MGM Springfield officials are expected to make an in-depth presentation about the design changes to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Nov. 19.

Traffic at the MGM Springfield casino is expected to drop by between 5 and 8 percent a day, or around 1,100 fewer car trips, due to design changes, according to project traffic engineer Kevin Dandrade.

"Which is the chicken and which is the egg?" Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby asked Dandrade at a commission meeting on Thursday. "Did the expected reduced use drive a reduction in space or does your voluntary decision to reduce space have the consequences of reducing use?"

MGM Springfield officials said they will answer Crosby's question, and others like it, at the commission's next meeting on Nov. 19, when casino operators will make an in-depth presentation about the design changes.

Gaming Commissioner Bruce Stebbins said the commission and MGM officials will talk then about changes to jobs, revenue and capital expenditures. They will discuss the reasons behind the changes and their details.

"I know you have (questions)," said Jed Nosal, an attorney with Brown Rudnick who represents MGM Springfield. "We're respectful of those. We've been working very hard to make sure we present this in a comprehensive way to answer those questions completely in a way that puts everything into context."

Nosal said one area to be addressed is why MGM Springfield chose to drastically reduce the space for administrative and "back of the house" functions.

"It's funny to me that you can just willy nilly drop 25 percent in your back of house space," Crosby said. "Either somebody was sloppy in building the plans to begin with, which I doubt...or something's given up."

MGM Springfield is proposing numerous changes to the casino. These include reducing the size of a 25-story hotel tower to six stories, and moving it to a new location. MGM would move market-rate housing off the casino site, and shrink a planned parking garage by a floor, removing 387 parking spots.

MGM wants to decrease the size of the total development by 14 percent, including a significant cut in retail space, a smaller bowling alley and less space for movie theaters. The size of the site would drop from 15.6 acres to 14 acres, with 122,500 square feet less in building space, according to documents submitted to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Several Springfield city officials have voiced concern about the proposed changes. The Gaming Commission has asked for public comment.

The Gaming Commission must approve the changes for the project to go forward. If the commission does not approve, it can change the conditions of MGM's license or decide it has not met permitting requirements.

On Thursday, lawyers and consultants for MGM Springfield made a presentation focused narrowly on an environmental impact review process, which was triggered by the changes. The state agency overseeing the review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act is currently soliciting public comment and is expected to issue a decision by Nov. 18 on whether additional study is needed.

MGM Springfield officials say they are hopeful that no additional study will be required. The review process is generally meant to catch changes like road expansions that would cause more environmental impacts.

"The project actually is slightly reduced in scale, and the impacts are reduced in scale," said Margaret Briggs, managing principal at Epsilon Associates and an environmental consultant for MGM Springfield. "All the mitigation measures that were promised in the final environmental impact report are still agreed to."

MGM Springfield also recently met with the Springfield Historical Commission to discuss the proposed changes. Historical Commission Chairman Ralph Slate wrote to the Gaming Commission that the historical commission is generally satisfied. The issues that were discussed related to MGM's inability to reuse the United Electric building on State Street, and the impact of the relocation of the hotel on the facade of the adjacent Union House.

Slate did object to MGM's characterizations that historical preservation was responsible for a reduction in retail space rather than choices by MGM. "I consider it counterproductive to the consultation process to implicate historical preservation as a reason for the reduction in the scale of the project," Slate wrote.

Meanwhile, MGM Springfield also submitted a new site plan to the Springfield Office of Planning and Development, which was deemed incomplete. Once MGM resubmits the application, the City Council will hold a hearing and will need to approve the new plans.

Crosby said the Gaming Commission has not decided whether to have its own public hearing on the changes. It may depend on the public hearing process in Springfield.

The casino is expected to open in September 2018.

The restaurant had to close but the drive-thru was allowed to remain open.

SPRINGFIELD - A motorist escaped serious injury Thursday afternoon after driving into front facade of the Burger King restaurant on Cooley Street.

The restaurant wasn't as lucky.

The front facade of the restaurant sustained structural damage. Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said a portion of the front wall was pushed in by the impact, and someone from the city Building Inspector's Office had to come inspect it.

The fire department was called to the scene to help extricate the driver from the car, but was not needed.

Information on the driver was not available.

Western Mass News, the television partner of the Masslive and The Republican, reported that the restaurant was closed to walk-customers. The drive-thru window, however, remained open.

Just 58 percent of Springfield's working age population is either employed or looking for a job, a workforce participation rate that must rise if the city is to take advantage of incoming new employers like rail car maker CRRC and casino resort MGM Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD -- Just 58 percent of Springfield's working age population is either employed or looking for a job, a workforce participation rate that must rise if the city is to take advantage of new employers soon to arrive, including rail car maker CRRC and casino resort MGM Springfield.

On Thursday, a group of local agencies led by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, the city and the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts were awarded a $15,000 Working Cities Challenge Grant from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

It's money the local agencies hope to match with $30,000 from local donors, said Ann Burke, vice president of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts.

This is a design grant, not an implementation grant, said Larry Martin, director of employer services and engagement at the Regional Employment Board. It'll fund a series of outreach efforts and public meetings intended to identify the barriers to employment  and ways to address whatever is keeping those without jobs from at least searching for work.

If Springfield is successful, it can compete for an implementation grant of $300,000 to $500,000 next summer.

Martin said to expect a lot of public outreach efforts and meetings seeking input over the next six months.

Brockton, Haverhill, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Revere, Salem and Worcester also received research grants for their own economic development projects, according to the Boston Fed.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston gets money for the grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Living Cities, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, NeighborWorks America, the Smith Family Foundation and MassDevelopment.

"We are looking for solutions that are scaleable," Martin said Thursday. "Something that we can use in other Gateway Cities across the state. We all need to address the disconnection between employers who need skilled workers and the people who are out there without work."

Gateway Cities are the older industrial cities across Massachusetts that are now faced with redevelopment challenges.

The statewide labor participation rate is higher than Springfield's at 64.9 percent. The national average is 62.4 percent.

Martin said there are barriers keeping people out of the working population, including a lack of transportation to school or to work, a lack of stable housing and a lack of educational attainment.

"We have a large percentage of people ages 18 to 50 without a high school diploma," Martin said. "That is something we have to address."

Burke said major local employers including Baystate Health and Paragus Strategic IT are on board.

"We are getting new employers, but with aging baby boomers, all our employers are looking to grow a work force," she said.

Richard Griffin, of the city of Springfield's planning and community development office, said the addition of CRRC and MGM Springfield will grow jobs in other companies that grow to be suppliers.

He learned this on a recent City2City tour to Chattanooga, Tennessee. A $1 billion Volkswagen plant opened there in 2011 and now employs 3,200 workers.

City2City is also a program of the Boston Fed.

This is round two for the Boston Fed's Working Cities Challenge. In January 2014, Holyoke won a $250,000 grant in the first round of the Working Cities Challenge with a proposal to foster new small businesses in the Paper City.

The money, to be  spent over three years, is used to create SPARK - short for Stimulating Potential, Accessing Resource Knowledge - which links entrepreneurs with classes, resources, entrepreneurial events and mentoring programs.

As a deadline for submissions looms Friday, the Connecticut Airport Authority is reviving its proposal for a third state casino while Enfield Square Mall is also entering the gambling sweepstakes.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

Landlord Paul Seluke leaves scene of murder-suicide.  

Framingham teen charged with rape after girl without shoes found in swampy area [MetroWest Daily News]

Terminal B is demolished at Bradley International Airport. 

Former Pepperell police sergeant charged with strangling prisoner, filing false report [WHDH-TV, 7News, Boston] Video above

Philip Chism 

Cape Cod home owner shoots at man trying to burn down his house, police say [CBS Boston.com]

Original video aired Wednesday.

Gene Palmer 

The congressman will be joined by BCC President Ellen Kennedy for the Nov. 9 announcement at the Pittsfield college, located at 1350 West St.

PITTSFIELD — Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, will be heading for the Berkshires on Monday to announce a $2 million federal grant for Berkshire Community College.

The congressman will be joined by BCC President Ellen Kennedy and others at 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at the college, which is located at 1350 West St. in Pittsfield. The announcement will be made in the school's Susan B. Anthony Center-General Bartlett Room.

The U.S. Department of Education grant will enable BCC to develop and implement strategies to "strengthen the student experience and enhance student success," said BCC spokeswoman Heidi Weber.

BCC is among 40 higher education institutions nationwide to receive the grant. More information about the grant is available on DOE's website.

Springfield is one of four Massachusetts communities awarded $1.7 million grants to encourage livable cities.

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield may have visible crosswalks and play areas and parks for residents, but a lot of work still needs to be done to make it a city where people can comfortably walk, bike and ride.

Gil Penalosa, an international expert on livable cities, shared his impressions about Springfield's livability after taking a walking tour of the Quadrangle and riding all around the North End and downtown Springfield on Thursday.

"When it comes to walking, the city has done some work to make crosswalks visible and have proper pedestrian crossing sings. As far as biking, it's horrible," he said, noting that people will not ride their bikes if there is not a designated bike grid that connects throughout the entire city and makes riders feel safe.

Penalosa is the former parks commissioner in Bogota, Colombia, where he helped establish 200 parks and open spaces for the citizens of the city in his first term. He is the founder and board chairman of "8 80 Cities," an international nonprofit organization based in Toronto that is focused on the premise that if you can create a great city for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old, you will build a successful city for everyone.

He was invited to speak in Springfield by city officials and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"We are very fortunate to have him here," said Scott Hanson, principal planner for the city. "We wanted to showcase some development projects to see how we can connect projects like Union Station, MGM, the Quadrangle and make them more accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists. We showed him the existing infrastructure so that we can get ideas on how to make additional improvements."

According to his website, Penalosa advises decision makers and communities on how to create vibrant cities and healthy communities for everyone regardless of social, economic or ethnic background. His focus is on the design and use of parks and streets as great public places, as well as sustainable mobility: walking, cycling and public transit.

"There is a lot of good going on here, especially with the Quadrangle museums and connecting the library and cultural events," he said. "Now you need to go from good to great."

Penalosa hosted a public talk at the Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday afternoon and on Friday will participate in a series of workshops with public officials from Springfield, Northampton, Greenfield and Fall River, all of which received grants from the Centers for Disease Control to look at sustainability and livability in Massachusetts communities. The grants are divided into $440,000 for four years.

"Over the last few years, planning and public health have been at the table when we talk about infrastructure and economic development projects. It's a conversation that five or 10 years ago we were not having," Hanson said. "We are now having conversations about how we can make it work for everyone, and that is a great step in the right direction to creating healthier communities."

Penalosa has helped change the mindset in communities of 5,000 people to cities including New York, creating more open, public spaces where young and old can live and play.

He said there are five elements to successfully creating a livable city: a sense of urgency, political will, doers, leadership and citizen engagement.

"That seems like a no brainier, of course, you need citizen engagement, but that does not mean a City Hall meeting at 7 p.m., it means going out into the community. Doing things like meeting with people at 3 p.m. right after school with pizza and juice and talking to the communities to see what it is they want in order to improve their quality of life," he said.

Penalosa also stressed the need for functional and usable public transportation. He believes everyone should have the option of using public transportation regardless of their economic status.

"What if you could go from a two-car family to a one-car family? Low income people are spending 40 percent of their income on mobility. What if we could reduce that to 5 percent?" he said.

He said anything is possible if a community has an open mind.

"Imagine that children could actually get to places without having to depend on someone taking them ... Let's imagine that older adults could age in place ... What if we could take care of obesity, cure mild cases of depression and anxiety," he said. "We don't have to imagine it because it is totally doable."

CRD Metalworks, a manufacturing firm owned by Christopher Duval, is being sued by Henrietta Wallace, a neighbor who lives in Hyde Hill Road in a rural part of town. Wallace and other neighbors claim that Duval and his employees shoot guns, make noise and put up garish signs on his property. They also say that CRD has illegally expanded. The company, which makes log-splitting equipment, has about 15 employees.

NORTHAMPTON - Lawyers on both sides of a dispute among neighbors in Williamsburg told a Hampshire Superior Court judge Thursday that they have come to an agreement in their civil suit.

CRD Metalworks, a manufacturing firm owned by Christopher Duval, is being sued by Henrietta Wallace, a neighbor who lives in Hyde Hill Road in a rural part of town, over firearms shooting by Duval and his employees.

Northampton City Solicitor Alan Seewald, who represents Wallace, and attorney Mark Tanner, who represents Duval, were scheduled to argue over an injunction against the shooting, but they told Josephson they have worked out an agreement, namely that no firearms will be discharged near Wallace's property except in self defense.

Josephson praised both parties, saying that is one of the reasons to have lawyers.

"I commend you for being able to work this out," she said.

All three suspects are from Springfield and were taken into custody without incident, according to city police.

SPRINGFIELD — The week's not even over, and the Springfield Police Department Warrant Apprehension Unit has already nabbed three fugitives from justice – including an alleged stalker and strangler.

Steve Miller, 46, of 95 Leatherleaf Drive, Sixteen Acres, was wanted on a warrants for strangulation, stalking and violation of a restraining order, according to Springfield police spokesman John Delaney, noting that all three fugitives were taken into custody over the past two days.

Crystal Mendoza, 33, of 179 Warrenton St., Pine Point, was wanted on two counts of larceny over $250 and single counts of larceny by check and uttering a false check.

And Nixon Polonco, 54, of 110 Wilmont St., Forest Park, was wanted by the Connecticut Department of Corrections for skipping out on parole.

The suspects were taken into custody without incident, Delaney said.

New playground equipment is to be funded with grants, a donation and city funding.

CHICOPEE - The City Council will face a number of financial orders during its Thursday meeting.

The Council usually meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month, but the regular meeting was moved to Thursday because of the Nov. 5 election.

The biggest item on the agenda is a request for $178,645 to continue designing and engineering for an improvement project for Fuller Road. The money is expected to be reimbursed when the city receives its annual state highway grant.

The City Council will also be asked to approved $79,000 from the Water Department account to pave Montgomery Street and South Street, which were both damaged in past water main breaks.

The council will also be asked to approve funding for a new playground at the Fairview Elementary School, which formerly was a middle school and has little play structure.

The project will be funded from a variety of sources including a $26,706 grant, a $5,000 private donation and $49,000 from the Department of Public Works and Parks accounts.

There are a total of 42 items on the agenda.

The meeting begins at 7:15 p.m. Masslive will cover the meeting live in the comments section below.

A student who stabbed four people at a California university meant to do even more harm.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A freshman student who stabbed four people at a California university meant to do even more harm, but he acted alone and had no connections to terrorist groups, authorities said Thursday.

Faisal Mohammad, 18, burst into his class at the University of California, Merced, and attacked a fellow student with a hunting knife Wednesday morning. He stabbed three others, including a construction worker credited with preventing Mohammad from killing anyone, before police shot him dead as he fled across campus.

Police found zip-tie handcuffs, duct tape and a hammer in a backpack near his body. It also contained two plastic baggies of petroleum jelly, which Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke called a "poor's man" explosive if ignited.

Warnke and other officials said background checks of Mohammad and his family show the 18-year-old had no connections to organized hate or terror groups and no past behavior to suggest he would lash out violently.

"We had zero to indicate he was on anyone's radar," Warnke said.

Investigators also found a list of items Mohammad planned to pack in his backpack before the attacks.

"His intention was to do more damage," school spokeswoman Lorena Anderson said. "But there is absolutely no reason to believe that this was anything more than an angry young man acting alone."

Anderson said it's unclear if Mohammad targeted anyone in particular in the class required of all university freshmen. All four victims are expected to survive.

Byron Price, 31, a construction worker doing remodeling work next door, interrupted the attack, rushing into the classroom to break up what he thought was a fistfight. Price said Mohammad charged at him with the knife and looked scared.

"He also looked like he was having fun," Price, who was stabbed in the side, told the Merced Sun Star. "His eyes, I could see fear in his eyes. He was smiling."

His college roommate called him an anti-social loner. But a high school buddy expressed shock that Mohammad stabbed four people.

"He was quiet, but he was really friendly," Ish Patel said. "He was intelligent, too -- he performed well academically."

Patel said Mohammad enjoyed basketball, going to the mosque to pray and playing video games with his friends. He lost contact with Mohammad after they graduated from high school in Santa Clara, California, in June.

"I'm definitely shocked," Patel said.

But Mohammad's suitemate at college paints another portrait. Andrew Velasquez told KSFN-TV in Fresno that Mohammad, who was majoring in computer science and engineering, kept to himself.

"(Mohammad) didn't talk much. And I never saw him walk with anybody. Walking to class, I never saw him walk with anybody," Velasquez said.

One student remained hospitalized Thursday, and a staff member who suffered a collapsed lung was recovering after surgery, the school said. Price and a second student were treated and released.

Classes would resume Friday at the university about 120 miles south of Sacramento in the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley.

Schauer was arrested a little over a year ago when he posted a threat on his Facebook page in which pledged to re-create the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School

GREENFIELD - A 20-year-old man who last year threatened to re-create the Colombine shooting at Frontier Regional High School was sentenced Thursday to spend the next year in jail, according to reports.

Nicholas R. SchauerDeerfield Police photo 

The Greenfield Recorder reports that Nicholas R. Schauer of Sunderland pleaded guilty to several charges including threatening to carry out a mass shooting, disrupting a school assembly, and eight counts of threatening to commit murder.

Judge John Ferrara sentenced him to two years in the Franklin County House of Correction, but the sentence will be reduced by the 371 days he spent in custody at Bridgewater State Hospital.

Schauer was arrested a little over a year ago on Oct. 23, 2014 when he posted a threat on his Facebook page in which he identified several students by name and pledge to re-create the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado.

Discovery of the threat triggered a "shelter in place" order for the high school and the nearby middle school while police investigated.

Schauer was arrested and ordered held without bail while he underwent psychological evaluations at Bridgewater.

Schauer is a Cincinnati, Ohio native who moved to Sunderland shortly before making the threat. Officials have said he never attended the school and had no known connection the campus.

The Recorder reports that when he is released from jail, he will spend three years on probation, and will be not allowed to enter Deerfield, go near any school campus in Franklin County, or contact any of the people he threatened.

He will also be required to stay away from drugs and alcohol, continue taking medication that is prescribed for him, and maintain a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

He is also required to submit to random drug testing, mental health screening, and inspections of his computer, the Recorder reports.

A Washington D.C.-based group this week launched television ad campaign in Boston that takes aim at the federal corn ethanol mandates and urges residents to call on congressional lawmakers to end them.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ A Washington D.C.-based group launched a television ad campaign in Boston this week that takes aim at the federal corn ethanol mandates and calls on congressional lawmakers to end them.

The 30-second ad, sponsored by American Council for Capital Formation, contends that while the mandates were supposed to be part of a "clean energy future," they actually increase greenhouse emissions compared to gasoline and threaten air quality, among other things.

"Tell Congress and the administration to end ethanol mandates," it concludes.

ACCF Vice President David Banks said in a statement that "corn ethanol worsens the environment, can cause severe engine damage and hurts consumers wallets." If the Obama Administration is committed to addressing climate change, he said, it needs to "repeal the broken corn ethanol mandate before it causes even more harm to the environment and consumers."

In addition to Boston, which ACCF targeted in hopes of reaching U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and other lawmakers, the group is also running the television ad campaign in Vermont, New Hampshire and Ohio.

Markey, D-Mass., however said the 2007 renewable fuel standard legislation has helped spur alternative fuel technological advances - some of which poise Massachusetts to play a larger role in the energy industry.

In addition to reducing American dependence on imported foreign oil, he added, the law includes environmental safeguards to ensure lower carbon emissions.

City Council President Michael Fenton says he has the votes of his colleagues to be president in 2016, but Councilor Bud Williams says he will fight for the leadership post.

(The story was updated at 4:45 p.m. with additional comments.)

SPRINGFIELD — City Council President Michael Fenton announced Friday that he secured votes from a council majority to remain president in 2016, but his colleague Bud Williams is promising to battle Fenton for the post.

Fenton said he has at least eight votes from the 13-member council to remain council president for a third consecutive year.

"My colleagues can expect another year of fair and open discourse on the subjects that impact our residents." Fenton said in a prepared release. "This is the first time in recent history that a Springfield City Councilor will serve three consecutive terms as President."

The formal vote will occur in January at the first meeting of the year.

Williams was undeterred.

"I am still a candidate for the council president," Williams said. "I am running on principle. We need change."

Williams said that Fenton, in gaining advance support for the presidency, has already promised to support someone else for president in 2017.

Such a promise of support for someone else to be president in 2017 is "absolutely unethical," Williams said, declining to name the other councilor.

Fenton said Williams allegation is false.

"I have not promised anything to a single member of the City Council in exchange for their vote for president," Fenton said. "My record of making decisions based on the merits and acting with integrity at every turn I believe speaks for itself."

The council president oversees meetings, sets the agenda and makes committee appointments. Fenton said he made no promises on committee chairmanships in exchange for support.

Williams said he will continue to seek support.

"This process has been tainted," Williams said. "It's a black eye for our City Council and certainly leaves a cloud over the current council president."

Williams has served as council president on two occasions, but not in consecutive years.

Fenton, who is a local lawyer, said that councilors have entrusted him with the presidency because they want "integrity, skill, and stability in leadership as we move forward with some of the largest developments in the city's history."

"It is an honor to be chosen to lead during this critical juncture in our City's history," Fenton said, adding that he will not seek a fourth term as president.

Fenton has served as the Ward 2 councilor since first elected in November 2009. The ward includes sections of Liberty Heights and East Springfield.

Fenton said the councilors who have stated they will support him for president are E. Henry Twiggs, Kenneth E. Shea, Timothy C. Allen, Orlando Ramos, Thomas M. Ashe, Justin J. Hurst and newly elected Councilor Adam Gomez. Along with his own vote, Fenton would have at least eight votes for the presidency, saying he did not reach all members.

The City Council will hold an informal caucus during its last meeting in December to choose Fenton as the leader of the body for 2016. The informal caucus will be followed by the formal vote in January.

The board ruled that the plan was not an educational use but a warehouse.

AMHERST - Lawyers for the Five College Consortium have filed suit against the Hadley Planning Board for rejecting the consortium's  plan to build a book annex on a nearly 46-acre parcel off North Maple Street.

 Initially, the Planning Board believed that according to Town Counsel, the project qualified under the Dover Amendment, which allows educational corporations substantial exemptions from zoning.

That meant the board could regulate the visual and environmental impacts of the project but not reject it.

But board member William Dwyer called it a warehouse, not an educational use when he proposed rejecting it last month. The plan was rejected 3 to 2. 

According to the suit, the plaintiffs are appealing the decision that "the library annex use is not for educational purposes." The deadline to file suit was Sunday.

Northampton attorney Mark A. Tanner is representing the plaintiffs that also include Thomas and Albert Lees who own the property and planned to sell it to the consortium for the annex.

Dwyer said Northampton attorney Michael Pill, who frequently handles cases in Land Court, has offered to represent the town for free.

 At first, the consortium proposed building a 130,000-square-foot annex but officials reduced the size twice, to 112,000 square feet and then 74,325 square feet.

The plan was to build on 20 percent of the land and leave the rest for open space.

The consortium wants to build the annex to house overflow books from the Five Colleges. It has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the site.

In the appeal, Tanner writes that in certain circumstances, "scholars from the five campuses or other educational institutions will also visit the Library Annex to fulfill special research needs by working with the shelves items closer to where they are shelved."

 Sites in Whatley, Hatfield, Northampton and Amherst were considered but Hadley was preferred because of its location.

Kevin Kennedy, consortium spokesman, said in an e-mail the consortium does not plan to continue looking at other sites. 

"Whatever it does to the timetable, we're prepared to pursue this appeal until its conclusion," he wrote. 

After a nice warm afternoon a cold front will approach this evening with a brief shower or downpour but not everyone will get wet and this evening will stay mild. It will be nice and comfortable for tonight's football games. There may be a brief shower but most of the time it will remain dry. Behind the front the cooler air will...

After a nice warm afternoon a cold front will approach this evening with a brief shower or downpour but not everyone will get wet and this evening will stay mild.

It will be nice and comfortable for tonight's football games. There may be a brief shower but most of the time it will remain dry. Behind the front the cooler air will drain in slowly so even by morning temperatures will still be near 50. However, don't expect temperatures to go up much tomorrow. Skies will stay mainly cloudy as the front stalls to our south, and it will be chilly with a gusty breezy and steady temperatures.

A weak disturbance could bring a shower or snow shower Saturday night into Sunday morning before skies become mostly sunny. It will remain cool and breezy on Sunday with temperatures near 50.

It looks as though temperatures bounce back for next week with more dry conditions. The next chance of rain will arrive later in the week, along about Thursday.

Juan Lopez broke a leg and hip in the crash.

AMHERST - While 25-year-old Juan Lopez is recovering at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield after being injured in a car crash, friends and colleagues at a pizza house here are hoping to raise money to help.

Lopez was one of three injured in a crash on East Street early Sunday morning.

He was a passenger in the car driven by a 26-year-old man from New Rochelle, N.Y.

The driver struck a tree. Both Lopez and the driver were taken to the hospital by Life Flight.

Lopez had been working at the Amherst House of Pizza for about six months before the crash and was on his way home from work.

Reyna Perez, wife of the owner Francisco Perez, said that Lopez broke his leg and hip and needs surgery.

She said, "He's such a nice guy. Everybody who knows him loves him," she said

An 18-year Amherst passenger was treated and released.  All three work at the restaurant.

Police do not know the cause of the 3:45 a.m. accident and it remains under investigation.

No charges or citations have been issued.

According to the fundraising page, Lopez will need help covering medical bills and rehabilitation costs as well as daily living expenses.

Perez said she doesn't know when Lopez might be able to return to work.

So far, $1,590 has been raised. 

Nine new Holyoke firefighter recruits were sworn in on Friday as six new promotions were announced in the apparatus bays of the Fire Headquarters on High Street.

Nine new Holyoke firefighter recruits were sworn in on Friday as six new promotions were announced in the apparatus bays of the Fire Headquarters on High Street.

Before over a crowd of family, friends and fellow firefighters, the ceremony was extra special for two local mayors as Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse saw his brother Matthew sworn in and Easthampton's Mayor Karen Cadieux saw her son Matthew also sworn in as a new recruit.

"Today we are here for a swearing in ceremony for firefighters, one of the world's most honored but dangerous occupations," Morse said. "It is a great honor to have this opportunity to swear in these firefighter recruits of the Holyoke Fire Department."

Fathers, sons, wives, mothers, girlfriends and a grandfather had the honor of the pinning the badges before the crowd and Holyoke Fire Chief John A. Pond.

Among the new recruits were:

• Firefighter Matthew Cadiex
• Firefighter Kelvin Maldonado
• Firefighter Joshua Croake
• Firefighter Matthew Morse
• Firefighter Michel Daly
• Firefighter Michael Rohan
• Firefighter Erryberto Izquierdo
• Firefighter Joshua Rondeau
• Firefighter Christopher D'Angelo

Among those promoted were:

• Deputy Chief Mark Fortin
• Captain Chris Butler
• Captain David Rex
• Lieutenant Ethan Ledoux
• Lieutenant Chad Cunningham
• Lieutenant Andrew Lafrennie

The Atwood Drive hotel in Northampton, which has been showing guests hospitality for nearly half a century, recently became a sacramental site for the newly formed Grace United Church, which had been using the hotel pool to baptize believers.

NORTHAMPTON — When The Clarion Hotel closes on Nov. 16, it may be that Someone Up There will notice.

The Atwood Drive hotel, which has been showing guests hospitality for nearly half a century, has recently become a sacramental site for a local Christian group. The newly formed Grace United Church has been using the hotel pool to baptize believers. It has even been holding its Sunday services in the hotel's grand ballroom.

"Baptism is awesome," said Pastor Steve Behlke, noting that the Baptist congregation has been using the Clarion pool as its sanctuary almost since its founding in 2013. New congregants share "mini testimonies" before going under the water, Behlke said, mostly saying how they have learned to trust in Jesus.

After the Clarion closes, the 175-member congregation will meet in the cafeteria of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings, Behlke said.

"We're bummed they're leaving," he said of the Clarion.

General Manager Jeremy Brown said the hotel's other guests have barely noticed the baptisms because of the hotel's layout.

If approved, the new rate changes won't go into effect until Oct. 1, 2016.

Saying it needs money to improve its electrical distribution system of wires, substations and transformers, National Grid is asking the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities for a rate increase.

National Grid announced Friday that it is asking for new distribution rates that would add approximately 7 percent, or $7.75, to the monthly bill of a typical residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.

As of Nov. 1, 2015, the typical 500-kilowatt-hour National Grid residential customer's monthly bill is  $110.18.

But the new rate increase announced Friday is only a proposal. The state DPU is reviewing the proposal and must give approval if the new rates are to take effect. That review process typically takes 11 months.

If the DPU says yes, new charges would take effect on Oct. 1, 2016.

The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey will also review the proposal and could argue against the increase in front of the DPU.

This rate increase would apply to the distribution portion of the bill used to pay for wires, substations and the like as well as the billing and administration needed to run the business.

Distribution rates represent approximately one-quarter of a customer's bill, National Grid said.

It's different than the electricity supply portion of customer. The electricity supply rate is set every six months, again with DPU approval, based only on the utility's cost of buying power.

National Grid has 1.3 million Massachusetts electricity customers. In Western Massachusetts, the utility  serves the towns of Brimfield, East Longmeadow, Hampden, Holland, Monson, Palmer, Wales and Wilbraham in Hampden County; Charlemont, Erving, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Orange, Rowe, Shutesbury, Warwick and Wendell in Franklin County; and Goshen, Granby, Northampton, Ware and Williamsburg in Hampshire County.

The Attorney General's office has cited a Peabody convenience store owner after discovering that rather than pay a worker for his typical 100-hour-plus work weeks, he was allowed to live in a broken walk-in cooler at the back of the store.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin 

Attorney General accuses Peabody Market owner of allowing worker to live in walk-in cooler in lieu of paycheck [Salem News]

This state police photo shows a broken four-by-four that fell off a lumber truck and crashed through a Holyoke woman's windshield on Interstate 91. 

Former state Sen. James Marzilli, on probation following sexual harassment conviction, banned from school overseas [NECN] Video below

Steven Hayes in 2010 

Cape Cod superintendent placed on paid leave after being charged with walking into student's home without permission on residency check [Mashpee Enterprise]

In this photo released by the Bourne Police Department, police and fire officials work to gather cranberries after a head-on crash involving a truck carrying cranberries and another vehicle shut down Route 6 to Cape Cod over the Sagamore Bridge Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, in Sagamore, Mass. Sgt. Wallace Perry / Bourne Police Department