Fan Cheung Li, shot to death on Saturday night as he attempted to deliver food to a Homestead Avenue home, was remembered by family members Monday as a hard-working family man who deeply cared for his three young children. "He was honest, he cared for his family," said Ida Li, owner of 906 Homwin Chinese Restaurant on Boston Road.

SPRINGFIELD - Fan Cheung Li, shot to death on Saturday night as he attempted to deliver food to a Homestead Avenue home, is being remembered by family members as a hard-working family man who deeply cared for his three young children.

"He was honest. He cared for his family," said Ida Li, the victim's sister and the owner of 906 Homwin Chinese Restaurant on Boston Road.

The 40-year-old Li worked for her, she said, and occasionally made deliveries to help out the part-time drivers when it got busy.

Saturday night was one of those nights and Li made the short drive around Mona Lake from the restaurant at 960 Boston Road to 110 Homestead Ave. where a gunman was waiting outside at about 9:40 p.m.

"The victim was shot once near his car. Robbery appears to be the motive," Sgt. John Delaney, public information officer for the department, said.

Ida Li, behind the counter of her restaurant, taking phone orders and waiting on customers Monday afternoon, grew teary as she talked about her brother. "We are very upset," she said. "We hope the police catch the guy."

Joseph Wise, a regular customer of the restaurant who arrived to pick up a lunch order, said he was shocked to hear the news. "It's really sad. He was a really nice guy," Wise said.

Li often could be seen cooking in the restaurant's kitchen, Wise said.

Jennifer Zheng, Li's niece, sent to following statement to The Republican on behalf of other family members who composed it in Chinese and asked her to translate it into English.

"We were very shocked by this tragic news and are very sad because we lost not only a son, but a loving husband and father of three children. This is very heartbreaking, and we are taking this news a little by little. This is a very hard time for us and this death has caused a lot of pain for the family.

"We are in need of help now because the income and money we depended on is no longer there. We are left vulnerable and still have a long way ahead because there are still three children under the age of 4 to support and raise. We miss him dearly and are hurting inside."

Zheng has set up a GoFundMe account for the family which had raised about $3.740 by late Monday afternoon.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno called the still unidentified culprit as a "rabid animal," adding that the police are working the case hard.

Ida Li, who has been operating her restaurant for about six years now, said they make most their deliveries within a few miles of the restaurant, in areas that they believe to be safe.

"All the time we say 'Be careful,'" she said.

Fan Cheung Li successfully fought off a gunman a little over six years ago when he was making a delivery in the Forest Park neighborhood for the Fortune Cookie, another family restaurant.

That restaurant is owned by her older brother, Li said.

A man at 110 Homestead Ave. declined to talk with a reporter who knocked on his door Monday afternoon.

Iris Acededo, who lives a short distance away, said she heard three bangs at about 9:40 p.m. Acecedo said her daughter and others had been visiting and that they had just driven away when she heard the bangs.

"I thought it was their car backfiring," Acevedo, adding that she looked down the street towards where the noise came from, however, and saw nothing awry.

Acevedo's daughter, Maryann Figueroa, said she had music on inside her car and and that she didn't hear any bangs as she approached, and then drove by, 110 Homestead Ave.

Figueroa said she saw what she believed to be Li's delivery vehicle parked on the side of the road. Its high-beams were on but she did not see anything unusual, she said.
"I didn't see anybody on the street," Figueroa said.

Police said a neighbor found Li near the treeline at that address at about 10:15 p.m.
Acevedo said a train went by immediately after she heard the bangs and that she then went back inside her home.

Both women said it was extremely disturbing to later learn that a man had been killed nearby.

"I feel like it's no longer safe to go outside at night," Acevedo said.

Another neighbor, who declined to give his name, said, however, he believes the neighborhood is basically safe.

"We have had few break-ins over the years, but nothing like this," he said.

An arrest is yet to be made for the killing of Fan Cheung Li. Anyone with information is asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355. Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to "CRIMES," or "274637," and then beginning the body of the message with the word "SOLVE."

A driver was arrested after a rollover crash sparked by an alleged incident of road rage left one person dead in on Interstate 495 in Mansfield on Monday morning.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

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Gilbert Levesque 

Mother of New Jersey woman whose body was found bound and burned along railroad tracks in Bridgewater last week says she has to forgive killer [WCVB-TV, NewsCenter5, Boston] Video below

Timothy D. Granata 

Driver, captured on video, accused of reckless driving after allegedly tailgating, passing and crashing into other car on Interstate 89 [WMUR-TV, abc9, Manchester, N.H.] Video below

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Lastarandre Bell 

Here's a guide to what's open and what's closed on Veterans Day, which started as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I. Watch video

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 is Veterans Day, a national holiday in the U.S., which leaves many people wondering: What's closed on Veterans Day?

The date was originally selected to mark the end of World War I, which was achieved on Nov. 11, 1918, and the holiday was formerly known as Armistice Day.

Today, the day honors all veterans. There are 22 million living veterans in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Of those, 380,000 live in Massachusetts (pdf).

Most government offices are closed. Many business remain open. Here is a list:

Government

• Massachusetts state offices: Closed
• Massachusetts state parks: Open
• Massachusetts courts: Closed
• Federal offices: Closed
• Springfield National Historical Park: Open
• Federal court: Closed
• Post offices: Closed
• Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles: Closed
• Schools:Closed

Retailers

• Liquor stores: Open in both Connecticut and Massachusetts.
• Big Y Supermarkets: Open. Veterans with Express savings or Silver Savings Club cards can get a fee Gold Coin by asking the cashier.
• Stop & Shop Supermarkets: Open, first 100 customers at each store can get a free American Flag.
• Holyoke Mall: Holyoke Mall will be open regular hours, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Department stores and restaurant hours may vary.
• Hampshire Mall, Hadley: Hampshire Mall will be open regular hours, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Department stores, restaurant and theater hours may vary.
• Eastfield Mall, Springfield: Eastfield Mall will be open regular hours, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Walmart: Open
• Target: Open

Banks

• Most banks are closed Wednesday and the Federal Reserve is not processing checks. but the Massachusetts Bankers Association asks people to check with their own branch to make sure.

Deliveries

• FedEx: Normal pickup and delivery.
• UPS: All normal services are available.

Below is a video of highlights from the 2015 Vietnam Veterans Day commemoration in Springfield:

Rafael Perez is on trial for manslaughter after furniture fell from his truck on Interstate 91 and he went into highway to retrieve it. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - Hampden Superior Court jurors on Monday heard a state police trooper and two Longmeadow fire supervisors say they knew right away a person lying beside a burning vehicle on Interstate 91 couldn't be saved.

The testimony was on the first day of trial for Rafael Perez, charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Skyler Anderson-Coughlin on Nov. 10, 2013.

Perez was the owner - and Joel Nieves Cruz the driver - of a pickup truck from which furniture fell, ultimately causing a chain reaction that resulted in the death of Anderson-Coughlin.

The crash occurred on Interstate 91 north in Longmeadow. The manslaughter charge alleges wanton and reckless conduct.

Skyler Anderson-Coughlin 

Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth told jurors in his opening statement Perez made the conscious decision to run across a dark highway to retrieve items which fell off the truck, launching a chain of events that led to Anderson-Coughlin's death.

He said jurors must decide if Perez' reckless action was the cause of the chain of events.

Defense lawyer Marissa Elkins told jurors in her opening statement that Perez and Cruz did go onto the highway.

But she told jurors to consider that "a facet of this tragedy" was set into motion much longer ago by the makers of the 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Anderson-Coughlin was driving.

Elkins said that the type of car in question had a "terrible, dangerous, deadly defect," the gas tank mounted in such a way the gas tanks catch fire.

She said Fiat Chyrsler knew by June of 2013 about the defect and had notified the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it would notify owners.

But Anderson-Coughlin's father, the owner of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, didn't get the recall notice until well after the crash, Elkins said.

State Trooper Derek Cormier testified he was the first responder and saw the Jeep completely engulfed in flames.

He said he saw what appeared to be a body laying on the ground beside it.

"Was there anything you could do?" asked Forsyth.

"Absolutely not," Cormier said.

Longmeadow Fire Department Capt. William DeFord said until they put the fire out he coudn't see what kind of vehicle it was.

He said the fully engulfed vehicle "looked like a ball of fire with something in the center of it."

Christian Diaz testified he was driving home from work when he saw the pickup truck pulled over on the side of the highway. He said he ran over an object and pulled into the breakdown lane, where he saw his front bumper had a "big chunk" missing.

He then turned around and saw a car get spun out in the middle of the highway, then saw the Jeep on fire. He said after that he saw cushions and furniture scattered over the highway.

Cruz is also charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury or death accident. The pickup truck drove off.

Anderson-Coughlin was a student at the the MacDuffie School in Granby.

Anderson-Coughlin's Jeep was rear-ended by a tractor trailer truck and sent into the back of Perez's truck in the breakdown lane.

An argument that began inside a midtown Manhattan McDonald's early Monday erupted in gunfire at the steps of a nearby subway entrance when a gunman shot three men, one fatally, near Penn Station, authorities said.

NEW YORK (AP) -- An argument that began inside a midtown Manhattan McDonald's early Monday erupted in gunfire at the steps of a nearby subway entrance when a gunman shot three men, one fatally, near Penn Station, authorities said.

The three victims, all men in their 40s, were drinking coffee when a heavy-set man in a black hooded sweatshirt engaged them in a brief conversation, left the restaurant and then waited for them to exit, following the group into a subway station, where he fired four times, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.

"The nature of the dispute is being investigated now," he told reporters outside the subway entrance at 35th Street and Eighth Avenue, where a wooden cane could be seen resting on the subway entrance's top steps.

Later, Boyce said narcotics may have been a motive for the shooting, saying that police have made 52 arrests so far this year in front of and inside the McDonald's at 35th Street.

The shooting occurred in the entrance to the subway, not in the transit system itself, in an area where there are no security cameras, Boyce said. It occurred at about 6 a.m. just two blocks north of Penn Station, one of the nation's busiest transit hubs, as the morning rush was getting underway.

No arrests had been made and investigators were searching for the gunman and possibly two others who may have fled north on Eighth Avenue in a dark-colored car, officials said.

A law enforcement official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't permitted to discuss an ongoing investigation, identified the man who was killed as Angel Quinones. The official identified a man who was shot in the neck and stomach as William Lamboy and the other victim as Eddy Torres.

All three men had lengthy arrest records for mostly drug charges, the official said.

Torres, who was speaking to detectives, provided much of the narrative to investigators, Boyce said. The other victim, Lamboy, was taken to the hospital in critical condition, officials said.

Two men who attend a nearby methadone program at the West Midtown Medical Group, about a half-block from where the shooting took place, said they knew two of the victims, Quinones and Lamboy. They said both men came to the clinic for years.

"They were real nice guys, straight guys," said Michael Gessow, 39, of the Bronx, who said he has been coming to the clinic for 10 years. "I can't believe it."

Richard Buckley, 59, said he was shocked.

"I've been coming here for 14 years, and I've never seen anything like this happen," he said.

Samuel Ramsey, the director of operations for West Midtown Medical Group, said his organization had been contacted by police but couldn't comment on the shooting because of medical privacy concerns. He said the outpatient, substance-abuse program, which serves roughly 900 people, has been around for more than 20 years and has no history of violence.

The McDonald's where the victims were initially approached by the gunman has become a gathering place of sorts in recent years for former addicts and others who attend substance-abuse programs located in the surrounding area.

Investors continue to deal with the fallout of October's unexpectedly strong jobs report, which greatly increased expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to raise short-term interest rates, which have been close to zero since the 2008 financial crisis.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK -- The stock market stumbled Monday as investors worried that the global economy could be slowing just as last week's blockbuster U.S. jobs report appeared to open the way to the first rate hike from the Federal Reserve in nearly a decade. It was the first notable decline for the market in six weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 179.85 points, or 1 percent, to 17,730.48, slipping back into negative territory for the year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 20.62 points, or 1 percent, to 2,078.58. The Nasdaq composite fell 51.82 points, or 1 percent, to 5,095.30.

Investors continue to deal with the fallout of October's unexpectedly strong jobs report, which greatly increased expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to raise short-term interest rates, which have been close to zero since the 2008 financial crisis.

The Labor Department said U.S. employers created 271,000 jobs last month, more than the even most bullish of forecasts. The unemployment rate also dropped to 5 percent, the lowest in seven years. The surprising sign of strength could encourage the Fed to finally start to return interest rates to normal levels.

"This all shows how Friday's employment report possibly changed the game," John Briggs, head of fixed income strategy at RBS, wrote in a note to investors.

The possibility of higher interest rates continued to push investors to reposition their portfolios. Even in a declining stock market, investors also sold government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.34 percent. That's up from 2.33 percent Friday and significantly higher than the 2.23 percent level on Thursday. Yields on other Treasuries, including the two-year and three-year notes, also rose.

Securities that bet on which way the Fed will move interest rates show roughly a 70 percent chance the central bank will raise rates.

Global stocks were also reacting to news out of China, where customs data showed the country's imports plunged 18.8 percent in October from a year earlier, damping hopes for a Chinese economic rebound this quarter. Exports shrank 6.9 percent in a sign of weak global demand.

Germany's DAX index fell 1.6 percent, France's CAC-40 index lost 1.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1 percent. In Asia, stocks actually rose in a bet that Asian governments would be more proactive in helping their ailing economies than their European counterparts.

"We've known about China's issues for a while now, but this will likely lead to the government doing more stimulus," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial.

Among individual companies, travel site Priceline fell $138.75, or 9.6 percent, to $1,311.15 after the company's outlook for the fourth quarter, a typically strong period for travel companies, came up short of analysts' expectations.

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt fell $11.88, or 17 percent, to $58.01 after the short-selling firm Citron Research warned that the company might have issues similar to Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Citron became well-known earlier this year when it published a report on Valeant, whose stock has fallen by two thirds since the summer.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 42 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $43.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined 23 cents to $47.19 a barrel in London.

In other energy trading, heating oil fell a penny to $1.477 a gallon, wholesale gasoline was mostly unchanged at $1.371 a gallon and natural gas fell seven cents to $2.30 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Precious and industrial metals prices closed mixed. Gold edged up 40 cents to $1,088.10 an ounce, silver dropped 28 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $14.41 an ounce and copper rose a penny, or 0.5 percent, to $2.23 a pound.

SeaWorld will end orca shows at its San Diego park after visitors at the tourist attraction made it clear they prefer seeing killer whales act naturally rather than doing tricks, the company's top executive said Monday.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- SeaWorld will end orca shows at its San Diego park after visitors at the tourist attraction made it clear they prefer seeing killer whales act naturally rather than doing tricks, the company's top executive said Monday.

CEO Joel Manby told investors the park -- where the iconic "Shamu" show featuring killer whales doing flips and other stunts debuted decades ago -- will offer a different kind of orca experience focusing on the animal's natural setting and behaviors, starting in 2017.

Animal rights activists called the move a marketing gimmick and want the company to phase out holding any whales in captivity.

"An end to SeaWorld's tawdry circus-style shows is inevitable and necessary, but it's captivity that denies these far-ranging orcas everything that is natural and important to them," said Jared Goodman of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "This move is like no longer whipping lions in a circus act but keeping them locked inside cages for life."

Attendance has dropped the most at the San Diego location, and the decision to end orca shows will be limited for now to that park, the original home of Shamu, its first orca.

The shows will continue at the other two SeaWorld parks in San Antonio and Orlando.

The killer whale shows at the Shamu stadium in San Diego were the park's main draw in the 1970s and helped build SeaWorld as a top tourist attraction. Trainers would ride the whales in the giant pool before getting out and signaling for the orca to slap its tail in the water to splash spectators in a "splash zone."

After Brancheau's death, trainers stopped going in the water during the shows, but they continue to swim with the killer whales while training them.

Manby told investors Monday that California customers want to see less theatrical production, so the new attraction will have a strong conservation message.

"They want the orca experience to be activities the whales do in the wild," Manby said. "Things they perceive as tricks, they don't like as well."

However, that's not "universal across our properties," he added.

The news came days after SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. reported its third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations.

SeaWorld earlier this year announced plans for a $100 million expansion of the killer whale tanks in San Diego to boost attendance, but the California Coastal Commission made approval of the project, dubbed "Blue World," contingent on SeaWorld agreeing not to breed, transfer or sell any of its captive orcas at the park.

Manby called the ruling -- which SeaWorld plans to fight in court -- a bad precedent for not only SeaWorld but all zoos and aquariums. He indicated to investors that the company might shelve the San Diego project.

"We certainly know with the regulatory environment out there that happened with orcas, and some of what happened in California, with the reputation out there, I think we would be foolish if we didn't look at other options," Manby said.

He announced that the company is considering adding hotels at its parks, starting with San Diego, to attract overnight visitors.

SeaWorld has reached an agreement with a hotel developer to embark on the exploratory phase.

Police responded to a shooting outside Cheng's Kitchen, 170 Eastern Ave., at 4:21 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9.

SPRINGFIELD — Zeng mei Lin was behind the counter of Cheng's Kitchen when gunfire erupted outside the Springfield restaurant Monday afternoon.

Lin immediately scooped up her infant daughter, who was sitting in a baby play chair on the floor of the restaurant, and locked the door of the Eastern Avenue business. She and her baby were unharmed, but the mother was rattled by the shooting, which took place just a day after a delivery driver for the Chinese restaurant was robbed at gunpoint.

Nobody was hurt in the 4:21 p.m. incident, according to police, who responded to a ShotSpotter activation indicating three rounds fired outside the restaurant at 170 Eastern Ave. Officers remained near the corner of Eastern and King Street, where they recovered shooting evidence, while other police units chased a black Nissan Maxima matching the description of a car that fled the shooting scene.

Police pursued the Maxima onto Interstate 291, where the driver bailed from the car after crashing on the Exit 5A ramp leading to Page Boulevard in East Springfield. The suspect ran into a wooded area but was quickly captured by officers. As of 6 p.m., however, the suspect had not been charged in connection with the shooting, Springfield Police Capt. Robert Strzempek said. Preliminary charges against the man were related to motor vehicle violations, Strzempek said.

Witness reports indicated the gunfire came from a black, older-model Nissan Maxima occupied by two black men. One man was wearing a black sweatshirt and black knit cap "that you can pull down over the face," police said.

At 4:30 p.m., about nine minutes after the shooting, officers patrolling the Old Hill neighborhood pulled over a black Maxima near the corner of King and Hancock streets, just a block west of the shooting scene. But the car took off on the officers, sparking a police chase that eventually made it onto I-291. The car crashed on the highway ramp leading to Page Boulevard, and the suspect was taken into custody at 4:38 p.m. in the nearby woods.

The area where Monday's shooting took place has been the scene of numerous gunfire reports over the years, including the October 2012 shooting death of a teenager. Anyone with information about this latest shooting is asked to call detectives in the Major Crimes Unit at 413-787-6355.

MAP showing approximate location of Old Hill shooting:

Presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he once got an email asking if he would go back in time, if it were possible, and kill the baby Adolph Hitler.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he once got an email asking if he would go back in time, if it were possible, and kill the baby Adolph Hitler.

"It said, 'If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you? I need to know,'" Bush told a Huffington Post reporter on the Bush campaign bus in New Hampshire last week.

Bush's answer, according to the video clip: "Hell, yeah, I would. Look, you gotta step up man."

Bush wryly tweeted Monday: "Gotta do it," referring to the Huffington Post item.

The typically dry-humored Bush, labeled by rival Donald Trump as "low energy," has shown a more carefree side lately.

Bush has recently been publicizing his new book, "Reply All," a collection of stories told through the emails he received as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.

Bush shared with reporters during the recent New Hampshire trip other odd emails he'd received, including one from a University of Wyoming email address asking Bush to help him find some toilet paper.

"Funny person," Bush said, recalling the email.

State police say 67-year-old Michael Hindswas heading north in his Ford pickup when he intentionally made contact with a Chevrolet pickup sometime before 11 a.m.

MANSFIELD. -- A man from Norton is facing motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and other charges following an apparent road rage incident.

State police say 67-year-old Michael Hinds of Norton was heading north in his Ford pickup on Interstate 495 Monday morning when he intentionally made contact with a Chevrolet pickup sometime before 11 a.m.

The two vehicles collided again on the Exit 12 off ramp, causing the Chevrolet to rollover. Hinds fled the scene but was arrested at home later. He's being held on $200,000 bail and will be arraigned in Attleboro District Court Tuesday morning.

The driver of the Chevrolet pickup, who police have not identified, died at the scene. An unidentified passenger was also taken by helicopter to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence and remains in critical condition.

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President Barack Obama's plan to protect from deportation an estimated 5 million people living in the United States illegally has suffered another setback in court.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- President Barack Obama's plan to protect from deportation an estimated 5 million people living in the United States illegally suffered another setback Monday in a ruling from a New Orleans-based federal appeals court.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas-based federal judge's injunction blocking the administration's immigration initiative.

Republicans had criticized the plan as an illegal executive overreach when Obama announced it last November. Twenty-six states challenged the plan in court.

The administration argued that the executive branch was within its rights in deciding to defer deportation of selected groups of immigrants, including children who were brought to the U.S. illegally.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was praised the ruling.

"President Obama should abandon his lawless executive amnesty program and start enforcing the law today," Abbott said in a news release.

The ruling further dims prospects of implementation of the executive action before Obama leaves office in 2017. Appeals over the injunction could take months and, depending on how the case unfolds, it could go back to the Texas federal court for more proceedings.

Part of the initiative included expansion of a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, protecting young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The other major part, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for years.

The 70-page majority opinion by Judge Jerry Smith, joined by Jennifer Walker Elrod, rejected administration arguments that the district judge abused his discretion with a nationwide order and that the states lacked standing to challenge Obama's executive orders.

They acknowledged an argument that an adverse ruling would discourage potential beneficiaries of the plan from cooperating with law enforcement authorities or paying taxes. "But those are burdens that Congress knowingly created, and it is not our place to second-guess those decisions," Smith wrote.

In a 53-page dissent, Judge Carolyn Dineen King said the administration was within the law, casting the decision to defer action on some deportations as "quintessential exercises of prosecutorial discretion," and noting that the Department of Homeland Security has limited resources.

"Although there are approximately 11.3 million removable aliens in this country today, for the last several years Congress has provided the Department of Homeland Security with only enough resources to remove approximately 400,000 of those aliens per year," King wrote.

The independent fiscal watchdog group, which is business-funded, argued that the state should put more money into the state's fiscal stabilization fund each year.

A new report to be released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the state does not have enough money in its rainy day fund in case of another economic downturn.

The independent fiscal watchdog group, which is business-funded, argued that the state should put more money into the state's fiscal stabilization fund each year.

The group said the rainy day fund should have a balance of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion to make sure the state has enough money to draw on in case of emergency. It now has around $1.25 billion.

In 2015, the fund balance represented around 3 percent of state spending. According to the report, creditors prefer to see states' reserve funds at around 5 percent of state spending. Over the years, the reserve fund has ranged between 2 and 8 percent of state spending. The highest it has ever been was $2.3 billion in 2007, before it was spent down during the 2008 recession. The lowest it has dropped in nearly two decades was $640 million, in 2003.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation criticized the state for its continued use of the rainy day fund to pay for operating expenses.

"Using the stabilization fund to balance the operating budget, whether by withdrawing or diverting money, runs counter to the fund's sole purpose as a reserve to help the state weather difficult - and often unexpected - fiscal and economic periods," the foundation's report reads.

The fiscal stabilization fund is generally funded by unused money at the end of the year, interest earnings, capital gains tax revenue above a certain amount, and settlements above $10 million that are not budgeted for at the beginning of the year.

After the 2002 recession, Massachusetts took advantage of growing tax revenue to rebuild the fund, after spending it down during the recession. According to the report, the state again spent down the fund during the recent recession, then took steps to restore it in 2011 and 2012. But between 2012 and 2015, the balance of the rainy day fund declined by $400 million, despite an improving economy, as the state used money from the fund to pay for annual expenses.

The fiscal year 2016 budget, the first budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker, did not draw down the rainy day fund. But Baker did divert money from capital gains taxes that would otherwise have gone into the rainy day fund and use it to pay for operating expenses for fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

The report recommends increasing the fund balance to 10 percent of annual state tax revenues within five years, then keeping it at that level. It also recommends transferring at least 1 percent of tax revenues to the rainy day fund each year.

Sarno said he is confident those responsible for the homicide will be caught and face "swift and just justice." Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said the city's most recent homicide, the shooting death Saturday night of a delivery driver, left him feeling sickened for the man's wife and three young children.

"I'm heartbroken for what occurred to this young man and his young family," Sarno said.

Mayor Domenic SarnoRepublican file photo

Those responsible, he said, are "very demented individuals" with no respect for human life who will "face swift and just justice."

"I'm not going to mince words," Sarno said. "You have to be an animal to do something like that. A rabid animal."

In the latest homicide, the city's 16th of 2015, 40-year-old Fan Cheung Li was found shot on Homestead Avenue in Indian Orchard late Saturday. He was a delivery driver for 906 Homwin Chinese Restaurant on Boston Road, his family's business.

Police said he was making a delivery to Homestead Avenue when he was attacked and shot once. Police say the motive appears to be robbery.

Sarno said he is confident the police will arrest those responsible.

"I know the police department is working it hard. They are working very hard to catch the culprit or culprits responsible," he said.

Sarno met briefly with the family Monday afternoon to express condolences on behalf of the city. "It's heartbreaking with those three little kids," he said.

He met with Li's widow and his sister at their home. There was some language difficulties, as the family speaks little-to-no English, but Sarno said Li's sister was able to give him the phone number to her son who is fluent in English. Sarno said he intends to call to see what assistance his office can provide.

The homicide occurred less than 24 hours after two men were injured by gunfire downtown in separate shootings early Saturday when the bars closed.

Saturday morning, Sarno called a press briefing near the scene of one of the shootings to blast what he called the culture of gangs and violence - and businesses that cater to it - as contributing to the perception that Springfield is not safe.

The shooting death of Li only ads to that perception, he said. "Perception plus attitude equals reality," he said. The vast majority of people, 99 percent, are law abiding and responsible citizens, but it is that one percent that contribute to that perception of lawlessness.

"When you look across the country, you have a societal issue of the disrespect of life," he said. "Unfortunately for some of the younger generation, this is the 'Me! Me! Me!' generation."

He cited a breakdown in family structure, and even the influence of pop culture, particularly reality TV shows, which promote "instant celebrity driven by negative activity that seems to permeate with our young people."

The same culture produces "demented individuals" who have "no conscience whatsoever," he said. "That's difficult to stop. But we're not going to let that say nothing can be done."

The police will continue to focus on drugs, gangs and violent. The city will also focus on preventative approaches, including Head Start programs, after-school and neighborhood activities, and jobs programs for young people, he said.

"We'll continue to work the preventative side and continue the street attack," he said.

For years the Springfield police department has offered training for delivery drivers to teach them how to avoid being targeted as they do their jobs. Li's death occurred in a section of Indian Orchard not considered a high-crime area.

Unfortunately, he said, such violence is "very difficult to stop."

"My stomach sickens that this family has to go through the loss of a husband and a dad," he said. "It does affect me, professionally, politically and personally. It's our city."

A legislative committee on Tuesday afternoon endorsed a bill establishing a $15 an hour minimum wage for fast food and so-called big box store workers. Watch video

By MICHAEL NORTON

BOSTON - A legislative committee on Tuesday afternoon endorsed a bill establishing a $15 an hour minimum wage for fast food and so-called big box store workers.

The 4-2 vote of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee came as fast food workers rallied in favor of higher wages, planning to march from Faneuil Hall to the State House.

A committee aide said it was the committee's policy to release the committee vote, without identifying how individual committee members voted.

The legislation was reported to the Senate where it is sponsored by committee co-chair Sen. Dan Wolf of Harwich. An aide said Wolf planned to address ralliers at the State House.

The bill calls for a $13.50-per-hour wage for fast food workers starting on Jan. 1, 2017, with that wage rising to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2018.

A delegation of low-wage workers plans to visit Gov. Charlie Baker's office Tuesday afternoon to deliver a letter to the governor calling on him to rebuke statements made by Republican Party members about the minimum wage, immigration matters and the Black Lives Matter movement.

"It may take more than one two-year session" to advance the bill through the Legislature, said Lew Finfer, co-chair of Raise Up Massachusetts, who said the bill was first filed this session.

About 205,000 workers are employed at the large retail and fast food chains that would be subject to the $15-per-hour-minimum wage and "almost all of them make less than $15," said Finfer, who said managers at McDonald's can make as little as $10 per hour.

In a statement, Raise Up Massachusetts said, "On a day when hundreds of low-wage workers are marching to the State House to demand a $15 minimum wage, we are very pleased to see this bill, which would provide stability to low-wage employees at large companies, move to the Senate. We look forward to working with the entire Legislature to move the bill forward and allow these employees, many of whom are parents, to support their families."

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a day after the Labor and Workforce Development Committee held a hearing on wage bills in October, expressed doubt about the House revisiting the topic after last year passing a bill to phase in an increase in the minimum wage from $8 to $11 an hour by 2017.

"We had addressed this issue last year, so we addressed that and we addressed the area of unemployment insurance and a whole host of other things so I don't see us taking it up this year," DeLeo told reporters.

Andy Metzger and Matt Murphy contributed reporting.

The idea would put Massachusetts in the same time zone as Puerto Rico.

HOLYOKE - No one spoke out Tuesday either in favor of or in opposition to a plan that would move Massachusetts to the Atlantic Time Zone and  keep the Bay State on Eastern Daylight Saving Time year around.

The idea is to give Massachusetts residents an hour more daylight at the end of the day in exchange for waking up in darkness to go to work or to school. Atlantic Standard Time would put Massachusetts on same clock as Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the Canadian Maritimes.

The idea is the brainchild of Thomas Emsweiler, of Quincy, who asked his state senator, John F. Keenan, a Quincy Democrat,  to carry the bill, known as, S.2040, on Beacon Hill. It got its first hearing Tuesday when the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies convened at Holyoke Community College.

State Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, is the House chairman of the Committee. He said the bill won't move forward until the committee takes action. He also said he's not convinced Atlantic Time would be practical.

For one thing, it would mean schoolchildren would get on the bus in darkness. it would also put Massachusetts residents on a different clock than their neighbors in other states.

"There would be a lot of confusion," Wagner said. "I'm not sure this is a solution. I'm not sure there is a problem."

Emsweiler said having it get dark too soon poses public safety problems. Not changing the clocks would make streets safer and cut down on robberies.

For example, here is what the time zone switch would mean for Springfield, for example, according to sunrise and set times on almanac.com, the online version of The Old Farmer's Almanac. Instead of the sun setting at 4:33 p.m. Tuesday, it would set at 5:33 p.m. Darkness would fall at 7:09 p.m. and not 6:09 p.m.

According to the BBC, the Northern Ireland detectives have arrested the first person in conjunction with a re-opened investigation into Bloody Sunday.

According to the BBC, Northern Ireland detectives have arrested the first person in conjunction with a re-opened investigation into what is known as Bloody Sunday. Thirteen people died when British paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march through the predominately Catholic city of Derry in January 1972. A fourteenth died later.

The arrest was reportedly made today in County Antrim by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Legacy Investigation Branch. The branch was established to re-investigate unsolved murder cases, dating from the beginning of the sectarian "Troubles" in the late 1960s through 2004.

The 66-year-old is being detained in Belfast and is said to e a former member of the Parachute Regiment. He is reportedly begin interrogated over the deaths of William Nash, Michael McDaid and John Young.

In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to Bloody Sunday victims after a report that year found British soldiers fired the first shot without warning.

Local band the Basement Cats will perform at the Celebrate Holyoke 2016 fundraiser.

HOLYOKE -- The committee planning the 2016 Celebrate Holyoke festival will hold a dance party fundraiser Friday at 6 p.m. at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St.

"Celebrate Holyoke is a free three-day festival highlighting music, art and food from around the Pioneer Valley. Next year's festival will be held in on Aug. 26, 27 and 28 in and around Heritage State Park," organizer Sigrid von Wendel said in an email Tuesday.

Von Wendel, Mayor Alex B. Morse and others said the return of the festival in August after a 10-year hiatus because of financial problems was a big success with thousands of people enjoying the three days of music, food, crafts and mingling.

At the Friday fundraiser, Holyoke band the Basement Cats will perform at 6:30 p.m. followed at 8 p.m. by the UnionJack British invasion band, the email said.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $35 for a couple, and will be available at the door for $25 a person and $45 a couple, the email said.

Free snacks will be available, along with a cash bar and dinner available for purchase, the email said.

Guests also can participate in a raffle. Celebrate Holyoke 2015 T-shirts and sweatshirts will be sold at a discount, the email said.

Tickets can be bought online at mifafestival.org.

The event also has a Facebook page.

The committee is seeking volunteers and sponsors to help in staging the festival. Those who are interested can contact von Wendel at (413) 210-5619 or at sigridvw@gmail.com.

Issues at the Holyoke meeting will include elder housing, Medicare prescription plans and home care.

HOLYOKE -- Senior citizens will have a chance to ask questions and air concerns in a meeting with state Rep. Aaron M. Vega, D-Holyoke, Friday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Senior Center, 291 Pine St.

"I'm looking forward to seeing our seniors and those who live, work and care for them at this free, public event," Vega said in an email.

Vega will be joined in the meeting by state Rep. Denise C. Garlick, D-Needham, chairwoman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Elder Affairs.

Issues to be discussed include state funding for elder home care, Medicare prescription plans, senior citizen housing and councils on aging, Vega said.

Such meetings help lawmakers plan for funding needs, he said.

Questionnaires will be handed out and the forum will include time for questions and discussion, he said.

"This is state government at its best -- having conversations around the commonwealth, learning about our common issues and sharing best practices, educating our constituents and having them educate us about the challenges they face," Vega said.

Light refreshments will be served, he said.

For information call Vega at (413) 650-2727 or the Senior Center at (413) 322 5625.

A small business jet crashed into an apartment building on Tuesday, killing at least two people aboard, authorities said.

AKRON, Ohio -- A small business jet crashed into an apartment building on Tuesday, killing at least two people aboard, authorities said.

Investigators were trying to determine how many people were on the 10-seater Hawker H25 jet, but they confirmed two deaths, said Lt. Sierjie Lash, an Akron fire department spokeswoman.

No one was inside the small brick apartment building or a neighboring home that caught fire, she said.

The jet clipped a utility wire on the way down and burst into flames and disintegrated after impact, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker said.

The plane then hit an embankment beyond the apartment building, causing a nearby house to also burn, he said. There were no known injuries on the ground, he said.

Witnesses reported hearing explosions when the plane hit.

"I heard a big bang, and my couch shook twice," said Carrie Willis, who lives several blocks away.

The front of the apartment building was destroyed.

A woman who lives about a block away and was driving home with her grandson at the time said she saw the plane crash into the building and burst into flames.

"This plane just dropped out of the sky, veered and crashed into the apartment building," Roberta Porter said.

She said it's scary to think that if she'd been driving faster the plane may have clipped her car.

Another witness, Jesse Moon, told WEWS-TV that he was six blocks away when the plane went down and he ran over to the area.

"Everything was gone," he said. "It looked like a bomb exploded."

Massachusetts transportation officials unveiled on Tuesday new exterior designs for the MBTA’s train cars, the result of two weeks of online voting. But they quickly pulled back after questions about the voting patterns surfaced.

BOSTON - Massachusetts transportation officials unveiled on Tuesday new exterior designs for the MBTA's train cars, the result of two weeks of online voting. But they quickly pulled back after questions about the voting patterns surfaced.

"The MBTA has decided to hold the results of the survey in abeyance until we've had sufficient time to look into evidence of some irregular voting patterns," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email.

Pesaturo added that "MBTA tech staff is working to determine if certain results may have been manipulated by an outside party."

As the Boston Globe noted:

Most Orange Line color-pickers submitted their votes early, shortly after the contest was publicized. But votes for the Green Line and Red Line color schemes surged several days into the contest, and the distribution of votes changed drastically, ending up with a lopsided nine out of 10 for one particular design on those lines.

"The public has spoken!" the Massachusetts Department of Transportation initially said before the questions of irregular voting. The release was later pulled from the department's website.

About 177,338 votes were cast online, according to the department.

@MassDOT @mbtainfo Something is wrong here... 177k people voted for Green and Red schemes, but only 25k cared enough to vote for Orange???

-- Stephen M (@steevies89) November 10, 2015

According to the MBTA, the first of 152 new Orange Line cars are due to be delivered in 2018, while delivery of 132 new Red Line cars is expected in November 2019. The cars are being built in Springfield.

Separately, 24 new Green Line trolley cars are due in 2017.