Maxyne Schneider is the new president of the Roman Catholic order.

The newly elected leadership team for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield includes, seated from left, Sister Maxyne Schneider, president and Sister Elizabeth T. Sullivan, vice president and standing, from left Sisters Carol Hebert, Lillian Reilly and Virginia Maitland.

HOLYOKE – A new team of leaders for the 267-member Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield will take office Sunday during a ceremony at the congregation’s motherhouse, Mont Marie.

Assuming six-year terms will be Sisters of St. Joseph Maxyne D. Schneider as president, Elizabeth T. Sullivan as vice president and Lillian Reilly, Carol Hebert and Virginia Maitland as leadership team members.

Schneider is a native of North Adams who entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1960. She earned a doctorate in chemistry from Boston College and served as professor and later dean at the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee before serving as a congregational leadership team member. She was the co-founder and director of House of Peace and Education in Gardner and a grant writer for Weston Center for Women in Holyoke.

The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, is scheduled to be present at Sunday afternoon’s transfer of leadership ceremony that begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Mont Marie Chapel, 34 Lower Westfield Road.

The election process began in October with a chapter of affairs when the members of the congregation gathered to set goals for the next six years and to begin the selection process for new leaders to carry out those goals.

The goals chosen for the next term include advocating for “people who are poor or alienated” and being “responsible, concerned stewards of the earth and universe.”

The election took place in April at Mont Marie during the congregation’s chapter of election.

The goals are not new to the congregation.

“We must keep our eye on the most disadvantaged in our society; that’s the example we see in the Gospel. That’s what Jesus Christ did,” Schneider said. “We are committed to keeping that focus (of service) very, very strong.”

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield had been known for teaching, but members now also serve in such areas as health care, parish ministries, social services, Earth ministries, youth ministries and communications.

Schneider said the sisters’ concern for the earth continues to grow stronger “in light of the very real concerns of global warming, climate change and destruction of habitats for wildlife.”

All involve God’s creation and affect the lives of all peoples, especially the poor, she added.

The congregation is in the early stages of serious consideration of alternative energy use on its property.

“We believe creation is holy,” Schneider said. “If we don’t take steps to implement what we believe, it’s just pretty words.”

For years the sisters have been involved in conservation work where they live and work.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield operate the Mont Marie Health Care Center and the Mont Marie Child Care Center. The latter is slated to close at the end of August after years of caring for and educating preschoolers from Holyoke and surrounding communities.

Sisters currently serve in Springfield, Worcester, Fall River and the Berkshires in Massachusetts and in Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Louisiana Maryland and Africa.

“We’re very much aware of the traditional role for religious congregations of women and men to be prophetic,” Schneider said, “to be the voice that challenges the status quo if the status quo goes against the values we see embodied in the Gospel, a voice that consistently speaks what we see as the Gospel values of Jesus Christ embodied in his life.”

The congregation was founded in LePuy, France, more than 350 years ago. In 1836, a small group of sisters went to Carondolet, Mo., to begin a school for the deaf. From there, members of the congregation moved to other locations in the United States and Canada.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield was founded in 1883 following a request by the pastor of St. Patrick Church in Chicopee Falls to help begin a parish school.

By the mid 1960s the Springfield congregation had more than 1,000 members and had founded or staffed 60 schools and established the College of Our Lady of the Elms.

In the mid 1970s, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Fall River merged with the Springfield congregation; so too in 2001 did the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland, Vt.

Daniel P. Tompkins, 34, of Orange was ordered to serve 8 to 12 years in state prison for a Bernardston car crash that killed two women in 2007. Pictured here is 25-year-old Melissa Duff, one of Tompkins' victims, according to police.

Duff family photoCrash victim Melissa Duff, pictured here in 2007

Buffum family photoCrash victim Heather Buffum, pictured here in 2007 with her children

GREENFIELD – A Franklin County resident has been convicted of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter in connection with a 4-year-old SUV crash that killed two of his passengers.

On Thursday, Franklin Superior Court Judge John A. Agostini ordered 34-year-old Daniel P. Tompkins of Orange to serve eight to 12 years in state prison for the June 20, 2007, fatal crash in Bernardston.

Police and prosecutors said Tompkins was driving the sport utility when it struck a guard rail, flipped over and rolled into a wooded area, ejecting 21-year-old Heather Buffum and 25-year-old Melissa Duff. Both women were killed in the crash, police said.

Tompkins and another passenger, Jeffrey Blake, also were thrown from the SUV, police said.

Tompkins was found guilty in a June 14 bench trial before Agostini in Franklin Superior Court, but his sentencing was delayed until this week.

The judge said not only was the crash “tragic,” but it was “manslaughter in every sense of the word.”

Agostini found Tompkins guilty on two counts of manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol; two counts of involuntary manslaughter; two counts of felony motor vehicle homicide; and one count of causing serious bodily injury by virtue of operating under the influence with negligence.

The motor vehicle manslaughter convictions carried a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years, according to the office of Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan.

Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne had urged Agostini to sentence Tompkins to the maximum allowable penalty.

On the evening of June 20, 2007, Tompkins was driving his Ford Expedition SUV with passengers Buffum, Duff and Blake, when the vehicle collided with a guardrail on South Street in Bernardston, according to authorities.

Massachusetts State Police estimated Tompkins was driving nearly 90 mph in a 40-mph zone. Police said tests showed his blood alcohol content was 0.12, or 1 ½ times higher than the legal limit for intoxication.

During the bench trial, Tompkins claimed that Blake was driving when the SUV left the roadway. But Agostini firmly rejected that claim, calling it “ludicrous.”

Gagne, the prosecutor, referred to the SUV as “a 2,500-pound blender,” saying it was "a miracle anyone survived.”

The victims’ families addressed the court, praising the judge and prosecutors but faulting Tompkins for failing to acknowledge his crimes.

“You will come out of this nightmare that you have caused for so many people,” Kenneth Erho, Melissa Duff’s uncle, told Tompkins, who remained silent during the sentencing.

“Melissa never will,” Erho said.

“A simple ‘I’m sorry,’ would go a long way,” Karen Beck, Buffum’s mother, said, addressing her remarks to Tompkins.

Family members shared photos of the victims with Agostini.

"Having these photos brought Heather and Melissa to life,” the judge said.

Reach, a club member for 60-plus years, was a founder of the community music series at the First Congregational Church of Westfield and founder of the Garden Club and Junior Volunteer Service Corps.

File photo | The RepublicanStanley Park Board of Directors member Patricia Reach (here with board President Jeff Glaze at the 2010 Black Squirrel Ball) will be honored by the Westfield Woman's Club with its 2011 Volunteer Service Award.

WESTFIELD – Patricia Reach has made a life of community service and volunteerism, and though her many contributions will be honored by the Westfield Woman’s Club, she says she has never been motivated by recognition but rather by a sense of duty.

“I think it’s nice to do your part in the community and help to make it a better place,” said Reach, who now makes her home in Longmeadow.

Reach has been a member of the Westfield Woman’s Club for more than 60 years, and on Thursday, the club will honor her with its annual Volunteer Service Award during a ceremony at the 14th annual garden tea at Stanley Park.

Club president Josephine Herrick describes Reach as “a pioneer,” and said she has made a positive impact on the community with her selfless work and dedication to Westfield and its residents.

“She has been a constant community activist and contributor including multi-year board membership stints at the YMCA, Athenaeum and Stanley Park, where she most recently spearheaded the building of the popular playground and a broader community volunteer effort throughout the park,” she said.

Reach’s links to the park make it an ideal location for presentation of the award, she said.

Herrick also noted that Reach was a founder of the ongoing community music series at the First Congregational Church of Westfield and founder of the Garden Club and Junior Volunteer Service Corps.

She also credits Reach with being the force behind the Golden Age organization in Westfield, known today as the Senior Center.

For Reach, though, who was also honored by the Stanley Park Board of Directors with the President’s Award during a presentation at last year’s Black Squirrel Ball, volunteerism and being a member of the Westfield Woman’s Club are just a natural part of being a good member of the community.

“The woman’s club is wonderful - a grand opportunity to help the community,” she said. “It’s just a nice way to make new friends.”

As for the recognition of being honored by the club, Reach had little to say, commenting only that she was “embarrassed talking about myself.

“I don’t do it for the recognition, I do it for the community.”

Reach moved to Westfield from Dalton after World War II with her late husband, Milton B. Reach, who was a longtime reporter for the Springfield Newspapers.

“She was also a pioneer in the business world where her 50-year gift design, manufacturing and distribution business provided employment for hundreds of area families at a time when few opportunities for women with children at home existed,” Herrick said.

After retirement, her energetic return to volunteer community service has kept her connected to the many organizations and friends made over more than 60 years in the Pioneer Valley, Herrick added.

The Westfield Woman’s Club tea will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., rain or shine. The fund-raiser features the traditional hat parade for which prizes are awarded in the vintage, outrageous, creative, colorful, elegant, best in show and best child’s hat categories.

Tickets to the event are available for $15 by reservation. For more information, call (413) 568-8994.

Readers react to legislation introduced this week to end the federal ban on marijuana.

What is your take on the marijuana issue? Is it time to legalize it?

WASHINGTON — Earlier this week, Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Texas-republican Ron Paul introduced a bill that would remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances and cede to the states enforcement of laws governing pot.

The legislation would eliminate marijuana-specific penalties under federal law, but would maintain a ban on transporting marijuana across state lines. It would allow individuals to grow and sell marijuana in states that make it legal.

Although the bill won't pass the republican-controlled House of Representatives, it did spark a new debate about the issue of marijuana legislation and whether it is indeed time to legalize it.

Some of our readers voiced concern that legalization would fuel the already murderous Mexican drug cartel while others said that ending the ban and moving toward responsible regulation would decrease the problems associated with that portion of the drug trade.

Here is was some of you had to say:

ThisMachineKillsFascists says: Legalizing would shut down the pot cartels, if all states adopted it. It is precisely because it is illegal that there are violent gangs in the business... higher profits follow prohibition. It was the same way in the early thirties before the ban on alcohol was repealed... when you criminalize something, you create criminals.

snookered1 says: legalizing marijuana won't stop drug violence. There is still heroin, cocaine, crack, meth. Not to mention the illegal sales of prescription drugs like oxycontin.

kadeen says: All drugs should be legal. Prohibition doesn't work, it never has. That's how organized crime became so powerful in this country and how the drug cartels so powerful in other countries. All prohibition does is make drugs profitable.

bsgwmass says: I don't smoke weed, but I know some people in important places who do. I also know alcoholics and recovering boozers. Problems for anyone who goes overboard. I do want to bring up the problems of driving and taking hits from the bong...how does law enforcement determine how much weed is enough?

majorityof1 says: The ban on interstate transit is what would keep the drug cartels in business. If this were a legal interstate product, a whole lot of farmers in the Carolinas would be switching to a new cash crop, and the vast legal distribution network of tobacco companies could ramp up to distribute it in extremely short order.

What is your take on the marijuana issue? Chime in below and let us know what you think.

An explosion in a Boston College classroom has reportedly caused an evacuation of the building.

An explosion at the Merkert Chemistry Center was handled by the Boston fire Department Saturday morning.

BOSTON - Various Boston media outlets are reporting that a chemical explosion in a Boston College classroom has caused an evacuation of the building.

The situation reportedly happened on the Chestnut Hill campus at 2599 Beacon Street in Boston.

The situation is reportedly being handled with a Level-3 HazMat response. According to NECN, authorities are looking for a female believed to be in the classroom before the explosion, but not at the time of ignition.

There is no word yet as to whether this was an accident or a suspicious situation.

Additional details weren't immediately available but will be posted as the story develops further.

A chemical explosion in a Boston College classroom that caused an evacuation of the building Saturday morning has been ruled accidental.

(Photo courtesy of Boston Fire Department)The Boston Fire Department confined the situation to the basement of the Merkert Chemistry Center and are reporting no injuries as a result of the explosion.

This updates a story posted at 11:15 a.m. Saturday.

BOSTON - A chemical explosion in a Boston College classroom that caused an evacuation of the building Saturday morning has been ruled accidental.

According to the Boston Fire Department's Twitter account, at 10:47 am, crews were called to the Merkert Chemistry Center at 2609 Beacon St. for a chemical explosion in a basement lab.

After discussing the situation with a professor, authorities learned it was a chemical experiment gone awry.

The situation was handled with a Level-3 HazMat response and a female student who was involved in the experient was being evaluated at an off-campus apartment in the city.

Additional details weren't immediately available but will be posted as the story develops further.

"These times bring good investment opportunities," said Paul Zekos, president of The Zekos Group.

PALMER – The town is holding its second tax-title auction of the year on Tuesday, in the hope of generating more revenue for the town and returning five dormant properties to the tax rolls.

The auction will be held at noon, with registration starting at 11:30 a.m., in the Town Building on Main Street. It is being run by The Zekos Group of Shrewsbury, and a list of the properties, along with photographs, can be found at its website, www.zekosgroup.com.

"These times bring good investment opportunities," Paul T. Zekos, president of The Zekos Group, said.

Treasurer-Collector Paul A. Nowicki said approximately $176,000 is owed in back taxes on the properties.

During the January auction of seven properties, the town took in $220,000; a total of $175,000 was owed.

The featured properties are: 42 Commercial St. in Thorndike, a single-family Colonial with an assessed value of $129,300; 61 Bennett St. in Thorndike, a single-family home next to the river assessed at $148,000; a 5.7-acre parcel at 5 Carriage Drive ($95,800); a 6,800-square-foot vacant lot at 1532 North Main St ($49,300).; and four parcels totaling 7.8 acres at Breton Street and Calkins Road ($10,900).

A $5,000 deposit to bid is required for all properties. All the properties were taken by the town during the tax-title process.

Nowicki said due to aggressive tax collection, there is approximately $900,000 in outstanding taxes owed to the town, down from a figure of approximately $2 million a year ago.

"People are seeing that the town is auctioning these properties," said Nowicki, adding that has spurred some into taking action and paying their back taxes before the town can initiate the tax-title process in the land court.

Expansion at the school includes a larger dining commons, and a new dormitory and academic building.

The Republican | Don TreegerKathryn T. Quigley, who received her master's degree in public administration from Westfield State University this year, says "The university will continue to make changes, but a lot of people look at the name first before they consider enrollment. The change will also help graduates get into graduate schools."

WESTFIELD – University. College.

Does it make a difference?

Since its change from college to university in October, Westfield State University is experiencing increases in freshman applications, graduation rates and its retention of students.

While the successes may not all be attributed to the new university status at the Western Avenue campus, when coupled with efforts to keep the state-run school affordable and accessible, the name change is making a mark.

“We continue to be the best value in higher education in the state. That has been determined by MassInc.,” president Evan S. Dobelle said in a recent interview. “Higher education must be accessible and affordable, and that is the continued focus at (Westfield State University).”

He calls Westfield “a private-quality and public-value school.”

Even before Westfield joined Bridgewater, Fitchburg, Framingham, Salem and Worcester state colleges in becoming universities, it had already been tagged in a study by MassInc., the Boston-based, nonpartisan public-policy think-tank, as tops among 23 private and public colleges in delivering the best education for the dollar.

Westfield State officials, students and alumni say the change from college to university goes beyond a simple matter of prestige; some do contend it is easier to get into graduate schools after graduation from a university and more potential students look at universities before colleges.

In July, Western New England College officially takes on its university status. The 92-year-old private school is now Springfield’s first university and the only private one in the Pioneer Valley.

While Western New England offers doctoral degrees, the state colleges, now universities, cannot under state legislation unless they do so in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts. Chapter 73, Section 1, of state law reads: “The state universities, as established by section 5 of chapter 15A shall provide educational programs, research, extension and continuing education services in the liberal, fine and applied arts and sciences and other related disciplines through the master’s degree level. They may offer doctoral programs in cooperation with the University of Massachusetts under authority granted by the board of higher education, concurred in by the boards of trustees of the University of Massachusetts and of said state universities.”

Dobelle hints that while Westfield does not yet offer doctoral programs, plans may be in the works to have the University of Massachusetts at Amherst offer doctorate-level courses on his campus.

Westfield’s name change was approved last July and took effect on Oct. 28.

Since then, Dobelle said, enrollment is up by 3 percent with 41 percent of freshmen applicants coming here.

That’s not the only statistic to which Dobelle and others point as markers of Westfield’s growing success story.

• Students of color in the freshman class are at 17 percent, up from 11 percent a year ago;
• The freshman class for September will number 1,188 with 90 of them enrolled in honors programs; and
• Ninety-two percent of the new freshman class are state residents.

“We had to turn down 500 students for enrollment because we lack adequate housing, but that will be corrected by 2013,” Dobelle said.

The Republican | Don TreegerKristina M. Norris, Kristina M. Norris, who graduated in May, says she appreciated all that Westfield State offered her – including the fact it is now recognized with university status.

The university houses 219 students off campus at the state-leased Lansdowne Place project in the middle of the city’s central business district. Lansdowne Place, which opened last fall, was the first move in a nearly 3-year-old town-and-gown effort to team up with the city and private developers to improve Westfield’s downtown while also offering student housing.

There are plans to add more downtown housing options for students; the goal announced in 2008 was upwards to 1,000 students. There were also hopes to locate a Barnes & Noble Booksellers satellite book store in the downtown with a target date of 2010, but that remains in the works.

In June, the college foundation announced a purchase-and-sale agreement with University Housing LLC for the former Westfield State College Normal Training School building on Washington Street. The Springfield-based firm, founded by Peter A. Picknelly, president of Peter Pan Bus Lines, and Demetrios N. Panteleakis, of Opan Real Estate Group, plans to offer up to 100 beds, in apartment-style housing, to Westfield State students beginning in January.

Fifty-percent of all Westfield State students now come from communities west of Worcester. “We draw from the entire state,” said Dobelle. That fact heightens the need for more such housing, both on- and off-campus.

Westfield has demonstrated high rentention rates for its student body, and, along with the rising numbers for freshman applications, “continuing education is showing an increase in enrollment,” the president said. “This is all significant, and we are pleased.”

The college’s Division of Graduate and Continuing Education has seen enrollment jump 43 percent from 2009-2010 to the recently-completed school year; the number of enrollees went from 1,439 to a current 2,067 students.

From alumni and student perspectives, “Life on campus is not much different today,” says Kathry T. Quigley. The name change, in many ways, cemented something they already knew.

“We had university status before. Now we have the name to prove it,” the 2009 graduate and Wilbraham resident said.

Quigley, who received her master’s degree in public administration this year, said, “The university will continue to make changes but a lot of people look at the name first before they consider enrollment. The change will also help graduates get into graduate schools.

“Dr. Dobelle has made (Westfield State University) well known nationally and internationally during his presidency. The quality of education has improved in the last three years,” Quigley said.

Evan S. Dobelle

Upon her 2009 graduation, Quigley obtained an administrative assistant position with the university’s Department of Nursing and Allied Health.

Kristina M. Norris, who graduated in May and was among the “29 Who Shine” award winners recognized by the state Board of Higher Education among students at all the state’s colleges, said she appreciated all that Westfield State offered her - including the fact it is now recognized with university status.

“Some signs have been changed to Westfield State University, but there is still the small school feel on campus,” Norris said. “You are not just a number here but the university status is a huge thing. It carries more prestige.”

The Braintree resident said she plans to return to Westfield State in the fall for graduate studies in her field, criminal justice.

“I know the university has plans for some expansion in the next three years, but I also know it will continue to maintain its comfortable environment,” Norris said. “It is really exciting what is happening here, and I am honored to be a member of the first graduating class from Westfield State University.”

Along with the potential link with UMass for doctoral-level offerings, Dobelle said Westfield State may do some outreach of its own, offering some of its bachelor’s-degree courses at area community colleges.

Dobelle also proudly points to several Westfield State students currently studying in Ireland and China as indicative of the school’s reach beyond its borders. “We also have four students who will do an internship at Berkshire Theater. We are a global institution,” he said.

Earlier this year, the university’s trustees and state agencies approved a $100 million expansion that involves construction of a new dormitory and academic hall and expansion of the campus dining commons.

The $4 million dining expansion is already under way and scheduled for completion by the start of the coming school year. Construction of the dormitory is expected to begin early next year for occupancy in September 2013. The academic hall construction would start later next year or in early 2013 and be ready for use by September 2014, Dobelle said.

At the end of the school year in May, total enrollment stood at 5,500 students with half living on campus or in university-supported housing such as Lansdowne Place. Enrollment for September will jump to at least 5,900, officials say.

Westfield State has an annual operating budget of $86.3 million with a $13 million reserve fund. It employs an estimated 700 people and offers 118 major academic programs.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Ned McCants Sr.

Ned McCants Sr., 71, of Springfield, passed away on Monday. Born in Florence, S.C., he graduated from the High School of Commerce and was a Vietnam veteran in the U.S. Army. He was a retired correctional officer for the State of Connecticut. Previously, McCants worked for many years at Uniroyal Tires in Chicopee. He loved sports and was a huge N.Y. Yankees fan.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Bargon, Richard C.
  




• 
  Coscore, Myra
  



• 
  Dupuis, Frieda O. (Gluth)




• 
  McCants Sr., Ned
  



• 
  Nolan, Spencer David
  




• Osbourne Jr., Wallace V.
  




• 
  Perreault, Paul E.
  



• 
  Savides, Edward K. "Ed"




• 
  Therrien, David W.
  



• 
  Therrien, Harold J.
  




• Tobias, Nancy E.
  




• 
  Zuckerman, Lillian
  

City Clerk Wayman Lee denied a permit for Triple Sevens Cyber Center last week, but city councilor Timothy Rooke on Friday said he was granting it.

The Republican file photo | Patrick JohnsonFILE – The scene inside a cyber cafe on Worthington Street in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – A request for a special permit for a cyber cafe on Cooley Street has led to two contradictory decisions filed by the city clerk and a city councilor, and has triggered a new threat of legal action.

In addition, state Attorney General Martha Coakley on Friday announced a permanent regulation that will ban illegal gambling at such businesses, which replaces an earlier emergency regulation.

The business on Cooley Street, known as Triple Sevens Cyber Center, has stated that it has no plans for illegal gambling and is mulling legal action to secure its special permit.

The permit from the council is in dispute, however, following a council vote May 20, denying the permit, and a reconsideration vote June 6, approving the permit.

City Clerk Wayman Lee, citing legal advice from City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula, said he issued a decision last week that denies the permit because the June vote violated a state law requiring a two-year moratorium on considering a permit application once it has been denied.

City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke issued a conflicting decision on Friday, granting the permit, saying he was acting on behalf of the council based on his role as acting president during the reconsideration vote.

During an April hearing, proponents described the business, saying patrons would connect to the Internet to check email, use Facebook, and play Internet games and “sweepstakes” by purchasing Internet time on 30 available computers.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Triple Sevens Cyber Cafe in Sixteen Acres is point of contention between City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke, who says it should be granted a permit to open, and City Clerk Waymon Lee who says it should not.

Lee was not available for comment Friday but previously stated that he must follow the law.

Threats of legal action have come from both the proponents of the cyber cafe and the opponents. The business is at the Five Town Plaza and cannot have more than five computers without a permit, officials said.

The Outer Belt Civic Association, which opposed the permit, has stated it will consider legal action if the permit is issued. The association cited concerns about gambling and the impact the business would have on the neighborhood.

Richard J. Maggi, a lawyer for the cafe, said Friday that the council never took “final action” in May because Rooke immediately called for reconsideration for the council’s next meeting. The two-year moratorium would only apply after final action, Maggi said.

Councilors said there was both public support for and opposition to the permit.

Councilor Clodovaldo Concepcion said he was against the permit because of the neighborhood opposition.

Council President Jose F. Tosado said he favored the permit after getting many phone calls of support, and in the belief it was a good location for a business and appeared to be a legal business.

Coakley said the permanent regulation against illegal gambling “will enforce long-standing gambling laws and protect consumers.”

Palmer Renewable Energy has filed a lawsuit against the city of Springfield to the tune of somewhere in the ballpark of $50 million in response to the city council voting in May to revoke its permit to build a biomass plant in the city.

An artist's rendering of the proposed biomass plant in East Springfield.

By Conor Berry & Robert Rizzuto

This updates a story posted at 6:34 a.m. Saturday.

SPRINGFIELD -- Palmer Renewable Energy has filed a lawsuit against Springfield after the City Council voted last month to revoke the energy development firm's permit to build a wood-burning biomass plant in East Springfield.

Although details of the civil complaint were not immediately available on Saturday, Springfield City Councilor Timothy J. Rooke confirmed that the city has received notice of the suit, which is reportedly seeking somewhere in the ballpark of $50 million.

On May 23, the 13-member City Council voted 10-2 -- one member was absent for the May vote -- to revoke the Palmer-based developer's special permit to build a $150 million biomass plant near the intersection of Page Boulevard and Cadwell Drive.

The council's decision triggered cheers from project opponents and an expected legal challenge from the developer.

04/05/11-Springfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback- Protesters pro and con of the proposed biomass plant in Springfield stand in front of Duggin Middle School before the state public hearing on the project on Tuesday evening.

Rooke and fellow City Councilor Kateri B. Walsh were the only two council members to vote against revocation.

“The money they are seeking would completely wipe out the city’s reserves and put us right back to where we were before the control board stepped in,” Rooke said. “At the time of the vote, the City Solicitor Ed Pikula advised the council not to vote to revoke the permit and to just wait for the state to issue its decision first.”

According to Rooke, if the state would have denied the permit to Palmer Renewable Energy, it would have saved the city the trouble of a lawsuit, such as the one filed on Friday.

Rooke said that when the vote took place in May, the state’s decision was only two weeks away.

Springfield City Council president Jose Tosado said that Rooke’s characterization of the pre-vote advising is incorrect, and that the council was not specifically told not to vote for revocation of the permit.

“We had a number of meetings with the city solicitor and we were only told we had the option to wait, not that we should,” Tosado said. “He laid out the grounds upon which we could vote to revoke the permit and I believe we had sufficient information to vote the way we did.”

(Republican photo by Don Treeger)David J. Callahan, (left), chairman of Palmer Paving Corp., in his Springfield office. On the right is Frank Fitzgerald, attorney for Palmer Renewable Energy .

Attempts to reach City Solicitor Edward Pikula were unsuccessful on Saturday.
The City Council initially granted a permit to Palmer Renewable Energy in 2008. After further review, however, councilors claimed the project had changed significantly since its proposal. A majority of councilors felt the project might have a deleterious affect on the health and well-being of East Springfield residents.

Lawyers for the developer made it clear that revocation likely would spur a potential multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city.

Rooke called the revocation vote by his colleagues political in nature and “self-serving.”

“Decisions should be based on solid information and reasoning and I strongly believe they were swayed by emotion,” Rooke said. “The amount of pollution the plant would have put out is equivalent to six wood-burning stoves, considering the state-of-the-art equipment they would be installing.”

At the time of the vote, City Council President Jose Tosado called the decision one made for the future of the city and the health of its residents, a statement he stands by today.

“I have a clear conscience that we did the right thing for the health and well being of our city residents,” Tosado said. “They certainly have the right to exercise their legal options but I believe the city is on firm legal ground with this issue.”

Calls to Walsh and Mayor Domenic Sarno by The Republican on Saturday went unreturned.

Armando Feliciano lost his home during the June 1 tornado.

SPRINGFIELD - Armando Feliciano inspects the tornado damage inside his home at 36 Amanda Street. Staff photo by Lucila J. Santana

SPRINGFIELD – What Armando Feliciano remembers most about the tornado that destroyed his home on Amanda Street was the deafening noise.

“It sounded like a thousand wolves howling all at once,” he says.

Feliciano is one of the many residents in the City of Homes whose property was destroyed or damaged by the June 1 tornado. Nearly a month later, many of them are dealing with insurance companies, contractors and even court dates while trying to move forward in their lives.

“It has been very difficult to see my home, which I took so much pride in, destroyed this way,” Feliciano said. “I recently invested $60,000 in the house, putting in new floors, a new kitchen. I even purchased sod a few days before the tornado, and now it’s all gone.”

Feliciano purchased the home in East Forest Park six years ago and lived there with his wife, daughter and two small grandchildren. Everyone was home when the tornado struck.

“You could feel the house shaking and hear the wind. It was like nothing I have ever experienced,” said Feliciano, who is the director of adult education for the Springfield Public Schools.

City officials, Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel and insurance adjusters have all visited his home.

Just up the road on Mary Street, Jose L. Ferreira also lost his home, which was built several years ago. The roof and most of the walls on the second floor are completely gone. Ferreira is in the process of obtaining a trailer, so he can live on the property while a new home is built.

“Right now they are saying it will take months to go through the permitting and the bidding process before they can rebuild,” said Ferreira, who is currently staying with family.

In the South End neighborhood, Miguel Otero lost most of his belongings when a giant tree fell on the roof and destroyed his home. Otero and his wife had moved here from Worcester five years ago.

“We purchased the house and were happy living here,” he said.

Otero came home on June 1 to see that trees had destroyed his garage, his car and his one-family home. “I worked so hard to get to this point, to have my own home, and it almost brought me to tears to see the destruction,” he said.

Jeffrey and Lillian Green-Gray are hoping to get back into their home on Winton Street soon. They attended a community meeting for East Forest Park residents on Thursday to get information about what to do now.

“We are hoping to move forward and to be able to get back into our home. Unfortunately, we do have structural damage,” she said.

FEMA officials are encouraging residents to register for help even if they do not think they will qualify.

Jose Vejarano, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said they are working closely with FEMA to provide families with all the assistance they need.

“We found the meeting to be very helpful,” Lillian Green-Gray said. “We think the mayor and his staff are doing a great job. Neighbors are helping each other and we are trying to make the best of it.”

Jeffrey Green-Gray said many people have commented to him on how surprised they were that people in Springfield have come together to help each other in the tornado’s wake.

“They hear about the murders and the problems in Springfield, and they forget that most people who live here are just hardworking, regular folks who care about their neighbors,” he said.

Feliciano said his friends, his community and even strangers have reached out to help his family. “It has been overwhelming to see the support,” he said.

His family is staying at his sister’s house, but it is a temporary solution, Feliciano said.

“There are five of us and two dogs living in one room. It’s uncomfortable for us and an imposition on my sister, even though I know she is happy to help us,” he said.

Feliciano is also hoping to get a trailer on his property.

“I know as the construction process begins there will be people trying to steal the metal out of the house, and I would feel better being on the property,” he said.

Otero is living in an apartment on Taylor Street while his home is either rebuilt or repaired. The city had condemned it, but his insurance company said there may be some hope for repairing it.

Otero is also one of many residents who has received a summons to appear in Hampden Housing Court after the tornado.

“They said I had to go in to discuss violations on my property due to the tornado,” he said. City officials said there will be free representation available for anyone who has to go to court.

Piles of construction materials and yard waste line streets across the city as cleanup crews stop by daily to clear them away. Now families look forward to healing not only their properties, but their broken lives.

“All we can do now is hope to rebuild and move forward as a community. I hope that we can get the help we need not only for our homes, but psychologically for many people who experienced the tornado and have trauma,” Lillian Green-Gray said.

A Frontier spokesman said the move to drop Bradley had more to do with economics and the cost of jet fuel than demand for flights to and from Hartford.

Photo by PhillipC/Creative CommonsA Frontier Airlines jet taxis on the runway at New York's La Guardia Airport.

By HARLAN LEVY

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. – Frontier Airlines has announced that it will cease operating from Bradley International Airport on Sept. 11.

The announcement comes a year after Frontier started offering twice-a-day, nonstop round-trip flights to Milwaukee on weekdays and one such flight each Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s not anything to do with what the folks in the greater Hartford area have done wrong,” Frontier Communications Director Peter Kowalchuk said. “This has to do strictly with the economics that exists today because of the very high cost of fuel and the escalating cost of jet fuel.”

Frontier has “very good load factors” on the Milwaukee flights, according to Kowalchuk.

“The issue is that the flight is 2 1/2 hours and burns a great deal of fuel, and the loads that we are seeing and the prices that we are able to charge in that market do not allow us to make up for the cost of fuel," he said.

Denver-based Frontier serviced Bradley from March 2007 until September 2008, when the company declared bankruptcy “mainly because of fuel prices,” Kowalchuk said. Indianapolis-based Republic Airways acquired Frontier in October 2009 as well as Midwest Airlines, which had provided daily round-trips from Bradley to Milwaukee until August 2008. The new Republic subsidiary Frontier started at Bradley with the Milwaukee runs in September 2010.

As for the effect on Bradley’s passenger traffic, the airline’s market share at Bradley is small.

“It’s less than 1 percent of our passenger numbers,” Bradley Communications Director John Wallace said. “We’re still up 8 percent from May 2010 to May this year, and we’re up 9 percent for the year in 2011 over 2010.”

However, the addition of the Milwaukee flights was cited by a consultant earlier this year as one of the factors contributing to the growing number of passengers using Bradley. And Frontier may return to Bradley, Kowalchuk said.

“We love the Hartford market,” he said. “We feel that it’s a very good market in its position between New York and Boston, and we will continue to evaluate the airport.”

In a move that might prove significant for Bradley, Republic announced Wednesday that it has agreed to buy 80 new fuel-efficient Airbus Industrie jets for Frontier. The A320neo jets use 15 percent less fuel than Frontier’s current fleet of 58 Airbus A318, A319, and A320 aircraft.

“So it’s conceivable that some point in the future we might be able to re-enter the Hartford market on a more consistent and permanent basis,” Kowalchuk said.

Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said police officers David Ramos and Scott Stelzer helped evacuate residents of a multifamily apartment building on Carew Street that burst into flames early Sunday morning.

Staff Photo by CONOR BERRYDual aerial ladder pipes douse an early Sunday morning house fire on Carew Street in Hungry Hill. The home was destroyed in the blaze, which was reported around 3 a.m. Sunday.

SPRINGFIELD -- Two Springfield police officers are being credited with helping to save residents from a burning building in the Hungry Hill section of the city early Sunday morning.

Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said officers David Ramos and Scott Stelzer helped evacuate residents of the multifamily apartment building at 674 Carew St., which burst into flames around 3 a.m. Sunday.

The building was home to 15 people spread over four units, and some of those residents had attempted to re-enter the flaming, smoke-filled building to retrieve their pets. But Leger said the police officers ushered the tenants from the burning, wood-frame structure, which went up like a tinder box.

"The officers were assisting people to get them out of the house," Leger said.

Police were first to respond to the scene around 3:05 a.m. Sunday, with firefighters arriving only moments later.

There were no reported injuries in the fast-moving fire, which forced the closure of roughly 250 yards of Carew Street from Van Horn Place to Armory Street for several hours as firefighters battled the blaze. At least one dog died in the fire, however, and several other pets were reported missing, according to Leger.

The two-story, 7,300-square-foot building was declared a total loss. Leger estimated damages of around $180,000, which included the value of the building and tenants' personal property destroyed in the fire.

The heavily damaged building, which is more than 90 years old, was at risk of collapsing and had to be demolished, according to city officials.

Leger credited firefighters with preventing the fire from spreading to other homes on the densely populated block, where most buildings are situated close to one another on small lots.

"They did a good job of containing it to that house," Leger said, adding that homes located immediately west and east of the burning building suffered virtually no damage.

Making matters difficult for firefighters were a pair of "dead hydrants," near the fire site. It was not immediately clear what caused them to malfunction.

"One they were using, it just stopped working," Leger said.

Officials haven't cited an official cause for the fire, which is being probed by arson investigators.

Why do we object to the wholesale federal editorializing against cigarettes? It creates a precedent for more government inveighing against vices.Why not put an image of a mangled automobile on a bottle vodka?

Associated PressThis image provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 shows one of nine new warning labels cigarette makers will have to use by the fall of 2012. In the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years, the FDA's the new warning labels depict in graphic detail the negative health effects of tobacco use.

We are fascinated and concerned by the new labeling coming soon to cigarette labeling, a fresh chapter in the federal government’s ongoing aggressive and hypocritical campaign against smoking.

Everyone knows that smoking is very bad for one’s health. Now the FDA plans to hit us over the head with images of smokers suffering the consequences of their nasty habit, including one that shows a man blowing smoke through a hole in his neck. Such images will grace cigarette packs by October 2012.

Why do we object to the wholesale federal editorializing against cigarettes? For one, it creates a precedent for more government inveighing against vices. Surely the consumption of alcohol is in a similar league to cigarettes for the level of sickness and pain it causes society. Drunk drivers claimed more than 10,000 lives in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Why not put an image of a mangled automobile on a bottle vodka or a cross-section of a liver with severe cirrhosis on a bottle of chardonnay? Inevitably the question arises: Why does smoking deserve stand-alone status an object of government-required scorn?

Anti-smoking regulators and crusaders may believe the end justifies the means. Yet we object to the offensively simplistic propaganda, and the hypocrisy of condemning a national vice while collecting $8.5 billion annually in taxes from it. With these images, the federal government is at once insulting our intelligence while playing Big Brother.

Moreover, we doubt it will be effective. Will 16-year-olds identify with a man wearing an oxygen mask or a picture of a second-hand smoking victim? They will soon be numb to the shocking images on the packages. They may even come to mock them: Someone quipped on the Wall Street Journal site that kids will trade these newly labeled cigarette packs like baseball trading cards.

If the federal government doesn’t like something, they should abolish it or make users of the product pay a punitively high user tax for the privilege of destroying their bodies. Funnel the additional money into prevention and to help smokers quit the habit.

But, for certain, the feds should keep propaganda off the products we consume.

A crew of mostly police and firefighters that came together after the June 1 tornadoes has donated many hours to cleaning up fall trees and debris in Monson, among the region's hardest-hit towns.

Photo courtesy of Chainsaw Response Team, via Soulfullifephotography.comThe volunteer Chainsaw Response Team will be back in Monson on Tuesday to clear more fallen trees from the June 1 tornado that pounded the eastern Hampden County town.

MONSON -- If you hear some heavy-duty buzzing Tuesday morning in Monson, relax -- it's not an invasion of giant bees.

The buzzing will be the collective noise produced by Justin Green and his Chainsaw Respone Team.

Green, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst police officer, organized a group of cops, firemen and other public safety officials in the wake of the June 1 tornadoes to lend a helping hand. That loose collective blossomed into the Chainsaw Response Team, which has dedicated many hours to cleanup efforts in Monson and other tornado-ravaged communities.

Instead of fighting crime or fires, the team fights fallen trees -- a whole lot of which came down in heavily forested Monson and still clutter some secondary roads in the semi-rural town.

Green, his crew and "anyone and everyone who would like to help" will gather at the intersection of King Street and East Hill Road on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.

Any questions can be directed to Green at (413) 387-7722. And anyone wishing to make a financial contribution is asked to make their donations payable to "LE Chainsaw Crew Monson Tornado Relief." Donations can be made at any Florence Savings Bank, and more information is available on the Chainsaw Response Team's Facebook page.

After a series of violent twisters ripped through the region earlier this month, local law enforcement officers and firefighters came together with chainsaws and manpower, according to Green, to help assist local residents with the removal of debris and trees from affected properties.

Since the launching of the Chainsaw Response Team on June 4, more than 40 people have volunteered their time and energy to cleanup efforts in Monson and elsewhere, according to team organizers, who say it costs roughly $1,500 a day to run the operation.

The Chainsaw Response Team provides no-cost tree removal and covers multiple properties in a single day, which is why team organizers are always looking for volunteers or financial assistance to help offset the cost of running heavy machinery.

The crew hopes to continue its efforts for at least several more weeks.

Massachusetts health officials have started their annual testing of mosquito samples for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, both of which can cause serious illness or even death.

Republican file photoTesting mosquitoes for West Nile and EEE will begin in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Massachusetts health officials have started their annual testing of mosquito samples for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

The viruses can be transmitted from infected mosquitoes to humans, causing serious illness or even death.

State epidemiologist Dr. Al DeMaria says while most human cases of West Nile Virus and EEE occur in late summer or early fall, it's not too early for people to begin taking precautions against being bitten.

Officials recommend bug sprays that contain DEET or other chemicals that protect against mosquitoes. Residents are also urged to remove standing water from around their homes and fix any holes in screen doors or windows.

The results of the mosquito testing will help officials determine the areas of the state where people are most at risk.

A man suspected of killing two people in a New Hampshire home was arrested over the weekend in Massachusetts, where he will be arraigned Monday on murder charges.

AP Photo/Cheryl SenterA dirt driveway leads to the scene of a double homicide, Saturday, June 25, 2011, on Island Road in Grafton, N.H. New Hampshire Attorney General Michael A. Delaney said in a statement that 24-year-old Robert LaCombe Jr. was arrested in Randolph, Mass., on Saturday and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

QUINCY — A man suspected of killing two people in a New Hampshire home is expected to go before a judge in Massachusetts.

Robert LaCombe Jr., 24, was arrested Saturday at a hotel in Randolph, Mass., several hours after the bodies of William Hatch and Crystal Farnham, 24 and 23, respectively, were found in a home in Grafton, N.H. The victims had apparently been shot to death.

LaCombe is expected to appear in Quincy District Court Monday on a fugitive charge. Prosecutors will seek to have him returned to New Hampshire to face second-degree murder charges.

Authorities claim LaCombe had been living at the Grafton home for a few months. Prosecutors haven't commented on a motive.

Autopsies on the victims are scheduled for Monday.

A spent shell casing was found on an apartment house landing, and several groups were seen leaving the area. But people questioned by police said they didn't see anything.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE -- City police responded to the scene of an apparent Sunday afternoon shooting at 18 St. Gerome Ave., but people in the area at the time of the incident were unable to help police.

Several groups were seen leaving the red-brick apartment building near the corner of St. Gerome and Shawmut avenues, but people interviewed by police were unable to provide any information.

"They said they didn't see anything," Holyoke Police Sgt. Stephen Loftus said, speculating that the groups had probably been attending a neighborhood party.

It's not unusual for people to clam up when cops start asking questions, according to Loftus.

Holyoke police received the "shots fired" call at 1:20 p.m. Sunday, according to department records.

Loftus said a gun was fired: A spent .40-caliber shell casing was recovered on a third-floor landing at 18 St. Gerome Ave., but there were no apparent gunshot victims associated with the incident.

No one has so far shown up at Holyoke Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of 18 St. Gerome Ave., the scene of a Sunday afternoon shooting incident:

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A judge could decide this week whether Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger will have to pay for his own attorney while his legal case unfolds. Prosecutors plan to fight any effort to assign a public defender to Bulger, who had been on the lam for 16 years.

Associated PressThen and now: James "Whitey" Bulger, reputed leader of Boston's Irish mob, is seen in booking photos from a 1953 arrest in Boston and after his capture Wednesday in Los Angeles.

BOSTON — It will be up to a judge to determine if James "Whitey" Bulger must pay for his own attorney as his criminal case gets underway, or if the state -- also known as the public -- will pick up the check for the reputed leader of Boston's Irish mob.

Bulger's temporary court-appointed lawyer has until the end of the day on Monday to submit arguments on whether Bulger should be declared indigent and assigned a public defender -- a move that government prosecutors say they will fight. A judge could rule on the matter before week's end.

Prosecutor Brian Kelly on Friday said Bulger has assets other than the $800,000 authorities recovered from the Santa Monica, Calif., apartment where Bulger, 81, and girlfriend Catherine Greig, 60, were arrested last week.

Bulger’s ability to elude authorities had been an endless source of embarrassment for the federal agents tracking him since 1995, when a retired FBI agent warned the gangster that authorities were circling their wagons.

AP Photo/Jae C. HongAssistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale, center, talks to reporters after the West Coast arraignment of fugitive crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger at the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Thursday. The Boston mob boss has since been remanded to Massachusetts to face murder and other charges.

Bulger, who once led Boston's feared and powerful Irish mob, is currently being held at a correctional facility in Plymouth. Bulger has suggested that he could afford a lawyer if the government were to return the money it seized during a search of his former West Coast home.

Authorities have linked Bulger to at least 19 murders, many of them brutal, mob-related hits. But federal agents had been unable to pinpoint the whereabouts of the aging crime boss, who apparently opted for a fairly normal life in California rather than flee the country to live in isolation.

The FBI's shame over the Bulger affair diminished after a new generation of law officers, led by Richard DesLauriers, helped change the perception of the agency. During a press conference announcing Bulger’s capture, DesLauriers, a graduate of Springfield’s Cathedral High School, said the FBI “never wavered” in its pursuit of the fugitive.

Bulger’s undoing came just one day after the FBI launched an advertising blitz aimed mainly at older women. The ads focused on Bulger’s vain companion Greig, who reportedly liberally used the services of hairdressers, plastic surgeons and others to keep up her appearance.

DesLauriers said the ad yielded a tip that ultimately led to Bulger's arrest.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.