Southern New England was hit by the slow-moving storm, with up to 6 inches of snow forecast for most of Massachusetts, including the Boston area.

BOSTON -- The calendar may say spring, but winter struck the Northeast hard Monday, delivering a storm that could end up dropping as much as 10 inches of snow in some places.

Winter weather advisories were issued from the Buffalo area to Albany in New York, where forecasters are calling for up to 10 inches of snow at higher elevations.

Southern New England was also getting hit by the slow-moving storm, with up to 6 inches of snow forecast for most of Massachusetts, including the Boston area.

Southern New Hampshire, as well as northern Rhode Island and Connecticut, could also get up to 6 inches, with less in coastal areas.

Dozens of school districts, mostly in western Massachusetts, canceled classes for the day.

Dennis F. Conte, of Johnston, Rhode Island, decided not to venture out early Monday because he worried about getting into an accident. By late morning, Conte decided it was safe enough to do a few errands.

Outside Dave's Marketplace in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Conte said that while snow this time of year is unexpected and makes things difficult, it's simply nature.

"We have to wait it out. The next couple of nights will be cold but then the weather's better," he said. "We just have to grin and bear it."

The maximum speed along the entire length of the Massachusetts Turnpike was reduced to 40 mph, and state and local police responded to dozens of fender benders.

In West Hartford, Connecticut, a woman was cited for an accident with a school bus during the storm that sent the driver to the hospital. Police say one student also received a minor injury but wasn't hospitalized.

The snow was expected to come down in bands and last into the evening, when temperatures will plummet, and some streets could freeze over.

Low-temperature records that have stood for more than a century could fall in some spots, according to the National Weather Service.

Monday's storm came a day after several inches of snow fell in some areas and high winds toppled hundreds of trees across New York City. High winds brought down a rotted tree in Abington, about 20 miles south of Boston, on Sunday, killing a married couple in their car.

Although northern New England was not expected to see much snow Monday, the cleanup continued a day after winds that gusted up to 50 mph knocked out power to tens of thousands in Maine.

And although Maine wasn't getting much snow, it did get cold enough for the Sugarloaf ski resort to make snow, the first time in the resort's 65-year history that it's fired up its snow guns in April.

Sunday's high winds also knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 56 points to close at 17,737.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell slightly in quiet trading Monday as investors worked through several company announcements and prepared for the start of company earnings releases.

Health care companies were solidly higher. Global markets rose modestly.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 55.75 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,737. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 6.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,066.13 and the Nasdaq composite lost 22.75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,891.80.

While stocks have recovered most their losses from earlier in the year, investors remain somewhat pessimistic about the market in the near term, especially ahead of the quarterly earnings reporting season, which unofficially beings next week with results from aluminum mining company Alcoa.

Profits of companies in the S&P 500 are expected to drop 8.5 percent from a year ago, according to data from FactSet, with most of that decline coming from the oil and gas sector.

This is despite the continually positive economic reports out of the U.S., including last week's jobs numbers and manufacturing data.

"While the economic fundamentals are good, investor sentiment is still quite negative," said Samantha Azzarello, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds.

The low expectations for company earnings mean that stock values remain relatively high. Investors are paying roughly $18.63 for every dollar of earnings in the S&P 500, well above the $14 to $15 they typically pay.

"You're going to need a big improvement in companies' results for stocks to move higher," said Kristina Hooper, head of U.S. investment strategies at Allianz Global Investors.

Stocks were not as impacted by a noticeable drop in oil prices on Monday, continuing a trend that started last week. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.09, or 3 percent, $35.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 98 cents to $37.69 a barrel in London.

Weeks earlier, a sharp drop in oil prices could have reverberated far more greatly on the stock market. Azzarello says the breakdown in oil's influence on stocks could ultimately be a good thing.

"The market just had to work itself out," Azzarello said.

In individual company news, Virgin America jumped $16.20, or 42 percent, to $55.11 after the company agreed to be bought by Alaska Air Group. Shares of Alaska Air fell $3.09, or 4 percent, to $78.92. JetBlue, which had bid for Virgin as well, fell 92 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $20.41.

Tesla Motors rose $9.40, or 4 percent, to $246.99 after the company announced it had received 276,000 preorders for its highly anticipated Model 3, which was unveiled Thursday.

Bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.76 percent from 1.77 percent. The euro was mostly unchanged at $1.1397 while the dollar fell to 111.26 yen from 111.73 yen.

In other energy markets, heating oil fell 4 cents to $1.089 a gallon, wholesale gasoline futures fell 2 cents to $1.377 a gallon and natural gas rose 4 cents to $1.998 per thousand cubic feet.

In the metals markets, gold fell $4.20 to $1,219.30 an ounce, silver fell 10 cents to $14.94 an ounce and copper fell 2 cents to $2.14 a pound.

Oscar Lopez Rivera is in federal prison and is the subject of resolution the Holyoke City Council will vote on urging that President Barack Obama grant his release.

HOLYOKE -- President Barack Obama would receive a resolution from the City Council urging the unconditional release from federal prison of Oscar Lopez Rivera under a committee recommendation made Monday.

"It is as much a request for support as it is an invitation to be on the right side of history," said Marcos A. Marrero, a Linden Street resident and city official who said he was speaking as a private citizen.

"By helping out one part of our community, it helps all of us," said David Yos, of Sydney Avenue.

There's debate about whether Lopez Rivera is a political prisoner wrongly incarcerated or a terrorist justly confined.

The full City Council Tuesday at City Hall at 7 p.m. will consider the 5-0 recommendation in favor of the Oscar Lopez Rivera resolution from the Development and Government Relations Committee (DGR).

Ward 2 Councilor Nelson R. Roman proposed the resolution for Oscar Lopez Rivera. The declaration to the president is a desire of the community here with Holyoke's population of 40,000 about half Latino and many of those of Puerto Rican descent, he said.

A Vietnam War veteran, Lopez Rivera has had the United Nations, labor groups and numerous levels of elected officials call for his release.

"Be it therefore resolved, the city of Holyoke urges President Obama to exercise his Constitutional power to grant the immediate and unconditional release of Oscar Lopez Rivera," Roman's resolution reads.

Lopez Rivera has served 34 years of a 75-year sentence for "seditious conspiracy" related to his participation in the FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group that has used violence in its campaign for Puerto Rican independence from the United States, though Lopez Rivera has not been charged with participating in bombings or injuring anyone, said online sources such as Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mother Jones, a left-learning magazine, the New York Daily News and City Journal, a quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

Lopez Rivera is currently in the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The New York Times reported on Sept. 8, 1999 that Lopez Rivera " was convicted in Chicago in August 1981 of numerous charges, including weapons violations and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy Government property, and sentenced to 70 years in prison."

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse declared March 28, 2016 "Jose Lopez Day" with a mayoral commendation. Jose Lopez is the brother of Oscar Lopez Rivera and made appearances in the city last week. He has advocated internationally for the release of his brother.

"This is a Holyoke issue and is important to the Puerto Rican community," Roman said last week. "When it comes to Oscar, he is the Nelson Mandela of Holyoke."

The DGR committee consists of David K. Bartley, the chairman, and councilors Peter R. Tallman, Joseph M. McGiverin, Michael J. Sullivan and Roman.

The vote was difficult to discern from the audience in City Council Chambers. Bartley and Roman said the recommendation in favor of the resolution was 5-0.

Sullivan voted in favor of the resolution, but previously questioned whether it was proper for the City Council to get involved in such national issues when many local issues require attention.

Marrero is director of the city Department of Planning and Economic Development.

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt defended his company when a reporter’s question turned to the polluted Housatonic River. GE, which is moving to Boston, once had facilities in Pittsfield. The company’s departure economically devastated the city and left its toxins in the Housatonic River.

BOSTON - General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt defended his company when a reporter asked about the polluted Housatonic River it left behind after leaving Pittsfield.

GE, which is set to complete the moving of its headquarters to Boston from Connecticut in 2018 and focus on the "industrial internet," once had facilities in Pittsfield. The company's departure economically devastated the city and left its toxins in the Housatonic River.

At an event centered on re-locating the headquarters, Immelt said the company has already spent half a billion dollars on the first phase of the cleanup and they have "every intention" to work with Gov. Charlie Baker and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to finish the cleanup of the rest of the river.

GE has been at odds with the EPA over the details of the cleanup and how much it should cost the company.

"You know, we have a certain perspective on how we think it should be done, and we plan to stand up for what we think is right," Immelt said.

"We've done more dredging than any other company on earth, I'd have to say," he added.

Baker has previously said the company's move to Boston -- which comes with an incentives package -- and its cleanup of the Housatonic are separate issues.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said last week that he had met Immelt and was told a deal is imminent, the Republican newspaper reported last week.

As the press conference with Immelt, Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh got underway high up in the 60 State Street tower, a group of protesters gathered below and decried the company not paying federal taxes, city budget cuts and the proposed incentives package from the city and state. The details of the package are still being worked on, and may not be finalized until mid-June.

The protesters, who were organized by groups like the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants, New England War Tax Resistance and the Housatonic River Initiative, said the $145 million incentives package to GE was coming as the city of Boston in the midst of a school budget crisis.

"Today, before we walked into this room, we didn't have 25 million dollars re-invested in our public school system," Walsh said, when asked about the protesters. "Today we have 25 million dollars over a five-year period reinvested in our schools that wasn't there yesterday."

Walsh was referring to GE announcing earlier on Monday that its philanthropic arm would be funneling $25 million over five years to Boston Public Schools. The GE Foundation will also provide $10 million for a diverse population and $15 million for a workforce focused on "next generation" health care.

Walsh said Boston has a top ranking as city with high-income inequality, and he hopes their investment in the schools will go a long way towards changing that. Measuring the success of GE will include the question of whether they've closed the gap on that, he said.

Madison Park High School, a struggling vocational school, will be a key focus of the city's partnership with GE, Walsh said.

Immelt said the governor and the mayor are making an investment through the incentives package. "It's up to us to prove them right as time goes on," he said.

Here are some other highlights from the GE press conference:

• A reporter noted the troubled state of the MBTA, a system suffering from deferred maintenance. "The last time I took the T was 1982," Immelt quipped. Baker then added that the train Immelt rode that year is probably still in service. (The MBTA is getting new Orange and Red Line cars, built in Springfield, in 2019.)

  Baker added that the core system has been "badly neglected" and his administration is investing in the system, such as fixing switches, power systems and track infrastructure.

• Asked by a reporter for his stance on whether non-compete agreements, a controversial practice, should be phased out in Massachusetts, Immelt said a company worrying about non-compete agreements ultimately is not going to be very competitive.

  Sometimes GE uses non-competes, sometimes it doesn't, he added. When a good worker leaves GE he doesn't blame them, "I blame their manager," Immelt said.

• Baker said he expects GE's presence in Boston to drive "exponential shifts" in the city, from research and development, talent retention, health care, life sciences to analytical software.

• A helipad is still on the table, according to Walsh's economic development chief, John Barros. Barros told reporters the helipad would be accessible to the public, so it cannot go on the privately owned property that General Electric plans to set up shop in the Seaport District. Instead, the helipad will likely be somewhere nearby.

The Boston Theater Company production draws from interviews with survivors, runners, doctors, first responders and others, with actors using verbatim transcripts to convey each person's story on stage.

By DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON -- Boston Marathon Bombing: The Play?

It sounds improbable, but "Finish Line: The Untold Stories of the 2013 Boston Marathon" opens Thursday with a simple mission -- to tell the stories of bravery, resilience and recovery through the eyes of people who lived them.

The Boston Theater Company production draws from interviews with survivors, runners, doctors, first responders and others, with actors using verbatim transcripts to convey each person's story on stage.

"Finish Line" will have a 17-day run of preview performances at the NonProfit Center to coincide with the third anniversary of the twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Its world premiere opening is scheduled for April 2017.

Unlike books about the attack or the Mark Wahlberg movie "Patriots Day," now being filmed in Massachusetts, "Finish Line" does not attempt to re-create the bombings or portray the brothers responsible for the attack. Instead, the documentary play focuses on people who were touched by the violence and came out stronger.

The play's co-creators, Joey Frangieh and Lisa Rafferty, said they wanted to produce something that focused not on the horror of April 15, 2013, but instead on the kindness shown that day and in the days that followed.

"It's about the runners, it's about the spectators, it's about a city, a state, a country that chose to not allow an act of evil, an act of terrorism, an act of violence to define who we are," said Frangieh, producing artistic director of the Boston Theater Company.

There's Army Master Sgt. Bernard "Chris" Spielhagen II, an Iraq War veteran who had just finished running the 26.2-mile course when the first bomb exploded. He jumped in to help, working with two National Guardsmen to break a wooden bench to make a stretcher for a woman with severe leg injuries. Spielhagen wrapped her leg with a volunteer's jacket, made a splint and stayed with her until an ambulance came.

Then there's Harry McEnerny, a triage technician in the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who recalls receiving ambulance after ambulance filled with wounded patients. The staff at Beth Israel was in a panic because of rumors that another Boston hospital had been bombed. McEnerny wanted to run away but, instead, he stayed and worked for many hours, helping to save patients. He still feels a significant amount of guilt for wanting to leave, calling that urge his "greatest moment of defeat."

And there's Brad Jensen, a man who had just passed the finish line with his mother, who had run the last six miles with him for support. After the explosions, his father found him and his mother -- unhurt -- and they walked away together. Jensen talks about how his parents struggled with feelings of guilt for not staying and helping the injured. Brad tells his parents that they were simply following a primal parental instinct -- protecting their child.

John Tracey, the actor who portrays Jensen in "Finish Line," said the play is filled with "great little microscopic moments" of how the bombings affected people who escaped physical wounds, but were deeply affected in other ways.

"Brad wasn't injured, he didn't lose anyone, but what he did get -- aside from surviving this traumatic experience -- was this great recognition of that (parental) instinct and how consuming his parents' love for him is," Tracey said.

The play begins on the day of the bombings and ends at the marathon finish line a year later, following the resilience of survivors such as Lee Ann Yanni, a physical therapist who was at the 2013 marathon to cheer on two of her patients. The first bomb fractured her fibula and left a half-dollar size piece of shrapnel in her left leg. She also had tendon and nerve damage.

Despite her injuries, Yanni told people she would follow through on her plan to run the Chicago Marathon six months later. She did, then went on to run the 2014 Boston Marathon six months after that.

"There wasn't anything," she said, "that was going to stop me."

The Springfield City Council voted 11-2 Monday night to override a veto by Mayor Domenic Sarno of a measure designed to limit the mayor's powers in granting waivers to certain employees from having to live in Springfield. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD — The City Council voted 11-2 Monday night to override a veto by Mayor Domenic Sarno of a measure designed to limit the mayor's powers in granting waivers to certain employees from having to live in Springfield.

Only councilors Timothy Rooke and Thomas Ashe voted ":no." Voting "yes" were Tim Allen, Melvin Edwards, Mike Fenton, Adam Gomez, Justin Hurst, Orlando Ramos, Kenneth Shea, E. Henry Twiggs, Kateri Walsh, Bud Williams and Marcus Williams.

At least nine votes were needed -- a two-thirds majority -- to override the mayor's veto, but the mayor has questioned the legality of limiting his powers on waivers.

Councilors supporting the override said their vote was for the residents of Springfield to help spur their employment and to to support their ability to rise through promotions.

"Today is about the people you live next door to," said Gomez. "those are the people that we fight for. Those are the people we make decisions for."

On March 21, the council voted to amend the city's residency ordinance, prohibiting the mayor from granting any new waivers to city department heads or deputy directors.

In addition, the revised ordinance requires Sarno to take additional steps, including City Council notification and re-posting of city job openings whenever there is a residency waiver request.

Sarno vetoed the ordinance the following day, saying the council was attempting to usurp his "strong mayor" powers under Plan A form of government in Springfield.

Councilor Twiggs said the council was taking up the issue Monday because it "cares about the city."

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula backed the mayor's view, stating in a legal opinion sent to all councilors last week it "is not within the legal authority of the City Council" to adopt an ordinance hindering his City Charter-granted powers.

At Monday night's meeting, Pikula said the residency issue is one that belongs in collective bargaining.

The council had proposed a similar limit on the mayor's powers to grant residency waivers in 2013, also vetoed by the mayor, and fell one vote short in attempting an override of that veto.

The city's residency ordinance states that any city employee hired on or after March 17, 1995 "shall be a resident of the city of Springfield and shall not cease to be a resident during his employment" except in cases provided for in the ordinance.

In addition, it states that those employees who are promoted by the city on or after March 17, 1995, shall be residents or shall move to the city within one year of the promotion.

However, Human Resources Director William Mahoney said that many employee groups are exempt from the residency requirement by state law or contract, including police officers, firefighters and teachers. Some councilors have criticized Mahoney and other city officials for failing to properly enforce the residency requirement.

Pikula, within his legal opinion, stated that the majority of the city's workforce is exempt from the residency requirement. The council's amendments to the ordinance would be "vulnerable to a challenge 'as applied' due to its limited applicability to only a small group of persons," PIkula wrote.

The ordinance does state that the residency requirement can be waived by the mayor for certain individuals "upon written determination that the taxpayers and residents of the City of Springfield would be better served through the hiring, appointment or promotion of a nonresident of the City of Springfield to a position."

Sarno said that when all things are equal, he does favor giving municipal jobs to city residents, but that he had a responsibility to the residents and taxpayers of Springfield to hire the most qualified person for a job, regardless of where they live.

The state-imposed Finance Control Board gave the mayor the power to grant waivers in 2009, but Sarno, as mayor and a member of the control board, voted against the new power. It was passed by a 3-2 vote then, and Sarno said he would only anticipate granting waivers in rare cases.

The dispute over waivers expanded last week as Hurst, Williams and Gomez criticized Mahoney for alleged failure to enforce the residency requirement. The councilors named one deputy fire chief and five district chiefs who do not live in Springfield.

Mahoney said that issue is being addressed in collective bargaining.

Councilor Walsh was among councilors on Monday saying they took offense that Sarno was accusing councilors of "vilifying" the Fire Department, with Walsh saying councilors have a right to have a different opinion without the mayor resorting to that comment..

Hurst said there is a lack of diversity in the upper management of the Police and Fire departments and City Hall, and enforcement of residency will help "fix that problem."

The iPhones will be able to access information such as on-time performance and service disruptions, and cannot be used for email or other non-sanctioned apps, according to Keolis Commuter Services.

By ANDY METZGER

BOSTON, APRIL 4, 2016....Hoping to help conductors catch up with smart-phone scrolling passengers, the MBTA's commuter rail operator began distributing 400 specially programmed iPhones on Monday.

"For safety reasons, our on-board staff are not permitted to use their phones while on duty. As a result, our passengers, nearly all of whom carry smart-phones, sometimes knew about incidents or issues before our conductors did, creating frustration for both sides," said Ric Salvatici, chief information officer for commuter rail operator Keolis Commuter Services, in a prepared statement.

The goal, Salvatici said, is to ensure Keolis teams "have the information they need to keep passengers accurately informed about what is going in a more timely manner."

Rail-riders have for years shared their complaints and comments and learned of service disruptions through social media apps, such as Twitter. Conductors are not permitted to have their personal cell phones with them when working on the trains, according to Keolis.

The iPhones will be able to access information such as on-time performance and service disruptions, and cannot be used for email or other non-sanctioned apps, according to Keolis. In the future, conductors will be able to digitally access manuals and bulletins, the rail company said.

The technology initiative was tested over the course of a month by 10 conductors, according to Keolis, which said it was given good reviews. Keolis is working with Verizon and will distribute the phones over the next two days at North and South stations.

The MBTA cracked down on cell phone usage by vehicle operators in May 2009 after a Green Line trolley crash that injured more than 40 people.

State police said a trooper pulled over 44-year-old Salustriano Dasilva when he made a U-turn and started going in the right direction.

SANDWICH - A Fall River man faces his second drunken driving charge after allegedly driving the wrong way on Cape Cod.

Several drivers called the Bourne barracks of the Massachusetts State Police at around 7:40 p.m. Sunday to report a vehicle going eastbound in the westbound lane of Route 6.

State police said a trooper pulled over 44-year-old Salustriano Dasilva when he made a U-turn and started going in the right direction.

Dasilva is charged with OUI, second offense; driving with a suspended license, subsequent offense; reckless operation; and driving the wrong way on a state highway.

He was held on $2,500 bail and transferred to the Barnstable jail.

Bruce Gasco was arrested at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Gilbertville village here, and brought to the Spencer police lockup. He was freed after posting $40 bail.

HARDWICK - The town's former deputy fire chief, Bruce Gasco, will be arraigned Tuesday on five theft-related charges involving the alleged stealing of gasoline by using a municipal credit card without authorization, court records show.

Gasco, 43, of 314 Taylor Hill Rd., was arrested at 5 p.m. Monday in the Gilbertville village here, and brought to the Spencer police lockup. He was freed after posting $40 bail and is due to appear in East Brookfield District Court.

At the 9 a.m. arraignment on April 5, he will face a charge of improper credit card use of more than $250; three counts of improper use of a credit card of less than $250; and larceny of more than $250.

Gasco is also charged with trespassing for showing up at the fire station after he was terminated.

He was fired from his job with the Hardwick Fire Department on March 28, and was ordered not to set foot on the premises, but he allegedly failed to adhere to that, according to police.

Police said the suspect, who was armed with a knife, threatened to kill one of his arresting officer upon release.

SPRINGFIELD -- Police said they arrested a man and confiscated 30 bags of "Sprite" heroin Saturday night after they saw him make a deal in the North End.

Sgt. John Delaney said that the suspect, who was armed with a knife, threatened to kill one of the arresting officers upon his release, Officer Tommy Hervieux.

The incident began shortly after 7:15 p.m. North End C-3 Sgt. Julio Toledo and Hervieux were on patrol near Orchard Street when they saw the suspect, who is known to them, conduct a drug transaction, Delaney, public information officer for the department, said.

When the officers moved in to arrest the suspect, he jumped on a mountain bike and fled the scene.

Police, searching for the suspect, spotted the blue mountain bike parked in front of a gasoline station convenience store. The suspect was inside the store buying some items, Delaney said.

The suspect attempted to flee but was arrested after a brief scuffle. Along with the 30 bags of heroin (each stamped with the logo Sprite) police confiscated $1,063 in cash.

Ivan Davila, 44, of 70 Harrison Ave., was charged with possession with intent to distribute, carrying a dangerous weapon (a knife), resisting arrest and threat to murder.

He also had a warrant for his arrest on charges of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, distribution of cocaine, assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, Delaney said.

Local Democrats will caucus on Saturday, April 9, 2016, at Southwick Town Hall.

SOUTHWICK — Local Democrats will hold a caucus at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 9, at Southwick Town Hall to elect delegates and alternates to the 2016 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.

The convention is scheduled for June 4 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell.

Southwick is one of only a handful of Western Massachusetts towns in which there are more registered Republicans than Democrats.

Former coal executive Don Blankenship could receive up to a year in prison and a fine of $250,000 in connection to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades when he is sentenced one day after the tragedy's sixth anniversary.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former coal executive Don Blankenship could receive up to a year in prison and a fine of $250,000 in connection to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades when he is sentenced one day after the tragedy's sixth anniversary.

But just as important as the length of his sentence is whether the ex-Massey Energy CEO will remain free while he appeals the ruling.

Blankenship could actually be in and out of prison by the time he gets an appellate ruling, his defense attorneys have said in court filings.

If he is sent to prison immediately, "the court of appeals likely won't even have decided the case until after he's served his sentence, and so the appeal really becomes largely academic," said Barry Pollack, a white-collar defense attorney for Miller & Chevalier. Pollack wasn't involved in the case.

Blankenship is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for a misdemeanor conspiracy to willfully violate mine safety standards at Upper Big Branch Mine.

Prosecutors didn't charge Blankenship with causing the explosion that ripped through the southern West Virginia coal mine in 2010, killing 29 men. They painted him as a wealthy, intimidating boss who was intricately involved in decisions at the violation-plagued Upper Big Branch, and prioritized profits over essential safety precautions.

A jury convicted Blankenship of the conspiracy on Dec. 3, but cleared him of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years.

Blankenship's lawyers want to keep him out of prison on his $1 million bond until the appeal is settled. They say he meets the legal marks because he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and his lawyers can raise enough questions about the lower court's ruling that an appeals court likely will change it.

Prosecutors say Blankenship's concerns aren't likely to change the decision on appeal. Additionally, the judge will not even be allowed to consider that the maximum sentence is only one year, prosecutors wrote.

"A year of Defendant's time is no more or less valuable than a year in the life of a drug defendant sentenced to 20 years," prosecutors wrote.

Federal law allows maximums of one year in prison and $250,000 in fines for the mine safety crime, penalties that prosecutors said are "woefully insufficient." But handing down anything less would encourage coal operators to break the law, prosecutors wrote.

"Given the magnitude of Defendant's crime, a sentence shorter than the maximum could only be interpreted as a declaration that mine safety laws are not to be taken seriously," prosecutors wrote.

Blankenship's attorneys contend he should receive probation and a fine, at most. They embraced Blankenship's image as a tough boss, but countered it by saying he demanded safety and showed commitment to his community, family and employees.

His attorneys provided the judge more than 110 letters from family, friends and former workers praising Blankenship as a safety innovator and offering rare personal glimpses into his life.

"I have two children and would have taken them in that mine (Upper Big Branch) at any time," wrote Rick Nicolau, a former Massey worker. ". Massey (UBB) was the safest run mine that I have ever worked in in my lifetime."

Blankenship helped build sports fields, gyms and playgrounds in the coalfields; made donations and funded scholarships; cleaned up after floods; helped local widows; and let one worker's wife use the company plane to fly out for cancer treatment, some letters read.

Those anecdotes will contrast sharply with statements during Wednesday's hearing from the families of miners who died at Upper Big Branch.

Even though the law ultimately caps Blankenship's possible prison time at a year, the sentencing guidelines call for 15 to 21 months because Blankenship was a leader and organizer of the conviction offense; abused a position of public trust; and obstructed the administration of justice, according to the prosecution. Blankenship's attorneys contest that math.

Mike Hissam, an attorney with Bailey & Glasser and former assistant prosecutor who helped investigate Upper Big Branch, said he wouldn't be surprised if the judge cites the sentencing guidelines and gives Blankenship the full year.

Pollack disagreed, saying he expects a lesser sentence since Blankenship was convicted on a misdemeanor and he has no previous criminal history.

A reprieve from snow is ahead.

SPRINGFIELD -- A reprieve from snow is ahead.

The National Weather Service reports skies will be clear in Massachusetts Tuesday evening. The low will be around 12 degrees in Worcester overnight, 13 in Springfield and 18 in Boston.

Wednesday will offer temperatures in the 40s. The high will be near 46 degrees in Springfield, 44 in Worcester and 42 in Boston.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 134 points to 17,603.

By KEN SWEET

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell for a second day on Tuesday, as the head of the International Monetary Fund sounded downbeat on the outlook for the world economy.

Disney fell after the company's expected successor to CEO Bob Iger announced he was leaving the company. Allergan plunged after the Treasury Department announced tax rules that would make its merger with Pfizer more difficult.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 133.68 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,603.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 20.96 points, or 1 percent, to 2,045.17 and the Nasdaq composite fell 47.86 points, or 1 percent, to 4,843.93.

Stocks opened lower and remained down all day. Investors moved into traditional areas of safety, including gold and U.S. government bonds. The market is coming off a multi-week rally that erased nearly all of its losses from earlier in the year.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.72 percent from 1.76 percent. Gold rose $10.30 to $1,229.60 an ounce.

After last month's big rally, investors are waiting to see how quarterly results from companies come in. Earnings season starts next week with Alcoa, the aluminum company, as well as the big banks like JPMorgan Chase.

"The market has been expected this quarter's earnings to be lousy so if earnings come in better than expected, it might provide some support to the market," said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, warned in a speech that "the recovery remains too slow, too fragile." She said the world economy isn't in a crisis but that slow growth risks becoming ingrained as a "new mediocre." She noted the outlook for the next six months has weakened, suggesting the IMF may be revising its forecasts lower.

Lagarde's comments helped cause European and Asian markets to close broadly lower. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 2.4 percent, hit hard by a rise in the yen. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.8 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.6 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 2.6 percent, France's CAC-40 fell 2.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 1.2 percent.

Among individual companies, Allergan fell $41, or 15 percent, to $236.55. The U.S. Treasury Department announced new tax rules to discourage what are known as corporate inversions, which is when a U.S. company mergers with a foreign company for tax purposes. Allergan was currently in the process of doing an inversion with U.S. drug giant Pfizer. Shares of Pfizer rose 64 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $31.36.

Disney fell $1.68, or 1.7 percent, to $97. The media giant said late Monday that Tom Staggs, the heir apparent to the company's current CEO, would depart. Iger said he plans to retire in 2018.

Benchmark U.S. crude edged up 19 cents to close at $35.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 18 cents to close at $37.87 a barrel in London.

The euro inched down to $1.1385 from $1.1397, while the dollar fell to 110.49 yen from 111.26 yen.

In other energy commodities, heating oil fell 1 cent to $1.075 a gallon, wholesale gasoline was unchanged at $1.378 a gallon and natural gas fell 4 cents to $1.954 per thousand cubic feet.

In other metals trading, silver rose 17 cents to $15.12 an ounce and copper fell less than 1 cent to $2.138 a pound.

The Stand Against Racism forum will address issues of "anti-racism/anti-white supremacy" within the context of Amherst's wider community UMass Amherst on Friday, April 8.

AMHERST — Last year, race relations took center stage as a political issue in America. From Donald Trump's controversial, some say bigoted, rallies, to the highly publicized shootings of African-American youth by police officers, to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, 2015 was especially rocky.

It seems appropriate then that Amherst students, faculty and locals have decided to take aim at a slew of controversial, race-based issues this week.

The Stand Against Racism forum will address issues of "anti-racism/anti-white supremacy" within the context of Amherst's wider community. The forum will take place at the UMass Amherst Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall on Friday, April 8.

Included in the day's activities will be a racial justice march, as well as a two-hour forum by student activists.

One of the forum's more distinctive features will be a series of "dialogue sessions" that allow students the opportunity to discuss "racism," "oppression," and "microaggressions" and how these concepts affect their experiences. Sessions like "Racial Justice 101 for White Folks" are meant to force discussions on academic concepts like "white privilege."

The group responsible for the event – the Coalition for Racial Justice – is an alliance of UMass Amherst activist groups that have pledged to address issues of racial injustice, and who stage sit-ins, protests and other events around campus throughout the year.

The forum will also include a performance by SHAHA – Umass Amherst's "diversity peer education troupe" – whose shows explore issues of race, gender, and social justice through skits informed by students' personal experiences with diversity.

The forum will occur from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, and will be open to public participation. The forum's events are free to all, and will include some refreshments.

The city councilors voted 11-2 to override the mayor's veto, in a move that seeks to limit his powers to grant waivers of the city's residency requirement for new employees and promoted employees. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - Below are some take away quotes from a City Council meeting Monday night, when councilors voted 11-2 to override a veto by Mayor Domenic Sarno -- aimed at limiting his powers in granting residency waivers to city employees..

Councilors have been critical of the administration for allegedly failing to fully enforce residency and of granting too many waivers.

Additional criticism occurred last week when there was news that one deputy fire chief and five district fire chiefs live outside Springfield.

Sarno said he grants few waivers, but the council cannot usurp those powers under a strong mayor form of government under the City Charter.

The following are some of the take-away quotes from councilors at the meeting:

Kateri Walsh

Residency is a very problematic issue, always has been. It has not been uniformly enforced, there are exemptions for major groups, waivers without explanation and hints of favoritism. I have always supported residency. It does not mean we are villains. It just means we (mayor, council) have different points of view.

Bud Williams

We need residency. People are very excited that we are putting Springfield first. This residency ordinance is very, very important to the psychology of the people in the city because they felt they are being left out and left behind and don't have a fair share. If you look at the jobs at the top, there is no diversity.

Adam Gomez

It's the human thing to do. This residency issue -- it's not saying that they're not qualified. But every time I read the news they said 'but we want the best.' Springfield deserves the best. But when you continue to say we need the best, you're alienating our people, saying that they are not qualified.

Justin Hurst

These are the issues we need to be rallying around. Nobody is vilifying the fire department. In fact, it shouldn't be that difficult and the fire department should desire to live in city of Springfield where they risk their lives on a daily basis. And for the mayor to say his district chiefs, it would decimate the department is an assumption those district chiefs don't see (his) vision."

E. Henry Twiggs

If he wants to be the people's mayor, he better listen to what the people are saying. We're here tonight because we care about the city. People are depending on us to be the leaders the mayor's office don't want to lead.

Orlando Ramos

This is a big issue that could potentially lead to Springfield residents gaining meaningful employment with the city of Springfield; and ordinance that could lead to hopefully increasing the tax base of our city, and increasing home ownership in our city. My vote is not a vote against the mayor of the city. My vote is for the people of the city. My vote is for Springfield residents.

Marcus Williams

If you are going to proclaim to be the people's mayor, then you need to stand up when the people need to be represented. This is not a black or white issue. It's not I'm poor or I'm rich issue. This sends a strong message not only to the mayor but to the residents who need some uplifting and this is the way to do it.

Tim Allen

Several of us have worked on this for years. This ordinance is about going forward and putting in a good process to give more than one shot at Springfield people to get jobs. Tonight we have an opportunity to override, feel good and do what is right for the city.

Kenneth Shea

By passing this, we are not in any way, retroactively, going to disrupt anyone that is currently employed. Just going forward , from this day forward, the ability for waivers will be greatly restricted. I never waver on department heads and deputies (on waivers). That never should be allowed.

After a meeting of East Longmeadow's Board of Selectmen, Francis G. "Frank" Keough III addressed members of the public and media to deny allegations he offered a Selectman a job in exchange for support of a police chief candidate.

EAST LONGMEADOW — In an impromptu press conference after East Longmeadow selectmen declined to let him speak, the man at the center of an alleged bribery scheme declared his innocence.

With his attorney by his side, Francis G. "Frank" Keough III attended East Longmeadow's Board of Selectmen's meeting Tuesday night intending to address the crowd. After Chairman Angela Thorpe refused Keough's request, he spoke to a gathering crowd of about 25 residents and members of the media after the meeting for more than an hour.

"I came here in an attempt to set the record straight," Keough said. "I never offered (selectman Paul) Federici a job."

Last month, Selectman Paul Federici said that during a meeting with Keough around the beginning of January, Keough sought his support for former West Springfield Police Captain Daniel O'Brien for the open East Longmeadow police chief position and East Longmeadow interim Town Administrator Gregory Neffinger as permanent Town Hall head. Keough told Federici that his cooperation would be repaid with a yet-to-be-created position in Town Hall, Federici said.

Also at the meeting, Keough and Federici have said in the past week, was Federici's cousin, James Santaniello, a businessman with ties to organized crime, nightlife, real estate and political circles.

Santaniello set the meeting up with Federici to discuss the process of obtaining a liquor license in East Longmeadow, because a mutual friend of Santaniello and Keough was seeking one, Keough said. Keough attended the meeting to support his friend, he added.

Keough said he intends to bring legal action against Federici for his public accusations. They are looking into suing the town of East Longmeadow, because of Federici's position on the board, said Roy Anderson, Keough's attorney.

No lawsuits have been filed, Anderson said, and it is not clear when or with what court they may file suit.

Keough went on to question why Federici had not mentioned to the media that Santaniello was in the meeting.

Federici did not immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment Tuesday night, but in an interview last week acknowledged his cousin's presence at the meeting, and said he failed to mention the detail out of a "misguided family loyalty."

As Keough spoke, noting his suspicions of why Federici waited two months before speaking with law enforcement about the alleged bribery and wonder at why he had not approached Santaniello with his concern, skeptical residents asked him questions regarding his relationship with Neffinger and O'Brien.

Neffinger briefly attended the same high school as Keough, he said, and O'Brien had been a friend for years. Keough said he called selectmen Thorpe and William Gorman in support of O'Brien, for the police chief job, but he recommended another applicant - who he declined to name, but said also attended high school with him - for the position.

Keough and Neffinger met in the Town Hall parking lot on Monday, Keough said in response to a question, so that Neffinger could hand him copies of newspaper articles that mention allegations against him.

Neffinger, who said he did not attend the meeting because he was ill with the flu, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday night that he met with Keough to give him a copy of a newspaper article.

"Because of certain comments that have been made about me, I appreciate Frank Keough for doing anything he can (to refute Federici's claims)," Neffinger said.

A relative of Michael L. Dupray, 48, of Ipswich, called police to a home on Skytop Road on Monday evening to report a domestic assault.

IPSWICH - A man who allegedly assaulted his elderly father faces a slew of charges including illegal possession of a shotgun.

A relative of Michael L. Dupray, 48, of Ipswich, called police to a home on Skytop Road on Monday evening to report a domestic assault.

Shortly after officers arrived, "Dupray exited the house and police noted that he was carrying a loaded shotgun and was wearing an ammunition belt," police said in a news release.

He followed officers' instructions to drop the weapon, but then allegedly resisted arrest. Once at the police station, he was sent to Beverly Hospital for evaluation before being transferred to the Middleton House of Corrections pending arraignment.

Dupray faces charges including domestic assault and battery on an elderly person; assault with a dangerous weapon; destruction of property; and weapons offenses.

The legal reason the search committee cited to meet out of public view was to interview potential candidates for police chief

Updates a story posted Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.

BELCHERTOWN — The town's labor attorney says that the police chief search committee is within its rights to meet behind closed doors to review meeting minutes and that the exemption to the state's Open Meeting law they cited for the executive session is correct, according to Selectmen Chairman Ron Aponte.

The legal reason the search committee cited to meet out of public view was to interview potential candidates for police chief.

In an interview, Aponte stated, "Town counsel said that is the correct citation. The one thing they should have said was deliberating on the minutes - from the interviews - but that is not required by law."

Belchertown's labor counsel is Worcester lawyer Marc Terry.

The selectmen-appointed search committee, which began work last year, recommended three finalists for chief, and selectmen will begin interviewing them on Friday night.

In a related matter, Aponte said selectmen plan to release the resumes of the three finalists at the start of Friday's meeting, where interviews with the candidates are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The finalists are Amherst Police Capt. Christopher Pronovost, of Granby, Northampton Police Lt. Robert Powers Jr., of Westhampton, and Sturbridge Police Lt. Mark Saloio, of Brimfield.

The Holyoke City Council's unanimous approval of the Oscar Lopez Rivera resolution was preceded by a march on High Street and public speakout supporters.

HOLYOKE -- To the delight of a packed City Council Chambers, the council Tuesday approved a resolution urging President Barack Obama to grant unconditional release from federal prison of Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Rivera is a Puerto Rican national who has served 34 years of a 75-year sentence for "seditious conspiracy" related to his participation in a a Puerto Rican nationalist group.

While nationally there has been debate about whether Rivera is a political prisoner or a terrorist, support was complete among the 13 councilors in attendance and most of the 18 speakers who made remarks in the public speak-out period.

"Let this man out of jail, please...You guys do it and I guarantee there's going to be so many city councils in the united states following your lead," said Jose O. Bou, owner of Salsarengue Restaurant & Seafood at 392 High St.

"Please let him out. He's done his time. It's time to let him out so he can enjoy his freedom as we enjoys ours," Councilor at Large Joseph M. McGiverin said.

Led by Ward 2 Councilor Nelson R. Roman, who proposed the resolution, a march of more than 30 people was held in support before the City Council meeting from Salsarengue Restaurant to City Hall.

Roman said support is strong for the freedom of Lopez Rivera partly based on Holyoke's population of 40,000 being about half Latino and many of those of Puerto Rican descent.

"That is the connection," said Owen R. Broadhurst, of Northampton Street.

A Vietnam War veteran, Lopez Rivera has had the United Nations, labor groups and numerous levels of elected officials call for his release, Roman said.

"Be it therefore resolved, the city of Holyoke urges President Obama to exercise his Constitutional power to grant the immediate and unconditional release of Oscar Lopez Rivera," Roman's resolution reads.

Lopez Rivera has served 34 years of a 75-year sentence for "seditious conspiracy" related to his participation in the FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group that has used violence in its campaign for Puerto Rican independence from the United States, though Lopez Rivera has not been charged with participating in bombings or injuring anyone, according to news reports such as Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mother Jones, a left-learning magazine, the New York Daily News and City Journal, a quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

Lopez Rivera is currently in the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The City Council Development and Government Relations Committee voted 5-0 Monday to recommend the full council approve the Rivera resolution.

A story with additional detail about the City Council voting for the Oscar Lopez Rivera resolution will be published later this week.