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Bridgeport, Connecticut school district swaps Columbus Day with 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'

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Students will still have the second Monday of October off school, district officials said. But the holiday will no longer be observed in honor of the Italian explorer, who has become increasingly known for his alleged role in the genocide of Native Americans.

Public schools in Connecticut's biggest city will no longer celebrate Christopher Columbus Day, according to news reports.

The city school board in Bridgeport unanimously voted Tuesday night to do away with the federal holiday in favor of Indigenous Peoples' Day, The Connecticut Post said.

Students will still have the second Monday in October off from school, district officials said. But the holiday will no longer be observed in honor of the Italian explorer, who has become increasingly known for his alleged role in the genocide of Native Americans.

Board member Kate Rivera proposed the move, asserting "students should be taught true history, not the falsehood that Columbus was a hero," The Post reports.

Indigenous Peoples' Day originated in 1992 in Berkeley, California as a way to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans. The holiday recognizes Native American people who lived here before Columbus arrived in 1492.

Bridgeport is home to a Columbus Elementary School and a Christopher Columbus statue in its Seaside Park, but there was no mention of those municipal tributes to the explorer at Tuesday's meeting.

Rivera told The Post she would "love to see the name of the school changed."

Cities including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Olympia, Washington celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day for the first time Monday, according to the Associated Press. Seattle began celebrating in 2014.


Ludlow bank robbery suspect now wanted for the same crime in Florida

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Joseph E. Carrier has been identified as a suspect in a Wells Fargo bank branch robbery committed Monday in Palm Coast, Fla.

LUDLOW -- A man wanted for robbing the County Bank branch in the Big Y World Class Market in Ludlow late last month has apparently surfaced in Florida and is suspected of robbing a bank down there.

Flaglerlive.com reported Joseph E. Carrier has been identified as a suspect in a Wells Fargo bank branch robbery committed Monday in Palm Coast, Fla.

Flagler County Sheriff's detectives have since received a warrant for Carrier's arrest.
The suspect, as he allegedly did in Ludlow, asked for large bills and is believed to have fled in the same vehicle, a dark-colored Buick Encore with a Massachusetts dealer plate of 265S. A woman was behind the wheel, according to Flaglerlive.com.

The suspect reportedly got away with $500.

In a Wells Fargo bank surveillance photo, released by Flagler County Sheriff's detectives, Carrier has apparently trimmed his beard but appears to be wearing the same shirt that he did on Sept. 28 when he is suspected of robbing the branch in Ludlow.

Ludlow Police Det. Louis Tulik said his department had received a tip that Joseph Carrier and his wife, 37-year-old Jenny Carrier, were in the Palm Coast area. Tulik said he was on the phone with a detective down there when she received word of the Wells Fargo bank robbery.

The Carriers are homeless and are believed to be addicted to heroin, police have said. They are also believed to be traveling with their seven Brussells griffon dogs - a male and female and their five puppies.

"We don't know where the dogs are," Tulik said. "We assume they are still with them."

Palm Coast, on the east coast of Florida, is about 30 miles north of Daytona Beach and 70 miles south of Jacksonville.


Residents in Hampden and Wilbraham will have to be persuaded to combine middle schools, School Committee chair Peter Salerno says

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The proposal to regionalize the middle schools and educate students from Wilbraham and Hampden at Wilbraham Middle School needs approval at two town meetings.

WILBRAHAM - Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee Chairman Peter Salerno said that both Hampden and Wilbraham residents would have to be convinced in order to implement a proposal to regionalize the middle schools.

A Middle School Task Force appointed by the regional School Committee has recommended that the district create a single regional middle school at Wilbraham Middle School as a short-term solution to declining enrollment at Thornton Burgess Middle School in Hampden.

Sandra Sheehan, co-chair of the Middle School Task Force, said the academic program at Thornton Burgess will suffer if the two middle schools in Wilbraham and Hampden are not combined, due to the declining enrollment in Hampden.

"Each town must be convinced," regional School Committee Chairman Peter Salerno said at Tuesday's regional School Committee meeting.

"Each town can veto this," he added.

School Superintendent M. Martin O'Shea said he will be speaking to PTO members Monday and Tuesday in Hampden "to get the word out" about proposals to combine the two middle schools at Wilbraham Middle School.

O'Shea said he also intends to speak to residents from the two towns at their respective senior centers.

The proposal to regionalize the middle school for the two towns will need approval from voters at town meetings in both Hampden and Wilbraham.

The Task Force also has voted to recommend that the regional School Committee apply to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for assistance in identifying a long-term solution to creating a regional middle school for the district which would house students from both Wilbraham and Hampden.
The immediate solution to declining enrollment at the middle schools would be to close Thornton M. Burgess Middle School in Hampden and add four modular classrooms to Wilbraham Middle School so all students from Hampden and Wilbraham could be housed at Wilbraham Middle School, according to a report developed by JLS Architects.

School Committee member Michael Mazzuca said he has questions about the length of time students will have to spend on buses if the two schools are regionalized.

"If this proposal is not accepted, then what next?" Muzzuca asked.


Bringing Massachusetts into compliance with federal Real ID Act to impact travel, building access

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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation on Wednesday that aims to bring Massachusetts into compliance with the federal Real ID Act, a post-2001 anti-terrorism effort intend by Congress to improve national security.

By Matt Murphy, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON — Want to board a domestic flight without a passport? By no later than 2020, you'll need to secure a new Massachusetts "Real ID." Ditto if you want to enter a federal building, or tour the White House.

Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation on Wednesday that aims to bring Massachusetts into compliance with the federal Real ID Act, a post-2001 anti-terrorism effort intend by Congress to improve national security.

While Bay State residents are likely to have several years to update their identification, the Baker administration is seeking to give people ample time to renew their licenses or identification cards before a Massachusetts driver's license is no longer sufficient to go on a vacation that requires something as routine for many as passing through an airport.

"Current driver's license holders should not be panicking and thinking their credentials will no longer be recognized," Registry of Motor Vehicles Registrar Erin Deveney told the News Service.

The governor's bill would allow the registry to continue to issue non-compliant Massachusetts licenses to drivers who choose to renew their existing license and not appear in person to obtain a "Real ID" from the state, but those IDs after 2020 would no longer be recognized for air travel.
New applicants for identification would also have to obtain a "Real ID" compliant card, which would be marked with a yellow star and require applicants to prove their full legal name, date of birth, residence in Massachusetts and provide a verifiable birth certificate, Social Security number or other proof of lawful residence.

"It becomes a matter of customer choice or convenience," Deveney said.
While the new IDs will continue to be valid for five years, Baker's bill gives the registry the authority to issue cards valid for shorter durations to those, such as international students, who may have visas or work permits to be in the country legally for a shorter period of time.
Last October, the Department of Homeland Security issued Massachusetts a one-year extension to become compliant with Real ID, and the state has applied for another extension and expects to hear back before the end of the year. In the meantime, current Massachusetts licenses will be considered valid by the federal government.
Deveney said the state will likely continue to file for extensions through 2020, or until the state comes into full compliance. There are approximately 4.3 million licensed drivers in the Commonwealth.
"We're trying to give residents as much time to be able to make the choice," Deveney said.
The Real ID Act, which came in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks as Congress moved to improve national security, calls on states to verify the legal status of applicants for identification cards and strengthen security standards.
Four states - New Hampshire, New York, Louisiana and Minnesota - are no longer compliant with the federal rules, while Massachusetts is one of 23 states with extensions in place that allow existing licenses to continue to be valid.

"We are committed to working with the legislature and our federal partners to provide both greater security and customer choice for our credential holders," Baker said in a statement. "As new standards take effect in the coming years, this legislation will allow us to meet the standards mandated by the federal government so that our citizens will be able to enter federal buildings and board domestic flights."

Former Gov. Deval Patrick previously filed legislation aiming to put Massachusetts on track to become compliant with the Real ID act, but those efforts faltered in the Legislature.
Immigrant advocates have raised concerns that the verification requirements for Real ID create complications for immigrants whose work and green-card status can vary.
The governor's bill does not request any additional funding to implement the changes. Deveney said the RMV is currently using existing capital appropriations, including $34.5 million in fiscal 2016, earmarked for a complete modernization of the registry's technology database to prepare for Real ID.

Nice Today, Cold Blast for the Weekend

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It was a chilly start with temperatures in the 30s but readings are climbing quickly and this afternoon is looking very nice, as a weak area of high pressure supplies us with sunshine and seasonable temperatures. A crisp fall feel will be in the air with temperatures topping off in the low to mid-60s, right about where we should be for this time of...

It was a chilly start with temperatures in the 30s but readings are climbing quickly and this afternoon is looking very nice, as a weak area of high pressure supplies us with sunshine and seasonable temperatures. A crisp fall feel will be in the air with temperatures topping off in the low to mid-60s, right about where we should be for this time of year.

A cold front will move through tonight into tomorrow morning with a few showers or perhaps a brief downpour, followed by a surge of the coldest air of the season starting Saturday, along with a gusty wind.

Showers will end early tomorrow followed by afternoon sunshine. The winds will pick up in the afternoon as colder air starts to stream in. It will be breezy and cool for tomorrow night's high school football games but it will be dry. You won't notice the chill tomorrow so much, however readings will only make it into the 50s on Saturday. As the wind eases Saturday night temperatures will plunge. A killing frost or freeze is likely by Sunday morning! It will likely put an end to the growing season.

Sunday will be sunny, but with a late November-like chill! Temperatures will stay in the 40s despite a fair amount of sunshine. Monday morning will be even colder with a hard freeze. Temperatures will plunge into the 20s both Sunday and Monday morning. It will still be chilly on Monday however a mid-week warm up is expected with temperatures climbing back to more seasonable levels.

NBA champ Lamar Odom's life threatening binge brings warnings to consult health care provider on herbal supplements

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Dietary supplements are a billion dollar business in the United States. It is a good idea, however, to check with your healthcare provider before starting on a herbal supplement.

Last year, Baystate pharmacist Pam Liebro gave a free area talk on "Herbal Products, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

This week, Liebro, clinical pharmacy manager and herbal specialist at Baystate Health, found herself fielding journalists' questions about dietary supplements in the wake of the hospitalization of two-time NBA champ Lamar Odom.

Dietary supplements, which include vitamins and herbal supplements, are a billion dollar business in the United States. It is a good idea, however, to check with your healthcare provider before starting them, and to always take them as recommended.

Their abuse could be a factor in the on-life-support condition of Odom.

Odom, estranged husband of Khloe Kardashian, is in a coma and on life support at a Los Vegas hospital after collapsing Tuesday at a legal Nevada brothel, according to media reports. The former Los Angeles Laker reportedly ingested, over a four-day period, alcohol, cocaine and. in mega doses, the over-the counter, sexual performance enhancing herbal supplements Reload and Libimax Plus, according to the reports.

The Federal Drug Administration has issued warnings, about the content and interaction with other prescription drugs, of some these supplements referred to as "herbal Viagra."

"Herbal supplements obtained over the counter do not need a prescription," said Liebro about their popularity. "There is a lot of information out there. Some good, some bad."

Liebro added anyone taking a dietary supplement, needs to be "careful" about any possible "interactions with some conditions you might have or medications you might be taking whether legal or illegal."

Dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA like pharmaceutical drugs, Liebro noted.

"People have the impression that because herbal supplements are from natural ingredients that they are safe, but there are active ingredients that could have some serious side effects," Liebro said.

She said, by law, dietary supplements cannot be marketed as treatments. For example, something with St. John's wort, she said, is marketed as a "mood enhancer" rather than a treatment for depression.

She added the FDA is also able to

Liebro added that it is important to tell your health care provider what supplement you are taking as some, with ingredients like garlic, ginger, ginkgo, can effect bleeding times.

The Dietary Supplement Label Database, a joint project of the National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, and National Library of Medicine, lists the label contents from a sample of dietary supplement products marketed in the U.S.

Another recommended source for checking on a herbal supplements claims is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The website of the Mayo Clinic offers the following safety tips in terms of using herbal supplements.

  • Follow the dosage recommendations.
  • Keep a record of when you take the dosage and how it effects you.
  • Be cautious about supplements made outside the United States, as not all countries regulate their manufacturing in the same way.
  • Check government websites, like the FDA, for any warnings or updates.

According to a USA Today story, suicide has not been ruled out as a motive.


This story has been updated with the information from Baystate Health pharmacist Pam Liebro.


Google Earth to give us 17-mile virtual tour of Boston's Charles River

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The Charles River Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, will document the 17-mile stretch between the Watertown Dam and the Boston Harbor by boat for two weeks in October.

For those in Western Massachusetts who don't make it out to the Boston area often, the city's iconic river will soon be just a few clicks away.

The Charles River is going virtual by way of Google Earth, according to The Boston Globe.

The Charles River Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, will document the 17-mile stretch between the Watertown Dam and the Boston Harbor by boat for two weeks in October, the Globe reports.

The panoramic portrait will be made up of stitched-together snaps from the Google "Trekker" camera, a 40-pound piece of machinery carried on a photographer's back.

Indonesia Google BorobudurGoogle Trekker operator Eko Pramono wears the camera unit during a demonstration for the media, at Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015. T

The Trekker is being manned by Evan Bradley, a part-time conservancy employee and a 22-year-old Northeastern University graduate, Boston.com said.

While a release date hasn't been set, Google's Street View Team has confirmed the tour will be available within the coming months.

The Globe describes the Trekker's top end as "15 lenses facing in different directions and looks like a soccer ball awkwardly welded to a boxy backpack." The contraption is most known for riding atop Google Street View vehicles, but has more recently gained attention for traveling to places like the Grand Canyon and the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia.

White House walks back John Kerry's comments linking Israeli settlements to Palestinian violence

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The White House has walked back comments that Secretary of State John Kerry made in Cambridge this week tying growth in Israeli settlements to the ongoing Palestinian violence in Israel.

The White House has walked back comments that Secretary of State John Kerry made at a Cambridge event with a Harvard University professor this week tying the growth in Israeli settlements to the ongoing Palestinian violence in Israel.

Kerry, in Cambridge, made the following comments, according to an official transcript: "What's happening is that unless we get going, a two-state solution could conceivably be stolen from everybody. And there's been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years. Now you have this violence because there's a frustration that is growing, and a frustration among Israelis who don't see any movement."

A wave of Palestinian stabbings and shootings have hit Israel over the last two weeks, beginning with the Oct. 1 shooting of an Israeli couple, one of whom was an American citizen, who were driving on a road with their four children.

With ongoing tensions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the remarks caused some outcry.

Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in a post on the council's website, called Kerry's comments "unhelpful, mistaken, ill-informed," and accused him of "blaming the victims." Abrams said there has not been a "massive increase" in either the number of settlements or their size, but rather a "steady growth" in settlement population, mostly in areas that Israel is likely to retain in any agreement.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a White House briefing that Kerry has unequivocally condemned the Palestinian terrorist attacks.

"Secretary Kerry didn't assign any specific blame for the recent tensions there," Earnest said.

Asked whether Kerry believes settlement policy has contributed to the current violence, Earnest replied, according to an official transcript, "I think the suggestion by some is that it was a justification for it. And that does not reflect what Secretary Kerry has said." 

"I think what a lot of people have observed is that there is a lot of tension around the Haram as-Sharif Temple Mount site, and that a lot of those tensions have boiled over into the outbreaks of violence that we've seen over the last couple of weeks.  And that's why we have made repeated calls to both sides to find a way to reduce the violence and deescalate tensions in the region," Earnest said.

Earnest added that the Obama administration - like previous administrations - has had concerns about Israeli settlement policy, which U.S. officials see as "counterproductive," and that will continue to be the U.S. position.

According to an Associated Press story published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, last year, the settlement population grew by 23 percent between 2009 and 2014 under Netanyahu, to 355,000 people, compared to 10 percent population growth overall in Israel, which has 8 million people. However, the rate of growth under Netanyahu was less than under his two predecessors, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. In the prior five-year period, the settlement population grew by 31 percent.


UMass President Marty Meehan to celebrate new UMass design building

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Meehan will be on campus for the ceremony at UMass Friday.

AMHERST - University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan will be attending the ceremonial ground breaking for the new $52 million Design Building that will be home to three colleges when it opens in 2017.

Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Katherine Newman, Joseph Naughton, University of Massachusetts Building Authority director of capital projects, and State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst will be part of the celebration, according to a press release.

When completed, the building will be home to Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; the Department of Architecture from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, and the Building Construction Technology program from the College of Natural Sciences. 

The building authority has hired the Boston-based Leers Weinzapfel Associates to design the building.

According to the Building and Technology program website, the building will house classrooms and studios, computer labs, lounges, meeting and teleconferencing rooms, materials-testing lab, green-building lab, wood shop, digital fabrication lab, outdoor work area as well as a cafe.

It will also feature a covered indoor courtyard on the first floor and an outdoor courtyard complete with green roof on the third floor.  

According to the site, the wood superstructure is slated to be erected in December with the targeted opening of January 2017.

Groundbreaking began in the spring.

Wilbraham Community Preservation project applications sought

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Meetings are being scheduled in October and November in the Town Hall to answer questions on proposed projects.

WILBRAHAM - The town's Community Preservation Committee is seeking proposals for projects addressing open space preservation, historic preservation, affordable housing and recreation for possible funding under the Community Preservation Act for fiscal 2017, which begins July 1, 2016.

The application deadline is the close of business on Jan. 14, 2016.

Application forms are available in the selectmen's office in the Town Hall.

The Community Preservation Committee will hold public meetings to answer questions from applicants and to receive comments from residents.

Attendance is strongly recommended for all applicants, to assure that the requirements of the Community Preservation Act are understood and incorporated into the applications.

The meetings are set for Oct. 29, Nov. 19, Dec. 17 and Jan. 14, 2016 at Town Hall in the selectmen's meeting room.

Wilbraham voters adopted the Community Preservation Act by a vote of 4,399 to 3,111 on Nov. 2, 2004. The act provides funding through a local property tax surcharge and state funding for open space, historic resources and affordable housing.

Wilbraham residents approved a ballot question calling for a 1.5 percent surcharge on property tax bills, while exempting the first $100,000 for the value of each taxable parcel of residential real estate and providing abatements for qualifying low income residents and moderate income senior citizens.

Interested applicants are urged to visit the statewide Community Preservation Coalition's website at www.communitypreservation.org to review the types of projects being approved across the state.

Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun post higher Sept. bets, slot revenue

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Connecticut's two tribal casinos posted an increase in bets and slot revenue in September, reversing a summertime slide.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Connecticut's two tribal casinos posted an increase in bets and slot revenue in September, reversing a summertime slide.

Foxwoods Resort Casino reported bets of $461.9 million, up 3.6 percent from September 2014. Slot revenue of $37.2 million rose 3.2 percent.

The Mohegan Sun reported bets of $578.5 million, up 1.6 percent from September 2014. Slot revenue of $47.7 million was up 2.7 percent.

Foxwoods, operated by the Mashantucket Pequots, posted higher bets and slot revenue in July while the Mohegan Sun posted declines that month. Both reported reduced bets and slot revenue in August.

Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are seeking to open a casino in north-central Connecticut to draw gamblers from a planned MGM Resorts International casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Competition and the weak economic recovery have undermined the casinos' business.

East Longmeadow police: Man arrested after attempting to pass bogus check at Webster bank branch

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The suspect, Tod Nolet, 44, of 119 Quincy St., defaulted on his court appearance, police said.

EAST LONGMEADOW -- Police said they arrested a 44-year-old man Wednesday afternoon after he attempted to pass a bogus check at the Webster Bank branch at Center Square.

Sgt. Denis Sheehan said the check, for over $2,000, was "somehow manufactured" in the name of a business in the southeastern part of the state.

"Apparently there is some kind of ring going around manufacturing these checks and duping people into cashing these checks," Sheehan said.

Webster Bank was on the alert because somebody presented similar checks at two of its Springfield branches earlier that day. In one instance, the passer was successful and in the other, the suspect was not.

"When questioned, he grabbed the check and fled," Sheehan said, adding that the bogus checks draw from a Webster account.

Police here are working with their Springfield counterparts to see if the East Longmeadow suspect can be linked to the Springfield incidents, Sheehan said.

Tod Nolet, of 119 Quincy St., Springfield, was arrested and charged with uttering a false check. He was released for arraignment Thursday in Palmer District Court.

The suspect defaulted and did not appear, Sheehan said.


Northampton City Council approves spending $400K to build modular unit for the Parks and Recreation Department

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The department offices had been at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, but the school announced last year that it is leasing the space to a nursing school operated by Greenfield Community College. Mayor David J. Narkewicz looked for office space in existing city facilities such as the Senior Center, but told the council Thursday that the modular is the best option. The city also looked at a site near Arcanum Field, he said.

NORTHAMPTON - The new Parks and Recreation offices will operate out of a new modular unit behind the John F. Kennedy Middle School, thanks to a $400,000 appropriation by the City Council Thursday.

The department offices had been at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, but the school announced last year that it is leasing the space to a nursing school operated by Greenfield Community College.

Mayor David J. Narkewicz looked for office space in existing city facilities such as the Senior Center, but told the council Thursday that the modular is the best option. The city also looked at a site near Arcanum Field, he said.

"The Senior Center is off the table," he said.

Greenfield Community College, which had to move the nursing school out of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center because of space considerations there, put off opening at Smith Vocational for a year, giving the city some breathing space, Narkewicz said.

Chicopee downtown Halloween party returns for 3rd time

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Last year's event attracted about 2,000 people.

CHICOPEE - The downtown Halloween trick-or-treat bash will return this year with a candy alley for children, live music, group zumba and a new costume contest for all the witches, Ninja Turtles and mad scientists.

The event, now called the Halloween Spooktacular, will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Oct. 27. Parts of Exchange, Center and Springfield Streets, in front of City Hall, will be closed for the event.

The Halloween party, which began in 2013, has been growing annually. Warm temperatures last year drew more than 2,000 people and businesses started running out of supplies early.

This year organizers are planning for 2,500 people, especially since the online response has been tremendous, said Joel McAuliffe, communications and projects manager for Mayor Richard J. Kos.

"This is a family event with the goal of bringing people downtown," he said. "It is part of a three-part series with the block party and the tree lighting."

The city held the block party on Sept. 12 for the first time with live music, food and children's activities. Most called it a great success.

This year's Halloween event will include live music from Greg Hall and the Barnhouse Band, DJ Nick Gagne of Preztige Worldwide. Muevelo Dance Fitness, which has a studio downtown, will be doing a giant zumba event and the Herbarium will be doing tarot card readings.

McAuliffe said some have expressed concerns about two shootings last month and gang problems downtown, but he said police have been battling the problem and plenty of officers will be at the block party.

The mayor's office has joined with the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce to bring the event to downtown. While most of the businesses participating are located in Chicopee Center, there are several others from different parts of the city joining in as well, said Eileen Drumm, president of the chamber.

"There is so much to do and it is all free," she said.

Some of the businesses have donated money to help the event but far more are hosting tables and providing goods or services including spiced cider, ice cream, hay rides, Polish National Credit Union will hold the costume contest and Chicopee Savings Bank is sponsoring the stage for the live music.

In addition the Comprehensive High School culinary students will be back with cookie decorating and Chicopee City Councilors will return with their grill and cook hot dogs for the crowd.

Of course the highlight of the event will be the trick-or-treating. Children will go from table-to-table down Exchange Street while businesses hand out candy, Drumm said.

Drumm said everyone in her office is going to unleash their inner child and dress up in the most elaborate costumes they can find to get into the spirit.

"The more of these types of these things we do where we bring the community together the better," she said. "It is a multi-generational, multi-demographic event and it works."

Wilbraham Finance Committee: Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District facing fiscal challenges

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The fiscal challenges facing the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District are a result of declining enrollment and Cathedral High School's plan to stop leasing Memorial School in Wilbraham.

WILBRAHAM - The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District will face financial challenges next year, Finance Committee members were told at a meeting Wednesday night.

Assistant Town Administrator Thomas Sullivan told members of the Finance Committee that the regional school budget will be short the $350,000 paid to the town for the lease of Memorial School by Cathedral High School.

That money has been appropriated to the schools in recent years, Sullivan said.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has announced that starting in fiscal 2017 it will no longer be leasing Memorial School from the school district. Cathedral High School students will be attending school in Chicopee with Holyoke Catholic students.

In addition, Finance Committee member Walter Damon said that Thornton Burgess Middle School in Hampden is anticipating an additional decline in enrollment for the next two years of approximately 50 students per year which impacts the state reimbursement to the school district.

The regional school district is seeking to combine the two middle schools at Wilbraham Middle School, but the proposal would need approval by voters at town meetings in Wilbraham and Hampden.

Those two factors will leave the school district with declining revenue, the Finance Committee members were told.

Also at the Wednesday meeting, Daniel Miles was elected chair of the Finance Committee for the fiscal 2016 year and Nancy Piccin was elected vice chair.


Some Sun This Afternoon but Chilly Weekend on the Way

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We'll see some sunshine this afternoon with temperatures reaching into the 60's. It will be breezy and cool but dry for tonight's high school football games. You won't notice the chill today so much, however readings will only make it into the middle 50's tomorrow as a cold blast moves in. Tomorrow will have a bit of March feel with a...

We'll see some sunshine this afternoon with temperatures reaching into the 60's. It will be breezy and cool but dry for tonight's high school football games. You won't notice the chill today so much, however readings will only make it into the middle 50's tomorrow as a cold blast moves in. Tomorrow will have a bit of March feel with a blend of sun and clouds and a chilly breeze. Tomorrow night will be cold as temperatures dip below freezing. A killing frost or freeze is likely by Sunday morning! It will likely put an end to the growing season.

Sunday will be bright but cold with high temperatures only in the 40s. High temperatures in the 40's is what you would expect for the beginning of December! Monday morning will be even colder with a hard freeze. Temps will plunge into the lower 20's and perhaps even a few upper teens. Monday will remain bright but cold with highs near 50. However, hang in there. A mid-week warm up is expected with temperatures climbing closer to more seasonable levels by Tuesday afternoon.

Have a great weekend!

Northampton City Council votes to tax residential and commercial property at same rate

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Assessor Joan Sarafin, who spoke in favor of the system, said the tax rate in 2016 will be $16.16 per $1,000 of valuation, an increase of $108 a year for the owner of an average home valued at $301,000.

NORTHAMPTON — As it has done every year since 1981, the City Council voted Thursday to adopt a so-called "Factor of One" system that taxes commercial and residential property at the same rate.

Assessor Joan Sarafin, who spoke in favor of the system, said the tax rate in 2016 will be $16.16 per $1,000 of valuation, an increase of $108 a year for the owner of an average home valued at $301,000.

Council President William H. Dwight noted that his hometown of Holyoke has one of the highest commercial tax rates in the state and, as a result, has difficulty attracting new businesses. Sarafin said the average tax for commercial property under the Factor of One system will be $609,000 a year.

Plainridge Park Casino slot revenue continued to fall in September, Gaming Commission reports

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Slots revenue generated at the state's first expanded gambling facility continued to drop in September, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported this week.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ Slot revenue generated at the state's first expanded gambling facility continued to drop in September, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported this week.

Plainville's Plainridge Park Casino, a category two slots parlor, generated $12.6 million in slot gross gaming revenue last month - down from $15.2 million in August, according to MGC figures.

Gross slot gaming revenues have fallen steadily since reaching $18.1 million in July. The slots parlor, which opened June 24, pulled in just over $6 million during its first week, state regulators reported.

Plainridge Park is taxed on 49 percent of gross gaming revenue. The majority of the taxed amount goes toward local aid and less than 20 percent goes to the Race Horse Development fund.

The state has collected more than $25.5 million in total taxes and race horse assessments from the facility since it opened - $6.1 million of which came in September, according to the commission.

MGC spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll praised the amount, saying "the commission is pleased to observe that the state has collected more than $25 million in state taxes to the benefit of local aid and race horse assessments."

Ahead of Northampton premiere of documentary on Lakota Native language, WMass filmmaker explains connection to film on Sci-Tech band

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"Rising Voices" will hold its Massachusetts premiere at 4 p.m. on Sunday at The Academy of Music. The event is free and open to the public.

NORTHAMPTON — On the surface, filmmaker Larry Hott's latest work, "Rising Voices," about efforts to revive the dying Native American language of the Lakotas, and his documentary "Sci-Tech Band: Pride of Springfield" would appear to have little connection to one another.

But Hott – owner, with his wife Diane Carey, of Florentine Films/Hott Productions in Florence – sees powerful links between the story of poor urban students in an underperforming high school in Springfield and the disadvantaged young people portrayed in "Rising Voices," in North and South Dakota.

Hott said both films show how arts and culture can raise children's self-esteem, performance and behavior in school – and open the door to a better future.

"Both stories involve communities with deep economic and social problems," Hott wrote in an article in the Public Humanist for MassHumanities, an organization supporting programs that use literature, philosophy and other humanities to improve civic life.

"Rising Voices" will hold its Massachusetts premiere at 4 p.m. on Sunday at The Academy of Music in Northampton. The event is free and open to the public.

In the case of "Rising Voices," language learning, with the support of society elders, is the key to transforming the life of the community. In the film about the Sci-Tech band, music and the charismatic leadership of bandleader Gary Bernice, open the door to success to students, many of whom had never picked up an instrument before high school, Hott explained.

"In Lakota country where poverty, drug abuse and other social problems are pervasive, many people see language loss as part of this problem and language revitalization as part of the solution," Hott said.

The revival of the Lakota Native language with the help of elders in the community has become a source of pride, Hott said.

Lakota was one of 300 Native languages spoken north of Mexico before Christopher Columbus. "Today only half of those remain and experts say that by the year 2050, just 20 indigenous American languages will still exist," Hott wrote in the article.

With only 6,000 people speaking Lakota, the average age of its speakers will soon be 70 years old, he said.

"Across Lakota country, language-learning programs at all levels – from preschool to adult classes – are taking root," Hott said.

Reintroducing the Native Lakota language to young people is improving their performance in school and bettering their chances of breaking the cycle of poverty, he said.

"Like the SciTech Band, language revitalization is a source of pride in Lakota country. And like the band, the programs can only reach a select few," Hott wrote. "There are 54 public schools in Springfield; seven of them have music programs. There are 17,000 school-age children on the North and South Dakota reservations; approximately 60 children are in immersion schools."

"Yet the SciTech Band and the language school provide a spark of hope and pride that may change the lives of both communities for the better," he said.


A PawSox move to Springfield? You need to talk to the Hartford Yard Goats

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A spokesman for Minor League Baseball said Springfield would need approval from the Hartford Yard Goats and the Eastern League before any PawSox relocation could become a reality in Massachusetts' Hampden County.

SPRINGFIELD — A spokesman for Minor League Baseball said this week that if the Pawtucket Red Sox were to relocate to Springfield, as hoped by some, there would be a need for approval from a new Hartford team due to an encroachment on its territorial rights.

Pawtucket Red Sox Logo

Both the Hartford Yard Goats, a new Double-A baseball team in the Eastern League, and the Eastern League would need to grant approval for any move of the Triple-A PawSox, of the International League, to Springfield, said Jeff Lantz, director of communications for Minor League Baseball, based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Generally, the existing team's territory is the county where it exists, Lantz said.

The Yard Goats, set to begin play in 2016, are in Hartford County, which stretches to the Massachusetts state line and abuts Hampden County, the edge of the Yard Goats' territory just a few miles from Springfield.

"However, before a team could be granted permission to move into an adjacent county, it would need to seek appropriate approvals in accordance with our rules because new home territories are supposed to be at least 15 miles from existing home territories unless consent or an exception applies," Lantz said.

A spokesman for the Yard Goats could not be reached for comment.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said this week he would "love" to have the PawSox in his city, and said he had preliminary discussions with PawSox and Boston Red Sox executives.

Minor League territorial rights are described under Rule 52, which stipulates each baseball team is granted "protected territorial rights covering a specific geographic area called a 'home territory,' unless a Club and League agree to forego a home territory ..."

Without approval, "no Major or Minor League Club may play its home games within the home territory or within 15 miles from the boundary of the home territory of any other Minor League Club," the rule states.

While the move of the PawSox to Springfield is "purely speculation at this point," it is true that the Hartford Yard Goats team would have to give its approval, Lantz said. There is a framework for such an effort, Lantz said.

Lantz cited as one example the relocation of the Oneonta baseball team in the New York-Penn League to Norwich, Connecticut. In that case, the league and club "worked closely with the International League, Eastern League, New Britain club and the Pawtucket club as part of the process," Lantz said.

Kevin Kennedy, Springfield's chief development officer, said the city is aware of the territorial rights issue and it is "one of the things we need to look into." The pursuit of a baseball team is a "complex issue" that will be reviewed methodically, he said.

Lantz said Minor League Baseball and the International League office are in regular contact with the PawSox ownership and "at this time they are focused on Providence, although we have received inquires from states and counties in a number of locations expressing an interest in attracting the Red Sox Triple-A club."

He would not specify others that might have an interest in the PawSox, and a spokesman for the PawSox would not provide specifics.

"Right now, our focus is on preparing for the 2016 season here at McCoy Stadium," PawSox spokesman Bill Wanless said.

The PawSox ownership will continue to listen to any ideas or plans "that are brought to us regarding the long-term future of the franchise," he said.

A proposal for the PawSox to move to a waterfront property in Providence failed, followed by Sarno's expressed interest during an Editorial Board meeting involving reporters and editors of The Republican and MassLive.


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