The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 that wooden rail ties piled off Cabot Street in Holyoke are scheduled to be removed by Jan. 30, the latest deadline from the state that has city officials skeptical, especially after a 2015 fire in the jumble of ties.

HOLYOKE -- The wooden rail ties piled on state property off Cabot Street that already have been the site of a fire and which the fire chief has called a "significant hazard" will be removed by Jan. 30, a state spokeswoman said today. Maybe.

"Weather permitting the remaining scrap ties will be removed by Monday, Jan. 30, 2017," Judith Riley, spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation (DOT), said in an email.

The DOT already has failed to abide by deadlines stated by officials for the rail ties' removal in the past few years, most recently a vow from a DOT spokeswoman in August that they would be gone by the end of 2016.

Some of the rail ties have been hauled away since then, but The Republican took photos Thursday that showed a substantial amount remain, and that is causing officials to do a slow boil.

"There are way too many of them in a single location, creating an excessive fire load," Fire Chief John A. Pond said.

"The Fire Department will continue to monitor the situation and fully expect to have this issue resolved by the Jan. 30 deadline," he said.

State blows another deadline as 'significant hazard' of railroad ties remain piled in Holyoke (photos)

Pond told The Republican on Friday, "The railroad ties pose a significant hazard not only from a fire load perspective, but also carcinogens and environmental conditions. It appears some of the railroad ties have been removed since (August) but the process must be expedited."

The hazard involves not only fire itself, but carcinogens becoming airborne from a blaze because of the chemicals used to treat the wooden rail ties, Fire Department Capt. Anthony Cerruti has said.

A fire that began just after midnight on Nov. 24, 2015 in one of the piles of rail ties behind the C-Town Supermarket at 13 Cabot St. kept firefighters busy for more than five hours and required two responses later that day to extinguish flare ups.

The cause of that fire was undetermined but might have been related to a homeless person sleeping near the stack of ties, officials said.

Nelson R. Roman, the city councilor for Ward 2, where the rail tiles off Cabot Street are located, said the state's failure to removed the "safety hazard" was unacceptable.

"I find it disheartening and upsetting that this situation has yet to be handled. I am not sure who dropped the ball at the state level but the residents of South Holyoke and city of Holyoke deserve better. I will be watching and waiting vigilantly to ensure this safety hazard has been removed by the state DOT by the 30th of this month," Roman said in a text message.

DOT has been working to dispose of the wooden railroad ties since the state acquired the railroad property from Pan Am Railway in May 2015, replacing them with over 80,000 new ones. That has taken place along the so-called Knowledge Corridor Project between Springfield and the Vermont border.

Railroad ties' strength -- wood -- also can pose fire, other hazards

The "rough cut" logs used as ties in the railroad industry's infancy have given way to uniform beams that each weigh 145 pounds to 200 pounds, are 8 inches to 10 inches thick and are 8 feet to 10 feet long.

The beams -- known as crossties, railroad ties, or sleepers -- usually are made from wood and provide the lateral support to anchor railroad tracks for trains to pass over. They usually are made of oak, cherry, chestnut, elm, hemlock, hickory and walnut.

The former student alleges the substance found in his room was residue from caffeine pills his friends crushed to dissolve in beer.

SPRINGFIELD -- A former Springfield College student is suing the school in federal court, arguing he was improperly expelled over drugs that weren't his -- and, beyond that, weren't even drugs.

Zachary Wekilsky, a New Jersey resident, was a junior in good academic standing and a starting offensive guard on the Springfield College football team when he was bounced from the institution in December, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

Residential staff found a white substance in his dorm room and administrators said it tested positive as cocaine, the complaint states. Wekilsky argues the white residue was crushed-up caffeine pills some of his buddies left in his room while he was away on winter break.

"Mr. Wekilsky, as was common practice in this residential facility, left his room unlocked for his suitemates ... so they could access his refrigerator and his beer and snacks," court records read.

All students are informed that their dorm rooms will be subject to inspections during holiday breaks, according to the complaint.

When he returned to campus, Wekilsky found his room locked, but generally in the same condition -- "minus the beer and snacks," the complaint notes. The following morning, however, Wekilsky received an email from Robert Yanez, director of housing and residential life at the college.

The email demanded a disciplinary hearing over "drug possession of illegal narcotics," according to the lawsuit, leaving Wekilsky "shocked and confused." Earlier in the complaint, Wekilsky's attorney, Daniel O'Connell states that his client passed a random drug test administered to players just three weeks before the discovery of the white substance.

The lawsuit states Yanez informed Wekilsky -- a special education and history major -- that a white powder was discovered on his desk, and lab testing showed it was cocaine.

Wekilsky countered that he didn't use cocaine, and later informed college officials that he did his own investigation among his suitemates. Two other boys reported they had crushed up caffeine pills "to enhance their drinks in order to stay awake longer during parties," according to the complaint.

Wekilsky says he was refused copies of "investigative documents" by both Yanez and the public safety office. The one-time student-athlete also said he was later told by a campus police officer that the substance had never been lab-tested. However, documentation made public in the lawsuit states that the substance was tested twice by the college's Department of Public Safety.

A Dec. 23 letter to Wekilsky from Shannon M. Finning, vice president of Student Affairs, denies Wekilsky's appeal and notes that he originally only disclosed to college officials that he left his room open so his suitemates could access his stash of Ding Dongs (snack cakes), and made no mention of beer. The letter also concludes that Wekilsky was solely responsible for his room and should have kept it locked while he was off campus.

In response to a request for comment, college spokesman Damon Markiewicz wrote: "This is a student disciplinary matter. Student records are protected by FERPA federal law."

Also according to the complaint, Springfield College football coach Mike Cerasuolo advised Wekilsky and his friend, identified by initials JNH, that if both boys stuck to the caffeine pills story, they would both be expelled. Yanez echoed the same message, the lawsuit states.

"These two young men were pitted against each other to choose between the lesser of two evils in a very threatening and intimidating environment," it reads.

Wekilsky "reluctantly agreed" to take one for the team but adamantly maintains his innocence. He was suspended until the end of his senior year -- amounting to expulsion, according to the lawsuit.

Wekilsky is suing for breach of contract, among other counts, arguing Yanez and other administrators breached the school's own policies and procedures around discipline.

There will be a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court over Wekilsky's demand to be reinstated at the college.

A resident of Wells Drive awoke the morning of Saturday, Jan. 14 to find an empty space in the driveway where a Jeep Cherokee should have remained.

MILFORD, Conn. -- A resident of Wells Drive awoke the morning of Saturday, Jan. 14 to find an empty space in the driveway where a Jeep Cherokee should have remained.

The car -- a four-door, 2011 Laredo, color gray, was reported stolen by the owner at roughly 7 a.m., Milford, Connecticut Police informed MassLive on Monday.

Days later across the state line in Springfield, Massachusetts, the car would reappear.

Four of the five youths have died in the wreck. Police and a community continue to try to connect the dots -- between the slain young man and three Central High School female seniors and the lone survivor, suspected to have been the driver.

What we know so far about the Union Street crash

Michael DeVito, public information officer of Milford Police Department, said authorities in that city simply entered the Cherokee into a database for stolen cars and did no follow-up investigation before or since the accident.

"The owner woke up, scratched the sand out of their eyes, realized the car had been stolen without incident and reported it to us," said DeVito. "It was likely well after the fact."

DeVito said Milford police did notify the owner that the vehicle had been located and was totaled in a bad crash, advising the person to call their insurer, but likely didn't share the full details behind the scenario.

Wells Drive is located in northern Milford. The New Haven County coastal city is about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Springfield and is home to a population of roughly 52,000.

Three of the car crash victims were Central High School seniors, the other was the 20-year-old cousin of one of the passengers. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD -- It's been nearly a week since the tragic accident that took the lives of Springfield Central High School seniors Katrina Maisonet Jones, Cassidy Spence and Adrianna Hernandez as well as 20-year-old Andrew Savage.

The community has joined together with families and friends of the victims to mourn the loss of the four young lives with vigils at the crash site, celebration of life ceremonies and more.

"We're one community, we're one village, one city. We're coming together," said middle school teacher Ayanna Crawford, during the 'Celebration of Life," event Saturday.

Funeral arrangements have been set for the victims. (The families of all of the victims have asked for privacy during this difficult time. The media will not be allowed on the property of any of the wakes or funerals.)

The details of the respective funerals and wakes are as follows:

Adrianna Hernandez

Thursday, January 26
Wake from 5 to 8 p.m.

Friday, January 27
Funeral Service at 9 a.m.
Centro Cristiano Nacion de Jesus
124 Sumner Ave. in Springfield

Katrina Maisonet Jones

Saturday, January 28
Wake and Funeral 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sampson Chapel of the Acres
Tinkham Road in Springfield

Cassidy Spence and Andrew Savage

Tuesday, January 31
Wake and Funeral At 9 a.m.
The Christian Cathedral, Eastern Ave. in Springfield

Baker, a Republican, attended President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday and did not attend the Women's March in Boston or Washington on Saturday.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker attended President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday and did not attend the Women's March in either Boston or Washington on Saturday.

But Baker, who did not support Trump's election campaign and who has made a point of working across the aisle, said Monday that he supports many of the goals of those who marched on Saturday.

The marches, which attracted millions of people nationwide and worldwide, including an estimated 175,000 in Boston, were generally anti-Trump marches, which focused on protecting values like reproductive rights and gay rights.

"On many of those issues -- gay rights, gay marriage, right to choose, women's health, pay equity, those are all issues I've had very specific and particular positions on for a long time," Baker said. "I support the points of view and the message of a lot of people who were part of the march."

Baker supports abortion rights and gay marriage.

Baker added, "I have a lot of friends who marched too."

Baker spent Saturday morning attending the Massachusetts Municipal Association's annual conference -- a major event for city and town officials. He said he also took time to work on his State of the State address, which he will deliver Tuesday evening, and his state budget proposal, which is due Wednesday.

Although he attended the inauguration, Baker already has one potential policy disagreement brewing with the new administration. Trump administration officials have said they anticipate trying to replace Medicaid with a block grant program, where states get a certain amount of money to spend on their Medicaid programs as they see fit, rather than getting reimbursed for their expenses. State officials worry that this is a way of decreasing federal Medicaid funding.

Baker recently wrote a letter to U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in which he expressed concerns about the prospects of Medicaid block grants.

Although block grants are theoretically meant to increase flexibility among states, Baker worried that block grants would actually remove flexibility as a result of reduced federal funding.

"States would most likely make decisions based mainly on fiscal reasons rather than the health care needs of vulnerable populations and the stability of the insurance market," Baker wrote.

Asked Monday about the Trump administration's comments on Medicaid, Baker said he spoke to several governors at Trump's inauguration who had talked to members of Congress about Medicaid.

"Almost to a person, they said that they were assured that they would be given an opportunity to engage in a full and open discussion about anything with respect to changes in both the (Affordable Care Act) and Medicaid, and we're going to take them at their word on it," Baker said.

Drug cases against Vincent J. Brantley and Catherine Y. Brantley, accused of dealing heroin and cocaine and possessing ammunition illegally, were dismissed by prosecutors.

SPRINGFIELD -- In December a prosecutor told a judge much of the drug case against a city couple hinged on the involvement of city Police Officer Gregg Bigda.

On Friday, prosecutors dismissed charges against Vincent J. Brantley and Catherine Y. Brantley, who were accused of dealing heroin and cocaine and illegally possessing ammunition.

According to the "nolle prosequi" document, the prosecution's reason for dropping the cases was "unable to proceed."

Bigda was a narcotics detective who was suspended for 60 days over video footage showing him threatening two teenage suspects. When he returned to work in December he was assigned to the Records Bureau.

The controversy has impacted a number of drug cases in which Bigda was scheduled to testify.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher E. McDonald and defense lawyers tried to dispose of the case against Vincent Brantley, 58, by way of a plea agreement in December. At the conclusion of that plea, the case against Catherine Brantley was to be dropped.

But at the plea hearing Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page rejected the agreement that would have continued Vincent Brantley's case without a finding.

McDonald told Page at that time Bigda will "most likely not be available to testify."

McDonald said Bigda's involvement in the case against Brantley was a reason why he and the defense lawyer were recommending the charges be continued without a finding.

The February 2016 footage of Bigda and partner Luke Cournoyer interrogating two juveniles accused of stealing an undercover, unmarked police vehicle that another detective left idling outside a Worthington Street pizza shop has thrown a wrench into a number of drug prosecutions.

Defense attorneys have repeatedly cited the videos -- which show Bigda threatening to plant drug evidence on one of the teens and threatening physical violence against both of them -- in order to call his credibility as a witness into question.

In Brantley's case, McDonald said Bigda made observations cited in the affidavit to get a search warrant for Brantley's home, and then wrote the affidavit for the search warrant and found six bags of cocaine and 197 bags of heroin during the raid.

Defense lawyer Nikolas Andreopoulos at the December hearing said Vincent Brantley wanted to plead guilty and accept the disposition of continued without a finding. Brantley intended to plead guilty to distribution of cocaine, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, distribution of heroin and possession of ammunition.

A charge of trafficking cocaine in the amount of 18 to 36 grams was being dropped. Brantley had no criminal record, Andreopoulos said.

Page said at the December hearing that Brantley may decide to pursue an avenue other than a plea if the prosecution had a problem with one of its witnesses. Or, she said, "the Commonwealth can handle the case the way it should be handled when it has a problem with one of its witnesses."

Page did not specify how she was suggesting the prosecution should handle the case.

Page said it is unfair for the prosecution to expect a judge to adopt a recommendation that is not within guidelines for a certain crime, or not within usual areas of discretion for sentencing.

Vincent Brantley was represented by Andreopoulos and Catherine Brantley was represented by Vincent A. Bongiorni.

The factory at 77 Champion Drive in Chicopee employed about 30 workers before shutting down Jan. 11.

CHICOPEE -- When it was getting set up and when it was running, politicians and business boosters touted Menck USA as something going right with the economy in Western Massachusetts.

But now that it's gone wrong, the state and local agencies that gave Menck incentives to set up shop in Chicopee are weighing how to settle their affairs with the company -- and how to do so without hurting its landlord and another company that shared its building.

Menck USA shut down Jan. 11, laying off about 30 employees. They were given the pay they were owed and their benefits were paid up until the time of the shutdown.

The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council plans to discuss Menck at its meeting Tuesday in Boston. The council's first step likely will be to decertify Menck so that it can claim no more of its state tax credit, said spokeswoman Samantha Kaufman of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

The state gave Menck $750,000 in investment tax credits back in 2013.

The city of Chicopee gave Menck a five-year special tax assessment valued at $348,933.

And MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, issued a $5 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Menck USA to fund the project. Boston Private Bank purchased those bonds, which were enhanced by a MassDevelopment guarantee.

At the time, Menck promised to hire 50 people.

"This was a signature project, both for the state and for the region," said Michael L. Vedovelli, director of community and economic development for the city of Chicopee.

Menck USA opened in early 2015 in rented factory space at 77 Champion Drive in Chicopee. The business was a a joint enterprise between Menck Fenster GmbH, a 130-year-old custom window and door manufacturer in Hamburg, Germany, and Liesenfeld International, a logistics company also based in Hamburg.

The idea was to build Menck's precision-made, high-quality wooden windows in Chicopee and distribute them to users across the U.S. Menck had been selling its German-made windows here through a distributor.

But it took too much time and too much money to get the Chicopee factory up and running. Backers said they were tapped out and the company closed, fearing it wouldn't be able to make another payroll despite having $800,000 worth of window orders to fulfill.

Michael B. Katz, a Springfield attorney representing Menck USA, said he's working now with the owners and with Boston Private Bank to sell Menck's equipment and its unfilled orders in one piece so it can be reopened and the employees called back. There are interested parties, he said.

There are also buyers interested in buying just the unfilled orders so they can fill them. If efforts to sell the company as a whole are unsuccessful, it will be liquidated piece by piece.

In an earlier statement, Katz said Boston Private Bank is owed more than what the equipment and the orders are worth. Investors also have a secured claim on the assets, he said.

That leaves the other parties:

MassDevelopment: While reluctant to discuss details, MassDevelopment spokeswoman Kelsey Abbruzzese said MassDevelopment's guarantee on the $5 million bond was $1 million. That means MassDevelopment is on the hook for the loss.

MassDevelopment financed or managed 352 projects generating investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy in the most recent fiscal year. These projects are expected to create about 8,200 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 4,200 residential units.

MassDevelopment guarantees the loans to encourage lenders to make larger loans financing economic development, Abbruzzese said.

State: So far, Menck has claimed $300,000 of the $750,000 tax credits, according to the Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council. All companies claim the credits on a set schedule over time.

State law does provide for the agency to "claw back" the benefits and try to collect the taxes if the goals are not met. Kaufman said it's too early to talk about a claw-back process with Menck.

But in what the Boston Business Journal called an unprecedented move, the state is trying to claw back $400,000 in benefits after a Warren Buffet-backed company failed to live up to jobs promises in Attleboro.

Chicopee: Menck has just one year left on its property abatement in Chicopee, Vedovelli said.

But Menck was a renter. The real estate tax abatement really went to the landlord, Winstanley Enterprises in Concord. And Winstanley and Chicopee were able to use that abatement to attract another tenant, building materials distributors Holden Humphry Co., into the other half of the building, which was once home to Rock-Tenn Corp.

Vedovelli said he doesn't see a lot of utility in disturbing an agreement that's helping Holden Humphrey Co., especially if that agreement will expire soon anyway.

Eric Nelson, vice president of Winstanley, said only that his first goal is to get another tenant into the Menck half of the building as soon as possible.

The presentation will include discussions about proper use of medications and importance of disposing medications properly.

SUFFIELD - The Police Department with the University of Connecticut pharmacy students and the Suffield Senior Center is holding a prescription drug awareness and disposal day on Wednesday.

The event scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Suffield Senior Center on will include a presentation on proper use of medications, prescription drug abuse use and the importance of discarding unused medications properly. There will be a question and answer session during the event.

Police will also bring a medication disposal box so residents can safely discard any expired or unwanted medications, including over the counter drugs.

Options for long-range locations for Holyoke School Department headquarters would cost $3.1 million to $32.5 million and include buying the currently leased space at 57 Suffolk St. or renovating City Hall Annex, city councilors learned on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.

Updated at 10:42 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 to add that the city pays about $319,000 a year to lease space at 57 Suffolk St. from O'Connell Development Group for School Department headquarters.

HOLYOKE -- Eight options with a cost range of $3.1 million to $32.5 million for long-term location of School Department headquarters were presented to the City Council Finance Committee Monday at City Hall.

Committee Chairman Todd A. McGee said councilors will need time to digest the information compiled by a study committee that included schools receiver Stephen K. Zrike.

Study committee members said they hoped to get City Council direction on how to move soon.

Options include buying and renovating the property at 57 Suffolk St. the city has been leasing for school administrative offices for years, renovating and using space in City Hall Annex, moving the school headquarters to the School Department supply warehouse at 728 Main St. and combinations of options.

The discussion of options comes after years of criticism about the city paying to lease 57 Suffolk St. instead of housing school administrative offices in a facility the city already owns. The city pays about $319,000 a year to lease space at 57 Suffolk St. from O'Connell Development Group.

A story with additional detail about this meeting will be published later this week.

A bill being considered by the Legislature this week would raise the salaries of House and Senate leaders, the governor and the constitutional officers.

BOSTON -- Massachusetts lawmakers are poised to significantly raise their own pay and the pay of the state's other top elected officials.

House and Senate leaders, speaking Monday afternoon before the final package was released, defended the proposal. "Fair-minded people will consider the fact that the stipends for the presiding officers haven't changed for 33 years," said Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst. "Who works for the same amount 33 years later?"

Rosenberg was referring to the $35,000 stipend given to the House speaker and Senate president, which has remained flat. The stipend comes on top of the base salary of $62,500 given to all lawmakers, which has risen over time, plus a $7,200 stipend for office expenses.

"Obviously costs go up, and they ought to be reflected in people's salaries as well," Rosenberg said.

A bill released Monday evening by the Ways and Means Committee would hike the extra stipend for the House speaker and Senate president to $80,000, rather than $35,000.

The bill also lays out a series of raises for other House and Senate leaders. For example, the chairmen of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, which is the committee with the most responsibility, would get an extra $65,000 annually instead of the $25,000 they get today. The majority and minority leaders would get an extra $60,000 rather than $22,500. Other committee chairmen and vice chairmen and leadership positions would also see pay raises.

The bill also sets up a method for updating the stipends every two years in a way that correlates with overall wages in Massachusetts. This is the same method used to update rank-and-file lawmakers' base salaries, and it ensures that lawmakers are not regularly put in the politically unpopular position of voting to raise their own salaries.

The bill eliminates per diem payments, which are payments lawmakers can apply for to cover their travel expenses based on how far they live from the Statehouse. Not all lawmakers actually apply for the payments. Instead, the bill merges travel expenses with the $7,200 office stipend that lawmakers currently receive. Under the bill, lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the Statehouse would get $20,000 to cover all their expenses, and lawmakers who live closer would get $15,000.

The House speaker and Senate president would be barred from earning outside money.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, asked by a reporter whether he thinks he deserves a raise, said, "Being speaker of the House is pretty much a seven-day-a-week job, 365 days a year." DeLeo said he is happy to be speaker regardless of the pay scale. "I'll let the membership decide whether they feel that any further money is warranted," he said.

The bill would also raise the salaries of the governor and other constitutional officers. Under the bill, the governor would get a bump in pay to $185,000 with a $65,000 housing allowance. Today, Gov. Charlie Baker earns $151,800.

Baker said he would not comment on whether he would sign the pay raises into law until the bill reaches his desk. But he has said he personally will not accept a pay raise.

"I would rather wait until we have a proposal to comment on rather than commenting on something that's abstract," Baker said Monday afternoon. "Both the lieutenant governor and I have said that we're quite content to continue to work with the compensation that we have."

The secretary of state and auditor would receive $165,000 a year, and the attorney general and treasurer would get $175,000. Currently, those jobs pay between $122,000 and $135,000 annually.

Judicial salaries would also be increased gradually, by a total of $25,000 over the next year and a half.

The pay raises are based on a 2014 report that recommended significant bumps in salary for the governor, constitutional officers and legislative leaders.

The fiscally conservative Citizens for Taxpayer Reform has criticized the proposal. "Giving these raises ... in the face of a budget deficit is just not kosher," said Chip Faulkner, a spokesman for Citizens for Limited Taxation, at a recent hearing.

Rosenberg said the time to consider pay raises is at the beginning of a legislative session. That means lawmakers will vote on the package before they know whether they have been appointed to a chairmanship or leadership position, so there are fewer ethical concerns about voting for a pay raise that benefits them.

"The report was on the table waiting to be considered, so this was the time to do it," Rosenberg said.

If the bill becomes law, the new legislative salaries would be effective retroactively to the beginning of the current legislative session on Jan. 4. The other salaries would increase at different points over the next year and a half.

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the package this week.

The Springfield City Council approved a 6-month moratorium on the retail sale of recreational marijuana, rather than a proposed one-year moratorium. The moratorium is intended to allow time for local regulations to be drafted.

SPRINGFIELD - The City Council approved a 6-month moratorium on the retail sale of recreational marijuana on Monday night, shorter than initially proposed but intended to allow time to draft local regulations.

During a hearing at City Hall, there was a mix of public comments, with some residents calling for careful planning to regulate retail sales of marijuana and others saying the issue should not be dragged out and over-regulated.

The Planning Board had recommended a moratorium of up to one year, until Dec. 31, 2017, to provide time for local regulations.

01/23/17 Springfield Deputy Planner Philip Dromey discusses a moratorium on retail sales of recreational marijuana during a meeting of the City Council.Peter Goonan / The Republican 

After debate, councilors agreed unanimously that the moratorium would last for half that time -- 6 months -- or until regulations are finalized, whatever date is sooner.

One resident had suggested a 3-month moratorium, saying it should not take a long time to draft such regulations and there is a public concern that government will just "dilly-dally" on the issue

Another resident, Mary Dionne, said she is "extremely nervous" about how the marijuana law will impact children, and said the moratorium allows time to get community input and find the best way to get rules and regulations in place.

Some marijuana advocates have raised concerns that delays by the state and local communities are contrary to the wishes of voters who approved the use and sale of marijuana on the Nov. 8 ballot. Gov. Charlie Baker signed a law recently that is aimed at giving the state additional time to draft statewide regulations and would not allow retail sales until 2018.

City Deputy Planner Philip Dromey said the city will confer with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in drafting regulations. Once drafted, the City Council will conduct a public hearing and consider passage.

"I stress this is in no way an attempt to try to thwart the vote taken (Nov. 8)," Dromey said.

It would appear that such retail establishments will not be able to open and operate until 2018 under the current state review of regulations, city officials said.

Resident John Thompson said the moratorium does not change the statewide vote allowing the use and sale of marijuana, but just affects the "manner and means." He does not see a need for a lot of regulations and and said the law can always be adjusted later if desired.

Councilor Timothy Rooke had suggested a 3-month moratorium, saying the regulations could be amended at a later time if needed.

"I think people are ramped up over this for the wrong reasons," Rooke said.

Councilors Timothy Allen and Adam Gomez, after the hearing, initially proposed a 4-month moratorium, but the proposal failed. The council then approved the 6-month moratorium by unanimous vote.

The council previously approved a moratorium on issues such as medical marijuana, digital billboards, and for cell towers in order to draft zoning regulations. Any regulations need approval from the City Council.

Charter, Comcast, Crocker, Fiber Connect, Mid Hudson Data, and Westfield Gas & Electric propose a range of solutions for connecting up to 40 unserved towns.

WESTBOROUGH -- State officials have unveiled grant proposals from six companies that hope to provide broadband internet service to as many as 40 unserved Massachusetts towns.

The applications from Charter Communications, Comcast, Crocker Communications, Fiber Connect, Mid Hudson Data Corp. and Westfield Gas & Electric (Whip City Fiber) were submitted in response to a Nov. 18 solicitation from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, or MBI, which has allocated $19,680,000 to subsidize the cost of deploying rural broadband.

The deadline for submitting applications was Jan. 11.

On Monday, MBI officials updated municipal leaders on the proposals, saying each town will have the final say over whether to pursue any solution with a private provider. The applications will undergo state-level review to make sure they are eligible for participation in the Last Mile program.

MBI sought to "identify qualified private firms willing to design, build, own, operate, manage, and maintain high-speed broadband internet networks in the 40 Massachusetts towns currently unserved by broadband."

Under program guidelines, proposals must serve at least 96 percent of all premises in any town, and provide minimum broadband speeds as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. The projects must show they are capable of long-term operating sustainability without ongoing state subsidy.

The applications reveal different approaches to connecting different communities.

Charter Communications seeks $5.1 million to serve Princeton, Shutesbury, New Salem, Egremont, Hancock, and Monterey. Comcast proposes to serve Goshen, Montgomery, Princeton and Shutesbury, and seeks $2.2 million. Both propose hybrid fiber coaxial cable networks.

The Monterey-based Fiber Connect, LLC submitted two Berkshire County proposals. One seeks $4.25 million to help build a fiber optic network in Alford, Becket, New Marlborough, Otis, Tolland, and Tyringham. The second proposes $2 million for a fiber network in Monterey and Egremont.

Mid Hudson of Catskill, New York seeks $260,000 to deploy a wireless network in Tyringham.

Whip City Fiber, a project of Westfield Gas & Electric, indicated its willingness to work with any town to engineer, procure, construct, and operate a municipal network with speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. The town of Charlemont has stepped forward to support this proposal.

The Amherst-based Crocker Communications proposes to partner with Fujitsu Network Communications to serve 70 percent of the premises in all 40 towns for $18.3 million. Crocker is the internet service provider for Leverett's municipal fiber-to-the-home network.

MBI says it seeks to fund sustainable projects "and therefore will only award grants to financially sound and stable companies with significant experience in building and operating residential broadband networks."

Any award must be approved by the MBI board of directors and the executive committee of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. 

"Please note that these grant applications are under review by the MBI, and the posting of each grant application to the website does not indicate that the applicant is eligible to receive state funding or participate in the Last Mile Program," wrote MBI chairman Peter Larkin in a Jan. 23 email to municipal leaders.

Larkin in June pledged to work with each town individually to help determine their best path. "We're walking the communities through this one by one," he said.

As for any timeline, MBI said Monday it will "publish additional information about the grant program and the review process in a timely manner."

Some unserved towns have already been knocked off the list. In December, MBI awarded grants to Alford, Otis and Mount Washington for municipal fiber-to-the-home networks. MBI approved partnerships with Charter Communications in Hinsdale, Lanesborough, and West Stockbridge, as well as a wireless upgrade in Warwick.

The broadband institute also advanced $4 million to Comcast to expand its cable network in nine partially-served towns. The company promised to reach 96 percent of all homes in Buckland, Conway, Chester, Hardwick, Huntington, Montague, Northfield, Pelham and Shelburne.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com

Obituaries from The Republican.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced that the speed limit on Interstate 90 will be temporarily reduced to 40 mph due to the snow.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced that the speed limit on Interstate 90 will be temporarily reduced to 40 mph due to the snow.

#MAtraffic Alert: I-90 speed limit reduction to 40mph continues from NY border to I/C 5 #Chicopee. #MAsnow

-- Mass. Transportation (@MassDOT) January 24, 2017

The speed limit reduction will be in effect on the section of I-90 between the New York border and Chicopee.

As of 5 a.m., there are more than 1,000 crews working to clear the snow on state roads.

MassDOT is warning that roads are ice-covered and slushy.

Get breaking news and traffic updates sent directly to your phone by signing up for MassLive's text alerts.

The Holyoke City Council is considering eight options with costs ranging from $3.1 million to $32.5 million for long-term locations for School Department offices after a presentation at City Hall on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.

This story elaborates on an article published at 8:01 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017: 8 options costing $3.1million-$32.5 million for school headquarters presented to Holyoke Council

HOLYOKE -- The $3.1 million to $4.7 million option of buying the 57 Suffolk St. property that the city has leased for years as the long-term choice for School Department offices was the favorite of some officials after a presentation pf eight ideas Monday at City Hall.

"It seems reasonable, it seems the least expensive," City Councilor Peter R. Tallman said.

The Central Office Task Force presented an update about long-term options for school headquarters with costs ranging from $3.1 million to $32.5 million to the City Council Finance Committee.

The presentation emphasized that whatever steps the city takes, they should include addressing the poor condition of the over-century-old City Hall Annex, 20 Korean Veterans Plaza. The annex is adjacent to City Hall at High and Dwight streets.

Options were "costed out" over a seven-year period to give the City Council a sense of advantages and disadvantages of the possibilities, officials said.

The city has been renting several floors at 57 Suffolk St. at about $319,000 a year from O'Connell Development Group for School Department headquarters, a perennial sore spot among cost-conscious officials critical of such spending with city-owned space available.

Holyoke School Department can actually belong to Holyoke if officials want to talk, owner says

The options and projected cost ranges -- details about advantages and disadvantages are posted below -- are:

• 1. Do nothing. Keep renting 57 Suffolk St., fix the annex -- $12.6 million-$15.7 million.

• 2. Buy 57 Suffolk St. for school headquarters, fix the annex -- $14.2 million-$16.3 million.

• 3. Buy 57 Suffolk St. for school headquarters, also move city offices that now occupy the annex into that building, mothball or sell the annex -- $3.1 million-$4.7 million.

• 4. Buy 57 Suffolk St. and make it the new City Hall Annex. Move school headquarters to the School Department supply warehouse at 728 Main St. -- $8.7 million-$11.5 million.

• 5. Move school headquarters to the annex. Would require paying rent for temporary space for school and city offices as the annex is renovated -- $17.6 million-$23 million.

• 6. Move school headquarters to the warehouse, fix annex -- $18 million-$21.7 million.

• 7. If the public schools get two new schools and closes an older school, school headquarters can move into one of the closed schools. Drawbacks include relying on funding not yet available and major annex renovation still needed -- $18.2 million-$22.1 million.

• 8. Move school headquarters to the vacant Lynch School at Northampton and Dwight streets and do major renovation of annex -- $17.6 million-$32.5 million.

Also posted below are assessments of the options by Timothy Murphy Architects of Holyoke.

Despite it being included in the options, Lynch School essentially has been eliminated as a possibility for school headquarters because a recent tour officials took showed it would be too expensive to renovate, City Councilor at Large Joseph M. McGiverin said.

"I think it's safe to say that we've pretty much ruled out Lynch," he said.

With the city slow to get the Lynch School site redeveloped into a taxpaying entity, some had called for its reuse as a school facility. Lynch School was last used as a school in 2008.

John P. Brunelle, the Ward 5 School Committee member and a member of the task force, said that initially he didn't favor keeping school headquarters at 57 Suffolk St. But that option looks attractive in comparison to costs of other options, he said.

Mayor Alex B. Morse, who is chairman of the School Committee, and McGiverin also praised Option 3.

Tallman said Option 3 seems to make the most sense and the city should move swiftly.

Task force members said they need direction from the City Council in order to plot which option will result in school headquarters.

"It's long-range planning, we were given lots of options and now we have to just make a decision," Brunelle said.

"We're looking for some guidance from the committee as to where to go from here," said Anthony Soto, chief finance and operations officer for the School Department and a member of the task force.

Finance Committee Chairman Todd A. McGee said councilors need time to digest the information the task force presented.

"They put a lot of work into this," McGee said.

"The sooner the better, but I understand it's up to the deliberations of the Council," said Stephen K. Zrike, the state-appointed receiver in charge of the Holyoke public schools and a task force member.

Finance Committee member Linda L. Vacon said that short a final decision about an option from the City Council, it looks like other than Option 3, most of the other options would require years of renovations, moving, etc. That means it's a safe bet school officials should proceed with a plan mentioned during the meeting to consolidate space needed for school headquarters as much as possible, she said.

Finance Committee member Diosdado Lopez agreed, saying, "I think that we need to downsize and in my opinion that's what we need to do."

Brunelle said that Zrike, who took control of the school system July 6, 2015, "has done a great job about downsizing, especially in shrinking the central office."

Vacon also asked about the City Hall Annex, inquiring about the cost to renovate vs. its value.

"It's hard to say what the market value of the building would be. It certainly has some historic value," said Marcos A. Marrero, director of the city Department of Planning and Economic Development and a task force member.

Gauging the market value of the City Hall Annex wasn't part of the task force's mission, he said.

If the city decides against renovating the annex, the building in the short term likely would be boarded up and eventually could be sold for a residential or commercial use. One attraction it would have is availability of a type of financing known as historic tax credits because of its age, he said.

Also on the task force were Rory Casey, Morse's chief of staff, City Councilor at Large Rebecca Lisi, Irene Feliciano-Simms, the Ward 4 School Committee member, and McGee.

Holyoke school offices presentation: by Mike Plaisance on Scribd

Architect assessment of options: by Mike Plaisance on Scribd

A total of 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet accumulation is calculated to fall in much of interior Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service is warning commuters that although the powdery stuff may stop falling by mid-morning, a wave of sleet, and then freezing rain, might create hazardous road conditions in Western and Central Massachusetts later in the day.

A total of 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet is expected to fall in much of interior Massachusetts. Area's north of Central Massachusetts might wake up to as much as 3 to 5 inches of snow. 

However, the real impact on the morning and afternoon commute will be ice accumulation and freezing rain expected to fall after mid-morning.

The National Weather Service expects one-tenth of an inch to up to one-quarter of an inch of ice accretion in parts of the state. In addition, freezing rain and below-freezing temperatures will persist through the afternoon, and possibly into the evening.

Untreated roads and walkways could be slippery while commuters are on their way out the door for work. If the freezing rain remains through the afternoon and evening, road conditions will also be slippery on the way back home. 

The speed limit on the Massachusetts Turnpike has already been reduced to 40 mph between the New York border and Chicopee. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said there are over 1,000 crews working to clear the roads Tuesday morning.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MAsnow?src=hash">#MAsnow</a> crews at 6am total 1,071 continuing to clear, treat state roads west, central, north. Roads wet to icy, slush, snow covered.</p>&mdash; Mass. Transportation (@MassDOT) <a href="https://twitter.com/MassDOT/status/823851281324318721">January 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Charles Brown is being held until his next court date in February.

CHICOPEE - A Chicopee District Court judge revoked the bail of a 19-year-old man after he was caught allegedly violating an abuse prevention order and was in possession of a gun stolen from Georgia and sold on the streets for $350.

Charles M. Brown Jr., of 77 Cambridge St., Springfield, is being held without bail until his next court hearing scheduled for Feb. 21. He was arrested on Thursday and charged with assault to murder with a firearm, possession of a firearm in a felony, possession of a firearm without a permit, resisting arrest, strangulation, larceny over $250, receiving stolen property and possession of a large capacity firearm, court records said.

Thursday night an employee at Rite Aid at 577 Meadow St. phoned police reporting a domestic fight in the store. When Chicopee Police Officer Chad Foisey arrived he found Brown and his ex-girlfriend Brooklyn Sykes, 18, of Chicopee, grappling in the parking lot, court records said.

Sykes told police Brown came to her home Thursday to pick up his possessions and at the time he stole her cell phone, strangled her so she couldn't breathe and hit her in the face. She said she ran from her home to the nearby Rite Aid and Brown followed her, record said.

Court records show Brown had an abuse prevention order against him and was required to stay away from Sykes as a condition of being released on $100 bail set after he was arrested Dec. 28. In that case he was charged with assault and battery, strangulation and intimidating a witness after Sykes said he grabbed her by the arms and the neck and took her phone and keys so she could not get away.

Charles BrownJeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com 

When Foisey arrived at the Rite Aid, Brown fled, running down Meadow Street, McKinstry Avenue and climbing a fence at the Chicopee Townhomes before being caught by the police officer near the Boys and Girls Club on Meadow Street.

By that time several other police officers arrived and helped arrest Brown. While they had him on the ground Sykes caught up and Brown and Sykes started screaming at each other and spitting at each other, hitting police officers who were trying to gain control of them.

"I'm going to kill you," Brown yelled at Sykes, according to police reports in the court records. He then continued to swear at her.

By then police had also handcuffed Sykes, who allegedly refused to get into the cruiser. She was charged with domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, court records said.

When police brought Brown to the police station and asked if he had any weapons, Brown said he had a gun in the waistband of his shorts, court records said.

Police removed a 9-mm caliber handgun with six rounds of ammunition in it. Police traced the weapon and found it had been stolen from DeKalb County, Georgia on Jan. 28, 2010.

"Defendant also had a stolen gun from Georgia that he bought on the streets for $350," Judge Bethzaida Sanabria-Vega wrote in the court documents.

An early morning fire inside a two-family home on Clantoy Street has left 10 people in need of alternative housing, one of whom suffered smoke inhalation injuries, according to Springfield Fire Department.

Image of the Clantoy Street home shortly after firefighters arrived on scene early Tuesday morning. Courtesy Springfield Fire Department 

Firefighters arrived at the scene of 37-39 Clantoy St. just after 2 a.m. Tuesday morning and found the third floor of the building in flames and the 10 residents evacuated, Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said.

The flames were not under control until two hours later. Leger said the home will likely be demolished.

The injured party was treated at Baystate Medical Center for smoke inhalation and all displaced residents are being assisted by the American Red Cross in the search for alternative housing, Leger said.

A Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

Many of those affected are in Ware, where over 3,300 people, or 68 percent of the community, lost power.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is reporting that more than 8,000 customers are without power, following Tuesday night's mix of snow, sleet and rain.

Many of those affected are in Ware, where more than 3,300 customers, or 68 percent of the community, lost power.

In the east, around Suffolk County, nearly every community is reporting some power outages.

The National Grid is also reporting that nearly 7,000 of their customers lost power this morning.

The National Weather Service is reporting strong, damaging wind gusts and heavy rain in Southeastern Mass. this morning, where it is anticipated to impact the first part of the morning rush hour.

Wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph were occurring this morning. A maximum wind gust of 62 mph was recorded in Rockport at 1:55 a.m. Tuesday.

The snow showers are expected to end by mid-morning Tuesday, however, a wave of sleet and freezing rain will begin falling shortly after. In addition, the National Weather Service is warning temperatures may remain below-freezing for much of the day.

Western Mass News reported the suspect, 26-year-old Jonathan Soto of the Florence section of Northampton also faces charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and traveling on the wrong side of a highway.

George Graham | ggraham@repub.com 

HATFIELD -- State police said they arrested a wrong-way driver on Interstate 91 Sunday night and charged him with drunken driving and other charges.

Western Mass News reported state police receive numerous cell phone calls reporting that a driver was heading south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 91. A trooper said that several motorists swerved to avoid wrong-way driver.

Troopers from the Northampton and Shelburne Falls barracks responded and managed to catch his attention, according to Western Mass News.

The suspect, 26-year-old Jonathan Soto of the Florence section of Northampton, was arrested around 11:30 p.m. He also faces charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and traveling on the wrong side of a highway.

Western Mass News is television partner to The Republican and MassLive.com.