus, who became separated from his wife as they tried to enter Hungary a day earlier.

"I lifted the razor wire for her, she got in before a Hungarian border patrol came by," he said. "Now I don't know where she is."

The new laws make it a crime to breach or damage the 13-foot (4-meter) high razor-wire fence erected along 110 miles of Hungary's border with Serbia and include longer prison terms for convicted human traffickers. Authorities said they detained 174 people who tried to cross the border Tuesday. Hungary has said it will turn most of the migrants back to Serbia, which it considers a safe country where they could also request asylum.

The developments mark a dramatic reversal for Hungary, an East European nation that played a key role in cracking open the Iron Curtain in 1989 when it removed a border fence to Austria, prompting large numbers of East Germans to flee to the West.

At the European Parliament in Brussels, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker paid tribute Tuesday to Gyula Horn, the late Hungarian prime minister who dismantled that fence. He appeared at the unveiling of a bust of Horn, praising him as "a great Hungarian, a great person, a great European" -- a clear gesture of reproach of Orban.

Hungary also declared a state of emergency in two southern regions Tuesday, giving authorities greater powers to deal with the crisis and allowing them to shut down roads and speed up asylum court cases.

That also allows the military to be deployed to defend the border, pending approval by parliament next week, though heavily armed military personnel with vehicles and dogs have been seen patrolling the border for days.

"For refugees fleeing from terrifying conflict zones to be met by such an intimidating show of militarized force is shocking, and a woefully irresponsible response to people already traumatized by war and brutality," said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe.

The Hungarian government said it plans to extend the steel razor-wire fence -- which it calls a "temporary border closure" -- several miles (kilometers) along the border with Romania as well, something the Bucharest government said violated the "European spirit" of cooperation.

"I am horrified to think of one thing that is possible: What do we do if Hungarian troops begin to shoot or kill children and women?" Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said late Tuesday on Antena 3 television.

Though Orban's steps are extreme, the migrant crisis has forced other European governments to reinstate border checks, possibly heralding a threat to the free movement across EU frontiers -- one of the most cherished benefits brought by their union.

This week, Germany and the Netherlands were among countries that reintroduced border checks to manage the huge flow of people, while the Czech Republic said Tuesday it is prepared to deploy its armed forces to protect its borders if police alone cannot manage the crisis.

Meanwhile, Austria's Interior Ministry announced it would impose border controls with Hungary starting at midnight Tuesday and said the measures could be extended to the country's borders with Slovenia, Italy and Slovakia if necessary. The move was in response to fears that migrants now streaming into Austria from Hungary could try to cross into the country over those borders in large numbers.

Abolfazl Ebrahimi, a 17-year-old Afghan who was in Athens on Tuesday, said his group now plans to get to Western Europe through Croatia.

"I thought that European people are kind and they will give us rights. But I don't think so (anymore) because the borders between Germany and Austria are closed, and Serbia and Hungary are closed too," he said.

In the last few months, Hungary has become a main entry point and bottleneck into the European Union for migrants, many of them war refugees from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. More than 200,000 migrants have entered Hungary so far in 2015, nearly all by walking across the southern border with Serbia, as they make their way to Germany or other wealthy Western European nations.

Serbia's foreign minister declared it was unacceptable that migrants were being sent back from Hungary while more and more were arriving from Macedonia and Greece.

Serbia "wants to be part of the solution, not collateral damage. There will have to be talks in the coming days with Brussels and other countries," Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in Prague.

The turmoil at the Hungarian-Serbian border came a day after the 28-nation EU failed to come up with a united immigration policy at a contentious meeting in Brussels. The ministers did agree to share responsibility for 40,000 people seeking refuge in overwhelmed Italy and Greece and spoke hopefully of reaching an eventual deal on which EU nations would take 120,000 more refugees, including some from Hungary.

The effectiveness of Hungary's moves was underlined dramatically by statistics: On Monday, with some gaps still open in the border, 9,380 migrants managed to pass into Hungary, a record high as people rushed to get into the European Union before the gates shut behind them.

When the measures took effect at midnight, almost nobody got in. Hungary said it received 72 requests for asylum by evening Tuesday but had not approved any.