Hector Alecia was arrested 17 days after his release from state prison, where he served 15 years on a heroin trafficking charge, a prosecutor said.

SPRINGFIELD - Three weeks after finishing a 15-year prison sentence for heroin trafficking, a Springfield man is back behind bars and facing a new heroin trafficking charge.

Hector Alecia, 52, pleaded not guilty Friday in Springfield District Court to four drug charges, including heroin trafficking and distribution (second offense).

Hector Alecia, 52, of SpringfieldSpringfield Police Department 

He was arrested Thursday afternoon after city narcotics detectives saw him making drug sales in the downtown area, Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski said.

Police found 139 bags of "Louis Vuitton" heroin on Alecia and 1,200 more at his apartment at 70 Chestnut St., along with more than $300 in cash, two scales, packaging material and cutting agents, Szafranski said.

She asked for $100,000 bail, citing the amount of drugs seized and Alecia's criminal record.

He was arrested 17 days after being released from state prison after serving 15 years for heroin trafficking, and faces a potentially longer sentence if convicted again, Szafranski said.

Judge Matthew Shea set bail at $100,000 and ordered the defendant to return for a pretrial conference on Feb. 27.

The Planning Board said SODI Inc. failed to submit an agreement between the Chicopee and Springfield city councils that would spell out how utilities, trash collection and plowing would be provided.

CHICOPEE -- A developer that wants to build a six-home subdivision on a Chicopee street that could only be reached from Springfield is suing the city after the Planning Board rescinded preliminary site plan approval.

The lawsuit, filed in Hampden County Superior Court by SODI Inc., is asking a judge to annul the decision of the Planning Board and direct the board to endorse the site plan as initially approved. It is also requesting the city reimburse it for fees, costs and expenses incurred with the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims a condition set by the board was not required and that the project met all zoning regulations.

"The decision of the Planning Board of Chicopee denying the subdivision exceeds its authority, is arbitrary and capricious and/or rests on legally untenable ground," Mark J. Beglane, the lawyer for SODI, wrote in the lawsuit.

SODI owner Ralph Capua has been trying to extend Russell Street in Springfield, where he has already built nine homes, and construct an additional six homes on a new Chicopee street that would be called Ralph Circle.

In November 2015, the Planning Board approved a preliminary site plan for the project, but put the final vote on hold until SODI secured agreements with the Springfield and Chicopee city councils that spelled out how utilities, trash collection and plowing would be provided.

In September, Thomas Murphy, a lawyer who represents SODI, said the project met all zoning requirements and had been approved by all Chicopee city departments. At the time he asked the Planning Board to grant definitive site plan approvals with the condition the inter-city agreements would be finalized.

"The application conformed in all aspects to the Regulations for the Subdivision of Land in Chicopee," the lawsuit said. "The Board of Health had no objections to the proposed subdivision and all lots within the subdivision comply with the city of Chicopee zoning bylaws and ordinances."

The Planning Board instead tabled the proposal. Then in December it rejected a request by SODI that the site plan be continued again and denied the application for a definitive site plan. At the time members said SODI could return any time it was ready with the agreements from the two cities.

"The intermunicipal agreement was not necessary to the application and/or not required by the Chicopee Zoning Ordinance or subdivision regulations and the applicant had the ability to find alternate arrangements to provide the trash and now removal services, however, the applicant had not finalized the arrangements before the Dec. 1, 2016, meeting of the Planning Board," the lawsuit said.

In the lawsuit, officials for SODI said the denial was voted on when they were not present, thinking the meeting would involve a routine continuance.

The Planning Board has not discussed details of the lawsuit and plans to meet in closed session with city lawyers about it next month.

The Western New England Golden Gloves 2017 Semi-Final was delayed by more than 40-minutes Friday when it was announced there was a parking situation around the MassMutual Center.

SPRINGFIELD - The Western New England Golden Gloves 2017 Semi-Final was delayed by more than 40-minutes Friday when it was announced there was a parking situation around the MassMutual Center. Parking around the venue seemed to be at a premium as several major events were in progress in and around the center. But, for the die-hard boxing fans it was a night of pure entertainment.

Friday night's semi-final's included, Merkey Gomez of Hartford, Connecticut; Tashawn Ward of Stamford, Connecticut; Chris Morin of Hartford, Connecticut; Ian Garcia of Springfield; Aljandro Paulion of New London, Connecticut, Alberto Pena of Worcester; Jose Colon, of Hartford, Connecticut; OJ Coley of Hartford, Connecticut; Charles Blackwell of New Haven, Connecticut; Raymond Colon of Hartford, Connecticut; Remell Chung of Hartford, Connecticut; Stephen Moss of Holyoke; Nathan Martinez of New Britain, Connecticut; Randy Marines of Worcester; Calixto Cruz of Springfield; Joshua Orta of Agawam; Sharod Collier of Hartford, Connecticut; Carlos Marrero of New Britain, Connecticut; Tony Adams of Stamford, Connecticut and Bobby Harris of Worcester.

The winners from Friday night will move on to the finals which will be at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, February 3 and 4. Those winners will move up to compete in the New England Golden Gloves Championship in Lowell for the right to represent New England at the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Organizers said more than 350 ticket holders attended the event. The Golden Gloves boxing event is the nation's oldest amateur boxing event which began in Chicago, Illinois in 1928. For more information check out www.wneboxing.com.

This is the 12th tournament that attracts boys and girls teams from around the state.

CHICOPEE - The Boys and Girls Club is holding the 12th George Webb Basketball Tournament in March at the club on Meadow Street.

Organizers are now taking registrations for interested teams. The tournament is open for teams in the following age groups, 8 and 9, 10 and 11 and 12 to 14. New this year is the addition of high school teams for students in the ninth and 10th grades and for those in the 11th and 12th grade. Any Parks and Recreation, Catholic Youth Organization, Amateur Athletic Union or Suburban teams are eligible to participate.

Also new this year is a jamboree which will be held Feb. 24 to 26. The jamboree will be used to determine division, collect birth certificates and identifications, finalize rosters, and take team photos.

The tournament is designed to include an upper competitive and lower competitive division for the youth teams, and one division for the high school groups. Girls teams are highly encouraged to register.

Each year, teams from Chicopee, Springfield, South Hadley, Holyoke, Westfield, Granby, Longmeadow, East Longmeadow and other parts of Massachusetts take part in this tournament.

To enter a team call Clarisa Matlasz, Associate Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee, at 413-206-4103. The cost is $175 per team.

A West Springfield detective ended up on the trunk of the fleeing vehicle and another, after nearly being struck, fired a shot at its front tire, according to the arrest report.

SPRINGFIELD -- A West Springfield woman and her daughter are facing heroin charges following a wild police chase that left the woman's 2-year-old granddaughter with minor injuries.

Joan Cortis, 42, and Amanda Cortis, 21, of Westfield, pleaded not guilty in Springfield District Court to heroin possession following their arrest Jan. 2 in a parking lot at the Holyoke Mall.

Seven other charges, including reckless endangerment of a child and assault and battery with a motor vehicle, were filed against Joan Cortis, the alleged driver during the chase.

The trouble began when Joan Cortis allegedly tried to run down two West Springfield police detectives who approached her car in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot on Riverdale Street. One detective ended up on the trunk of the Ford Taurus and the other, after dodging the vehicle, fired a shot at its front tire, according to the arrest report.

As the car turned to leave the parking lot, a detective struck the front passenger side window with his fist, breaking the glass, the report said.

Heading west on Highland Avenue, the car crossed into Holyoke on Whitney Avenue. By then, Holyoke police had joined the chase, which crossed through several parking lots before ending on the south side of the Holyoke Mall.

The mother and daughter were taken into custody and packets of heroin with an "Amen" logo were seized from the vehicle, along with one bag of cocaine. The grandchild, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment of minor facial cuts from flying glass.

In court, Joan Cortis pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (vehicle), possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, failing to stop for police, operating to endanger, a marked lanes violation and reckless endangerment of a child.

Amanda Cortis pleaded not guilty to one count of heroin possession.

Joan Cortis, who appeared to be wearing cat pajamas during her arraignment, was ordered held on $5,000 bail while Amanda Cortis was released on personal recognizance. Both have cases pending in area courts, and Amanda Cortis has been arrested three times in recent months, a prosecutor said.

With her mother and grandmother under arrest, the child was placed in protective custody and eventually released to a relative. A child abuse allegation against Amanda Cortis was later filed with the state Department of Children and Families, the report said.

West Springfield police had a Highland Avenue home under surveillance for drug sales when the women pulled up outside around 11 a.m., according to the arrest report. The same brand of "Amen" heroin seized from the women was found at the Highland Avenue home when detectives raided it, the report said.

A spent shell casing was later recovered in the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, the report said.

The defendants are due back in court for a pretrial hearing on March 3.

In an executive order Friday, Trump suspended all refugee admissions to the U.S. for four months and banned the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely, pending a security review of the admissions program.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Syrian refugee Ammar Sawan took his first step toward resettlement in the United States three months ago, submitting to an initial round of security screenings.

His dreams of a better life were crushed when President Donald Trump issued an indefinite ban on displaced Syrians entering the United States.

Sawan said Saturday that he learned of the decision from TV news the night before.

"When we heard of the order, it was like a bolt of lightning, and all our hopes and dreams vanished," said Sawan, 40.

The upholsterer, who supports his family with odd jobs in the Jordanian capital of Amman, said he was especially disappointed for his four children who he had hoped would get a good education in the U.S.

He and other Syrian refugees in Amman bristled at the idea that they posed a potential security threat, saying they were both shocked and saddened by Trump's ban.

"We tell the American people that we hope he (Trump) retracts this decision," said refugee Mayada Sheik, 37. "We are not going out to harm people of other countries."

In an executive order Friday, Trump suspended all refugee admissions to the U.S. for four months and banned the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely, pending a security review of the admissions program. In a third step, he issued a 90-day ban on all entry to the U.S. from countries with terrorism concerns, including Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Close to 5 million Syrians have fled their homeland since the conflict there erupted in 2011. Millions more are displaced within Syria.

Most refugees have settled in overburdened neighboring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey where the struggle for survival has become increasingly difficult. Savings have run out, jobs are scarce and poorly paid, while refugee children learn in crowded classrooms and have very limited access to higher education.

Many refugees say their first choice is to return home as soon as possible. But with the civil war dragging on, that's not an option and refugees increasingly pursue resettlement to the West because of tough conditions in regional host countries.

International aid agencies harshly criticized Trump's restrictions imposed on refugees.

The International Rescue Committee said the suspension of the refugee resettlement program was a "harmful and hasty" decision. "America must remain true to its core values. America must remain a beacon of hope," said IRC President David Miliband.

The group said the U.S. vetting process for refugees is already robust -- involving biometric screening and up to 36 months of vetting by 12 to 15 government agencies.

Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said Trump's decision hurts innocents fleeing extremist violence in Syria.

"It will not make America safer," Egeland told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Norway. "It will make America smaller and meaner. It's a really sad rupture of a long and proud American bi-partisan tradition that America would be there for those fleeing from terror and for the weak and the vulnerable in the world, which are the refugees."

The NRC is a leading refugee aid agency, assisting more than 1 million Syrians.

Police said the boy may going to the Adams or Boston areas.

Darrein Bleau, 16Courtesy: Greenfield Police Dept. 

Darrein Bleau was last seen Thursday evening running from Our House on Shelburne Road.

Bleau was wearing a grey sweatshirt and sweatpants, black socks and baby blue Jordan sandals. He may have a black windbreaker and a pair of blue sneakers, as well.

Police said he may going to the Adams or Boston areas.

Anyone with information on Bleau's whereabouts is urged to call local police or Greenfield police at (413) 773-5411.

The leading contenders are three federal appeals courts judges who have met with Trump: Neil Gorsuch, Thomas Hardiman and William Pryor, according to a person who is familiar with the process.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Conservatives' wishes for the next Supreme Court justice boil down to a few words: no more Souters.

The reference is to former Justice David Souter, dubbed by a White House aide as a "home run" for conservatives when he was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to replace the liberal William Brennan. As it turned out, Souter generally was a liberal vote for most of his 18 years on the court.

But conservatives who care about the court say they have no such worry this time around. They feel confident that whomever President Donald Trump nominates for the Supreme Court, they won't be looking back with regret in the years to come.

The leading contenders from a list of 21 names Trump rolled out during his campaign are three federal appeals courts judges who have met with Trump: Neil Gorsuch, Thomas Hardiman and William Pryor, according to a person who is familiar with the process. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss about internal decisions.

Trump said he plans to announce his choice on Thursday, and told Fox News that he has basically settled on a nominee, "subject to change at the last moment."

"They all would be excellent, excellent choices. They were all specifically chosen with the president's commitment in mind" to choose a justice who would be similar to Antonin Scalia, who died nearly a year ago, said Carrie Severino, a conservative activist and former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.

That has not always been the case when Republican presidents have had a chance to leave their mark on the court.

Souter was one of five justices put on the nine-member court by Republican presidents over a 12-year span. While the court moved to the right in that period, it did not become the conservative bulwark those presidents hoped for.

The court's 1992 decision reaffirming the right to an abortion, for which Souter wrote the majority opinion along with Reagan appointees Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, was an enormous disappointment to abortion opponents who had thought they had a court majority to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Souter, a state judge in New Hampshire and briefly a federal appeals court judge, became the symbol of what Republicans were supposed to avoid, a "stealth" candidate with a scant record of dealing with the range of issues that come before the high court.

While serving as Alabama's attorney general before becoming a judge, Pryor in fact once wrapped up a speech with a prayer for "no more Souters." He later said he was joking, but the subject is no laughing matter to conservatives.

Usually less than a quarter of the court's cases end up with liberals and conservatives on opposite sides, but those are the ones, including abortion, gay rights and guns, that people care most about, said the John Malcolm of the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.

"That's why the 'no more Souters' thing is very real," he said. "There are only nine of them and they serve for a very long time."

Gorsuch, Hardiman and Pryor have been judges for 10 years or longer, and have the paper trail that Souter lacked.

"It's not surprising that when we get to down what looks like the real short list, it's appeals court judges. That's about being absolutely sure we've got the record straight," said Christine Nemacheck, a government professor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the author of a book about the Supreme Court selection process.

A recent study of the potential choices puts Gorsuch and Pryor high on a scale of judges whose approach to the law resembles Scalia's in their fealty to the text of the Constitution and to laws as they were understood when written. Hardiman more resembles Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito in that regard, lead author Jeremey Kidd said.

"We wanted to show what it would mean to a general fan of Scalia to have someone like him," said Kidd, a professor at the Mercer University law school in Macon, Georgia.

"I personally know a good two or three dozen people who voted for Trump solely because they thought he'd be better on Supreme Court justices," Kidd said.

A fifth of voters nationwide said Supreme Court appointments were the most important factor in determining their presidential vote, and nearly 6 in 10 of them backed Trump, according to Election Day exit polls.

Souter is not the only justice who has disappointed conservatives.

Kennedy has sided with the liberal justices on gay rights, as well as some cases involving race, the death penalty and the rights of people detained without charge at the Guantanamo Bay naval base.

Even Roberts has lost favor among some conservatives, principally for the two opinions he wrote that preserved President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. During the campaign, Trump himself called Roberts "an absolute disaster."

An early-morning fire Saturday destroyed a Texas mosque that was a target of hatred several years ago and experienced a burglary just a week ago.

VICTORIA, Texas (AP) -- An early-morning fire Saturday destroyed a Texas mosque that was a target of hatred several years ago and experienced a burglary just a week ago.

A clerk at a convenience store spotted smoke and flames billowing from the Islamic Center of Victoria at around 2 a.m. and called the fire department.

"It's sad to stand there and watch it collapse down, and the fire was so huge," Shahid Hashmi, the Islamic center's president, said. "It looks completely destroyed."

The Islamic Center of Victoria at 201 E. Airline Rd is fully engulfed in fire. A clerk at nearby Exxon station said he called 911 abt 2 a.m. pic.twitter.com/yc9akLNfnq

-- Jon Wilcox (@thrilcox) January 28, 2017

"None whatsoever right now," the center director said. "We don't have any lead or information as to what started the fire and what happened. So I'm sure it's going to be a few days, they told us, before they can come up with any answers for us."

The congregation's pastor, known as an imam, was awake in the early morning hours and checked online surveillance of the mosque and found no alarm active and the doors unlocked, Hashmi said. On Jan. 21, someone broke in and stole some electronics, including laptops.

"He was worried about it and drove over there," Hashmi said. "By that time, fire engines were already there pouring water on the fire."

The structure was built in 2000.

No injuries were reported. It took about four hours to extinguish the blaze.

Hashmi, who's lived in Victoria 32 years, said the congregation of about 140 has had few other problems and has enjoyed support from the city of about 115 miles southwest of Houston. He already has received offers of temporary quarters for the congregation to worship.

"When 9/11 happened, Muslims and non-Muslims, we all got together," he said. "Of course, we will rebuild."

A firefighter walks in front of the Islamic Center of Victoria on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Victoria, Texas. (Barclay Fernandez/The Victoria Advocate via AP)

On Jan. 7, a mosque under construction near Lake Travis in Austin was burned to the ground.

The Texas office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said like that blaze, it would monitor the investigation of the Victoria fire.

"Because of growing anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation, and because of the recent spike in hate incidents targeting Islamic institutions and individuals, we urge investigators to keep the possibility of a bias motive for this fire in mind," CAIR-Houston Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll said.

There's been no determination yet for the Austin blaze, Diane Kanawati, with CAIR-Austin, said Saturday.

In December, a man was sentenced to four years in prison for setting fire to a Houston mosque where he worshipped. Gary Nathaniel Moore pleaded guilty to arson and using a fire as a deadly weapon in a Dec. 25, 2015, blaze that caused significant damage at the Islamic Society of Greater Houston mosque.

Railroad enthusiasts of all ages came to see model trains that filled four buildings at Eastern States Exposition

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Elaborate model railroad layouts, train clinics, a real steam engine and more drew thousands of visitors from all over New England to Eastern States Exposition on Saturday.

For some railroad buffs, the event is an annual family affair.

"I've been here every year since I was a kid, and we've been here every year since he was a kid," Dan Rolland, of Westfield, said about his son, Ethan Rolland, 4 1/2, who wore a railroad hat as he checked out the train layouts.

Dan Rolland said that too much of what he's looking for is online only, so he likes to come to the show to see the model trains and accessories in person. And he always sees something he wants to buy, he said with a laugh.

Scale model trains, ranging from the tiny Z scale, which can fit on a coffee table, to the monster 80-foot N-Trak system, to the Amherst Belt Lines Modular layout that boasts 8-plus scale miles of track, filled the Better Living Center, Young and Stroh Buildings and Mallary Complex at the Eastern States Exposition.

To railroad enthusiasts and hobbyists alike, the model railroad clinics offered everything from casual demonstrations to hands-on learning.

A special attraction of the show featured an actual working steam engine, operated by Boothbay Railway Village, which operates on approximately 100 feet of track under its own steam power.

The show continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $14 for adults, and free for childen age 15 and under when accompanied by an adult. For more information, visit online: railroadhobbyshow.com

Two people are facing charges after a vehicle crashed into a house in Chicopee on Saturday morning.

CHICOPEE — Two people are facing criminal charges after an early morning incident in which a vehicle collided with a house in Chicopee.

18-year-old Jonathan Mendez, of Chicopee, is believed to have crashed a Honda utility vehicle into a house at 49 Montgomery Street, said Officer Mike Wilk of the Chicopee Police Department.

Mendez was allegedly driving the vehicle at approximately 3:35 a.m. on Saturday morning when it struck the structure, causing minor injuries to one of the house's residents.

Wilk said police believe Mendez and one of the vehicle's passengers--a male who has not been identified--fled the scene of the crash. A third occupant of the vehicle, a juvenile male, was detained near the scene of the incident.

Police arrived at the scene shortly after the crash and conducted a search for the suspects.

A short time later, Mendez and the other male were stopped while walking on McKinstry Avenue, and were determined to be the parties involved in the crash, Wilk said.

Mendez now faces charges of speeding, failure to use care in backing/starting/turning, possession of an open can of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of a personal injury crash.

The juvenile male has been summonsed to court on a charge of being a minor in possession of a BB gun.

No details have been provided on the third occupant of the vehicle.

A New Hampshire college student died after falling off of a bridge on Saturday morning.

A college student at Plymouth State University died on Saturday morning after falling off of a New Hampshire bridge, according to The Boston Globe.

In an incident that police say may have involved alcohol, 20-year-old Justin Sault, of Keene, fell from the Dicenzo Bridge, located on Route 175a over the Pemigewasset River.

Police say Sault was accompanied by two friends at the time and appears to have climbed onto and then slipped off of the bridge's railing, landing on the ice below.

Sault was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.

WMUR9 reports that Sault was specializing in graphic design at PSU's Bachelor of Fine Arts program.

The school also apparently announced that counseling services as well as services from the campus ministry are being provided to students during this weekend.

More than 150 visitors including Chicopee Mayor Richard J. Kos gathered at the Castle of Knights for the Chicopee St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee President's Dinner Saturday.

CHICOPEE - More than 150 visitors including Chicopee Mayor Richard J. Kos gathered at the Castle of Knights for the Chicopee St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee President's Dinner Saturday.

The three-hour celebration featured a social hour followed by a buffet-style dinner that included, a mixed green salad, sauteed chicken with lemon white wine sauce, sliced top round with mushroom demi glaze, cellantoni pasta primavera in a light cream sauce, seasonal vegetables and assorted rolls.

Following the buffet, the committee honored Arnold Craven, the 2017 Parade Committee president; Kathleen A. Ryan-Balakier, the 2017 parade marshal; John R. Beaulieu, the recipient of the 2017 Jack Woods Award; and David White, the recipient of the 2017 George and Buddy Atkinson Award.

Craven served his community as a volunteer for many organizations and has been a member of the Chicopee St. Patrick's Parade Committee since 2009, where he served on the float committee and as vice president since 2015.

Ryan-Balakier will serve as 2017 parade marshal and will lead the Chicopee contingent in the Holyoke St. Patrick's parade on March 19.

Beaulieu was named the recipient of the 2017 Jack Woods Award for actively serving 10 or more years on the parade committee.

White, president of Exclusive Car Service, received the 2017 George and Buddy Atkinson Award for non-committee members who have supported the committee through hard work, sponsorship or other contributions.

Special House and Senate Citations were presented by State Rep. Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee, State Rep. Mike Finn, D-West Springfield, State Sen. Jim Welch, D-West Springfield, and State Sen. Donald Humason Jr., R-Westfield.

The Chicopee St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee strives to promote Irish pride and culture through many year-round events including the Colleen Contest and Coronation Ball, the Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade float, and scholarships to young women who plan to further their education.

Past presidents Joseph Morissette and Judith Corridan Danek served as Emcees and entertainment was supplied by DJ Luis.

Two Springfield police officers were injured on Saturday night after a man intentionally rammed his car into their cruiser.

SPRINGFIELD — Two Springfield police officers were injured Saturday night after a violent incident in which a man intentionally rammed his car into their police cruiser multiple times.

The injured officers are members of the city's street crime unit, said Lt. Mark Rolland of the Springfield Police Department.

Rolland said the officers believed the suspect was a drug dealer and had been attempting to apprehend him for several days now.

On Saturday evening, the officers attempted again to pull the suspect over in the vicinity of School Street and High Street, near the city's Metro Center.

Rolland said that when they attempted to pull him over, the man backed up into their vehicle, causing severe front end damage to the cruiser and injuring the officers. "He ran into them again and again," Rolland said.

Despite injuries, the officers were still able to arrest the suspect, though the details of how this occurred have not been released.

Police and medical responders were called to School and High at approximately 9:20 p.m., and the injured officers were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

At the scene of the crash police could be seen investigating the suspect's car--which appeared to be a red Toyota Corolla with Connecticut plates.

The man is currently being booked, Rolland said. The charges against him and his identity have not yet been released.

While the status of the officers is not currently known, Rolland said that he didn't think the injuries were life threatening.

Autism Connections' held their 8th Annual Stepping Out for Autism Fundraising Gala on Saturday night.

HOLYOKE - Autism Connections' held its 8th Annual Stepping Out for Autism Fundraising Gala on Saturday night.

The 1960's-themed event was like traveling back to the era which defined terms like flower child, mod and hippie.

The evening's emcee was 22News morning anchorman Rich Tettemer. The featured speaker was Avi Dresner who is a celebrity personal trainer and fitness consultant as well as host of the weekly radio program "Well Talk."

The Lob Cabin played host to the event which featured music from local British Invasion band UnionJack, who kept the vibe going with selections from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Hollies, and Searchers among others.

All proceeds from from the night benefited those across Western Massachusetts who are caring for an individual with autism. Autism Connections changed its name from "Community Resources for People with Autism" last fall.

The Hadley school hopes to expand its high school program from the current 160 seats allowed to about 440 students. Watch video

HADLEY -- Concerned they have been caught in the crossfire of the political fight over charter schools, officials for the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School are awaiting the state's decision on their latest request to increase the school's enrollment.

State education officials agreed on Jan. 23 to renew the school's charter for another five years -- and now the decision on the school's proposed expansion by about 380 students is expected to come in February. 

School officials say their mission is vital to future businesses and charter schools, and they do not plan to give up easily.

The state, meanwhile, has questioned why the school needs an enrollment increase when it has not filled all of its available seats. State officials have rejected similar proposals by the school in recent years.

The Chinese immersion school reported revenue of $6.3 million in fiscal 2016, according to a financial audit. Of that revenue, $5.8 million came from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which determines funding through a standard rate per student. The school also received state and federal grants.

The school spent $5.7 million that year, according to the report -- a per pupil expenditure of about $13,000. The state average in 2015, the most recent year available, was just under $15,000. 

In 2014, education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester denied the school's application to expand enrollment.

The Board of Trustees appealed to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education about a year later, only to have the state board decline to vote on the request at its June 2016 meeting -- allowing Chester's decision to stand.

The trustees voted in January 2016 to pursue a new charter amendment that would allow an increase -- from the allowed enrollment of 584 students to 968 students. That amendment request was submitted with the school's routine charter renewal application.

As administrators prepared to submit the paperwork last year, Richard C. Alcorn, the school's executive director, said he and his colleagues would work with parents, guardians and students to win the support of state education board members "who did not embrace the need for innovation and diversity in the Massachusetts charter school movement."

The school also sought the help of a public relations firm to help raise its visibility -- particularly among Boston news outlets -- in order to build support for its bid for an increased headcount. Board of Trustees meeting minutes from December 2015 and January 2016 show the school gearing up for the effort, with discussions about hiring Boston-based Ellis Strategies for at least six months, at a cost of $3,000 a month, to help promote their cause.

And with a statewide question on charter schools on the November 2016 ballot, school officials hoped their public relations efforts to win support for the enrollment increase might also "positively influence charter school law, in general," according to the minutes.

The ballot question was part of a growing debate in Massachusetts about whether to allow more charter schools, which are public schools funded with taxpayer money but run by private entities. If a child leaves a traditional public school for a charter school, the money the community would receive from the state to educate the child instead goes to the charter school.

The latest push for more seats is not the first time the Chinese immersion school has asked to expand since it first opened in September 2007.

After unsuccessfully trying to create a Chinese immersion language program within the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, Alcorn and Kathleen Wang-- his wife, who now serves as principal of the Chinese immersion school -- and other supporters decided the best way to create an immersion program was to go through the state charter school process.

The first application was rejected in 2005, but organizers tried again two years later and were granted approval. The school opened in September 2007 with about 42 kindergarten and first-graders.

Because of the nature of the school, where even the youngest children are taught in Chinese for 75 percent of their day, the school grew slowly, adding one grade a year as existing students grew older. After two years it also launched a sixth-grade class, with students taught in Chinese for two hours a day.

The original charter capped the school's enrollment at no more than 300 children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Administrators applied several more times to expand with mixed results.

In 2012, the school won approval to add a ninth-grade class, and a year later it received approval to expand to kindergarten to grade 12 with a maximum enrollment of 584 students.

According to Alcorn, the latest request for expansion is desperately needed because the current limit only gives the school 40 seats per class in the high school -- a third of its ideal class size -- which is problematic for many reasons.

The charter currently allows for 60 students each in sixth, seventh and eighth grades -- so if all the students wanted to continue to high school, they could not. But a bigger problem is it is nearly impossible to offer a variety of electives with the maximum of 160 students allowed in the high school, Alcorn said.

"Right now our teachers have to teach multiple subjects and we have very small classes for some subjects," Alcorn said.

Using the program at the Sturgis Charter School in Hyannis as its guide, the Chinese Immersion Charter School would have about 110 students per high school grade, Alcorn said.

The Sturgis Charter School is often lauded for its high test scores and 98 percent graduation rate, and the fact it only offers International Baccalaureate courses. The Chinese immersion school began offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in 2015.

All Sturgis 10th-graders scored proficient or advanced in the English portion of the MCAS exam in the spring of 2016, while 96 percent scored proficient or above in math and 94 percent were in the category in science.

Earlier this week, the state Board of Education approved the Sturgis school's request to add 50 seats.

"We are trying to build on a very successful model," Alcorn said of the Sturgis school.

Need for increase disputed

One of Commissioner Chester's reasons for not supporting the Chinese immersion school's expansion has been that the school has not reached its current maximum enrollment.

While the school is allowed to have 584 students, it only had 439 students at the end of the 2015-16 school year. And, in the high school grades -- where there is a limit of 40 students per class -- there were 30 students in ninth grade, 16 sophomores and 11 juniors. The school did not yet have students who had reached their senior year.

In the current school year there are a total of 471 students, but the high school saw its enrollment increase by only three students. Currently there are 14 students in ninth grade, 20 sophomores, 15 juniors and 11 seniors, according to state data.

Alcorn said the high school has been building slowly -- so far, mostly just taking students from the previous grades.

"We don't have a wait list of hundreds of thousands of students but we have consistent growth," Alcorn said. "We have grown every year and we continue to grow."

Because of the school's unique educational program, students are generally only accepted in kindergarten and first grade. There are also entry points in sixth and ninth grades.

When the trustees made the request to expand in 2014, Chester said he would not forward it to the state board of education.

"The school did not provide compelling evidence to revisit the decision prior to the school's renewal decision in 2016-2017," he said. 

He cited the fact that the school's wait list of 51 was small, with 17 of the hopefuls at the kindergarten level. No students were waiting to enter ninth grade and eight students were on the list for the eighth grade.

"The school had not fully implemented its earlier expansion and had only limited evidence of the demand," Chester said.

But Alcorn said it is difficult to recruit students when the school is in limbo and there is no guarantee it will be allowed to grow.

"Parents are asking what the plan is for the high school and I say I don't know," he said. 

One of the reasons the Chinese immersion school's Board of Trustees did not want to wait a year to ask for the expansion, Alcorn said, is that it will take time to buy and renovate or construct a new building for the high school.

Currently the entire school exists in a former retail space on Route 9 that was renovated and expanded to a four-story building in 2015. The construction was funded in part with a $10.6 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan.

But the building is not large enough to house a full high school program, and officials hope to give the oldest students a building of their own.

"There is no compelling reason to not make a decision at this point," Alcorn said. "What are we waiting for?"

The public, charter divide

Voters in November struck down a ballot question that would have allowed the state to approve up to 12 new or expanded charter schools a year, outside of existing caps that limit the amount of a public school district's funding that can be diverted to charter schools.

The question failed by a wide margin, with 62 percent voting against it.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association and other educators opposed the ballot question, arguing that allowing new charter schools would drain more money from traditional public schools. Supporters argued there is such a demand for the schools, more should be added.

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, who was key in crafting an ultimately unsuccessful bill last year to lift the charter school cap, said he does not believe the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School has been denied the expansion because of the broader political fight over whether to allow more charter schools in the state.

"It is my understanding they were granted an expansion in 2013 and were told the next expansion would only be considered in 2017," said Rosenberg, whose district includes the Chinese immersion school and many of the 39 communities where its students live.

Rosenberg said he support the school's mission, but he said his focus is making sure all public schools in the state are funded properly so every child receives a proper education.

"The Chinese immersion school is absolutely a unique school and we probably need to do more of that," he said. "The question is, 'How do they get funded?'"

None of the traditional public schools could offer a comparable language immersion program, Rosenberg said.

Even officials for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, a pro-charter school group, do not believe Chester's denial of the Chinese immersion school's expansion is related to the battle over lifting the cap on charter schools in the state.

"I don't think the decision has anything to do with the charter school debate," said Marc Kenen, the organization's executive director.

Kenen said he was not aware of the specific details of the reason for the denial.

"They (the Board of Education members) set a high bar and they determined they did not want to give the school that many seats," Kenen said.

He agreed the idea of having innovative schools is important, and said the association and the charter school movement in general has supported such schools. The organization also backs as schools with a more traditional curriculum focused on closing the achievement gap in poor performing areas.

"Every situation is different and every charter school faces significant challenges," Kenen said. "We work with each one of them."

Trustees for the Chinese Immersion Charter School hoped their public relations efforts would also have an overall influence on getting the ballot question approved, according to minutes from their January 2016 meeting.

During that meeting, the trustees discussed trying to publicize the importance of the school's unique language program, promoting it as a model that could be replicated elsewhere to benefit public education. Alcorn also told members he wanted to show the benefits of being a regional school, and to talk about the strong leadership and outstanding staff.

"The (executive director) suggested that (public relations) efforts at PVCICS have potential to positively influence charter school law, in general -- especially in regard to innovative charter schools," the minutes state.

Officials believed that, in turn, could help swing the state education board's opinion in favor of the Chinese immersion school's expansion plan, according to the minutes.

In response to recent questions from The Republican, Alcorn said the charter school ballot question really wouldn't have made a difference for his school's expansion plans.

"It's important to remember this really is an apples and oranges comparison. The statewide vote on livting the cap is not about our school at all. It was focused mainly on increasing the number of urban charter school(s)," he wrote.

But Alcorn said he feels one of the reasons the expansion has been denied in the past by the state board of education is that its members seem to focus more on supporting schools located in underperforming districts such as Springfield and Holyoke.

"The original purpose was innovation and the Education Reform Act turned that on its head and they said it is all about replication," he said. "Typically there are a lot of charter schools that said we are there to fix the failing school system and we are not trying to do that. ... We are trying to do this alternative school." 

Those schools, such as SABIS International in Springfield, offer extended days and other programs to boost achievement -- but the schools are not that different that the traditional city-run schools, he said.

Alcorn said he wanted to start the Chinese immersion school in part because he realized how difficult it was to learn Chinese as an adult while doing business in China.  He learned some but had to rely on interpreters.

Today, as he discusses the need to expand the school, he cites the building of the $95 million manufacturing plant by a Chinese rail car manufacturer, CRRC Massachusetts, in Springfield and its plan to hire 200 production workers in addition to other employees.

Alcorn said some of the initial employment advertisements sought applicants with a willingness to take frequent trips to China and a knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. Other area businesses, including Yankee Candle, also do business in China, he says.

"If you want kids to be prepared for global opportunities," he said, "to encourage Chinese, a school like this can only help."

Children process the language themselves instead of learning through translation.

HADLEY -- At the start of his sixth-grade year, Maxwell Balkema sat silent and confused for two hours a day as a teacher spoke Chinese to him and other classmates who did not know a word of the language.

How quickly things change. By the end of his first year at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School he understood a lot of what was once incoherent babble and enjoys his language course.

"In September I thought it was very, very hard. It was hard to process," he said. "Now I really love it. I think Chinese is my favorite class."

Many students at the school begin in kindergarten and spend most of their time listening to and speaking Chinese -- but the school also accepts new students in sixth and ninth grades. When Balkema, of Conway, was getting ready for middle school, he and his parents agreed learning Chinese would be a great opportunity for him.

The school in Hadley accepts students from 39 communities and school districts in Western Massachusetts. Children come from Springfield, Holyoke, Amherst, Northampton and multiple other communities to learn Chinese while also receiving instruction in English, math, science, social studies and other subjects.

The school is currently trying to expand, mainly to create a stronger high school program.

True to its name, the school does not teach Chinese in a traditional format used by most schools, with a teacher translating vocabulary from one language to another.

Instead, teachers speak only in Chinese for most of the day. Through a variety of practiced methods such as pointing and repetition, children quickly start figuring out what is being said.

Balkema said it took him just two weeks to go from utter confusion to starting to understand the teacher and speaking some of the words.

"I suddenly started to understand the language more," he said. "It is insane how much I have learned."

Teaching a language through immersion is not a new idea. It is common in English as a Second Language courses and practiced often in Canadian schools. Before opening the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, founders studied a Chinese immersion school in the Midwest.

Immersion is the way all children begin to learn to speak by listening to people around them and repeating what they hear, said Kathleen Wang, the Hadley school's principal.

"The goal is to teach authentic language. You need contact hours and you need it for a long period of time," she said.

 

At the Chinese immersion school, the youngest children in kindergarten and first grade spend 75 percent of their day in a class where the teacher only speaks Chinese to them. The rest of the day is taught in English.

"The kids learn Chinese effortlessly when the academic content is not that difficult," said Richard Alcorn, executive director of the school and Wang's husband.

There are a variety of different dialects of the Chinese language but school founders decided to teach Mandarin Chinese because it is the official language of mainland China and Taiwan, he said.

Most of the students speak English at home and are exposed to it constantly outside the school, so they do not have a problem learning reading and writing skills in their native language -- even thought they spend far less time in English classes when they are very young, he said.

Teachers know how to use gestures, body language and pictures so children can figure out what they are saying. When a child starts repeating language, the teacher will sometimes stop and correct a mispronunciation. Other times, they just go on and let the child continue speaking, Wang said.

"It is a very natural way to learn a language," Wang said.

Advocates say there are advantages to the immersion model. For one thing, it is a less expensive way to teach a language because a school doesn't have to add teachers specifically for language instruction. Instead, the regular classroom teacher is also the language teacher, said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

The biggest advantage of immersion over a traditional language class is that children simply spend more time hearing and speaking the language.

"The amount of time ... hearing the language exclusively yields a higher level of proficiency in that language," Abbott said.

While it seems strange to immerse especially young children in a classroom where they can't understand the teacher, Abbot said they tend to adapt very well.

"It is funny, young children don't know school doesn't take place in another language normally," she said. "We found students were quite willing to suspend judgment at that age to what crazy thing adults are doing."

In the youngest grades at the Chinese immersion school, teachers do everything they can to avoid letting children even know they can speak English. At first if a child asks a question in English, the teacher answers it in Chinese, said HisuWen Hsieh, the school's director of education.

In one example, a kindergartner may ask the teacher in English if she can eat an apple. The teacher will respond in Chinese and point to the apple while saying the word so the child picks up the vocabulary. The next day the same child will ask the question again, but instead uses the Chinese word for apple, she said.

There are two things all teachers teach students of all ages to say first: "May I go to the bathroom?" and "May I ask a question?"

To make things easier, especially for the older students, in the first few weeks the teacher may give students a five-minute opportunity to speak in English so they can get answers to questions.

In ninth grade teachers still use the immersion method but they spend more time on learning the Chinese characters and reading and writing, Hsieh said.

"With ninth-graders they don't want to talk as much so we change things a little," she said.

The first 100 days

In Xing Yang's kindergarten class, children sit in a circle and sing traditional Chinese songs. When she asks a question, children answer in Chinese and when she tells them to go to their storage bins to get pictures they had drawn, the children follow the instruction.

The very beginning of the year can bring frustration and tears -- but that eases quickly, Yang said.

"After two months they are starting to use the language actively," she said. "We tell them by the 100th day (in school) you need to speak only Chinese in the classroom."

Yang said she slowly builds on the language, using what children learn first to increase their vocabulary and grammar. "If they ask a question in English, I will guide them on how to ask the question in Chinese" -- a method that pushes students toward processing the language itself instead of relying on translation, she said.

Another advantage of the immersion program is that children tend to develop proper accents, which is especially important in a tonal language like Chinese, she said.

As students progress through grade levels at the school, they spend more time speaking English because they still have to fulfill all the academic standards required by the state and pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exam in English, math and science, as all public schools do, Alcorn said.

Starting in second grade, the time children spend in classes where Chinese is spoken exclusively is reduced. Half their day is in English, where they focus on reading and writing. The other half of the day they take Chinese language arts, math and science in Chinese, he said.

In sixth grade Chinese is spoken for about 25 percent of the day, mainly in Chinese language and culture classes. Because the school has a longer day than traditional public schools, children in middle and high school spend about two hours in classes where only Chinese is spoken.

The school also accepts new students only in kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades because of the structure of the program and the language classes. Students like Balkema, who enter school in later grades, still learn Chinese through immersion but spend much less time studying the language, he said.

For Tenzing Kyinzon, a sixth-grader during the 2015-2016 school year, the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School was a great way for her to learn her family's language.

Kyinzon was born in the United States, but lived in Tibet as a young child. Her family returned to the United States when she 4 and her mother wanted her to be able to speak English and Mandarin as well as Tibetan.

At first she said she did better in the Chinese classes and had to take special classes in English. Now she has no problems speaking English.

Although she has a strong background in Chinese and could communicate in China, Kyinzon said she does not feel she is fluent in the language.

"They say to keep learning and one day you will be fluent," she said.

Obituaries from The Republican.

For more than 700,000 young people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children, an Obama administration program has allowed them a chance at a better life out of the shadows in America. But as Republican Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House, these immigrants, including 21-year-old Holyoke Community College student Angelica Merino Monge, the future is uncertain.

For more than 700,000 young people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children, an Obama administration program has allowed them a chance at a life out of the shadows.

But with Republican Donald Trump now in the White House, these immigrants face an uncertain future.

"Trump says that we are criminals, but I'm not a criminal," said Angelica Merino Monge, a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "My mother is not a criminal and neither are my brothers or the other people that I have met that are undocumented. They are not criminals. They're not rapists. They're not drug dealers. A lot of us who have been given the opportunity to come here have taken advantage of it in a good way."

After four years, the 21-year-old liberal arts student is heading into her last semester at Holyoke Community College with hopes of pursuing a bachelor's degree at one of five colleges on her list. She's able to do that thanks to DACA.

Implemented in 2012, the program allows "Dreamers" like Monge to pursue a higher education without fear of deportation, provided they meet requirements like staying in school and avoiding criminal charges.

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A native of El Salvador, Monge immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 10 with her mother and brother.

She's told her story several times since she first came out as an undocumented immigrant at a march last spring. She and others walked from Amherst College to University of Massachusetts Amherst to advocate for undocumented students.

She also shared about her journey with New England Public Radio in December and was featured in book from the University of Massachusetts Press titled "Words in Transit: Stories of Immigrants."

Her commentary on fleeing from the violence and hardship of El Salvador and being met with more obstacles and challenges in the U.S. has served as an insight into the struggles of undocumented people chasing their very own American dream.

"After everything that I've personally been through, I still want to get an education and I've done everything that I can to get one," she said. "I've worked extremely hard for it and I've been here at HCC for four years to get a two-year degree. I feel that that is something that a lot of people don't really think about, because a lot of students don't have to work this hard to get a two-year degree."

Monge has been taking two classes a semester while juggling jobs and keeping up with life's other expenses. She said DACA allowed her to shift from paying out-of-state tuition to in-state tuition, which made school more affordable.

In a recent Time magazine interview, Trump said he would "work something out" for Dreamers. But his hard-line stance on illegal immigration, underscored by his signing Wednesday of an executive order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, is concerning to many in Monge's situation.

"Of course I feel worried and nervous, and I hope that he doesn't remove DACA," Monge said. "If it wasn't because I actually qualified for DACA, I probably would not have continued (with school), because it would have been extremely difficult for me."

Trump's attorney general nominee, Jeff Sessions, only added to the uncertainty. During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, the Alabama senator discussed the possibility of overturning the executive order that created DACA, saying it would "certainly be constitutional" to do so.

"President(-elect) Trump has indicated that criminal aliens -- like President Obama indicated -- certainly are the top group of people. So I would think that the best thing for us to do -- and I would urge colleagues that we understand this -- let's fix this system," Sessions said at the hearing. "And then we can work together after this lawlessness has been ended. And then we can ask the American people and enter into a dialogue about how to compassionately treat people who've been here a long time."

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While Monge is grateful to have qualified for DACA, she feels for other undocumented individuals who could not qualify.

"I don't think that I deserve to be here more than a student who had to quit high school in order to help their family, because DACA is extremely selective. You only get DACA if you have continued school and you think you will actually be going to college," she said.

Among the requirements for the DACA program, individuals must have been brought to the U.S. before their 16th birthday, have no serious misdemeanor or felony convictions, and currently be in school or graduated from high school and received a diploma or GED.

For Monge, sharing her story has become a way to educate others and break down stereotypes and stigmas about undocumented immigrants.

"I feel like if we start telling people our stories, it humanizes us and makes us not seem like we're criminals or rapists, but that we are actually human and that we are people too who are working towards something," she said. "Then, people will change their ideas, because when you're actually being seen as a person and not as a rapist or criminal then I feel like people understand more who you are, where you came from, and your life and struggle."

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