WESTFIELD - A photo exhibit entitled "Cuba: Culture, Cars & Cigars" will be featured at the Rinnova Gallery at 105 Elm St. Nov. 1 through Nov. 19. The exhibit is a collection of photos taken by local photographers Barbara Krawczyk and Diane Savioli-Chase during their April 2016 visit to Cuba. They plan to return to Cuba in February. The exhibit...

WESTFIELD - A photo exhibit entitled "Cuba: Culture, Cars & Cigars" will be featured at the Rinnova Gallery at 105 Elm St. Nov. 1 through Nov. 19.

The exhibit is a collection of photos taken by local photographers Barbara Krawczyk and Diane Savioli-Chase during their April 2016 visit to Cuba. They plan to return to Cuba in February.

The exhibit is hosted by Westfield Creative Arts and a reception for the photographers is scheduled at the Gallery Nov. 4 from 6 - 8 p.m.

Krawczyk said "The trip was a homage to my mother, who visited in the 1930s and we stayed in the same hotel, the Hotel Nacional. We wanted to visit before the crush of Americans and the possible spoiling of the experience by too many tourists."

Savioli-Chase said her goal was to document the vintage car phenomena which may not be around in the distaant future. "I was also interested in capturing the daily life of the locals and the crumbling architecture which seems stuck in time."

Krawczyk, a South Dakota native who moved to Westfield 34 years ago, is currently president of the Westfield Camera Club and a former officer an board member of the Springfield Photographic Society.

Savioli-Chase received her first camera from her grandparents when she was nine years old. the majority of her images captured today are on her cell phone and her photos can also be viewed on Instagram under "dianeultra."

WESTFIELD - Westfield State University Music Theatre students will perform their curricular project opera "Three Little Pigs" twice on Friday for Westfield Public School students and on Saturday for the general public. Performances will be on the Dever Stage in Parenzo Hall on the WSU campus. Public school children will attend performances at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Friday. A performance...

WESTFIELD - Westfield State University Music Theatre students will perform their curricular project opera "Three Little Pigs" twice on Friday for Westfield Public School students and on Saturday for the general public.

Performances will be on the Dever Stage in Parenzo Hall on the WSU campus.

Public school children will attend performances at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Friday. A performance scheduled Saturday at 4 p.m. that is open to the general public. Admission is free.

Westfield Cultural Council provided a grant that allows school children performances on Friday.

Associate Professor of Voice and Music Mary Grown-Bonacci said the opera will particularly resonate with elementary school audience because it has a great message about reading and gaining knowledge and includes "lots of sillness."

The opera was written by John Davies, of Opera Tales, who designs operas for young audiences to encourage an interest and enthusiasm for literature and music.

"Our students are putting together a delightful performance that will not only expose audiences to Mozart, but will also showcase the skills and scholarship of music students," Bonacci said.

The reconfigured jury of nine women and three men returned the verdicts after five hours of deliberations in the high-profile case that riveted the state and drew national and international attention to the federal bird sanctuary in rural eastern Oregon.

A federal jury on Thursday found Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five co-defendants not guilty of conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs through intimidation, threat or force during the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The Bundy brothers and occupiers Jeff Banta and David Fry also were found not guilty of having guns in a federal facility. Kenneth Medenbach was found not guilty of stealing government property, and a hung jury was declared on Ryan Bundy's charge of theft of FBI surveillance cameras.

"Stunning,'' said defense lawyer Lisa Ludwig, who was standby counsel for Ryan Bundy.

"I'm just thrilled,'' said Neil Wampler's attorney Lisa Maxfield.

The jury of nine women and three men returned the verdicts after five hours of deliberations on Thursday in the high-profile case that riveted the state and drew national and international attention to the federal bird sanctuary in rural eastern Oregon.

The coda to the stunning verdict, undoubtedly a significant blow to federal prosecutors, was when Ammon Bundy's lawyer Marcus Mumford argued that his client, dressed in a gray suit and white dress shirt, should be allowed to walk out of the court, a free man.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told him that there was a U.S. Marshal's hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada.

"If there's a detainer, show me,'' Mumford stood, arguing before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown.

Suddenly, a group of about six U.S. Marshals surrounded Mumford at his defense table and grabbed on to him.

"What are you doing?'' Mumford yelled, as he struggled and was taken down to the floor.

As deputy marshals yelled, "Stop resisting,'' the judge demanded, "Everybody out of the courtroom now!''

Mumford was taken into custody, a member of his legal team confirmed.

Ammon Bundy's lawyer J. Morgan Philpot, said afterwards on the courthouse steps that Mumford had been arrested and a taser had been used on him. That could not be independently confirmed.

Just after the verdicts were announced, a few people came through the courthouse doors onto the steps in front of the courthouse to tell a crowd of media and onlookers.

Supporters of the defendants gathered in a joyous hug. One of them, Brand Thornton of Las Vegas, said he had been one of the original occupiers and that he has been at the trial since Oct. 2.

The verdict "means everything," Thornton said. It's huge for ranchers and land rights within Harney County and across the West, he said. 

"We did something peaceful and wanted to stay peaceful," said Thornton, who described himself as a close friend of the defendants and stressed that peaceful protest at the occupation was hammered into everyone's from Day 1.

"This is for the people of Oregon," Thornton said. "This was never for us."

Wampler appeared on the courthouse steps and described the verdict as a "stunning victory for rural America."

The five-week trial offered a rare display: Three of the seven defendants chose to represent themselves. Five of them were among the more than 80 people who took the witness stand to testify.

And one of the original 12 jurors was dismissed after a fellow juror raised concerns about his impartiality four days into an initial round of deliberations - what the judge called an "extraordinary circumstance.'' An alternate juror was summoned to begin a new round of deliberations with the remaining 11 jurors Thursday morning.

There was heightened security in and around the courthouse throughout the trial, with security officers ordered to wear bulletproof vests, and metal detectors set up outside the main trial courtroom and an overflow room with a live video feed of the proceedings.

Often, supporters knelt in prayer in the courthouse corridor before the trial began in the mornings, and some kept vigil across the street, with one fellow occupier blowing a ram's horn, or shofar, as the jury deliberated.

Updates to come.

THE CASE

Ammon Bundy, the leader of the refuge occupation, said he and a group of supporters staged the Jan. 2 takeover to further their protest of the return to federal prison of Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, convicted of setting fire to federal lands.

The Hammonds lived near the refuge and had served short prison terms but were ordered to return to prison to complete five-year mandatory minimum sentences.

Bundy also sought to stake claim to to the federal bird sanctuary near Burns and turn it over to locals to run for cattle grazing, mining and logging. Bundy, who had recently moved to Idaho from Arizona, is the son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher famous for a 2014 standoff with federal authorities over grazing rights.

He was arrested Jan. 26 along with his brother and Shawna Cox on their way to a community meeting off the refuge in John Day. Jeff Banta and David Fry were arrested Feb. 11 at the refuge, among the last four occupiers left. Kenneth Medenbach was arrested Jan. 15 and Neil Wampler was arrested in California on Feb. 11.

THE PROSECUTION

Prosecutors described the case as strikingly simple: The occupiers took control of a wildlife refuge that wasn't theirs.

They argued that the conspiracy began Nov. 5 when Ammon Bundy and ally Ryan Payne met with Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward and issued ultimatums, promising extreme civil unrest if the sheriff didn't personally stand in to protect the two local ranchers.

They presented videos of Ammon Bundy issuing a "call to arms'' and copies of his Facebook messages, in which he promised "much more than a protest.'' They played video of Ammon Bundy standing atop a snowbank in the parking lot of the Burns Safeway on Jan. 2, summoning people to take a "hard stand'' and join him at the refuge to draw attention to the plight of the Hammonds as well as other local ranchers abused by the federal government.

That day, Ryan Bundy was in the first caravan of cars that headed about 30 miles south of Burns to the refuge to clear the buildings at gunpoint in a coordinated, planned maneuver, government witnesses testified. Others followed, quickly transforming the wildlife headquarters into an armed compound that Ammon Bundy openly declared would serve as a base for patriots for years to come, prosecutors said.

With gun-toting guards working shifts at the front gate and in the watchtower, the Bundys and their devotees used refuge offices as their own, dug through federal records, opened up boxes of Native American artifacts stored in the basement of one office and dug two trenches on the property and a bunker.

FBI agents seized 22 long guns and 12 handguns from the refuge. Federal agents bagged 18,331 separate pieces of ammunition at the refuge --- 16,636 live rounds, 1,627 spent casings at the boat launch and 68 spent casings at the refuge headquarters, testimony showed.

Refuge employees testified about finding their offices trashed, files missing or scattered throughout the refuge, and fire equipment removed or missing.

Prosecutors described Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and Shawna Cox as leaders of the occupation and said the others played different roles, yet all acted to disrupt refuge employees. On notes recovered from Ammon Bundy's iPhone, prosecutors displayed the breakdown in tasks he assigned supporters - Cox, for example, was in charge of "maps/titles'' and had two thumb drives with more than 5,000 federal government documents on them when police arrested her. Ryan Bundy was in charge of land "claim'' and Kenneth Medenbach, "signage.''

David Fry, they said, was the computer IT expert for the group, who helped get the occupation's message to the world, and stayed the longest, from Jan. 8 through Feb. 11, the last to surrender. Jeff Banta was shown in photos carrying a revolver during the last two weeks of the occupation.

Video captured Medenbach replacing the main refuge sign and truck decals with "Harney County Resource Center'' signs and logos and drilling a sign into the branch office door of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that read "Closed Permanently.'' Video supported by witness testimony also showed Ryan Bundy helping remove FBI surveillance cameras on a rural road outside the refuge.

The seizure of the refuge had a substantial destabilizing effect on county residents and the 16 refuge employees who couldn't report to work during the occupation, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight.

THE DEFENSE

Defense lawyers argued that Ammon Bundy and the others didn't talk about trying to prevent federal workers from coming to the refuge and that they faced an unfair prosecution for a peaceful political protest.

Ammon Bundy testified that he was divinely inspired to occupy the refuge to stake claim to the property through the principle of adverse possession and return it to the people of Harney County.

He said he didn't share his idea until a backroom meeting on Jan. 2 at the Ye Olde Castle Restaurant in Burns. He acted, he said, only after local and state officials ignored his repeated requests to intervene in the case of the local ranchers returning to prison.

Ryan Bundy and Cox said they traveled to Burns on Jan. 2 to attend the march and protest in support of the Hammonds and planned to stay just a day or two.

Defendants said they had the legal right to carry firearms. Ammon Bundy testified that if the occupiers hadn't brought guns to the refuge, authorities would have quickly hauled away the protesters and ended the takeover.

They weren't intimidating or threatening, they said. Nearly a dozen defense witnesses who had visited the refuge during the occupation testified about the happy, peaceful, "even merry'' atmosphere there. The only violence that occurred, the defendants argued, was at the hands of state police and FBI agents, who fired at occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum's truck when he raced away from a police stop on Jan. 26. State troopers fatally shot Finicum after he emerged from the truck and reached at least three times inside his jacket, where he had a loaded 9 mm pistol, police said.

Defense lawyers said their clients didn't even think about blocking refuge workers from doing their jobs. Some of the occupiers believed the refuge was closed and that employees were on New Year's vacation.

Some of the attorneys urged jurors not to infer that their clients intended to keep federal employees out simply because government supervisors had told the workers not to report to the refuge. They also pointed out that the refuge was a "public place'' and didn't belong to the government but to the people.

During the last two weeks of the occupation, Banta and Fry left the refuge headquarters buildings and camped out on the west edge of property, afraid FBI agents would kill them. At that point, they were in a standoff with the FBI, not involved in any conspiracy to impede staff of the Fish & Wildlife Service or Bureau of Land Management, they said.

Defense lawyers also raised questions about the FBI informants at the refuge. Prosecutors confirmed there were 15 informants involved in the case, nine of whom were at the refuge - including three who were identified at the trial. Six others at the refuge remained unidentified.

Without knowing who they were or what they did during the occupation, the lawyers didn't know if any of the informants conspired with the defendants to commit any of the crimes alleged in the indictment, defense lawyers argued. They revealed that one of the informants at the refuge was a man who went by the alias "John Killman'' but was really Fabio Minoggio of Las Vegas, who was asked to oversee the shooting range at the refuge.

POTENTIAL PRISON SENTENCES

The federal conspiracy to impede charge carries a maximum sentence of six years and a $250,000 fine with no mandatory minimum.

Possessing a firearm in a federal facility carries a five-year maximum sentence with no mandatory minimum.

The maximum sentence for the theft of government property is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with no mandatory minimum.

PENDING PROSECUTIONS

The seven on trial were among 26 people indicted on the conspiracy charge.

Eleven of them pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge.

Seven others are set for trial on Feb. 14, but their cases may be affected by the verdicts. If convictions are handed down in this case, then defendants scheduled for trial in February might consider potential pleas. If there are acquittals, prosecutors may rethink going to trial on same charges against co-defendants next year.

On the eve of jury selection in this case, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the conspiracy charge against Pete Santilli, an independent broadcaster and self-described "shock jock,'' who provided live stream footage of the occupation.

NEVADA CASE

Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy also face prosecution in Nevada in the 2014 standoff with federal agents over the impounding of their father's cattle near Bunkerville, Nevada.

The trial there is set to start Feb. 6. The two brothers and father Cliven Bundy are among 19 indicted in Nevada. Others from the Oregon refuge occupation also indicted on federal charges in Nevada are Pete Santilli, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Blaine Cooper and Joseph O'Shaughnessy.

Payne pleaded guilty to the federal conspiracy charge in Oregon under a potential global agreement that was in the works with Nevada prosecutors, but he recently asked to withdraw the Oregon plea because no deal was reached in Nevada. Prosecutors in Portland have until Oct. 31 to respond.

A Worcester man now faces up to 15 years in prison as the result of drug and firearm convictions.

WORCESTER — 29-year-old Johnny Ball, of Worcester, was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, as well as of possession of a sawed off shotgun, in Worcester Superior Court on Thursday, according to The Boston Globe.

Ball was arrested in 2014, along with an accomplice, after authorities executed a search warrant at an apartment in the city where they found drug paraphernalia, cocaine, and the sawed off shotgun.

Now Ball may face as much as 15 years in prison as the result of "enhanced penalties." If Ball is further convicted of being an armed, level 3 career criminal.

District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. called the case an example of how "the drug trade and weapons go hand-in-hand."

Ball is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

A water main break in Palmer closed several streets on Thursday night.

PALMER — A water main break closed several streets in Palmer on Thursday night, according to a dispatcher at the Palmer Police Department.

The break occurred on Thorndike St. at approximately 7 p.m., and police blocked traffic off between Lawrence St. and Park St. while crews worked to fix the break, according to Western Mass News.

As a result of the break, 20 houses on Thorndike Street are without water, according to David Majka, the superintendent of the Palmer Water Department.

Majka also apparently stated that approximately 400,000 gallons of water had been lost as a result of the incident.

It is unclear when water will be restored to these households, or when the break will be entirely fixed, said police.

Kennedy has spent 30 years as a toll taker, and his chatty nature and service-with-a-smile attitude have made him a fixture on the MassPike Watch video

After 30 years on the job, enjoying thousands of laughs and interacting with millions of people, and even meeting the woman who would become his wife, John "Chickie" Kennedy is moving on.

"I have friends who said this job was made for me," he said. "I guess I do like to chat with people. It's been fun."

Kennedy, a Holyoke native, has been employed for 30 years as a toll booth attendant on the Massachusetts Turnpike. His chatty nature and service-with-a-smile attitude is known far and wide, both along the turnpike and much farther afield.

"I was at a jazz festival in New Orleans in 2002. I walk out of the concert and I hear 'Hey, toll booth guy! What are you doing here?'"

By 10 p.m. Friday, when the state Department of Transportation switches on its all-electronic tolling system, toll booth attendants like Kennedy will immediately be obsolete. Where he'll be after that is hard to say.

Officially, he's retiring, accepting a 5-year severance package from the state. He concedes that at 59, he's too young to retire, but he has yet to plot his next career. He may look for part-time work here or there, but has no immediate plans to start looking until after the holidays.

"I would rather stay here if I could," he said.

But that is not an option. Not only will tollbooth attendants be unnecessary after Friday night, the booths themselves are also on borrowed time.

In the visitors' parking lot at the toll offices for the Chicopee exit, where Kennedy works, a large piece of demolition equipment on Friday afternoon sat ready to go.

And while the booth may be ready to go, Kennedy said he isn't.

"I'm going to miss it. I've been here 30 years, and it never felt like 'oh God I have to go to work today,'" he said. " It wasn't one of those jobs where I ever regretted going to work."

Seated inside the office building by the turnpike entrance for an interview, Kennedy said he is going to miss the people. But he also thinks the people are going to miss him and the other tollbooth attendants.

On the table next to him are packages of muffins and cookies, which he said are going-away gifts from some of his regulars.

"Most of the people are friendly. You meet a lot of people here. Obviously you're dealing with thousands of cars in a day. You make a lot of friends," he said.

While he is going to miss the job, he thinks many turnpike patrons are going to find they miss him and the other attendants.

"I've got to wonder. We give directions constantly," he said. "Now tonight people are going to be pulling up and be going 'which way do I go.'"

Minus the attendants, the turnpike can be a long, impersonal road, he said.

The state DOT is going to have to invest in making the traffic signs a little more user-friendly because there will not be any people around to help lost travelers, he said.

Over the years, he admits to a few pranks on the job just to keep things moving.

He tells the story of how for a laugh, he hung up a sign that read "Please announce denominations. Toll collector is legally blind."

Drivers passing through would not only say what money they were handing, they would shout it, he said.

"It says blind, not deaf," he said. "We had about an hour's worth of fun with that."
When the supervisor found out, he was not nearly as amused.

Through his window, he's seen people laughing, crying, screaming, making out, and even in varying stages of undress.

"Occasionally we'd get people who forgot to get dressed. That didn't happen enough, as far as I'm concerned."

He's met thousands - perhaps millions of people - over the years. Many of those people would come and go each day as part of the daily commute. And many of those people Kennedy has gotten to know, one 5-to-10 second transaction at a time.

String enough of those snippets of conversations together, the smiles and laughs, and pretty soon, friendships develop, he said.

In a 1991 Springfield newspaper article about him, Kennedy spoke then as he does now about how much enjoys his job and interacting with the people. The article concludes with him saying that maybe he would meet his future wife at a turnpike booth.

It turns out that is exactly what happened.

"I met her here in 2000," he said of his wife, Carla.

With interactions limited to a few seconds here and there each time she drove through, he and Carla "got friendly for a couple of years."

It wasn't until he met her socially by chance at the Waterfront in Holyoke that everything came together.

"I asked her out that night and we got married and we've been married 10 years now," Kennedy said. "All because of this place."

Hours before the planned switch to a new cashless tolling system, Massachusetts transportation officials sought to remind drivers that they'll be eligible for a six-month "grace period" if they haven't obtained an E-ZPass Massachusetts transponder. Watch video

This story is part of ongoing MassLive coverage into the state's October 2016 launch of all-electronic tolling on the Mass. Pike and the elimination of toll plazas.

_________________________

BOSTON - Hours before the planned switch to a new cashless tolling system, Massachusetts transportation officials sought to remind drivers that they'll be eligible for a six-month "grace period" if they haven't yet obtained an E-ZPass Massachusetts transponder.

"If you do not have a transponder yet, don't panic," Thomas Tinlin, the state's highway chief, told reporters at a press conference inside the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's offices.

With the new system come three new toll rates: The lowest is for drivers with an E-ZPass Massachusetts transponder, while drivers without an out-of-state transponder, or no transponder at all, pay higher rates.

During the grace period, drivers who don't have a transponder will receive a bill in the mail. Tinlin said they should go online and pay the bill on the website - www.EZDriveMA.com - or head to one of seven service centers. You can also call 1-877-627-7745.

E-ZPass Mass customer service center to shut down this weekend

If you sign up for an E-ZPass Massachusetts transponder account, the state will credit your new account for the difference between what you paid and the lower transponder rate.

Tinlin said between Monday and Thursday this week, the state issued 27,894 transponders.

Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack asked drivers to be patient during the transition to all-electronic tolling. She warned that the first phase of demolition of the toll plazas, scheduled to last until Nov. 22, is expected to be "particularly intense."

See new Mass. Pike toll rates broken down by location

She and other transportation officials have also asked drivers to treat demolition as they would a snowstorm: Plan ahead to avoid potential congestion, or take public transportation if possible.

The second phase of demolition is expected to last through the winter months, and the re-working of the toll plaza areas is scheduled to wrap up in late 2017.

Transportation officials have said once all is said and done, the benefits of all-electronic tolling will include less congestion, as cars won't have to slow down to go through toll plazas, and better air quality, as well as improved highway safety.

Mass. Pike toll plaza demolition begins this weekend: Here's what to expect

In anticipation of a busy Halloween weekend, the University of Massachusetts again is limiting non-university guests in dorms this weekend beginning at 4 p.m.

AMHERST -- In anticipation of a busy Halloween weekend, the University of Massachusetts is limiting non-university guests in dorms.

Also, the Amherst Police Department plans additional staffing.  

Each UMass resident will be allowed to have four guests, but only two of those may be non-UMass students. The restriction began Friday at 4 p.m. and remains in effect through Sunday at noon.

UMass put this policy in place earlier this semester for Homecoming weekend, and used it last year as well.

The usual policy is four guests without restrictions on who those guests are.

A message sent to campus residents in September outlined the changes, which include expanded hours at residence hall security desks and monitoring guest numbers.

Since the Edward Davis report looking at the March 2014 Blarney Blowout riot, UMass has altered its guest policy depending on events. For the March festival last year, UMass banned all out of town students from dorms.

Amherst police is hiring additional officers for Friday and Saturday nights, according to Capt. Jennifer Gundersen. In an email, she wrote police believe this will be a busy weekend with calls.

She also said that the Party Smart Registration program has been successful. Students 18 and older living off campus are asked to register their parties before they happen, providing contact information in case there are problems.

The program is intended as a way to cut down on the number of police calls and increase student responsibility.

If the party host is registered and a neighbor complains about noise, police will give the host a courtesy call giving him or her 20 minutes to end the party without police. Officers would only come to the house if there were a follow-up complaint, she said.

Gundersen wrote that police have received some noise complaints regarding these registered parties. "We have notified (the hosts) of the complaint, and no additional complaints have been received after a phone call," she wrote.

She wrote that officers haven't been needed to be dispatched. "This is an intended outcome," Gundersen wrote.

UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said that 50 students have registered parties for this weekend, bringing the total to 95 since the program went into place last month.

Florence Warriner, Southwick's oldest resident, is slated to cast her ballot in early voting at Southwick Town Hall around 12:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, according to Town Clerk Michelle Hill.

SOUTHWICK — Everyone knows that senior citizens are renowned for showing up at the polls on Election Day, and the southwestern Hampden County town of Southwick is no different.

But on Thursday Nov. 3, super senior Florence E. Warriner, a 104-year-old Southwick woman and the town's oldest living resident, will be casting her ballot during early voting at Town Hall, according to Southwick Town Clerk Michelle L. Hill.

Warriner is expected to arrive at Town Hall around 12:15 p.m., and she will be assisted by Cindy Sullivan, the town's Council on Aging director.

Warriner will be the town's second centenarian to take advantage of early voting in Massachusetts, made possible by a new law that allows commonwealth voters to weigh in on races and ballot questions from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. The general election is Nov. 8.

On Oct. 24, the first day of early voting, Southwick's second-oldest citizen, a 103-year-old resident stopped by Town Hall to vote. Early voting is no-excuse voting, according to Hill, who complimented the centenarians for flexing their democratic muscles.

"I strongly feel these two coming to vote set that example," Hill said.

The public is invited to meet Warriner when she shows up to vote at Town Hall on Nov. 3. "I have been told she is excited to vote and welcomes the attention," Hill said.

Since 1986, Americans 65 and older have voted at higher rates than all other age groups, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2014, for example, the voting rate for the 65-plus group was almost 60 percent, about 10 percentage points above the next-highest age group, census data show.

The 65-plus group is also the only U.S. demographic group whose voting rate has not dropped since 1978, data show.

Southwick Town Hall is located at 454 College Highway. Hill, who is also the town's treasurer and collector, may be reached at 413-569-5504.

A crash has caused travel delays for drivers heading north on Interstate 91 early Friday evening

SPRINGFIELD -- A crash has caused travel delays for drivers heading north on Interstate 91 early Friday evening.

Massachusetts State Police were at the scene of a crash that occured in the northbound lanes a half-mile south of Exit 5.

Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday a truck involved in the

All lanes are open though traffic has been delayed due to the crash.

Enfield police are still investigating the area where a woman's body was discovered on Friday morning.

ENFIELD, Ct — Connecticut authorities are still investigating the scene where a middle-aged woman's body was discovered in the Thompsonville area of Enfield on Friday morning.

The woman, who is believed to be in her late 50s or early 60s, was discovered in a wooded area near Windsor Court--an apartment complex run by the Enfield Housing Authority that sits within close proximity to the Massachusetts line.

Foul play still hasn't been ruled out.

"We can't rule anything out until we know what the cause of death was," said Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza.

The body was taken from the scene at approximately 5 p.m. Friday and transported to the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Farmington, Sferrazza said.

An autopsy of the body is scheduled for Saturday morning and police won't be able to get a better picture of what happened until that time, said the police chief.

"We won't have a cause of death until the Medical Examiner's report comes, after the autopsy has been conducted," Sferrazza said, further commenting that the results will likely be available by the beginning of next week

In the meantime, Enfield police are in the process of obtaining a search warrant for one of the residencies at the Windsor Court complex that they believe may be related to the case.

The woman has yet to be identified, but police believe her death occurred relatively recently.

"I can't give you an exact quote on hours, but it isn't a matter of weeks or months. The body had been there maybe a day at the most," said Sferrazza.

Herren will meet with high school students during the day and the general public at night on Nov. 15.

WESTFIELD - Former high school and Celtic standout basketball player and heroin addict Chris Herren will bring his message of the rise and fall due to drugs to Westfield Technical Academy Nov. 15.

Herren will meet with students at Westfield High School and Westfield Technical Academy during separate assemblies during the day. He will address drug issues and discuss his past rise, fall and recovery with the general public at WTA's auditorium at 6:30 p.m..

The event is open free to the public thanks to grants from Westfield Bank and the Westfield YMCA. A grant from Westfield Bank Futures will sponsor Herren's address while grants from the YMCA are financing the afternoon meetings with high school students.

The Nov. 15 program is organized by School Department substance abuse counselors Carrie Fiordalice and Kristine Hupfer. They are members of Westfield's Drug Task Force that was put in place last February by Mayor Brian P. Sullivan to address an on-going opioid epidemic that has impacted Westfield.

Herren's lecture is the first of several programs being scheduled this school year by the School Department and Task Force, Superintendent of Schools Stefan Czaporowski said.

In addition to the WTA auditorium, a large screen television will be set up in the school's cafeteria for use by the public, Czaporowski said.

The 41 year old Herren is a Fall River native who played for the University of Las Vegas, Fresno State and then professionally for the Denver Nuggets from 1999 to 2000 and then the Boston Celtics before his drug addiction ended his career.

Herren presented a similar program in Chicopee schools earlier this year.

Fiordalice and Hupfer are currently seeking a state sponsored Youth Opioid Prevention Grant that will be used to purchase and implement a BOTVIN training curriculum designed to steer school students away from drugs.

They are also preparing a survey of students in grades 8, 10 and 12 to help plan for additional drug intervention programs for the Westfield Public School System.

The keynote speaker at Chez Josef in Agawam was Tree House Brewing co-founder Dean Rohan.

AGAWAM — More than 500 guests gathered at the Chez Josef Banquet Facility on Friday afternoon as part of the 27th Super 60 Awards luncheon, where the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region were recognized.

To be considered for the award, businesses from Hampden and Hampshire counties must be a member of the Springfield Regional Chamber and must have earned revenues of at least $1 million during their last fiscal year. The company must be privately owned and in business for at least three years.

The 2016 winners covered 17 communities and represented all sectors including retail, service, manufacturing, health care, technology, transportation, energy and nonprofits.

This year's top Total Revenue Award was presented to Stavros Center for Independent Living, Inc. from Amherst. The top Revenue Growth Award was given to Lavishlyhip, LLC of Feeding Hills.

The keynote speaker was Tree House Brewing co-founder Dean Rohan. The Super 60 awards were presented in partnership with the East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce.

The Democrat said late Friday she was confident whatever the FBI may find would not change its conclusion from earlier this year — that her use of a private email system as secretary of state did not merit prosecution.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A new shock hit Hillary Clinton's campaign Friday in the unpredictable and often unbelievable presidential race: The FBI is looking into whether there was classified information on a device belonging to the estranged husband of one of her closest aides.

Adding to the drama of the stunning revelation: The FBI uncovered the emails during a sexting investigation of Anthony Weiner, the disgraced ex-congressman who is separated from longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

The Democrat said late Friday she was confident whatever the FBI may find would not change its conclusion from earlier this year -- that her use of a private email system as secretary of state did not merit prosecution.

"We don't know the facts, which is why we are calling on the FBI to release all the information that it has," Clinton said. "Even (FBI) Director (James) Comey noted that this new information might not be significant, so let's get it out."

FBI's Clinton probe linked to Weiner sexting; Democratic nominee says she doesn't know what's in emails

The news arrived with Clinton holding a solid advantage in the presidential race. Early voting has been underway for weeks, and she has a steady lead in preference polls. But the development all but ensures that, even should she win the White House, the Democrat and several of her closest aides would celebrate victory under a cloud of investigation.

It was a day that thrilled Republicans eager to change the trajectory of the race, none moreso than GOP nominee Donald Trump.

"Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before," Trump said while campaigning in battleground New Hampshire. "We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office."

Democrats, still confident Clinton will prevail in 11 days, were enraged by Comey's decision to disclose the existence of the fresh investigation in a vaguely worded letter to several congressional leaders.

"The FBI has a history of extreme caution near Election Day so as not to influence the results," said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She added, accusingly, "Today's break from that tradition is appalling."

It wasn't until hours after Comey's letter emerged that word came that the source of the new emails was Weiner, the former congressman under investigation for sending sexually explicit text messages to a teenage girl.

"We don't know what to believe," Clinton said, adding, "Right now, your guess is as good as mine, and I don't think that's good enough."

The development also reignited persistent worries among Democrats that electing the former first lady will restart a cycle of scandal and investigation that could rival the final portion of her husband's term in office.

Congressional Republicans have already promised years of investigations into Clinton's private email system. And that's only one of the email-related controversies facing her. The tens of thousands of confidential emails from Clinton campaign insiders that were hacked -- she and the government say by Russia -- and then released by WikiLeaks have provided a steady stream of questions about her policy positions, personnel choices and ties with her husband's sprawling charitable network and post-presidential pursuits.

The FBI ended that investigation in July without filing charges, although Comey said then that Clinton and her aides had been "extremely careless" in using the system for communications about government business.

The agency, which did not respond to questions about Comey's letter and did not lay out a timeline for the review, is also investigating the recent hacks of the emails of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman.

As Clinton and her campaign have been pounded by allegations and embarrassing revelations related to the hacked emails, they've largely avoided engaging in the details. Instead, they've focused on blaming the Russians.

"These are illegally stolen documents," Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said earlier in the day on her campaign plane. "We're not going to spend our campaign fighting back what the Russians want this to be about."

That may be because Clinton hasn't yet felt the political pressure. Recent surveys show her retaining her lead in national polls and making gains in some swing states. In fact, her campaign announced plans to hold a rally in Arizona next Wednesday, a traditionally red state put in play by Trump's deep unpopularity among minority voters, Mormons and business leaders.

To the frustration of many in his party, Trump has struggled to consistently drive an attack against Clinton, often turning to personal denunciations of private citizens he feels have wronged him, like the Gold Star family of Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier killed in action.

That may be changing. He quickly pounced on the email news, seeing an opportunity to press the argument he's long tried to make against Clinton: that she thinks she's above the law and that she put U.S. security at risk by using her personal email.

Trump on new FBI inquiry into Clinton emails: 'This is bigger than Watergate'

After weeks of declaring the race "rigged" in favor of his opponent, Trump declared Friday he has "great respect" for the FBI and the Justice Department, now that they are "willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made" in concluding the investigation earlier.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz urged the FBI to "follow the facts, wherever they lead." President Barack Obama plans to travel to support Clinton nearly every day that's left in the campaign.

"He's going to be proud to support her from now until Election Day," Schultz said.

Two Springfield Police Officers received the medal of valor at a ceremony at the city's Sheraton Monarch on Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD, Ma - Several Springfield Police Officers were honored with the Medal of Valor at a ceremony at the city's Sheraton Monarch on Thursday evening.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Police Commissioner John Barbieri assisted with presenting Sgt. Matt Benoit and Officer James Williams with the Medal of Valor at the Massachusetts Police Association (MPA) Convention.

The medal is awarded to police who demonstrate actions beyond the call of duty, often disregarding personal safety to perform public service, according to the MPA.

Additionally, Sgt. John Delaney was honored for his activities with the annual event "Ride to Remember"--a memorial bike ride dedicated to officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

A young girl was killed after being struck by a school bus on Friday.

PLAINFIELD, Ma — A nine-year-old girl was killed Friday afternoon during an incident in Plainfield involving a school bus, according to Massachusetts State Police.

The incident occurred at approximately 4 p.m. in the vicinity of South Central Street.

The girl--whose identity has not been made public--appears to have been in the process of getting off of the bus and had not fully exited the vehicle when it began to drive away, police said. The girl may have become caught in the bus door and was dragged a short distance before being struck by the bus, police said.

Police say the victim was a student at an area school and that several other children from the school were on the bus at the time of the incident.

State Police Detectives are now investigating and are in the process of interviewing the man who was driving the bus at the time of the incident. His identity has not been released at this time.

Police say that further information will be released by the District Attorney's office when it becomes available and is deemed appropriate.

Authorities expressed their deepest condolences to the victim's family.

It's official. After years of planning that started under the administration of former Gov. Deval Patrick, toll booths along the Massachusetts Turnpike officially shut down at 9:45 p.m. Friday.

This story is part of ongoing MassLive coverage into the state's October 2016 launch of all-electronic tolling on the Mass. Pike and the elimination of toll plazas.

_________

UPDATE: MassDOT reports all-electronic tolling was activated at 10:06 p.m.

Crews uncover "do not stop" signs as traffic is moved to outer lanes at the Westborough toll plaza. MassDOT 

It's official. After years of planning that started under the administration of former Gov. Deval Patrick, toll booths along the Massachusetts Turnpike officially shut down at 9:45 p.m. Friday.

No more tickets are being issued and no more cash tolls are being collected at the booths. Instead, vehicles are being directed to drive right through. Signs that have been unveiled at the plazas instruct drivers "do not stop." 

The Mass. Pike is free -- for 15 minutes. At 10 p.m., the Massachusetts Department of Transportation activates all-electronic tolling and any vehicle traveling under one of 16 gantries erected along the Mass. Pike will be scanned for a transponder and charged a set toll for each location. Those without transponders will have a photo taken of the vehicle's license plate and a paper bill issued to the registered owner. 

Work crews are beginning to move traffic to outer lanes of the plazas tonight in preparation for demolition of the the center of the plazas that will start tonight and continue until Nov. 22 when traffic is redirected to the center of the plazas. 

You can expect to see crews continue to work this weekend.

With the change of tolling comes a change in toll rates. The new structure favors those with Massachusetts-issued transponders. Those with E-ZPass transponders issued from other states will pay a slightly higher rate and those without transponders, who are issued paper bills through the license plate photo capture system, will pay higher rates. 

You can use MassLive's toll calculator to enter entry and exit points along the Mass. Pike to determine what you will pay. 

A hiker had to be rescued from the Skinner State Park in South Hadley on Friday.

SOUTH HADLEY, Ma — An injured hiker was rescued by firefighters from the Joseph Allen Skinner State Park in South Hadley on Friday, according to 22News.

After the hiker slipped and fell down a rock face, a rescue operation had to be executed, said South Hadley Firefighter Mike Bourbeau.

Granby and Hadley fire departments also assisted with the rescue.

It took the firefighters approximately three hours to find the hiker, and a rope system was then used to lower the hiker down to the ground.

After the rescue, the hiker was transported to a local hospital. They are expected to be okay.

American Airlines Flight 383 to Miami experienced an "uncontained engine failure," in which engine parts break off and are spewed outside the engine, the official said.

CHICAGO -- Pilots were forced to abort a takeoff and evacuate passengers from a burning American Airlines flight Friday on a runway at Chicago O'Hare International Airport after the airliner experienced what a federal official said was a rare and serious type of engine failure.

American Airlines Flight 383 to Miami experienced an "uncontained engine failure," in which engine parts break off and are spewed outside the engine, the official said. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the incident and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The danger of such a failure is that engine pieces effectively become shrapnel and can cause extensive damage to the aircraft.

Flames and heavy black smoke poured from the side of the Boeing 767 jet as it sat on the runway after the aborted takeoff. Officials said the incident left 21 people injured. Footage from the scene showed passengers coming down emergency slides and hurrying across grass next to the runway as emergency vehicles surrounded the plane. The right wing was drooping toward the ground and appeared to have partially melted.

Passenger Sarah Ahmed told WLS-TV the plane was speeding down the runway when she heard an explosion and saw flames and black smoke. She said everyone on the right side of the aircraft jumped from their seats and moved to the left side.

"People are yelling, 'Open the door! Open the door!' Everyone's screaming and jumping on top of each other to open the door," Ahmed said. "Within that time, I think it was seven seconds, there was now smoke in the plane and the fire is right up against the windows, and it's melting the windows."

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the plane made an emergency stop around 2:35 p.m. after experiencing a problem during takeoff. An earlier FAA statement said the plane had blown a tire, but officials later deleted that information from the statement.

Chicago Deputy Fire Commissioner Timothy Sampey said 20 passengers suffered minor injuries as they used the emergency chutes to evacuate. American, which had earlier said eight people were injured, later confirmed the 20 figure and added that one flight attendant was also injured.

Buses were sent to pick up the passengers and bring them back to the terminal, Scott said. The passengers were to be placed on another flight to Miami Friday evening.

We're taking care of our passengers and crew on flight 383 at @fly2ohare. For updates: https://t.co/LS0P7po3ap

-- American Airlines (@AmericanAir) October 28, 2016

Uncontained engine failures are unusual thanks to improvements in designs and the metallurgy. There are many possible causes, including overheating, runway debris or large birds that get sucked into the engine or parts that break when they wear out but aren't replaced during maintenance checks.

Tom Walsh, an airline pilot who also works as a security consultant, said that engines that break apart can be especially serious if the parts end up cutting fuel lines or damaging other vital components of the aircraft.

But he said even such catastrophic failures don't necessarily doom a plane -- even if a pilot runs out of runway and must take off.

Chicago firefighters investigate a fire damaged American Airlines jet, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Flames and heavy black smoke poured from the side of an American Airlines jet that aborted takeoff and caught fire on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Friday, forcing crew and passengers to evacuate. Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune via AP 

One of the best-known incidents of uncontained engine failure occurred in 1989, when 111 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-10 crashed while making an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa. There were 185 survivors.

Such engine failures are taken "very seriously" in the aviation industry, said John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety consultant. It's mandatory that airlines report the failures to the NTSB, he said.

"It's something everyone in aviation safety tracks very carefully," said Cox, president of Safety Operating Systems.

Engines are especially vulnerable to overheating that can cause parts to fail during takeoffs when they are already operating at very high temperatures, said John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and expert on aircraft maintenance.

The giant blades inside the engines are revolving at about 13,000 rpm, he said. When one comes loose, it's like firing a bullet, he said.

The aircraft involved in Friday's incident was built in 2003 and is among American's youngest planes of that model. According to data from FlightGlobal, an aviation news and industry data company, at the start of this year the plane had flown more than 47,000 hours and made more than 7,500 cycles -- each takeoff and landing is one cycle. American is flying 767 aircraft that have more than 100,000 hours and 18,000 cycles.

A lone white male robbed the Subway sandwich shop on Memorial Ave. in West Springfield Friday evening, and fled on foot over the Memorial Bridge into Springfield.

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com 

West Springfield Police Capt. Robert Duffy told WWLP-TV that the lone white man entered the Subway sandwich shop at 356 Memorial Ave. at about 8 p.m. According to witnesses he showed a firearm to employees and demanded money.

Duffy described the suspect at a white man, standing 6 feet tall and wearing dark clothing. He may have had a white hat as well.

The suspect fled the store on foot carrying an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police in Springfield joined the hunt for the suspect after Duffy said he apparently ran over the Memorial Bridge to Springfield.