Beach said that recognition given to the Koziol Elementary School for “increased performance of students in poverty” is one of the major recent successes during her tenure.

Mary Elizabeth Beach

WARE – School superintendent Mary-Elizabeth Beach says that with other changes coming in the leadership of the school administration she is pleased to have a three-year extension for her own contract to help provide continuity.

The School Committee has voted to keep Beach on the job of running the town school system through 2015.

She is now in her fifth year in the position and has a year remaining in her current contract.

“I think it is always important for a school district to have continuity,” Beach said. “The high-school principal is retiring. The elementary-school principal is moving to the high school. We are hiring a new member of our leadership team.”

Beach said that recognition given to the Stanley M. Koziol Elementary School for what the state called “increased performance of students in poverty” was one of the major recent successes during her tenure and a reduction in the drop-out rate at Ware High School is also of great importance.

Looking ahead, Beach said, “We really want to strengthen the middle school, and we have plans for re-arranging some of the schedule and some of the offerings.”

“We put music back in the K-12 program in my first year and I certainly want to see that continue. We now have 50 students taking summer music lessons,” Beach said.

The School Committee’s contract with Beach calls for an annual salary of $136,777 and continues the practice of 3 percent pay raises each year.

In her two most recent years on the job, Beach agreed to reductions in hours and in pay to avoid making cuts elsewhere in the school budget.

She said she agreed to a 10-percent reduction in pay and hours in the most recent year and a 20-percent reduction the year before because she could not find alternative ways of saving enough money to keep certain programs functioning.

Beach, who has graduate degrees from the University of Vermont, worked in school systems in Vermont, Washington, D.C., the state of Washington and Springfield before moving to the Ware School Department.

She has worked as a teacher and also in guidance, special education and higher education and was special assistant to the superintendent of schools in Springfield.

No injuries were reported in the accident which occurred about 11:50 a.m.

The Republican file photo

BRIMFIELD – A rolled-over camper trailer on the eastbound side of the Massachusetts Turnpike backed-up traffic in both directions, state police said.

No injuries were reported in the accident which occurred at about 11:50 a.m. The truck towing the camper did not roll over, state police said.

The rollover has caused a 2½ mile backup on the eastbound side as troopers work to clear the road. Rubber-neckers caused westbound traffic to back up approximately a half-mile, state police said.

State police reported all lanes were clear by about 12:50 p.m.

Two years after economists say the Great Recession ended, the recovery has been the weakest and most lopsided of any since the 1930s.

Associated PressIn this June 15, 2011 photo, job seekers wait in a line at a job fair in Southfield, Mich. Two years after economists declared the end of the Great Recession, the rebound is the weakest since the 1930s and the most lop-sided.

WASHINGTON — This is one anniversary few feel like celebrating.

Two years after economists say the Great Recession ended, the recovery has been the weakest and most lopsided of any since the 1930s.

After previous recessions, people in all income groups tended to benefit. This time, ordinary Americans are struggling with job insecurity, too much debt and pay raises that haven't kept up with prices at the grocery store and gas station. The economy's meager gains are going mostly to the wealthiest.

Workers' wages and benefits make up 57.5 percent of the economy, an all-time low. Until the mid-2000s, that figure had been remarkably stable — about 64 percent through boom and bust alike.

Executive pay is included in this figure, but rank-and-file workers are far more dependent on regular wages and benefits. A big chunk of the economy's gains has gone to investors in the form of higher corporate profits.

"The spoils have really gone to capital, to the shareholders," says David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates in Toronto.

Corporate profits are up by almost half since the recession ended in June 2009. In the first two years after the recessions of 1991 and 2001, profits rose 11 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

And an Associated Press analysis found that the typical CEO of a major company earned $9 million last year, up a fourth from 2009.

Driven by higher profits, the Dow Jones industrial average has staged a breathtaking 90 percent rally since bottoming at 6,547 on March 9, 2009. Those stock market gains go disproportionately to the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans, who own more than 80 percent of outstanding stock, according to an analysis by Edward Wolff, an economist at Bard College.

But if the Great Recession is long gone from Wall Street and corporate boardrooms, it lingers on Main Street:

— Unemployment has never been so high — 9.1 percent — this long after any recession since World War II. At the same point after the previous three recessions, unemployment averaged just 6.8 percent.

— The average worker's hourly wages, after accounting for inflation, were 1.6 percent lower in May than a year earlier. Rising gasoline and food prices have devoured any pay raises for most Americans.

— The jobs that are being created pay less than the ones that vanished in the recession. Higher-paying jobs in the private sector, the ones that pay roughly $19 to $31 an hour, made up 40 percent of the jobs lost from January 2008 to February 2010 but only 27 percent of the jobs created since then.

Kathleen Terry is one of those who had to settle for less. Before the recession, she spent 16 years working as a mortgage processor in Southern California, earning as much as $6,500 in a good month, a pace of about $78,000 a year.

But her employer was buried in the housing crash. She found herself out of work for two and a half years. As her savings dwindled, the single mother had to move into a motel with her three daughters.

They got by on welfare and help from their church and friends. Terry started taking a 90-minute bus ride to job training courses. Eventually, she found work as a secretary in the Riverside County, Calif., employment office. She likes the job, but earns just $27,000 a year. "It's a humbling experience," she says.

Hard times have made Americans more dependent than ever on social programs, which accounted for a record 18 percent of personal income in the last three months of 2010 before coming down a bit this year. Almost 45 million Americans are on food stamps, another record.

Ordinary Americans are suffering because of the way the economy ran into trouble and how companies responded when the Great Recession hit.

Soaring housing prices in the mid-2000s made millions of Americans feel wealthier than they were. They borrowed against the inflated equity in their homes or traded up to bigger, more expensive houses. Their debts as a percentage of their annual after-tax income rose to a record 135 percent in 2007.

Then housing prices started tumbling, helping cause a financial crisis in the fall of 2008. A recession that had begun in December 2007 turned into the deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

Economists Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University and Carmen Reinhart of the Peterson Institute for International Economics analyzed eight centuries of financial disasters around the world for their 2009 book "This Time Is Different." They found that severe financial crises create deep recessions and stunt the recoveries that follow.

This recovery "is absolutely following the script," Rogoff says.

Federal Reserve numbers crunched by Haver Analytics suggest that Americans have a long way to go before their finances will be strong enough to support robust spending: Despite cutting what they owe the past three years, the average household's debts equal 119 percent of annual after-tax income. At the same point after the 1981-82 recession, debts were at 66 percent; after the 1990-91 recession, 85 percent; and after the 2001 recession, 114 percent.

Because the labor market remains so weak, most workers can't demand bigger raises or look for better jobs.

"In an economic cycle that is turning up, a labor market that is healthy and vibrant, you'd see a large number of people quitting their jobs," says Gluskin Sheff economist Rosenberg. "They quit because the grass is greener somewhere else."

Instead, workers are toughing it out, thankful they have jobs at all. Just 1.7 million workers have quit their job each month this year, down from 2.8 million a month in 2007.

The toll of all this shows in consumer confidence, a measure of how good people feel about the economy. According to the Conference Board's index, it's at 58.5. Healthy is more like 90. By this point after the past three recessions, it was an average of 87.

How gloomy are Americans? A USA Today/Gallup poll eight weeks ago found that 55 percent think the recession continues, even if the experts say it's been over for two years. That includes the 29 percent who go even further — they say it feels more like a depression.

Chavez's admission shook the political landscape of the oil-exporting country that he has dominated for his more than 12 years in power.

AP Photo/Venezolana de Television via APTNIn this frame grab taken from Venezolana de Television, VTV, via APTN Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez delivers a televised speech aired from Cuba, Thursday, June 30, 2011. Chavez said he underwent a second surgery in Cuba that removed a cancerous tumor. It was unclear when and where the message was recorded.

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez revealed that he is fighting cancer after having a tumor removed in Cuba, raising uncertainty about Venezuela's political future even as he assured his country he expects to fully recover.

Chavez was noticeably thinner and paler as he appeared on television Thursday night, reading from a prepared speech with a serious and at times sad expression. He said he is resolved to "be victorious in this new battle that life has placed before us."

Chavez's admission shook the political landscape of the oil-exporting country that he has dominated for his more than 12 years in power, and where he had vowed to win re-election next year and govern for another decade or more.

There is no obvious successor to the charismatic Chavez within his political movement, and his illness may also affect his leadership within the ALBA alliance of leftist Latin American nations.

Chavez said he had two operations in Cuba, including one that removed a tumor in which there were "cancerous cells." The 56-year-old president said the surgery was performed after an initial operation nearly three weeks ago to remove a pelvic abscess.

A military chief, Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, assured the country on Friday that Venezuela's stability "is guaranteed."

"President Chavez will continue because he hasn't truly stopped exercising his functions as president," Rangel Silva said on state television. He said Chavez was recovering smoothly and had been on top of his duties while in Cuba.

"He will be in our country soon," Rangel said, without saying exactly when Chavez was expected to return.

Chavez said the tumor was in the pelvic region but didn't say exactly where or what type of cancer was involved. He said he is continuing to receive treatment in Cuba but did not elaborate.

"Statistically, it would most likely be a colorectal cancer," said Dr. Michael Pishvaian, a cancer specialist at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"It's not unheard of for a gastrointestinal cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, to have broken through the colon and be surrounded by an abscess, a collection of infected cells," he said.

In such cases, the cancer is discovered when cells from the abscess are examined later. A second surgery might be done to remove any additional cancer and nearby lymph nodes to see whether it had spread.

"Treatment could range from simple observation, if this was a very early-stage cancer, to chemotherapy to try to prevent recurrence of the cancer if it was very advanced, and potentially even radiation therapy," Pishvaian said.

It's not unusual for someone to be sick and rundown after such major surgery, but "it doesn't necessarily bode for a poor prognosis," he added. "The potential for recovery all really depends on the type of cancer and the stage of the cancer."

Chavez said it was a mistake not have taken better care of his health through medical checkups.

"What a fundamental error," he said at a podium, flanked by the Venezuelan flag and a portrait of 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar, the namesake of his Bolivarian Revolution political movement.

"Now I wanted to speak to you from this steep hill, from which I feel that I'm coming out of another abyss," Chavez said. "I wanted to speak to you now with the sun of daybreak that I feel is shining on me. I think we've achieved it. Thank you, my God."

Expressing confidence that he will continue to get better, Chavez said: "I invite you all to continue climbing new summits together."

Chavez didn't say how much longer he expects to remain in Cuba recovering, and there was no information on when or where his message was recorded.

His appearance came after days of anxious speculation among Venezuelans about Chavez's health. State television on Tuesday had shown photos and video of Chavez chatting animatedly with Fidel Castro, but officials had been vague about the reasons for Chavez's continued seclusion in Cuba.

Citing Chavez's health, the government announced Wednesday that it was canceling a two-day summit of Latin American leaders that Chavez would have hosted next week on the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's declaration of independence from Spain.

Chavez's revelation, and the lack of any return date, is likely to further generate speculation in Venezuela about which of the president's allies could potentially take his place if necessary. Vice President Elias Jaua has led government events in Chavez's absence, and the leftist president's elder brother, Adan, recently stepped up his public profile by rallying supporters at a weekend prayer meeting for Chavez's health.

Chavez supporters waved red flags at a gathering in a Caracas slum on Friday as militia troops stood at attention and political allies addressed the crowd.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Chavez's allies are hopeful the president will make a full recovery.

"President Chavez is a fighter," Ramirez said in a televised speech. He added that while Chavez is recovering, "we're going to carry out our work. ... We're going to deepen our revolution."

There was no immediate reaction from the main opposition coalition, which earlier had demanded that the government provide details about Chavez's condition. A strong showing in last year's congressional elections has raised opposition hopes for the 2012 presidential vote.

Chavez said his first surgery took place June 11 for a "strange formation in the pelvic region that required an emergency operation due to the imminent risk of a generalized infection."

He said when he arrived in Cuba after visits to Brazil and Ecuador, he had intended to have a simple checkup for a knee injury that had forced him to use a cane in recent weeks. But he said Castro had questioned him "like a doctor" and that tests confirmed the need for urgent surgery.

After that initial operation, Chavez said, doctors began to suspect other problems, and Castro gave him the news of the tumor. A series of tests "confirmed the presence of an abscessed tumor with the presence of cancerous cells, which made necessary a second operation that allowed for the complete extraction of the tumor," Chavez said.

He didn't say when the second operation was performed.

Chavez said his condition has been "evolving satisfactorily while I receive a complementary treatment to combat the different types of cells found, and thereby continue on the path to my complete recovery."

After Chavez's speech, the vice president appeared on television at the presidential palace, calling for support and unity among Venezuelans.

"There is no time for sadness, but rather for courage and for work," Jaua said. "Unity is what's needed at this time."

Under Venezuela's constitution, the vice president would take the president's place during "temporary" absences of up to 90 days. And Jaua would serve the remainder of Chavez's six-year term if the socialism-preaching president were to die or resign.

With a presidential election looming next year, it's unclear who might step forward to run in Chavez's place if the president were to pull out of the race.

During the past few weeks, Chavez has largely remained out of sight, and some of his opponents had accused the government of maintaining secrecy about his ailment.

Chavez last spoke publicly in a call to Venezuelan television on June 12, after his first surgery.

Some opposition politicians had called for the president to temporarily cede his duties to the vice president while recovering in Cuba.

Chavez's allies, however, insisted he remained firmly in control of government affairs, even as he has been recovering.

The leftist leader has been in office for more than 12 years and plans to run for re-election in 2012. He did not address that issue on Thursday.

Venezuelan pollster and analyst Luis Vicente Leon said on Twitter that Chavez will likely enjoy an initial boost in his approval ratings due to public sympathy, but that "the political risks for Chavez are notably amplified" due to his condition.

In videos released Wednesday, Chavez smiled and discussed Latin American history and his days as an army paratrooper with Castro. Two of Chavez's daughters and a granddaughter joined in the encounter.

Finishing his speech Thursday, Chavez recited a revolutionary slogan often used by Castro: "Forever onward toward victory! We will be victorious!"

Before finishing, he added: "Until my return!"

After his appearance, some of his closest allies went on state television. National Assembly president Fernando Soto Rojas, who days earlier had denied rumors that Chavez was diagnosed with cancer, said the president is in good hands in Cuba.

"We wish for him to get better soon! Onward, commander!"

Officials say the project, which is expected to cost $75.6 million, will rehabilitate the Connecticut River rail line.

File photo by Jessica Hill / Associated PressA train pulls into Union Station in New Haven, Conn. It was announced Friday that federal funding for a high speed rail project in Western Massachusetts has been approved.

State officials say final design and construction plans have been approved for high-speed rail in western Massachusetts.

U.S. Reps. John Olver and Richard Neal and Sen. John F. Kerry and federal and state transportation officials said Friday that the U.S. Department of Transportation signed a nearly $73 million grant agreement. Funding is available from federal stimulus money.

Officials say the project, which is expected to cost $75.6 million, will rehabilitate the Connecticut River rail line. Amtrak’s Vermonter service will be rerouted to the line, providing a more direct route to Northampton and Greenfield.

Connecticut is working on a 62-mile high-speed rail project from New Haven, Conn., to Springfield. The state expects to finish design work in 2013 and launch service in 2016.

More details coming in The Republican.

The free outdoor concert series has grown into a popular summertime staple

The 2011 Stearns Square Concert Series kicked off Thursday night in downtown Springfield, with Nuthin' Fancy: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience providing the soundtrack for the night.

The free outdoor concert series has grown into a popular summertime staple, drawing big crowds and countless motorcycles.

Click here to view photos from Week 1 of the 2011 Stearns Square Concert Series in Springfield.

Click here to see a video from the concert.

Next Thursday's concert features Buckwheat Zydeco. See the full schedule.

There were no races for the 5 Planning Board positions in the June 14 annual election, but term lengths were up for grabs.

PALMER – Kathleen M. Burns beat Planning Board Chairman Michael S. Marciniec by one vote as a result of Thursday's recount, so she will serve three years, and he will serve two, ending the confusion over term lengths.

There were no races for the five Planning Board positions in the June 14 annual election, but term lengths were up for grabs.

Burns, a newcomer to the board, and longtime member Marciniec tied for second place with 405 votes each, leaving office terms uncertain. The top two vote-getters are supposed to serve three years, with the third- and fourth-place finishers serving two, and the candidate with the fifth-highest number serving one.

Town Clerk Patricia C. Donovan said she was told after talking with state officials that a recount had to be held. Burns ended up with 406 votes, while Marciniec's number remained at 405.

Incumbent Thomas S. Skowyra remained the top vote-getter, but he picked up nine additional votes through the recount, going from 422 to 431. An initial number provided by the town after the election was incorrect.

New member Andrew M. Golas received two more votes, bringing his final number to 401. Incumbent Norman A. Czech's votes stayed the same at 369. Donovan said the results have been verified by the registrars.

Marciniec declined comment Friday.

Burns said she is glad the issue has been resolved. "I wish we could've flipped a coin," she said.

Burns said she wanted to serve on the Planning Board because she is interested in what's happening in Palmer, and future development.

"Now I'll have a front row seat," Burns said.

It won't be New York or Boston-style gridlock, but as Tanglewood veterans know, James Taylor's appearances are expected to draw thousands of people to the Berkshires this holiday weekend.

Photo by Stuart Cahill / Boston HeraldJames "Whitey" Bulger, right, is escorted from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a waiting vehicle at an airport in Plymouth Thursday after attending hearings in federal court in Boston. Click on the link, above left, for a report from the Boston Herald about the cost of that helicopter ride.

• Letters written by ‘loving’ Whitey show bond between Bulger brothers (video) [CBS Boston.com]


• U.S. Marshals say Whitey's helicopter ride not as expensive as reported [Boston Herald]


• Berkshires brace for holiday crowds as James Taylor plans Tanglewood concert [Berkshire Eagle]


• Massachusetts corrections officer faces multiple child-rape charges [Boston Globe]


• Former Northampton man challenges military's policy on deaf soldiers [Daily Hampshire Gazette]


• Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn released from house arrest [Wall Street Journal]


• Minnesota government shuts down as Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, Republicans fail to reach budget deal [Twin Cities.com]


• Connecticut Legislature gives Gov. Dannel Malloy more power over budget cuts (video) [Hartford Courant]


• Boston Pops Fourth of July weekend events listed here [WHDH-TV Channel 7 Boston]


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


• Read more News Links »


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The bill includes no new taxes, but cuts funding to many state agencies and limits municipal workers’ ability to bargain over their health insurance.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 8:39 this morning.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate have approved a compromise $30.6 billion state budget for 2012.

Senators voted 33-4 to approve the spending plan on Friday. That vote followed a 150-2 House vote.

The budget’s late passage came 12 hours into the new fiscal year because lengthy talks by House and Senate negotiators delayed filing of the compromise bill until Thursday night. No further amendments could be made by lawmaker Friday.

The bill includes no new taxes, but cuts funding to many state agencies and limits municipal workers’ ability to bargain over their health insurance.

Gov. Deval Patrick now has 10 days to sign it and make any line-item vetoes.

He previously signed a 10-day stopgap budget to fund critical state services until a permanent spending plan is in place.

"It's good to see – this is how government is supposed to work," Brown said of progress being made in the Six Corners neighborhood.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayU.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., left, and Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, went on walking tours on Friday of some of the areas in the Old Hill section of Springfield that were hit by the June 1 tornado. Here they make their way down Beech Street.

SPRINGFIELD – As U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., walked up Clark Street on Friday inspecting tornado damage, a toy car was flipped over in the gutter.

It was the only vehicle on the street.

Four weeks after the June 1 tornadoes, Clark Street looks like backdrop for a war movie – almost every home is gutted, every tree ripped from its roots or twisted into impossible shapes.

But touring the Maple-High/Six Corners neighborhood with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, the senator also saw signs of progress amid the devastation – construction crews working on homes, trucks hauling away brush and logs, neighbors hauling debris from yards.

“It’s good to see – this is how government is supposed to work,” said Brown, who first visited the area hours after a tornado blew through the neighborhood of older one-and two-story homes near Elias Brookings Elementary School.

Brown said the damage caused by the June 1 storm was so extensive, the full cost of recovery might not be known for another year. “Every time we open up a house, or tear off a roof, the price goes up,” said Brown, who planned to inspect storm damage in Sturbridge on Friday afternoon.

Sarno expressed gratitude for the federal government’s prompt response, noting that local, state and federal agencies were working well together.

“In one word, synergy,” Sarno said.

Ryder will be best remembered for scoring the overtime winner in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens.

(AP Photo)Boston Bruins forward Michael Ryder tied for fourth on the team with Nathan Horton in playoff points with 17 (eight goals, nine assists).

According to DJ Bean of WEEI.com, Boston Bruins forward Michael Ryder has agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract with the Dallas Stars.

Ryder, who hit the free agent market Friday afternoon along with teammate Tomas Kaberle, came off a three-year, $12 million deal with the Bruins signed on July 1 of 2008.

In 79 regular season games, the 31-year-old right wing netted 18 goals and 23 assists. One of his most memorable moments of the postseason was when he scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Montreal Canadiens to tie the series at two games apiece.

In the playoffs, Ryder tied for fourth on the team with Nathan Horton in points with 17 (eight goals, nine assists) and had two game-winning goals with his other against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Follow Amanda Bruno on Twitter @whatsbruinbruno for more Bruins commentary throughout the offseason

Manager and co-owner Dana Gentes said are donating specific films that meant something to them.

The Republican | Diane LedermanPleasant Street Video manager and co-owner Dana Gentes, left, discusses a benefit movie poster for the store being designed by CS Fossett, the art director for Family Fun magazine. The video store is closing and proceeds from the poster will help pay off some debt.

NORTHAMPTON – More than half of the Pleasant Street Video collection has been donated to the Forbes Library, and patrons have two more weeks to contribute the rest.

Manager and co-owner Dana Gentes announced the store was closing in mid-June and that the store and library were joining to raise $60,000 to move the collection of 8,000 DVD’s to the library. The money is needed to cover the store’s debt and other costs. Gentes is amazed by the support, and donations have taken on a life of their own.

Gentes said customers decided they not only wanted to donate $8 to the library to buy a DVD for its collection, but they wanted to donate a particular film that meant something to them. Some are donating in honor or memory of someone. “They have an emotional connection to the place and the movie,” Gentes said.

At first, staff were keeping track of the requests in a notebook, then they went to a web-based document, but then Philip Price, a customer and computer programmer, created a web page to allow customers to post their dedications and donate the title or titles they wanted.

One of Gentes' favorite stories is from customer Bill Weye, who wanted to donate five of the worst films in the collection, which prompted a Facebook discussion about what those titles are. The “Human Centipede” was the winner, but that had already been donated. Among others so designated: “Waterworld” and “Edge of Darkness,” the Mel Gibson film shot partly in Northampton.

Gentes said most people are supportive of the mission, but a few have questioned why people would donate for something that will be obsolete as people watch movies online or on demand via cable or satellite services. But he said people who can’t afford Internet access or subscriptions to, for example, Netflix will be able to see the movies this way.

And he said that Forbes will keep any money beyond the $60,000.

Customer and neighbor CS Fossett, the art director forFamily Fun magazine across the street from the video store, is designing a movie-style poster for Pleasant Street Video to sell to help pay off any other debts not covered by the donation of the films. The poster bears images from movies as well as the names of those involved with the store as if they were part of a film.

The posters will be sold beginning next week; the price is not yet set. Fossett said when he heard about the store closing, he thought “I’d love to try to do something.” He is donating his time for the project.

The store officially stops renting films on Sunday and will be open and accepting donations and selling posters through July 12 or 13, Gentes said. They’ll begin transporting films to the library next week.

As for what’s next for the building, Linda Daniels, owner of Northampton Wools, will be moving in. She started working atNorthampton Wools when it was located in a shop next to the video store. The video store bought part of the her building where the cult room is in the store’s basement.

She has a connection to movies in another way – she knitted sweaters for the cast of “Cider House Rules.”

Staff at the video store are delighted that the building has been sold to her. “It couldn’t be better,” said longtime employee Bill Dwight. “She’s great.”

“I’m looking forward to moving in,” said Daniels. She expects to open in the middle of August.

Construction of the new store is scheduled for completion later this year.

WESTFIELD – Customer parking at a new $2 million Rocky’s Ace Hardware Store being built at Main and Free streets will be the focus when the Planning Board meets Tuesday to consider revisions to a plan approved last year.

The new facility is being constructed to the rear of the existing Rocky’s store which will be torn down to create a parking lot off Main Street..

That proposal was called disappointing by City Planner Lawrence B. Smith Friday.

“I am disappointed by the cut back, concerned with parking in front and awaiting their plans to provide a buffer there,” said Smith, explaining the need to block the parking lot view from Main Street.

The Planning Board will meet at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Rocky’s is owned by Falcone retail Properties which originally proposed a much larger project several years ago for the Main and Free streets area. That $10 million plan included demolition and new construction involving three parcels in that neighborhood. A victim of the economic downturn over the past several years has forced a scale back of the project to just the new Rocky’s at this time, officials said.

Rocco Falcone, president of Rocky’s, was unable to be reached for comment Friday but in a prepared statement he said the new store will provide expanded gardening and pain sections and called the new facility ‘state-of-the-art’. He said the project was being done now because of city efforts to revamp the downtown, including the on-going $14.5 million reconstruction involving Main and Broad streets and Park Square.

The existing Rocky’s will remain open during construction of the new store, scheduled to be completed later this year. That building will be razed once construction of the new store is completed.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Friday Falcone’s investment in the new facility, along with planned upgrades to parking and the Main and Free street corner represents “great faith in Westfield.

“We are excited about the plans for the new building and how Rocky’s Ace Hardware will re-develop its Main Street site,” Knapik said.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a Conditional Air Quality Plan Approval, calling for a list of revisions, but an opponent says it's not enough.

Rendering of proposed biomass facility

SPRINGFIELD – Opponents of the proposed $150 million biomass plant in Springfield are considering filing an appeal of a state agency’s approval for the project.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the developer said the state approval is welcome news.

On Thursday the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a Conditional Air Quality Plan Approval to Palmer Renewable Energy for a biomass-fired power generating facility at 1000 Page Blvd.

Susan Reid of the Conservation Law Foundation said Friday the state agency “has profoundly let down the people of Springfield in issuing a permit.”

Frank Fitzgerald

Frank P. Fitzgerald, lawyer for the developer, said, “We’re pleased that the state regulators and their experts have reviewed our science and the facts behind our project and reaffirmed that it is a clean and safe source of renewable energy for the community.”

Asked what the firm’s next step will be, he said, “This permit brings us one step closer to breaking ground.” He said developers are reviewing possible actions but have not decided what the next step will be.

On May 23, the 13-member City Council voted 10-2 to revoke the Palmer-based developer’s special permit to build a 35-megawatt biomass plant near the intersection of Page Boulevard and Cadwell Drive. It would be located on property owned by Palmer Paving Corp.

The councilors said the project had changed significantly from the 2008 plans and would have an “adverse impact” on the neighborhood.

In March, City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula issued an opinion to the City Council in which he wrote that under the developer’s revised plans to burn just green wood, the city’s code enforcement commissioner “would be warranted to allow the proposed use on this property located in an area zoned ‘Industrial A’, even without a special permit.”

Pikula said with the state approval, the developers can apply to the city for a building permit.

Whatever that decision is can be appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Whoever doesn’t like that decision can appeal to Superior Court, Pikula said.

Republican file photoTimothy Rooke

City Councilor Timothy Rooke, who voted against revocation of the special permit, said Friday he had suggested to his council colleagues they delay the vote on revocation until the state agency made its decision on an air quality permit.

He said, “Now that we’ve revoked the permit the City Council has lost all its leverage” regarding conditions, such as demanding a fund for addressing community concerns, it could place on the project."

City Council President Jose F. Tosado, who voted to revoke the city special permit, said of the state air quality permit approval, “Those people do not live in Springfield. If the permit-granting body actually lived here I think it may have been a different story.”

Late last week the project developer filed a lawsuit in Land Court asking that body to overturn the City Council’s permit revocation.

The city Law Department will prepare a response to that filing, Pikula said.

Lee Ann Warner, of Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, said the state agency’s action “will not be accepted without a fight.” That group is working with the Conservation Land Foundation.

Reid said the foundation or any other opponent has 21 days after the state agency grants the permit to file an administrative appeal.

In its press release on the approval, the state Department of Environmental Protection said it reviewed and approved the facility under its Air Pollution Control Regulations, which require the facility to meet numerous state and federal air quality control requirements, including the National Ambient Air Quality Standards established under the U.S. Clean Air Act.

The state agency determined the air emissions from the facility, when added to background pollutant concentrations, will not exceed any of the health-protective standards required by state and federal law.

The agency said it “imposed numerous limits on the emissions from this facility, and required monitoring on a continuous basis to ensure the facility is operated within the strict limits of the permit.”

The state agency approval only addresses the required state air quality approval for a power generating facility of this nature and does not supersede other state and local permitting requirements, the release said.

The agency release said after publishing a draft plan and conducting an April 5 hearing, it reviewed comments and revised the approval with new protections.

Pikula said he has not had a chance to review the actual state permit approval but from the

Press Release: MassDEP Issues Final State Air Quality Plan Approval for Palmer Renewable Energy Project

revisions listed in the press release he is most interested in the provision calling for a “benefit agreement for the community that includes funding of local health improvements.”

Other revisions include a requirement to cover or enclose all wood delivery trucks and a risk management plan for ammonia storage.

Reid said the revisions “don’t come close to providing the protection that would be needed” for health and safety of the community.

Meg Sheehan, of the Biomass Accountability Project, said “This air pollution permit reflects an egregious failure of the regulatory system.”

A large portion of the Union force seems to be utterly routed — to have thrown away their guns, knapsacks and everything that impeded their progress,” The Republican reported.

Springfield MuseumsFirst Battle of Bull Run portrayed in Currier & Ives illustration.

The Great Comet of 1861 arrived unexpected and unannounced over Springfield on the eve of July 1.

“Mr. Wetherhed of this city, who has carefully observed the heavens for many years, described it as appearing very bright at three o’clock Monday morning, reported the Republican.

“The wonder of the thing is that none of the astronomers heralded its approach. Perhaps this is the comet that timid people have been supposing for so many years would strike and annihilate the earth. If so, we earnestly hope it will hit south of the Mason and Dixon’s line,” the paper added, reminding its readers that the war was related to all things on earth and in the heavens.

These were giddy times mixed with bluster and patriotism as preparations were being made for the nation’s 85th birthday which would be combined with a massive tribute to the men of the 10th Massachusetts who had been encamped at Hampden Park since the beginning of May and would soon be leaving for the seat of the war. This would be a Fourth of July to remember.

On July 2 the soldiers of the Western Massachusetts regiment marched from their camp to the U.S. Armory where each man was supplied with a musket from the arsenal. Exactly a month earlier they had been forced to give back their new Springfield-made muskets to troops from the eastern part of the state that had been called to Washington.

The muskets handed out were old 1812 models that were to be used for training and the Fourth of July parade. They would be replaced by English musket rifles before they headed off to war.

“The reception of the arms gave new zest to the life of the soldiers — for drilling without guns had been stupid business heretofore, — and they looked and acted as smaller boys with fresh toys,” The Republican reported.

Special trains were put on to bring thousands of visitors form north, south, east and west into Springfield for the glorious celebration. It was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and would last until the after dusk fireworks display. The line of march and procession of children, fire companies, soldiers and dignitaries would number over 2,000.

The following is an excerpt from the 10th Regiment’s history:

“While drawn up between Pynchon and Elm streets, a beautiful floral procession of 800 children from the public schools, under direction of Col. Horace C. Lee, passed through the center of the Regiment and presented each soldier with a handsome bouquet of flowers, which were received with thanks and borne with pride at the point of their bayonets through the line of march.

“A free dinner for the soldiers and invited guests was furnished in a large tent on the park, and several hundred of the general multitude mingled with them.”

“The heat was very oppressive, and many of the soldiers dropped upon the grass, exhausted, the moment the cortege stopped. Captain Lombard of Company F, was obliged to leave his command, and Lieut. Byron Porter was sun-struck and remained insensible a long time. Adjutant Edwards was also prostrated by the heat, and was quite ill for hours, and some fifty of the men were affected by the same cause.

fileAdjutant Oliver Edwards

fileContemporary artists drawing of Great Comet of 1861

John Foley, of Holyoke, plans to create Commonwealth Academy, a boarding school for inner-city students.

Mark M. Murray / The Republican12.09.2010 | SPRINGFIELD - The entrance to the MacDuffie School on Maple Street in Springfield. The school was sold Thursday and will be moving to Granby.

SPRINGFIELD – The owner of several private alternative schools has purchased the 15-acre former home of the MacDuffie School in Springfield with plans to create a boarding school for inner-city students.

John A. Foley, of Holyoke, is also the founder of Project-13, a program in Holyoke that encourages middle school students who are at risk of dropping out to instead stay in school.

Foley said the closing on the property was Friday. He declined to give the purchase price, which will become public once the deed is filed with the Hampden County Register of Deeds. The MacDuffie Campus has been appraised at $2.4 million to $2.8 million.

Foley said that the property will go on the tax rolls at the request of Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

The property includes several of the oldest homes in Springfield – buildings Foley promises to keep using as student residences – that were badly damaged by the tornado that ripped through Springfield on June 1.

Friday, Foley said he’d signed the purchase-and-sale agreement before the tornado hit.

“I understand that the property was very well insured. That claim will be assigned to me and the buildings will be restored to what they were before the storm,” he said.

Foley’s school, which he plans to call Commonwealth Academy, will be a nonprofit with funding from private donors and government, he said. The money for the original purchase came from private philanthropy, he said.

The Republican file photo | Michael S. Gordon The campus of the MacDuffie School on Ames Hill in Springfield was among the areas hit when a tornado hit the city on June 1.

Foley said he’d like to set it up as a statewide “innovation school,” a sort of charter school allowed under state law since 2010. Innovation schools operate within school districts, according to the state’s website, but get the leeway to try innovative teaching methods as charter schools do.

“What we want to do is provide an opportunity for low-income kids to have access to a high-quality New England prep school environment, to board on campus and be prepared for success at a four-year college or university.”

There will be some Project-13 programs on the old MacDuffie site. The first group of 100 or so students in the sixth and ninth grades won’t start studying at Commonwealth Academy until fall 2012. Foley said later he hopes to have as many as 300 students in grades 6 through 12 on campus by 2015.

Michael A. Serafino, chairman of the board of trustees at MacDuffie, now known as One Ames Hill Corp., said the board was at first very skeptical about Foley’s plan. But it was won over and decided to sell.

In January, Serafino’s group sold the school’s name and intellectual property to the for-profit International EC, LLC, based in Babylon, N.Y. International EC plans to open its own MacDuffie School at the former St. Hyacinth seminary campus in Granby beginning in September 2011.

Level-3 offenders are people previously convicted of sexual offenses and who the registry board considers to be of high risk to re-offend again. It also determined that the danger each poses makes community notification appropriate.

SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield police have issued a list of 39 city residents determined by the state Sex Offenders Registry Board to be level-3 offenders.

Level-3 offenders are people previously convicted of sexual offenses and who the registry board considers to be of high risk to re-offend again. It also determined that the danger each poses makes community notification appropriate.

All people convicted of sex crimes since 1981 have to register with the Sex Offenders Registry Board, and the board determines if the person's likelihood of reoffending according to one of three categories: level 1 or low risk, level 2 or moderate risk, and level 3 or high risk.

None of the people on the list issued by police are considered wanted, and the state warns against harassment of any of them.

For more information, contact the Springfield police at (413) 787-6302.

Shepardson was an English professor at Westfield State College and founded the English and Communications Department at St. Thomas University in Florida.

Phil Shepardson never would have wanted a mournful eulogy, says his son. He wanted people to have a party when he left this life.

For 30 years, Shepardson was host of “As Schools Match Wits,” the TV quiz show that has run for 50 years, first on WWLP-TV and then on WGBY.

He died this week at age 76 in Hollywood, Fla., where he moved after retiring in 1991.

His son Steven, who lives in Easthampton, said there was a lot more to Shepardson than the low-key persona on camera. “He always said, ‘I want a party when I go!’” said Steven.

Shepardson was both an English professor at Westfield State College and, in the days before “Wits,” host of “The Wicky Wacky Cloud,” a mix of drawings and cartoons on TV.

According to Steven, “Wicky Wacky” became so popular that within a year, his father was getting offers from Milton Bradley.

“But he didn’t want to be a children’s entertainer,” said Steven. “He wanted to be an educator. That always impressed me.

“Passionate, caring teaching was his thing. He really wanted to help his students, but he wanted them to demand excellence from themselves.”

“Wits” was a collaboration between Westfield State and WWLP from the time it went on the air in 1961. Len Collamore, who produced and wrote questions for the show, was a Westfield State alum.

Steven, 54, is the oldest of four children of Phil and his first wife, Eleanor, who later became a lawyer and an ordained minister in California.

He recalls bicycling to Stanley Park in Westfield with his dad when it was a “tiny little place.” His father also liked tossing a baseball or football in the backyard after supper.

Two of his siblings still live in Western Massachusetts, Lisa in Southampton and Peter in South Hadley. Their sister, Ann O’Sullivan, lives in California. A half-brother, Brendan, is in Florida.

Steven wanted to become an engineer, to follow a different career path than his dad. But, sure enough, he said wryly, he wound up majoring in English at the University of Massachusetts.

His parents divorced when Steven was 18, and his father moved to Florida with his second wife, Colleen Flaherty.

There Phil founded the English and Communications Department at St. Thomas University. He had another son, divorced again, but remained close to his second wife, according to Steven.

His father loved the poetry of Robert Frost, he said, and liked drawing cartoons.

He was a very positive person. If he got a sore throat before the show, he still insisted on carrying on.

“He willed illness off him,” said Steven, with a kind of incredulity in his voice. “He was amazing.”

Steven said the family plans to have a picnic in honor of Phil at Stanley Park in the fall, which was his father’s favorite season.

The Institute for Supply Management report showed that manufacturing across the country had expanded.

By DAVID K. RANDALL | AP Business Writer

AP photoWall Street at work.

NEW YORK — So much for that soft patch.

A rebound in U.S. manufacturing surprised investors Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 170 points. The Dow ended up 648 points, or 5.4 percent, for the week. It was the index's best week in two years.

The rally started Monday after Nike Inc. reported strong quarterly results. Revenue that beat analyst predictions indicated that shoppers are still splurging on pricier sneakers and sportswear, despite the recent run-up in gas prices. Thursday, Greece cleared its final hurdle before it receives its next round of loans to avoid default on its debt. The same day, a report showed that manufacturing in the Chicago region had picked up unexpectedly.

Friday's Institute for Supply Management report showed that manufacturing across the country had expanded, reinforcing the growing perception that the slowdown was temporary. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a number of prominent economists have argued that the economy will pick up again once the effects of the Japan disaster waned and high gas prices receded.

It's quite a turnaround from May and early June. Many economists and analysts began lowering their estimates for growth in May after a string of negative reports on manufacturing, consumer spending and hiring by private companies. A shortage of computer chips and auto parts from Japan, higher gas prices and severe weather in the South all contributed to what appeared to be a slowdown in the economic recovery. Stocks had lost most of their gains for the year by mid-June.

Todd Salamone, an investment strategist at Schaffer's Investment Research said the recent surge in stocks represents an "unwinding of the tremendous negativity that built up over the past few weeks."

The Dow rose 168.43 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,582.77, on Friday. The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 18.94, or 1.4 percent, to 1,339.67. The Nasdaq composite added 42.51, or 1.5 percent, to 2,816.03.

All 30 stocks in the index rose Friday. Companies that do well during times of economic expansion led the index. Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. each gained more than 2 percent.

It was the fourth time this week that the Dow gained more than 100 points. The Dow's 648 point gain for the week is its largest since the bull market began in March 2009. It is up 8.7 percent for the year, about 2 percent below its April high. The S&P is up 6.5 percent for the year. It had been up as high as 8.4 percent.

A rebound in automobile sales also helped send stock indexes higher on Friday. General Motors and Ford Inc. both said that their sales rose 10 percent over this time last year. Car companies have been forced to slow the production of some models because of the shortage of parts following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Honda and Toyota said recently that their North American production is beginning to return to normal. That has helped push the national manufacturing index higher. The ISM index rose to 55.3 in June from 53.5 the month before based on a scale in which a number above 50 indicates growth.

Among U.S. companies, the for-profit education company Apollo Group rose 6 percent despite a steep drop in student enrollment. The company's profits fell, but not as much as analysts had predicted. Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Red Lobster and the Olive Garden, also rose 6 percent after reporting that sales rose in all of its divisions. And Eastman Kodak lost 14 percent after a judge threw out some of its claims in a trade dispute with Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.

Whether the current rally continues will hinge on next Friday's unemployment report and the next round of corporate earnings results. Alcoa Inc. will report on July 11th. A rise in profits for bellwether companies such as Alcoa, Caterpillar and Apple Inc. will likely mean that companies have weathered last quarter's sky high commodity prices and pullback in consumer spending.

Council President Jose Tosado said Sarno was overreacting to a minimal amount of budget trimming at a time when city is facing an uncertain financial future.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurraySpringfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno stands next to two charts that he used during a press conference at City Hall on Friday in which he spoke about the city council budget cuts it made.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno lashed out at the City Council on Friday, claiming the $2.7 million in budget cuts were irresponsible and potentially damaging to the city.

At a new conference, Sarno said the 13-member legislative body not only eliminated important services, but also gave itself an 11 percent pay increase, boosting annual pay from $13,050 to $14,500.

“That is a slap in the face of the taxpayers, and the city employees who took pay freezes and furloughs,” Sarno said, standing between two charts juxtaposing the budget cuts with the council’s pay increase.

The cuts included $1.7 million in non-salary accounts for supplies, utility costs and travel; 13 vacant city positions funded by not filled; $100,000 from the Finance Department and another $100,000 for information technology.

Sarno said the cuts were the most drastic made by the council in recent years, and were made without consulting with city administrators.

The $2.7 million subtracted from the budget was meant for paving roads, mowing, trimming and maintaining parks, purchasing DNA, fingerprint and gunshot residue tests kits for the police, and running the CitiStat program, which tracks the efficiency of city services.

Four recently hired police cadets also will be laid off, Sarno said.

In response, Council President Jose F. Tosado said the mayor was overreacting to a minimal amount of budget trimming at a time when city is facing an uncertain financial future.

He said the reduction represents about 1 percent of the budget, and will not diminish basic city services. In particular, the CitiStat program was less effective last year, saving the city less money than in previous years, Tosado said.

“Were these cuts hard? Absolutely. Were they necessary? Absolutely,” he added.

As for the pay increases, Tosado said the figure reflects the amount of a voluntary pay cut councilors took in 2005.

The council approved a final budget last week of $542.2 million, by a vote of 10-3. The budget, which took effect Friday, includes $330.8 million for the School Department.

Voting against the cuts were James J. Ferrera, Thomas A. Ashe and Clodo Concepcion.

The alternative to cutting spending, Tosado said, was raising taxes on businesses and families, or taking millions more from the stabilization fund and jeopardizing the city’s long-term financial health.

“This is what happens in difficult times; we’re no different than private citizens, large corporations or the state of Massachusetts,” Tosado said.