Police Sgt. Christopher Burns, union president, said Kennedy, who retires on Thursday, treated the police "with a great deal of respect."

PALMER – Acting Town Manager Patricia A. Kennedy settled two contracts with police and emergency dispatchers before her June 30 retirement.

Patricia Kennedy

Both contracts are retroactive to July 1, 2010, and run through June 30, 2013. There is no raise for the first year, but raises of 1 percent the final two years.

Police Sgt. Christopher J. Burns, union president, said Kennedy treated the police “with a great deal of respect” and “brought a touch of class to negotiations.”

“We’re certainly not happy with the fact that we are taking zeroes and 1 percent and we had to fight to save a benefit already given to us many years ago ... but we do understand the hard fiscal times that the town and the economy in general are in,” Burns said.

The benefit he was referring to is the Quinn Bill, which is education incentive pay for police officers. The police are part of the New England Police Benevolent Association Local No. 071. There are approximately 20 officers.

The police and dispatchers are also paying more for health insurance benefits; co-pays went up $5, emergency room visits doubled from $25 to $50, and mail-in prescriptions doubled.

The contract means that sergeant pay will go from $1,056.77 a week, or $54,952 a year, to $1,067.34 a week, then $1,078.01, in the final contract year. Patrolman pay for officers at the highest scale will go from $888.94 a week, or $46,224 a year, to $897.83 a week, then $906.81.

Tammy A. Piechota, union steward for the five emergency dispatchers, said the dispatchers are grateful that Kennedy settled the contract before she retired.

Civilian dispatchers pay will increase from $16.90 an hour to $17.07, then $17.24. The dispatchers are part of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1459.

“It’s a fair settlement given the current state of the economy,” Piechota said.

A Brown aide said the senator still opposes gay marriage and supports the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of gay marriages.

Associated PressMassachusetts Sen. Scott Brown answers a question during an Associated Press interview at his office in Boston. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

BOSTON — Massachusetts Democrats are using New York's adoption of gay marriage to tweak Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown for his continued opposition to same-sex marriage.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh said all the declared Democratic candidates challenging Brown in next year's election support gay marriage.

"As we saw in New York, the fight for marriage equality is marching on and even many Republicans are rethinking their positions on same-sex marriage," he said in a statement.

"I think Massachusetts families deserve to know if Scott Brown still opposes marriage equality," Walsh added.

A Brown aide said Monday that the senator still opposes gay marriage and supports the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of gay marriages.

"We've already had the debate on gay marriage in Massachusetts. It's time to move on," Brown spokesman Colin Reed said. "Senator Brown's focus is on jobs."

Reed also pointed out that Brown voted to end the military's Clinton-era ban on gays serving openly, known as "don't ask, don't tell."

Massachusetts was the first state to allow gay marriage in 2004 after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the existing ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constitution.

Brown's Democratic colleague in the Senate, John Kerry, also supports gay marriage.

Kerry, who voted against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, filed a bill earlier this year to repeal the law, also known as DOMA.

Kerry said the law is discriminatory because legally married same-sex couples in Massachusetts are denied hundreds of federal benefits and protections available to other married couples.

Although President Barack Obama has also said he opposes same-sex marriage, his administration announced in February that it would no longer defend the federal marriage law in court against challenges to its constitutionality.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Democrat who lost to Brown in the election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, had successfully argued against the federal law.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro last year ruled that the federal law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define the institution and therefore denies married gay couples some federal benefits.

Tauro made the ruling in favor of gay couples' rights in two separate challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, one of which was filed by Coakley.

Obama, when elected, said he supported broadening rights for gay couples but opposed legalizing same-sex marriage. More recently, he has said his position is "evolving," and he asked gay activists at a recent New York City fundraiser for patience.

Deputy Jury Commissioner John Cavanaugh said last week that the state will not proceed with serving a criminal complaint against Michael Wylie.

GEORGETOWN — A Massachusetts man facing a criminal complaint for failing to appear for jury duty apparently had a good excuse.

He's been dead for five years.

State Deputy Jury Commissioner John Cavanaugh said last week that the state will not proceed with serving a criminal complaint against Michael Wylie.

The late Georgetown resident was issued a notice to serve on jury duty five years ago but at the time he was in hospice care and had terminal cancer. He died a few months later but the commission continued to send letters about his failure to report.

Wylie's family says they tried to tell authorities that he had died but officials say the family never sent a death certificate.

Customers will have the option of staying with their current suppliers, but the alternative program will guarantee a lower price initially.

Associated Press

The Hampshire Council of Governments has applied to the state for authority to become the default supplier of electricity to homes and businesses to 22 communities that have agreed to this process that was authorized by state law in 1997.

Kenneth E. Elstein, the electricity specialist for the Council of Governments, said all residential and business customers will have the option of staying with their current suppliers, National Grid or Western Massachusetts Electric Co., but the alternative program will guarantee a lower price initially.

All potential customers will receive information in the mail before having to make this decision, Elstein said.

The regional Council of Governments has been the supplier for more than 100 cities, towns and school systems the past four years and has saved them a total of $1.4 million compared to what they would have paid the for-profit utility companies, Elstein said.

As has been the case with the municipalities and school systems that have been buying electricity from the Council, the potential new residential and business customers would still receive their electric bills from WMECO or National Grid, which will continue to provide delivery service.

“When the lights go out, you still call WMECO or National Grid. You are paying them for delivery,” Elstein said.

The Hampshire Council of Governments has been able to offer mostly lower rates for electricity by buying it from large, national wholesale power companies and not having to pay dividends to stockholders, Elstein said.

The Council of Governments will be paid administrative expenses under the new arrangements.

Since regional and municipal involvement in supplying electric power was authorized as part of deregulation of the industry in 1997, the practice called municipal aggregation of electricity has been started by the Cape Light Compact with 21 towns, the city of Marlboro and a few municipalities in Massachusetts.

Elstein said there will be 85,000 potential customers for the Hampshire Council of Governments venture.

State approval is expected in late summer, Elstein said, and he expect power could start being sold to residential and business customers before the end of 2011.

The Hampshire County towns that have authorized the Council to sell electricity to individual customers are Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Hadley, Hatfield, Huntington, Middlefield, Pelham, Plainfield, Southampton, Westhampton, and Williamsburg.

There are also seven participating towns in Franklin County: Buckland, Deerfield, Gill, Leverett, Montague, Northfield, and Rowe.

Elstein said most large businesses and about half the small businesses in these towns are not expected to take part in the Hampshire Council of Governments program because they have already taken advantage of de-regulation by purchasing their electric power directly from national suppliers.

With this title come both responsibility and rewards, including college scholarship money and the opportunity to represent Massachusetts in the Miss America pageant next year.

Elise Linscott, Emma Gilbert and Cherise Leclerc, from left, are the three local women who will be competing in the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant July 8 and 9.

By CHRISTINA McCAUSLAND
cmccausland@repub.com

WORCESTER – Fifteen young women, including three with ties to Western Massachusetts, will compete for the Miss Massachusetts title in the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on July 8-9.

With this title come both responsibility and rewards, including college scholarship money and the opportunity to represent Massachusetts in the Miss America pageant in January 2012.

The three local women talked about the upcoming pageant.

• Emma Gilbert, from Northampton and the current Miss Western Massachusetts, said that she has the butterflies but feels confident because she’s “doing it for all the right reasons.”

She competed in the Miss Massachusetts competition last summer as well, and said that she learned a lot from the young woman who won the crown, Loren Galler-Rabinowitz of Brookline. “I realized that you just have to be yourself. Each time I (compete) I feel more comfortable and confident.”

• Cherise Leclerc, who is from Hampden and is the reigning Miss Middlesex County, said that she had “the time of (her) life” in the first pageant she competed in.

“We’re friends. We help each other out,” she said of the relationships among the girls competing. Gilbert said that, during last year’s competition, they dubbed themselves the “Miss Mass sisterhood.”

• Elise Linscott of Williamsburg, the reigning Miss Greater Holyoke, is competing on a platform about the importance of the arts.

“I really try to better my community,” Linscott said. “My experience has been a great learning opportunity.”

In addition to providing opportunities for them to give back in ways that are important to them, the girls said that the pageants they’ve competed in so far have also proved to be invaluable experiences in public speaking and interviewing.

All 15 competitors in the Miss Massachusetts pageant have already won local titles. In these positions, the girls have been working with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a partner organization to the Miss America Program that raises funds for children’s hospitals, as well as volunteering in efforts to promote their personal platforms.

The pageants themselves consist of more than just the swimsuit and evening wear segments that most imagine.

Competitors must perform a talent and answer questions on-stage as well as in a personal interview, which takes place in front of only the judging panel. Questions for these sections can cover any topic, from politics to details about their personal platforms, and the girls said that they prepare by keeping up with the news and discussing current issues with friends.

Leclere noted that “pageants have a stigma ... people dismiss it as just walking in high heels.”

Gilbert agrees. “A lot of people think that pageants are really fake, but we’re the most genuine girls you’ll ever meet,” she said. “We’re doing it for scholarship money and to better ourselves.”

Viewers are invited to vote for their favorite contestant by giving a $1 donation at www.missmass.org .

Even though Irish mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger doesn't have a truly epochal gangster moment to his credit -- such as the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre or the 1985 assassination of Paul Castellano -- his thuggery was well-documented by the authorities who pursued him.

Republican file photoBulger spent 16 years running from the law, the long arm of which finally caught him last week in California.

Editor's note: This is a commentary on the cult of personality that crops up around some members of the criminal underworld, not a news report.

Like most mobsters, James "Whitey" Bulger will likely earn his place in the pantheon of great gangsters.

Not that anything about Bulger is "great" -- it's impossible to canonize a man linked to 19 murders -- but rather "greatness" as measured by the grim standards of the Gangster Hall of Fame, whose members include the likes of Lucky Luciano, John Gotti, Al Capone and Meyer Lansky.

Judging by the interest in Bulger's story, and a tendency by some to turn hard-boiled sinners into soft-boiled saints, Whitey is definitely an A-List mobster, even though he doesn't have a truly epochal gangster moment to his credit.

We're talking about crimes of a certain stature, such as the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre or the 1985 assassination of Paul Castellano, the "boss of bosses."

Nonetheless, Whitey's thuggery is still pretty top shelf, according to the G-men who hunted him for the past 16 years.

But despite his criminal resume, there's still a mild-mannered quality to the guy. Take his nickname, "Whitey," for instance, which just doesn't pack the same punch as "Machine Gun Kelly" (aka George Kelly Barnes), or Al "Scarface" Capone. Or, Owney "The Killer" Madden, for that matter.

"Whitey" sounds like the nickname of a loveable curmudgeon, and with white, thinning hair the 81-year-old Bulger is hardly a menacing portrait of evil -- or health. I'll give this to Bulger: "Whitey" is arguably more onerous sounding than Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, also known as the "Oddfather" or the "Pajama King" for all of the sidewalk shuffling he did while wearing jammies and a bathrobe.

But nicknames can be deceiving. After all, John Gotti, whose ascension to the throne after the Castellano assassination made him veritable mafia royalty, was alternately referred to as "The Dapper Don" (because of his penchant for dressing to the nines) and "The Teflon Don" (because the criminal charges brought against him rarely stuck).

Once the dust settles, though, Bulger surely is destined to make the list of the Top 20 Gangsters of all time -- even if he does end up squealing.

To varying degrees, most mobsters end up singing, and some better than others. When talking to someone -- be it the press, the feds or some sort of intermediary -- helps the cause, most criminals will take the path of criminal expediency.

Bulger's bio alone -- an Irish street tough from South Boston who grew up rough in the projects, graduated to rackets and eventually became leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang -- virtually guarantees him a box seat in mobster heaven (or hell?).

AP file photoThe official police mugshot of James J. 'Whitey' Bulger Jr., reputed leader of Boston's Irish mob, who was arrested last week and returned to Boston to answer murder and other charges.

Much like the abhorrent proclivities of Bulger's New York Irish counterparts, Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, who wreaked havoc in Hell's Kitchen throughout the 1970s and '80s, Bulger's homicidal tendencies have been sentimentalized by those apt to paint hardened criminals as softies who really just love "the old neighborhood" and would do anything to protect it from other, more wicked ne'er-do-wells.

That was certainly the case with Coonan and Featherstone, leaders of the ultra-violent Westies, a lawless, ruthless bunch of Irishmen who were too uncivilized for the more polished Italian mobsters who contracted them to do the dirtiest dirty work. The legendary dysfunction of the Westies, who literally chopped up some of their victims to make them do the "Houdini," spawned books and movies, including "State of Grace," while Whitey's tale was the supposed inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film, "The Departed.

Over the years, some Irish-American newspaper columnists, in particular, have shown flashes of affection for their criminal brethren, further fueling the myth that criminals such as Bulger, Coonan and Featherstone were really just misguided kids, neighborhood defenders who sometimes used extra-legal measures to fight for their turf, their people.

But the Irish haven't cornered the market on mobster sentimentality. To this day, the legendary Gotti is revered as a saint in some of Brooklyn's working-class Italian neighborhoods. Gotti has been immortalized in hip-hop lyrics, T-shirts and even TV shows chronicling the life of his family after his death.

Gotti's well-documented ability to steal headlines and sell newspapers made him a household name, from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. And who can forget the mostly Italian-American crowds that packed the streets outside the Brooklyn federal courthouse where Gotti was sentenced to prison for murder and racketeering charges in 1992. Up to 1,000 Gotti supporters, unhappy over the outcome of his criminal trial, started rioting in the streets, trashing vehicles and flipping a car. Shouts of "Free John Gotti!" were heard rising up from the fierce crowd.

One man's sinner is another's saint, apparently.

Meanwhile, the public's fascination with Whitey has continued to grow since his arrest last week. That said, it's hard to imagine Southie residents rallying outside a courthouse for the 81-year-old Bulger, who is the very antithesis of Gotti. Take the gangsters' sartorial preferences, for instance: Gotti is Armani and Bulger is Member's Only.

AP file photoA 1990 file photo of John Gotti, the late New York mob boss.

If Gotti had flown the coup, he'd probably have chosen a hideout in some exotic locale (think the Amalfi Coast), not a pedestrian, rent-controlled apartment a few blocks from the beach.

As has been widely reported, Bulger spent the past 16 years living in "plain view" in a two-room apartment in California. Since his arrest, curious types have flocked to Santa Monica to get a glimpse of a "genuine gangster" home.

"We're here from 8 to 8, and the phone's been off the hook" with prospective tenants, Joshua Bond, property manager of the Princess Eugenia apartments, told the Boston Herald.

Further cementing Whitey's legend is the growing interest in his old haunts, the places where he conducted business and broke a few knuckles along the way. Just as tourists fork over money to take "terrorism tours" of the most notorious sections of Belfast, a city riddled with sectarian hatred and violence that's second to none, touring Boston's more notorious mob sites seems to hold the same sort of grim fascination.

The Boston Globe, the "classier" of the city's two daily newspapers, has even produced a nice interactive "mob map" showing some of the spots that figured into Bulger's life.

As the criminal case against Whitey proceeds, we'll have to wait to find out if he cops a plea or honors the gangster credo that all snitches are rats -- unless that gangster is you, or me, or Whitey, of course. It's hard to envision Bulger doing the right and honorable thing by owning up to his crimes.

Whether Bulger emerges as a noble criminal or a dirty rat remains to be seen. But here's one sure thing: Whitey has won a place in the Gangster Hall of Fame.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette, whose staff budget was slashed, said the cuts that were proposed and made were not on any agenda, violating Massachusetts' Open Meeting Law.

Republican file photo

CHICOPEE – The City Council’s vote to pass the budget last week may not have been done properly, which could leave the city with no spending plan when the fiscal year begins on Friday.

Michael Bissonnette

What was expected to be a somewhat routine meeting to pass the budget last week turned hostile when the City Council eliminated the salaries for Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette’s chief of staff and his administrative assistant, reduced the hours of the city lawyer to part-time and made other cuts in 7-6 votes.

The meeting collapsed when some councilors who did not know about the last-minute cuts called their colleagues’ behavior “disgusting” and some councilors and the mayor yelled back and forth at each other.

Bissonnette said the cuts that were proposed and made were not on any agenda, violating the state’s new Open Meeting Law that calls for every item that will be discussed by a municipal body to be listed on the agenda so residents know the subjects are to be discussed, he said.

The council also posted for two meetings that night but made procedural errors when adjourning one and starting a second, he said.

James K. Tillotson

“It is obvious we are creating war here and I don’t get it,” said Councilor James K. Tillotson, who did not vote for the cuts. “I don’t think it will save two pennies on the tax rate.”

Bissonnette called the cuts an attack on his office and a “shameless, political act.”

But some of the seven councilors who approved the cuts said they were trying to level-fund the budget to the previous year’s spending in a tight financial year.

The approximately $158 million budget was approved 7-6 at the end of the meeting, but Bissonnette said he feels several procedural errors were made which nullifies that vote.

The mayor has called a meeting of the City Council at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The original purpose was to reconcile end-of-the-year accounts, but now Bissonnette said he wants to the group to reconsider the cuts and, if they cannot, to pass a 1/12th budget that would be similar to the budget in June. A one-month budget will prevent a shut-down of all services on July 1 and give the council and mayor time to work out a new budget for fiscal year 2012.

William Zaskey

“The position of the law department is there is no budget,” he said.

City Council President William A. Zaskey, reached while out of town, said he believed the meeting was called legally and the vote stands.

However he said he hasn’t seen the information from the mayor. He said he will be able to comment better after consulting with the council’s lawyer.

Daniel Garvey, the lawyer who represents the council, did not return calls on Monday. Several city councilors also failed to returned calls for comment.

'Blago' is found guilty of selling Obama's former Senate seat, Springfield biomass lawsuit numbers are questioned, and more of this morning's headlines.

AP Photo/Mark LennihanNew Yorkers -- and the world -- will have to get used to lower Manhattan's new skyline, which is still under construction. This was the scene captured by the Associated Press on Monday, which shows the progress of 1 WTC (formerly called the Freedom Tower), the tall building rising in the center of the photo. The landmark Brooklyn Bridge is in the foreground. Construction on the new 104-floor tower, which will be the city's tallest building when it's completed, has already reached the 68th floor. September will mark the tenth anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which took down the famous twin towers of the World Trade Center.

• Gobe columnist Kevin Cullen's take on Whitey Bulger [Boston.com]


• 4-year-old boy shot in Boston playground [Boston.com]


• Rod Blagojevich was 'likeable' but clearly guilty of trying to sell President Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, according to jury [Politico.com]


• Connecticut man sentenced to 15 years for sexually abusing boy [Courant.com]


• Springfield biomass lawsuit numbers disputed [WWLP.com]


• Debt ceiling talks turn to taxes [CNN.com]


• Los Alamos lab still under threat from blaze [CBSnews.com]


• San Francisco considers banning the sale of all pets [LATimes.com]




Today in History for June 28th (AP Video):




• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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The Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported that sales of single-family homes dropped nearly 17 percent last month.

BOSTON – It was a mixed month of May for the Massachusetts housing market as sales of single-family homes fell while sale prices edged higher.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales of single-family homes dropped nearly 17 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

The group said the median selling price for a single-family home was $300,375, up slightly from $299,000 in May 2010.

The independent Warren Group reported a drop of more than 25 percent in home sales compared to a year ago, but said the median sale price was $304,000, compared to $294,000 in May 2010.

The organizations use slightly different figures in their calculations.

Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren says he expects the Massachusetts housing market to improve over the second half of 2011.

Planning Board member George Kingston said the bylaws have errors that have never been corrected as well as bylaws that no longer apply.

EAST LONGMEADOW – The Planning Board and the Zoning Review Committee are working together to update the town’s bylaws.

Planning Board member George C. Kingston presented the idea to the board after taking a look at the bylaws and noticing that there was outdated and incorrect information.

Kingston said the bylaws have errors that have never been corrected as well as bylaws that no longer apply.

Kingston said there are several areas he would like the committee to focus on, including correcting typos and grammatical errors, making the bylaws clear and easy to understand, looking at things that are missing from the bylaws and things that should be removed.

“The bylaws were written in the 1970s and uses were different back then,” he said.

Committee member Marilyn M. Richards said she is willing to look at the bylaws thoroughly, but hopes the Planning Board understands that it will take a long time to fix all of its problems.

Planning Board Chairman Peter S. Pundersen said he understands that it will take years to go through all of the bylaws and make them current.

Pundersen said the recreation facility going up on Crane Avenue is a perfect example of something missing from the bylaws.

“We do not have a definition for recreation facility because 20 years ago things like indoor soccer and in-line skating were not as popular,” he said. “We need to establish clear definitions.”

Kingston said his ultimate goal is to have bylaws that protect the residential nature of the town and encourage businesses where businesses are appropriate.

The committee will make recommendations to the Planning Board and the Planning Board will present those recommendations to the town during future Town Meetings.

East Longmeadow Town Hall

The town will learn by the end of October whether it receives the grant.

WILBRAHAM - The Board of Selectmen Monday gave its endorsement to a $500,000 state grant application to help fund improvements to the Spec Pond recreation area.

The Park and Recreation Department is seeking the same grant it sought last summer, but was denied, Park & Recreation Director Bryan J. Litz said.

The improvements for which the state grant is being sought range from a new softball field and walking trails to playground renovations.

Litz said there were an extraordinary number of applications last year.

He said state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, urged him to give the grant application “one more shot.”

“Hopefully, the third time is the charm,” Litz said.

The town has been denied the grant twice in the past, Litz said.

The Friends of Recreation also has done a $700,000 fund-raising drive for the improvements to the recreation area.

Litz said an additional $300,000 in Community Preservation Funds over two years also will help pay for the improvements.

Whether or not the application for the state grant is successful, the Parks & Recreation Department will be making $1 million in improvements to the area, Litz said.

A new softball field, walking trails and a dog park are the primary goals of the improvements, Litz said. Also included are pavilion and beach improvements, playground renovations and creation of a spray park, he said.

Selectman James E. Thompson said the biggest contribution to the recreation improvements at Spec Pond will be private fund-raising, whether or not the state grant is received.

The grant application is due by July 14. The town will find out by the end of October whether it receives the grant, Litz said.

The former Minnesota governor criticized Obama for his silence in 2009 when the Iranian government cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

Associated PressRepublican presidential hopeful, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivers a policy address at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy in Chicago, Tuesday, June 6, 2011.

NEW YORK — Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty says President Barack Obama has lacked a clear vision in dealing with the citizen uprisings across the Middle East.

Pawlenty is set to make a major foreign policy address Tuesday morning in New York. His campaign released excerpts of the speech.

The former Minnesota governor criticized Obama for his silence in 2009 when the Iranian government cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. And tensions between Israel and the Palestinians are worse now than when Obama took office, Pawlenty said.

But Pawlenty also had tough words for some Republicans like rival GOP hopeful Mitt Romney who advocate reducing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

Pawlenty said isolationism will cost far more in the long run than what it would save in the U.S. budget.

Another firefighting team was expected to arrive Tuesday because of the potential for the blaze to more than double in size.

Associated PressThe sun filters through thick smoke from a wildfire burning near Los Alamos, N.M., on Monday, June 27, 2011 Thousands of residents calmly fled the town that's home to the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory as a rapidly-growing wildfire approached, sending up towering plumes of smoke, raining down ash and charring the fringes of the sprawling lab's property. The blaze, which began Sunday, had destroyed 30 structures south of Los Alamos and forced the closure of the lab.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Firefighters worked through the night and into Tuesday hoping to put out spot fires erupting ahead of a wildfire in the mountains above the northern New Mexico town that is home to a government nuclear laboratory.

"That's the biggest threat we have right now to homes in the community," Deputy Los Alamos County Fire Chief Mike Thompson said late Monday of the fires that left hillsides above the town of Los Alamos glowing.

The ominous orange haze was visible at night from deserted Trinity Drive in Los Alamos, from which 12,500 residents were evacuated. The evacuation was so calm and orderly that there wasn't even a traffic accident, Police Chief Wayne Torpy said.

A crew that had been working at the Arizona wildfires took over efforts at the New Mexico fire Monday, about 18 hours after the blaze started. It has quickly grown to 44,000 acres — or 68 square miles — and ignited a spot fire on lab property.

Another firefighting team was expected to arrive Tuesday because of the potential for the blaze to more than double in size.

The wildfire has destroyed 30 structures south and west of Los Alamos. It forced the closure of the lab and, for many, stirred memories of a devastating blaze in May 2000 that destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings in town.

Laboratory officials said the wildfire sparked a spot fire on its property that was soon contained Monday, and no contamination was released. They also assured that radioactive materials stored in spots on the sprawling lab were safe.

Flames were just across the road from the southern edge of the famed lab, where scientists developed the first atomic bomb during World War II. The facility cut natural gas to some areas overnight as a precaution.

Thompson said containment lines created by firefighters have held despite strong wind.

"We're pretty confident on that front," he said. "We'll pre-treat with foam if necessary, but we really want the buildings to stand on their own for the most part. That is exactly how they've been designed. Especially the ones holding anything that is of high value or high risk, for the community, and really, for the rest New Mexico for that matter."

The spot fire scorched a section known as Tech Area 49, which was used in the early 1960s for a series of underground tests with high explosives and radioactive materials.

The anti-nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety said the fire appeared to be about 3.5 miles from a dumpsite where as many as 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were stored in fabric tents above ground. The group said the drums were awaiting transport to a dump site in southern New Mexico.

Lab officials at first declined to confirm that such drums were on the property, but in a statement early Tuesday, lab spokeswoman Lisa Rosendorf said such drums are stored in a section of the complex known as Area G. She said the drums contain cleanup from Cold War-era waste that the lab sends away in weekly shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

She said the drums were on a paved area with few trees nearby and would be safe even if a fire reached the storage area. Officials have said it is miles from the flames.

"These drums are designed to a safety standard that would withstand a wildland fire worse than this one," Rosendorf said.

Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said environmental specialists were monitoring air quality, but the main concern was smoke.

The lab, which employs about 15,000 people, covers more than 36 square miles and includes about 2,000 buildings at nearly four dozen sites. They include research facilities, as well as waste disposal sites. Some facilities, including the administration building, are in the community of Los Alamos, while others are several miles away from the town.

Many in the area said the current blaze reminded them of the 2000 fire that blackened about 73 square miles and destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings in the western part of the town.

"It took out all the trees and all of the greenery, and it's just now starting to come back," said Terry Langham, a retired lab technician whose house survived the 2000 fire. "Now, it's going to get burned again."

He said that wildfire in 2000 left a "burn scar" that will likely push the current blaze "a little more rapidly through the area."

The 2000 fire prompted the lab and residents to cut down trees and take other fire-prevention measures, and firefighters were hopeful that would help.

"Well, you never are safe when you have such a dry situation and you have fuel load and you have vicious winds like this," said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who visited evacuees at the Santa Claran Hotel Casino in Espanola. "When you combine all of those together, (it's) very explosive."

Cuomo's successful push to legalize gay marriage in his state has made him a national hero to liberal voters.

FILE - In this June 24, 2011 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reacts after same sex marriage was legalized after a vote in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Cuomo'™s successful push to legalize gay marriage in his state has made him a national hero to liberal voters and has sparked talk of a potential presidential bid for Cuomo in 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's successful push to legalize gay marriage in his state has made him a national hero to liberal voters and has sparked talk of a potential presidential bid for Cuomo in 2016. But Cuomo paired his quest for same-sex marriage with efforts to slash state spending and curb the power of public employee unions, suggesting a blend of fiscal prudence and progressivism on social issues could be a new Democratic model in tough economic times.

"Andrew Cuomo is seen as a civil rights leader and has millions of volunteers and millions of donors across the country who would instantly support him if he decides to run," California-based gay rights leader Chad Griffin said. "He took a bold stand on a priority issue, made a commitment and delivered on it. Talk about motivating the base of a party."

Cuomo tried to tamp down talk about his presidential ambitions in a radio interview Monday, dismissing such talk as "silly" and disconnected from the importance of equal rights for gay couples.

"It's not about 2016. It's about the power of the passage of marriage equality," Cuomo said. "I'm not going to engage in this conversation or fuel this speculation." He didn't rule out a run in 2016 but said he had much more work to do as governor.

Cuomo had already racked up an impressive series of legislative accomplishments before last Friday's gay marriage vote, giving him robust approval ratings in New York even as governors elsewhere have struggled.

In a state notorious for its political dysfunction, Cuomo successfully pressed lawmakers to pass an on-time budget that cut spending to address a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes. He negotiated several concessions on salary and health care from some of the state's powerful public employee unions without setting them up as political targets or reducing their collective bargaining rights, as Republicans like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have done. And Cuomo worked with legislative leaders to craft a proposed overhaul of ethics enforcement after years of high-profile corruption cases eroded public confidence in state government. The bill didn't go as far as advocates wanted but was still viewed as a positive step.

Still, Cuomo's approach to the state's fiscal challenges has irked some Democratic activists.

His budget included historic reductions to public education, social service programs and health care. He allowed a temporary millionaire's tax to expire, prompting some critics to complain that he was protecting the state's wealthiest residents from the kind of belt-tightening he was asking of everyone else. He allowed tuition at public universities in New York to rise. And he pushed through a 2 percent cap on the state's notoriously high property taxes, which could lead to deep cuts for local school districts.

At times, Cuomo's approach appeared to repudiate the legacy of his father, three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, whose championship of government programs for the poor made him an icon to liberal Democrats during the 1980s.

Mario Cuomo came close to running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992 but ultimately decided against a run, clearing the way for another Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Andrew Cuomo served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Clinton and adopted much of Clinton's centrist approach to governing.

Clinton's record on gay rights was decidedly mixed. He eased out a ban on gays serving in the military by crafting the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy that allowed them to serve as long as they did not disclose their sexual orientation. Congress voted to overturn the policy late last year, clearing the way for gays to serve openly for the first time.

Clinton also signed the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 that defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

Cuomo pledged to legalize gay marriage in New York during his gubernatorial campaign last year. He stuck to that pledge even as he tackled the state's budget woes, sending a strong signal to Democratic base voters that he wouldn't back away from one of their signature issues.

Democratic strategist Peter Daou said Cuomo's success on gay marriage had persuaded many skeptical liberal activists to give him another look.

"He has earned some very solid points all the way to 2016, which will mitigate some of the criticism he's gotten from progressives about the way he's governed," Daou said., adding that Cuomo's efforts stood in stark contrast to President Barack Obama. Obama attended a fundraiser last week hosted by gay and lesbian donors in New York, but refused to endorse same sex marriage even as he expressed support for legal rights for gay couples.

"Progressives want leaders," Daou said.

Cuomo also demonstrated bipartisan skills that appear all but lost in Washington. He maneuvered the legislation through the Democratic-controlled Assembly and the GOP-controlled Senate, where four Republicans joined Democrats Friday night to ensure its passage.

Cuomo was hailed as a champion during New York's gay pride parade Sunday, where cheering supporters greeted him with signs and flowers.

"New York has sent a message to the nation," the governor said before the march. "If New York can do it, it's all right for everyone else in the country to do it."

Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who has worked for Cuomo, said Cuomo had already demonstrated significant political skill that would serve him well whether he stayed in New York or had ambitions for higher office.

"He walked in with historic challenges and under any objective analysis he got an A or an A plus," Lehane said. "He's coming from one of the biggest states in the country, and that gives him an enormous base. He's done this year right, and at the end of four or eight years, people will decide on the totality of what he's done."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Bachmann flubbed her hometown history in a weekend interview in which she declared "John Wayne was from Waterloo," Iowa.

Associated PressRep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., makes her formal announcement to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Monday, June 27, 2011, in Waterloo, Iowa.

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is acknowledging "misspeaking" occasionally, including wrongly claiming that actor John Wayne was from her Waterloo, Iowa hometown, but says she's "a substantive, serious person" who would be a good president.

Bachmann, who announced her candidacy on Monday, flubbed her hometown history in a weekend interview in which she declared "John Wayne was from Waterloo" and "that's the kind of spirit that I have, too."

The actor was born nearly 150 miles away. It was the serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. who lived, for a time, in Waterloo.

The GOP congresswoman told CNN on Tuesday her comments "were just misspeaking" and that her main intent was to show she identified with Wayne's patriotism.

"I wish I could be perfect," Bachmann said. "I'm a substantive, serious person" who has "good sense on how to turn the economy around" as president.

Union Station is in line for more federal funding to help rebuild the long-shuttered railway station. What's your take on the downtown facility's future?

Staff Photo by Dave RobackFuneral procession for fallen solider Michael B. Cook Jr. en route to the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam under azure-blue skies on Monday. Cook has family ties to West Springfield, though he was born in Lowell and raised in New Hampshire.

The Forecast

Today will feature a mix of sun and clouds, with some rising humidity as temperatures make their way into the high 80s, according to abc40 meteorologist Mike Masco.

There will be a few storms developing later this afternoon, however, as a cold front begins pushing into the region.

The National Weather Service is forecasting some patchy fog before 8a.m. Tuesday, but otherwise today will be partly with calm wind (6 to 9 mph) out of the south.

For Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, showers are predicted between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. After some morning showers, Wednesday will shape up to be a mostly sunny day with a high near 81.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

On Monday, news broke that Springfield's long-dormant Union Station is in line for more federal funding to refurbish and restore the once-proud railway station on Frank B. Murray Street.

The funding, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, includes a $400,000 cleanup grant for the estimated $70 million redevelopment project.

The station was built in 1926 and has been abandoned since 1973, but the site is poised to come to life again once the reconstruction project begins next summer. The project is a scaled-down version of a more elaborate, $115 million plan that foundered when the Federal Transit Authority froze funding amid an audit and corruption investigation at the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority -- the agency formerly responsible for overseeing the controversial project.

The future of Union Station has sparked a lively debate, particularly over whether a new-and-improved station will flourish as a regional transportation or become a so-called Bridge to Nowhere. Opponents say money for the project would be better spent on other, more pressing needs in the city.

Where do you stand on the great Union Station debate? We want to know, so chime in below:

Monday's Top 5:

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on June 27 were:

1) West Springfield's White Hut to open eatery in Amherst.

2) Acting Holyke Fire Chief William Moran facing criminal charges

3) Weekend news roundup: Western Mass kidnapping case involving $1 million in buried cash lands on 'America's Most Wanted'

4) Jonah Fialkoff makes 'America's Most Wanted' for his role in Belchertown kidnapping

5) Protesters, frustration mark final service at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in Holyoke

Quote of the Day

“It has been very difficult to see my home, which I took so much pride in, destroyed this way. I recently invested $60,000 in the house, putting in new floors, a new kitchen. I even purchased sod a few days before the tornado, and now it’s all gone.” ~ Armando Feliciano of Springfield recalling his East Forest park home following the June 1 tornado. To read the full story of Springfield homeowners rebuilding, click here.

Defense lawyer David Rountree argued Shadeed Mahdi had nothing to do with killing.

The Republican/Michael GordonShadeed Mahdi

SPRINGFIELD - Shadeed J. Mahdi has been acquitted of murder in the September 2009 fatal shooting of Tory Lamont Smith.

A Hampden Superior Court jury acquitted Mahdi June 13.

Defense lawyer David Rountree had argued there was nothing to connect Mahdi to the homicide.

Smith was shot Sept. 15, 2009, on a stairwell of a seven-story apartment building at 15 Girard Ave.

The shooting, which occurred in the middle of the afternoon, prompted a temporary lock-down of the nearby Rebecca Johnson Elementary School and led a chaotic crime scene
with upwards of 50 people assembled, according to prosecution and defense lawyers
.
Mahdi, 25, of 75 Elmwood Ave., Holyoke, was arrested shortly after the shooting. The victim, Smith, was 27 and lived on Fenwick Street.

No gun was recovered and police found no gunshot residue on Mahdi.

The trial took place before Judge Tina S. Page.

Rountree said in an interview Monday a major factor in the outcome of the case was the identification procedure used and how the procedure can result in a wrong identification.

He said he is talking about a "show-up," where one person is shown to witnesses as opposed to any kind of photograph array or line up involving multiple people. The show up procedure was used in this case.

Rountree said he believes such a procedure, which is legally permissble in certain circumstances, often results in a misidentification.

The shooting of Smith came less than a month after another afternoon shooting nearby. In the earlier shooting, Jerry A. Hughes III, 21, was gunned down in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at the Mid-Town Plaza on State Street when bullets were sprayed into a crowded parking lot.

A 13-year-old boy was grazed in the foot by a bullet as he walked by the nearby Johnson school. Defendants in that case are awaiting trial.

The driver jumped out on Gothic Street and fled on foot.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – Northampton Police Department cruisers.

NORTHAMPTON - An overnight police chase that started in Holyoke and swung through Easthampton ended here on Gothic Street when the driver jumped from the moving pickup truck and fled on foot.

Police said the incident started shortly before midnight Monday when Holyoke police spotted a suspicious black Chevrolet pickup on Route 141 and gave chase.

The driver fled into Easthampton for a time, returned to Holyoke, again by Route 141 and then got onto Route 5, heading towards Northampton.

Capt. Scott A. Savino said that Northampton police, notified of the pickup fleeing towards their city, with their counterparts from Holyoke and Easthampton in pursuit, cleared the intersection at Main and Pleasant.

The pickup continued straight on King Street, took a left onto Trumbull Road and another left onto Gothic Street where the driver ditched the pickup and was last seen heading towards King Street on foot.

The driverless pickup continued down slowly down Gothic Street and collided with a Northampton cruiser, causing minor damage, Savino said.

The driver is described as white male with black hair and wearing a white T-shirt.

Savino said police know who owns the pickup and are still attempting to determine who was behind the wheel.

Holyoke police could not immediately provide any information on the chase and Easthampton police were not available for comment.

The trial date of the Springfield man accused of driving while under the influence of drugs has been postponed until Sept. 7. The trial had been scheduled to begin next month in Hampden Superior Court.

The Republican file photo | Don TreegerJulian Pellegrino at previous court appearance

SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court judge has ruled against Julian Pellegrino, who attempted to have results of a blood test thrown out as evidence in a case charging he drove under the influence of drugs.

The charge against Pellegrino also says he caused serious injury while driving under the influence of drugs.

Pellegrino, 41, of 29 Savoy Ave., filed the motion seeking to have results of the blood test thrown out as evidence saying the results came were obtained illegally.

Judge Cornelius Moriarty II said there is no indication the blood was drawn at the direction of the police, so it is not an illegal search and seizure.

Moriarty II said Pellegrino was taken to Baystate Medical Center after the crash and asked by police to take a breathalyzer and/or blood withdrawal. Pellegrino refused.

He lapsed into unconsciousness. Several vials of blood were taken by medical personnel, Moriarty said. The judge said the “intrinsic protocol” of the hospital is for blood samples to be destroyed within seven days.

Moriarty said within that period Chicopee police asked the hospital to retain the samples. Police then got a search warrant authorizing seizure of the blood samples.

The head-on crash which led to Hampden Superior Court indictment occurred on Dec. 30, 2009, at 2:20 p.m. when Pellegrino, driving a 2004 Ford truck eastbound on Granby Road, crossed the line into the westbound lane.

He hit a 1998 Honda driven by 26-year-old Mark A. Costa, of Chicopee, police said.

Both drivers were taken to Baystate Medical Center. Costa suffered two broken legs.

Raipher D. Pellegrino, Julian Pellegrino’s lawyer as well as his brother, said in the motion filed last month blood was taken and kept by Baystate Medical Center “against the express instructions” and without the consent of his client.

Pellegrino’s case was scheduled for trial July 14 but has been postponed to Sept. 7. He has been free on his own recognizance.

Commonwealth vs. Julian Pellegrino: Memorandum of Decision and Order on Defendant’s Motion To Suppress

File photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanJulian Pellegrino, of Springfield, who was arraigned in Hampen Superior Court Wednesday on a charge of causing serious injury to Mark Costa of Chicopee when he was operating a car under the influence of drugs, is seen in Chicopee District Court in 2007 in an unrelated case.

Over 300 people were housed at the shelter at the peak of its operations, Red Cross officials say.

File photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanBilenia Belen, holds her daughter Roselic Perez 9 month old, as her sons Mobesto David 11, and Jesus David 7, get settled June 2 in at the shelter set up at the MassMutual Center for tornado victims.

SPRINGFIELD - The American Red Cross announced Tuesday that it wil be closing the tornado shelter Wednesday that has been in operation at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield ever since the area was hit by three devastating tornadoes June 1.

At its peak on June 7, over 300 people were housed, according to the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. Since that time, the number of people staying at the shelter has declined.

"Thanks to the generosity of our community, who donated services, food, clothing and dollars, we have had the resources required to support the immediate needs of those impacted," a chapter spokesperson said in a prepared statement.

With the support of the United Way of Pioneer Valley and Federal Emergency Management Agency, the not for profit community will be assisting people with long term needs as a result of this disaster. To contact the United Way with regard to Tornado recovery efforts call 413-693-0225.

For more information on disaster preparedness, contact the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross at (413)737-4306, visit www.redcross.org or www.cruzrojaamericana.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.