Quantcast
Channel: News
Viewing all 62489 articles
Browse latest View live

East Longmeadow police: Traffic stop yields arrest of Wilbraham man, confiscation of 'On Point' heroin

0
0

Police said they spotted the suspect's Silverado pickup truck on Elm Street Wednesday afternoon, performed a query on the plate and determined that it's registration status didn't match the vehicle.

popacrop.jpgDenis Popa  

EAST LONGMEADOW -- A Wednesday afternoon traffic stop yielded the arrest of a Wilbraham man and the confiscation of drugs -- including a bundle of heroin bags stamped "On Point."

Police spotted the suspect's Silverado pickup truck on Elm Street at about 4 p.m., performed a query on the plate and determined that it's registration status didn't match the vehicle, Sgt, Denis Sheehan said.

The Silverado pulled onto Virginia Street in an apparent attempt to evade police and then pulled out on Elm Street again where it was stopped, Sheehan said.

The suspect was unable to produce the vehicle's registration and handed over an unsigned title for it, Sheehan said.

Police called for a tow and the suspect became evasive when he was asked to empty out some containers in the pickup. He ultimately grant police permission to look inside the vehicle and they found hypodermic needles and syringes.

When police asked the man if he was diabetic, he replied in the negative and the officers continued in their search. They ultimately found the heroin, along with Suboxone and paroxetine, an anti-depressant that is also known as Paxil.

Denis Popa, 37, of 13 Cottage Ave., Wilbraham, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of Suboxone and possession of paroxetine.


Register by Feb. 10 to vote in March 1 Presidential Primary

0
0

Feb. 10 also is the last day for registered voters to change their party affiliation, Wilbraham Town Clerk Beverly Litchfield said.

WILBRAHAM - Residents who are not currently registered voters, but wish to vote in the March 1 Presidential Primary election must register to vote by Feb. 10 at 8 p.m., Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield said.

Feb. 10 also is the last day for registered voters to change their party affiliation.

All voter registration hours are held in the town clerk's office. Registration hours are daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 10.

Voter registration also may be done online or by mail.

Anyone with questions should contact the town clerk's office at 596-2809.

Panel at Wilbraham & Monson Academy helps parents understand their middle school students

0
0

In a digitial age, adolescents need time to think and reflect, Christine Ricci-Cooley of Nickelodeon, told parents at the event.

WILBRAHAM — Parents of students at Wilbraham & Monson Academy Middle School were given some tips on understanding their middle school students and helping them succeed at a panel discussion held at the middle school.

Adolescence is now considered to extend from age 10 to 25, Christine M. Ricci-Cooley, a cognitive development psychologist who works for Nickelodeon, said.

She said that adolescents are still learning about impulse control and risk management.

Adolescents can be sorted into "crashers, navigators and flourishers," she said, depending on whether they have "the ability to act in their long-term best interest" and have the "capacity to delay gratification."

Adolescents do best if they have home and school environments which encourage self regulating skills, Cooley said.

She said teens experience an upside to risky behavior such as acceptance by their peer group.

There is evidence that memory is extremely strong during the teen years. People throughout their lives recall more of the music, books, news and friends of their adolescent years, she said.

Adolescents who use drugs and alcohol before the age of 15 run a greater chance of addiction, Cooley said. She said that adolescence is the last chance for parents to keep teens on a healthy, productive track.

Adolescent girls are interested in forming connections with others, Dr. Roberta Green of School NeuropsychologyAssociates LLC, said.

Adolescent males may interpret neutral faces as threatening or aggressive, and may be territorial with a "pack mentality," Green said. She said athletics is a good outlet for boys to develop team and leadership skills.

Dr. Beata Puri, a pediatrician, said pediatricians recommend no more than two hours of recreational screen time for adolescents.

More screen time, including video games, cuts into time for other things which teens could be doing such as homework and socializing with friends, she said.

Green said she favors keeping cell phones away from the family supper table and to have a common charging station so that adolescents are not kept awake by their cell phones at night.

Adolescents may not have the management skills to silence their phones and keep them from interrupting their sleep, Green said.

Dr. Sara Whitcomb, assistant professor in the school of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, said the goal of parents and teachers is for adolescents to develop resilience so they can overcome challenges. She said 20 percent of adolescents may face mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and social withdrawal.

Teens are more likely to engage in catastrophic thinking when they face problems. A teen who is over controlled may experience anxiety. Too many periods of anxiety can cause a crash, Whitcomb said.

A strategy to help adolescents is to "stay engaged" with them, Whitcomb said. She said adolescents need "empathy and support." A sense of humor also can help parents and teens to stay engaged, she said. She said a child who does not initially answer a parent's question may still be processing a situation and may engage a parent about a situation at a later date.

Cooley said that many early adolescents are "over scheduled." "If they are always picking up a device, they have no time to reflect on their days," she said.

"Kids need to learn how to be bored," she said. "They need to think and to reflect."

Puri said parents should be aware of what they are modeling for their children. Parents also need to be able to put down their cell phones and engage with family members, she said.

Mike Albano calls out GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, vows to fight Islamophobia

0
0

Mike Albano, member of the Governor's Council, former Springfield mayor and rumored candidate for Hampden County sheriff, is taking shots at GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, calling the billionaire business magnate's hardline opposition to Muslims entering the U.S. prejudicial and antithetical to American values.

SPRINGFIELD — Mike Albano, member of the Governor's Council, former Springfield mayor and rumored candidate for Hampden County sheriff, is taking shots at GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, calling the billionaire business magnate's hardline opposition to Muslims entering the U.S. prejudicial and antithetical to American values.

Responding to Trump's call for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on," Albano characterized the candidate's remakr as "divisive, fueled by religious prejudice and not representative of the principles and values of America."

Albano outlined his position in a formal statement, urging all elected officials to take a stand in unity against religious discrimination. It reads, in part:

First, I find it appalling and completely unacceptable that any Muslim should be subjected to bigotry and hate.

As the former Mayor of Springfield and current Member of the Governor's Council, I have, and shall continue to do everything in my power, using the full authority of my office, to oppose Islamophobia.

Albano said he plans to "partner with those in the community who believe that all people have a right to be treated fairly and equally." And those who are subjected to Islamophobia should "know that they have a friend and the full support of the Governor's Council," Albano said, seeming to speak on behalf of the eight-member elected panel, whose primary purpose is to provide advice and consent to Gov. Charlie Baker on judicial nominations and pardons and commutations for criminals.

"Discrimination in any form is unacceptable. We must stand together on this issue of great importance to our country," Albano said, vowing to partner with law enforcement officials to increase awareness about "prejudice, hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims."

Albano said he supports legal action and other measures against Islamophobia and wants to specifically focus on "anti-Muslim hate in Massachusetts." Such measures might include roundtable discussions and educational programs," he said.

Albano's latest call to action is one of a string of public statements he's issued in the past several months, elevating his political profile while running for re-election to the Governor's Council and mulling a possible run for sheriff.

His other recent causes have included helping Springfield residents fight the possible relocation of a Sheriff's Department correctional treatment facility to two city neighborhoods. He's also called for an audit of the department after one inmate committed suicide at the county jail, and another escaped by walking through an unsecured door.


Agawam-based company sues Aeropostale over nautical clothing design

0
0

A Massachusetts designer with ties to Western Massachusetts and Martha's Vineyard has filed a lawsuit in federal court against teen clothing line Aeropostale.

SPRINGFIELD -- A Massachusetts designer with ties to Western Massachusetts and Martha's Vineyard has filed a lawsuit in federal court against teen clothing line Aeropostale.

Captain's Club claims Aeropostale sold apparel featured with the text "stay wavy" in 2015, the slogan of the Massachusetts nautical clothing retailer. 

Captain's Club Apparel, Inc., based in Feeding Hills and registered to Alfred J. Channell, owns and operates a store in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, and several others along the East Coast. The company operated a pop-up shop at the Holyoke Mall for the 2015 holiday season.

Wilbraham Middle School may need name change

0
0

A new name should reflect the regional character of the school if Hampden residents attend as well, members of the Middle School Task Force of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District said.

WILBRAHAM — The name of Wilbraham Middle School should be changed if the school is made into a middle school for residents of Wilbraham and Hampden, members of the Middle School Task Force said last week.

Members of the task force said parents in Hampden don't want to see their children going to a middle school in Wilbraham.

They would prefer that if Thornton Burgess Middle School in Hampden is closed to see their children attending a regional middle school, Peter Dufresne, principal of Thornton Burgess Middle School and a member of the Middle School Task Force, said.

Susan Bunnell, a Wilbraham selectman and member of the Middle School Task Force, said a contest could be held to come up with a new name for Wilbraham Middle School, reflecting that it is a regional middle school.

Lena Buteau of Hampden, a member of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee, said that if the middle schools in Wilbraham and Hampden are merged, it would be beneficial to show "Chaug spirit earlier."

The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District has a regional high school, Minnechaug, but the other schools are town schools.

Due to declining enrollment there is a proposal to merge the middle schools and have students from Thornton Burgess Middle School attend Wilbraham Middle School.

Bunnell said Hampden parents would have to buy into attending a regional middle school, not just having Hampden middle school students attend middle school in Wilbraham.

Sandra Sheehan, co-chair of the Middle School Task Force, said Hampden residents want to be assured there is a long term plan before they give their approval to having Hampden students attend Wilbraham Middle School.

Dufresne said, "I would love to see a regional campus."

The regional School Committee is considering submitting a proposal to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for either a renovation or a new middle school. Officials say there is room to build a new middle school on the campus of Minnechaug Regional High School.

Bunnell said, "There is no definitive long term plan yet."

She said the Middle School Task Force would like to address the near term educational plan for a window of time to help the district deal with its declining enrollment issues until a long term proposal is finalized.

School officials say approximately $1 million could be saved over three years if Thornton Burgess Middle School is closed and all middle school students in Wilbraham and Hampden go to Wilbraham Middle School.

Regionalizing the middle schools will require approval by residents at spring town meetings in both Hampden and Wilbraham.

Bunnell said approval could be sought for several years while the district seeks a long term solution to educating its middle school students.

The issue could be reconsidered once a long term solution is proposed, she said.

Bunnell said there have been other questions, including from the Wilbraham selectmen, about what the alternative is if voters do not approve regionalizing the middle schools this spring.

"We will do the best with the configuration we have," said Hampden-Wilbraham School Superintendent M. Martin O'Shea.

If the schools are not merged, there may be required personnel reductions which affect the elementary and high school as well, O'Shea said.

O'Shea said one alternative which has been suggested by parents is having one kindergarten through grade 8 school in Hampden.

That would not result in the same cost savings as merging the middle schools, O'Shea said.

As enrollment declines, the program continues to suffer at both middle schools, O'Shea said.

Merging the two middle schools will help the district achieve equity in its middle school program, he said.


Longmeadow's Storrs Library collecting books for annual sale

0
0

One man's trash can be another's leisure, and the Friends of Storrs Library plans to cash in on this with their annual used books sale.

LONGMEADOW — One man's trash can be another's leisure, and the Friends of Storrs Library plans to cash in on this with their annual used books sale.

The library began accepting donations of used books last week, and will continue until the end of March, said Deborah Levy, co-chair of the sale, which is put on by Friends. Books will be sold between May 18 and May 21, she added.

"I think it's one of the largest town wide events in Longmeadow," Levy said of the sale that has occurred each year for more than a decade. "The money that we receive from the book sale goes to the library itself for program implementation."

Those interested in donating may drop off books in good condition in labeled bins at the entrance of Storrs Library on 693 Longmeadow St., Levy said. Out of date books, Bibles and dictionaries will not be accepted.

Adding to the good it does for the library and the people able to buy new books on the cheap, the book sale also has periphphral benefits, Levy said.

"Believe it or not, it helps people clean out their houses to make room for new books," Levy said.

Alex's Bagel Shop in Longmeadow boils, bakes and serves 'em fresh

0
0

Alexander Belyshev, 55, started baking bagels when he started working at Kimmel's at age 28, he said. About 10 years ago, he bought the business, dubbing it Alex's.

LONGMEADOW — Emily Fialky brings her 4-year-old daughter, Madeline to Alex's Bagel Shop every Friday afternoon when she picks her up from school.

"She likes the poppy bagel with lox cream cheese... not toasted," Fialky, 42, of Longmeadow said while she and her daughter ate their oven fresh bagels by the small shop's front window. "She's very particular."

Owner Alexander Belyshev, 55, started at the shop on 786 Williams St. as a baker under the shop's old name Kimmel's when he was 28, he said. About 10 years ago, he bought the business, changing its name to Alex's. While the name has been the same for a long time, attention to quality homemade bagels remains the same.

"We make the dough here, and we don't use any preservatives, it's a very old recipe," Belyshev said. The same as the recipes used under the original name, Alex's bagel recipes date back more than a century, he said.

Before their 6 a.m. opening, and throughout the day, Belyshev, his wife and his employees knead dough, refrigerate it, put it through a machine that gives the bagels their shape, boil them and finally bake them.

The boiling gives the bagels their shine and gives them a flavor that is not too much like bread, Belyshev said.

"It's very hard work," Belyshev said as employee Madina Bubuza, 19, removed a pan of freshly cooked plain bagels from the oven and dumped them in a basket for purchase.

While Alex's stands next door to Brightwood Hardware, which will close in that location due to Big Y Food's planned expansion there, the bagel shop will remain where it is, which came as a relief to Belyshev - who added that he's heard nothing official on the matter.

With the same recipes for bagels and pastries used for more than 100 years, the shop serves upwards of 150 customers on week days and significantly more during weekends, Belyshev said. The hometown reputation and the food keeps people coming back.

"It's good for the community, because it's part of the history," Belyshev said.


Live coverage day 4: Patrick Durocher rape trial in Hampshire Superior Court

0
0

Live coverage of trial of Patrick Durocher, 20, of Longmeadow, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping and assault and battery. He was accused of raping a fellow UMass Amherst student near the Campus Center in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2013.

NORTHAMPTON -- The rape trial of former University of Massachusetts Amherst student Patrick Durocher continued for a fourth day Thursday.

Stories about the first three days of the trial are available here.

Durocher, 20, of Longmeadow, is accused of strangling and raping a fellow University of Massachusetts Amherst student on the ground near the Campus Center in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2013.

His attorney, Vincent Bongiorni of Springfield, said in opening statements that the sex was consensual. The woman falsely accused Durocher because she was ashamed after photos were taken of the encounter and posted on social media, Bongiorni said.

Durocher has pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to one count each of aggravated rape, kidnapping and assault and battery and has been out on $10,000 bail. He is no longer enrolled at UMass.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Jennifer H. Suhl. Suhl leads the district attorney's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit.

Live coverage is below.

For this Amherst mother of two, SNAP benefits are a lifeline

0
0

Stephanie Pete relies on $511 in monthly food benefits to feed her two young daughters. Watch video

On a frigid, windswept afternoon earlier this month, Stephanie Pete pored over a circular in the Amherst Big Y supermarket, elbows braced on the handlebars of a shopping cart.

She was looking for the good deals, she said; the better to stretch the $511 in monthly SNAP benefits she uses to feed herself and her two young daughters.

Minutes later, Pete swiped her EBT card throughout a checkout scanner as the contents of the cart - strawberries, clementines, mixed greens, pasta, canned sweet peas - moved down the lane's conveyor belt. She has been on food benefits since August, and described them as a lifeline for her family.

"It's made it so I'm a lot less stressed, and I don't have to worry necessarily about how my kids are going to eat," Pete said. "Before, no kidding, it was struggle as to how to get by with food. I would have nothing in the refrigerator at times."

Pete, 28, is one of the more than 750,000 Massachusetts residents who receive benefits the federally-funded SNAP program - formerly known as food stamps. In Massachusetts, the program made headlines for the wrong reasons last year, from technical snafus that denied recipients their benefits to high-profile cases of fraud.
 


But for Pete and her children - Jemma, 6, and Remmy, 17 months - the assistance is essential. Personal and financial circumstances have left Pete without the money necessary to keep food on the table, and SNAP fills that need, she said.

Pete may not fit your stereotypical view of a food stamp recipient. 

Pete moved from her native Arizona to Western Massachusetts, following her then-husband east as he pursued a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The experience was difficult socially, she said; she knew almost no one, and felt profoundly isolated as she raised Jemma, then a toddler, and had her second daughter in 2014. She and her husband are no longer together. 

Pete had worked at UMass Amherst's dining services, but Remmy's birth made full-time work impractical; putting Remmy in daycare would have cost at least $130 per week, a significant fraction of the wages Pete would be earning. And her ex-husband's National Science Foundation-funded fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst prohibited him from seeking outside work while in the program, limiting his ability to lend financial help.

Pete moved into a sublet in Amherst in February of 2014, and for several months received WIC benefits to help raise her newborn daughter. But the lease expired in July, and she moved into the Hadley home of a friend she had met working part-time at a dentist's office - with two mouths to feed and little income to speak of.

"It was really hard with having the girls," Pete said. "Between daycare and not having childcare and stuff, I can't have a full time job."

Pete would go to the Amherst Survival Center and return with milk and vegetables, but she said it soon became clear she needed a steadier source of food.

"I knew I had to do it. There was no way I could feed the kids," she said. ""What initially happened was I could not afford even groceries."

In June she had filled out an application for SNAP benefits, and two months later she found herself in the Holyoke office of the state Department of Transitional Assistance. The building was packed, she said, with about 100 people waiting as workers processed stacks of paperwork.

She was accepted into the program, and trips to the grocery store became opportunities rather than sources of stress. She said she knew other SNAP recipients who fed their children on processed and unhealthy foods, and was determined not to make the same choices.

Her kids are not picky, even her youngest - "Pretty much anything you put on her high chair, she'll eat," Pete said. On a recent trip to Big Y, Pete filled her cart with vegetables, fruit and pasta.

Being on the receiving end of food benefits can carry a stigma. When MassLive was seeking sources for this story, social service agencies contacted for potential interviews said it was a tough sell, with SNAP recipients they worked with unwilling to have their name publicly linked to being on benefits. One man shared his story by email but was unwilling to be identified, saying he feared both retaliation from the Department of Transitional Assistance and vitriol from readers and commenters.

Pete said she has not experienced much of that, aside from rudeness by some DTA employees. At the grocery store, however, she does swipe her card quickly; at a glance it looks like a license or credit card.

"Sometimes I feel like people will look at me," Pete said. "I sometimes wish it was a little more inconspicuous."

But above all, she said, she's grateful to put food on the table, as her youngest grows up and her oldest works her way through kindergarten.

"It's definitely been a huge help," she said.

Photos: Seen@ the 7th annual Stepping Out for Autism fundraising gala at the Log Cabin in Holyoke

0
0

Community Resources for People with Autism held its 7th annual Stepping Out for Autism fundraising gala on Saturday at the Log Cabin banquet and Meeting House.

HOLYOKE – Community Resources for People with Autism held its 7th annual Stepping Out for Autism fundraising gala on Saturday at the Log Cabin banquet and Meeting House.

More than 250 guests enjoyed a gourmet buffet dinner and dancing to the music of Union Jack British Invasion Band. A silent auction and live auction were among the evening's activities.

Dave Madsen, news anchor for Western Mass News, television partner to The Republican and MassLive.com, was the evening's host.

The event benefited Community Resources for People with Autism's activities and support of individuals with autism and more than 2,000 families in Western Massachusetts.

Blood, sweat and fundraising: Springfield lawyer honored by Doctors Without Borders for marathon charity

0
0

After joining a gym and hiring a trainer, Woods began running, biking and swimming; next came 5k and 10k races, triathlons and half marathons – all leading to starting line of the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in 2013.

SPRINGFIELD - In October, Stephanie Woods was the only lawyer in Springfield District Court wearing one shoe and one flip flop.

It wasn't a fashion statement, although the rubber sandal - and her bandaged toes - testified to her grueling training schedule for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1.

"It's a blood blister," she explained one morning, pointing to damage from a 16- mile run over the weekend.

Woods, 58, completed the marathon on Nov. 1, her third since taking up running in 2012. Along the way, she raised $4,500 for her Doctors Without Borders race team - much of it donated by prosecutors, defense lawyers and court officials at the Hampden County Hall of Justice.

Thanks to her 132 donors, Woods was not only the top fundraiser on the 82-member team, her total was nearly double the amount collected by most other runners.

Her time - 6:23:02 - was not her best, but running in the world's largest marathon was more than worth the months of training and fundraising that made it possible, Woods said.

"The race itself was amazing. The whole city embraces it - in Brooklyn, people must have been lined up 10-20 feet deep on the side of the course," she said.

Six years ago, running any kind of race was out of the question for Woods, a Maryland native and 2004 graduate of the Western New England University School of Law. The demands of working her way through law school and starting a legal practice offered enough of a challenge.

In December, 2009, the sudden death of Assistant Hampden District Attorney John Compton shook her up - and launched her running career. "He was close to me in age and much fitter," she said, calling Compton the "nicest assistant district attorney I have ever met."

"His death inspired me to make the only New Year's resolution I have ever kept," she said.

After joining a gym and hiring a trainer, Woods began running, biking and swimming; next came 5k and 10k races, triathlons and half marathons - all leading to starting line of the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in 2013.

To friends, Woods billed the Schenectady-to-Albany race as her first - and last - marathon. That changed a few minutes after she crossed the finish line.

"It was much easier than I though; 10 minutes after I finished, I told a friend I'd do it next year - and I did."

In 2015, she signed up for the NYC marathon as a charity runner, allowing her to collect donations for Ebola virus victims. The epidemic "really hit me hard - I wanted to do something, but going to Africa wasn't an option," she said.

By summer, she was training five days a week and signing up donors.

"I asked anywhere and everywhere - in court, in the lockup, on the street, at lunch, at convenience stores," she said.

"My clients knew - I told them because of the flip flop. My doctor, massage therapist, hair cutter, trainer and swim coach all donated."

Among the donors was defense lawyer Anna Levine, who was struck by Woods' commitment to the race and helping Ebola victims.

"A lot of people will say they are concerned and want to do something to help," said Levine, who was part of Woods' support team on race day.

"She found a way to help," Levine added.

Her work was recognized at the Doctors Without Borders reception before the race when Jeremy Wells, the charity's marathon coordinator, presented her the top fundraising award.

The race itself was as punishing as Woods expected, with the added hassles of navigating New York City before and after the race.

"When I finished, I swore I'd never do it again," she said recently.

"Now I'm thinking about running next year."

Elmcrest Country Club sold, CRRC MA on track to build MBTA cars: 5 business stories you might have missed

0
0

CRRC MA expects to begin construction on its East Springfield factory in March. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - These five business stories of the week are all about spring in one form or another.

CRRC MA says it will begin construction for its railcar factory in East Springfield in March. Elmcrest Country Club's new owners say they'll have the course open for spring and the city of Springfield hopes to have its free downtown Wi-Fi available for the warmer weather.

Here are the five business stories you might have missed:

1) Chinese rail car factory in Springfield slated to produce Boston T cars 'is on schedule': Consultant

The CRRC plant will manufacture 284 subway cars for the MBTA, Boston's mass transit system - 152 for the Orange Line and 132 for the Red Line. First delivery of the Orange cars is expected in March 2018 and production, at least on this contract, is expected to last five years.

2) Elmcrest Country Club in East Longmeadow auctioned to Crestview Country Club owners

Elmcrest sits on 110 acres on the East Longmeadow-Somers  town line and was sold as part of a mortgage foreclosure. The new owners bought Crestview Country Club in Agawam four years ago after that club's member-owners blocked plans to sell Crestview to real estate developers.

New owners of Elmcrest Country Club plan to be open for golf this spring

Also.

3)Springfield bringing free Wi-Fi Internet to downtown; boosting connectivity capacity for Innovation Center

The plan , announced this week, also includes offering high-capacity fiber for data transmission to the new Springfield innovation Center on Bridge Street.

4) Springfield Regional Chamber endorses Kinder Morgan, Spectra gas pipeline projects

The Chamber said that high energy prices are of paramount concern to employers, even more of a worry than taxes or health care costs.

5)Sen. Eric Lesser, lawmakers tout tourism, visit Springfield Museums

The local tourism industry And there is a local tourism industry generated $750 million in local spending and 5,000 jobs in 2014, including $55 million in tax revenue.

Holyoke Soldiers' Home board sees search for new superintendent intensifying in March

0
0

Cheryl Lussier Poppe of the Chelsea Soldiers' Home will be interim director of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home. Watch video

HOLYOKE -- The search for a new superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home will begin in earnest in a month once the state receives candidates following the Feb. 12 application deadline, an official said.

"The Department of Health and Human Services will review them, give them to us, we believe, to start the search committee probably around the beginning of March," Steven E. Como, chairman of the facility's board of trustees, said Tuesday in a video (see above).

The state has posted notice that the job is available at a yearly salary of $57,285 to $151,560.

The search committee will include not only members of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home board of trustees and staff but representatives of health care and veterans, Como said, after a bumpy board meeting.

Paul Barabani's last scheduled day as superintendent was Friday. The departure date of Barabani prompted disputes during the board meeting at the 110 Cherry St. facility mostly between him and trustees Spiros Hatiras and Como.

Barabani, who was appointed superintendent in February 2011, said in mid-December he would be retiring after federal officials do the annual evaluation of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in January.

He insisted he had not set a specific departure date. But Como said it was clear from emails and a letter to trustees from Gov. Charlie Baker that Barabani's tenure would expire at the end of January.

Hatiras said the board needed to know the date Barabani was leaving so the transition of leadership could proceed.

Trustee Brian Q. Corridan and Alan Keeler, a former U.S. Marine who lives at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, criticized how Barabani, who retired in 2002 as a colonel after 32 years in the Army National Guard, was being treated.

Barabani has said he was retiring because the state had failed to fund and staff the Holyoke Soldiers' Home properly. Francisco A. Urena, secretary of the Department of Veterans Services, is among officials have challenged that view.

The Holyoke Soldiers' Home is a state-funded health care facility for veterans established in 1952. It employs more than 300 people, has 265 long-term care beds and 30 private rooms for veterans and serves 2,200 veterans a year with its in- and out-patient facilities. It has a yearly budget of $23.1 million.

Despite the clash with Barabani during the board meeting, Como said later he thanks him for his work.

"We wish Mr. Barabani well and future success in his retirement," Como said.

Amid the verbal exchanges during the meeting, trustees discussed the search process. Hatiras noted that state Rep. Aaron M. Vega, D-Holyoke, and other legislators had urged that the process include the community.

"We did make a public commitment that we are going to involve members of the community, which our legislators asked," Hatiras said.

New trustee Cesar Lopez suggested that in addition to representatives from the fields of health care and veterans and facility staff, the search include someone with experience caring for the elderly such as from a nursing home.

Board lawyer Donald R. Andrejczyk said such a committee will be bound by the state Open Meeting Law. The law requires that meetings be posted 48 hours in advance to alert people who might want to attend, held in open session for the public and media to observe and heed an agenda of items posted with the meeting notice, to prevent actions on items without advanced notification.

"It will be transparent," Como said.

Cheryl Lussier Poppe, superintendent of the Chelsea Soldiers' Home, will become interim director of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home Monday.

"Acting Superintendent Cheryl Poppe will be coming in from Chelsea. She is a very articulate woman that will be able to help us with the transition," Como said.

Also during the board meeting, trustees also voted to make a public comment period a regular part of meeting agendas.

Chicopee St. Patrick's Parade Committee honors president, award winners

0
0

The Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade will be held on March 20.

CHICOPEE - The St. Patrick's Committee held its annual president's dinner Saturday night at the Castle of Knights on Memorial Drive.

The event was the first formal one to kick off the parade season. The events will culminate with the Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade scheduled this year for March 20.

The president's dinner honored this year's Chicopee Parade Committee president John Beaulieu.

Beaulieu, an employee of Interstate Towing, Inc., lives in Chicopee with his wife and three children. For the past decade he has served on a number of committees for the Chicopee St. Patrick's Parade Committee. He is also currently a member of the Holyoke Parade Committee where he serves on the Road Race Committee.

He has served as youth director for the Knights of Columbus Council 4044, President of the Chicopee Comprehensive Friends of Football Booster Club, member of the Pioneer Valley USO and Westover Galaxy Council, member of the Knights of Columbus Council 4044 and the Bishop Joseph F. McGuire Assembly 4th Degree.

The committee also recognized Elin Gaynor, the recipient of the 2016 Jack Woods Award, and Tom Knightly, recipient of the 2016 George and Buddy Atkinson Award, and Timothy O'Grady, Chicopee's parade marshal at the president's dinner.

New committee members were also introduced.

Other events for the parade committee include the Colleen Coronation Ball on Feb. 27, also at the Castle of Knights.


Oregon standoff: Four holdouts say fight is 'going to keep going'

0
0

The final four broadcast several videos Saturday, including one entitled "Response to Ammon Bundy."

BURNS -- The four remaining occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge doubled down on their pledge to stay put until they've been assured no one leaves in handcuffs.

The holdouts repeated their demands for pardons in several videos posted online on Saturday, the 29th day the federal building has been occupied. One clip responded to calls from Ammon Bundy, who lead the occupation until he was arrested on Tuesday, to be vacate the refuge. Instead, one holdout declared on the video that their fight is "a fight that is going to keep going."

"When are Americans going to learn to take a stand and then fight the system that is corrupt, instead of throwing yourselves into that mess and trying to put your fate into what you are fighting against?" asks the video's narrator, who appears to be David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio.

The others encamped are Sean Anderson, 47, and his wife, Sandy Anderson, 48, of Idaho, and Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada.

Authorities have blocked public access to the refuge Wednesday. On Saturday afternoon, at least three convoys of SUVs emerged from behind one set of road blocks, signaling the heavy law enforcement presence on the site.

The occupiers appeared to spend the afternoon gathered at a makeshift camp site around a fire. The Andersons wore camouflage, Banta sipped a Coors Light and Fry captured the scene on video.

In one video, Sean Anderson compared their occupation to the Boston Tea Party and said he and others are standing up for the Constitution. The group has called for others to travel to the area to support them, but thus far it appears their invitations have gone unheeded.

Meanwhile in Burns, 30 miles from the refuge, protestors held a rally Saturday night in memory of LaVoy Finicum, a standoff spokesman who was shot and killed during a confrontation with police on Tuesday. Supporters drove through the town, many with American flags waving from the bed of their pickup trucks. 

-- Molly Young | myoung@oregonian.com | @mollykyoung

Great Barrington Police, FBI investigate allegations of physical, emotional abuse at Eagleton School

0
0

Police said there is no immediate danger to students and the community will receive updates about the alleged abuse as it becomes available.

Great Barrington Police patch.jpg 
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Great Barrington Police Department working with the Massachusetts State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office are looking into allegations of physical and emotional abuse at a private school for boys.

Police said the operation was conducted Saturday evening at Eagleton School, a private facility for boys ages 9-22 with cognitive, behavioral, and developmental disabilities.

"Today's events are part of an investigation into allegations of physical and emotional abuse on students by staff at the school that was begun by the Great Barrington Police Department earlier this month and has involved multiple agencies," police officials posted on the Great Barrington Police Department Facebook page.

Police said detectives went to the school Saturday night to gather evidence related to the investigation. Police will remain at the school for the immediate future to ensure that the collection of evidence related to the investigation proceeds in a thorough, coordinated, and orderly manner.

Police Chief William Walsh Jr. said there is absolutely no public safety danger to the community.

"Great Barrington is home to a number of public and private schools that serve a diverse population of students across a broad spectrum, and we want the community -- and the parents at home -- to be aware of a police investigation that is ongoing. However, there is no danger and no threats have been made to the safety of anyone," Chief Walsh said. "More information will be released as soon as it is available."

Police were accompanied to the school by officials from the state Department of Early Education and Care to work with school staff to minimize disruption to students, ensure their safety and well-being, and communicate with parents, police said.

Chief Walsh recognized Great Barrington Police Officer Jonathan Finnerty for his work as the department's lead investigator on the case. The Berkshire County Sheriff's Office, as well as members of the Dalton and Williamstown Police Departments also assisted at the scene.

Virginia Tech student charged in abduction, murder of 13-year-old girl

0
0

A Virginia Tech freshman has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose remains were found in North Carolina.

Lovell.pngNicole Madison Lovell 

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- A Virginia Tech student has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose remains were found in North Carolina.

Police in Blacksburg, Virginia said late Saturday that Nicole Madison Lovell's body was found in Surry County, North Carolina. David Eisenhauer, an 18-year-old Virginia Tech student from Columbia, Maryland, has been charged with murder in the death.

Police are working with the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, the FBI office in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office to gather more information, according to Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson. He said Lovell's body was to be taken to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke.

"This has been an extremely fast-paced investigation in just the past 12 hours," Wilson said at a news conference late Saturday.

The Roanoke Times newspaper quoted Wilson as saying that Eisenhauer has not confessed to involvement in Lovell's death and did not give police information that led to the discovery of her body. No information was given on how Lovell and Eisenhauer had initially made contact with each other.

Police initially charged Eisenhauer with abduction. He was charged with murder once the girl's remains were found.

Virginia tech student.pngDavid Eisenhauer 

The girl had been missing since last week. Her family says she pushed a dresser in front of her bedroom door and climbed out a window Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

The newspaper cited an online biography of Eisenhauer that described him as a standout track and field athlete in high school. He was a three-time state champion in track and also competed in cross country, finishing second in the state both his junior and senior years. He was a first-team, all-state choice in cross country and a second-team All-Southeast Region selection, the biography stated.

Virginia Tech said on its website that Eisenhauer was a freshman engineering major at the school and that hundreds of students and researchers had assisted in the search for Lovell.

Virginia Tech president Tim Sands said the case left the school community "in a state of shock and sadness."

"Speaking on behalf of our community, let me say that our hearts go out to Nicole's family and friends," he said in a statement posted to the school's website.

Hadley police continue search for missing 26-year-old man

0
0

The man has been missing since Friday and his keys were found inside his car in Northampton near the bike trail.

Nathan KermenskyNathan Kermensky  

NORTHAMPTON — It has been two days since Nathan Kermensky went missing, his keys found inside his car in Northampton near the bike trail.

Hadley Police are continuing to search for the 26-year-old man and are asking the public for help locating him.

Kermensky, a Hadley resident, was reported missing by his family at 5:04 a.m. Friday, according to a post on the department's Facebook page.

Kermensky's black Buick Regal sedan was found parked with its keys inside in the parking lot of the recreation area on Damon Road near the Calvin Coolidge Bridge, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Hadley and Northampton Police, and Northampton, Hadley, and South Hadley fire departments conducted a search of the area where his vehicle was found, but first responders didn't find Kermensky.

Anyone with information about Kermensky's disappearance or whereabouts is asked to call Hadley police at (413) 584-0883.

Body of missing man found in Mansfield pond

0
0

The body of a missing man was found in a Mansfield pond Sunday morning after authorities said he might have fallen through the ice.

MANSFIELD - The body of a missing man was found in a Mansfield pond Sunday morning after authorities said he might have fallen through the ice.

Mansfield Police said a local family called them around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and reported they had not heard from their adult son. Police did not release the man's name.

"After an extensive search by family and police yesterday into this morning, evidence lead to Mill Pond off of East Street," police said. "Evidence on scene suggested a fall through the ice."

The Mansfield Fire Department recovered the man's body around 7:30 a.m. in about 10 feet of water. An investigation by the Mansfield Police and State Police is ongoing.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends affected by this tragedy," Mansfield Police said in a news release.

 


Viewing all 62489 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images