Williams served eight terms on the council before leaving to mount an unsuccessful challenge of Mayor Domenic Sarno two years ago.

File photo by Manon MirabelliFormer Springfield City Council member Bud L. Williams speaks during the 13th Annual Dads Make a Difference program at Magazine Park in May. Williams has announced his intentions to run for Springfield City Council again.

SPRINGFIELD – Citing the need for leadership as the city rebuilds from last month’s tornado, former city councilor and mayoral candidate Bud L. Williams has decided to run for City Council.

Williams, a retired probation officer and chairman of the Ward 7 Democratic Committee, served eight terms on the council before leaving to mount an unsuccessful challenge of Mayor Domenic J. Sarno in 2009.

He announced his candidacy last week.

“Behind every great challenge lies a great opportunity,” said Williams, of 155 Overlook Drive, referring to the June 1 storm that demolished 22 homes and businesses in Springfield and damaged more than 1,000 others.

“The work that we do now and the following years to come in response to the challenges that are impacting our quality of life and the stability of city residents will chart the course for the health and future of our city for generations to come,” he added.

While rebuilding from the tornado, the city must confront other issues, including fighting crime, creating jobs and improving education, Williams said.

Williams held a fund-raiser last week that drew a number of prominent political figures, including state Sen. James T. Welch, D-West Springfield; state Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, who spoke at the event, and City Councilors Kateri B. Walsh and Melvin A. Edwards. School Committee members Barbara Gresham and Peter M. Murphy also attended.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman presided as 48 people became U.S. citizens. Watch video

NORTHAMPTON – Jesus Tobon left his home in Medellin, Colombia 10 years ago because he wanted a better and safer life for two sons.

On Monday, July 4, Tobon and one his sons Diego Tobon, who live in East Longmeadow now, became U.S. citizens. They were two of 48 who took the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America at ceremonies outside the Hampshire County Courthouse. The ceremonies were a joint venture between the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Center for New Americans.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth P. Neiman presided. He told the group that his grandparents were immigrants too. He said “July 4th is a fitting time to celebrate your time as new citizens.”

Tobon left Colombia because of the drugs and violence that plagued his city then. “Every day, guerrilla forces (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), they’re taking boys by force. It was a big concern,” he said.

Since coming here, he received a master’s degree from Western New England College, works at Plastipak in East Longmeadow and sells real estate. Becoming a citizen “is the greatest day in my life,” he said.

His son, 23-year-old Jesus Diego Tobon, is in the U.S. Navy and sought citizenship “for all the rights ... I want to live here. I want to become (a naval) officer,” he said. The only way he can do that is to become a citizen.

For him, dressed in Navy white, taking the oath “is one more step to my goal to become an officer.”

Citizens from 24 other countries took the oath, including C.J. Roda, 28, from the Philippines.

“For a better education, for freedom,” he cited as reasons for coming to the U.S. He got his associate’s degree from Holyoke Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University, and is working on an master’s degree in business from Bay Path College. His goal to is to also become a Navy officer. Roda lives in Springfield

Will Fathi-Ahmed, 29, came to this country on vacation from Morocco in the early 2000s. He liked it here and returned. In 2004, he met his wife here, and he has been here ever since. “I’m very proud,” he said of becoming a citizen. He lives in Springfield and sells cars at Curry Honda in Chicopee.

The oldest new citizen was 83-year-old Maurice Howe of Hadley. He has lived in this country since immigrating from Australia more than 30 years ago. When asked why he wanted to become a citizen now he said “I hadn’t done it before.”

After the 45 minute-ceremonies, the new citizens were treated to cake but also to exercise a new right: They huddled around a table to register to vote.

FEMA Disaster Relief Centers will remain open in Brimfield, Monson, Southbridge, Springfield and West Springfield.

06.28.2011 | The Republican photo by Mark M. Murray | SPRINGFIELD – FEMA workers Magda Reyes, left and Tomas Rivera, right, talk with home owner Celeste Femia, infront of her tornado damaged home on Arcadia Blvd, as they were out talking with homeowners and letting them know they should sign up with FEMA to help cover some of their expenses.

SPRINGFIELD – Celeste Femia will miss the shade and cool breeze in her backyard on Arcadia Boulevard. The June 1 tornado that tore through her neighborhood destroyed all of the trees in her yard and along her street.

“It’s a totally different view now,” she said as she shared her story with Tomas Rivera and Magda Reyes, two community relations specialists with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Rivera and Reyes have been going door-to-door to speak with residents affected by the tornado.

“Our job is stop by every neighborhood that has been affected by the tornado and offer our services to the people living there,” Reyes said.

Rivera and Reyes made their way through West Springfield and several neighborhoods in Springfield, including Central Street and many streets off Island Pond Road. Other teams are visiting residents in Monson and Wilbraham.

“We want to make sure that people know what is available and that they are registered with FEMA,” Rivera said.

Registering for the program is an essential part of getting assistance, whether it’s a loan or a grant, said Daniel Llargues, public information officer for FEMA. As of June 28, 3,010 people had registered for assistance.

“A lot of people think they registered by calling the 311 number, but that is for city services. You need to call the FEMA number, or go online, or visit a disaster relief center to properly register for federal assistance,” he said.

Eight disaster-relief centers were established once a federal disaster designation was made; three of them, located in Sturbridge, Wilbraham and Westfield, closed on July 1.

The remaining centers, including locations at the Massachusetts Technology Park, One Federal St., Building 104, in Springfield, the J. Edward Christian Municipal Office Building, 26 Central St., in West Springfield, Hitchcock Academy, 2 Brookfield Road, Brimfield, Granite Valley Middle School, 21 Thompson St., Monson, and Jacob Edwards Library, 236 Main St., Southbridge, will remain open.

The centers were closed for the Independence Day weekend but are due to reopen Tuesday morning. The hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.

“This is like a one-stop shopping center where they can get access to counseling services, unemployment information, housing, insurance and more,” Llargues said.

Femia had not registered with FEMA, but was encouraged to do so by Rivera and Reyes, who spent time with her outside her home.

“Everyone has really been supportive from the city to FEMA, coming and telling us what services they have,” Femia said. Soon after the tornado hit, the city sent a building inspector to assess the damage, she said, and her home has been condemned. Now, she will have to rebuild with some help from her insurance company.

Llargues said it is important for homeowners and business owners to save receipts and other proof of the damage and repairs to their homes so they can ensure they qualify for future assistance.

“We are trying to get help to as many people as possible, whether it's through grants or low-interest loans,” he said.

Rivera said he is impressed with the work done by the city, including Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and emergency preparedness director Robert Hassett.

“They have been doing a phenomenal job getting information out to people,” Rivera said. “They have responded quickly and efficiently.”

Homeowners, renters and businesses should all register for FEMA assistance even if they think the damage they suffered was minor, Llargues said.

“Do not disqualify yourself,” he said. “Submit the application and see what you are eligible for. If it’s for a loan that you don’t want you should still submit the application because you could be eligible for other services.”

As of the week of June 27, $2 million had been dispersed by FEMA to affected residents through grants for rent, home repairs and more.

“People really need to register before the time expires,” he said.

Traditionally people have 60 days after a disaster declaration to apply for services, Reyes said. President Barack Obama declared a major federal disaster area for Hampden and Worcester counties on June 15.

FEMA's community relations teams will continue to visit neighborhoods across the city until they have knocked on every door, if possible.

“We want people to know what we can do help or at least connect them with the right people,” Reyes said.

Media reports at the time were that youths found the baby’s body about 20 feet from the top of the hill behind the former Bosbach Cleaners at 146 Brown Ave.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanCavalry Cemetery off Northampton St. is where Lt. Michael J. Higgins comes every year to lay flowers at the grave of Baby Jane Doe, a newborn baby that Higgins found dead on a hillside in 1992. The death was ruled a homicide but never solved.

HOLYOKE – On June 18, as he has every year for nearly two decades, Police Lt. Michael J. Higgins placed flowers on the grave of a baby whose identity remains a mystery.

Higgins was first on the scene on the afternoon of March 1, 1992, when police received a report of a dead newborn girl found naked in a paper bag on a hill on Brown Avenue.

Hours after the girl’s burial on June 17, 1992, at Calvary Cemetery on Northampton Street, then-Hampden district attorney William M. Bennett announced the newborn’s death was being handled as a homicide.

“So sad. How do you do that? I look back and say, clearly, someone in their right mind couldn’t have done that,” said Higgins, now a 33-year veteran of the police force, as he talked about his tradition of honoring the child.

To Higgins’ knowledge, the investigation never yielded an arrest, suspect or motive.

Media reports at the time were that children, or teenagers, found the baby’s body about 20 feet from the top of the hill behind the former Bosbach Cleaners at 146 Brown Ave. Higgins recalls it being a man who called police about finding the baby.

The ridge along the top of the hill was roped off. Detectives wielding flashlights worked into the night in search of evidence, the Union-News, The Republican’s predecessor publication, reported.

The body was held for three months for tests. Messier Funeral Home here provided the burial, which along with the plot and monuments, was donated.

“The body was found in Holyoke, and will be buried in Holyoke,” funeral home owner Clement Messier said at the time.

The baby’s burial was attended by a group of mothers and anti-abortion activists who left flowers and teddy bears at the casket. At the service, the Rev. Fred Cournoyer, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, told about 60 mourners, “The casket is too small. The dead should be buried by those who know them,” according to the newspaper report.

Rabbi Gabriel Mazar of the Sons of Zion Congregation told mourners, “She will not play with toys. She will not run in the open fields or smell the smells of spring. She will not receive a warm goodnight kiss.”

Higgins said he brings flowers to the girl’s grave every year on or near the date of her burial because he believes the girl deserves to be remembered. “The baby was never IDed,” he said.

In the wake of the third straight felony conviction of a Massachusetts speaker, some on Beacon Hill are wondering if the power of the office is too great a temptation for mischief.

The last three Speakers of the House of Representatives in Massachusetts, from left, Salvatore DiMasi, Thomas Finneran and Charles Flaherty, have all been convicted of felonies.

By STEVE LeBLANC
BOSTON – He’s elected by just 1/160 of the state’s population, but the Massachusetts House Speaker wields enormous clout over every aspect of Bay State politics.

He – a woman has yet to fill the office – can reward supporters with plum committee assignments and extra stipends and punish critics by condemning them to a political Siberia in the Statehouse basement, all while blocking bills he opposes and pushing others to his liking.

Now in the wake of the third straight felony conviction of a Massachusetts speaker, some on Beacon Hill are wondering if the power of the office is just too great a temptation for mischief – or worse.

The most recent case, the felony conviction of former Democratic House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi on federal corruption charges, is also the most serious and the one that most starkly reveals the power of the office.

The trial not only revealed the ability of the speaker to push his agenda in the 160-member chamber, but also to use that same political muscle to press other state leaders.

During the trial, Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick testified about pressure DiMasi put on him to approve one of two state contracts that prosecutors said were part of a kickback scheme that netted DiMasi $65,000 in payments for steering two state contracts worth $17.5 million to a favored software firm.

Patrick said at one breakfast meeting that DiMasi told him, “Don’t forget, that contract is important to me.” Patrick said he ultimately told his staff to go ahead with the deal.

After she signed off on the agreement, Patrick’s budget chief sent an email to a colleague saying, “Everyone is happy. Hope the big guy down the hall is too,” referring to DiMasi.

At another point in the trial, former state representative Robert Coughlin testified he agreed to sponsor the first of the two contracts even though he hadn’t written the amendment and knew virtually nothing about it.

Coughlin said he was more than happy to please the powerful speaker’s office.

“It was an honor to do it,” Coughlin testified.

DiMasi, 65, was convicted by a federal jury June 15 on charges of conspiracy, extortion and theft of honest services by fraud. He is set to be sentenced Sept. 8 and could face up to 20 years in prison.

DiMasi’s predecessor, former Democratic House Speaker Thomas Finneran, also ran into trouble in part because of the power he wielded as speaker.

Finneran pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal obstruction of justice charge for giving false testimony in a 2003 lawsuit over a legislative redistricting plan that diluted the clout of minority voters.

He was sentenced to 18 months’ unsupervised probation and fined $25,000. He later lost his law license.

The charge against Finneran stemmed from false testimony he gave in a voting rights lawsuit that claimed new legislative district boundaries discriminated against blacks and other minority voters in Boston while protecting incumbents, including himself.

Prosecutors said Finneran lied when he repeatedly denied having seen the redistricting map until it was filed with the House clerk.

Ironically, it was perfectly legal for Finneran to play a role in drafting the map, and prosecutors said they did not believe he intentionally tried to dilute the voting power of minorities.

Finneran said he lied because he was proud to represent a largely minority district and was offended by the lawsuit’s claims of racial bias.

Finneran’s predecessor, former Democratic Speaker Charles Flaherty, was forced from office after pleading guilty to a federal felony tax charge. Neither Finneran nor Flaherty served prison time.

The hat trick of convictions has again prompted questions about the speaker’s clout in the marble-lined halls of the Statehouse.

Patrick said last week that the concentration of power “has concerned me for some time.”

“This is not a comment about the worthiness of those leaders or their leadership skills,” Patrick said Thursday. “Over time, if I understand it correctly, there’s been an awful lot of authority concentrated in the leadership. I don’t think that’s about party. I think that’s about inertia in some respect.”

“That’s an issue that’s worth us all trying to reflect on and think about,” he said.

In the wake of DiMasi’s conviction, Republican proposed their own slate of ethics changes above and beyond a sweeping ethics overhaul package approved by lawmakers in 2009.

Rep. Daniel Winslow, R-Norfolk, said the past speakers’ self-inflicted woes show the corrupting influence of power.

But Winslow said there’s plenty of blame to go around. He said the speaker ultimately derives his power from the willingness of rank and file House members to be cowed by that power.

“In many instances the power of the speaker is that power which the membership chooses to give the speaker,” he said. “Speakers don’t like losing votes. It causes them to stop very short very quickly to find out what happened.”

“Speakers like to remain in power and they are going to be mindful of that,” he said.

One recent example of the power of the speaker over Massachusetts House members is the issue of casino gambling.

Under DiMasi, the House was opposed to efforts to expand gambling. Under DeLeo the House was suddenly much more amenable, provided the bill allowed slot machines at some of the state’s four racetracks.

Two of those racetracks are in DeLeo’s district.

A recent investigation into the state Probation Department revealed another aspect of the influence of the speaker’s office.

According to the report, 24 of 36 job candidates sponsored by DiMasi were hired, while seven of 12 candidates sponsored by DeLeo were hired, including his godson.

The power of House speakers varies greatly from state to state based on rules and local customs, according to Pam Wilmot, president of Common Cause Massachusetts.

There are states where the speaker has near absolute power and minority party members don’t even get recognized in debates. Other states limit the power of leadership, requiring that every vote be a roll call vote – instead of allowing the speaker to gavel through bills on voice votes.

While the rules in Massachusetts give the speaker tremendous power, Wilmot said, some speakers have been more willing to use that power than others.

She said Finneran – once dubbed “King Tom” for pushing through a rules change that would have allowed him to remain speaker for life – was among the most controlling during the years he served as speaker from 1996 to 2004.

By comparison, the current speaker DeLeo is more tolerant of dissent, she said.

Part of the problem is that if a speaker is too lax, the chamber can quickly become ungovernable. If a speaker is too controlling, the chamber can become little more than a reflection of his own personality and agenda.

“You want a balance of getting the benefit of every representative’s input and best ideas and having a free and open debate without having total chaos,” Wilmot said. “We are pretty far away from chaos.”

Archambault was a part-time assistant pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hampden and chaplain at Baystate Medical Center.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 10:11 this morning.

Paul Archambault

SPRINGFIELD – Police Sgt. John Delaney confirmed Monday that a 42-year-old priest who was found dead Sunday at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart rectory where he lived died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

Police said the Rev. Paul Archambault said the 4 p.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hampden. He was scheduled to return Sunday morning to the Somers Road church, but did not show up, Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, said.

Dupont said Archambault was last publicly seen early Saturday night when, in his duties as chaplain at Baystate Medical Center, he ministered to a family in the emergency department.

“Obviously, he was doing exactly what he was known to do and that is respond to these emergencies regardless of the day or the time of day,” Dupont said.

Archambault arrived at Baystate about 6 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later, Dupont said. “He seemed fine when he left,” he said.

“At this point we are referring the matter to the (state medical examiner) and Springfield police,” Dupont said.

When Archambault did not arrive to say the Sunday morning Mass in Hampden, parish members contacted priests at Sacred Heart, which is located between Rosewell Street, Boston Road and Breckwood Boulevard.

Another priest came to the Hampden church to conduct the service and a search was started, Dupont said.

“He was a very young and very gifted young priest,” Dupont said of Archarmbault, adding that Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell was “tremendously saddened” by the news. “It’s a tremendous loss to the diocese in Springfield.”

Archambault was a part-time assistant pastor at St. Mary’s, whose pastor, the Rev. Timothy J. Murphy, could not immediately be reached for comment. Archambault served regular Masses at the Hampden church, where he was known for his commanding voice and for quizzing parishioners on their knowledge of church doctrine during Mass.

Along with serving as chaplain for Baystate, Archambault, did many special projects including recently serving at an all-night vigil in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

A native of Northampton, Archambault graduated from St. John’s Seminary College in Brighton in 2000 and earned a master’s degree in divinity from Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn. He was ordained as a priest in 2005 and first assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Theresa Parish in South Hadley.

The parade starts at Birchland Park Middle School and ends at East Longmeadow High School.

EAST LONGMEADOW- More than 40 years ago Dick Ruest and his wife Jaqui Ruest met at a parade in Westfield and they have been together ever since. The Ludlow couple watched the East Longmeadow 4th of July Parade seated on lawn chairs on Mapleshade Avenue Monday.

“We really enjoy the parade. It’s a fun time with the family and they do a great job
with it,” he said.

Nicolo Scibelli, 4 and Katherine Wright, 5, both of East Longmeadow watched eagerly as
the fire department walked the parade route.

Wright said her favorite part was getting candy.

“I like the bands and the firemen,” Scibelli said.

East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen members James D. Driscoll, Enrico J. Villamaino and Paul Federici marched the parade route.

“It’s one of the only times in the year when everyone in town gets to come together and have a good time,” Villamaino said.

Driscoll has been attending the parade since he was a child.

“It’s a great town tradition,” he said of the parade which includes hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators.

Many local organizations like the always popular Melha Shriners participated in the event.

East Longmeadow High School created a float in honor of the 50th anniversary of the school with a 7-foot decorative cake.

Judy Lelas-George has a home on Maple Street which she decorates with signs reading the names of local soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her son is currently deployed in Iraq.

“They are just signs to let them know we appreciate them and are thinking of them,” she said.

Brothers Brandon and Anthony Smith, of Palmer, waited in anticipation for the police
cruisers, fire trucks and the many bands that performed in the parade.

“It’s a really good parade. It’s fun to see all the floats and the bands,” said Brandon Smith, 9.

“We come every year,” said Anthony Smith, 11, who greeted the firemen as they walked by.

Many factors influence what a hospital is reimbursed for care, but quality isn’t the key.

BOSTON – At Holyoke Medical Center, it costs an average of $3,430 to deliver a baby.

About 10 miles to the north, Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton receives $5,664 for the same routine, inpatient service, or 65 percent more than its counterpart in Holyoke.

The prices, adjusted for the severity of a patient’s condition, reflect the average paid by five large private insurers for having a baby at the hospital, excluding cesarean deliveries, according to a May 26 report by the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

Holyoke costs less but the quality of the service is also rated higher. Holyoke’s delivery of babies is rated at 4 percent better than the state average, while Cooley Dickinson’s was pegged at 2 percent below the average, said the report, debated during four days of state-sponsored hearings and testimony last week in Boston on health care cost trends.

The report found some dramatic differences in the prices paid to hospitals around the state for 14 selected inpatient services, but often little meaningful difference in quality. The report found that lower priced hospitals such as Holyoke Medical Center sometimes have higher quality scores than higher priced competitors.

Officials at Cooley Dickinson declined requests for an interview on the price and quality differences.

Hank J. Porten, the president and chief executive at Holyoke Medical Center, said Cooley Dickinson has market leverage because of its more isolated location, helping the Northampton hospital to negotiate higher prices from insurers. And while the Holyoke Medical Center serves one of the poorest cities in the state, Cooley Dickinson enjoys a wealthier demographic, with a higher percent of revenues from more coveted, privately insured patients, Porten said.

The Holyoke hospital receives 73 percent of net patient service revenues from government payers such as Medicaid and Medicare, for example, while for Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, it’s 71 percent. Cooley Dickinson receives 38 percent from government payers, according to a 2009 report by the state division of health care finance.

“Our quality is good,” Porten said. “I’m proud of that, but it is not rewarded in any economic sense.”

The state determined quality for inpatient services by using measures such as patient experience with care, including room cleanliness, nurse and doctor communication and pain control; patient outcomes including mortality and re-admission rates for certain clinical areas and process of care for certain areas.

Porten said Holyoke Medical Center has a low percentage of privately insured patients, meaning that it can’t charge them more to offset government payers like Medicaid, a federal-state insurance program for the poor that pays about 80 percent of the costs of providing a service.

Instead of providing an interview, a spokeswoman for Cooley Dickinson Hospital referred to a prepared statement issued on May 26 by Craig N. Melin, president and CEO of the hospital.

In the statement about the report on health care cost trends, Melin said the report shows that Cooley Dickinson is the most underpaid hospital in the state by Medicare, which is federal health insurance for people 65 and older. “Being underpaid in this area means we have to make ends meet which affects the pricing for commercial care.”

Melin said the hospital is continuing to take measures to improve health including work on reducing re-admission rates for congestive heart failure and use of a system to reduce an already low level of a hospital-acquired infection.

In testimony last week in Boston, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the state’s secretary of health and human services, said insurers have stated that quality is not a major factor in price negotiations.

Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, for example, is paid an average $7,025 for an appendectomy and its quality is rated at the state average. Cooley Dickinson Hospital is paid $10,120 for an appendectomy, but the quality is rated 2 percent below the average. The prices are adjusted for the severity of the patient’s condition. Ninety miles away, in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital is paid $10,668 for an appendectomy, but the quality is 1 percent below the average. Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston is 1 percent better than the average on quality, but receives $10,779 for an appendectomy – 53 percent more than Baystate.

Baystate Medical Center is paid $19,375 for a knee joint replacement and the quality is right at the state average, but about 40 miles to the east in Worcester, the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center receives $21,952 – 13 percent more than Baystate – but the quality score is 1 percent below the average, according to the state report on cost trends.

The sharp differences in prices and the need to curb costs are a couple of reasons that Gov. Deval L. Patrick is sponsoring legislation to overhaul the way doctors and physicians are paid.

Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said there is no correlation between cost and quality at hospitals. Market leverage determines the prices for services, not quality, she said. There are some big price swings, but often little difference in quality, she added.

“People have used their geographic isolation or brand reputation to ask for higher rates of reimbursement with no correlation to quality,” she said in an interview.

Pellegrini said one way to control health care costs is through “limited networks” for people that could exclude high price providers. Or, she said, costs could be cut with tiered networks offering a broad range of providers with people paying more for more expensive providers and vice versa.

Peter F. Straley, president and CEO of Health New England , a Springfield-based health insurer, said there is a significant variation in prices paid to hospitals that has existed for at least 30 years.

Straley said he didn’t want to comment on specific prices or quality scores, but he said it can be a dilemma to determine the right price and that the quality scores are “directionally correct.”

Straley said he likes the Patrick administration’s idea of establishing budgets and improving coordination for a person’s care. Health New England is already piloting or running programs in both areas. He said, however, that he is wary of approval of “a statewide single solution” that might favor the way health care is organized in Boston.

In order to lower health care costs, Patrick submitted legislation in February that seeks to move the state away from the current system of allowing providers to charge a fee for every service. Instead, Patrick wants to establish a monthly budget for each person.

He also wants to require hospitals, doctors and other providers to better coordinate in providing an individual’s care. Dr. Bigby, secretary of health and human services for Patrick, said both changes together could lower costs over time.

Attorney General Martha M. Coakley said in a report this month that establishing per-head budgets for health care might not control the rising costs of care without also addressing the historic disparities in the prices paid to providers for services.

Dr. Bigby said that under the current payment system, individual providers negotiate rates with individual insurers or payers.

She said it is “way too soon” to draw conclusions about so called “global payments,” or establishing budgets for patients.

Market power comes into play in negotiating prices, but it is only one factor for the various price differences, she said.

Teaching status for a hospital such as Baystate Medical Center, high technology, costs of living in certain areas like Western Massachusetts, labor costs, payer mix and case mix and capacity to provide specialized care are other reasons for price differences, according to the report on health care cost trends.

Dr. Bigby said that private group health insurance premiums in Massachusetts from 2007 to 2009 increased 5 to 10 percent annually, when adjusted for benefits, while the consumer price index in the Northeast increased at an average 2 percent.

On average, she added, the level of benefits covered by private group health insurance has declined and member cost-sharing has increased.

Daniel P. Moen, president and CEO of the Sisters of Providence Health System, which includes Mercy Medical Center, said hospitals such as Mercy and Holyoke Medical Center may be models for the future in controlling costs.

Mercy, for example, was paid $6,089 for a cesarean delivery, while Cooley Dickinson received $8,649, Baystate Medical, $7,536 and Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, $9,017, but the quality was nearly the same.

“It’s not a very fair system now,” Moen said. “You see the wide variations in reimbursements without a lot of justification on cost and quality.”

Dennis Chalke, chief financial officer for Baystate Health, said Baystate attempts to provide the highest quality care at the lowest possible cost.

When quality is improved, costs are also reduced, he said.

“We’ve been working for years and years to be high quality and low cost,” he said.

As a result of these efforts, Baystate Medical Center is one of the lowest cost teaching hospitals in the state, Chalke said.

Chalke said several factors influence prices.

Costs can be slightly higher at a teaching hospital like Baystate Medical Center, which offers a broad level of services, plus education and research. Baystate Medical Center is also the only tertiary care hospital in Western Massachusetts, offering care in a center that has personnel and facilities for highly specialized treatment, Chalke said.

As the tertiary care center and Level 1 trauma center, Baystate Medical Center also provides round-the-clock specialty care for the most critically ill and injured people, ranging from babies in the neonatal intensive care unit to adults in the intensive care unit.

Also, private payer prices compensate the hospital for losses related to Medicaid and Medicare payments, according to Chalke. Reimbursement rates for private health insurance tend to be higher than government-paid plans, which typically reimburse hospitals at rates below the hospitals’ costs.

Chalke said the price that Baystate Medical Center is paid for delivery of a baby is partly driven by its tertiary care role. Typically, high-risk patients with needs for more specialized and complex care end up at Baystate Medical Center, he said.

Youngsters went away happy, laden with bags, hats and pocketfuls of Tootsie Rolls, lollipops and other candy thrown from many of the parade participants.

AMHERST – Celeste Lawler and family comes to every July 4th parade with friends and family, taking the same spot near St. Brigid’s Church.

Her husband Paul Lawler was in the parade driving a Model A truck. “We have a wonderful time, we know so many people,” she said.

She and her gang were just a handful of the estimated 4,500 who lined North and South Pleasant streets for the annual July 4th parade, parade organizer Kevin P. Joy said.

This was the 10th parade since Joy brought the parade back to town in 2002 after a 26-year hiatus. He said everything was perfect and this parade matched that of 2002 in size.

Shade was the coveted spot with temperatures tipping into the low 90s and hundreds amassed at the shady and green Kendrick Park.

Joy said there were more police and fire marching or driving fire trucks and cruisers than ever before with participants from Holyoke, Belchertown, Pelham, Sunderland among the many.

This year, the 35-minute parade was highlighted by a lengthy line of classic cars. Also the Amherst Survival Center had a truck, Veterans for Peace marched, as did U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst; state Rep. Ellen Story, and state Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, both Amherst democrats and Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sulllivan.

Select Board Chairwoman Stephanie J. O’Keeffe and members Aaron P. Hayden and Alisa V. Brewer also marched and did their part tossing candy. Youngsters went away happy, laden with bags, hats and pocketfuls of Tootsie Rolls, lollipops and other candy thrown from many of the parade participants.

Ludmilla Pavlov-Gillham and her son Alexander, 8, passed the time waiting for the parade to begin playing chess on a make-shift chess table. She said they can’t go anywhere without it these days.

She loves the parade and the day of Independence. Her mother smuggled her out of Bulgaria when she was 14, she said. “There’s nothing like the 4th of July.” They come to the parade every year.

She was there with her husband David Gillham. Their 20-year-old son Cameron Gemmell was in the parade. He is an EMT with Sunderland.

As the parade was moving through downtown Joy looked around. “It’s going great. It’s perfect.”

Forest Park in Springfield was packed to the gills with revelers playing baseball, having picnics and swimming.

Springfield’s Forest Park was packed to the gills with revelers playing baseball, having picnics and swimming, but picnic-goer Tawanda Partlow said it’s usually even more crowded on July 4. At around 1 p.m., though, more people were probably to be expected, she said.

Partlow and friends Tasha King and Nikki Boyd, all of Springfield, said they arrived at
9 a.m. and planned to stay until just before the fireworks were set off downtown. High
gas prices kept them away from big party spots like Hampton and Virginia beaches and Cape Cod.

A gallon of regular gas in Springfield averaged $3.64 on Monday, up from $2.71 a year
ago, according to at AAA Pioneer Valley.

Angela Velez, her husband and children showed up around 9:30 a.m. to have their own
cook-out, cool off in the pool and wait for the fireworks. They stayed in Springfield for
a few different reasons, though. Velez, who along with her husband Luis Collazo planned to stay sober, said they wanted to avoid traveling because other people might be drinking and driving.

Also, there was the simple fact that they like being close to home.

“We like it here. It’s a great area,” she said. That’s why they’ve gone two years in a row and are planning on making it a trifecta next year.

Nicolo Scibelli, 4 and Katherine Wright, 5, both of East Longmeadow watched eagerly as the fire department walked the East Longmeadow 4th of July Parade route.

Wright said her favorite part was getting candy.

“I like the bands and the firemen,” Scibelli said.

East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen members James D. Driscoll, Enrico J. Villamaino and Paul Federici marched the parade route.

Driscoll has been attending the parade since he was a child.

“It’s a great town tradition,” he said of the parade which includes hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators.

Judy Lelas-George has a home on Maple Street which she decorates with signs reading the names of local soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her son is currently deployed in Iraq.

“They are just signs to let them know we appreciate them and are thinking of them,” she said.

In Chesterfield, the Disney simplicity of the home-made floats at the town’s annual Independence Day Parade was a far cry from the turmoil in Iraq and Pakistan, where some of the exchange students staying at the University of Massachusetts for the summer hail from. Timothy Shea, a mentor in the Civic Initiative program, said the group has been touring the eastern seaboard from Washington, D.C., to Amherst. As in past years, they took a ride up to Chesterfield to take in America’s Independence Day festivities hilltown style.

“It’s amazing how Americans celebrate the victory that won their freedom,” said Taher Abdair, 21, an Iraqi who is studying to be a doctor. He stood elbow to elbow with fellow Iraqi exchange student Mohammed Ibrahim to take snapshots of the classic cars and fire trucks. Ibrahim, 27, a law student in the U.S. for the first time, said he didn’t expect anything like the Chesterfield parade as he was preparing for his visit.

“It’s just unbelievable,” he said. “If you want to talk about the difference between this and Iraq there is a lot to talk about.”

Their reaction was not unlike that of Jessie Krug, a Westhampton resident who has been coming to Chesterfield for the Fourth of July since 1962.

“It’s country at it’s best,” said Krug, 83. “We just love it. It says, ‘This is the way it really ought to be.’”

Police had not identified the accident victim.

AGAWAM – Police said they are investigating an accident which critically injured a pedestrian Monday afternoon.

Police said a car hit a man at the intersection of Springfield Street and Kristen Lane in Feeding Hills just before 3 p.m.

The man was taken to Baystate Medical Center where he is in critical condition, police said.

Police had not identified the accident victim. The accident is still under investigation, police said.

Many praised the Parks Department for being able to clean up the tornado damage in time for the holiday celebration.

Republican staff photo by David RobackFourth of July fireworks explode over the Memorial Bridge with the City of Springfield in the background. With the June 1 tornado a clear view was seen from Maple Street with all the trees knocked down or damaged.

SPRINGFIELD – Ezequiel Santiago snagged a perfect spot to watch the July Fourth fireworks - right next to the sign near the entrance of Riverfront Park that said “Rebuilding Springfield.”

A lifelong city resident, Santiago said he watches the Springfield fireworks – the largest in Western Massachusetts – every year and was delighted to hear the celebration would go on, despite the June 1 tornado that traveled 39 miles through a half-dozen Western Massachusetts communities and caused severe damage in the city.

“With all the people and all the fireworks I feel like an American. It gives you a great feeling,” he said

The evidence of the tornado was clear in the park where trees had been uprooted or otherwise damaged, but the city determined the Independence Day celebration should happen.

“It is July Fourth. I feel sad for the people but everything must go on, you can’t mourn every day,” Santiago said.

Republican photo by Michael BeswickSpringfield kicked off the July Fourth celebration Monday with a concert by the Dan Kane Singers at Riverfront Park. Playing the keyboards is Dan Kane and on the guitar is Bob Ferrier of Westfield.

Sponsors had already donated money and the Dan Kane Singers and its 150-children Dan Kane Rising Stars chorus was booked so the July Fourth celebration was expected to happen. The question was where since its Riverfront Park had been heavily damaged, said Judith A. Matt, president of the Spirit of Springfield, which organizes the event.

She said the Parks Department did an amazing job repairing fencing and cleaning up fallen trees in time.

“It is great. We are experiencing one of the biggest crowds we have seen in a while,” she said.

An estimated 100,000 people were expected to watch the fireworks from spots throughout the city, Matt said.

Before the event started, John Doty, of Springfield, stopped Matt and thanked her for the work she did to bring the event to the city this year.

“I had taken a ride down the Riverfront area and it was in terrible shape after the terrible tornado,” Doty said. “It was an insurmountable task for her and the Parks Department to pull this off.”

Memorial Bridge was closed and prior to the start, police directed traffic from the vicinity of the fireworks by closing East and West Columbus Avenues to through traffic. No major problems were reported.

Pearl DeFilio and her sister Carol Fontaine, both of Springfield, decided at the last minute to go to Riverfront Park to watch the event. Fontaine said she usually watches them from her home but thought it would be fun when her sister asked her to come.

“At first I was going to go to sit at Maple Hill to watch them,” DeFilio said, pointing out that tornado knocked down so many trees in the area it would have given an unobstructed view of the riverfront for the first time.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said he loved the children’s chorus and was delighted to see the large but peaceful crowds at the event.

“We need this more than ever,” he said. “It just shows the resilience and the spirit of Springfield.”

From Friday through early Tuesday, Springfield police responded to numerous violent crime reports, including the city's ninth homicide of the year.

Republican staff photo by Michael BeswickSpringfield Police search for shell casings on Lincoln Street, where a man was shot dead Sunday evening.

SPRINGFIELD -- Differentiating between fireworks and gunfire can be tricky for police, who responded to numerous reports of "shots fired" and other violent episodes over the long Independence Day weekend in Springfield.

Despite the violence -- including multiple stabbings, shootings and the city's ninth homicide of the year -- Springfield Police Lt. John Slepchuk said this Fourth of July weekend wasn't any more unusual than past holiday weekends, although officers were running hard from late Friday through early Tuesday.

It's a common scenario on hot summer nights in Springfield, where many gunshot and stabbing victims transport themselves to area hospitals and many other calls don't produce suspects or witnesses. Add in the extra challenge of separating the popping sound of fireworks from gunfire, and a sort of resignation can settle in for the law enforcement officers who patrol high-crime areas after dark during these busy periods.

"The usual," said Springfield Police Lt. James Rosso, tidily summarizing the steady stream of violent crimes reported over the past few days.

Many shooting reports that come across the transom do produce victims, however, such as the fatal drive-by shooting of 38-year-old Raul E. Vera, who was gunned down Sunday evening in the McKnight section of the city.

The city's ninth homicide victim of the year, 38-year-old Raul E. Vera, was killed Sunday evening in the McKnight section of Springfield.

Police said Vera, who has local gang ties, was on Lincoln Street when shots were fired from a passing car around 7:14 p.m. Authorities are on the lookout for three Hispanic men who fled the area in a silver Dodge Neon.

Numerous other gunfire incidents were reported over the past few days, including a man who was shot in the buttocks early Tuesday on Wellington Street in the city's Upper Hill neighborhood. The victim showed up at Mercy Medical Center for treatment around 12:40 a.m.

"He's claiming he was a bystander," Slepchuk said of the man, who told police he was shot outside 20 Wellington St.

Just after 3 a.m. Tuesday, police were called back to Wellington Street for another shooting report, though it remains unclear if anyone was injured in that incident.

And six blasts reported around 1:56 a.m. Tuesday by a Northampton Avenue resident turned out to be gunshots, not fireworks, according to police, who recovered multiple shell casings behind an Upper Hill home.

Also on early Tuesday, police said, a man was stabbed outside the Tedeschi convenience store at 266 Belmont Ave., near the corner of Forest street in the city's Forest Park neighborhood.The man received a knife wound to his right arm, according to Slepchuk.

Other gunfire incidents reported early Tuesday included a call to Oswego Street in the Hollywood section of the South End and a call to Pendleton Avenue in the Old Hill neighborhood. It wasn't immediately clear if any victims were tied to the calls.

Around 3:45 a.m. Tuesday, a security guard reported that he came under fire from a BB gun on Chestnut Street near the corner of Carew Street. The guard called 911 as he hid behind a mailbox to avoid being hit, police said.

Other holiday weekend violence included an armed robbery reported Monday at around 4:20 a.m. Julio Viruet, 26, of 69 Longhill St., is charged in connection with the alleged gunpoint robbery of the Sunoco gas station at 487 East Columbus Ave. in the city's South End.

A man was stabbed in the parking lot of the IHOP restaurant on Boston Road around 4:47 a.m. Monday, while a woman was arrested around 12:30 a.m. Monday for allegedly stabbing the father of her baby and the man's current girlfriend at a Pendleton Avenue residence in Old Hill. Shanice Smithers, 23, is scheduled to be arraigned on charges Tuesday in Springfield District Court.

Gunfire erupted around 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Wilbraham Road and Alden Street in Upper Hill. A state trooper stopped at a red light near the scene witnessed people scattering as shots rang out. It wasn't immediately clear if the shooting produced any victims or suspects.

Springfield detectives continue to investigate Sunday's homicide.

Darwin Dawkins was among the neighborhood residents who heard the gunfire, which happened while people were outside celebrating the holiday weekend.

“We heard three shots and we thought they were M-80’s (fireworks),“ Dawkins said.

This year's murders in Springfield have all occurred within just over a five-month period, beginning with the Jan. 26 killing of 24-year-old David Acevedo, who was shot in broad daylight on Riverton Road in the Pine Point neighborhood. Two men have been charged in connection with his death.

GOP presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann says God 'will heal our land', not necessarily good governance, Boston logs more than a dozen shooting victims over bloody holiday weekend, and more of today's headlines.

AP Photo/Michael DwyerThe USS Constitution fires its cannons Monday off Castle Island in Boston on the Fourth of July.

• Thousands mark Fourth of July on Boston's Esplanade [Boston.com]


• Secret Service to probe hack on Fox News Twitter account declaring Obama assassination [CBSNews.com]


• Triple shooting tops bloody holiday weekend in Boston featuring 13 gunshot victims [Boston.com]


• Massachusetts toddler was victim of revenge shootings [Boston.com]


• GOP presidential hopefuls Huntsman and Romney cross campaign trail paths for first time [NYTimes.com]


• Special Report: A tale of two Europes [Reuters.com]


• Connecticut State Police handle 256 motor vehicle accidents over long holiday weekend [Courant.com]


• Republican presidential candidate Bachmann says God 'will heal our land' [DesmoinesRegister.com]




Associated Press Video -- A man riding a motorcycle without a helmet during an anti-helmet law protest in New York over the weekend died after losing control of his bike and hitting his head on the ground. New York State Police said he'd likely still be alive if he had been wearing a helmet (July 4):




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


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Today's poll: How did you celebrate Independence Day?

The Republican | Greg Saulmon07.04.2011 | CHESTERFIELD - Town firefighters participate in the annual firefighters' muster following the Independence Day Parade. See Don Treeger's gallery from the parade here. And, find all of our Independence Day photo galleries here.

The Forecast

Monday's textbook Independence Day weather continues.

It's 70 and sunny this morning, with a predicted high of 89 today. This is the summer sweet spot: heat that melts away when you step into the shade, warm enough for the beach but not so warm that the guy in front of you in line at the bank can justifiably ask, "Hot enough for you?"

No, it's just right.

ABC 40 / FOX 6 meteorologist Dan Brown writes:

[Tuesday] and Wednesday are looking very warm but fairly dry. There will be lots of sunshine around both days with highs close to 90. The next chance of rain will arrive Thursday afternoon in the form of some showers and thunderstorms as a cold front makes its way into western Mass.

That cold front won't be all that cold, though: the National Weather Service predicts highs above 80 through the weekend.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

With parades in Chesterfield, East Longmeadow, Westfield and Amherst and fireworks in Amherst and Springfield, Pioneer Valley residents had plenty of Fourth of July festivities to fill a day off from work.

How did you celebrate Independence Day? Vote in our poll (you can select more than one answer), and check back tomorrow for the results.

Friday's results: On Friday, we asked "Should Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell meet with the parishioners of Mater Dolorosa before issuing a trespass order against them?"

27 people voted. 77.78% said "yes" and 22.22% said "no."

Monday's Top 5:

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on July 4 were:

1) Springfield priest found dead in rectory at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish

2) Rev. Paul Archambault's death at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Rectory in Springfield was suicide, police say

3) AMonaco Royal Wedding: Prince Albert II weds Charlene Wittstock [photo gallery]

4) Springfield police continue to probe death of the Rev. Paul Archambault whose body was found in closet of rectory

5) East Longmeadow Fourth of July

Quote of the Day

"I’ve never seen anything like this. This is the most amazing country ever."

~Iraqi exchange student Solin Ahmad, on Chesterfield's Independence Day Parade. Read Fred Contrada's story here.

The incident began about 11 p.m. with a reported domestic disturbance at 22 Pinney St.

File photo

PALMER – A 17-year-old man, shot twice by a police officer late Monday night during a 20 minute armed stand-off at Pinney Street home, is recuperating from his injuries at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.

The incident began shortly 11 p.m. when a female resident of 22 Pinney St., called police and said she feared for her safety, and that of her family, because a male, known to her, was banging on her door and demanding entry, according to a release issued by Palmer police.

The female told police that the suspect had recently threatened her, that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was armed with a handgun.

When police arrived at the home two minutes after the female’s initial call, the suspect pointed a handgun at them. The officers took cover and the stand-off ensued.

"The situation is tragic," said Police Chief Robert Frydryk. "But, appears to have been unavoidable given the suspect's actions and demeanor."

GOP lawmakers are trying to nibble away at the behemoth measure.

Associated Press In this June 22, 2011 file photo, Terence Toal, left, talks to a fellow trader as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's financial overhaul law is nearly a year old. For congressional Republicans, the fight to weaken it is just starting.

Wary of trying to repeal the entire statute and being portrayed as Wall Street's protectors — banks rank among the country's least popular institutions — GOP lawmakers are trying to nibble away at the behemoth measure. It's a crusade they're waging despite lacking the White House and Senate control they need to prevail.

Days ago, one Republican-run House committee approved bills diluting parts of the law requiring reports on corporate salaries and exempting some investment advisers from registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Another House panel voted to slice $200 million from Obama's $1.4 billion budget request for the SEC, which has a major enforcement role.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are continuing a procedural blockade that has helped prevent Obama from putting Elizabeth Warren or anyone else in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which opens its doors in two weeks.

The law hurts "the formation of capital, the cost of capital and access to capital, and you can't have capitalism without capital," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, a leader of the House Financial Services Committee. "So Republicans in the House will be examining each and every one of the 2,000-plus pages" of the law, which he called "a job creator's nightmare."

Confident that Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate can prevent the House from doing major damage, Democrats view the Republican drive as a political exercise — for now.

"It's mostly setting a marker for the election. And it helps with their campaign contributions," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who chaired the Financial Services Committee last year and was a chief author of the law. "But it also tells people in the financial community that if they win the next election, they'll be able to undo it all."

The financial industry leans Republican in its campaign contributions but not overwhelmingly. Sixty-one percent of the $9 million that commercial banks gave federal candidates for the 2010 elections went to Republicans, while 54 percent of the securities and investment industry's $9 million went to Democrats, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Democrats are using the GOP drive for their own fundraising.

In one email sent last week under Frank's name soliciting money for House candidates, the party wrote that Republicans want to "bring back the days of unrestrained excess, deception and de-regulation of Wall Street." The mailing called it "payback to their big contributors in the financial services industry."

Obama signed the banking and consumer protection measure last July 21, a keystone achievement that responded to the biggest financial crisis and most severe recession since the 1930s. It passed Congress with solid Democratic support and near-uniform GOP opposition.

Among its provisions, the law:

— Created the consumer protection agency to oversee mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.

— Established a body of regulators to scan the economy for threats to the financial system.

— Required banks to hold back money for protection against losses.

— Curbed the trading of derivatives, speculative investments partly blamed for the 2008 financial crisis.

— Gave the Federal Reserve powers to oversee huge companies whose failures could jeopardize the entire financial system.

Yet the law was just a start, since it ordered federal agencies to craft rules to enforce it. As of July 1, out of an estimated 400 regulations to be written, 38 are complete. That leaves 362 proposed, facing a future deadline or having missed due dates for completion, according to the law firm Davis Polk.

Republicans say the overhaul went too far and has saddled banks and other companies with requirements that harm their competitiveness. The House Financial Services panel alone has held more than a dozen hearings on the law, in part to underscore to administration witnesses that some provisions — like forcing banks to hold back capital as a hedge against losses — will hurt business, according to the committee's chairman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.

"What we are doing is rational, it is sensible, it is entirely practical, it is compassionate," said Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., a tea party-backed freshman on that panel. "So we are doing the right thing, and it behooves the Senate and the administration to follow suit."

The highest-profile fight has been over Warren, picked by Obama to set up the new consumer bureau. Many Democrats and liberal groups want her to become its first director.

Following a May clash between Warren and a House subcommittee chairman, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., plans to question the Harvard law professor and long-time consumer activist at a July 14 hearing about her role shaping the new agency.

Meanwhile, 44 GOP senators have promised to block a vote on any nominee unless the bureau is made "accountable to the American people" by replacing the director with a board of directors and giving Congress control over its budget. Forty-one senators can prevent a nomination from coming to a vote.

"You try to get leverage where you can. In the Senate, nominations are your leverage," said Mark A. Calabria, who monitors financial regulation at the conservative-leaning Cato Institute.

On another front, Republicans want to cut the budgets of agencies that are supposed to enforce the overhaul.

Besides denying the SEC extra money next year, the House Appropriations Committee would limit the consumer protection bureau to $200 million, well below the $329 million Obama wants. The full House has voted to hold the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees derivatives, to $171 million, short of this year's total and less than two-thirds of what Obama wanted.

Republicans cast the cuts as part of their deficit-cutting drive, but Democrats say the reductions are designed to obstruct the new law.

SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in a speech this spring that budget cuts would mean "an investor protection effort hobbled."

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, and could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.

Associated PressCasey Anthony goes over paperwork during a break on the final day of arguments in her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. on Monday, July 4, 2011. Anthony has plead not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, and could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A jury in central Florida has resumed deliberations in the murder trial of Casey Anthony, as it begins Day 2 deciding the 25-year-old's fate.

The jury of seven women and five men is in the jury room after spending about a minute in the courtroom Tuesday morning before Judge Belvin Perry dismissed them to continue dissecting the case.

They were sent into the deliberation room just after noon Monday. They did not return a verdict by the time the judge released them for the evening just after 6 p.m.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, and could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.

The Great Recession and cuts in government subsidies have wreaked havoc on mass transit in America, even as rising gasoline prices have pushed up demand for reliable service.

In this photo taken June 7, 2011, a commuter train passes crossing gates as it leaves the MBTA station in Andover, Mass. The Great Recession and cuts in government subsidies have wreaked havoc on mass transit in America, even as rising gasoline prices mean push up demand for reliable bus, train and subway service in cities big and small. (AP Photo / Elise Amendola)

By BOB SALSBERG | Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — On a chilly evening in February, a commuter train bound for Worcester, Mass., broke down outside Boston, transforming passengers' usual 80-minute commute into a four-hour nightmare.

The train's failure was among the winter lowlights for the Boston-area commuter rail system's fleet of 80 aging locomotives which, among other woes, have had trouble starting, keeping auxiliary power functioning for lighting systems and maintaining enough air pressure for braking systems, according to transit officials.

"I can't rely on it at all," said Frank Summers, who has been commuting to Boston from suburban Ashland for about seven years and believes service is declining. "It's always jammed-packed and rarely on time."

The commuter trains are run by a firm under a contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, known in Boston as the T. The T's equipment woes are hardly uncommon for big-city systems, and its financial struggles are shared by almost every transit system in the U.S., big and small.

The Great Recession and cuts in government subsidies have wreaked havoc on mass transit in America, even as rising gasoline prices have pushed up demand for reliable service. By one survey, more than 80 percent of U.S. transit systems had cut service, raised fares or both since the economic downturn started.

Cash-strapped and debt-ridden systems have put off new equipment purchases and other upgrades as they struggle to maintain daily operations. The Federal Transit Administration has pointed to tens of billions of dollars in deferred maintenance, a problem particularly acute for older urban systems.

William Millar, president of the Association of Public Transportation Agencies, said there are signs of financial improvement, but it's not enough to make up for the needs.

"We still have a significant majority of systems that are still running unfunded deficits, that are still going to have to consider further fare increases and further service cuts, though they certainly don't want to do those things," he said.

Especially when ridership is growing. In Boston, for example, May was the busiest month on record for the subway system and overall ridership is up more than 5 percent from a year ago. In an attempt to keep pace, the T bought two new commuter rail locomotives this year — the first new ones in 20 years — and is pledging to continue efforts to modernize the line, which includes the nation's oldest subway system.

"Almost universally, across the political spectrum, people are saying rising gas prices are making them nervous, that they really want to have more and better transit options," said David Goldberg, communications director for Transportation of America, a coalition representing the interests of transit users.

More riders represent a mixed bag for operators. Fare revenue goes up, of course, but the gains can easily be offset by the higher fuel costs that systems must incur.

An influx of riders also might generate greater political support for mass transit, but the added strain on aging and overtaxed equipment could frustrate commuters and leave them ready to return to their cars when gas prices ease.

A 2009 Federal Transit Administration study that examined the "state of good repair" of the nation's seven largest rail transit agencies — New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and the New Jersey Transit System — found anything but good repair.

The report found that 35 percent of all rail assets of those agencies were in subpar condition. Another 35 percent were deemed adequate and only 30 percent were in good or excellent condition. Upgrades would cost the seven largest systems $50 billion, the agency estimated.

Add in the rest of the country's public transit systems, and the maintenance backlog mushrooms to $78 billion.

Millar's group surveyed its 1,500 agencies and found that at least 40 percent were delaying capital improvements.

"The problem is to try to keep fares to a reasonable level, to try to keep services at a reasonable level, they have had to let some maintenance practices slip," he said. "Of course they are concerned about safety, so they try hard not to defer anything of a major safety need."

It's not just the major systems that are being forced to scrimp.

The Transit Authority of River City, which provides bus service for five counties in the greater Louisville, Ky., region, laid off 42 operators and mechanics last year and 10 administrative employees the previous year.

The authority's executive director, J. Barry Barker, said the system also was forced to reduce service and raise fares by $1 to $2.50 for express buses. Preventing further cuts or steeper fare hikes has meant sacrificing some improvements.

"The feds have a guideline that you can replace a full-size, 40-foot bus every 12 years. Basically I don't know anybody in the business who is replacing them after 12 years, and it's typically 14-16 (years)," he said.

Over the last several years, the authority has purchased only about half the replacement buses needed to meet even the longer cycle.

Federal support for mass transit comes largely in the form of the gasoline tax, with 2.86 cents per gallon of the federal tax earmarked for transit. But revenue has been declining as fewer Americans drive and many who do have switched to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Federal funding also has strings attached.

Transit systems in larger cities can apply it only toward capital improvements, while systems in areas with populations of 200,000 or less can use federal money to pay operating expenses. Federal stimulus money, now ending, provided a short-term boost with 1,072 grants worth $8.8 billion for special transit projects. That included the purchase of new buses and rail cars, according to the Federal Transit Administration.

Going to the ballot box has become a popular tool for systems trying to raise revenue, and voters have generally seemed receptive.

In 2010, voters nationwide approved 73 percent of transportation-related ballot questions, many calling for increases in sales or property taxes.

St. Joseph, Mo., boasts of having one the nation's oldest public transit systems, dating to when horses pulled large coaches before the Civil War. But with revenue falling and costs increasing for fuel, health insurance and liability coverage, the system had to go to local voters for a one-quarter cent sales tax increase in 2008 to avoid shutting down some of its eight bus routes.

But it may be only a temporary patch.

"We raised our sales tax, but the people haven't been buying as much stuff. It's not producing the revenue we would have hoped," said Andrew Clements, assistant director for St. Joseph public works. "As the future looms, eight to 10 years from now, we may be looking at a much harder challenge."

The public transit system serving Grand Rapids, Mich., won voter approval of property tax measures in 2000, 2003 and 2007 — allowing it to expand from 63 buses in 1999 to 105 buses this year at peak hours and more than double its ridership, said Peter Varga, chief executive officer of The Rapid.

The agency hasn't run a deficit in a decade, nor has it increased fares or cut service, he said, even as Michigan's economy has tanked.

The financial crunch has prompted creative approaches to generate additional money for transit systems.

To help close a projected $127 million operating deficit, the Boston-area system adopted a plan to sell bonds secured by future parking revenue at nearly 100 lots and garages. Proceeds from the bond would also be used to pay off future debt. The agency also hoped to sell more advertising space at stations and on trains and buses, and move its unionized employees to a more flexible state-run health insurance plan.

Passengers no longer will get a free ride if their bus or train is more than a half-hour late, but fare hikes, for now at least, are off the table.

Historically, fares have accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of total transit revenue nationwide.

Experts who point to more modern and reliable systems around the world say U.S. cities must find ways to overcome financial hurdles and invest in public transit.

In Los Angeles, voters agreed in 2008 to pay a half-cent sales tax over the next 30 years to fund a massive expansion of public transportation. But Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa doesn't want to wait that long for the projects to be completed, so he's proposed borrowing billions from the federal government so the work can be done in just a decade.

"It's becoming clear that (cities) have to remain healthy and vital, and it's also becoming increasingly clear that a functioning transit system is a big part of that," said Robert Puentes, a transportation expert with the Brookings Institution.

___

Associated Press writers David Lieb in Springfield, Mo., and Russell Contreras in Boston contributed to this report.

Astley, a recent graduate of Wayland High School who planned to attend Elon University in North Carolina in the fall, was last seen Sunday night after leaving her job at a store at the Natick Collection mall.

WAYLAND – A Wayland teenager has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a young woman whose body was found in a marshy area of town over the holiday weekend.

Authorities announced that 18-year-old Nathanial Fujita was arrested on Tuesday and charged with the death of 18-year-old Lauren Astley.

Astley’s body was found by a bicyclist Monday.

Astley, a recent graduate of Wayland High School who planned to attend Elon University in North Carolina in the fall, was last seen Sunday night after leaving her job at a store at the Natick Collection mall.

Malcolm Astley, Lauren’s father, said Fujita and his daughter were “close.”

Fujita was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Framingham District Court. A message left at his home was not immediately returned.