"If you go to the damaged areas, you will be removed." states an emergency notice on the town website.

CONWAY - Emergency management officials, following the tornado that hit here Saturday night, reported Monday morning there is still no access to some of the most critically damaged areas.

"If you go to the damaged areas, you will be removed." states an emergency notice on the town website.

No injuries were reported in wake of the tornado, which first touched down in Goshen at approximately 7:20 p.m.

The town remains under a state of emergency.

Public safety personnel, according to the notice, have been in touch with all owners of damaged property and six structures have been deemed unsafe. Minor damage has been reported to several other structures.

Conway Grammar School is being used as a staging area for emergency responders and only authorized personnel should be at the school.

Town officials anticipate the school will reopen Tuesday.

Here is the current status of town roads:

• Route 116 is open.
• Whatley Road/Route 116 to Maple Street in Pumpkin Hollow will remain closed for the rest of the week.
• The dirt section between Main Poland Road and North Poland Road is closed.
• Harrison Road is closed.

Donations to help town residents impacted by the tornado (cash or gift cards only - no clothing or household goods) may be made at Greenfield Savings Bank on Route 116. Or, at gofundme.com Conway Mass. Tornado Relief.

As of about 11:45 a.m., $875 had been raised towards the $35,000 goal.

The flights realize a long-held goal of Bradley and the Connecticut Airport Authority to add more West Coast service.

WINDSOR LOCKS -- United Airlines will fly nonstop to San Francisco from Bradley Intentional Airport, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Monday.

It's a seasonal service, beginning June 8, 2017 and running through Sept. 5.

[enhanced link]

The new San Francisco flights realize a long-held goal of Bradley and the Connecticut Airport Authority to add more West Coast service. The airport already had flights to Los Angeles.

United will fly to San Francisco with a 128-seat Airbus 319. The outbound flight will leave Bradley at 6:30 a.m. EST and arrive at San Francisco International at 9:46 a.m. PST. The return flight will depart San Francisco International at 10:30 p.m. PST, with an arrival at Bradley at 6:53 a.m. EST.

"It is undeniable that we are witnessing a period of significant growth at Bradley International Airport with the addition of yet another nonstop route to another major hub," Governor Malloy said in a news release. "What I hope everyone understands with these ongoing developments is that adding more airlines and more routes opens the door for increased economic opportunities for business travelers who see Hartford as a destination where their companies can do business with even more convenience."

The announcement also continues a trend of Bradley adding flights:

• Norwegian Air Express to Edinburgh, Scotland: These flights also begin in June. Introductory fares as low as $65 one-way for very basic service.
  
  
• OneJet to Pittsburgh: OneJet began weekday nonstop service to Pittsburgh International Airport in May 2016. The regional carrier uses leased corporate jets.

• United Airlines to Denver: United Airlines started flying nonstop to Denver, also in May 2016. The airline uses an Airbus 319 with 128 seats.

• American Airlines to Los Angeles: American started flying nonstop to Los Angeles June 2, 2016, using 150-seat Boeing 737 aircraft.

• Spirit Airlines to three vacation destinations: Starting April 27, Spirit Airlines will offer nonstop service between Bradley and Orlando International Airport in Florida and Myrtle Beach International Airport in South Carolina. Spirit will also commence daily nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport June 15

"This is exactly why I pushed for the creation of the Connecticut Airport Authority several years ago, because we see Bradley as a key economic driver in our region," Malloy's statement continued. "We will continue utilizing the airport as yet another resource to grow jobs and increase business activity in Connecticut."

Summer travel is heating up . We're adding 4 new destinations & expanding existing markets. See more on United Hub: https://t.co/MOm7LKeBwx pic.twitter.com/qrsHxsoxDg

— United (@united) February 27, 2017

In October Westover fielded many complaints from residents who were woken up at 5 a.m. with no warning.

CHICOPEE - Officials at Westover Air Reserve Base are announcing several F-15 fighter jets will be taking off from the base and heading to an overseas mission and will cause loud noises very early in the morning this week.

F-15 fighter jets in flight.Republican file 

Several F-15 jets arrived at Westover Sunday as part of a refueling and rest stop before heading to Europe. Because Westover is the closest air base to Europe, it is common for flight crews to use the base as a refueling location and to support missions, Master Sgt. Andrew Biscoe, communications technician said.

"For security reasons, the exact time of the departing jets is not available, but is expected to take place before 6 a.m.," base officials said.

Biscoe said the departure will be later this week but also did not specify the day the jets will be leaving.

The warning comes after Westover was flooded with complaints about fighter jets flying overhead and waking residents up at 5 a.m. and earlier in October. The loud flights, which were heard in a number of communities surrounding Westover, were done without warning and frightened a number of people.

At the time, Lt. Col. James Bishop, the chief of public affairs for the base, said he had never heard so many complaints about any issue during his entire career.

Officials are investigating a homicide in Everett after a landlord performing a well-being check discovered a decomposing body, the Middlesex District attorney's office said on Monday.

Officials are investigating a homicide in Everett after a landlord performing a well-being check discovered a decomposing body, the Middlesex County District Attorney's office said Monday.

The body of a man in his 60s was discovered at an Oakland Avenue apartment on Saturday. The landlord notified police.

The body was "in an advanced state of decomposition," according to a statement from the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Officials have not yet determined the exact date of the man's death.

The office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the manner of the death was a homicide.

Ryan's office said the identity of the victim will be released following confirmation from the medical examiner's office. The cause of death is not yet being released to protect the integrity of the investigation, the statement said.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Massachusetts State Police at 781-897-6600. 

The flag will remain up next to the American flag for the month of March. Watch video

HOLYOKE — In an effort to honor their culture and the upcoming Holyoke St. Patrick's Day festivities, members of the parade committee held a flag raising Sunday in Holyoke.

"It's the first time we've done this here at the JFK memorial and we hope it will become an annual tradition," said Ray Feyer, a member of the St. Patrick's Committee of Holyoke and the past Grand Marshals Committee.

The monument, which is outside Our Lady of the Cross Church on the corner of Appleton and Sycamore streets, will feature the Irish flag until the 66th annual Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade to be held March 19.

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 801 of Holyoke and Post 3236, of Ludlow, raised the flag Sunday afternoon.

Gerald Healy, chairman of the past Grand Marshals Committee, said the flag is a symbol of pride.

"This is a small way to honor our culture and our history, and we hope this will remind the younger generation of the importance of keeping tradition alive," he said.

The Feb. 27 public hearing at Palmer High School Library begins at 6 p.m.

PALMER -- The school committee will convene a public hearing Monday night to present the district's fiscal 2018 operating budget, and take public comment.

The total budget for the current fiscal year that began in July for the district is $15,585,614, including Chapter 70 state aid of $10,731,860.

The Feb. 27 hearing at Palmer High School Library begins at 6 p.m.

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director Kurt Schwartz pledged to provide "as much support as [Conway] needs" in the wake of Saturday night's tornado. Watch video

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director Kurt Schwartz pledged to provide as much support as needed to the towns of Conway and Goshen as needed in the wake of Saturday night's tornado.

"Right now it's response and recovery," Schwartz said. "We'll figure out how to pay for it down the road."

Schwartz spoke to MassLive during a walkthrough to view the wreckage on Whately Road off Route 116, also known as Pumpkin Hollow, the section of Conway hit hardest by the tornado. 

An EF-1 tornado touched down around 7:20 p.m. Saturday night, damaging at least a dozen homes in Conway and Goshen, a pair of barns, a church and felling thousands of trees in mere minutes. Winds hit 110 miles per hour. It was the first February tornado to hit Massachusetts in recorded history, according to National Weather Service. 

See damage caused by tornado that hit Western Massachusetts

Judging by the level damage he saw, Schwartz expressed surprise that the tornado did not exceed the EF-1 level. 

"This is really remarkable that this was only an EF-1," Schwartz said. "I was not expecting this much damage. I'm surprised it was not rated stronger; it seems like it was."

He added, "The town got very lucky -- no fatalities, no electrocutions from downed wires, not even an injury reported so far."

On Whately Road, the tornado felled a barn, left the recently renovated United Congregational Church structurally compromised and left several homes uninhabitable, ripping off roofs and siding, breaking windows and tearing doors off hinges.

'A piece of what appears to be someone's house went through the roof of the church and is hanging into the sanctuary'

"It's too early to know what the town's needs are and the level of financial damage," Schwartz said. "We're going to help the town continue to bring in state resources."

Schwartz said the commonwealth has provided building inspectors and a helicopter to assess the damage from the air. The Department of Environmental Protection plans to help Conway manage debris management. The state Division of Insurance workers may be made available to help residents work with their providers.

The tornado's path followed along Route 116, where several more homes suffered damages and the smell of tree sap permeated the morning air due to all the fallen, snapped trees.

Hayley Feyre Dunn, an Eversource community relations employee, said the tornado left an estimated 80 percent of the town's Eversource customers without power -- totaling more than 4,000 customers in the entire affected area. 

"Our crews are very busy and we've brought in a lot of contractors," Dunn said.

Five residences and the Whately Road church comprised the total number structures left uninhabitable by the tornado, Schwartz reported. 

"Nobody needed public shelter," Schwartz said. Town officials said Monday that displaced residents are staying with friends and family.

Felled trees and power lines contributed to the blocking off of more than 30 roads in the wake of the tornado. 

All roads except Whately Road were reopened and power and phone service mostly restored as of Monday morning. 

Schwartz said MEMA "does not anticipate federal assistance" because the tornado was not strong enough to qualify the town. 

The level of state assistance will depend on negotiations between the town, local lawmakers and the Legislature, which meets out disaster support on a case-by-case basis, Schwartz said. 

Following the tornado that touched down in Goshen and pummeled through Conway this weekend, a fundraiser has been started to help rebuild. Watch video

Following the tornado that touched down in Goshen and pummeled through Conway this weekend, a fundraiser has been started to help residents rebuild. 

The tell-tale roar of the tornado could be heard in parts of Franklin and Hampshire County as people sought shelter in basements Saturday. "It was very fortunate that nobody was killed in this event," meteorologists with the National Weather Service said after viewing the wreckage. 

A GoFundMe was started Monday by Conway resident Bob Armstrong to support residents impacted by the storm. It will be managed by Conway Firemen's Auxiliary with input from town officials. 

By early Monday afternoon, more than $1,000 has been raised. 

The tornado hit Goshen at approximately 7:18 p.m. Saturday. A pair of homes were damaged on Pine Road after several pine trees "were snapped mid-way" and fell on the structures, the National Weather Service said. It touched down minutes later in Conway and tore a five-mile path from the western section of the city towards town hall. 

"Roofs were blown off, with some metal wrapped around middle and upper portions of trees," the National Weather Service said. "In one case, a the side walls of a house were missing with the interior of the house exposed."

At least a dozen homes were damaged,  a 300-year-old barn was flattened and the United Congregational Church in Conway, which was recently re-opened following a $500,000 renovation, has been closed indefinitely due to damage.  

View damage caused by tornado that hit Western Massachusetts

"Scary as hell," said Dale Allis of her brush with the tornado that touched down in Conway on Saturday and whose path crossed within a few dozen feet of her house. Watch video

"Scary as hell," said Dale Allis of her brush with the tornado that touched down in Conway on Saturday and whose path crossed within a few dozen feet of her house along Route 116. 

She and her husband Charlie took shelter down in the cellar during the brief, intense storm, not knowing what they'd find left of their home of 30 years when they came back upstairs. 

The winds felled power lines and produced a blaring sound as it passed over the home's chimney -- masking whatever else may have been happening, the Allis' said.

"Imagine it like blowing on a bottle -- but the bottle's the size of a house and the blowing is 110 miles per hour," Charlie explained. 

The Allis were literally and figuratively in the dark.

When they resurfaced, they were stunned to find felled trees virtually encircling their home and criss-crossing the driveway -- but no structural damage done.

"It's a disaster, but our home is OK," Dale said. "Some people weren't so lucky."

Five homes elsewhere in the town -- mostly on Whately Road -- were left uninhabitable due to damage caused by the tornado. 

View damage caused by tornado that hit Western Massachusetts

"The trees snapped like pencils," she added. "We used to have a lot of them in our yard. Now it's like a bomb hit."

Charlie said they lucked out for the second time when an Eversource crew came and chainsawed away the trees from their driveway to access a nearby transformer.

"Them needing to get to that transformer gave us our driveway back," he said. 

The last time a tornado touched down in the town, Charlie estimated, was 20 years ago. Meanwhile, National Weather Service identified the tornado as the first to hit the Bay State in February in recorded history. 

Dale said she's planning on making up a sign to plant along Route 116 at the bottom of their driveway. 

"It's going to say, 'Free trees,'" she said, laughing. 

 

There were no injuries in the fire.

HOLYOKE - Firefighters have extinguished a house fire that has caused significant damage to a home in South Holyoke.

The blaze was first reported at about 1:30 p.m. at 524 South Summer St.

The fire has burned through the roof of the two-story home. Firefighters have the blaze under control and have stopped pouring water on it.

Fire Capt. Anthony Cerruti said there were no injuries.

Fire investigators are investigating the cause of the blaze. It looks like the fire began on the outside of the home and the attic was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, Cerruti said.

Republican reporter George Graham is on the scene and will post updates as they become available.

Christopher Lemek Jr. on pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death in connection with death of Gary LeBlanc in Palmer on New Years Eve 2015.

SPRINGFIELD - Christopher J. Lemek Jr. was sentenced Monday to serve one year in jail after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Anonymous calls initially led police to Lemek, 40, of Monson, but they could not find the truck that was supposed to have been involved in the crash that killed Gary LeBlanc of Palmer at about 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve of 2015.

LeBlanc, 59, was killed in a crosswalk on North Main Street in Palmer. Lemek was not charged in the death of LeBlanc in the crash. LeBlanc lived in an apartment right by the crash site.

It was later found Lemek, using equipment from his family's construction company, buried the pickup truck in his yard at 80 Bethany Road.

The sentence from Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney was actually two years in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, with a year to be served and the rest suspended with two years probation.

Lemek got a concurrent sentence of one year after also pleading guilty to violation of an ignition interlock device requirement.

That charge refers to a restriction on Lemek's license that stems from a 2013 Palmer drunken driving case.

The restriction requires Lemek to drive a vehicle that is outfitted with a handheld breath-alcohol monitoring device that is electronically connected to a vehicle's ignition. The truck did not have that device, police said, although Lemek's personal vehicle does.

Lemek had been released on his own recognizance awaiting trial.

Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth had asked Sweeney to sentence Lemek to a total of four years in the Ludlow jail, with 21/2 years to be served and the rest suspended with two years probation.

Lemek sobbed through some of the plea session, at the end apologizing tearfully to LeBlanc's brother in the courtroom and to his own family.

Sweeney, just before Lemek was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, told him to "pull it together."

She said immersing himself in guilt - which could turn to self pity - about his actions will not honor LeBlanc's memory and will not help LeBlanc's family or Lemek's children.

Forsyth said Palmer police gathered video surveillance from store cameras in the area. He said there is a crosswalk where LeBlanc crossed but it was not painted in the same way as others on that road.

LeBlanc was wearing dark clothing and there was little street illumination, he said. It was determined that the speed Lemek was driving was not unreasonable.

When police were led to Lemek by the anonymous calls they did not find the truck at his house. Police got a call from a lawyer saying Lemek wanted to come in and talk.

Lemek on Jan. 8 told police what he had done. Forsyth said Lemek told police he hit something but did not stop. Lemek said he heard on the news about the fatality and "went numb."

He said he dug a hole in the back yard and covered up the truck.

Defense lawyer Thomas Rooke said alcohol was not a factor. He said about an hour after the crash, Lemek got into his personal vehicle and the ignition lock device measured his blood alcohol at zero.

"It's a tragic accident," Rooke said.

He said Lemek, who is a good person, went to police because "he had to get it off his chest."

Choking back tears, tornado survivor Steve Thomas lauded the generosity of neighbors after Saturday night's tornado left his home uninhabitable. Watch video

Choking back tears, tornado survivor Steve Thomas lauded the generosity of neighbors after Saturday night's tornado left his home uninhabitable. 

"I'm glad I live in a small town like Conway," Thomas said Monday. "Everybody came asking, offering up whatever we needed and anything they could do to help."

The tornado bore down directly on Thomas' Whately Road home when it passed through town Saturday evening.

110-mile-per-hour winds tore away part of the roof and an exterior wall, leaving the interior of the home exposed to the street -- like a life-size dollhouse.

Johnson and his wife, Jeanne, were inside throughout, accompanied by friends and family over for dinner.

"Next thing we knew the door blew in like someone shot a canon through it," Thomas said. "My brother-in-law tried to close it and the wind blew him back a good five feet."

It was gone just as quickly as it came.  "It was only after that I realized I lost part of the house," Johnson said. "I didn't even know this had happened."

He added, "We're just so thankful that no one in our dinner group was injured."

The storm left four other homes in Conway and the United Congregational Church, also on Whately Road, uninhabitable. 

More than a dozen homes were damaged. 

Related: Home miraculously still standing after tornado downed trees around Conway home

National Weather Service identified the tornado as the first to ever hit the Bay State in February in recorded history.

See damage caused by tornado that hit Western Massachusetts

 

Children's lessons will cost $65 for residents and $75 for non-residents.

CHICOPEE - The Parks Department is offering swim programs for adults and children in March. All the programs will be held at the Comprehensive High School pool on Montgomery Street.

For children there will be learn to swim classes for levels 1, 3, and 4. Children must be 5 to participate and must have passed the previous level. The classes will be held twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from March 6 through March 29. Beginning classes start at 6 p.m. and Level 3 and 4 classes starting at 7 p.m.

The cost for the lessons is $65 for residents and $75 for non-residents. Registration must be done before March 6 in person at the Chicopee Parks and Recreation office, 687 Front St.

Adult lap swim or water walking will be offered at 7 p.m. from March 6 through April 12. The cost is $5 a resident $6 a non-resident per class and participants can pay at the pool just before the class.

The Cartamundi plant East Longmeadow has about 350 employees.

EAST LONGMEADOW -- Play Doh will soon be manufactured at the Cartamundi plant in East Longmeadow, toymaker Hasbro told the Wall Street Journal.

Hasbro sold the East Longmeadow plant to Cartamundi in 2015, but the 1.2  million square foot plant still manufactures Hasbro board games like Sorry!, Clue, Life, Risk, Monopoly and and Candy Land under contract.

The factory, which now makes toys and games for other companies as well, has about 350 employees.

Hasbro told the Journal that Cartamundi will soon hire 20 people to in order to start making Play Doh in the second half of this year.

The plant was built between 1963 and 1965 by the former Milton Bradley Co. and sold to Hasbro in 1984.

Play Doh was invented in Cincinnati in the 1950s. But Hasbro hasn't made it in the United States since 2004, using instead factories in Turkey and in China.

But demand for the modeling clay has increased 20 percent a year each year for five years. Hasbro said it needs US production to meet demand.

Play Doh, which has been produced in China and Turkey since 2004, is bringing domestic production back to East Longmeadow in 2017, thanks to increased U.S. demand. (Republican File Photo)Mark M.Murray  

Hasbro executives told the Journal that their plans have nothing to do with President Donald Trumps plans to bring US manufacturing to the United States.

Play Doh is made of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil and was first developed to clean wallpaper.

According to Hasbro, if you made a big ball of all the Play-Doh Compound ever created, it would weigh more than 700 million pounds. 

School officials are raising more concerns about the Pioneer Valley Chinese Charter School expansion request but charter officials say it's just 11th hour tactics to impede that expansion. Watch video

AMHERST - School officials are raising more concerns about the Pioneer Valley Chinese Charter School expansion request, but charter officials say it's just 11^th hour tactics to impede them.

The state Department of Secondary Education plans to decide at a meeting Monday in Malden whether to allow the Hadley charter school to increase its enrollment limit by 452 students.

The current enrollment is 471, with up to 584 students allowed to attend.

State Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester has recommended allowing the Chinese Immersion Charter School to expand.

The charter school accepts students from more than 30 communities and teaches Chinese by immersing them in the language starting from kindergarten.

It was first granted a charter in 2007 to teach 300 in kindergarten through eighth grade. In 2012, the state allowed the school to add a ninth grade, then in 2013 allowed the school to add grades 10 through 12 with the cap at 584 students.

Last week, Interim Amherst School Superintendent Michael Morris sent a letter to the state asking it to block the proposed expansion in part because it would drain funds from local public schools.

This weekend, the Select Board sent a letter asking the state to reject the expansion request as well.

Also Sunday, School Committee chairwoman Katherine Appy sent a letter and a report that the charter school's trustees received in 2016 with responses from parents who withdrew their students from PVCICS.

"The attached report clearly shows serious concerns and violations of children's educational rights," Appy wrote. "Further in the report, parents made reasonable calls for action and suggested correction that PVCICS ignored. The board of trustees briefly called for a task force to look into the serious parental concern, but the task force met once and never called another meeting."

The charter school's Executive Director Richard C. Alcorn said the information is not new and be believes the report had already been sent to the state. State officials have not contacted the school with any concerns, he added.

"The reports in themselves almost unactionable because the remarks are all anonymous," Alcorn said, adding that the board did review the complaints when the report was submitted in May 2016.

He said it's troubling "when you have this 11^th hour campaign." 

 "If you talk to any school, you'll find parents who are dissatisfied. Our board did review it. They did some take action."

He said the report "is not statistically representative of anything. It's a very select population of parents that were interviewed."

Alcorn said if the state doesn't approve the application, it essentially would delay any expansion for a year.

The school wants to build a new building and need the expanded numbers to be able to apply for and secure a mortgage, Alcorn explained. The aim is to create a high school that's similar in size to others that offer a baccalaureate program, he said.

Selectmen Chairman George "Archie" Archible said he believes exiting the HCOG would be a good thing.

BELCHERTOWN -- Selectmen at Monday night's meeting will discuss whether to place on the annual Town Meeting warrant an article that would end the town's membership in the Hampshire Council of Governments.

Belchertown is assessed annual dues of $3,750 to be part of that organization.

Members of the board of selectmen and Belchertown Town Admimistrator Gary Brougham have been critical of the HCOG Executive Director Todd Ford.

The HCOG board of councilors last month voted to give Ford a new contract and raise his annual salary to $123,625.

Selectmen Chairman George "Archie" Archible said he believes exiting the HCOG would be a good thing.

"The bottom line is, we don't get anything out of it. Why should we invest in something we don't use?" he said in a telephone interview.

Archible said the HCOG's proposed municipal electricity aggregation program, which the state Department of Public Utilities rejected in 2015, is among the reasons he thinks the town should part ways with the organization.

The HCOG spent about $1 million trying to form a 35-community energy cooperative. The plan was killed when the state department of public utilities, citing a litany of reasons, including "misrepresentation" by the HCOG about the program and an inability to show it would save consumers money.

The state's rejection letter said the DPU's review showed "numerous misrepresentations by Hampshire Council to the Municipalities and their citizens regarding the process of municipal aggregation, the status of each Plan, and the various details regarding the implementation and contractual obligations of each Municipality upon approval of and execution of each Plan."

The HCOG towns, in addition to Belchertown, are Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Granby, Hadley, Hatfield, Huntington, Middlefield, Pelham, Plainfield, South Hadley, Southampton, Westhampton and Williamsburg.

Tonight's Belchertown selectmen's meeting at Lawrence Memorial Hall, 2 Jabish St., begins at 7:30 p.m.

A five-level, 1860-built barn attached to a Whately Road home and felled by Saturday night's tornado contained loads of valuables, housing a significant portion of the inventory of a couple's antique company. Watch video

Jan and John Maggs "heard an unbelievable sound" as the tornado ripped through their backyard in Conway around 7:20 p.m. Saturday. 

"He opened the front door to see what was going on out there and it ripped right off the hinges and flew out of his hand," Jann said, of her husband. 

The storm came and went in minutes. Sirens followed. John went out to the yard to assess what happened. 

"He came back in and said, 'Jan, the barn is gone.'"

The couple's five-story barn served as storage space for much of the inventory of the pair's business, Jan & John Magg's Antiques. 

"There were a lot of valuables," Jan said. "I want to go online to update the website and say we're going to be closed for a few months, but there's still no internet service."

The 300-year-old structure was almost completely flattened as backhoes worked through the wreckage Monday morning. Jan said they hoped to salvage all they could. 

Five homes elsewhere in the town -- mostly on Whately Road -- were left uninhabitable due to damage caused by the tornado. Tornado damage left the United Congregational Church, also located on that road, structurally unsound. 

National Weather Service identified it as the first February tornado the Bay State has seen in recorded history. 

The Maggs' store sells furniture, paintings, jewelry, rugs and old magazines. 

Related: Tornado came and went so fast, Conway survivor didn't even realize it tore away part of his house

Related: Conway home miraculously undamaged after tornado felled numerous nearby trees, left yard looking like 'a bomb hit'

Pushing back on President Trump's executive order seeking to cut off federal funding from "sanctuary jurisdictions," US Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey on Monday sent a letter to top administration officials calling the order unconstitutional and asking them to break down the impact of denying funding to Massachusetts.

Pushing back on President Trump's executive order cutting federal funding to "sanctuary jurisdictions," US Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey on Monday sent a letter to top administration officials calling the order unconstitutional and asking them to break down the impact of denying funding to Massachusetts.

Two Massachusetts cities, Chelsea and Lawrence, are suing the Trump administration over the order. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has said he is willing to offer up City Hall itself as a "last resort" to protect immigrants.

The state's annual budget includes nearly $11 billion in money from the federal government, with funds going to health insurance for children, affordable housing, and nursing care for veterans, among other programs.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno: 'We are not a sanctuary city'

In their letters to Trump administration officials, Warren and Markey, D-Massachusetts, noted the Bay State is one of "only eleven states whose residents actually subsidize the federal government by paying more in federal taxes than we get back."

Warren and Markey told John Kelly, the head of the US Department of Homeland Security, that President Trump has "no constitutional authority to direct your agency to withhold grants on these arbitrary terms."

Their letter pointed to a Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in 2012 that said it is unconstitutional to threaten to cut off pre-existing funding in order to "coerce" a state into adopting federal policy.

"Where a President openly brags of his desire to use the loss of unrelated funding as a 'weapon' against states and localities, the intent to exert such unconstitutional coercion is obvious," Warren and Markey wrote.

Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey blasts President Trump's 'sanctuary cities' stance as 'irresponsible'

"If the Administration continues to press ahead with this blatantly unconstitutional order, it will lose in court," they added. "In the meantime, however, chaos and confusion will reign, as funding for countless vital programs in Massachusetts and other jurisdictions that refuse to be bullied is thrown into question."

The order also unconstitutionally bypasses Congress and links federal grants to compliance with federal immigration laws despite the grants being unrelated, their letter said.

Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker weighs in on 'Day Without Immigrants' strike

Water and soil samples from the former Games and Lanes site in Agawam have reached acceptable levels, according to David Peter, principal of Site Redevelopment Technologies, the Foxboro-based company that owns the contaminated property on Walnut Street Extension.

AGAWAM -- Recent water and soil samples collected at the former Games and Lanes site in show acceptable contaminant levels, according to David Peter, principal of Site Redevelopment Technologies, the Foxboro-based company that owns the contaminated property.

Environmental cleanup efforts continue at the Walnut Street Extension site, where widespread groundwater contamination from dry-cleaning chemicals was discovered in 1989. The property is located in an aging business district targeted for redevelopment.

"The newly installed monitoring well test results have been received and indicate that both soil and groundwater are acceptable at this location," Peter said in a Feb. 24 letter to the Agawam City Council and Mayor Richard A. Cohen.

The sample area Peter was referring to is located between the Games and Lanes building and the Agawam Shopping Court, which is directly north of the contaminated site. 

The roughly 2.3-acre parcel was purchased in 2015 by Site Redevelopment Technologies, or SRT, which buys, cleans and redevelops environmentally impaired properties. Prior to its incarnation as Games and Lanes, the property was home to the Standard Uniform Corp., a uniform rental business that closed in the late 1980s.  

City councilors continue to raise concerns about the eyesore property, which has been vacant since 2001. Cleanup efforts are expected to be completed some time this spring, at which point the property may be sold or redeveloped.

The redevelopment of Walnut Street Extension is part of a "bundle of synergistic new projects" designed to invigorate the center of town near the intersection of Suffield, Springfield and Main streets, according to Cohen, who supports transforming the area into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly commercial district.

"Soil gas monitoring tests have also been performed ... and these lab results will be available soon," Peter wrote in the letter to Agawam officials.

"The soil gas results will indicate the extent of vapor intrusion from under the slab in the area of the original contamination source," he said.

When all test results are in, SRT officials will work with environmental engineers to determine what mitigation, if any, is required to comply with MassDEP regulations before the site can be redeveloped.

The abandoned site has been the subject of complaints over the years, including reports of people trespassing on the property, which Peter claims is monitored on a regular basis.

"It may have happened in the past," he said, "but currently it is secure and being monitored by many associates including an abutter."

The propert is located in an area that's been designated as a "priority development site" by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, which produced a 2010 economic development plan for the City of Agawam.

PVPC officials drafted zoning revisions, which were adopted in 2014, that encourage Agawam to relax dimensional requirements to promote design consistency and a pedestrian-friendly redevelopment zone.

Cohen has said his vision for the neighborhood is that of a "mini-Northampton." 

Police are asking people to avoid Plainfield Street until the accident can be cleared.

CHICOPEE - A driver is currently trapped inside a vehicle following an accident on Plainfield St.

During the accident live wires came down on the car, trapping the operator inside. Public Safety officials are currently on the scene helping the operator, Michael Wilk, public information officer for Chicopee Police, said.

Chicopee Electric Light is working with the Police and Fire departments to safely remove the wires and rescue the driver, he said.

Plainfield Street is closed at the intersection of Center Street. Police are asking motorists to avoid the area until the accident can be safely cleared.

This is a breaking story. Masslive will update as more information becomes available.