MBI, the state agency in charge of $50 million, last week suddenly pulled funding from the rural broadband cooperative.

NORTHAMPTON -- WiredWest on Friday slammed a recent, highly-critical statement from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, saying in a point-by-point rebuttal that the state agency's efforts to undermine the 44-town municipal light plant cooperative amount to "bureaucratic blackmail" and are tied to a desire to control the overall deployment of rural broadband in the state, which would be funded with millions of taxpayers dollars.

On Dec. 1 Mass Broadband issued a letter to dozens of local officials in western Massachusetts, saying that the cooperative's operating plan to bring high-speed Internet to 44 rural towns is "not compatible with the best interests of the Commonwealth, the towns, or their residents." MBI said it would pull state funding from Wired West for now, and encouraged select board members not to sign a pending operating agreement with the cooperative.

By issuing the unexpected statement, Mass Broadband has "sewn confusion in the towns, thrown the project into chaos, and subjected it to further delays," wrote Wired West chair Monica Webb in a statement distributed to the press. "We need the state to stop throwing up unnecessary roadblocks."

Webb suggested that MBI is motivated by the desire to control the "final mile" of the broadband project, to be funded with tens of millions of public dollars and a stream of subscriber fees. MBI already has the authority to invest $40 million in state dollars committed by the state legislature. At least three times that much would be raised by local borrowing by the member towns.

"MBI's desire to control the project and minimize the ability of towns to oversee its expenditure of their funds, despite the towns providing most of the money, is the reason MBI is stepping in at this late date," wrote Webb, in offering a possible motive for why the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative agency would want to block the implementation of an operating agreement between member towns and WiredWest.

WiredWest, governed by representatives from each of its towns, has been working to bring high-speed Internet to western Massachusetts since 2011.

It's been known since then that Wired West intends to build, plan, and operate a 44-town, regionally-owned fiber optic network, wrote Webb. Mass Broadband in its Dec. 1 letter asserted that WiredWest has only "recently" moved beyond educational and outreach efforts into the network business.

"It is misleading to imply that WiredWest has changed its mission," Webb wrote.

The interests of Wired West are not different from the interests of its member towns, she added: "It is a cooperative of the towns, by the towns and for the towns.... WiredWest is nothing but the towns. It is governed by a Board of Directors, representing each of the member towns..."

As for a Mass Broadband statement that the Wired West financial model is flawed, Webb hit hard, saying the plan has been extensively reviewed by member towns, and vetted by an independent consultant who has no financial interest in the project.

Webb accused Mass Broadband of making factually inaccurate statements in its Dec. 1 letter.

It's not true, she wrote, that towns and their municipal light plants would "transfer ownership" of the network to WiredWest: "The towns are choosing to jointly own the network, and WiredWest serves as the mechanism to manage it."

WiredWest has been the "driving force in Western Massachusetts" to implement rural broadband, Webb wrote, and has already worked with town to form municipal light plants, conducted market research, procured cost estimates and network design, completed financial modeling, signed up 7,000 subscribers, helped 24 towns pass bond authorizations, and compiled an "exhaustively-vetted business plan and operating agreement."

Forty-four towns have agreed to WiredWest membership, and 24 of those have authorized borrowing. "Refusing to fund the solution chosen by the towns is bureaucratic blackmail," wrote Webb.

MBI adopted a policy in July which requires the towns to own their own broadband infrastructure. WiredWest officials said that cooperative ownership of the network, through an affiliation of municipal light plants, is not in violation of that policy.

MBI has not come up with its own solution to building a regional network, and has refused to share a report commissioned by the state that looked at the WiredWest model, said various local officials at the Saturday meeting. The report was prepared by the multinational IT consulting firm known as WiPro, they said.

"We were completely blindsided by MassBroadband," said Glenn Cardinal of Buckland, a WiredWest member. "We'd been in weekly discussions with them, and everything seemed fine. Nobody saw this coming."

WiredWest Rebuttal of MBI Statement 120415 Final

A national poll released this week found that nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned about climate change and nearly three-quarters believe other countries must do more to address the issue.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ A national poll released this week found that nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned about climate change and nearly three-quarters believe other countries must do more to address the issue.

The Quinnipiac University poll, which came as international leaders attended a climate change summit in Paris, found that 65 percent of Americans are concerned about the issue, including 32 percent who said they are very concerned and 33 percent who are somewhat concerned about it.

While more than half of Americans surveyed said they believe the U.S. needs to step up its efforts to combat climate change, 72 percent said other countries must also play a larger role in addressing the issue, according to poll results.

Respondents who identified themselves as Democrats made up the largest portion of those who expressed concerns about climate change, with more than half saying they were very concerned and more than a third saying they were somewhat concerned.

Just 9 percent of respondents who identified themselves as Republicans said they were very concerned, while 42 percent said they were not concerned at all.

A WBUR poll released this week, meanwhile, found that 57 percent of Massachusetts voters believe the effects of climate change have already begun to happen.

Twenty percent said they believe the effects of climate change will not happen in their lifetime, but will affect future generations, while 8 percent said they believe they will never happen, according to the survey results.

If nothing is done to reduce global warming, 45 percent of Massachusetts voters said, it will be a very serious issue for the state. More than a quarter said it will be somewhat serious.

More than half of respondents, meanwhile, said they believe climate change can be stopped, compared to a quarter who said it's too late.

The Quinnipiac University poll, which surveyed 1,453 registered voters nationwide from Nov. 23 to Nov. 30 via telephone, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The MassInc Polling Group conducted the WBUR poll from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 via telephone. Results are based on a survey of 504 registered Massachusetts voters and as a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence.

"I cannot in good conscience continue to be part of a council that is exclusionary or to work with a mayor who is such," Charlene Storey said in her resignation letter.

File photo of the tree lighting in Asbury Park in 2014. This year, Roselle Park has changed the name of its ceremony from 'The Tree Lighting' to 'The Christmas Tree Lighting,' a move that Councilwoman At-Large Charlene Storey says endorses one religion over others. (Maryann Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

ROSELLE PARK, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey city council's decision to add the word "Christmas" to the name of its tree-lighting ceremony prompted one council member to step down because it "turned it from a non-religious event to a religious one."

Charlene Storey announced her decision just minutes after the Roselle Park council approved the change Thursday night, NJ.com reported. Her resignation takes effect Jan. 7.

Storey, who was raised Catholic but describes herself as a non-believer, said the town's decision to change the ceremony's name from "A Tree Lighting" to "A Christmas Tree Lighting" favors one religion and "cuts non-Christians out of the loop."

Storey said she regretted having to resign but called the issue a matter of principle.

"I cannot in good conscience continue to be part of a council that is exclusionary or to work with a mayor who is such," Storey said in her resignation letter.

Roselle Park Mayor Carl Hokanson praised Storey for her work on the council. He said everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but also noted that each town can use whatever title it wants to use for the ceremony.

"It's not a street, it's not a building, it's a Christmas tree," Hokanson said.

The doors of the new 35,000 square foot Bethlehem Church in Hampden are now open to the public and Senior Pastor Brian MacLeod couldn't be happier.

HAMPDEN ‒ It has been 12 years in the making, but the doors of the new 35,000 square foot Bethlehem Church in Hampden are now open to the public and Senior Pastor Brian MacLeod couldn't be happier.

"The Lord has just opened the door for us," said MacLeod. "You walk in the door and you're in the welcoming space of the lobby we call Main Street, right on down to the Main Street Cafe. It's hard not to be really excited about that."

The church held an open house Saturday afternoon to introduce the community to its new pride and joy.

While not every church needs a map to help visitors navigate, Bethlehem Church has them. How else is a new member or visitor supposed to find the high school room?

Looking for the kitchen or activity center? Check the map. You might want to wear comfortable shoes.

With members of the congregation everywhere, impromptu tours started every few seconds. Thousands of cookies, meanwhile, were handed out throughout the building. Visitors also had the option of taking home a poinsettia plant.

"Most people have a place where they live, most have a job, but what's third place in your life? We are trying to create the idea that your church home can be your third place," MacLeod said, referencing the concept of "third place."

Church members held a private opening in November with a service and ceremony, but today was for the community.

After spending more than 125 hours peddling his unicycle from Burlington, Vermont to Washington D.C. to raise awareness for Bernie Sanders' 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, Peter Corbett arrived at the White House Saturday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ After spending more than 125 hours peddling his unicycle from Burlington, Vermont to Washington D.C. to raise awareness for Bernie Sanders' 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, Peter Corbett arrived at the White House Saturday afternoon.

The 57-year-old psychotherapist, who lives in Shutesbury, completed his long-distance ride, as scheduled, after spending 21 days on his unicycle and raising $2,500 for the Vermont senator's campaign.

Corbett kicked-off his trip Nov. 8 - exactly one year ahead of the 2016 general election - at Burlington City Hall, traveling along mostly back roads in six-to-seven-hour-long increments.

The psychotherapist said he believes he accomplished his goal of spreading Sanders' message and inspiring Americans to support the Vermont senator, albeit on a smaller scale than he had envisioned.

"I tend to be more grandiose in my imagination," he joked in an interview.

Corbett, however, said he received donations for Sanders' campaign from around 50 people and generally heard positive feedback from people he met along his journey.

"I was surprised by how many people out there are supporters, even in states you wouldn't think, like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland there are a lot of Bernie supporters," he said.

While Corbett has finished his long-distance trip, the former Burlington community organizer said he's not done campaigning for Sanders.

"I will probably get involved in local stuff in Amherst," he said. "I know people are already doing phone calling and that kind of work."

Corbett added that he may also look into what involved in becoming a Massachusetts delegate for the Democratic National Convention, after getting some rest.

"I think a nap is next," he joked. "I wonder if I will ever sit on this unicycle again."

A 47-year-old Fairfield, Vt. man was killed Saturday morning after he was ejected from the ATV he was traveling on, the Vermont State Police have reported.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ A 47-year-old man was killed Saturday morning after he was ejected from the ATV he was traveling on, the Vermont State Police have reported.

Law enforcement officials responded to reports of a single vehicle ATV crash near the intersection of Russell and Comette Roads in Fairfax, Vermont around 8:20 a.m.

Walter Morgan, of Fairfield, Vermont, reportedly sustained head injuries after his Artic Cat 650 ATV went off the eastern side of the road, ejecting him, Vermont State Police said. Morgan, who was reportedly not wearing a helmet, was transported to North West Regional Medical Center.

Fairfax Rescue attempted CPR and life saving measures en route to the emergency room, where Morgan was pronounced dead, state police reported.

The crash remains under investigation, police said. Alcohol or drugs do not appear to be contributing factors.

While other female Democratic senators have endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 White House bid, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., this week said she's holding off from announcing her support for any particular presidential candidate.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ While other female Democratic senators have endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 White House bid, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., this week said she's holding off from announcing her support for any particular presidential candidate.

Warren, who was the lone female Democratic senator absent at a Clinton fundraiser this week, reportedly told the Boston Herald that she's in no rush to make an endorsement.

"It's just not time for me to do that yet," she told the newspaper during a holiday lighting ceremony in Melrose.

Warren, whose support as a leading voice of the party's liberal wing would likely boost any of the Democratic candidates' campaigns, also remained vague when asked when she thinks she may make an endorsement in the 2016 presidential race, according to the Herald.

The Massachusetts Democrat, however, rejected the idea that support for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders', I-Vt., presidential bid is waning, telling the newspaper that he's "doing what Bernie always does."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation have announced support for Clinton's campaign.

Massachusetts State Police arrested a Connecticut man Saturday afternoon following a reported high-speed chase along Interstate-91 South.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ Massachusetts State Police arrested a Connecticut man Saturday afternoon following a reported high-speed chase along Interstate-91 South.

Justin Brochu, of Meriden, Conn., was taken into custody on charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, attaching plates, failure to stop for police, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and speeding, Western Mass News reported.

Police told the news outlet that they attempted to stop Brochu's BMW for alleged motor vehicle violations around 1:30 p.m. Brochu reportedly refused to stop and fled at high speeds, according to law enforcement.

The chase continued down the highway until Longmeadow, where he reportedly stopped short of the Connecticut state line around 2 p.m., Western Mass News said. Two female passengers aged 19 and 17 were not charged.

The Dec. 9 hearing at Town Hall begins at 7:15 p.m.

Republican file photo 

BELCHERTOWN - The Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corporation, owners of the former state school property, have scheduled a public hearing Wednesday related to a $2.3 million grant application for pollution cleanup.

The Dec. 9 hearing at Town Hall begins at 7:15 p.m.

The BEDIC meeting notice says the public hearing involves a proposed environmental protection agency Brownfields Cleanup application for 2 sites located at the former Belchertown State School.

The money would be used to assist with cleanup of the long-abandoned infirmary building, and the girls/boys industrial building, so that they can be demolished to allow economic development at the site.

The EPA Brownfields grant application is due Dec. 18.

President Barack Obama will address the American people Sunday on the recent shooting in San Bernardino, California and his administration's efforts to keep people safe.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ President Barack Obama will address the American people Sunday on the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, California and his administration's efforts to keep people safe, White House officials said late Saturday.

Obama, who will deliver the 8 p.m. EST address from the Oval Office, is expected to provide an update on the ongoing investigation into the shooting, which the FBI said it's looking at as a possible act of terrorism. He is also expected to discuss the broader threat of terrorism, according to a White House press release.

The president, officials said, will reiterate his conviction that the so-called Islamic State will be destroyed and the U.S. must use its values of equality, justice and freedom to prevail over terrorist groups.

Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in the mass shooting before dying hours later in a gunbattle with police.

Police initially stopped the car for a traffic violation.

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com 

Williamsburg police officers arrested 29-year-old Billy Elliot, of Springfield, a day after his vehicle was stopped by a State Police trooper, according to a post on the Williamsburg Police Department Facebook page. Elliot was able to flee from the scene on Friday, but was seen hitchhiking on Route 9 in Williamsburg on Saturday.

Police said they received several calls from drivers as well as an alert from an off duty fire captain from Goshen who saw the man get into a car on Route 9.

Police stopped the vehicle, but had a difficult time apprehending Elliot.

"When officers attempted to place Elliott under arrest on the outstanding warrants he became combative with officers and attempted to strike them several times," the post reads. " After a 5 to 7 minute struggle with Elliott he was taken into custody."

In addition to three outstanding warrants Elliott was also charge with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer, possession of heroin and possession of cocaine.

A Fall River man accused of beating a 4-year-old child he was babysitting remains in custody after his arrest last week.

DARTMOUTH - A Fall River man accused of beating a 4-year-old child he was babysitting remains in custody after his arrest last week.

Richard Pinheiro, 28, allegedly assaulted the child inside a Ledgewood Boulevard home on Dec. 2, according to detectives. He was arrested that night after police received an anonymous complaint from a neighbor.

Richard PinheiroDartmouth Police Department 

The child had non-life threatening injuries, but had bruises, according to police. Authorities declined to say if the child is male or female. The child was released after being treated at a local hospital.

Pinheiro was charged with assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 resulting in injuries and arraigned in New Bedford District Court.

He is being held without bail at the Bristol County House of Corrections.

Around 6,000 people turned out on Sunday morning for the city's 12th annual Hot Chocolate Run to benefit Safe Passage.

NORTHAMPTON — Around 6,000 people turned out on Sunday morning for the city's 12th annual Hot Chocolate Run to benefit Safe Passage.

The agency, which provides shelter, counseling support and community education for victims of domestic violence and the public, has been around since 1977 and has been running the Hot Chocolate Run since 2004.

The event included a five-kilometer road race and a three-kilometer walk. In the end, everyone is offered a cup of homemade hot chocolate.

Safe Passage Executive Director Marianne Winters told staff writer Fred Contrada that the Hot Chocolate Run has had an impact on the lives of those affected by domestic violence, which one in three women experience.

Safe Passage raised $6,000 for the first run in 2004 and has seen a 10 percent increase every year since. Last year, the agency raised more than $375,000 through the Hot Chocolate Run.

See photos from this year's event above, and photos from previous years in the links below.

• Seen@ the 11th Annual Hot Chocolate Run to Benefit Safe Passage

• Seen@ the 10th Annual Hot Chocolate Run to benefit Safe Passage

[enhanced link]

The man was scene by drivers walking shirtless on the bridge sidewalk.

File photo 

HADLEY — Hadley and Northampton police officers worked together to keep a man from jumping off the Calvin Coolidge Bridge Friday night.

Police in both communities received multiple 9-1-1 calls about a man who appeared to be getting ready to jump off the bridge, Hadley Police reported on its Facebook page.

"Two Hadley officers and one Northampton officer arrived at the same time and saw the shirtless male walking towards Northampton on the sidewalk, still in Hadley. When he saw officers arriving, the male party began climbing back over the railing," the post reads.

As officers approached the man put one leg and one arm over the railing. A Hadley officer pinned the man's arm down against the railing and grabbed on to him, while a second officer grabbed on to him as well, as he pulled his second foot from the ledge, officials said.

The man struggled, but was subdued with handcuffs and was transported by ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital for evaluation.

Jimmy Carter says that his most recent brain scan showed no signs of cancer.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Jimmy Carter says that his most recent brain scan showed no signs of cancer.

The former president said in a statement that he will continue to receive doses of Keytruda, a recently approved auto-immune drug to help his body seek out cancer cells in his body.

Carter says the scan showed no signs of the original cancer "spots" or any new ones.

Carter, 91, announced in August that he had been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. Doctors removed a portion of his liver and found four small tumors on his brain.

He received a round of radiation targeted at those tumors and regular doses of Keytruda. Carter has remained active during treatment, continuing his humanitarian work and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

Police said the girl went missing on Saturday.

Deanna Melrose-Vasquez.Falmouth Police Dept./ Facebook 

FALMOUTH — Falmouth Police said a 13-year-old girl reported missing on Saturday afternoon has been located.

Deanna Melrose-Vasquez disappeared around 5 p.m. from her home in Carl Landi Circle in Waquoit. Police then issued a missing juvenile alert on social media.

Police updated their Facebook post late Saturday night to say the teenager had been located. No additional has been released.

Obama on Sunday night will urge Americans to not give into fear following attacks in Paris and California, while trying to assure the public that he takes the threat of terrorism seriously.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama on Sunday night will urge Americans to not give into fear following attacks in Paris and California, while trying to assure the public that he takes the threat of terrorism seriously.

Obama was not expected to announce major policy changes for targeting the Islamic State group. Administration officials said the president's remarks would focus on how the terrorist threat has evolved and what steps the government is taking to keep Americans safe.

"I think what you're going to hear from him is a discussion about what government is doing to ensure all of our highest priority -- the protection of the American people," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

"This horrific attack has people on edge and frightened. We've lost so many victims and people were wounded. People are concerned and we understand that," Lynch said.

She said Obama may ask Congress to "to review measures and take action" to safeguard national security, though she did not offer specifics. She suggested he might reiterate his call for stricter gun laws. "Dealing with guns is one way to handle the violent crime issues that we have in this country," Lynch said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Obama has an opportunity "tell the American people how he is willing to adapt to the threat and how he can better prepare our nation for a fight that will inevitably be passed on to his successor." McConnell called on Obama to outline plans for a ground force to dismantle the Islamic State group and detail what legal authorities are needed to defeat encrypted online communication that law enforcement says can be used to evade authorities.

With the prime-time address, Obama was turning to a tool of the presidency that he has used infrequently. He's made televised statements from the Oval Office just twice, the last in 2010.

His speech comes amid criticism that he has underestimated the threat from an extremist group that claimed responsibility for last month's deadly attacks in Paris.

A woman held responsible for last week's shooting in San Bernardino, California, had, under a Facebook alias, pledged allegiance to IS and its leader, according to U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Facebook official said the post came about the time the couple stormed the San Bernardino social service center.

Authorities said the woman -- a 29-year-old originally from Pakistan -- carried out the attack with her 28-year-old American-born husband, killing 14 people and wounding 21. The two were killed in a shootout with police hours after the attack.

Authorities say they believe the guns used by the attackers were legally obtained.

The FBI is investigating the massacre as a terrorist attack that, if proved, would be the deadliest by Islamic extremists on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

FBI Director James Comey has said there was no indication yet that the plot was directed by any other foreign terrorist group, though he would not rule out that future possibility.

Obama initially said the shootings could have been terrorist-related or an incident of workplace violence. Two days later, in his weekend radio and Internet address, the president said called the attacks an "act of terror" and said it was "entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror. And if so, it would underscore a threat we've been focused on for years -- the danger of people succumbing to violent extremist ideologies."

Lynch said the kind of threats against the United States has evolved because the government has been able to foil plots. "We have come from a time of the large-scale planned al-Qaida-style attacks to the encouragement of lone wolves.'

Some of the Republican presidential candidates had quickly labeled the shootings an act of terrorism and faulted Obama for not saying so immediately. GOP candidates have sought to equate the president's cautious language on terrorism with what they see as his tepid approach to national security.

"I don't know why the president hesitates for so long to call it exactly what it is," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called on Obama to outline a more robust strategy for defeating IS, which has strongholds in Iraq and Syria. Rubio advocated a "ground force made up primarily of Sunni Arabs from the region, including Iraqis and Syrians, but also a contribution of troops from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt."

Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said the U.S. is "not winning" the fight against IS and it's "too soon to say that we are doing everything we need to do." While Clinton has been supportive of Obama's foreign policy, given that she served as his secretary of state, she also has called for a more robust approach to defeating IS, including setting up a no-fly zone.

The president's approach has relied largely on airstrikes by the U.S., as well as European and Arab partners. He has struggled to identify and train effective forces on the ground to supplement those efforts and has ruled out a large scale deployment of American troops.

Christie spoke on CBS' "Face The Nation," Rubio was on CNN's "State of the Union" and Clinton appeared on ABC's "This Week."

President Barack Obama will address the nation tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Live coverage of this event has ended. 

See video from the President's speech here:

Obama: Terror threat against US has entered 'new phase'

Original story is below:

The podium is set in the Oval Office for President Barack Obama's address on terrorism and the threat posed by the Islamic State group.

Obama is scheduled to speak to the nation at 8 p.m. EST. The address comes as recent attacks in Paris and California have raised concerns that the U.S. and other countries aren't doing enough to prevent terror attacks.

This is only the third time Obama has given an Oval Office address, an event reserved for major, serious topics.

Typically, the president delivers Oval Office addresses from behind his desk. But Obama's staff arranged a podium in the Oval Office where Obama will stand, with his desk and the American flag behind him.

Administration officials say Obama will focus on the evolving terrorist threat and what government is doing to keep people safe. He's not expected to announce major policy changes.

- The Associated Press

Police are searching for The car is believed to be an older model Chevrolet or GMC SUV

HIGHGATE, VT - A 54-year-old man was hit and killed while walking on Route 78 and police are now trying to identify the driver who struck him.

The man, identified as David Miller, of Highgate, Vermont, was found on the shoulder of the roadway at about 9:30 a.m., Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Vermont State Police said.

Miller is believed to have been walking east on the west side shoulder of the road when he was struck. Using evidence found at the scene, police believe the suspect vehicle is likely a large SUV, likely a 2003 or later Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban or a GMC Sierra, Yukon or Denali, police said.

The vehicle is believed to have been damaged to the front passenger side, including the headlight, rear view mirror and radio antenna, police said.

One lane of Route 78 was blocked for several hours while police investigated. Anyone with information should contact the State Police at 802-524-5993.

The department exceeded its fundraising goal in the 12-hour rooftop marathon.

CHICOPEE - Police were stuck on the roof of Walmart for 12 hours on Saturday, begging shoppers and others to pay for them to come down.

In the end the Cop on Top program raised $6,481 for the Special Olympics program, well exceeding the department's $5,000 fundraising goal.

Several Chicopee Police officers, including Michael Wilk, the public information officer, remained on the roof for all 12 hours while others, including Police Chief William Jebb joined officers for some of the time to keep them company.

From above, officers yelled down and interacted with the crowds of shoppers entering and leaving the store and asked them to donate for the program that helps fund sports programs for disabled athletes.

Chicopee officers did the Cop on the Top program with the Hampden County Sheriff's Department. Several Ludlow Police officers, Chicopee Special Police officers and others joined them in the effort.

A number of businesses also helped in the effort including Walmart. Sign Techniques helped hoist people to the roof and Dunkin' Donuts, Subway and Chipotle provided food for those stranded on the roof and those below taking donations.

"We all take these jobs as police officers because we care about the community and we want to help and this is a great way for us to give back," Wilk said in a Periscope video taken from the roof.

This is the second time Chicopee Police have raised money for Special Olympics. In the spring, officers worked at Dunkin' Donuts and all tips they earned went to the organization.

Wilk said the day was long and it got cold after the sun went down, but police enjoyed the views and it was a lot of fun interacting with the crowd below.

"We always say a community that works together and comes together like this is a better community for everyone," he said.