A shooting at a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers left six people dead in an attack that Canada's prime minister called an act of terrorism. Police initially arrested two men but later said just one remains a suspect.

QUEBEC CITY (AP) -- A shooting at a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers left six people dead in an attack that Canada's prime minister called an act of terrorism. Police initially arrested two men but later said just one remains a suspect.

More than 50 people were at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when the shooting erupted Sunday night. In addition to the six who died, five were in critical condition and 12 others suffered minor injuries, University of Quebec Hospital Centre spokeswoman Genevieve Dupuis said Monday. The dead ranged in age from 35 to 65.

Quebec City court clerk Isabelle Ferland identified Alexandre Bissonnette and Mohamed el Khadir as the suspects. Police later said one of them was just a witness, though they did not say which.

One was arrested at the scene and another nearby, in his car on a bridge near d'Orleans where he called 911 to say he wanted to cooperate with police. Police said they did not believe there were other suspects but were investigating.

Police didn't give a possible motive for the attack.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard both characterized the attack as a terrorist act, which came amid heightened tensions worldwide over President Donald Trump's travel ban on several Muslim countries.

Trudeau said in Parliament the victims were targeted simply because of their religion and spoke to directly to the more than 1 million Muslims that live in Canada, saying, "We are with you."

Trump called Trudeau to express condolences to the Canadian people and to offer any assistance that might be needed, Trudeau's office said.

The victims were fathers, businessmen, a university professor and others who had gathered for evening prayers, said Mohamed Labidi, the vice-president of the mosque where the attack happened.

"'It's a very, very big tragedy for us," Labidi said through tears. We have a sadness we cannot express."

Labidi said the victims were shot in the back.

"Security at our mosque was our major, major concern," he said. 'But we were caught off guard."

The shooting took place just before 8 p.m. Sunday. Witnesses described chaos as worshippers scrambled to find friends and loved ones, while police responding to the scene and called for backup.

Canada is generally very welcoming toward immigrants and all religions, but the French-speaking province of Quebec has had a long-simmering debate about race and religious accommodation. The previous separatist government of the province called for a ban on ostentatious religious symbols such as the hijab in public institutions.

Couillard said he would "not go there" when asked if he blamed rhetoric in in the U.S.

"Quebec is a good, generally loving society but we have these devils as other societies have. We have to recognize that and fight them," Couillard said. The premier and Muslim leaders held hands at a press conference in Quebec City.

In the summer of 2016 a pig's head was left on the doorstep of the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in the middle of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. Practicing Muslims do not eat pork.

"The Muslim community was the target of this murderous attack," Couillard said. He said solidarity rallies would be held across Quebec on Monday.

Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume, appearing shaken, said, "No person should have to pay with their life, for their race, their color, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs," Labeaume said.

Ali Hamadi said he left the mosque a few minutes before the shooting and said a friend, Abdelkrim Hassen was killed. He said Hassen, who worked in information technology for the government, had three daughters and a wife, whom he had to notify of the death.

Majdi Dridi of the Muslim Association of Canada said he knew two of the victims.

One was a work colleague who was a father of three little girls, he said.

"I don't know what to say, I just hope that his family and his children can have the patience to accept what happened," Dridi said

Quebec City police spokesman Constable Pierre Poirier said the mosque had been evacuated and the situation was under control.

Trudeau had earlier reacted to Trump's visa ban for people from some Muslim-majority countries by tweeting Saturday: "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada."

Trudeau also posted a picture of himself greeting a Syrian child at Toronto's airport in late 2015. Trudeau oversaw the arrival of more than 39,000 Syrian refugees soon after he was elected.

The mayor of Gatineau, Quebec, near Canada's capital of Ottawa, said there would be an increased police presence at mosques around his city following the attack.

The New York Police Department also said it was stepping up patrols at mosques and other houses of worship.

UMass has 2,862 international students under university immigration sponsorship, and is sponsoring an additional 500 international scholars and employees.

AMHERST -- University of Massachusetts officials are trying to help three people with ties to the school who have been barred from entering the country by an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump. 

Trump on Friday signed an order barring nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The order also banned refugees from entering the country for 120 days, and halted the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely.

According to a statement from UMass spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski, the school's International Programs Office is in contact with two students from Iran, and a visiting scholar from Syria, "to help them assess the president's order and what means they might pursue to gain legal entry to the United States."

The office is also providing support and regular updates on immigration matters to international students, he said.

UMass has 2,862 international students under university immigration sponsorship, and is sponsoring an additional 500 international scholars and employees, he said.

Among the international students are77 Iranian nationals, two graduate students from Syria and one graduate student from Sudan.

In a statement, Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy said international students, faculty and staff are "deeply valued members" of the campus community. 

"As we grapple with many fundamental questions that go to the heart of our ideals as Americans and our role in the world, I want to make clear that we will do everything within our legal and moral authority to protect our community members, no matter their national origin, race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity or immigration status," Subbaswamy said.

In February 2015, the university implemented a policy halting the admission of Iranian national students to specific programs in the College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences, citing a law Congress enacted in 2012. 

The school based the policy on the "Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012," which excludes citizens of Iran from education in the United States if they plan to focus on nuclear- and, more broadly, energy-related research in Iran.

After an outcry, the university reversed the policy later that month and Subbaswamy took responsibility for the original decision.

Amherst College, meanwhile, is advising students, faculty and staff from who live in the countries named in the ban not to travel outside of the U.S. 

In a message to the college community, officials are advising students from those countries, including people who are dual citizens or have green cards, not to travel outside of the U.S. 

In a statement, college officials reported they have "personally contacted those members of the community we believe may be directly affected, but there may be others whom we have not reached."

 According to the college website, international students account for about 10 percent of the school's enrollment.

The UMass Sanctuary Campus group is sponsoring an organizing gathering Friday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Student Union.

After a rally, the group plans to organize for a larger action planned for Feb 8 involving other institutions and communities at large.

"The motorcycle came around my car (and) over the double yellow line and cut in front of me, striking the pickup," Patricia Arnone wrote in a statement submitted by the defense.

SPRINGFIELD - A judge has eased bail conditions for a Springfield man after his lawyer claimed he was not to blame for an accident that killed a motorcyclist and his passenger last year.

Steven Thompson

In a motion submitted last week, defense lawyer Joseph Franco said the motorcyclist was operating recklessly when he struck a pickup driven by Steven C. Thompson on May 12.

Thompson, 24, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol after allegedly turning his truck into the path of the oncoming motorcycle around 10 p.m. at a Parker Street intersection.

Killed were Kyle S. Chapdelaine, 23, and his passenger, Julisa Diaz, 22, who was scheduled to graduate in three days from Springfield College. Thompson, a landscaper, was released on $2,500 bail with conditions that included observing a curfew and abstaining from alcohol and drugs.

During a hearing in Springfield District Court, Franco submitted a statement from a witness claiming the motorcycle was speeding and operating recklessly when it collided with Thompson's vehicle at Parker Street and Gary Road.

"The motorcycle came around my car (and) over the double yellow line and cut in front of me, striking the pickup," Patricia Arnone, of Springfield, wrote in the statement. She was waiting at a traffic light at the intersection when collision took place, Arnone said.

A nurse who lived nearby tried to help the victims and later told Arnone that both were wearing earbuds at the time of the crash, Arnone said.

Another witness told Arnone that Thompson had done nothing wrong and "the motorcycle went through the red light and struck the truck," Arnone said.

Thompson showed no signs of intoxication while speaking to her and others at the scene, Arnone wrote. "He appeared to be fine when he spoke to me. The next day, I read the article (about the accident) in the paper and said 'This is all wrong,'" she added.

Police, meanwhile, concluded the motorcycle was speeding at the time of the crash, but said Thompson's delayed response time made the accident unavoidable, according to an accident summary included in the case file.

"If vehicle 1 (Thompson's truck) he had not turned and waited another second or two, vehicle 2 (the motorcycle) would have passed and the accident would not have occurred," Springfield R. Kalin wrote.

At the crash scene, Thompson allegedly told police he drank a few beers five hours earlier. He performed poorly on a field sobriety test and later refused to take a blood alcohol test, according to the arrest report.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Charles W. Groce III kept the bail at $2,500, but eliminated Thompson's curfew, travel restrictions and a requirement for regular reporting to his probation officer.

He continued the case for a pretrial hearing on March 29.

Western New England University School of Law is already hosting weekly sessions on Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.

SPRINGFIELD -- The Western New England University School of Law, which already is hosting weekly sessions on Donald Trump's first 100 days in office, will host a forum on immigration law Friday.

Set for 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Blake Law Center, the event will feature Deirdre Griffin, program director for New Americans, Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts; Kathryn Buckley-Brawner, executive director of Catholic Charities Agency in Springfield, Bill Newman,  an attorney and director of the Western Massachusetts Legal Office of the ACLU; and Springfield City Councilor Michael Fenton.

The symposium, according to a press release, will cover how communities in Western Massachusetts might be affected by recently announced travel and immigration bans targeting those in some majority Muslim countries.

Sudha N. Setty, associate dean for faculty development and intellectual life and professor of law, will moderate.

The forum is free and open to the public.

All three were released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 6.

SUFFIELD - Police arrested three men over the weekend and charged them with drunken driving, one of whom is also accused of causing an accident.

Michael DiRosa, 35, of Enfield, was charged with operating under the influence of liquor or drugs, failure to drive a reasonable distance apart, failure to obey control signals and refusal to submit to breath chemical analysis test at about 9:50 p.m. on Friday, Suffield Police Capt. Christopher McKee said.

Police initially responded to an accident on East Street North and Thompsonville Road. When they arrived they found DiRosa had allegedly hit one car and that vehicle drove into a third vehicle. Officers then arrested DiRosa, who was later released on $1,000 bail, McKee said.

On Sunday police also arrested two Western Massachusetts residents on drunken driving charges. All three are scheduled to appear in Enfield Superior Court on Feb. 6, McKee said.

Just before 2 a.m. police stopped Liam Kelly, 25, of Springfield on Babbs Road for failing to drive within the lines. Officers determined Kelly appeared to be intoxicated and charged him with operating under the influence of liquor and failure to drive in a proper lane. He was released on $1,000 bail, McKee said.

Later, at about 11:50 p.m. Sunday, police arrested Gary Liquori, 64, of Southwick, and charged him with operating under the influence of liquor, improper parking and refusal to submit to a breath test. Officers initially responded to the area near 900 North Stone Street for a report of a car parked in the center of the road with its lights on. After talking to the operator, police arrested the driver. Liquori was later released on $2,500 bail, McKee said.

But the Republican governor would not oppose the idea of some form of temporary travel ban.

BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday criticized the process by which President Donald Trump implemented his executive orders on refugees this weekend, although Baker would not oppose the idea of some form of temporary travel ban.

"Presidents at various times over the course of a lot of years, Republicans and Democrats, have temporarily put in place travel bans. That's not unheard of," Baker said, speaking on WGBH's Boston Public Radio with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. Baker noted that some of the countries included in Trump's order -- which covers Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq -- were also countries of concern for the previous administration of President Barack Obama.

But Baker, a Republican, said past presidents have established frameworks and processes so people understood what was going on. Trump's orders went into effect with no warning, so individuals with valid immigration visas who were in transit were stopped and detained when they landed at U.S. airports.

Trump officials originally said the ban applied to green card holders, but later walked that back, after federal judges stayed portions of Trump's orders.

"I talked to people who had gotten on a plane, legal residents who had green cards, had been here years and years and were part of our communities," Baker said. "Their families were worried about whether they would be able to get off the plane when they got to Logan."

Baker added, "Some people weren't sure if they should get on a plane to fly back from some of these countries even though they were here for years and years and years."

Baker said Trump has a right to review the vetting process for Syrian and other refugees, but "that ought to be a public and reasonably transparent process with a beginning and end date and a decision at the end of it."

Baker's comments were similar to those he made Sunday, when he stressed Massachusetts' role as a "global community" that benefits from business and academic relationships with people from all over the world. Baker said he spent time this weekend talking to people in the health care, human services, education and business communities about what the implications of Trump's order are for Massachusetts.

Baker said he hopes the courts will be an arbiter of some of the issues that have been raised. His administration is working with Attorney General Maura Healey on a legal brief she plans to file before a federal judge in Boston who put a week-long hold on Trump's executive order detaining immigrants from the seven countries. Baker also plans to raise his own concerns about the implications for Massachusetts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Some Democrats criticized Baker for not attending a rally against Trump's orders in Boston on Sunday. Baker said he sees his role as making sure people can protest peacefully and safely. He also has to focus on representing Massachusetts' interests before the Trump administration, in areas such as health care and transportation funding.

"I've got to make sure we represent our interests strategically and forcefully in Washington with Washington, where we have tremendous interests," Baker said.

With uncertainty about to what extent Trump's ban is meant to target Muslims, Baker said as he has in the past, "I don't believe we should be discriminating against religions with respect to who can get in and who can't get in this country."

Baker also said he does not believe an "indefinite prohibition" on types of immigration makes sense.

Rosenberg called Trump's actions on refugees "shameful."

Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, on Monday called President Donald Trump's actions on refugees "shameful."

Rosenberg, who is Massachusetts' first Jewish Senate president, compared Trump's actions to the precursor of the Holocaust.

"Incremental actions such as these, undermining human rights and civil liberties, started Germany down a road that led to one of the darkest periods in history," Rosenberg said in a statement.

Trump on Friday announced a ban for 90 days on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim counties and a suspension for 120 days of a program allowing any Syrian refugees into the country. Administration officials originally said the policy applies to green card holders from those seven countries but later walked that back.

Rosenberg's full statement is as follows:

"It is shameful that the President of the United States has unleashed a wave of fear across the country with an executive order to deny lawful residents their constitutionally guaranteed rights. I am proud that it was a federal judge in Massachusetts who issued the broadest restraining order against such a cowardly act, and I am proud that lawyers are advising clients with green cards to fly into our airport, Logan International.

It is distressing that President Trump would do this at all, but to do it on January 27^th, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is unconscionable. Incremental actions such as these, undermining human rights and civil liberties, started Germany down a road that led to one of the darkest periods in history. This is about the erosion, over time, of people's basic rights and human dignity. 

We cannot be silent in the face of even the smallest acts which undermine the constitutional rights guaranteed for the people by the wise, humanitarian framers of the United States Constitution and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights."

Gonzalez, a Democrat, launched his gubernatorial campaign against Baker on Monday.

BOSTON -- As Jay Gonzalez, a Democrat and former president and CEO of CeltiCare Health, launched his 2018 campaign for governor, Gov. Charlie Baker told him to "hop in" the race.

Baker, speaking on WGBH's Boston Public Radio with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on Monday, said deciding to run for statewide office is a personal decision that is not easy.

"If you have something to say and a message to deliver and you believe in what you might be able to do to make this state better, by all means hop in," Baker said. "That's the way it's supposed to work."

Baker, a Republican, called Gonzalez, who was former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick's budget chief, a "good guy." Asked whether he would make a good governor, Baker quipped, "I don't think he'd be better than me."

Gonzalez formally launched his campaign on Monday. He faces a likely Democratic primary against Newton Mayor Setti Warren, although Warren has not officially announced yet.

Gonzalez, in his announcement, called Baker a "status quo, wait and see Governor."

Baker, on WGBH, cited his work reforming the Department of Children and Families, fixing the MBTA, moving homeless families out of hotels, closing a budget deficit and fixing the broken Massachusetts Health Connector. "I'll put our record up against anybody's," Baker said.

Former President George H.W. Bush was released Monday from Houston Methodist Hospital where he received treatment for pneumonia for more than two weeks.

By MICHAEL GRACZYK ,  Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) -- Former President George H.W. Bush was released Monday from Houston Methodist Hospital where he received treatment for pneumonia for more than two weeks.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement Monday supporting ongoing demonstrations across the country, in the wake of mass protests against President Donald Trump's order banning entry to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending refugee admissions.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement Monday supporting ongoing demonstrations across the country, in the wake of mass protests against President Donald Trump's order banning entry to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending refugee admissions.

"Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in the statement.

Politico reports that it is Obama's first public statement since leaving office.

Frm Pres @BarackObama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. pic.twitter.com/X5Fk3xRDEX

-- Kevin Lewis (@KLewis44) January 30, 2017

Trump's order banned entry in the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days, in what the White House described as a preliminary step in developing "extreme vetting" procedures to weed out potential security threats. The order also suspended the country's refugee program for 120 days, and banned the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely.

But the ban, which went into effect immediately on Friday, also affected hundreds of legal permanent residents and visa-holders who landed at U.S. airports in the hours after the order was enacted.

Thousands of protesters and volunteer lawyers rushed to international airports across the country in efforts to halt the detention and deportation of travelers whose documentation had, in some cases, been rendered invalid while they were in transit.

In Massachusetts, demonstrators crowded the international arrivals terminal of Logan airport, and thousands rallied against the order in Copley Square on Sunday.

A series of federal legal decisions over the weekend granted temporary stays to deportations under the order, and the Department of Homeland Security released a statement Sunday saying that it would abide by orders while continuing to prevent travelers excluded under the ban from boarding flights to the U.S.

Trump has said that his order was similar to an Obama administration slowdown of Iraqi refugee applications in 2011.

Obama foreign policy advisor Ben Rhodes rejected the comparison on Twitter, saying that the 2011 case was a reduction due to a specific threat while vetting was improved, not a total ban that included not just refugees but all travelers and visa-holders from seven countries.

1/3) There was no 2011 ban on Iraqis. There was no Executive Order. In response to specific threat, additional vetting was added

-- Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) January 30, 2017

And Obama's statement appeared to respond to that claim, without specifically referencing Trump or the executive order.

"With regard to comparisons to President Obama's foreign policy decisions, as we've heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," Lewis said in Monday's statement.

David Howard is the second man charged with tampering with evidence and hindering police in the investigation of Allen's homicide.

The Connecticut State Police announced they have made their third arrest in connection with the investigation of the homicide of Todd "T.J." Allen, the 18-year-old Sterling man who was found stabbed to death 18 days after being reported missing. 

Connecticut State Police 

Police said that on Monday announced the arrest of David Howard, 19, of Sterling for his involvement in the case. He was charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution, and interfering with a police officer.

He was booked at the state police Troop D barracks in Danielson, and then released on $125,000 bail. He is due to appear in Danielson Superior Court on Feb. 10.

His arrest comes one day after another Sterling man, Dustin Warren, 18, was arrested for the same charges.

Another Sterling man, Kevin Weismore, 19, was arrested on Jan. 15 and charged with murder and tampering with evidence.

Kevin Weismore, 19, of 61 Laiho Road, Sterling, was arrested. He faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence, police said.

Allen was last seen alive on Dec. 26 when he left his home on a dirtbike to go for a ride in the woods near his house. He never returned.

His family contacted police and initiated a missing persons search involving mutiple agenices. The search lasted 18 days until Allen's body was found in some woods. An autopsy determined he had been stabbed multiple times.

Michael F. Case also resigned from his board position at the Holyoke Soldiers Home, according to the Boston Globe,

George Graham | ggraham@repub.com 

PITTSFIELD -- Michael F. Case, the western regional director for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, resigned from his post last week after supervisors found pornography on his office computer, according to the Boston Globe.

Case submitted his resignation after DCR Commissioner Leo Roy confronted him in the agency's Pittsfield office on Thursday, according to the Globe article, which cites two sources "knowledgable about the situation.

The following day, Case resigned from his board position at Holyoke Soldiers Home, the Globe reported.

Case was paid $91,000 a year for the DCR position. He did not respond to the Globe's request for comment.

The report says city government cannot impact the rents landlords charge tenants, but nonetheless encourages "landlords to show restraint regarding rents."

NORTHAMPTON - After nearly a year of reflection on how to improve the city's economy that included numerous public forums to elicit feedback, the City Council is scheduled to review its final report on the matter at Thursday's meeting.

Among the items discussed, the report says "Northampton's downtown is the envy of almost all other cities our size," and more could be done to tout that.

City Councilors Gina-Louise Sciarra, Dennis Bidwell, Maureen Carney and Alisa Klein prepared the report.

"(The) Committee heard considerable commentary expressing concerns about the state of Northampton's downtown economy, ranging from the number of retail vacancies and high rents on Main Street, to the effects of e-retail and the looming Springfield casino project," the report says.

The document says city government cannot impact the rents landlords charge tenants, but nonetheless encourages "landlords to show restraint regarding rents."

The report addressed the ongoing concern of people at risk, some of whom frequently ask shoppers for money in the downtown area.

"The Committee heard a great deal of commentary from a broad range of downtown stakeholders over multiple meetings on the topic of the at-risk and marginalized downtown populations and solicitation for money, or 'panhandling,'" the report says.

"The complexity of this issue, and the extreme sensitivity required to address it, was made clear. As a committee, we are committed to the constitutionally-protected rights of all people in public spaces, and recognize the contributions of all to the fabric and vibrancy of our community. We recognize the impact the opioid crisis is having on the at-risk community, and how potential cuts to social services in federal and state funding may expand that community."

The City Council's Feb. 2 meeting at the Walter J. Puchalski Municipal Building, 212 Main St., begins at 7 p.m.

No one was reported injured in the shooting, police said.

Patrick Johnson | pjohnson@repub.com 

SPRINGFIELD - Police responded to Keith Street Monday afternoon for a report of shots being fired and striking a house, police said.

Police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney said there were no reports of anyone being struck by gun fire.

There have been no arrests, but police are continuing to investigate.

Delaney said it is not clear if the house was specifically targeted.

Keith Street runs between Dickinson Street and Belmont Avenue.

Jonathan Brito pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute after being stopped on May 14, 2015, in Longmeadow.

The exterior of the Hampden County Hall of Justice is seen Saturday evening, April 25. (Dwight B. Shepard / The Republican)Dwight B. Shepard / The Republican 

SPRINGFIELD -- Jonathan Brito was traveling from New York to school at Keene State College on May 14, 2015, when Massachusetts State Police stopped him for speeding on Interstate 91 north in Longmeadow.

Police smelled burned marijuana and saw Brito's hands shaking in the 7:30 p.m. stop, Assistant District Attorney Ingrid E. Frau said Monday in Hampden Superior court.

Brito, 23, allowed a police request to search his car, Frau said, and they found two Mason jars of marijuana, $1,000 in cash and 29 grams of cocaine.

Brito pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. He had been charged with trafficking cocaine in the amount of 18 to 36 grams, but that charge was reduced as part of the plea agreement.

Judge Daniel A. Ford accepted defense lawyer Joseph M. Pacella's recommendation and sentenced Brito to two years probation.

Brito agreed to forfeit the $1,000 police found in the car.

Frau had asked for a 21/2-year sentence, with that sentence suspended and probation for two years.

Brito was expelled from Keene State when he was arrested but is finishing his degree at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut, Pacella said. He said Brito has been working since his arrest and is "entirely remorseful" for his actions.

The teen is not cooperating with police about who shot him, Sgt. John Delaney said.

Patrick Johnson | pjohnson@repub.com 

SPRINGFIELD - A 17-year-old boy on Monday afternoon was hit in the shoulder by a gunshot fired from a passing car oin Keith Street, police said.

The teen, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to Baystate Medical Center by ambulance, said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney.

The injury is not considered life-threatening, he said.

The boy is not being very cooperative with police about who shot him, Delaney said.

Delaney said initially that no one was injured in the shooting, and that just a house was struck.

Police found one shell casing in front of 28 Keith St.

Detectives with the department's Major Crime Unit are investigating.

Delaney said there have been no arrests.

Keith Street runs between Belmont Avenue and Dickinson Street in the Forest Park neighborhood.

First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne disputed statements made by John Lysak last week regarding the outcome of the case.

NORTHAMPTON -- A top prosecutor in the Northwestern district attorney's office said Monday that former Springfield City Councilor John Lysak was using "alternative facts" when he told The Republican he did not admit to inappropriately touching a girl during a 2014 camping trip in Goshen.

"Lysak's after-the-fact denial that he admitted inappropriately touching the young victim is belied by the record, and a blatant example of 'alternative facts,'" said Steven E. Gagne, first assistant district attorney.

The Republican reported Friday that Lysak's criminal case ended when he admitted to facts sufficient for a guilty finding on a reduced charge of committing an unnatural lascivious act with a child under 16. The original charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 was dismissed in the plea deal.

Lysak, quoted in that story, said: "There was no admission to touching the young woman. I never admitted that."

Gagne said an excerpt of the official transcript of the plea proceeding shows Lysak "did more than simply acknowledge that there were sufficient facts upon which the judge could find him guilty."

In that transcript, provided to The Republican, Assistant District Attorney Linda Pisano, prosecuting the case, describes the case against Lysak, including details about Lysak touching the girl underneath her clothing.

According to Gagne, after the prosecutor described the incident, "the judge turned to Lysak and asked him a very simple question: 'Are those facts true.'"

"Lysak's answer (Yes, your Honor.") speaks for itself," Gagne said.

Lysak, contacted by phone on Monday, stated again it was his belief that he was not admitting to the facts themselves -- instead, he said, he was admitting it was possible a jury could find him guilty of those facts. 

Gagne said the official court transcript tells otherwise.

A partial transcript of the case relays a series of questions from the judge and Lysak's answers. The exchange followed Pisano's summary of the incident:

Q: Mr. Lysak, did you hear ADA Pisano earlier summarize the facts of this case?
A: Yes, Your Honor.
Q: Did you understand what she said?
A: Yes, Your Honor.
Q: Are those facts true?
A: Yes, Your Honor.
Q: Are you pleading guilty to this District Attorney's complaint?
A: Yes, Your Honor.
Q: Are you doing so - excuse me. Strike that. Are you admitting that there's sufficient facts to find you guilty on the District Attorney's complaint?
A: Yes, Your Honor.
Q: Are you doing so freely?
A: Yes, Your Honor.

The transcript continues with Lysak saying the admission was done willingly, and that he was not forced or threatened. It continues:

Q: Other than counsel's plea negotiations, has anyone promised you anything in exchange for doing so?
A: No, Your Honor.

Lysak said he was advised by his lawyer, Daniel Kelly, that he was pleading to sufficient facts for a guilty finding. Lysak further said that he agreed to the plea for his children, to spare them from having to take the stand in a trial. He also said he has been in a long custody dispute with his ex-wife.

Hampshire Superior Court Judge Mark Mason continued Lysak's case without a finding for two years, during which time Lysak will be on probation, according to a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.

The agreement terminated a scheduled trial in Hampshire Superior Court.

As travelers were detained at the airport, protests have erupted nationwide and federal judges have stayed some of Trump's orders.

Since President Donald Trump released his executive orders regarding refugees on Friday, protests have erupted nationwide and federal judges have stayed some of the orders. Here's a primer on what has happened so far and what to look out for next.

Here's what has happened so far:

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order on immigration. The order primarily does three things:

• It bars travel into the U.S. for 90 days by non-U.S. citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.
• It suspends for 120 days the admission of all refugees into the U.S.
• It suspends indefinitely a program allowing refugees fleeing Syria's civil war to enter.

On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said the order barring entry from the seven countries also included green card holders -- those people with immigration visas that allow them to live in the U.S. and travel overseas.

By Saturday, individuals already in transit when the executive orders were signed were being detained at airports around the country. Lawyers from the ACLU and elsewhere challenged the orders in court.

Over the weekend, four federal judges -- including one in Boston -- put in place temporary stays banning deportations and delaying portions of Trump's order. The ruling by the Boston judge delayed Trump's order banning travel from the seven countries, which means individuals from those places will be allowed to fly into Logan Airport for the next week.

Some, but not all, of those detained were released from custody over the weekend. One of the men detained and then released was Hameed Darweesh, who worked as an interpreter for U.S. forces during the Iraq War.

Trump's executive order sparked protests nationwide, including at Logan Airport and in Boston's Copley Square.

On Sunday, Trump officials said the policies would not block travel by green card holders from the seven countries.

Here's what to look for next:

The judicial stays are only temporary, so watch for final rulings on Trump's orders in the upcoming weeks. In addition, the stays mostly affect people with legal immigrant visas who are being detained at airports. They generally do not hinder Trump's broader suspension of the refugee programs.

Trump has said he will keep the policies in place until his administration can develop better vetting policies. So far, it is not known what these vetting policies will look like.

With Congress returning to Washington after the weekend, Democrats are likely to introduce bills to overturn Trump's orders. The question is whether any of the Republicans who control the House and the Senate will go along with them.

Politically, expect more debate on whether Trump's ban is actually a "Muslim ban," as he talked about on the campaign trail. Although the travel ban applies to all residents of these seven countries regardless of religion, Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani has said publicly that Trump asked a commission to develop a "Muslim ban" that can be done legally.

At the time of the accident, Wayne E. Main did not have a license to drive and had been declared legally blind years earlier.

Patrick Johnson | pjohnson@repub.com 

NORTHAMPTON - A 73-year-old Middlefield man, charged with driving a vehicle involved in a 2016 Huntington accident that killed a 22-year-old motorcycle operator, entered an innocent plea on Monday at his arraignment in Hampshire Superior Court.

Wayne E. Main is charged with manslaughter and negligent motor vehicle homicide in the Feb. 20 accident that claimed the life of Kenneth DeJordy of Huntington.

According to the office of Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan, Main did not have a valid license to drive, and years prior to the accident had been found to be legally blind.

Main was driving west on Route 20, also known as Russell Road, just before 2 p.m. when he turned into the path of DeJordy's motorcycle. DeJordy, who was driving eastbound, was unable to stop and collided with Main's vehicle.

Main is due back in court for a pre-trial conference on May 31.

DeJordy, a graduate of Westfield Vocation High School, was working as an electrician for Elm Electric at the time of his death, according to his obituary.

Of two houses that were cited for code violations in Springfield's Forest Park neighborhood, one landlord reached a Housing Court agreement and the second house remained under a condemnation order.

SPRINGFIELD -- A recent city sweep that resulted in code violations filed against the owners of two Forest Park homes has resulted in agreements reached in one case and a continuation of a condemnation order regarding the other house.

The city had filed civil complaints last week in Western Division Housing Court against the owners of houses at 47-49 Draper St. and at 39 Forest Park Ave., claiming there were code violations and fire hazards in the buildings.

On Friday, Judge Dina E. Fein issued an order that the tenants of the Draper Street house must vacate as ordered by the city and could not reoccupy until the condemnation order is lifted.

The house was re-inspected Monday, and the condemnation order was not lifted, said Michael K. Roche, associate city solicitor.

The case is scheduled to be heard again on Tuesday in Housing Court.

"Unless the mortgagee is present (Tuesday) and assumes responsibility for the property, our next step will be asking for an order to keep the property vacant and secure while the city files a motion to appoint a receiver," Roche said.

A receiver, if appointed by the court, would take control of the property under general guidelines for receivers.

According to city officials, conditions in the Draper Street house included: "no gas, no electricity, missing/defective smoke/carbon-monoxide detectors, non-functioning lights, exposed wires, missing/defective outlets, broken windows, temporary wiring, 1st floor front and rear blocked egress, maintenance of land violations, missing gutters" and a second floor porch in need of repairs.

The owner, listed as Alycia A. Drake, had stated that she believed the property had been foreclosed at some point last year, Roche said.

"Both she and the occupants represented that there was no tenancy relationship, and they had never paid her any rent." Roche said. "The occupants also represented that they had conducted repairs and they believe the condemnation should be lifted."

The judge called for the re-inspection, resulting in the continuation of the condemnation order Monday and case being scheduled to return to court on Tuesday.

Regarding the property on Forest Park Avenue, Roche said that the owner, listed as Julio Carangui, reached a formal agreement in court not to allow anyone to live in an illegal third floor apartment in that house. The apartment had been condemned by the city.

Under a "cash for keys" agreement, tenants of the third floor apartment agreed to vacate in exchange for a set amount of money. Two tenants accepted a sum of $600 and a third tenant also had a cash agreement beforehand, according to the court agreement.

In a separate agreement between the owner and the city, the owner agreed to have all emergency violations on the first and second floors corrected by Feb. 1, with a court appearance to follow, Roche said.

David Cotter, the city's director of housing code enforcement, had called the third-floor apartment a "fire trap" with deadbolt locks on all doors and no working smoke detectors.