The wing of a large moving passenger jet clipped the tail of a smaller stationary aircraft.

BOSTON — Federal investigators are hoping daylight gives them a better look at two planes damaged in an accident at Boston's Logan International Airport.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators are taking a more detailed look at the two jets Friday after the wing of a large moving passenger jet clipped the tail of a smaller stationary aircraft on a taxiway Thursday. Both were taken out of service.

An airline spokesman says the incident involved Delta Flight 266 from Boston to Amsterdam, which hit the vertical stabilizer of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 4904, heading to Raleigh-Durham. There were 204 passengers and 11 crew on the larger plane, 74 passengers and three crew on the smaller craft.

One person was treated at a hospital.

Passengers described feeling a sharp jolt, followed by screaming and crying.

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

President Barack Obama will hold a press conference Friday to discuss ongoing negotiations.

(AP)President Barack Obama sits with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 14, 2011, as he met with Republican and Democratic leaders regarding the debt ceiling. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama has told Congressional leaders that “it’s decision time" in the ongoing and contentious negotiations over measures to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans have been wrestling over the issue for weeks, with Democrats unwilling to support any measure that doesn't include additional tax revenues on top of spending cuts, and Republicans insisting on just the opposite.

Congress must raise the debt ceiling — a cap on Treasury spending dictated by Congress that has been lifted more than 70 times in the past 50 years — before Aug. 2. After that point the nation would no longer be able to pay its bills, according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Read an explanation of the history of the debt ceiling »

The national conversation over the debt limit has captured the attention of politicians and citizens around the country. Here's a look at what elected officials from Massachusetts are saying.

Associated PressMassachusetts Sen. Scott Brown during an Associated Press interview at his office in Boston. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

Sen. Scott Brown

Brown said yesterday that the Republican leadership involved in negotiations should heed the word of Secretary Geithner, who warned that Congress is “running out of time” to prevent the nation from defaulting on its debt obligations.

“It’s an opportunity to get our debt and deficit under control. This is an opportunity right now for people to work together…. and solve our country’s problems, and forget the partisan politics,” Brown said Thursday, according to The State Column.

The Boston Globe reports that Brown, a Republican, said he's willing to vote against his own party if necessary. But in remarks on the Senate floor this week, Brown was critical of Democrats' insistence that deficit reduction measures include increased tax revenues. He said:

In Massachusetts and throughout this great country, small businesses, and especially manufacturers, have been the key to our economic recovery. They are the economic engines in Massachusetts and the rest of the country. They are the lifeblood of our economy. They range from mom-and-pop stores to some of the country's most cutting-edge, high-tech startup companies.

How can we tax these job-creating small businesses and then stand on the Senate floor and speak about how awful it is that unemployment is at an all-time high, cloaking it in the language of rhetoric of "millionaires and billionaires, and corporate jets." We all know, even if we do the things we talk about, it doesn't get us close to solving or dealing with the problems. Watch video of Brown's remarks »

(AP)US Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, gestures during a meeting in this AP file photo. (AP Photo/Uriel Sinai, Pool)

Sen. John Kerry

Kerry has insisted he will fight to protect entitlements in the Senate, telling members of AARP Massachusetts earlier this week he would oppose any attempt privatize Social Security or reduce its benefits.

On the Senate floor last week, Kerry said certain members of Congress were "shedding crocodile tears" over the debt ceiling debate, and warned that failure to increase the debt limit could lead to "a crisis potentially far more severe than the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009."

Kerry invoked an unlikely source of wisdom in calling for his colleagues to act quickly to raise the debt ceiling: Former Republican President Ronald Reagan. He said:

If we eat America's seed corn in this deal — by that, I mean don't invest in America's infrastructure, don't invest in education, don't invest in the research and development that is so critical to the creation of new jobs — if all we do is what the other folks in the House said we ought to do by just looking at 12 percent of the budget and cutting spending, if that is all we do, we will eat America's seed corn, and the next generation will pay the price. Without investing in our future, we could face an economic downslide unlike anything we have seen in recent memory.

In 1983, President Reagan wrote, "Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The nation can ill afford such a result."

Nearly 30 years later, we are facing that kind of incalculable damage. Watch video of Kerry's remarks »

S.P. Sullivan, MassLive.comGov. Deval Patrick speaks to reporters in Springfield in this file photo.

Gov. Deval Patrick

The Governor appeared on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" earlier this week, acting as a surrogate to President Obama, a friend and political ally, calling Obama's efforts in negotiations "a very balanced approach."

Patrick has been vocal in his support of the use of tax revenues in addition to spending cuts in any deficit reduction measures, arguing in a Washington Post op-ed that Republican lawmakers were adhering to a "gimmick" in the form of anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist's no-tax pledge.

Patrick said in his CNN appearance that a "serious response" to the nation's debt problem could be modeled after deficit reduction measures in Massachusetts. He said:

Our budgets are balanced, responsible and on time. We are growing jobs faster than 46 other states. Our bond rating is one of the few in the country that's gotten stronger in this time, we've had a positive fiscal outlook and unemployment is coming down. Why? Because we're not just cutting, we're also investing in education, innovation and in infrastructure, just as the President wants to do but he hasn't been able to do but he hasn't been able to get that kind of cooperation from a majority on the other side.

President Obama will hold a press conference on the ongoing negotiations at 11 a.m. Friday, and the White House has said talks will continue for the foreseeable future.

The decision, which declared Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime no longer legitimate, will potentially free up cash that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need.

Associated PressIn this Thursday, July 14, 2011 photo, two Libyan rebel commanders overlook the valley where forces loyal to Moammar Gadgafi are settled in Kabaw, western Libya. On the western front, rebels reported retaking the western mountain village of Qawalish, Libya, 70 miles (120 kilometers) from Tripoli, from government forces Thursday after losing it the day before.

ISTANBUL — The United States and other nations on Friday formally recognized Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government until a new interim authority is created.

The decision, which declared Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime no longer legitimate, will potentially free up cash that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need.

The front lines in the Libyan civil war have largely stagnated since the popular uprising seeking to oust Gadhafi broke out in February. Rebels, backed by NATO's air force bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. But Gadhafi controls the rest from his stronghold in Tripoli, the capital.

Friday's final statement by the so-called Contact Group on Libya said the "Gadhafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya," and Gadhafi and certain members of his family must go.

The group said it would deal with Libya's main opposition group — the National Transitional Council, or NTC — as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim authority is in place. In addition to the U.S., the 32-nation Contact Group on Libya includes members of NATO, the European Union and the Arab League.

The recognition of the Libyan opposition as the legitimate government gives foes of Gadhafi a major financial and credibility boost. Diplomatic recognition of the council means that the U.S. will be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30 billion in Gahdafi-regime assets that are frozen in American banks.

"The United States views the Gadhafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya," said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. "And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis."

The Contact Group representatives broke into spontaneous applause when Clinton announced that the U.S. recognizes the NTC, according to U.S. officials.

Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam welcomed the recognition of the National Transitional Council, calling on other nations to deliver on a promise to release hundreds of millions of dollars in funds to the Libyan opposition. "Funds, funds, funds," Shammam said in order to stress the opposition's demand.

He said the opposition hopes to hold elections within a year and resume oil exports very soon, saying the damage to oil facilities have been minimal and repaired. However, Shammam ruled out any new oil contracts until a new elected government was in place.

Ahead of the meeting, a defiant spokesman for the Libyan government said its members were ready to die in defense of the country's oil against attacks by the rebels and NATO forces. "We will kill, we will die for oil," Moussa Ibrahim said. "Rebels, NATO, we don't care. We will defend our oil to the last drop of blood and we are going to use everything."

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations with the TNC and the other Contact Group members, said Friday's decision by the Contact Group on Libya indicates strong support for the NTC and that Gadhafi's time is up.

There had been concerns about whether the initial government would represent the full spectrum of Libyan society, and Human Right Watch called on the Contact Group on Libya to press the opposition to ensure that civilians are protected in areas where rebels have assumed control, citing abuses in four towns — Awaniya, Rayayinah, Zawiyat al-Bagul, and Qawalish — recently captured by rebels in the western mountains, including looting, arson and beatings of some civilians who remained when government forces withdrew.

The U.S. official, however, said the National Transitional Council won international recognition after it said it would abide by its commitments and find a way forward for a truly democratic Libyan government. The assurances included upholding the group's international obligations, pursuing a democratic reform process that is both geographically and politically inclusive, and dispersing funds for the benefit of the Libyan people.

The Contact Group statement urged a smooth transition to democracy and ruled out participation of "perpetrators of atrocities against civilians" in a future political settlement.

"The process should lead to national reconciliation," it said. "All groups should have their voices heard."

The U.S. official said the recognition of NTC as the government of Libya would allow countries to help the opposition access additional funds. However, he stressed that more legal work needs to be done by some countries, including the U.S. and at the United Nations, to fully legalize that step.

The recognition does not mean that the U.S. diplomatic mission in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, Libya, is now an embassy. Titles of staff and names of offices would be decided in the coming days, the official said.

Meanwhile, Gadhafi urged his loyalists to take up arms to attack Libya's enemies.

"Crashing waves of angry masses, rising to the challenge with high heads and loud voice saying we will never surrender. Smash NATO! We are courageous, we are mujahideen!" said the Libyan leader in a televised address on Thursday.

The woman told police that she did not know the man who attacked her Friday morning.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE - A 35-year-old city woman, hit in the face with a cupful of acid-like liquid Friday morning while walking her dog down Berkshire Street, suffered severe burns and is in danger of losing her eye, police said.

“She doesn’t know him, it was a random attack,” Lt. Manny Febo said of the incident, which occurred about 9 a.m. The woman has been taken by ambulance to a Boston hospital, he said.

The attacker was described as an Hispanic male, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, Febo said.

Febo said police are still searching for the cup in hopes that it might yield some usable finger prints. The woman was walking near the railroad tracks, he said.

A similar incident occurred in May when a 43-year-old city man had some kind of caustic solution thrown in is face while walking down High Street. That victim received second- and third-degree burns to his face, neck, chest and back, told

Febo said it’s not yet known if the two cases are related. “But, it’s certainly getting our attention,” he said.

The victim in that case also told police that he did not recognize his attacker. Police, at that time, said such an attack was unprecedented within the city.

The president said he was ready to make tough decisions such as restructuring Medicare so that very wealthy recipients would have to pay slightly more.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama walks to the podium to talks about the ongoing budget negotiations during a news conference, Friday, July 15, 2011, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday Congress has a "unique opportunity to do something big" and stabilize the U.S. economy for decades by cutting deficits even as it raises the national debt limit ahead of a critical Aug. 2 deadline. But, he declared, "We're running out of time."

Obama said he was ready to make tough decisions — such as on Medicare costs — and challenged Republicans to do the same. He attempted to turn the Republicans' opposition to any tax increases back against them, warning starkly that failure to raise the debt ceiling would mean "effectively a tax increase for everybody" if the government defaults, sending up interest rates.

Still, Obama said that "it's hard to do a big package" in deadlocked Washington, acknowledging Republicans are opposed to any new tax revenue as part of a deficit-cutting deal.

"If they show me a serious plan I'm ready to move," he said.

The president spoke at the White House Friday after five days straight of meetings with congressional leaders failed to yield compromise, and amid increasingly urgent warnings from credit agencies and the financial sector about the risks of failing to raise the government's borrowing limit.

Administration officials and private economists say that if the U.S. fails to raise its borrowing limit and begins to stop paying its bills as a result, the fragile U.S. economy could be cast into a crisis that would reverberate around the globe. Democratic and Republican congressional leaders agree on the need to avert that outcome, but that hasn't been enough to get Republicans to agree to the tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy sought by Obama — or to convince Obama and Democrats to sign onto the steep entitlement cuts without new revenue that Republicans favor.

The president spoke at his third news conference in two weeks on an issue that is increasingly consuming Washington and his presidency.

The president said he was ready to make tough decisions such as restructuring Medicare so that very wealthy recipients would have to pay slightly more. He said he had stressed to Republicans that anything they looked at should not affect current beneficiaries, and he said providers such as drug companies could be targeted for cuts.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans in the House emerged from closed-door meetings to reiterate their hardened stances. Republicans announced plans to call a vote next week on a balanced budget constitutional amendment that would force the government to balance its books.

Obama dismissed the idea, saying, "We don't need a constitutional amendment to do that. What we need to do is do our jobs."

Failure to reach compromise has focused attention on a fallback plan under discussion by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. That plan would give Obama greater authority to raise the debt ceiling while setting procedures in motion that could lead to federal spending cuts.

Obama insisted the public was on his side in wanting a "balanced approach" that would mix spending cuts and the tax increases opposed by Republicans.

"The American people are sold," he said. "The problem is that members of Congress are dug in ideologically."

He renewed his pitch for a major package of some $4 trillion, about three-quarters of which would be spending cuts along with about $1 trillion in new revenue.

"We have a chance to stabilize America's finances for a decade or 15 years or 20 years if we're willing to seize the moment," the president said, adding later that everyone must be "willing to compromise."

"We don't need more studies, we don't need a balanced budget amendment," Obama said. He said lawmakers simply needed to be able to make tough decisions and stand up to their political bases.

The outline of the McConnell plan was winning unusual bipartisan support even as some conservatives voiced misgivings.

Under the plan, which would require approval by the House and Senate, Obama would have the power to order an increase in the debt limit of up to $2.5 trillion over the coming year unless both the House and Senate voted by two-thirds margins to deny him. Reid and McConnell were trying to work out ways to guarantee that Congress would also get to vote on sizable deficit reductions. The plan also could be linked to immediate spending cuts already identified by White House and congressional negotiators.

Obama offered measured praise: "It is constructive to say that if Washington operates as usual and can't get something done let's at least avert Armageddon."

But the president said that McConnell's approach only addressed the pressing issue of the debt ceiling, not the country's longer-term deficit woes, and he wanted to handle that as well.

Obama was asked why he still had hopes that the White House negotiations would provide any results, given the lack of success so far.

"I always have hope. Don't you remember my campaign?" he said.

One reader writes, "While I would certainly like to know what his plans are, he is no way obligated to tell anybody."

Photo by Dave Roback/The RepublicanA golfer hits from the fairway on the 9th hole at Holyoke Country Club in this September 2006 file photo, when the course was celebrating its 100th birthday.

MassLive.com readers continue to respond to the news of entertainment mogul Eric Suher's purchase of Holyoke Country Club. Suher also owns the nearby Mountain Park outdoor music venue.

scorp4t writes:

When Mr. Suher first bought the former Mt. Park, my main concern was that development would encroach upon and/or damage the natural beauty that borders the property. The former Mt Tom Ski area & Little Tom -- now owned by the Trustees of Lands -- and the Whiting Street Reservoir owned by the city are both areas that I felt should be preserved for the public's benefit. I pretty much grew up in those woods and to this day hike and photograph the area.

I can tell you that since the music venue opened, my fears have never been realized. Other than the removal of a few trees, which can be replaced and might actually help the acoustics of the venue if replaced, I have not seen any negative impact on the enviroment or the wildlife therein. Although I do not know the extent of the land involved with this purchase, I am confident that the enviromental impact will be minimal.

toteroadski writes:

Eric certainly has his own interests and those of his investors at heart. While I would certainly like to know what his plans are, he is no way obligated to tell anybody.

[...]

Frankly, with Northampton real estate prices already super inflated, one is much more likely to turn a profit off real estate in Holyoke. Never mind the fact that Holyoke, not Amherst or Northampton or any other valley community, is easily the "greenest" city in the valley, and most likely the state.

the413 writes:

Now how about adding another 9 holes with the 63 other acres!

What is your take on the issue? Chime in below and let us know what you think.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is upset over potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Associated PressMembers of Progressive Change Campaign Committee upset over potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security walks to President Obama's campaign headquarters to deliver 200,000 signatures from people who are refusing to donate or volunteer for his re-election campaign if Obama cuts entitlement programs, Friday, July. 15, 2011 in Chicago.

CHICAGO — A liberal group upset over potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security delivered pledges Friday to President Barack Obama's national campaign headquarters threatening to pull its support.

About a dozen people representing the Progressive Change Campaign Committee delivered what they said were 200,000 pledges from people who will refuse to donate or volunteer for Obama's re-election campaign if he cuts the entitlement programs.

"It's not a question of who they're going to support for president, they're going to vote for Barack Obama. It's a question of where their time and money is going to go," spokesman T. Neil Sroka said.

Obama has been taking heat from the left over the debt ceiling negotiations, in which he has been willing to target the long-standing programs. His approach is certain to sit better with independent voters, many of whom have told pollsters they want Washington politicians to work together to solve the big problems.

Sroka said the 200,000 people represent more than $17 million in donations to Obama's campaign in 2008 and about 2.6 million volunteer hours.

Protester Mary Ellen Croteau, 61, of Chicago said she's even ready to find someone else to support if Obama cuts Medicare and Social Security.

"I don't know who I'm going to vote for yet because there doesn't seem to be too many people on the horizon, but I will vote for someone whether it's a Green candidate, whether it's a communist, I don't care. Somebody who's going to stand up for people," Croteau said.

The Obama campaign's chief operating officer, Ann Marie Habershaw, accepted the group's petitions in the lobby of the downtown office building that houses the campaign.

"Americans elected the president in 2008 to take on the big challenges facing our country, and he's engaged in an effort to do just that," Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement.

Wishart succeeds Louis Barry, now on the Selectboard, who taught Wishart in criminal justice courses at Holyoke Community College.

View full sizeThe Republican | David MolnarNew Granby Police Chief is introduced by Kathy Kelly-Regan, Granby Town Clerk, left, at the Granby Senior Center after his swearing-in. Wishart's wife, Brenda, is at center.

GRANBY – Alan P. Wishart was sworn in as Police Chief in Granby on Thursday, after serving nine months as Interim Police Chief. He succeeded Louis Barry, who now serves on the Selectboard.

The ceremony at the Senior Center looked like everyone’s ideal of a New England town, with children, parents, grandparents and town staff gathering to wish their new chief well.

Wishart, 38, was born in Holyoke and raised in Chicopee. He is married to Brenda and father of Brandon. He has been with the Granby Police Department for 15 years.

He said he grew up with a strong work ethic instilled by his family. “The biggest thing was working hard,” said Wishart, “doing your best at whatever you were doing.” His sister is in the insurance business.

He graduated from Chicopee High School and Westfield State University, where he earned his master’s degree in criminal justice.

Wishart always knew he wanted to be a police officer, though there was no tradition of it in his family. He just knew he wanted to help people and make them feel safe, he said.

The Republican | David MolnarGranby Police Chief Alan Wishart with his wife Brenda and son Brandon at his swearing-in ceremony at the Granby Senior Center.

He was a landscaper and a security officer before he joined the Granby Police Department. There he has been a dispatcher, part-time police officer, sergeant, DARE teacher, school resource officer, detective, full-time patrolman and court officer.

He attended the Agawam Police Academy full-time in 1998, but he said the person who has probably had the greatest impact on him is former chief Barry.

Barry teaches criminal justice at Holyoke Community College, and Wishart wound up taking courses from him.

“He has a great way of explaining things,” said Wishart. “Whether it’s in the classroom or the police department, he’s a good person to work for.”

The volume of calls has gone up since he joined the force, says Wishart, but the cases are similar. “We do every kind of crime – domestic, thefts, breaking and entering,” he said.

What has changed most in his field, he said, is technology. “It’s mind-blowing when I think how different it was when I got started,” he said.

Unfortunately, criminals also have access to technology. “There are so many ways to steal using the Internet!” said Wishart.

On the other hand, when an alleged suspect broke into a Granby home last week and ran, his arrest by the Granby police was the result a classic method – fingerprinting.

A "mosh pit" formed during a "battle of the bands" and patrons in the pit were dancing violently and throwing punches at each other, police said.

File photo

PALMER - Police are investigating an incident in which a 53-year-old male bouncer from Palmer suffered a serious injury to his eye during a scuffle with a 21-year-old Northampton man during a tornado benefit concert at Crossroads bar on Route 20 on July 1.

Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said there was a "battle of the bands" inside the bar, and a "mosh pit" formed, which concerned the staff, as the patrons in the pit were dancing violently and throwing punches at each other.

The bouncer identified one of the dancers who was particularly aggressive in his moves, and that prompted a fight between the bouncer and patron, resulting in the patron jamming either his thumb or finger in the bouncer's eyeball, Frydryk said. The incident was reported at 10:30 p.m.

"Because of the seriousness of the injury and because it was intentional rather than accidental, we have initiated a criminal investigation," Frydryk said.

Frydryk said the bouncer may have lost his vision in that eye, and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Les Hinton, chief executive of the Murdoch-owned Dow Jones & Co. and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, announced he was resigning, effective immediately.

Associated PressRupert Murdoch, centre, attempts to speak to the media after he held a meeting with the parents and sister of murdered school girl Milly Dowler in London, Friday, July 15, 2011.

LONDON — Rupert Murdoch accepted the resignation of The Wall Street Journal's publisher and the chief of his British operations on Friday as the once-defiant media mogul struggled to control an escalating phone hacking scandal with apologies to the public and the family of a murdered schoolgirl.

The scandal has knocked billions off the value of Murdoch's News Corp., scuttled his ambitions to take control of lucrative British Sky Broadcasting, withered his political power in Britain — and is threatening to destabilize his globe-spanning business.

The controversy claimed its first victim in the United States as Les Hinton, chief executive of the Murdoch-owned Dow Jones & Co. and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, announced he was resigning, effective immediately.

Murdoch's British lieutenant, Rebekah Brooks, stepped down earlier Friday.

Hinton, 67, has worked for Murdoch's News Corp. for 52 years and is one of the media baron's staunchest allies. A member of the board of The Associated Press, Hinton became head of Dow Jones in December 2007.

He was chairman of Murdoch's British newspaper arm during some of the years the abuses took place, but testified to a parliamentary committee in 2009 that he had seen no evidence phone hacking had spread beyond a single jailed reporter Clive Goodman.

Hinton said that "the pain caused to innocent people (by hacking) is unimaginable."

"That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant, and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp. and apologize to those hurt by the actions of News of the World," he said.

Just a day after asserting that News Corp. had made only "minor mistakes," Murdoch issued an apology to run in Britain's national newspapers for "serious wrongdoing" by the News of the World, which he shut down last week amid allegations of large-scale illegal hacking by its staff.

"We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred. We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered by the individuals affected. We regret not acting faster to sort things out," said the full-page ad, signed by Murdoch and due to run in Saturday's editions of Britain's main national newspapers.

Murdoch promised "further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused."

Murdoch also met the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by the News of the World in 2002. The revelation that journalists had accessed her phone in search of scoops inflamed the long-simmering scandal about illegal eavesdropping by the newspaper.

The 80-year-old mogul emerged from the meeting at a London hotel to catcalls of "shame on you!" from hecklers. He said that "as founder of the company I was appalled to find out what had happened and I apologized."

Dowler family lawyer Mark Lewis said Murdoch appeared humbled and had offered "a heartfelt and what seemed to be a very sincere apology."

"I don't think somebody could have held their head in their hands so many times and said that they were sorry," Lewis said.

Murdoch's tone was dramatically different from an interview published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal — which is owned by News Corp. — in which he said the company had handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible" and complained he was "getting annoyed" at all the negative headlines.

The crisis claimed another senior scalp Friday as Brooks, chief executive of Murdoch's British newspaper division, resigned.

The media magnate had defended the 43-year-old Brooks in the face of demands she step down from British politicians — including her friend and neighbor, Prime Minister David Cameron. After previously refusing to accept her resignation, he made an abrupt switch as News Corp. struggled but failed to contain the crisis.

Brooks said she was stepping aside because "my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate."

"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavors to fix the problems of the past," she said in an email to staff.

Brooks said she would "concentrate on correcting the distortions and rebutting the allegations about my record as a journalist, an editor and executive."

A new chief executive untainted by the U.K. problems, Tom Mockridge, was installed to replace Brooks at News International, the British arm of Rupert Murdoch's global News Corp. Mockridge, a 55-year-old New Zealander, joined News Corp. in 1991 and has been in charge of Sky Italia since 2003.

The moves came after News Corp. brought in PR firm Edelman Communications to help with public relations and lobbying — an admission, perhaps, that its attempts to manage the crisis have so far been a disaster.

News Corp.'s critics say the company has signally failed to appreciate the mood of public and political anger. Analyst Claire Enders said the company had appeared to cast itself as a victim — "which is completely impossible for people here to respond to and is making things worse."

Brooks' departure marks a reversal of fortune for one of Britain's most powerful media executives, who rose from secretary to CEO during 22 years with News International.

Critics said she should have gone long ago. She was editor of the News of the World between 2000 and 2003, when the paper's employees allegedly hacked into 13-year-old Milly's phone as police searched for her, potentially interfering with the police investigation.

Brooks has always said she had no knowledge of phone hacking, though she did acknowledge in a 2003 appearance before lawmakers that her paper had paid police officers for information — an illegal practice that, along with hacking, is now the center of a criminal investigation.

Brooks had been in charge of News International's four — now three — British newspapers since 2007, following a four-year stint as editor of the market-leading daily tabloid, The Sun. Just a week ago, she faced 200 angry employees at the News of the World who had lost their jobs as she kept hers when Murdoch shut down the paper.

When shareholders began to call for her to go, Brooks' position became untenable. Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud, the second-largest News Corp. stockholder, told the BBC on Thursday that if Brooks were found to be implicated in wrongdoing by the newspapers "for sure she has to go."

Her resignation was greeted with relief by British politicians.

"It is right that Rebekah Brooks has finally taken responsibility for the terrible events that happened on her watch," said opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. "No one in this country should exercise power without responsibility."

Cameron, who had called for Brooks to step down, said she made "the right decision," said the prime minister's spokesman, Steve Field.

Friday's events suggest Murdoch and his son James have realized their damage-limitation exercise has been a massive failure.

Allegations emerged last week that the News of the World hacked not only celebrities, politicians and athletes but a murdered schoolgirl as well as the victims of London's 2005 terrorist bombings and the families of dead British soldiers.

The company first shut down the News of the World and then abandoned a bid to take control of BSkyB in a bid to limit the damage to the greater News Corp. empire, which includes Fox News, the 20th Century Fox movie studio, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the three remaining British newspapers — The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

The crisis is far from over.

This week Cameron appointed a judge to conduct a sweeping inquiry into criminal activity at the paper and in the British media.

British police have arrested seven people in their investigation of phone hacking, and two others in a parallel investigation of alleged bribery of police officers. Police say they have recovered a list of 3,700 names of potential victims but so far have been in touch with fewer than 200.

Lawyers for Jude Law said Friday the actor was suing The Sun for allegedly hacking into his voice mail. News International denied the claim, calling it "a deeply cynical and deliberately mischievous attempt" to drag The Sun into the hacking scandal.

Next week Brooks and the two Murdochs face questions from a British parliamentary committee. Rupert and James Murdoch initially resisted, but agreed to appear after the committee issued formal summonses to them.

Being hauled before a hostile group of legislators marks a rapid change of fortune for Murdoch, long accustomed to being courted by prime ministers and other politicians.

Most worrying for the Murdochs are signs the crisis could yet spread to the United States, where the FBI has opened an investigation into whether 9/11 victims or their families were targeted by News Corp. papers.

News Corp.'s main, nonvoting stock, which has rallied in recent days after losses last week, increased 20 cents, or 1.3 percent, to close Friday at $15.64.

The chasm between Romney and his rivals suggested many Republican donors are waiting on the sidelines.

Associated PressFormer Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, greet supporters at a drive-in hamburger restaurant in Salt Lake City, on Friday June 24, 2011.

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney leads all Republicans in the contest for campaign cash, cementing his frontrunner status among contenders hoping to go up against President Barack Obama in 2012.

While Romney's $12.6 million in the bank far outdistanced a spread-out GOP field, dollars don't always translate to votes. The chasm between Romney and his rivals suggested many Republican donors are waiting on the sidelines, watching the topsy-turvy campaign foment and the candidates finally start to engage one another.

"It's a little unsettling that people have so underperformed expectations," said Dave Carney, an adviser to Texas Gov. Rick Perry who is weighing joining the race. "Clearly, there's some ... concern about either economics or about the candidates. I don't know the reason."

Romney, a ferocious fundraiser who spent weeks on the road collecting pledges and checks, added more than $18 million to his account during the April-to-June fundraising period, aides said ahead of his official filing. That sum outpaced his closest rival to announce numbers so far, Tim Pawlenty, by a 9-to-1 margin in banked cash. Yet still came up short for his campaign's internal $50 million goal for the first half of this year.

Romney aides declined to discuss how much of that haul was from his personal fortune. During his unsuccessful 2008 bid, Romney spent more than $40 million of his own money on the race.

Pawlenty, the former two-term governor of Minnesota, raised just around $4 million during the April-to-June period and has about $1.4 million available for his primary contest and some $600,000 more available if he were to capture the nomination.

The reports also detailed problems for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose campaign was carrying more than $1 million in debt. The former Georgia lawmaker — whose bid has struggled since 18 staff members, consultants and advisers resigned en masse — raised $2.1 million for the quarter but spent $1.8 million. Gingrich listed about $322,000 in the bank.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who lost re-election in 2006, reported taking in $582,000, with less than $225,000 banked for his primary.

The financial picture for the 2012 presidential nominating race slowly came into clearer focus with the reports. While money doesn't guarantee success, it does pay for crucial television ads, polling to measure whether a message is working and staff to run the mechanics of a national election.

The numbers are one of the first measures of the campaigns' early strength as they look to take on Obama's well-funded re-election bid. On Wednesday, Obama's team announced it had raised $86 million during the second quarter of the year for his campaign and the Democratic Party.

Georgia businessman Herman Cain has said he raised almost $2.5 million in the first weeks of his White House bid, but some of that came out of his own pocket. His report due Friday would detail how much the talk show host and Godfathers Pizza CEO invested in his effort.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a tea party favorite, was expected to report a strong fundraising quarter.

And for Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, another darling among tea partyers, the numbers would preview her fundraising potential on a national scale. She raised $13.5 million for her own campaign in the 2010 election.

Aides said former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has collected $4.1 million, but as much as half of that could be money he's put into the campaign himself.

Huntsman declared himself a candidate in June, but did not file his paperwork with the FEC until July. That means the first disclosures from the Huntsman camp will be on Oct. 15, when the July-through-September report is due.

On the race sidelines, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said her political action committee reported raising about $1.7 million during the first six months of the year and spending almost as much, about $1.6 million. The 2008 vice presidential pick has flirted with a White House run and has said she plans to make a decision later this summer.

Should she run, Palin could not legally shift SarahPAC's $1.4 million in the bank into a presidential race.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal on Friday accepted Catherine Greig's voluntary offer to remain in custody while reserving the right to seek bail later.

Associated PressThis courtroom sketch depicts Catherine Greig, second from right, longtime girlfriend of former crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, during a hearing before Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal, right, in a federal courtroom in Boston Monday, July 11, 2011. Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, second from left, and her sister Margaret McCusker, left, also are depicted. Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.

BOSTON — A federal judge has ordered the longtime girlfriend of former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger to remain in custody without bail while she awaits trial on charges stemming from allegations that she helped him evade capture for 16 years.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal on Friday accepted Catherine Greig's voluntary offer to remain in custody while reserving the right to seek bail later.

Bulger and Greig were arrested last month in Santa Monica, Calif. Bulger is charged with participating in 19 murders. Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.

Bulger has pleaded not guilty.

During a bail hearing Wednesday, Greig's attorney said she would voluntarily remain locked up while he gathers more information to support his request that she be granted bail and placed on an electronic monitoring system.

State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg: It's a big factor that Western Massachusetts has only about 13 percent of the vote at the Statehouse.

BOSTON -- A debate over congressional redistricting is entering a new phase on Beacon Hill, following the completion of public hearings around the state that did little to allay fears about Western Massachusetts losing a congressional seat.

Leaders of the Legislature's Special Joint Committee on Redistricting will now be charged with drawing a new map with nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Massachusetts must relinquish one of its current 10 seats because of population shifts documented in the 2010 census.

Some are deeply concerned that U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, an Amherst Democrat, could be the odd man out and may see his sprawling 1st congressional district melded into the 2nd congressional district of U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal of Springfield.

"I think Olver's seat is going to be eliminated," said Betty Agin of Springfield, a community activist who attended five of the committee's hearings and belongs to a coalition seeking to save the western region's two seats. "That's what Boston wants. Boston is protecting Boston. Boston is not concerned about Western Massachusetts."

The Republican photo by Dave RobackCongressman John Olver, left talks to Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick before a celebration of Olver's twenty years in office at a function at the Log Cabin in Holyoke last month.

During 13 public hearings, including three in Western Massachusetts and a final meeting in Boston on Monday, members of the redistricting committee listened to 35 hours of testimony from 410 people and accepted written comments from 115 others, according to committee statistics.

Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, the Senate chairman of the committee, said he and other local legislators are pushing to keep two congressional districts based in Western Massachusetts, but they could be outnumbered when the Legislature votes some time around Thanksgiving. It's a big factor that Western Massachusetts only has about 13 percent of the vote at the Statehouse, he said.

"There are many more votes in eastern Massachusetts than in Western Massachusetts," said Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat.

He said the redistricting committee plans to write a new congressional map and release it some time this fall for public comment. Rosenberg said the goal is for the Legislature to approve the map before Thanksgiving.

The Republican file photoState Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg meets with the Republican editorial board in 2008.

Rosenberg said that 90 percent of the testimony during the 13 hearings focused on congressional seats. People from each region of the state said their district is special and needs to be conserved, Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg said he and others are arguing there is enough population to support the current three congressional seats west of Route 495 -- one based in Worcester, one in Springfield and one for the small towns and cities, agriculture and forestry that currently distinguish Olver's 107-community district.

Rosenberg said Olver's district and the two others west of Route 495 are each "a community of interest" with common social and economic traits that should be kept intact to ensure effective and proper representation in Washington.

The 10 current members of the state's all-Democratic delegation in the U.S. House are all planning to run for re-election including Olver and Neal.

In an interview last month in Holyoke at a fundraiser to mark his 20 years in Congress, Olver said that he would also need to consider "in the long run" whether his wife's illness might affect his decision to run for re-election. Olver announced he would run for re-election in December, several months before he and his wife, Rose, a professor at Amherst College, learned that she had contracted ovarian cancer.

Massachusetts General Court photoRep. Michael Moran of Boston is co-chairman of the Legislature's Special Joint Committee on Redistricting.

Rosenberg and Rep. Michael J. Moran, a Boston Democrat who is chair for the state House of Representatives on the redistricting committee, each logged 1,254 round-trip miles traveling from the Statehouse to the 12 public hearings held outside Boston.

Moran said he and Rosenberg may meet again in private meetings with each of the state's U.S. House members before producing a new map.

Moran said some people offered compelling arguments for keeping two congressional districts in Western Massachusetts, but others advanced effective reasons for retaining the seat of freshman U.S. Rep. William R. Keating, a Quincy Democrat whose district is also a target for consolidation.

Keating's 10th congressional seat is special because of its length of shoreline, its high elderly population and common economic interests such as commercial fishing and tourism, supporters have said.

Moran cited the agonizing decisions that lie ahead for legislators in what could be a bruising debate over congressional redistricting.

"This is not a process that I am particularly having a great time with," Moran said. "But it is something we have to do."

The committee must produce four maps -- one apiece for the U.S. House, the Massachusetts Senate, the state House of Representatives and the Governor's Council. Each might be separate pieces of legislation, except the Governor's Council could be included in a bill with the 40 seats in the Senate, Moran said.

The Republican file photoCorinne Wingard of Agawam, shown at a 2009 public hearing, says it is common sense to keep the seats of U.S. Reps. John Olver of Amherst and Richard Neal of Springfield.

Corinne M. Wingard of Agawam, a member of the Democratic State Committee, said it is "basic common sense" to assure that Olver and Neal retain separate congressional seats based in Western Massachusetts.

Neal, first elected in 1988, and Olver, in 1991, are currently ranked No. 3 and No. 4 respectively in seniority in the state's 10-member delegation in the U.S. House.

Wingard said it would be against the best interest of the state to consolidate the two congressional seats in Western Massachusetts. "In Washington, the more seniority congress people have, the more power they have," she said.

Mastroianni said 3 recent fatal shootings may not cause an immediate public safety threat citywide, but they are a cause for the city to come together in figuring out a response.

File photo | The RepublicanHampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni

The Republic/Don TreegerHampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni

SPRINGFIELD – Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said Friday each of the five murders in the city in a 10-day period must be looked at individually and do not – based solely on the alarming number – pose an increased threat to residents.

Mastroianni told The Republican and MassLive.com the five recent killings have differences that defy considering them in a group.

The assault Tuesday on Paul Bagge, 45, resulting in his death the next day is “a horrible event, it effects a lot of people in a horrible way,” Mastroianni said.

“Something like that doesn’t send up a red flag that there’s a problem and everyone has to worry about walking up and down the streets of Springfield,” he said. An arrest was made in that case.

But the two fatal shootings of teen victims, and the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Raul Vera on Lincoln Street, brought forth a different reaction from the region’s top law enforcement officer.

He said it would be “disingenuous and dishonest” if he said those acts of violence weren’t a cause for concern, saying they reflect a decades-long trend rooted in increasing hopelessness.

They may not cause an immediate public safety threat citywide, but they are a cause for the city to come together in figuring out a response, he said.

“From what we know about those cases, and they all still under investigation, and cases similar to that is that they’re generally involving young people who are showing such a lack of respect for human life, for the order of law in safe communities, and such a lack of respect really for themselves,” he said.

The one killing which Mastroianni calls “a completely separate” type of crime from the four other killings is the one he and other law enforcement officials are not talking about.

Mastroianni said Thursday 81-year-old Doris Alzak, who was found dead during a house fire at her 100 Phillips Ave. home on Tuesday, was a victim of homicide.

No other information, such as cause of death, has been released, fueling speculation in the city about whether there is a reason for concern about safety.

Mastroianni said Friday, “We’re not going to give out any information about that investigation because putting information out there right now would compromise our ability to follow up on parts of the investigation we need to do.”

The city’s homicide tally so far this year is 13, just three fewer than the total for all of last year. As this point in 2010, there were nine homicides in Springfield.

One of the latest five deaths resulted in an arrest. Guy Wilson, of 168 East St., was charged for the assault on Bagge, and officials say the charge is expected to be changed to reflect Bagge’s death.

The two teen victims were:

• Tyrel Wheeler, 16, found shot multiple times July 7 near his car on Washington Street. He died three days later.

• James Rosario, 18, who was shot to death July 9 at an early morning house party at his parents' house at 85 Edgeland St.

Police said an argument turned to pushing and shoving and then escalated into gunfire.

Discussing the killings of Vera, Rosario and Wheeler, Mastroianni talked about the mentality he sees in some violent crimes.

Mastroianni said he thinks some young people think they can commit a serious crime and “no one is going to tell on you.”

When Rosario was shot at the party “there were people everywhere,” he said.

“We certainly have leads in that case, but you would think under the circumstances we would have a lot more,” Mastroianni said.

He said of some violent crimes, “But what I think is even more alarming is that some of the younger people that we find have been involved in this, when you find out about that person’s history, it just leads you to the inescapable conclusion that they don’t care. “

Mastroianni said such young people believe, ‘I’m going to commit this crime and if no one talks to the police that’s great, but if someone does I don’t care.’”

He said people with so little respect for themselves and their futures have “invested all their time, energy and mental commitment to just being deviant like this.”

There will be an increase in police presence in some neighborhoods, Mastroianni said, but increasing police presence can’t prevent some killings.

Mastroianni said, for instance, there was no way for law enforcement to know that there was a party at Rosario’s house and it would turn violent. Use of social networks like Facebook facilitate impromptu gatherings that cannot be predicted, he said.

Saying an increase in crimes of drugs and violence is in large part the result of poverty and economic decline in a city is not what many people want to hear, but it is a reality in cities like Springfield, he said.

“It’s too difficult of an answer. It’s not a quick fix. It doesn’t make me feel good right now. It doesn’t make me put something flashy in the newspaper,” Mastroianni said.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, during a meeting Friday with Police Department representatives, said “proactive steps” they have been taken are:

• additional uniformed patrols
• increased narcotic bureau patrols
• city police anti-gang patrols in collaboration with State Police and FBI.

Mastroianni said his office and many agencies, churches and other organizations are doing important work to create programs in troubled neighborhoods to help young people go in a positive direction.

Mastroianni said Police Department detectives are working the killings of Vera, Wheeler and Rosario.

City police detectives are working with investigators from the state Fire Marshals Office on Alzak’s killing, he said.

Mastroianni said internal shifts are being made by leadership in the Police Department to free up enough detectives to dedicate their time to work on the recent homicides.

Investors seemed to largely ignore the ongoing debate in Washington over raising the U.S. debt limit.

By DANIEL WAGNER and DAVID K. RANDALL | AP Business Writers

Associated PressA trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)

A late rally Friday prevented the stock market from having its worst week in nearly a year.

Investors seemed to largely ignore the ongoing debate in Washington over raising the country's borrowing limit. Troubling questions over Europe's financial health and manufacturing in the U.S. weighed down stock prices for much of the day, overwhelming a very strong earnings report from Google Inc.

Google jumped nearly 13 percent, the most of any stock in the Standard and Poor's 500 index, after the company said its revenue hit a record last quarter. Google's earnings pushed tech stocks in the S&P index broadly higher. Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. each gained 1 percent.

Worries about Europe and weak factory output in the U.S. have kept traders' expectations and stock prices relatively low since early this spring, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist Schaeffer's Investment Research. If corporate earnings remain strong and Europe stabilizes, he said, stocks might rally in the second half of the year. That happened last year, after fears about Europe held the stock market back all summer.

"With all the talk about European debt and the U.S. issues, the fact that earnings are coming in pretty strong is a good sign," Detrick said. "Once those issues work their way through the system, long-term growth is going to come from earnings."

Most investors believe a deal to raise the country's debt ceiling will be reached before the Aug. 2 deadline. Standard & Poor's said Thursday there is a 50 percent chance it will downgrade the government's triple-A rating within three months because of the impasse. Moody's made a similar warning on Wednesday. Even so, there has been little visible progress in negotiations between President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans.

The Standard and Poor's 500 stock index finished with a gain of 7.27, or 0.6 percent, to 1,316.14. Most of the gains came in the last hour of trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 42.61, or 0.3 percent, to 12,479.73. The Nasdaq composite rose 27.13, or 1 percent, to 2,789.80.

The late gains Friday trimmed the S&P 500's weekly losses to 2.1 percent. Had the index closed where it was at 2:30pm it would have been down 2.6 percent for the week, making it the worst week for the widely used market measure since last August.

The S&P 500 has only had two up days out of the last six as Italy appeared to be the next European country headed for a fiscal calamity. Those concerns ebbed Friday after Italy passed new austerity measures and Europe's banking authority said only eight banks out of 90 failed the latest round of "stress" tests designed to measure how they would stand up under severe financial strains.

Energy stocks rose 2.4 percent after Australian natural-resource giant BHP Billiton Ltd. said it would buy Petrohawk Energy Corp. for $12.1 billion, feeding speculation about which company might be the next takeover target. BHP was attracted to the long-term value of Petrohawk's U.S. natural gas reserves. Chesapeake Energy Corp., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. each rose 10 percent. Natural gas prices rose 3.7 percent.

Mattel Inc. rose nearly 2 percent after the company said its income jumped 56 percent in the second quarter, helped by strong demand for Barbie and "Cars 2" toys. Clorox Co. jumped 9 percent after billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered to take the company private in a deal that values the household products company at $10.2 billion. Icahn offered 12 percent more for shares than they were worth at Thursday's close.

Bank of America closed at $10 after briefly dipping below that mark for the first time since May 2009. The company, which is expected to report Tuesday that it lost money in its most recent quarter.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was slightly higher than average at 4 billion shares.

The Dow average fell 1.4 percent for the week, the Nasdaq 2.4 percent.

Sarno said he is planning a city-wide community summit to bring people together to discuss crime and what to do about it.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno

SPRINGFIELD - The recent outbreak of violence in the city that has left five dead in less than two weeks promoted a closed-door meeting in City Hall between city and county officials to think of ways to make the city safer.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno met in his office for an hour with Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, Hampden Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, officials with the office of Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, and representatives with the Springfield law and school departments.

The meeting was not open to the press.

According to Sarno Aide Thomas Walsh, the focus of the meeting was to discuss ways to be more effective combating youth and gang violence.

Sarno in a prepared statement said “The city can and must do more to stop these acts of violence, and murders that are affecting so many of our city’s youths has got to stop.”

Violent crime fuels the perception that Springfield is unsafe, and that causes the city to be “on the defensive” instead of moving forward, he said.

“The gang-against-gang and drug-related killings are senseless,” he said. “We must continue to strive to eliminate this violence.”

Sarno said the police department have already begun additional uniformed patrols and
narcotics bureau operations in high-crime neighborhoods. Springfield police are also working with the state police and FBI in anti-gang sweeps.

Officials also spoke of additional warrant apprehension sweeps to arrest people who are wanted for crimes.

Sarno indicated he has plans for a community summit to discuss gangs and violence in the streets, but a date and time have not yet been set. Details are to be released in the next few days.

There have been 13 homicides in Springfield this year, three fewer than for all of last year.

Five of those homicides have occurred over an 11-day period from July 3 through July 13, and three of those were termed gang related.
Youth and Gang Violence Media Release (07.15.20111)

The futuristic buses that formed the Parade of Progress debuted at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

SPRINGFIELD – A Depression-era bus that promised a journey into a streamlined art-deco future of jet engines, televisions and microwave ovens can be yours for $2 million through the modern magic of eBay.

Peter Pan Bus Lines is auctioning its 1939 General Motors Futurliner bus, one of only nine Futurliners still in existence.

“We want to try and get it into the hands of a museum or someone who is going to use it more,” said William V. Sinico, general manager of Peter Pan CoachBuilders, the company’s bus fabrication and restoration arm here in Springfield. “We just don’t have the means of getting it out in front of the public.”

The auction, http://cc.ebay.com/collector-car-appreciation/, lasts until Monday night. The reserve price is $2 million. One sold for $4.1 million in 2006. As of Friday, the top bid was $500,000.

According to the auction materials, GM Research Director Charles Kettering was touched by the outpouring of public interest in GM’s science and technology exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. He commissioned legendary GM designer Harley Earl to build 12 Futurliners to showcase new technologies across the country. Three have since been lost. They are dramatic streamlined vehicles each 11-feet-7-inches tall, 33-feet-long with a 20-foot wheelbase.

It cost GM $2 million each in today’s money to build, according to background information posted by Auction Cause, an auction management agency.

Instead of seats, the Futurliners had a stage inside and a futuristic light tower that rose from the roof.

“Each had a theme,” Sinico said. “One might teach about jet engines or the kitchen of the future.”

The buses debuted at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Then the buses fanned out across the country in a program called the Parade of Progress.

GM modernized the fleet after World War II. By the time the Parade of Progress ended in 1956 it had visited 251 cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Cuba, and played before more than 12.5 million people.

The late Peter L. Picknelly bought the bus in 1998 after a New York collector brought it to Peter Pan CoachBuilders to get it restored, Sinico said. It took the company two years to rebuild the bus.

“It was a bucket of bolts,” Sinico said.

The engine, drivetrain and brakes are all modern. The stage has been restored.

Sinico said he’ll miss the Futurliner, where the driver sits high in the front.

“Up there in this cockpit it is like driving a railroad locomotive,” Sinico said. “It can go 50 mph. It’ll go anywhere.”

In recent years, Peter Pan has used the Futurliner at the Eastern States Exhibition and for area parades.

Each household could receive up to $200 in rebates on purchases to replace old refrigerators and room air conditioners.

(Paul Beaty/ AP Images for Sears Holdings Corporation)

BOSTON – The state has established a website and a toll-free telephone line for a new rebate program for energy-efficient refrigerators and air conditioners.

The program, open to Massachusetts households and scheduled to start on July 28, offers $150 rebate for a refrigerator and $50 for a room air conditioner to replace older models.

The state Department of Energy Resources announced last month it is setting aside $100,000 of the rebate pool for residents of 29 communities affected by the June 1 tornadoes. The department also said people in the 29 communities in central and Western Massachusetts don't have to comply with a requirement for turning in an old model to receive a rebate.

Richard K. Sullivan Jr.

Officials said the rebate effort is aimed at saving energy. The program is a scaled-down version of a similar effort last year.

“This program encourages the purchase of energy saving appliances, which cut long-term household costs and stimulate the local economy,” Richard K. Sullivan Jr. of Westfield, the state's secretary for energy and environmental affairs, said in a statement on Friday.

According to rules of the program, people must first buy a refrigerator or air conditioner on or after July 28 from a registered retailer to become eligible for a rebate.

Rebates are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and will last until funding is gone.

Before buying an item, people can check how much rebate money is available by going online to www.MassEnergyRebates.com, where they can track the status of funds and their own rebate applications. A list of participating retailers can also be found at this site.

If people don't have access to the Internet, they can also call a customer service center at (877) 574-1128. From their stores, retailers can also provide customers with real-time status of funding, state officials said in a press release.

The program, partly financed by a federal stimulus grant and open to Massachusetts households, is expected to fund approximately 20,000 rebates worth $2 million and is estimated to save around 1.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power 250 homes for a year, state officials said.

Under the program, people fill out a rebate application on the Internet, putting a hold on the requested funds. People who apply via telephone at the service center will receive their completed application in the mail, state officials said.

The signed application, including certification that a refrigerator or room air conditioner has been traded in, must be sent with proof of purchase to Helgeson Enterprises Inc. of Minnesota, hired by the state to administer the program. People can also choose to purchase both a refrigerator and air conditioner. Rebate checks will be sent via the mail.

Biomass, veterans benefits, high-speed rail, foreclosures and parking tickets were among the topics tossed at Murray.

The Republican | Dave RobackNorthampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins makes a point during a "summer conversation tour" meeting at the town hall annex with Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray on Friday night.

NORTHAMPTON – Biomass, veterans benefits, high speed rail and parking tickets were among the topics tossed at Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray Friday as he stopped in Northampton on the month-long “summer conversation tour” designed to bring the State House to the people.

Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick are visiting 10 communities across the state in July to get some unfiltered citizen input on a range of topics that includes education, health care and job creation.

Some 60 people, including several city councilors and state legislators, packed Council Chambers to pepper Murray with questions and get his take on some of the major issues facing the Commonwealth. They came from throughout the Pioneer Valley, from Chicopee to Amherst to Shelburne Falls.

A contingent from Concerned Citizens of Greenfield pressed Murray on regulations and subsidies for biomass generators. Department of Public Utilities Commissioner David W. Cash, who was traveling with the lieutenant governor, assured the group that Massachusetts is not relaxing regulations concerning fuel for those plants.

“We have by far the most protective regulations of any state,” Cash said, adding that subsidies are more likely to go toward small and efficient biomass operations such as the one that powers Cooley Dickinson Hospital than to the big plants proposed in Springfield, Russell and Greenfield.

Although he deferred to Cash on the biomass question, Murray fielded most of them himself, sometimes engaging in a back-and-forth with citizens. In response to several questions about job creation, Murray said the state’s decision to bond for transportation, higher education, broadband, bridge repair and other needs has paid off to the tune of about 30,000 jobs for every $1 billion in investment.

“Massachusetts is coming out of the economic downturn faster than other states because of the bond bills,” he said.

Leo Maley of Amherst asked Murray how the state is addressing a foreclosure crisis that is “ripping the heart out of neighborhoods, especially Springfield.”

Murray said the state has tried to be aggressive on the issue, prioritizing urban centers and funneling federal money to people facing foreclosure. He noted several times that decisions on the federal level affect the state’s ability to address financial issues. For example, Murray said the federal budget deadlock could create a new caseload of veterans eligible for state subsidies.

“If the federal government can’t deliver on its commitment to veterans, we’d have to look in the supplemental budget,” he said.

Greenfield resident Vincent Gillespie, the plaintiff in a law suit over the state’s parking ticket appeals system, asked Murray where he stands on the issue. The Supreme Judicial Court denied Gillespie on Thursday, ruling that the state has the right to use its superior courts to hear parking ticket appeals, even though the court costs are several times more than the actual fine. The state legislature is considering a proposal to relocate those hearings to small claims court.

Murray said he is not as “intimately familiar” with the issue as Gillespie but would look into it.

After the 75-minute session, Murray said the conversation tour has been valuable to him and the governor.

“You get to hear people’s concerns and criticisms,” he said. “It gives you a sense of what’s working and what isn’t working.”

Northampton was one of the last stops on the tour. Patrick is scheduled to make similar appearances in eastern Massachusetts later this month.

The 8th Hary Potter film is projected to gross more than $300 million domestically.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayHaley Rivers, 14, left, and her mother Teri Rivers, and Isabella Russo, 13, all of West Springfield, give high marks to the last Harry Potter movie after exiting the Rave theater complex in West Springfield Friday.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The enthusiasm for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was palpable as well as multi-generational Friday as crowds of Harry Potter fans exited from seeing the film at the Rave cinema complex.

“I loved it. It answers everything you need to know,” 14-year-old Haley L. Rivers, of West Springfield, said of the movie.

Rivers’s mother, Teri A. Rivers, 45, brought her and her friend, Isabella V. Russo, 13, of West Springfield, to the eighth and final Harry Potter film. The movie had its American premiere Friday.

“I was in tears at the end because it (the saga) was over,” her mother said.

The trio gave high marks to the movie, which they said tied up all the loose ends in the long-running story of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Potter is locked in conflict with the evil wizard Lord Voldemort to the very end of J.K. Rowling’s tale.

They were impressed with the special effects, which they said have gotten better and better with each succeeding Harry Potter movie.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayJoshua Sanabria, left, and Kimberly Hurst, both of Chicopee, talk Friday about the last Harry Potter movie after leaving the theater in West Springfield.

“They’ve come so far with it technologically,” Teri A. Rivers said.

“It was one of the best movies I have ever seen,” Haley said. “They really brought the book to life in front of you. They really nailed it.”

“I like the story line and how there is always something new and unexpected,” Isabella said. “I think this was the best one. Everything was solved. Everything was unleashed.”

The three fans said they like Harry Potter so much they get together to watch his movies every time the Family Channel has a Harry Potter weekend. They said they look forward to viewing the grand finale together again and again.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” is the second movie based on Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book.

Kimberly A. Hurst, 26, of Chicopee, attended Friday’s premiere. She was less impressed, saying some parts of the final book in the series on which the movie was based were left out. However, the parts that were in the film were right on the money, she said.

Hurst started reading the Harry Potter books and seeing his movies at the age of 19.

“My little brother was into it before me. I thought it was a kid’s book,” Hurst said. “I just fell in love with it.”

And likely movie theater chains have also fallen in love with Harry Potter, whose latest film is projected to gross more than $300 million domestically, according to Jeremy M. Devine, vice president of marketing for the Rave cinema chain. The chain is based in Dallas, Texas.

Attendance at the midnight showings of the movie at the chain’s theaters in West Springfield, Springfield and Enfield, Conn., was twice that of the first showing of the film of Part 1 of the Hallows story, he said.

“We added screen after screen after screen to accommodate the crowds,” Devine said.

The popularity of the film shows that despite some predictions going out to the movies will not be edged out by viewing them at home, he said.

People still want to see films on the big screen and they still want to get together and see them with other people, Devine said.