Why is the city of Boston honoring the New England Patriots with a Super Bowl 2017 victory parade on Tuesday as forecasters are telling us to expect snow? Watch video

Why is the city of Boston honoring the New England Patriots with a Super Bowl 2017 victory parade on Tuesday as forecasters are telling us to expect snow?

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh acknowledged that his office has received questions about the issue, with some asking why the parade can't be held on Wednesday, when better weather is likely.

"Quite honestly, the bottom line answer is because of the players," Walsh told reporters in a briefing on Monday afternoon. "A lot of the players take off. They come in today, they go to Foxborough tonight, they start to pack up their lockers."

Walsh, a longtime Patriots fan, added: "They've been playing now, some of them, for six to eight months, and they leave town Wednesday. So their vacation starts Wednesday. So we wouldn't have the amount of players that we would have otherwise if we didn't do the parade tomorrow."

Patriots Super Bowl 2017 Parade: Route, details, map

A Wednesday parade would lead to plenty of "duck boats and no players," according to Walsh.

The parade route mirrors the route for the 2015 victory parade, going from Boylston Street to Copley Square, then taking a left on Tremont. The parade stops at Boston City Hall Plaza.

Walsh said he is expecting snow, mixing with sleet and transitioning to rain. The snow is expected to start falling before the parade starts at 11 a.m. The route is expected to be closed to traffic starting at 9 a.m.

Walsh urged attendees to wear waterproof clothes and take the MBTA.

MBTA providing rush hour level of service during 2017 victory parade for Patriots

Baker won his Super Bowl bet with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, and plans to donate his winnings - Brunswick stew and other Georgia-produced goodies - to a local food pantry.

BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker plans to meet the New England Patriots at Logan Airport on Monday afternoon, welcoming them back to Massachusetts after their historic Super Bowl victory Sunday night.

The Patriots were the first team ever to come back from a 25-point deficit in a Super Bowl, and they won the game in overtime, 34-28 over the Atlanta Falcons.

"If you were a New England fan, it was thrilling and energetic and wonderful," Baker said, speaking to reporters at the Statehouse while wearing a Patriots tie. "If you're an Atlanta fan, it was probably one of the longest 22 minutes of your life."

"Obviously, I think it just showed that the Patriots have instilled a certain sense of mental toughness and never say die in their organization that really served them well," Baker said.

Baker also plans to attend a rally for the Patriots at City Hall on Tuesday.

Baker bet on the Super Bowl with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, with the losing governor obligated to send some locally produced treats to the winner. Deal now owes Baker Brunswick stew, chocolate-covered blueberries and an apple pie. Baker said Monday that he will give the food to a local food pantry.

The Massachusetts Senate last week passed a resolution opposing Trump's order on immigrants and refugees.

BOSTON -- Massachusetts House Democrats are planning a caucus this week to talk about what they can do about Republican President Donald Trump.

"Folks really want to talk about this and want to talk about what we could do as a commonwealth, how we could express our displeasure with some of the actions of the president," said House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop.

House Democrats meet regularly during the legislative session to discuss upcoming bills. DeLeo said he saw at last week's caucus that members were very interested in discussing the actions of Trump, such as the recent temporary travel ban Trump imposed on residents of seven predominantly Muslim countries and his temporary suspension of the U.S refugee program. A federal judge has put an emergency stay on Trump's order.

The Massachusetts Senate last week passed a resolution opposing Trump's order on immigrants and refugees.

Obviously, state lawmakers have little power over the federal government. But DeLeo said there is the possibility of passing a non-binding resolution. There also may be some areas where the state can have control, such as forbidding state prisoners to travel out-of-state to build Trump's proposed wall on the Mexican border, as one county sheriff has proposed.

Sarno declined comment on the circumstances of her resignation, calling it a "personnel matter."

SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said Monday that he has accepted the resignation of Springfield Elder Affairs Director Janet Rodriguez Denney.

In response to an inquiry from The Republican, Sarno said Rodriguez-Denney "tendered her resignation, which has been accepted."

Rodriguez-Denney, reached for comment, said she is looking forward to new opportunities, but was not specific.

"I am very proud of my years of service, and I am looking forward to new opportunities," Rodriguez-Denney said. "I have enjoyed working for the elders of the city of Springfield and our mayor."

She worked as elder affairs director for more than 10 years.

Sarno declined further comment on the resignation, saying it is a "personnel matter."

"I'll review with Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris for an interim director and explore options for a permanent replacement ASAP," Sarno said.

Rodriguez-Denney's supervisor, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen R. Caulton-Harris, was not immediately available for comment.

The Department of Elder Affairs/Council on Aging (COA) mission is to " improve and enhance the quality of life for elder residents in Springfield," according to the city's website. "It advocates, plans, develops, coordinates and provides social services as well as information and referral services for Springfield's elder citizens."

People heading into Boston on Tuesday for the New England Patriots victory parade should refrain from publicly drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, Mayor Marty Walsh warned at a briefing ahead of the celebration. Watch video

People heading into Boston on Tuesday for the New England Patriots victory parade should refrain from publicly drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, Mayor Marty Walsh warned at a briefing ahead of the celebration.

The mayor said there is "zero tolerance" for public drinking or smoking amid the festivities planned for Tuesday.

"This is going to turn into somewhat of a family day, a lot of young people are going to be out there, we want to set positive examples," Walsh told reporters during an afternoon briefing on the parade.

Massachusetts voters legalized marijuana for recreational use through a November 2016 ballot question, but it remains illegal to smoke the substance in public.

Patriots Super Bowl 2017 Parade: Route, details, map

The parade is scheduled to go up Boylston Street to Copley Square and then to Tremont Street. The parade takes a left on Tremont and keeps going to Boston City Hall Plaza.

The weather is likely to be snow, mixing with sleet, and then turning to rain. Walsh urged attendees to wear waterproof clothes and to take public transportation.

With snow expected, why is Boston having the Patriots victory parade on Tuesday?

He also asked parade-goers to behave themselves: Don't climb on statues, electrical boxes, poles and streetlights.

"If you do, the police will take appropriate action," he said.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans urged parade-goers to avoid bringing backpacks with them if they're heading into the city. Undercover cops will be in the crowds, he added.

"We're ready, we're geared up," he said.

MBTA providing rush hour service for Patriots victory parade

For the second time since 2014, Alan Danehy has won $1 million on a scratch ticket purchased from the same store in Billerica.

BILLERICA -- He might be the luckiest man in Massachusetts.

For the second time in two and a half years, Alan Danehy has won $1 million on a scratch ticket purchased from the same store in Billerica.

Danehy won his latest prize on the "$2,500,000 Holiday Magic" $10 instant game. He won $1 million in October 2014 on the "100X The Cash" $10 instant game, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery.

He bought both tickets at Bell Food Mart, which will again receive a $10,000 bonus from the sale.

Each time, Danehy chose to receive a lump sum of $650,000. He plans to use a portion of his winnings to buy a car.

One $2.5 million prize and four $1 million prizes remain in the "$2,500,000 Holiday Magic" instant game.

Photos of Western Massachusetts lottery winners

 

About 53,000 people who previously did not have insurance coverage enrolled in plans through the Massachusetts Health Connector during an open enrollment period that ended Jan. 31.

By Colin A. Young
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON, FEB. 6, 2017....About 53,000 people who previously did not have insurance coverage enrolled in plans through the Massachusetts Health Connector during an open enrollment period that ended Jan. 31 and more than 65,000 cost-conscious customers switched to new plans, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday.

Established following a 2006 health are access law and now in compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act, the Connector was set up to assist consumers without employer-sponsored coverage to shop for subsidized plans. People who enroll in plans through the Connector typically do not get insurance through two of the most common ways: through an employer-provided health plan or through MassHealth.

Enrollment as of Feb. 1 is greater than 246,000 people and is expected to top 250,000 by March 1 when new customers begin paying for their plans, state officials said. When the three-month open enrollment began in November, the Connector had 233,000 members.

"In a year in which they grew their enrollment by 50,000 lives and 70,000 people changed plans, they had a relatively uneventful and very positive open enrollment," Baker said.

Baker's visit to the Connector's offices Monday was about more than the stats associated with the most recent open enrollment. The visit gave Baker an opportunity to highlight the continuing turnaround at the agency, an accomplishment he has previously pointed to as one of his administration's finest.

Open enrollment has given the Connector and state government fits in previous years, including the disastrous 2013 rollout of a now-abandoned website intended to be compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

When he took office a little more than two years ago, the governor could feel people's "dissatisfaction, unhappiness and in many cases just misery" with dealing with the Health Connector. Baker recounted a meeting early in his term in which he and the Connector staff pledged to "work together, work hard, and work fast" to fix the Connector.

On Monday, he thanked the Connector employees for "relentless incrementalism" as they rebuild the Connector.

"There is a huge difference between going from, for all intents and purposes, inoperable which is where they started in the first year ... to get to the point where you're operable and then in the second year going from operable to actually pretty solid with respect to capacity to serve the folks who want to be served and deliver on the product," Baker said. "When you talk to these guys about what next year is going to be all about, it's a much more sophisticated and strategic set of objectives because the baseline, for all intents and purposes, has been pretty much dealt with and cleaned up."

Asked if he is confident that the structural problems with the Connector have been remedied appropriately, the governor said, "I think my answer to that would be yes."

The total enrollment of 246,000 as of Feb. 1 represents the highest level of coverage since the implementation of the ACA, Baker said, and is nearing the 252,000 high water mark the Connector hit before about 100,000 people became eligible for other coverage in 2014.

The 53,000 new Connector customers who enrolled through this open enrollment marks a 47 percent increase over last year's growth, the Connector said. And the 65,000 members -- or 28 percent -- who switched plans is four times higher than the typical 3-to-7 percent switch rate in previous years.

The Connector adopted the motto "stop, shop, enroll" for the most recent open enrollment, encouraging customers to shop around for the best plan in light of premiums increasing by an average of 19 percent for unsubsidized plans with some hikes as great as 47 percent.

The growth in new members was propelled by significant upticks in enrollment in communities with high uninsured populations. The Connector targeted communities like Brockton, Chelsea, Dorchester, Everett and Mattapan with outreach in non-English media, placing ads in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian creole, Vietnamese and Cambodian.

"We made significant inroads in ethnic media across a broad spectrum of languages ... we also expanded our on the ground grass roots efforts visiting churches, barber shops, English as a second language classes and other locations," Connector Executive Director Louis Gutierrez said. "In the end that work paid off. In the communities we targeted, our new enrollments increased 52 percent over last year, with some communities 60 or more higher than last year."

New enrollments were up 93 percent over last year in Mattapan, 85 percent in Brockton, 81 percent in Chelsea and 77 percent in Everett, Gutierrez said.

And the customer experience has also changed dramatically in the last two years, Gutierrez said. The average hold time for a phone call to the Connector was 27 minutes in February 2015, and was just 43 seconds in December 2016. The call abandonment rate -- the percentage of callers who hung up before resolving their issue -- was 40 percent in 2015 and less than 2 percent this open enrollment, and the customer satisfaction rate has climbed from 36 percent to 78 percent, he said.

The most recent estimate of the state's uninsured population, according to the U.S. Census Department, is 2.8 percent.

Sgt. John Delaney said the preliminary cause appears to be excessive speed.

SPRINGFIELD - Cottage Street has reopened to traffic following a fatal crash in which a car drove underneath the back of a tractor trailer.

The accident occurred in the area of 649 Cottage St. shortly before 4 a.m. on Monday. Drivers were asked to avoid the area throughout the morning.

A Mercedes sedan was traveling east when it slammed into the back of a tractor trailer that was pulling out of a parking lot. Sgt. John Delaney said the preliminary cause appears to be excess speed.

The driver of the sedan was killed. His identity is being withheld until his family is notified.

The driver of the truck was not hurt.

The accident is under investigation by Springfield police and Massachusetts State Police.

One speaker said that those to take to the streets to protest Trump are evenually going to need lawyers.

SPRINGFIELD - In what seems to be becoming a weekly occurrence, demonstrators gathered Monday afternoon in downtown Springfield to urge continued resistance to the policies and practices of the Trump administration.

The only difference with this and previous anti-Trump rallies was it was organized primarily by and for people who work in the legal community.

Assembling by the front entrance to the Hampden County Hall of Justice, approximately 50 people gathered to hold signs, chant and to vow to fight any effort by the Trump administration to roll back civil liberties.

There have been two prior rallies, on Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 on State Street in front of the offices of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey. 

A number of the speakers were lawyers, either in private practice or public defenders. So to were, according to a show of hands, members of the crowd.

The rally was sponsored by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the American Friends Service Committee, Black and Pink, Jobs with Justice, the Pioneer Valley Workers Center and the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Speakers included lawyers and public defencers, area facuty, politicans and a member of the clergy.

"These are dark times. There is no question. This is the time where we can be a proud to be part of the resistance," William Newman, a Northampton lawyer, and head of the Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The executive (branch) is not going to save liberty or democracy. The Congress is not going to save liberty or democracy. The last two weeks have demonstrated that," he said. "It's going to be the courts, the people, the media and the resistance that is going to save liberty and democracy."

Speakers criticized Trump for his executive orders targeting of immigrants and refugees from some predominantly Muslim countries, his call for construction of a wall along the Mexican border, and suggestions that he favors a rollback of legal protections for gay, lesbian and transgendered people.

One woman walking by was heard to shout that Trump won the election and all the demonstrators need to get over it.

Hampden County public defender Tracy Magdalene told the crowd "There are many in the legal community who stand united for human rights - and I mean everyone's human rights."

She said so far the Trump administration has shown itself to be "a racist, fascist, xenophobic, misogynist regime," and said "I fear it will only get worse."

She urged people to protest publicly in every legal means possible for the duration of the Trump presidency.

Magdalene said Trump likes to portray himself as being tough, but he really isn't.
Being tough, she said, means to "work hard, stand with people who are most vulnerable and to never give up until its morning again."

Tahira Amatul-Wadud, a local lawyer and a member of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, said anyone licensed to practice law in Massachusetts must take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Anyone who has taken the oath to uphold the law must be concerned with Trump's recent executive orders, she said.

"There's some obligation we have to resist what are definitely unfair acts occurring in this administration," she said.

Newman said people in the legal community can assist but not lead any opposition to Trump policies.

"Lawyers are not going to be the heroes. They never are," he said. "Lawyers play a part in social movements. They are the foot soldiers. Lawyers are the people who can help the heroes."

Joe Lazzerini, a political organizer for SEIU Local 888 said. "We have to stand up to Donald Trump and his deplorable policies."

"If any of you are like me, I know we're going to need the legal community over the next 4 years to resist him at every step of the way," he said.

Springfield K-9 Officer Gail Gethins reported to her superiors that her ex-boyfriend and former detective Steven Vigneault sent her amorous text messages Sunday evening.

SPRINGFIELD -- A show cause hearing scheduled in Springfield District Court may lead to a criminal charge against a former city police detective who allegedly violated a restraining order obtained by another officer, his former girlfriend.

Steven Vigneault -- a former cop who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against police and union officials after, he argues, he was coerced into resigning -- sent amorous texts to Officer Gail Gethins on Sunday night, according to police records.

The messages came in about two weeks after a judge granted Gethins an emergency restraining order. She argued Vigneault had been stalking her. Palmer District Court Judge Michael Mulcahy extended the short-term order for four months after a Jan. 30 hearing.

Gethins testified that Vigneault had followed her home and to her gym, even decorating her front porch for Christmas and leaving her unwanted gifts. A lawyer for Vigneault countered that Gethins was "an angry woman" who had been sending mixed messages and that his client never behaved threateningly. Defense attorney Shawn Allyn also argued that Gethins sought the order to besmirch Vigneault's credibility after he sued Police Commissioner John R. Barbieri and others.

Steven Vigneault in October 2016.Greg Saulmon / The Republican 

The abuse prevention order prohibits Vigneault from contacting Gethins in any way, even through a third party. But, just days after Mulcahy granted the extended order, Gethins reported to her superiors at the police department that she received the following messages from Vigneault:

"I love you!!" the first one read, according to a report.

"I will FOREVER!" a second one read, police stated.

An attorney for Vigneault did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Gethins. A spokesman for the police department declined comment.

A show cause hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 15, according to police.

The "love triangle" between Gethins, Vigneault and Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda -- whom Gethins dated before Vigneault -- has added an unseemly layer of drama to a larger controversy that has gripped the police department.

In his lawsuit filed in Hampden Superior Court, Vigneault argues he was run out of the department when Bigda, a former colleague in the Narcotics Unit, discovered Vigneault had begun dating his former girlfriend. Bigda drunkenly burst into Gethins' home early one morning in March, according to court records. He threatened both Vigneault and Gethins, according to their accounts. They have stated he was wearing a loaded gun during the incident, although Bigda has previously denied this through his attorney.

Vigneault has said that even though he and Gethins were victims of a home invasion, he was told to transfer out of narcotics while Bigda remained on a desk job. Bigda was suspended for 10 days over the incident, and then separately suspended for 60 days after video emerged of him threatening two of four juvenile suspects accused of stealing Vigneault's undercover SUV on Feb. 26, 2016. Vigneault had left the vehicle running outside a city pizza shop while he went in to retrieve a takeout order, and the teens were later arrested in Palmer after a chase involving Wilbraham, Palmer and state police. 

The Bigda videos -- which show him threatening the teens with violence and fake drug charges during an interrogation at Palmer police headquarters -- left his credibility as a potential witness in shambles and have become a gut shot to many drug prosecutions.

Vigneault also argued he was "bluffed" into resigning over an allegation that he kicked one of the young suspects. Vigneault denies kicking the boy, but said he quit under pressure from Barbieri and the union president, who threatened his pension and future in law enforcement.

Vigneault said Bigda is a favorite of the police brass and received kid-glove treatment even in the face of unarguably questionable judgment. Barbieri denies he has any affinity for Bigda in an affidavit filed in Superior Court.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Michael Callan denied a bid by Vigneault to be reinstated while the case progressed, but did tell lawyers from the bench that the professional fates of Bigda versus Vigneault felt "imbalanced."

Violating an abuse prevention order is a misdemeanor charge. Show cause hearings are typically closed to the public and charges become public if and when they are issued.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a longtime New England Patriots fan, analyzed Super Bowl 2017 and quarterback Tom Brady's performance, saying on Monday he sensed No. 12 change gears late in the game. Watch video

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a longtime New England Patriots fan, analyzed Super Bowl 2017 and quarterback Tom Brady's performance, saying on Monday he sensed No. 12 change gears late in the game.

At one point during the Super Bowl, Walsh told reporters, "I went upstairs, and I changed my t-shirt, my sweatshirt, changed everything up. The hat, the whole deal. Came back down."

Whatever initial nervousness he felt about the team's chances gave way to optimism, he said.

"Once we had the ball back by two touchdowns, it felt like we could pull it back," Walsh said. "You could see it in Tom Brady's eyes. His eyes were different. His eyes changed. He was laser-focused."

Patriots Super Bowl 2017 Parade: Route, details, map

Walsh added: "Once they tied it up, I had no doubt we were going to win the game. You just felt that they had the defense on the ropes, they knocked them out."

As the game went into overtime, he sent out a picture of himself watching the game, cheering on the team.

Off we go into overtime! Let's get this done @Patriots. #OneMore #Patriots pic.twitter.com/1wk8tsZDWG

-- Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) February 6, 2017

With snow on the way, why is Boston having the Pats parade on Tuesday?

After the New England Patriots' jaw-dropping win in Super Bowl LI, some fans took to social media to gloat that Tom Brady is the GOAT.

DARTMOUTH - After the New England Patriots' jaw-dropping win in Super Bowl LI, some fans took to social media to gloat that Tom Brady is the GOAT.

Dartmouth Police took particular joy in calling out Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner who suspended the star quarterback for the first four games of the season over the Deflategate scandal.

In a post on the department Facebook page, Dartmouth Police on Monday announced a tongue-in-cheek investigation into "the unexpected deflation of Roger Goodell's ego at the completion of the game."

"Though the investigation is still in its early stages, it was reported that a very happy and smiling Tom Brady was in close proximity to Goodell when the incident took place," the post reads.

The "unofficial" and "independent" investigation is dubbed Deflategate Two.

It's not clear if anyone will face charges for showing Goodell who's boss, but while police look for clues, Brady will remain free to keep shattering records and proving his critics wrong.

Victims of two fires in Holyoke, Massachusetts in January will receive shares of more than $110,000 collected from donations in the community by the end of this month, officials said Monday, Feb. 6, 2017.

HOLYOKE -- By the end of this month, shares of a $100,000 fund will be given to families of the three people killed and the two dozen families who lost homes in a New Year's Day fire at 106 North East St., officials said Monday.

Another $10,000 collected in that fund will be donated to a separate effort to help 36 tenants displaced by a fire on Jan. 17 at 395 Main St., they said.

Mayor Alex B. Morse established the Holyoke Mayor's Fire Relief Fund the day of the fire that destroyed a five-story apartment building at North East and East Dwight streets.

More than half the money was collected in a gofundme.com campaign and the rest through in-person and mailed-in donations. Over 1,100 individuals, businesses, and organizations have made contributions, Morse said.

The Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation Inc. is managing the disbursement of money collected in the Holyoke Mayor's Fire Relief Fund at no cost to the city.

Timeline of events after deadly Holyoke fire

Enlace de Familias, a nonprofit family services provider at 299-301 Main St., is managing a fund for the victims of the 395 Main St. fire.

"We are the fiscal conduit," chamber President Kathleen G. Anderson said. "We won't be keeping any of the funds. One hundred percent of the funds will be going to the people from the fire."

Salvation Army staff and staff in the mayor's office interviewed families related to the 106 North East St. fire Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week. At least 27 different checks from the $100,000 will be provided but details are still being worked out in terms of check amounts and when disbursement will happen during this month, officials said.

All those who receive such payments also will get a letter signed by Anderson stating that the money is a donation from the community to replace items lost in a fire, a step intended to protect people from losing welfare benefits from the state Department of Transitional Assistance, she said.

Anderson said she contacted the Department of Transitional Assistance and was told such a letter would address concerns about the receipt of relief funds possibly triggering loss of benefits.

Three people were killed in the 106 North East St. fire to which firefighters were called just before 9 a.m. on Jan. 1: Maria Cartagena, 48, and Jorge Munoz, 55, both of Holyoke, and Trevor R. Wadleigh, 34, of Easthampton.

Faulty alarm system, lack of sprinkler added to deadly Holyoke fire caused by electrical problem: officials

Electrical malfunctions caused both fires, officials said. State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey said that investigators had determined the cause of the fire at 106 North East St. was an electrical problem in a wall outlet in the living room of a third-floor apartment.

The property at 106 North East St. that included the five-story building, now demolished, is owned by Irshad Sideeka of Naviah Investments of Brookline, Massachusetts.

At 395 Main St., the cause of the fire was that a bedroom wall outlet on the second floor overheated, said Capt. Anthony Cerruti of the Holyoke Fire Depaprtment.

The property at 393-399 Main St. is owned by Ernst Pierre-Louis, of Berlin, Massachusetts, according to city records.

Patrol officers and detectives from the Holyoke, Massachusetts Police Department will be available at a recruitment event on Feb. 16, 2017 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium at Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St., to answer questions about patrol work and working in the criminal investigations and narcotics divisions.

HOLYOKE -- Police are looking for some police.

The Police Department and state officials will hold a "Police Officer Civil Service Recruitment" event on Feb. 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium at Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St.

"Any person interested in becoming a police officer in the city of Holyoke is encouraged to attend," a Police Department press release said.

The event will include a police dog demonstration at 5 p.m., the press release said.

Officers and detectives will be available to answer questions about patrol work and working in the criminal investigations and narcotics divisions, the press release said.

The yearly base pay rates for police are: patrol officers, $51,322 to $55,142; sergeants, $75,851; lieutenants, $87,651; and captains, $101,742.

The department is holding the event with representatives of the Massachusetts Civil Service Unit, the press release said.

My Teller allows live tellers to assist customers from a remote location, utilizing new interactive teller machine technology.

BOSTON -- Pittsfield's Berkshire Bank opened its new Boston branch at 121 Congress St. on Monday and at the same time debuted its new MyBanker and My Teller services.

The Boston branch is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

MyBanker is what Berkshire Bank calls concierge banking, where a customer gets a single point of contact for all banking needs, combining direct access to a dedicated Berkshire Bank relationship expert with the convenience of technology.

My Teller is a new video banking system that allows tellers to asset customers from a remote location with the use of a new interactive teller machine, which are a more sophisticated version of an ATM with two-way video chat technology.

"By incorporating the new MyBanker and My Teller experiences into our suite of banking products and services, we have changed the way banking is received by the masses," said Tami Gunsch, Berkshire's executive vice president of retail banking, in a press release. "In today's world, finding new and creative ways to make banking accessible to the consumer is imperative, and this is an added avenue to do just that."

Obituaries from The Republican.

The Republican 

The City Council authorized statements of interest for 2 new schools in Springfield and seven school renovation projects.

SPRINGFIELD - The City Council on Monday authorized the city to begin the application process for state funds to assist with nine proposed school construction and renovation projects including a renewed effort for a new Homer Street Elementary School.

The council vote, by unanimous vote, authorized the city to submit "statements of interest," in pursuit of state funds from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. If successful, the city would quality for up to 80 percent state reimbursements for the cost of school renovations and new buildings.

"I'm glad we approved it unanimously tonight," Council President Orlando Ramos said. "It shows that the council fully supports better education facilities for our children. Some of these schools are in really bad shape."

The Homer Street school, in the Mason Square area is 119 years old, and is the school district's top priority, said Patrick Sullivan, the city's director of parks, buildings and recreation management. A proposed new Brightwood School in the North End was previously submitted for state review, with the planning stage under way.

Homer Street Elementary SchoolFile Photo / The Republican 

Other statements of interest authorized by the council on Monday are

Ramos said he has been at Homer and Lincoln, and has seen the conditions and how the students eat in the classroom.

Some councilors including Kenneth Shea, said they are concerned that some roofs seem to need replacement earlier than they would expect, such as Commerce..

Sullivan said the city now requires that new roofs last 25 to 30 years, but there were inferior requirements many years ago, with those roofs now leaking after possibly 20 years.

In other action Monday, the council gave final approval to a new ordinance that will create a new nine-member Community Preservation Committee. The committee will oversee a new property tax surcharge, approved by voters in November, that will be used to promote historic preservation, open space, recreation and community housing projects.

Ramos said appointments to the new committee are pending.

A California doctor removed a 130-pound tumor from a Mississippi man who had been told by other physicians that he was just fat.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) -- A California doctor removed a 130-pound tumor from a Mississippi man who had been told by other physicians that he was just fat.

Roger Logan, 57, had the non-cancerous growth removed on Jan. 31 at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, where he will remain for another week or so before returning to Gulfport, Mississippi.

The tumor probably started as an ingrown hair that became infected, swelled and developed its own blood supply, Logan's surgeon, Dr. Vipul Dev, told the Bakersfield Californian.

It sprouted from his lower abdomen more than a decade ago.

Doctors told him: "You're just fat, it's just fat," Logan told KERO-TV in Bakersfield.

The tumor grew so massive that it hung to the floor when he sat.

"I used to equate it, you just put a strap around your neck and carry three bags of cement around with you all day long, just swinging," Logan said.

Virtually unable to move, he spent most of his time in a recliner in one room of his home.

In this Feb. 2, 2017, photo, Roger Logan holds up a smartphone that shows a photo of him with a 130-pound tumor before a surgery to remove it at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif. (Henry A. Barrios/The Bakersfield Californian via AP)

But his wife, Kitty, scoured the country for specialists to perform the operation and found Dev, who had performed similar surgeries.

"She just kept pushing," Logan told the Californian. "She wouldn't let me quit."

Logan finally made the 2,000-mile, 40-hour trip to Central California with his chair bolted to the floor of a cargo van, "just like I was in my living room at home," Logan told the paper.

Logan is now recovering and last Thursday he was able to walk for practically the first time in years.

"My feet are together," Logan said, wiggling his toes in his hospital bed. "They haven't been together in years."

He is looking forward to returning home and resuming his life, out of an armchair.

The facility hosts five courts, the Registry of Deeds and law library, the Franklin County Opioid Task Force and an innovative service center for self-represented litigants.

GREENFIELD — After three years of construction and a decade of planning, a brand-new consolidated trial court facility opened its doors for business Monday in downtown Greenfield.

The $66 million Franklin County Justice Center houses five courts -- district, superior, juvenile, housing and probate and family courts -- in one "modern, secure, code-compliant public building."

The energy-efficient building at 425 Main St. also hosts a law library, a "service center" for those who are appearing without a lawyer and the Franklin County Registry of Deeds.

District Court Judge William Mazanec III expressed appreciation for the light-filled building. "It's beautiful, safe and clean," he said. "Everybody's just thrilled."

On Monday afternoon, court staffers were settling in while concurrently taking care of routine business. Dozens of defendants had been arraigned that morning, and several emergency restraining orders were issued, said Register of Probate John F. Merrigan.

"Monday is always a busy day for us," he said. "Things tend to happen over the weekend."

Merrigan said the overall design of the courthouse was inspired by the "reinventing justice" program of the 1990s. The idea is to work with the community to solve problems instead of just locking people up, he said.

The new courthouse hosts a family-friendly service center on the first floor.

"Around 80 percent of people moving through family and probate court are representing themselves," Merrigan said. "At the service center, they can learn which forms to fill out, and about courtroom procedures. We want to help people get off on the right foot."

In Franklin County, connections have been forged between law enforcement, criminal justice, social services and the medical community, Merrigan said. When a person needs drug treatment, protection from domestic violence or mental health services, the courts are able to provide a "warm hand-off." The Franklin County Opioid Task Force, the locus of that network, has office space in the new facility.

Mazanec noted that having all courts under one roof will help serve the public. Previously, the county's juvenile court was at a leased facility on Main Street.

Sometimes a teen will face charges in juvenile court, Mazanec said, while his parents have their own issues in district, superior or family court. Being able to communicate and coordinate services can help such a family get back on track.

Both men said the justice system has a responsibility to help deal with the opioid crisis. While sometimes it's necessary to send someone to jail, it can often be more effective to connect a defendant with mandated treatment. Greenfield District Court holds special "drug court" sessions where nonviolent offenders have an opportunity to get help.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, who has a satellite office at the facility, on Monday expressed support for "durable public architecture" and said the building would support community justice for decades to come.

"It's a beautiful building, and a really dignified place to have court," Sullivan said.

An April 7 grand opening ceremony for the public is planned, with Gov. Charlie Baker on the guest list.

In early 2014, the old 1931 courthouse was emptied, and around 100 staffers moved to temporary quarters at the Greenfield Corporate Center. The return of court workers to Main Street is expected to support downtown revitalization.

The new facility, which incorporates the historic older courthouse, was designed by the Boston-based architecture firm of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.

Obituaries from The Republican.