The blaze was reported late Sunday night at 38 Charles St.
Republican file
PALMER -- No injuries were reported late Sunday night in a kitchen fire on Charles Street that displaced two residents.
Three Rivers Fire Chief Scott Turner told WWLP the blaze was reported shortly 11 p.m. at 38 Charles St. The one resident who was home at the time safely escaped the blaze.
Western Mass News, television partner to The Republican and MassLive.com, described the property as a multi-family home and reported there was no exterior damage to the building.
Fire officials could not be reached for comment Monday morning.
President Barack Obama said Monday he will ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile and low-level offenders in federal prisons, citing the potential for "devastating, lasting psychological consequences" from the use of the isolation as punishment.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Monday he will ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile and low-level offenders in federal prisons, citing the potential for "devastating, lasting psychological consequences" from the use of the isolation as punishment.
"It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior," Obama wrote in an op-ed posted Monday evening on The Washington Post's website. "Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses."
Obama asked the Justice Department to review the use of solitary confinement last summer, as part of the administration's increased focus on the criminal justice system. Activists have been pushing for changes to the prison system.
The department review yielded a series of recommendations and 50 "guiding principles," which officials said would aim to ensure solitary confinement was an increasingly rare punishment used as an option of last resort when inmates posed a danger to staff, other inmates or themselves. The changes would also expand treatment for the mentally ill and ensure that inmates in solitary can spend more time outside their cells.
Obama said the reforms would affect roughly 10,000 inmates in the federal system. Roughly 100,000 people are in solitary confinement in the U.S., he said, adding that he hoped the changes would serve as a model for reforms at the state level.
Some states already are making changes.
New York prison officials agreed last month to overhaul the use of solitary confinement with reforms aimed at reducing the number of inmates sent to restrictive housing. Facing a lawsuit, California agreed in September to stop the practice of isolating gang leaders for unlimited periods. Mississippi, Arizona and Ohio have agreed to changes under legal pressure.
In making his case for changes, Obama cited the "heartbreaking" case of Kalief Browder, who at 16 was arrested on suspicion of stealing a backpack and sent to the Rikers Island facility in New York for three years. Browder was kept in solitary confinement and, according to his lawyer, beaten by inmates and guards. He was never tried and was released in 2013. He killed himself last year in his mother's Bronx home.
There were no injuries in the fire at 12-14 Manhattan St., a two-family home that sustained about $70,000 worth of damage, according to Springfield Fire Department spokesman Dennis Leger.
SPRINGFIELD — Firefighters doused a fire that forced several residents from their Manhattan Street home Monday evening.
There were no injuries in the 7:08 p.m. incident at 12-14 Manhattan St., a two-family home in the city's Old Hill section.
Red Cross officials were assisting half a dozen victims displaced by the blaze, which remains under investigation, said Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.
The 2½-story wood-frame home sustained about $70,000 damage, he said.
MAP showing approximate location of Old Hill fire:
The founder of a popular hot yoga method on Monday was ordered to pay more than $900,000 to a lawyer who said she was fired for investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the guru.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The founder of a popular hot yoga method on Monday was ordered to pay more than $900,000 to a lawyer who said she was fired for investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the guru.
A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram Choudhury to pay the attorney $924,500 in compensatory damages after finding he had subjected her to harassment and retaliation. The jury is considering whether to award the attorney, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, with punitive damages on Tuesday.
"It's an enormous vindication," said Jafa-Bodden's attorney, Carla Minnard.
She said Choudhury sexually harassed Jafa-Bodden, inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite. Choudhury fired her in June 2013 when she began investigating claims from other women of sexual abuse, Minnard said.
In this Sept. 27, 2003, file photo, Bikram Choudhury, front, founder of the Yoga College of India and creator and producer of Yoga Expo 2003. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Choudhury's attorney, Robert Tafoya, did not return a call for comment.
Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100 degrees. The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn a throng of devoted followers.
Monday's verdict is just the latest bad news for Choudhury.
In October, the guru lost a court appeal to copyright his sequence of 26 poses and two breathing exercises. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the sequence used in hot yoga classes is a process intended to improve people's health, so copyright law does not cover it.
Choudhury is also facing lawsuits by six women who claim he sexually assaulted them, the first of which is set for trial in April.
The most recent lawsuit, filed Feb. 13, accuses Choudhury of raping a Canadian woman who had she used $10,000 from her college fund to pay for a nine-week class so she could teach Bikram yoga to others.
Choudhury's lawyers have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him and that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in their cases.
Investigators remained at the crime scene for hours after a man was shot outside a Franklin Street bodega on Monday evening. An update on his condition was unavailable.
SPRINGFIELD — A man was seriously injured in a shooting in the city's Lower Liberty Heights section Monday evening.
Gunfire erupted outside a bodega at the corner of Franklin and Nursery streets shortly after 7 p.m. Police quickly located the victim, who was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center for emergency treatment. An update on his condition was unavailable.
"Yo, get him out of here," a bystander yelled to first responders, urging them to rush the victim to the hospital. Medical personnel appeared to be searching for a possible second victim, prompting the citizen to shout at them.
Authorities cordoned off the area in front of Franklin Super Market, a neighborhood business near the corner of Nursery Street, and began searching for shell casings and any other evidence tied to the shooting.
The suspected shooter reportedly fled the area in a vehicle. Additional information wasn't immediately available.
As of 11 p.m., police were still on scene investigating. Springfield Police Lt. Philip Tarpey told 22News that first responders worked "very aggressively" on the victim, who was taken to Baystate's Trauma Center.
The Lower Liberty Heights incident happened shortly after a man was fatally shot in the city's North End.
MAP showing approximate location of Lower Liberty Heights shooting:
A woman previously charged with lying to police about the stabbing death of Carlos Estrada in Worcester is now being charged with his murder.
These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. The most viewed photo gallery was Conor Berry's images taken of Springfield police investigating the city's first homicide of the year, above.
Crescencia Mejias, 48, has lived in Chestnut Towers for 20 years. She said she has been trying to move out of the building for almost that long.
SPRINGFIELD -- Crescencia Mejias, 48, has lived in Chestnut Towers for 20 years. She said she has been trying to move out of the building for almost that long.
In a recent interview outside the 34-story apartment building at 10 Chestnut St., she said she qualifies for Section 8 housing vouchers, and it is hard to find another apartment that accepts the vouchers and is a decent place to live.
Among her reasons for wanting to leave, she said, are the drug deals she is sure are going on in the building. Mejias said the drug activity is something most people in the building are aware of and are talking about. She sees people in the building she believes are dealers, she said.
And then, there are the building's three elevators. She said they are constantly broken.
"Last week," she said. "There was only one."
That means all residents of the 240 units in Springfield's tallest apartment building relied on a single elevator. They waited outside the elevators like commuters waiting for a train, and then piled in as many as could fit, residents said.
Ricky Ortiz, who lives part-time in the building with his aunt, said that she is older and cannot use the stairs. Sometimes, when all the elevators are broken, she calls him to pick up her prescriptions and climb the stairs to her apartment.
He said some tenants in the building have had bed bugs. Bed bug-sniffing dogs checked out his aunt's apartment and others on her floor, and found the bugs in some apartments. They were told the bugs have been exterminated, he said.
"The building used to be one of the nicest buildings to live in," Ortiz said. "Now it's not. Now it's crap. Now it's like nobody wants to live in there."
The building has seen better days. The same goes for Park Tower, Hawthorne House and Harrison House -- the other three buildings in the three-acre Chestnut Park Apartments.
Chestnut Towers was actually built as a luxury high-rise in 1976, but as the downtown declined around it, the tenants became mostly low-income. Twenty years ago -- around the time Mejias moved in -- the state sold the Towers and the rest of the Chestnut Park Apartments complex to Related Springfield Associates Limited Partnership.
The partnership, based in New York City and Boston, took over the $17 million mortgage and completed millions of dollars in renovations, from fixing up the sidewalks outside to rehabilitating the then-aging elevator, heating and air conditioning systems. As part of a deal to do the upgrades, the partnership was able to collect $1 million a year in low-income housing tax credits for a decade after.
Twenty years later and those elevators and sidewalks are in need of work again.
"We know the buildings are tired," Jack Alger, manager for the Chestnut Park Apartments, said in an interview in his office in November.
The company just can't afford the rehabilitation projects, including the elevators, at this time.
"Right now they're trying to refinance these places so they can rebuild them," he said of the elevators. They are repaired constantly, Alger said, but they need to be replaced at a cost of about $1 million each.
By refinancing, the owners may be able to negotiate better rates and could then borrow against the equity to pay for rehabilitation projects. The Chestnut Towers property has a 2015 assessed value of $9.9 million.
Also on the list of things to overhaul is the Towers' parking garage and empty rooftop pool.
A significant part of the parking garage is unsafe and has been blocked off to cars and pedestrians since August 2013. Alger said it has been "shored up" with scaffolding and no one is allowed to park there.
Richard V. Olsson, an inspector for the city, said that salt often causes parking garage decks to "rot" over time. The city did an emergency inspection and cordoned off the area after maintenance staff called in 2013 to report that the "upper level had dropped a few inches."
Since then, they've been checking the scaffolding and sometimes nudging staff to get moving on rehabilitating the garage.
Olsson said that while the broken elevators are a concern, the Towers has not had any "life safety" violations that he can recall. Those concern smoke detectors, sprinklers and other safety codes.
As for the rooftop pool, Alger said that it and the "sundeck" under a plexiglass dome have been closed for at least 10 years. It is in need of serious repairs and all-around updates before it can be reopened.
"It's obsolete," he said.
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency awarded Related Springfield Associates a $200,000 loan in 2011 to pay for significant repairs to eight elevators in the Chestnut Park Apartments. The loan agreement says the Critical Capital Needs Loan is for much-needed work that could not be financed through other means.
Representatives at The Dolben Company, which manages the building and is a part-owner, did not respond to several emails seeking comment for this story. An employee at the company reached by phone referred all comment to Alger.
When Alger was asked how long the refinancing process was likely to take, making way for all these repairs and renovations, he said it could be "less than a year," but may be more.
"It can take a while," he said.
In addition to refinancing, there are many different pots of public funding available to developers looking to rehabilitate their properties.
But some city officials seem skeptical that Related Springfield Associates is willing to make the investment necessary to qualify for assistance.
"With the current owner," said Kevin Kennedy, the city's chief development officer, "there wouldn't be much chance of doing much, unless a significant investment is made by this owner or a different owner."
Kennedy said the city's Office of Housing frequently talks with building owners about how they can find city or state funds -- almost always channelled from the federal government -- to help defray rehabilitation costs and provide incentive.
Geraldine McCafferty, the city's housing director, said that Chestnut Towers' owners are facing a common problem for aging low-income housing projects.
"The rents aren't high enough to support rehabilitation, so people don't rehab," she said. But, she added, "there are owners of properties who anticipate and plan for the rehab projects, and those that don't."
McCafferty said she was pleased to hear that Alger had mentioned the owners were refinancing. "It's terrific they're looking at updating it," she said.
As for how a developer would go about seeking public funding for such a project, McCafferty said that federal low-income housing credits generally make up the biggest chunk of funding.
It's the same process Related Springfield Associates used in 1996 when it secured $10 million in low-income housing credits by promising to invest millions in rehabilitating the then 20-year-old building.
But applying for the tax credits is a competitive process, she said. "It's common for these projects to take years to put funding together. Many apply multiple times and they don't get them until all the financing is in place," she said.
In addition to funding the work through tax credits that can be sold, developers may rely on private investors, loans from a private bank or the federal home loan banks, and public funds from federal, state and municipal programs.
"Any large multi-family redevelopment project usually has multiple funding sources," McCafferty said. Most have between eight and 15.
In Massachusetts, a developer can submit a "one-stop application" to the state seeking federal low-income tax credits and any other funds available for a rehabilitation or building project.
For example, qualifying developers in Springfield who fill out the application will be considered for a pot of federal HOME funds the city receives each year because it has been designated an "entitlement community," McCafferty said.
She estimated that the federal program has provided the city with between $50,000 and $500,000 each year for the last 10 years, although with cuts, the amount is trending downward.
The funds usually go to one to three landlords each year, she said. Chestnut Towers has not applied for these funds in her five years in the Office of Housing, she said.
The money is not given out to any developer who is looking for help renovating. The money is generally used to help out on a big project that includes much bigger financing pieces, like low-income tax credits.
An example of big rehabilitation project the city has award HOME funds to is the $75 million Outing Park project. Over five years, the developer transformed 22 historic buildings into quality housing. First Resource Development Co. completed the project with low-income and historic tax credits and $1.5 million in HOME funds, among other funding.
McCafferty said that her office is interested in using the HOME funds and others to raise the standard of living for those who reside in low-income housing developments. But at the same time, city officials would love to see those overwhelmingly low-income developments become a thing of the past.
"The model that's really coming forward now is mixed-income," she said.
It's something city officials have been advocating for at Chestnut Towers since 1996, when it was announced that Related Springfield Associates was buying the building and designating the vast majority of units affordable.
But convincing developers in a tough housing market to reduce the number of apartments designated for low-income residents is a tough sell. Every unit that becomes market-rate reduces the amount of low-income tax credits the owner can receive.
Kennedy recalled when the Chestnut Towers was built in 1976. It was "very, very nice," he said, and was intended mostly to be rented to young professionals.
Now, he said, families with housing vouchers end up living in a high-rise with no recreation facilities nearby for children.
The two possibilities -- the rooftop pool and Pynchon Park, are both locked up.
The park, located between the Towers' parking garage and Hampden House, was built by the city and the Chestnut Park developer, MB Associates. It was intended to be a handsome way to connect Dwight and Chestnut streets, with an elevator and fountains. But it has been repeatedly opened and closed due to vandalism and other crime. Police recently cleaned up a homeless encampment there.
The 110 acre 18-hole golf course property is appraised at $4.2 million.
EASt LONGMEADOW - The Elmcrest Country Club including its buildings and 110 acres of property, is set to be sold at a mortgage foreclosure auction.
The sale is scheduled for at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the club 105 Somersville Road, East Longmeadow.
However, course manager Jim Haberern said Monday that he is trying to buy the club ahead of the scheduled auction so it can reopen for the 2016 golf season. The course was open for golf through the fall of 2015.
The sale will include the 18-hole course, the clubhouse, banquet hall, swimming pool, maintenance building, groundskeeping equipment along with all the bar, lounge, restaurant, kitchen and banquet equipment and the course' all-alcohol beverage license, according to an announcement from Aaron Posnik & Co., Inc.
The most recent mortgage on the property was a loan taken out from the then Bank of Western Massachusetts, now Peoples United Bank in 2009 for $675,00, according to records on file at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.
The late Joe Pagos of East Longmeadow co-founded the course in 1964 and was its longtime owner. Pagos died in 2008.
According to The Republican's archives, management of the course passed to Pagos' nephews, Jim Haberern and his brother Jack Haberern who was the head groundskeeper.
Jay Nomakeo, owner of Western Mass Golf, said Monday that the auction stems from a disagreement between the brothers. Monakeo, who has handled marketing for course, said he's working with Jim Haberern on his bid to buy the course and avoid the foreclosure auction.
Jack Haberern could not be reached for comment Monday.
The Holyoke budget was supposed to have funding for 72 firefighters but a review found only 67 were funded.
HOLYOKE -- The chief said Monday that a six-figure deficit appeared in the Fire Department budget recently because the acting city auditor miscalculated the number of firefighters' salaries that had to be funded in relation to when a grant expired.
The budget was supposed to fund 72 firefighter salaries with the help of a federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant but a routine analysis showed that with expiration of the grant, only 67 were funded, Fire Chief John A. Pond said.
Mayor Alex B. Morse has said he was notified of the Fire Department budget problem Jan. 14. The shortfall totals $319,000 and consists of about $169,000 to pay firefighter salaries and $150,000 for firefighter overtime, he said.
"Funding for the five firefighters coming off the first SAFER grant were not added to that line item," Pond said in a text message. "The auditor approves the final numbers and must have been confused about the grant's end date. Seems to be an honest mistake."
But acting City Auditor Bellamy H. Schmidt said Monday he didn't know how the shortfall occurred. The shortfall was noticed as Schmidt was doing a routine, mid-fiscal year analysis with Dale T. Glenn, executive administrative assistant at the Fire Department, a few weeks ago. The analysis was done to see how the department was running in terms of available funds for the rest of the fiscal year, Schmidt said.
"Quite frankly, after learning (the shortfall) had to do with the grant, we never focused on" how it occurred," Schmidt said.
Once the shortfall became known, the analysis shifted to how to plug the hole. It was determined that that could be done by transferring money from numerous long-term debt accounts, he said.
"To me, the past is the past. I want to look at the future," Schmidt said.
But the sudden need to fill a six-figure gap in the middle of the fiscal year in a budget thought to be sound has frustrated city councilors already grappling with how to stretch the city's lower-than-usual free cash account.
"Are we running that pathetic of an operation or are we running a professional operation?" City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said, during a Finance Committee Monday on such budget issues.
Officials traditionally depend on the free cash account to pay for unexpected expenses such as clean ups after severe snow storms. Free cash is money left unspent from the previous fiscal year. The state Department of Revenue (DOR) in late November certified that the amount of free cash available to the city in the current fiscal year was $2.2 million, only about half the total of recent years.
Morse said the funds are available to transfer from the long-term debt accounts because City Treasurer Sandra A. Smith had over-estimated the amount needed for the year out of an abundance of caution. It was only at this point in the fiscal year, six months in, that it could be determined that that money was available, he said.
The proposal to address the Fire Department budget shortfall with transfers from the long-term debt accounts must be submitted to the City Council for approval.
Pond said he was operating from the beginning of the fiscal year July 1 with the understanding the budget was funding 72 firefighters.
"During the budget process the city approved 72 firefighter positions. Seventy-two is the number included in the budget detail I was provided, and that is the number I have been managing to for 'FY16,'" Pond said, referring to the current fiscal year.
The City Council learned of the Fire Department budget problem when Finance Committee Chairman Todd A. McGee discussed it during the Jan. 19 council meeting. But it was unclear exactly how the sudden budget gap had occurred beyond that it was related to the number of firefighter salaries and a grant having expired, he said.
On Friday, Pond referred questions about how the shortfall in the Fire Department budget occurred to Schmidt, who was unavailable Friday but commented Monday.
The city had received two grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the SAFER program. In 2013, the first grant was for $668,155 to pay for five firefighters' salaries and benefits for two years years, Pond said.
The second grant, in 2014, was for $1,069,048 to pay for eight firefighters' salaries and benefits for two years, he said.
The Fire Department is working hard to save money, Pond said. That's being done by taking a truck out of service occasionally if not enough firefighters are available to staff the vehicle, to avoid paying other firefighters overtime to complete a truck's staffing needs, he said.
The step, known as a "brown out," has saved $210,000 by avoiding such overtime in the two recent periods in which brown outs have been used. The first was Dec. 5, 2014 to Aug. 6, 2015. The second is ongoing and began Dec. 11, he said.
"I can assure you the Holyoke Fire Department will continue to strive to maintain the professional level of service our citizens deserve and have come to expect. All of our fire stations will remain open and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure a timely response is available to our residents in their time of need," Pond said.
Here is a list of frequently asked questions with answers about brown outs from Holyoke Fire Chief John A. Pond:
What is a brown out?
A brown out is a commonly used phrase in the Fire Service. A brown out is when you temporarily take an Engine or Ladder Company out of service and redistribute the staff to fill in personnel gaps in other Companies.
How is the reduction in overtime achieved?
Currently when personnel are needed to maintain the minimum staffing of 22 Firefighters per shift, those shortages are filled with overtime personnel. Using brown outs will allow the Department to redistribute its personnel and limit overtime to achieve a savings in overtime.
When a company goes out of service (browned out), that piece of equipment is no longer used for that shift, the personnel (3 Firefighters from that Engine Company or Ladder Company) are redistributed to other, in-service Companies which require staffing due to vacation, personal, union, IOD (injured on duty), etc.
Who will respond when a company is browned out and what will happen to response times?
A surrounding Engine or Ladder Company that is currently staffed with a minimum of 3 Firefighters will respond to the emergency (Important note: NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 1710 the recommended staffing for an Engine Company is 4 Firefighters, and 5 Firefighters for a Truck Company).
The Department will continuously review any fluctuations in response times based on personnel and equipment deployment to ensure that we are responding to the needs of our citizens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. (NFPA 1710 states, fire suppression resources shall be deployed to provide for the arrival of an engine company within 240 seconds).
How were companies chosen for brown outs?
Companies were chosen based on information and data related to:
- Response times based on NFPA 1710
- Size of the service area and capability of perimeter companies to respond (web of coverage)
- Workload based on call volume
- Facility security
This series will take a closer look at the history and the current state of Chestnut Towers and the other three Chestnut Park buildings, 40 years after they were completed.
SPRINGFIELD -- In 1976, advertisements for the luxury apartment building Chestnut Towers called it "Springfield's new landmark." Ads for the four-building Chestnut Park project along Dwight Street told prospective renters that the apartments were number one.
"Why settle for second best! Be selective!" the ads shouted from the pages of the Springfield Union.
When Chestnut Towers was poised to open around Jan. 1, 1976, Springfield Union reporter Thomas C. Marinelli said the skyscraper "captured the feeling of a big city apartment house."
Marinelli wrote that "the view almost made the Connecticut River pass for New York's East River."
There was a lot of excitement around the construction of the 34-story tower on the corner of Dwight, State and Chestnut streets. It was the crown jewel of the $20 million Chestnut Park project, and the last of the four buildings in the project to be built. They took up three acres along Dwight Street.
Robert McCarroll, who worked in the city's planning department when the high-rise went up, called it "very sophisticated" in a recent interview.
"It was full of lawyers and teachers and business people," plus some well-to-do retirees, he said.
Among the classy parties he attended in the Towers was an early-morning party to watch the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981.
But 40 years after its birth, no one would use the words luxury, landmark and number one to describe Chestnut Towers.
Now, they might call it broken-down, seedy, even unsafe due to alleged drug activity and other crime. The manager of the building himself called the city's tallest apartment building "tired."
Elevators break down daily, and part of the parking garage deck is supported by temporary scaffolding.
Residents say the building is frequented by drug dealers. Springfield Police said they keep a close eye on the building because of drugs and other disturbances.
Residents have voiced similar concerns at the other three buildings in the Chestnut Park Apartments, which take up just over a block along Dwight Street. They are Park Tower at 68 Harrison St., Hawthorne House at 185 Dwight St., Hampden House at 115 Dwight St. Chestnut Towers is located at 10 Chestnut St.
While the Towers began as high-end market rate apartments, Hampden House and Park Tower included some units earmarked for elderly and low-income residents, respectively.
This series will take a closer look at the history and the current state of the Towers and the other three buildings, 40 years after they were completed.
How did this happen?
The construction of the Chestnut Park Apartments including the luxury high-rise was driven by the so-called "back to the city" movement in the 1970s and early 1980s, McCarroll said.
Former Springfield mayor Michael Albano recalled the downtown draw for young people.
"They had entertainment, restaurants, and they'd be working there. They could walk to work," he said. It was a hub for retail and even had eight movie theaters downtown. "It was a different era, a different city."
That was the era and city in which MB Associates of Boston proposed construction of the $20 million Chestnut Park project.
Initially, the plans called for five structures, three of which were apartment buildings with a total of 454 apartments. They included the 34-story Chestnut Towers, 17-story Park Tower, and Hampden House. There was also a 240-space parking garage and an office building that would later become the Hawthorne House apartment building.
Construction began on the buildings in 1974 and finished, with Chestnut Towers, at the end of 1975. According to archived articles from the Springfield Union, 2,500 people flooded Chestnut Towers to tour model apartments in December 1975, a few weeks before the building was ready for occupancy.
The Springfield Union reported that the cost of the Towers one- and two-bedroom units ranged from $298 to $500.
Many well-to-do people did move into the Towers in early 1976, and businesses occupied the retail space on the ground floor. The company reduced rents within a few months when some of the units went unrented.
Seven months later, the company converted the sole retail and office building in the project into 33 one-bedroom apartments. The building is now called Hawthorne House.
A period of decline
McCarroll, a member of the city's Springfield Preservation Trust, said real estate developers and many others got wrapped up in the "headiness" of the early 1980s. "They thought it would go on forever," he said.
It didn't. In the second half of the decade, he said, Springfield got caught up in two "national debacles," and the downtown downward spiral began.
In the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, several banks in downtown Springfield failed and were taken over. Big companies went under and people lost their jobs.
The housing market crashed. Suddenly, McCarroll said, there was a glut of vacant downtown property and foreclosures were everywhere.
"It was really a rough time," he said.
Unemployment and poverty touched more and more downtown neighborhoods, and they became what McCarroll called "degentrified." Crime and drugs crept into previously decent areas of the city, and many who could afford to live elsewhere picked up and left, McCarroll said.
And with less people working and living downtown, there were fewer people to support the kind of entertainment and culture that had drawn the "back to the city" people in the first place.
As the middle-income people fled downtown, landlords like MB Associates still needed tenants. Rents got cheap, and low-income people moved into more downtown units.
MB Associates was among the downtown apartment building owners who were foreclosed on after they could not make ends meet. In 1995 the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, which had provided the company with a $20 million low-interest construction loan back in the 1970s, ended up owning it with $17 million left on the mortgage.
That was never the plan, McCarroll said, so the agency asked developers to bid on it. In a time when the real estate market was slumping, low-income housing credits were a practical way for a developer to make money from apartment buildings.
By officially restricting some units for rental to low-income people whose rents are subsidized, a developer could get federal tax credits. The credits are sold for equity, which allows the developer to make more money and, in theory, pay off the mortgage.
By this point, the MHFA said, 91 percent of the tenants in Chestnut Park Apartments were already considered low-income. Seventy percent already received some type of federal or state housing voucher, the Union News reported.
Related Springfield Associates Limited Partnership bought the building with plans to turn it into predominantly low-income housing. The partnership is made up of Related Capital Company, a New-York-based real estate firm, and the Dolben Company. Dolben, based in Woburn, had been managing Chestnut Park Apartments for a year before the purchase in 1996.
Related Springfield Associates paid just shy of $18,000 to the MHFA and took over the mortgage. It still owns the building.
At the time, according to the Union News, the partnership said it would invest between $4 and $7 million to upgrade the elevator, heating, and air conditioning systems and make other "exterior improvements."
The partnership designated 410 units, or 84 percent, as affordable, according to the Union News. The company would collect roughly $1 million in tax credits every year for a decade.
Albano, who became mayor in 1996, was among the city officials who argued that creating such a dense, low-income housing project would be detrimental to the downtown and unfair to the people in the buildings.
"I wanted some balance, and not a saturation of low-income housing" in the downtown, he said.
Now, according to property manager Jack Alger, about two-thirds of Chestnut Park Apartments' tenants use Section 8 vouchers to pay for some or part of their rent. Generally, families can qualify for a voucher if their income does not exceed 50 percent of the median income for the area. In most cases, they are expected to pay 30 percent of their monthly adjusted gross income in rent.
Kevin Kennedy, the city's chief development officer, called the decision to designate Chestnut Park Apartments as affordable housing "one of the most difficult decisions that ever happened to the downtown."
Albano said he never got any complaints about the buildings' management during his time in office that he can recall. Still he has concerns about the upkeep of the building, especially after reading stories by The Republican this past summer about constantly broken elevators in Chestnut Towers.
Moments after Boyle set bail at $50,000, one of Gaines' relatives stormed out of the courtroom. In the hallway, court officers broke up a disturbance involving several of Haines' supporters.
SPRINGFIELD - Reputed gang member Devonne A. Haines wanted to deliver a message - and he used a .22 caliber assault rifle to do it, police said.
Early Saturday morning, the 19-year-old pointed the rifle at his cousin's boyfriend and ordered him to leave his Dresden Street apartment, according to the arrest report.
The boyfriend left - and called 911 to report the threat. Within an hour, Springfield police had seized a rifle in Haines' apartment and arrested him on firearms and drug charges.
On Monday, Haines pleaded not guilty in Springfield District Court to eight charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a large-capacity firearm, possession of a firearm without an FID card, receiving stolen property and possession of crack cocaine.
Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski asked for $50,000 bail, noting that the defendant picked up new charges less than a month after being placed on probation on a larceny case.
She asked Judge William Boyle to revoke the defendant's bail in the larceny case.
In addition to being a member of the Sycamore Street gang, Haines has a juvenile record that includes arrests for assault and battery, assault and battery on a police officer and other charges, the prosecutor said.
Thirty five rounds of ammunition were recovered, including 12 in the large-capacity magazine, according to the prosecutor, who said the rifle was reported stolen in Wilbraham in November.
"The firearm did not have a trigger lock and was not stored in a secure case," Szafranski said.
"It was easily accessible," she said.
A plastic bag with two grams of crack cocaine was also found in Haines' apartment, the prosecutor said.
Student defense lawyer Tasha Marshall opposed the bail request, saying that $50,000 much more than his family could raise.
Haines grew up in Springfield, attended the High School of Commerce and has worked for Federal Express and United Parcel Services, Marshall said.
Nine family members and supporters came to court for the arraignment, including Haines' mother, aunt, girlfriend and the couple's small child, Marshall said.
Imposing high cash bail would not only take Haines him from his family, it would prevent him from paying court-ordered restitution from the 2015 larceny case, Marshall said.
"There's no way he can make restitution if he's locked up in jail," she said.
At the prosecutor's request, Boyle set bail at $50,000 on the new charges and found probable cause that Haines had violated probation in the 2015 larceny case.
He scheduled pretrial hearings in both cases to March 3.
Moments after judge set bail at $50,000, one of Haines' relatives stormed from the courtroom. In the hall, court officers broke up a disturbance involving several of Haines' supporters.
Though born the eldest of three sons, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker became a big brother to another as a young man.
Though born the eldest of three sons, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker became a big brother to another as a young man.
Long before a run for office, Baker served as a mentor in the Big Brother program.
He and John Newlon could not have been more different. Baker was the product of a notable family enrolled at Harvard College while Newlon was a recently expelled teenager whose family struggled financially.
The two were paired by a Big Brother program in the Boston area and their first year together is one described by the now-governor as both formative and tense.
"He was having a hard time figuring out why I was so interested in spending time with him," Baker said.
Eventually, Baker won Newlon's trust. The two men have gone on to keep in touch decades later, through Baker's rise in politics and Newlon's highs and lows.
The governor spoke of his experience as a mentor during Youth Mentoring Day at the State House last week.
Addressing a crowd of legislators, members of not-for-profit organizations and participants in youth outreach programs, Baker emphasized that everyone needs someone to be there for them through success and setback.
"You watch people stand up at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, whatever it happens to be and the first thing they do is thank someone that was that special person who helped them find their way," he said. "Mentoring is another version of this."
He emphasized the need to work with children without role models at home.
"Kids are smart and kids who have gone through troubled times are smarter. They know what disappointment feels like and they want to keep it from happening," Baker said, speaking from experience.
When children and teenagers find someone who will be there no matter what, "it's a game changer," he said.
Thursday's event was the 10th annual Youth Mentoring Day at the State House, organized by Mass Mentoring Partnership and Highland Street AmeriCorps Ambassadors of Mentoring.
Marty Martinez, president and CEO of Mass Mentoring, said he was honored to have Baker serve as the keynote speaker during the event. His longstanding and personal commitment to mentoring as well as his recognition of the role that empowering youth-adult relationships can have in strengthening our communities makes him the
ideal person to join us for this important day."
Gov. Charlie Baker tried to cut funding for the state's tourism agency in the budget process last summer only to be, overruled by the legislature which restored the money. A few weeks ago Baker cut $2 million earmarked for domestic marketing from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism's $16.2 million budget.
SPRINGFIELD - Many of the new things happening in Springfield -- the renovated Union Station, the MGM Springfield casino and resort or the anticipated Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum -- won't have as great an impact on the local economy if the state doesn't continue to promote the region as a destination, tourism boosters fear.
"We have a lot happening in Springfield," state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, said following a Joint Legislative Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development hearing Monday at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts. "We are at an inflection point. Now is the time to take advantage of it. Look even at the rehabilitation of I-91."
Speakers included representatives from the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield.
It was the first in a series of hearings Lesser and the committee hope to host around the state, with future stops including the Amherst and Northampton area and a hearing in the Berkshires.
The reason? State funding for tourism promotion is in jeopardy, especially headed into what promises to be a tight budget cycle. Gov. Charlie Baker is expected to make his fiscal 2017 budget proposal the Legislature on Thursday.
In the last budget cycle, Baker tried to cut funding for the state's tourism agency. The Baker administration was overridden by the Legislature which restored the money. Then just a few weeks ago, Baker cut $2 million earmarked for domestic marketing from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism's $16.2 million budget. The $6 million state budget for regional tourism councils such as the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Hampshire County Tourism & Visitors Bureau and the Mohawk Trail Association, was not touched.
But just because funding held steady in the current budget doesn't mean it will be in the next proposed budget, Lesser said.
In the Pioneer Valley, the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, received $200,000 from the $6 million in tourism council funding, said Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, The grant must be matched with funds from member businesses and destinations. The money goes to fund tourism promotion including a guide book updated annually, a website and ads run by the Bureau runs out of this market touting attractions like Six Flags, the Museums and the Big E.
And there is a local tourism industry, Wydra said, it generated $750 million in local spending and 5,000 jobs in 2014, including $55 million in tax revenue. Those are the most recent figures she had available.
Lesser said every dollar spent on tourist promotion generates $7 in local spending.
Any budget cutbacks have an impact, said Darlene Blaney, business manager at the Zoo at Forest Park & Education Center.
"Our animals are always taken care of," Blaney said. "When we lose funding, it comes out of our promotion budget. We never take it out of caring for our animals."
The economic benefits of tourism promotion also bleed into more traditional economic development activities, said Richard K. Sullivan Jr., economic development council of Western Massachusetts President & CEO. Promotion efforts that showcase the region's assets can also be used to lure and to retain educated and skilled workers looking for a high quality of life.
"We have jobs that are open," he said.
Sullivan also spoke of how Boston's abandoned Olympic bid is benefiting Western Massachusetts where leaders got together to pitch for parts of the games, like Springfield as a basketball venue or the Deerfield River for whitewater kayaking and canoeing.
"We might be the only part of the state that sees a benefit from the Olympic effort," Sullivan said.
A New Hampshire man who suffered second and third-degree burns after a vaporizer battery exploded in his pocket is now recovering in a Boston hospital, his family told WMUR News.
TILTON, NH - A New Hampshire man who suffered second and third-degree burns after a vaporizer battery exploded in his pocket is now recovering in a Boston hospital, his family told WMUR News.
The family of Matthew Gilson, a 26-year-old from Moultonborough, NH, said he has burns on his legs and hand. He had hand surgery on Monday.
Gilson's mother, Laura McCrea, said video from her son's work in Tilton last week shows smoke coming from Gilson as the battery explodes.
"It just blew up within a matter of minutes," McCrea told WMUR News. She said her son has received several skin grafts and is in a lot of pain.
Gilson, his mother told the television station, bought the vaporizer a month ago as a way to try to stop using cigarettes.
Police have identified the victim as 30-year-old James Dominguez lll
PITTSFIELD -- A preliminary autopsy conducted on a Springfield man found lying unresponsive on the ground on Fenn Street early Saturday indicates that he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Police continue to investigate the death of 30-year-old James Dominguez III, according to a release issued by the Berkshire County District Attorney's office.
Officers were summoned to the area of 129 Fenn St. at about 1:30 a.m. for a report of an unresponsive male. First responders immediately began performing CPR. The victim was taken to Berkshire Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The autopsy was performed in Holyoke by Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Welton, according to the release.
Sgt. John Delaney said police continue to investigate the homicide, the city's first of the year. No arrests have been made.
Delaney, the police department's public information officer, declined to release the victim's name, but said he is a city resident. He declined to elaborate on possible motives.
Police responded to a shooting report around 5:45 p.m. on Brookline Avenue, a residential block between Chestnut and Dwight streets in the Memorial Square section of the neighborhood.
Police closed the street to traffic and cordoned off the area outside 38 Brookline Ave., a residence with a driveway leading to a garage at the rear of the property. The shooting apparently took place in that area, where multiple law enforcement officials could be seen entering and leaving via the driveway.
MAP showing approximate location of North End homicide:
HUD will provide $300,000 over the next two years to Tech Foundry, the downtown nonprofit that trains local residents for in-demand IT jobs at local companies.
Disaster recovery is not just about toughening infrastructure and repairing buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development -- it is also about jobs.
That principle was put into effect by HUD's $17 million disaster mitigation grant awarded to Springfield last week. In addition to hydropower development and home rehabilitations, the funding -- part of HUD's $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition -- will provide $300,000 over the next two years to Tech Foundry, the downtown nonprofit that trains local residents for in-demand IT jobs at local companies.
Tech Foundry Director of Strategic Partnerships Jonathan Edwards said the funding will target job training for neighborhoods affected by a series of natural disasters that have afflicted Springfield in recent years, including the June 1, 2011 tornado and an October 2011 snowstorm. The goal is to provide good jobs for local residents, ensure that local companies have access to skilled workers and encourage tech companies to launch operations in Springfield, he said.
"There is an avenue to a sustainable career path and [residents] can be part of the revitalization of these neighborhoods," Edwards said. "Certainly more people will be trained."
Tech Foundry graduated its first class in June of 2015, and its second in October. Classes are targeted to the employment needs of local companies and taught by corporate partners like Baystate Health and Crocker Communications.
Edwards said he also hopes that the increased training offerings could draw green tech companies to the area, boosting job opportunities and contributing to efforts to mitigate climate change.
"What we work with the city to do is to demonstrate is that as companies grow, and as clean tech companies grow, they need IT support to grow," Edwards said. "We'll be recruiting students, we'll be working with companies on the training."
The money will allow Tech Foundry to increase community outreach efforts as well as train more students, Edwards said. The nonprofit has adjusted and refined its program since its pilot class graduated in June, targeting students seeking immediate work in IT to better fill positions at Tech Foundry's corporate partners.
"As we get more funding, it doesn't simply allow us to do what we have done. It allows us to expand upon what we have done," he said.
Kristine Foye, regional administrator for HUD, said last week that the grant program was extremely competitive with 67 applicants deemed eligible initially including cities, regions and 47 states. Springfield was among 13 successful applicants nationwide.
Oregon standoff spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was killed and other top leaders of the wildlife refuge occupation were arrested Tuesday after law enforcement officials stopped vehicles about 20 miles north of Burns.
BURNS - Oregon standoff spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was killed and other leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation were arrested Tuesday after the FBI and state police stopped vehicles about 20 miles north of Burns.
Authorities did not release the name of the person who died at the highway stop, but Finicum's daughter confirmed it was Finicum, 55, of Cane Beds, Arizona, one of the cowboy-hat wearing faces of the takeover.
"My dad was such a good good man, through and through," said Arianna Finicum Brown, 26, one of Finicum's 11 children. "He would never ever want to hurt somebody, but he does believe in defending freedom and he knew the risks involved."
Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nev., suffered a minor gunshot wound in the confrontation about 4:30 p.m. along U.S. 395. He was treated and released from a local hospital and was in FBI custody, authorities said.
Also arrested during the stop were his brother, Ammon Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho, Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont., Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada, and Shawna J. Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah. They were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers, a felony.
Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore said that Ammon Bundy called his wife, Lisa Bundy, from the back of a police car on Tuesday night
Fiore, a vocal supporter of the Bundy family, said that Ammon Bundy told his wife that Finicum was cooperating with police when he was shot.
But sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Finicum and Ryan Bundy disobeyed orders to surrender and resisted arrest. No other details were available.
Finicum on Monday told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an interview that "the tenor has changed" between the occupiers and federal authorities.
They're doing all the things that shows that they want to take some kinetic action against us," he said.
At the refuge Tuesday evening, occupier Jason Patrick reported no unusual activity. "It's pretty quiet here," Patrick said. He said no one was leaving as of 6 p.m.
Hours later, Patrick said the refuge remained quiet but "we're all standing here ready to defend our peaceful resolution." He wouldn't elaborate.
In the meantime, Operation Mutual Defense, a network of militias and patriot sympathizers, issued a call on its website for help at the refuge. The post was written by Gary Hunt, a board member from California who has expressed support for Timothy McVeigh, who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City and had ties to the patriot movement.
"You have an obligation to proceed to the Harney County Resource Center (the wildlife refuge) immediately," Hunt wrote. "If you fail to arrive, you will demonstrate by your own actions that your previous statements to defend life, liberty, and property were false."
In Burns, Oregon State Police also arrested Joseph D. O'Shaughnessy, 45, Cottonwood, Arizona, known in militia circles as "Captain," and Pete Santilli, 50, of Cincinnati, an independent broadcaster known for his aggressive manner and live streaming refuge events. They face conspiracy charges of impeding federal officers.
Jon Ritzheimer, 32, a key militant leader, surrendered to police in Arizona on the conspiracy charge. He gained national fame for complaining on a video about the delivery of sex toys to the refuge in response to the occupiers' plea for supplies.
Gov. Kate Brown called for calm late Tuesday night.
"The situation in Harney County continues to be the subject of a federal investigation that is in progress," she said in a statement. "My highest priority is the safety of all Oregonians and their communities. I ask for patience as officials continue pursuit of a swift and peaceful resolution."
Little detail was available about the dramatic finish to the free-roaming ways of the militant leaders. State police said troopers were involved in the shooting and that one person died, another suffered non-life-threatening injuries and no police were hurt.
The militants seized the wildlife refuge on Jan. 2, insisting they wouldn't leave until their demands were met, including the freeing of two Harney County ranchers jailed on federal arson charges.
One militant on Tuesday afternoon posted a video of Ammon Bundy talking earlier in the day with an FBI negotiator identified only as "Chris." The two have been negotiating since last week, with Bundy dictating the circumstances under which he would talk and what the group wanted.
The leaders were on the highway bound for John Day, where they were scheduled to participate in an evening community meeting set up by local residents. A crowd of several hundred had gathered at the John Day Senior Center and were subsequently told the the "guest speakers" would not be appearing.
The highway was blocked for a 40-mile stretch between Burns and John Day. Police were stationed near Seneca, a small city of 200 south of John Day, with long guns. They said they didn't know how long the roadblock would be place. Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer was there.
Palmer two weeks ago had met with Payne and Ritzheimer. He later publicly declared that Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven, should be freed from federal prison to help end the standoff. Palmer also has recommended that the FBI leave the Harney County scene and turn the matter to local police.
The occupiers have been moving without police interference between the refuge and Burns, even attending a county-sponsored community meeting at the Burns High School a week ago. Police estimated at least 50 militants scattered through the crowd of about 400 people.
The dramatic event came days after public officials had gone public complaining about the apparent inaction by law enforcement. The governor had complained directly to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey as well as the White House. On Monday, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, who chairs the county commission, also publicly urged police to resolve the occupation.
Payne and Bundy have been in and out of Harney County since November, aroused by the sentencing of the Hammonds. In October, they were ordered back to federal prison to finish five-year terms for deliberating starting fires that burned federal land in 2001 and 2006. Bundy and his followers had demanded that Harney County Sheriff David Ward protect the ranchers from having to surrender, a demand Ward rejected.
Payne and other militia met local residents in an informal meeting on New Year's Day in Burns, vowing they had peaceful intentions. The next day, about 300 people - a mix of militia and local residents - paraded in protest through downtown Burns, stopping at the sheriff's office and then stopping at the home of Dwight Hammond and his wife Susan.
That afternoon, a splinter group of militants drove out to the refuge, left vacant after federal authorities warned employees to stay away over safety concerns. Later, Payne confirmed in interviews with The Oregonian/OregonLive that the group had long planned to seize the refuge.
Besides demanding freedom for the Hammonds, the Bundy group wanted the refuge turned over to prior private owners and to the county. They insist that the federal government has no constitutional authority to control land in Harney County, a county that measures 10,000 square miles. The federal government controls 76 percent. The Bundy group also has encouraged ranchers to renounced their federal grazing permits, showcasing a New Mexico rancher Saturday at the refuge who did just that.
-- Laura Gunderson, Carli Brosseau, Denis Theriault, Luke Hammill, Elliot Njus, Anna Marum, and Ian Kullgren of The Oregonian contributed to this post.
Holyokers will choose from among Democratic, Republican, Green-Rainbow and United Independent party candidates in the presidential primary.
HOLYOKE -- City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee said Tuesday her office is gearing up for the presidential primary election March 1.
Ballots in the seven wards will offer chances to vote for candidates from the
Democratic, Republican, Green-Rainbow and United Independent parties in the race to be U.S. president.
Ballots for the different wards are being sorted and poll workers are being lined up for duty among other steps taking place in preparation for the presidential primary, Murphy McGee said.
The results of primary elections like Massachusetts' award delegates to presidential candidates depending on their order of finish in the voting.
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, a businessman from San Diego, California
Republicans:
Jim Gilmore
Donald J. Trump
Ted Cruz
George Pataki
Ben Carson
Mike Huckabee
Rand Paul
Carly Fiorina
Rick Santorum
Chris Christie
Marco Rubio
Jeb Bush
John R. Kasich
Green-Rainbow:
Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry
Jill Stein
William P. Kreml
Kent Mesplay
Darryl Cherney
United Independent Party - No Nominations
Voters in some wards also will see ballots listing candidates for state committee man and state committee woman and for seats on the ward committees, of the Democratic and Republican parties. Those are the major political parties.
If no candidates for such seats for the Green-Rainbow and for the United Independent parties are listed, it's because no one took out nomination papers to seek such seats.
State committee members are elected from voters in the Massachusetts state Senate districts. The state committee runs the state Democratic Party, for example, hiring staff, operating on the state political convention and acting on platform resolutions.
The Galvin website said the ward or town committees are the "basic legal organization" of political parties in the state. Each party can elect such a committee consisting of three to 35 members to four-year terms in each ward of a city.
The function of such committees is to represent the party at the neighborhood level, promote party objectives and work for the nomination and election of party candidates.
Polls will be open for the presidential primary from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Here are the Holyoke polling places:
WARD ONE
Precinct A - Rosary Towers, 24 Bowers St.
Precinct B - Prospect Heights Community Room, 41 Chestnut St.
WARD TWO
Precinct A - Morgan School gym, 596 South Bridge St.
Precinct B - Falcetti Towers, 475 Maple St.
WARD THREE
Precinct A - Elmwood Engine House, South Street
Precinct B - Metcalf School, 2019 Northampton St.
WARD FOUR
Precinct A - St. Paul's Church Parish, 485 Appleton St.
Precinct B - St. Paul's Church Parish, 485 Appleton St.
WARD FIVE
Precinct A - McMahon School gym, 75 Kane Road
Precinct B - Donahue School gym, 210 Whiting Farms Road
WARD SIX
Precinct A - Sullivan School, 400 Jarvis Ave.
Precinct B - Sullivan School, 400 Jarvis Ave.
WARD SEVEN
Precinct A - E. N. White School, 1 Jefferson St.
Precinct B - E. N. White School, 1 Jefferson St.
