One reader cautioned: "(Police officers) are your public servants and nothing more or less. They are not our commanders or our dictators. If you are doing nothing wrong, they have no right to demand anything from you."

Conor Berry I The RepublicanA large group of protesters showed up at the Franklin County Courthouse last week to support Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller, who were on trial in Greenfield District Court for allegedly illegally filming law enforcement officials at the Franklin County Jail last summer. Eyre and Mueller, both of New Hampshire, were acquitted of any wrongdoing by a jury, prompting heavy reaction from readers of MassLive.com and supporters of the defendants, both of whom hold strong anti-government views.

MassLive.com readers continue to respond to news about a pair of New Hampshire men acquitted of any wrongdoing in connection with digitally recording an encounter with law enforcement officials at the Franklin County jail in July 2010. After a speedy, two-day trial in Greenfield District Court, Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller were found not guilty of so-called wiretapping and other charges.

The defendants -- members of a "pro-police accountability" organization and so-called voluntaryists -- drew a large group of supporters, many of whom openly shared their anti-government views during the public trial.

Here's what some MassLive.com posters are saying about the case:

dieselram writes: Officers are your public servants and nothing more or less. They are not our commanders or our dictators. If you are doing nothing wrong they have no right to demand anything from you. They are your servants and nothing more! These cops need to learn this!

mayorjoe writes: (Jail officials and police) told them to put the camera away or leave. They were told they were not wanted at the jail and that if they didn't leave they would be arrested. ... They had fair warning to leave the area and chose to stand there and argue.

kapekodder writes: This is an example of a police state. Whether I agree with these two or not they ASKED for permission to film and received a yes in reply. Their "gear" was clearly out in the open for all to see, so there was no "secretive" filming of the bail-out process.

What is your take on the issue? Chime in below and let us know what you think.

Tens of thousands of additional drivers each month are expected to flock to registries to renew their licenses starting Oct. 1.

Photo by Mark M.Murray / The RepublcianRachel Kaprielian, Registrar of Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, is seen at a meeting of the editorial board of The Republican in Springfield last week.

SPRINGFIELD - Anticipating a glut of license renewals, The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles will extend its hours of operation at certain branches including Springfield - the state's third busiest.

During an editorial board meeting with The Republican, Registrar Rachel Kaprielian said the Springfield branch at 165 Liberty St. will open at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Aug. 15. The branch is open until 5 p.m. each business day except for Thursday, when it stays open until 6 p.m.

Because the first wave of five-year as opposed to four-year license renewals has come to roost, Kaprielian said she anticipates tens of thousands more drivers each month flocking to the registry to renew their licenses by Oct. 1.

Drivers can renew their licenses one year before the expiration dates; most can renew online.

"We're coming off a drought, which wasn't very drought-like because we have more licensed drivers in the state," she said, adding that the expanded hours here and in other busy branches in Massachusetts is part of a continued effort to make the Registry of Motor Vehicles "better, faster, smarter."

Behind Boston's Chinatown branch and Worcester, Springfield is typically the third busiest in the state. Kaprielian said registry officials have been brainstorming ideas to alleviate long lines at branches. This has recently meant driving more traffic to the Internet.

Except for certain transactions, including 10-year license renewals (which require new photos) and out-of-state transfers, most transactions can be completed on the RMV website. And some, including car registration replacements, are instant.

"I love the under-35 crowd. They almost get hostile if there's something they can't do online," said Kaprielian, who took over the RMV three years ago and has successfully worked to drive Web traffic up by the millions. "If you do one transaction online, we know we've got you. You'll do it again."

Other advances included "pre-staging" of certain in-person transactions and registry appointments; the latter practice was piloted in Springfield and still needs some finessing, she said.

New drivers' test also can be pre-booked online and those users can shop available appointments at registries.

Kaprielian also highlighted a newly modernized phone system and other enhancements that have been added to the RMV's customer-service roster.

"We want to change the way people think about the registry. This isn't your grandfather's registry of motor vehicles anymore," said.

A full range of online RMV services can be accessed at www.massdot.state.ma.us

On the Western Massachusetts sports scene, you'll find "Teddy Bear" teams playing everything from small fry baseball to senior hockey.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayTed Hebert, owner of Teddy Bear Pools and Spas at 41 East St. in Chicopee, is a big supporter of all sports in the Pioneer Valley.

Have you ever:

Won an auto race at Riverside Park Speedway?

Piloted a hot-air balloon?

Visited 80 of the world’s 195 countries?

Had a professional hockey tryout on your 50th birthday?

Launched a successful business in the car port of your parents’ house?

Acted in “The Graduate” at the Majestic Theater?

Skated with Boston Bruins legend Johnny Bucyk?

Sponsored 250 sports teams, male and female, from ages 6 to 60?

All that, and more, has been part of the life of Ted Hebert, a 60-year-old dynamo who grew up in East Springfield and is now in his 36th year as chief executive of Teddy Bear Pools & Spas, based in Chicopee.

On the Western Massachusetts sports scene, you’ll find “Teddy Bear” teams playing everything from small fry baseball to senior hockey.

Hebert’s also has become a benefactor of the Chowder Bowl, a high-school football fund-raiser for Springfield’s Shriners Hospital.

Add to that the 300 or so golf tournaments that have been sponsored by Hebert and his business over the years, and his work as a board member of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, as well as support for the Rotary, the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoptive Center.

“I love doing it. It’s an opportunity to help others,” Hebert says. “And, once I started doing it, it just snowballed. I have a hard time saying no.”

By the way, the name “Teddy Bear” actually is a play on his own name. (If given its proper French pronunciation, Ted Hebert comes out sounding like “Ted A-bear”).

“That goes back to when I was trying to think of a name for my new business. I was talking with my mom (Billie Hebert) about it, and I said, ‘How about Pools by Ted?’ We didn’t like that, so I said, ‘Hey, how about Teddy Bear Pools?’ My mother said she thought that was a terrible name, but I decided to go with it.”

Despite that difference of opinion, Hebert knows how important mom was in his life. She died in 1994.

The Republican | Dave RobackTed Hebert plays defense during an adult hockey league game at the Enfield Twin Rinks.

“I had a great mother. She taught me how to have integrity and work my ass off,” he said recently. “Mom always gave to charity, even when we didn’t have much. I’d ask her why she was doing it and she’d say, ‘They need it more than we do.’”

Teddy Bears Pools started in 1975. As the business grew, so did Hebert’s interest in sports.

“It goes back to when I was a kid, playing (6- to 8-year-old) baseball for St. Mary’s (of East Springfield). I was the guy they kept on the bench until the score was 15-0. At that point, they would let me play right field,” he recalled.

Back then, though, Hebert loved wearing a uniform.

“I liked them, because they all had somebody’s name on the back, a business of some kind,” he said.

Yes, those were the sponsors, and now Hebert has taken that kind of generosity to a new level.

Don’t ask him how much money he pours into sports.

“That doesn’t matter. I do it because I can, and I want to,” he said.

Hebert became involved in American Legion baseball in the 1990s when Ludlow coach Jeff Garrow asked him if he would pay for one of the team’s caps. Hebert did much more than that, and now also acts as the major sponsor of the Chicopee-Aldenville Legion team and Springfield’s Post 21 entry.

Garrow, currently Post 21’s assistant coach, says Hebert called him last August after reading in The Republican that the team would be looking for sponsors for 2011.

“He told me, ‘Anything you need, let me know,’ “ Garrow said.

Whether it’s baseball, basketball, soccer or hockey, you’ll generally find Teddy Bear teams in action - sometimes against each other.

“I like to find the time to go to games. I remember one year I went to see a Small Fry team play. They didn’t win a game, but they were so into it, that it was good to see,” he said.

Hebert admits that he wasn’t much of an athlete as a kid, or when he went to Classical High School. All the while, though, he had a favorite sport - hockey.

“I remember going to the (Eastern States) Coliseum and having Eddie Shore tell me to he’d throw me out if I put my feet on the seat in front of me,” he said.

Years later - long after finally learning to skate at the age of 25 - he began playing senior hockey. His teammates included Bob Shore and his brother, Eddie, grandsons of the hockey hall-of-famer who operated Springfield’s American Hockey League franchise for four decades.

“Sometimes their dad (Ted Shore) would coach our team. That was special. I always thought hockey was a great spectator sport, and I found that it’s even greater to play,” Hebert said.

He’s still at it, three nights a week, mainly because he has an understanding wife. He and the former Barbara Bigos, of Chicopee, have been married for 24 years.

Of course, the name of his over-40 league team is Teddy Bear Pools.

“Who else would have me?” he asks.

Hebert long has been a corporate sponsor of the AHL’s Springfield Falcons franchise.

“Ted is a very loyal supporter of our organization,” says Falcons president and general manager Bruce Landon.

Their long-time friendship led Landon to pull a surprise on Hebert’s 50th birthday.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayTed Hebert shows his Springfield Falcons jersey with Bruce Landon, president and general manager of the American Hockey League team.

“He let me have a tryout with the team. I even had to sign a professional tryout agreement for one day,” Hebert is proud to recall. “Ralphie Calvanese (Falcons equipment manager) had a game jersey for me with my name on it, and he assigned me a locker in the dressing room. I skated through one of their regular workouts, and I had to do all the calisthenics they do before skating.”

Over the years, Hebert has hired Landon’s players for part-time jobs during the summers. One of them, Ontario native Rod Willard, settled in the area after his playing career ended. He’s now one of Hebert’s full-time employees.

Hockey also has given him the opportunity to skate with the stars. In a charity game a few years back, he played with Boston Bruins old-timers, including Johnny Bucyk and Mike Milbury.

Auto racing rates right up there with hockey among Hebert’s favorite sports.

His personal highlight came on his 40th birthday at Riverside, when he won for the first time as a driver in the pro stock division. “That was great, because I had gone four or five years without winning,” Hebert said.

He was part of a team that featured Mario Fiore, Reggie Ruggiero and “Gentleman Jack” Lecuyer - all beloved names in Riverside lore.

In 2000, he had another memorable auto-racing experience. His racing team, led by driver Jerry Marquis, won NASCAR’s national modified championship, clinching it on the final race of the season at Thompson, Conn., Speedway.

“Jerry nailed it by beating one of my old favorites, Reggie Ruggiero,” Hebert said.

On his office wall, he has a photograph of West Springfield’s Bob Polverari winning the last feature race before Riverside Speedway closed down in 1999. “That was a sad night at a great race track,” he said.

Hebert bought all the Riverside Speedway seats when the old facility was taken down, and has them stored in Enfield. He considered using them as part of a plan to build a new track in Southwick, but wasn’t been able to find a site suitable to him and agreeable to the town.

His willingness to face up to challenges took him down a different path in 2008. At the urging of a friend, he auditioned at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield for the role of Ben’s father in “The Graduate.” To his surprise, he got it.

“I had been involved with the Majestic as a sponsor, but now I was in an actual play for the first time in my life. I was so tensed up, I had to have massage therapy. But I wound up doing 36 performances over six weeks, and I’ve been told that I did OK.”

That was a major milestone for a man who had a stuttering problem in his youth. He has gone on to become a motivational speaker.

Yes, that’s “Teddy Bear,” all right. He always gives it his all, whether he’s working, playing, traveling, acting, speaking - or sponsoring teams in sports of all sorts.

Phillip Parrott, 51, of 181 Bowdoin St., Springfield, is accused of breaking into the store at 1375 Liberty St. and stealing two police scanners, according to Lt. John K. Slepchuk.

The Republican / File photo

SPRINGFIELD -- Police responding to a burglar alarm early Monday at Radio Shack, 1375 Liberty St., quickly noticed that someone had broken into the Springfield Plaza-based store in the city's Liberty Heights section.

"The window was broken and items were missing," Springfield Police Lt. John K. Slepchuk said, adding that the break-in was reported around 2 a.m.

Officers located a possible male suspect "just moments later" on Carew Street, Slepchuk said.

The man -- later identified by police as 51-year-old Phillip Parrott -- was extremely sweaty and riding a bicycle, and officers claim they saw him throw a bag on the ground as they approached.

Slepchuk said the bag contained two Radio Shack police scanners, which were among the items reported stolen from the Liberty Street store.

Parrott, of 181 Bowdoin St. in the city's McKnight neighborhood, is expected to be arraigned Monday on breaking-and-entering and other charges in Springfield District Court.

"It was a good grab," Slepchuk said of the arrest.

Monson is eligible for $165,975 in funding; Granby, $144,125; Holland, $143,250; Deerfield, $142,950 and Buckland, $134,150.

Five towns in Western Massachusetts are now "green communities," meaning they are eligible for grants for renewable power and energy projects that will advance municipal and state clean energy goals.

The towns - Monson, Granby, Holland, Deerfield and Buckland - are among 21 cities and towns to receive the designation by the Patrick-Murray administration.

Monson is eligible for $165,975 in funding; Granby, $144,125; Holland, $143,250; Deerfield, $142,950 and Buckland, $134,150.

The communities have to submit a project application to the state's green communities division proposing how these funds will be spent next month.

Monson Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers said officials had wanted to use the grant money for energy improvements at the Town Office Building on Main Street. Because that building is now uninhabitable due to tornado damage, she said the money will likely be used for improvements at the schools.

Officials are still uncertain if the Town Office Building can be renovated, or if it is beyond repair, and will not have that answer in time to submit the grant application, she said.

Neggers said she is pleased that the town received the green community designation.

"It is something we worked very hard for and something the people embraced by adopting the stretch code" at the May annual Town Meeting, Neggers said.

She said the town pursued the designation to save on energy costs, and to receive funding that would assist them with energy-saving projects.

The Department of Energy Resources’ Green Communities designation and grant program uses funding from auctions of carbon emissions permits under the regional greenhouse gas initiative to reward communities that win green communities designation by meeting five clean energy benchmarks.

Those benchmarks are: adopting a local zoning bylaw or ordinance that allows “as-of-right siting” for renewable and alternative energy research and design facilities, manufacturing facilities or generation units; adopting expedited permitting process for those facilities; establishing a municipal energy use baseline and a program to reduce use by 20 percent within five years; purchasing only fuel-efficient vehicles for municipal use when practical; and adopting the energy-saving stretch building code.

Each green community also will receive four road signs identifying it as an official green community, and at least one solar trash compactor for municipal use.

“These newly designated green communities will join 53 other municipalities that are moving forward with renewable and efficient energy projects to help build a more sustainable and healthier environment for Massachusetts," Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said in a statement.

Maple Valley 4-H Club in Hadley teaches youth about more than farming, and instills in them important lessons.

Photo by Cori UrbanKaleb C. McDaniel, 10, of Cheshire, gets a different view of Paddle, a heifer, that is part of the Maple Valley 4-H Club program at Fort River Farm in Hadley.

HADLEY – Mooove over computer games, iPods, cell phones and television. These kids have something else to do.

The 10 members of the Maple Valley 4-H Club at Gordon Smith’s Fort River Farm here are raising heifers, showing them in competitions and learning important life skills and lessons while they’re at it.

“When I first saw a cow, I was afraid of it,” said Caitlin M. Moriarty, 14, a member from Cheshire. “Now, I’m not.”

Moriarty likes being part of the 4-H club not just because she has made friends but because of the “endless” possibilities it opens. She, for example, is a 4-H ambassador for Berkshire County, making presentations about the organization to school and civic groups.

“It has helped me grow as a person,” she said. Caitlin also likes the animals. She works with Cyclone, a “loveable, sweetheart,” that sometimes raps her head around Caitlin “like she’s giving me a hug.”

Most of the club members – ages 8 to 16 – don’t wake up on a farm, according to Laurie M. Cuevas, the club leader. “They are non-farm kids who have gotten involved in the farm industry,” she explained.

Photo by Cori UrbanMembers of the Maple Valley 4-H Club gather at Fort River Farm in Hadley.

Calling them ambassadors for the farm industry, Cuevas hopes 4-H youth will “carry it on.”

Jamie V. Kaczowski, 15, of Savoy, enjoys working with the animals “and a few people,” she said, remembering how there was a time she didn’t like talking to people at all and could not talk in front of a crowd.

But, now that she has experience showing her heifer, Calypso, at competitions, she has more confidence. “This has helped me with school presentations too,” Jamie said.

Photo by Cori UrbanJustin J. Brunelle, 16, of South Hadley leads Alice the heifer during a Maple Valley 4-H Club gathering at Fort River Farm in Hadley.

This year members of the Maple Valley 4-H Club will participate in more than a dozen agricultural fairs, even sleeping in the barns to oversee their animals. “It’s a rip,” Cuevas said of the fun. Their animals compete against other heifers of the same age class and breed, while the 4-Hers compete in “fitting” (grooming) and showmanship categories. In the latter, they are judged on how they handle their animal.

Eleven-year-old Ethan S. West, of Hadley, remembers that one year his cow got loose in the show ring, and a judge grabbed her, getting dragged across the ring. “I thought it was sort of hilarious,” the boy said with a smile, then getting serious with the thought of not placing well in that competition.

“I was just glad to be there,” Ethan said, admitting, “I do like to win, but it’s not everything.”

Like the other participants, he’s learning sportsmanship, team work and hard work.

Photo by Cori UrbanLucy Grossman, 13, of Hatfield walks with Sandy, a heifer, at Fort River Farm in Hadley as haying is done in the field beyond.

E Lary Grossman, of Hatfield, believes the program fosters the independent spirit of his daughter, Lucy, 13, and nurtures patience. Plus, the father added, the people involved with the program are friendly, welcoming and encouraging.

“You train yourself in 4-H to succeed showing your cow,” said Justin J. Brunelle, 16, of South Hadley. “You go out (to the competitions) and you have fun and you learn from other people.”

Most of the Brown Swiss, Holstein and Jersey heifers in the program are leased, and youth participants pay an initial $50 fee to join for the year. They raise their own funds to pay for grooming supplies, veterinarian bills, feed and entry fees. The group meets every other week generally, but more in the summer in preparation for fairs and competitions.

Bruce Jenks and Sara Gauthier are the other adult leaders of the program.

Watching the youth learn and grow, become more confident and experience success is gratifying for Cuevas, a marketing manager for Sabic Innovative Plastics in Pittsfield and an alumna of a 4-H program. “It drives me,” she said. “It’s my gift to them.”

The Springfield Towing Company argued it was owed $2.9 million by the city, rejected by the arbitrator

File photo | The Republican05.03.2008 | SPRINGFIELD – A Springfield Towing Alliance truck works on an overturned school bus as part of a class on towing and recovering techniques.

SPRINGFIELD – An arbitrator has ruled that the Springfield Towing Alliance, terminated by the city in 2008 and mired in a legal battle since that time, must pay the city $62,405 in outstanding fees.

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the ruling from Arbitrator Mel L. Greenberg is binding on both sides, as well as a bank also owed money in the arbitration case.

The towing alliance under the corporate name CF Inc., consisting of multiple towing contractors, was initially hired by the city in 2006 for police-ordered towing and storage duties. In November of 2008, the city terminated the alliance after accusing the company of 17 significant contract violations including tardy and incomplete reports and failure to pay the city approximately $142,000 in fees.

Robert L. Jones

The company, through its principal owner, Robert L. Jones, denied wrongdoing and said it was wrongly terminated.

The alliance in 2008 claimed it was owed nearly $2.9 million by the city for unpaid towing and storage charges for vehicles still in the garage at the time of its termination, and for court-ordered cars held as evidence, Greenberg stated within his ruling.

The sides, after filing lawsuits, agreed to arbitration, Pikula said. The arbitrator's ruling was marked “case closed.”

“The city sued seeking $142,000 and the STA countersued for $2.9 million, so the net award of $62,000 for us and zero for them is a win, and we will move forward to collect,” Pikula said.

The “real victory,” however, is that the Police Department’s towing needs are being better served as now overseen by the Springfield Parking Authority and its towing vendor, CJ’s Towing Unlimited of Springfield, Pikula said.

Raipher D. Pellegrino, a lawyer who represented the alliance, said last week he would confer with his client before commenting.

Greenberg, in a 14-page ruling, concluded that the city was owed $110,192, and the alliance was owed $47,787, leaving an outstanding balance owed to the city of $62,405.

In addition, the alliance has a legal “garage keeper’s lien” on all cars still kept on the city’s towing lot from 2008, and will get “all the net proceeds of any disposition or sale or redemption payment by the owners,” Greenberg ruled.

Greenberg also ruled that United Bank is owed $81,694 from CF Inc. and/or Jones.

Greenberg criticized both the city and the alliance in his ruling, saying the “sad story” of their “dysfunctional” relationship was shown in a 2010 report by the state Office of the Inspector General.

“By the end of February 2008, communications between Jones, the Police Department and city officials had completely broken down, which compounded the confusion and suspicions on both sides,” Greenberg said.

As aptly shown in the Inspector General’s report, issues were not resolved and “the ‘dysfunctional’ relationship between the parties gave rise to exaggerated claims on both sides,” Greenberg said.

CJ’s Towing has a five-year contract for towing in Springfield, signed in March of 2010.

Arbitration Decision: City of Springfield v. C F Inc. DBA Springfield Towing Alliance, et al

A Boston woman is found shot to death in Dorchester, Cape Cod beachgoers vie for towel space on popular Dennis beaches, and more of today's news.

AP PhotoMexico's Jorge Ferzuli dives Sunday from the 27-meter platform during the fifth stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series at Scaliger Castle, located on the shores of Lake Garda, Malcesine, Italy.

• Fatal Mattapoisett shark attack still resonates [Boston.com]


• Family of Amy Winehouse begs for 'privacy and space' after singer's death [Reuters.com]


• Amid mourning, Norway prepares for court appearance by suspect in attacks [NYTimes.com]


• Connecticut firefighters rescue Manchester woman who slips over waterfall [Courant.com]


• Seven things you might not know about the world [ValleyAdvocate.com]


• Woman found shot to death in Boston [Boston.com]


• Early bird gets the sand at popular Dennis beaches on Cape's North Side [CapeCodOnline.com]


• Diver's body recovered at Andrea Doria wreck off Nantucket coast [CapeCodOnline.com]




Associated Press video, 'Today in History,' July 25:




• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


• Do you have News Links? Send them our way or tweet them to @masslivenews

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.

Sturbridge Selectman Thomas Creamer said the regional agreement that established the Tantasqua school system gives selectmen the sole authority to make appointments in case of vacancies on the school board.

STURBRIDGE – Both sides in a dispute over filling a vacancy on the Tantasqua Regional School Committee say they have the law and legal opinions on their side.

The Sturbridge Board of Selectmen voted this month to appoint Susan Waters to fill the vacancy left by the death of Francis G. Simanski.

Earlier in the month, the Tantasqua Regional School Committee voted not to seat anyone unless the appointment was the result of a joint action by the Sturbridge selectmen and the remaining Sturbridge members of the regional school committee.

Sturbridge Selectman Thomas Creamer said, “There is no question that this was a legal appointment, and there is no body or committee that has the authority to refuse to seat an individual who was properly appointed under the law.’’

Wales Selectman Michael J. Valanzola, a member of the regional school committee, said his town had an earlier legal opinion saying that in cases of a vacancy on the regional committee, the selectmen of the town with the vacancy will make the appointment in conjunction with the remaining regional committee members from that town.

Creamer pointed to language in the 1952 agreement that established the Tantasqua Regional School District, which says that when vacancies for a position of someone elected to the regional school committee, the vacancy will be filled “by the Selectmen to serve until the next annual town election.’’

“We have an obligation to adhere to an agreement. Barring a new agreement, we cannot be in conflict with the agreement,’’ Creamer said. “This is not a situation where we can pick and choose.’’

Sturbridge Town Administrator Shaun A. Suhoski said that Waters appointment is legal.
“Without question, she has been appointed in accordance with the law and the regional agreement. She has been sworn in by the town clerk. I expect and hope she will take her seat at the next meeting of the regional school committee,’’ Suhoski said.

“There has been some statement that they will not seat Dr. Waters, but that is silly,’’ Suhoski said.

Valanzola said regional school committee members have taken part in votes to fill vacancies in the past and should do so in this case.

“You need to have the input of your school committee members on who is an appropriate person to fill that vacancy,’’ Valanzola said.

Today's poll: Is a liquor and entertainment license suspension too steep a penalty for allowing nude male dancers?

The Republican | Greg Saulmon07.24.2011 | SOUTH DEERFIELD - A peregrine falcon flies over Mt. Sugarloaf Sunday evening.

The Forecast

The National Weather Service forecast for Monday calls for a 50% chance or rain under mostly cloudy skies. Today's high will be around 76.

Thunderstorms may roll through the area after 4 p.m. today. A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm.

Rain may linger through Tuesday evening, but the sun should be back Wednesday. Temperatures look like they'll be in the 80s through the rest of the work week, warming up to the low 90s for a sunny weekend.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

Chicopee's License Commission has slapped Maximum Capacity with a liquor and entertainment license suspension for allowing a nude performance on May 13 by the Men in Motion Dance Revue.

The Republican's Patricia Cahill reports that the bar will be shut down for 10 days beginning July 24 and will be in abeyance for the next 10 days.

Several MassLive.com readers disagree with the penalty.

ButterKnife writes: Not my cup of tea... but I'm sure that Chicopee town officials have better things to do than shut down Max Cap for nude male dancing.

notoone writes: Well the citizens of Chicopee really showed the ABC that they would not allow nude dancing in their town. Hundreds of them went to witness this travesty in the interest of justice!

And TonyC writes: Good thing they put a stop to this! We wouldn't want people coming to downtown Chicopee in the evening to carelessly spend money and overcrowd the city!

What do you think -- is a liquor and entertainment license suspension too steep a penalty for allowing nude male dancers? Vote in our poll, and check back Tuesday for the results.

Friday's results: On Friday, we asked, "Should Alan J. Ingram repay his $30,000 signing bonus?" 21 people voted. 57.14% said "yes," and 42.86% said "no."

Sunday's Top 5:

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on July 24 were:

1) Paul Barkyoumb, former Holyoke police officer, arrested in a drug investigation

2) Convicted killer Francis Soffen to face 15th parole hearing

3) Man charged with heroin trafficking after allegedly running stop sign in Holyoke

4) Bike Night at Stearns Square in Springfield: Dokken

5) Ludlow accident sends five to the hospital

Quote of the Day

“Mom always gave to charity, even when we didn’t have much. I’d ask her why she was doing it and she’d say, ‘They need it more than we do.’”

~Ted Hebert, chief executive of Teddy Bear Pools & Spas, on his long involvement in local philanthropy. Read Garry Brown's article here.

Anders Behring Breivik staged the bombing and youth camp rampage as "marketing" for his manifesto calling for a revolution that would rid Europe of Muslims, he said.

AP Photo/Twitter, Anders Behring BreivikThis is an undated image obtained from the Twitter page of Anders Behring Breivik, 32, who was arrested Friday July 22, 2011 in connection to the twin attacks on a youth camp and a government building in Oslo, Norway. Breivik is a suspect in both the shootings and the Oslo explosion Friday.

OSLO, Norway — A judge denied Anders Behring Breivik the public stage he wanted to air his anti-Muslim rants and call for revolution on Monday, ruling that the first hearing for the man who has confessed to Norway's twin terror attacks be held behind closed doors.

Breivik had prepared a speech for his day in court even before launching the attacks that left 93 people dead and Norwegians reeling at the devastation. He had requested an open hearing in which he would wear a uniform, making clear in an Internet manifesto that he planned to turn his court appearance into theater.

He staged the bombing and youth camp rampage as "marketing" for his manifesto calling for a revolution that would rid Europe of Muslims, he said.

Reporters and locals thronged the courthouse on Monday ahead of the hearing for their first glimpse of Breivik since the assault. When one car drove through the crowd, people hit its windows and one person shouted an expletive, believing Breivik was inside.

The hearing ended after about 35 minutes. A guard at the courthouse told reporters, "everyone has left."

Peaceful, liberal Norway has been stunned by the bombing in downtown Oslo and the shooting massacre at a youth camp outside the capital, which the suspect said were intended to start a revolution to inspire Norwegians to retake their country from Muslims and other immigrants. He blames liberals for championing multiculturalism over Norway's "indigenous" culture.

"Based on information in the case the court finds that today's detention hearing should be held behind closed doors," Judge Kim Heger said in a statement. "It is clear that there is concrete information that a public hearing with the suspect present could quickly lead to an extraordinary and very difficult situation in terms of the investigation and security."

The court acknowledged that there was a need for transparency in the case and that it normally would consider arguments from the press when making decisions to close hearings but said that wasn't possible "for practical reasons."

It's unusual that the hearing was closed even before it began. Normally, a judge would make such a decision in open court.

Typically, the accused is brought to court every four weeks while prosecutors prepare their case, so a judge can approve his continued detention. In cases of serious crimes or where the defendant has admitted to the charges, longer periods of detention are not unusual.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg led the mourning nation in a minute of silence on Monday, standing on the steps of an Oslo university next to a flame. The king and queen stood by as well, and neighboring countries Denmark and Sweden also joined in the remembrance.

Signs of normality began to return to Oslo on Monday. A wide police cordon around the bomb site was lifted on the first workday since the attacks, leaving just a narrower zone closed off. Most shops were open and trams were rumbling through the city's streets.

But the flag on the courthouse where Breivik will appear remained at half staff, and the world's media was buzzing around the building.

The search for more victims continues and police have not released the names of the dead. But Norway's royal court said Monday that those killed at the island retreat included Crown Princess Mette-Marit's stepbrother, an off-duty police officer, who was working there as a security guard.

Court spokeswoman Marianne Hagen told The Associated Press that his name was Trond Berntsen, the son of Mette-Marit's stepfather, who died in 2008.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Swedish tabloid Expressen, the suspect's father said he was ashamed and disgusted by his son's acts and wished he had committed suicide.

"I don't feel like his father," said former diplomat Jens David Breivik from his secluded home in southern France. "How could he just stand there and kill so many innocent people and just seem to think that what he did was OK? He should have taken his own life too. That's what he should have done."

Breivik said he first learned the news of his son's attacks from media websites. "I couldn't believe my eyes. It was totally paralyzing and I couldn't really understand it."

"I will have to live with this shame for the rest of my life. People will always link me with him," he said.

Jens David Breivik said he had severed all contact with his son in 1995 when the latter was 16.

Police were surrounding the suspect's father's house in the south of France on Monday. They initially said they were searching the premises, but later said they were there to ensure public order. Journalists were outside the property.

The attacks rattled Norway, a small and wealthy country unused to political violence, and known internationally as a peace mediator, prominent foreign aid donor and as home of the Nobel Peace Prize. Survivors of the camp shooting on the Utoya island described how a gunman dressed in a police uniform urged people to come closer and then opened fire, sending panicked youth fleeing into the water.

Police say 86 people were killed. About 90 minutes earlier, a car bomb exploded in the government district in central Oslo, killing seven.

More than 90 people were wounded, and others remain missing at both crime scenes.

Breivik laid out his extreme nationalist philosophy as well as his attack methods in a 1,500-page manifesto. It also describes how he bought armor, guns, tons of fertilizer and other bomb components, stashed caches of weapons and wiping his computer hard drive — all while evading police suspicion and being nice to his neighbors.

Polish security officials said Monday that he bought some of the components for his bomb-making in Poland, adding that the online purchases were legal. Pawel Bialek, the deputy head of the Internal Security Agency, said Monday that the chemicals can be bought anywhere in Europe. They included a synthetic fertilizer.

Dr. Colin Poole, head of surgery at Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss northwest of Oslo, told The Associated Press that the gunman used special bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage. Poole said surgeons treating 16 gunshot victims have recovered no full bullets.

"These bullets more or less exploded inside the body," Poole said. "It's caused us all kinds of extra problems in dealing with the wounds they cause, with very strange trajectories."

Ballistics experts say "dum-dum"-style bullets also are lighter in weight and can be fired with greater accuracy over varying distances.

Empire State Development Corp. estimates the legalization of gay marriage will generate about $400 million in economic benefits statewide over three years.

Associated PressIn this photo provided by the Office of the Mayor , New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg officiates the marriage ceremony of Jonathan Mintz, left, and John Feinblatt, Sunday, July 24, 2011 at Gracie Mansion in New York. Hundreds of gay couples dressed in formal suits and striped trousers, gowns and T-shirts recited vows in emotion-choked voices and triumphantly hoisted their long-awaited marriage certificates on Sunday as New York became the sixth and largest state to recognize same-sex weddings.

NEW YORK — From Niagara Falls to Long Island, hundreds of gay couples were married Sunday in joyous, long-awaited ceremonies as New York became the sixth and largest state to recognize same-sex marriage.

Dressed in everything from formal suits and traditional white gowns to T-shirts, the couples began saying "I do" at midnight to the cheers and applause of family, friends and supporters.

"To us, we always felt married. But we didn't have equality," said Cindy Golden, just moments after saying her vows at the Manhattan city clerk's office and formally taking the name of her partner of 16 years.

"I didn't think it would ever happen," Sophia Golden said, "to see it happen in this lifetime."

The National Organization for Marriage held rallies attended by thousands in New York City, Albany, Buffalo and Rochester. Protesters said Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers had redefined marriage without giving voters input, as they have been allowed in other states.

Cuomo campaigned in support of gay marriage, which he called a basic human right, and lobbied the Legislature hard before its historic June 24 vote to legalize it.

Across from his Manhattan office Sunday, a crowd that started with several hundred people swelled to thousands, and protesters waved signs saying "Excommunicate Cuomo" and "God cannot be mocked."

In Niagara Falls, the city made the most of its nickname, the Rainbow City. The rainbow is a recognized symbol of gay pride, and Niagara Falls, with its Rainbow Bridge to Canada, Rainbow Boulevard and Rainbow-themed businesses, hopes to attract some of the business same-sex weddings will provide.

Empire State Development Corp. estimates the legalization of gay marriage will generate about $400 million in economic benefits statewide over three years. The city hopes to be among the biggest benefactors of the law and all the hotel rooms, flowers, dinners out, breakfasts in, and cakes that go with it.

On Monday, the city will host the first group gay wedding in the state for about 50 couples who signed up to tie the knot en masse overlooking Niagara Falls. Officials hope the ceremony will nudge the careworn city perched on one of the world's great natural wonders toward recapturing its storied identity as the world's "Honeymoon Capital."

"We took the honeymoon designation for granted," said Nicholas Mattera, spokesman for the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp., which has begun redirecting funds and pouring time and manpower into recapturing happy couples of every persuasion. He and other civic leaders acknowledge they've let the blush fade from the Honeymoon Capital reputation over the last three or four decades.

Mayor Paul Dyster had the falls lit up in rainbow hues as he officiated at the city's first same-sex wedding, timed to wrap up at one second past midnight Sunday morning. He gave brides Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd a picture of the illuminated falls as a gift.

Michael Shullick, 31, and Michael McAran, 43, closed up shop at their Sandusky, Ohio, bar at 2:30 a.m. Sunday and drove five hours to Niagara Falls, where they picked up a marriage license for their Monday wedding. They brought along their bar's manager and her girlfriend, who will also wed.

"What more could you ask for, getting married by the falls?" said Shullick, who said he visited the city a decade or so ago and has wanted to return. Monday's ceremony falls on the couple's three-year anniversary.

Clerks in New York City and about a dozen other cities statewide opened their doors Sunday to cater to same-sex couples.

At the Manhattan clerk's office, a party atmosphere reigned with applause breaking out whenever a couple was handed a white-and-blue wedding certificate. Balloons floated overhead. One couple wore matching kilts; another wore sparkly crowns. Children scurried up and down the lobby; workers with bullhorns called out the numbers of each couple.

Poignant signs of pent-up emotion were common from couples who had in some cases waited for years to wed. Couples cried and voices quavered. Newlywed Douglas Robinson exclaimed, "You bet your life I do!" when asked if he would take Michael Elsasser as his spouse.

The first couple to marry in Manhattan were Phyllis Siegel, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85, who have been together for 23 years. Kopelov arrived in a wheelchair and stood with the assistance of a walker. During the service, Siegel wrapped her hand in Kopelov's hand and they both grasped the walker.

Witnesses cheered and wiped away tears after the two women vowed to honor and cherish each other as spouses and then kissed.

"I am breathless. I almost couldn't breathe," Siegel said after the ceremony. "It's mind-boggling. The fact that it's happening to us — that we are finally legal and can do this like everyone else."

Outside afterward, Siegel raised her arms exultantly as Kopelov, in the wheelchair, held out a marriage certificate.

New York's adoption of legal same-sex marriage is viewed as a pivotal moment in the national gay rights movement and was expected to galvanize supporters and opponents alike. The state joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, along with Washington, D.C., when it voted to legalize gay marriage.

Opponents in New York say they will seek to block the marriages.

State Sen. Ruben Diaz, a minister who was the sole Democrat to vote against gay marriage, told the crowd at a rally at the United Nations that he and other opponents would try to get Sunday's marriages annulled, saying judges broke the law by waiving the 24-hour waiting period without a good reason.

"We're going to show them next week that everything they did today was illegal," he said, speaking in Spanish. "Today we start the battle! Today we start the war!"

In Manhasset on Long Island, Dina Mazzaferro and Robin Leopold of Great Neck got married in the North Hempstead town clerk's office with their 8-year-old daughter, Sasha, and Robin's mother, Barbara, watching. The elder woman wiped away tears during the brief ceremony while Sasha mouthed some of the words along with her parents.

The couple has been together 15 years.

"We've been waiting for this day," Leopold, an attorney who works in the Queens district attorney's office, said after the service. "And now we're waiting for the day it becomes legal on a federal level. It's a wonderful thing that the town has been so embracing of this."

Across the state in Buffalo, the first in line were Daniel Rodgers, 54, and Scott Klaurens, 40, who were married in shorts, T-shirts and sneakers. They had gone expecting only to get a license and planned to wed Tuesday, but were told they could go ahead Sunday because of their marriage six years ago in Toronto.

"This is just a flower opening up for us and everyone else, a flower of equality," Rodgers said.

At Buffalo City Hall, City Clerk Gerald Chwalinski zipped a black robe over his shorts and golf shirt and spent three hours marrying couples in the ornate City Council chambers. His office issued 20 licenses and performed eight ceremonies in the three hours it was open for the occasion Sunday.

At the end of the day Sunday, the New York City mayor's office said 484 couples had gotten married at city offices while 175 had picked up their licenses in order to marry elsewhere. Most were from the city, but some came from as far as Hawaii and Alabama, officials said.

The festive atmosphere included couples who posed for pictures in front of a photo backdrop of City Hall and bought T-shirts saying "I got married in New York City" from the clerk's office gift shop. In Brooklyn, an elegant reception was held in Borough Hall with champagne and a lineup of cakes — one with a two-men cake topper, another with two women and a third with a heterosexual couple.

At Manhattan's Gracie Mansion, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over the wedding of two high-level city officials. Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and policy adviser John Feinblatt had been together for 14 years. They were joined by their daughters, ages six and eight, who wore white dresses and held bouquets.

"We're full of love the way other families are," Mintz said.

If the government's authority to borrow money isn't renewed by Aug. 2 -- its current $14.3 trillion limit has been reached -- it won't have cash to pay all its bills.

Associated PressSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., whispers to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, during a photo opportunity in the House Speaker's office before a meeting on the debt limit increase on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday, July 23, 2011.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic and Republican congressional leaders shopped competing debt-crisis solutions and President Barack Obama canceled fundraising appearances Monday, as a politically gridlocked capital lurched into a climactic last full week before the Aug. 2 default deadline.

Even amid acknowledgments by U.S. leaders of the need to reassure jittery investors, world markets fell and both the Dow and Standrd & Poor's 500 futures headed for poor starts at Wall Street's opening bell the Aug. 2 borrowing deadline fast approaching.

Efforts to break the impasse intensified Monday as Republican Speaker John Boehner and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid planned to lobby their deficit reduction plans with their respective House and Senate caucuses after the Obama White House and Congress made little apparent headway in private talks over a long, steamy weekend.

Boehner was set to meet with his chamber's Republicans to discuss the GOP's clash with Obama over extending the government's borrowing authority. The Ohio Republican planned to unveil a new debt ceiling plan at the GOP meeting and post it online later in the day, a spokesman said.

Aides said Boehner's plan was a two-step process, with an immediate $1.2 trillion in cuts and spending caps coupled with a $900 billion debt ceiling increase, followed by creation of a congressional committee charged with producing nearly $2 trillion in additional cuts. The debt ceiling needs to be increased by about $2.4 trillion to last until 2013, the time frame that Obama and Democrats are insisting on, but which would not be immediately permitted under Boehner's plan.

Boehner's plan also requires both the House and the Senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment, a goal of conservatives. But the increase in the debt limit is not directly tied to the balanced budget amendment issue.

Reid called Boehner's proposal "a nonstarter in the Senate and with the president" because it would permit only a short-term increase of the sort that has already been rejected by Democrats. Boehner's office rejected that description.

Reid, D-Nev., said Sunday that Boehner's proposal "would not provide the certainty the markets are looking for and risks many of the same dire economic consequences that would be triggered by default itself."

After meeting at the White House Sunday evening with Obama and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Reid said he was crafting his own new $2.7 trillion package of spending cuts that would also push the government's borrowing authority through next year, a timeline that Obama and top Democrats are demanding. It would do so without any new revenues, Reid said, thus meeting GOP demands for no new taxes.

But Reid's plan was already being privately rejected by Republicans concerned that the cuts it contains would prove illusory.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate leadership, said Monday one difficult reality is that no debt-crisis solution can be successful unless it has the support of five top players: Obama, Boehner, Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. But Schumer also said he thought Reid's proposal had the best chance of succeeding.

The competing plans were emerging after debt talks between Obama and Boehner on an ambitious $4 trillion package of spending cuts and revenue increases — the so-called "grand bargain" — collapsed spectacularly when Boehner walked out Friday. The speaker at the time accused Obama of moving the goalposts with demands for more taxes. The White House disputed that, but the focus of the talks has now largely moved from the White House to Capitol Hill.

The drama seemed certain to play out in nail-biting fashion, and it consumed Washington, as Obama canceled two Democratic fundraisers he had planned to attend Monday night. He has barely ventured from the White House all month.

If the government's authority to borrow money isn't renewed by Aug. 2 — its current $14.3 trillion limit having been reached — it won't have cash to pay all its bills. The administration and many others say that scenario would risk a first-ever federal default, with higher interest rates and other devastating effects cascading through the entire economy.

Both Boehner and Reid were hoping that by presenting their competing plans, they would demonstrate a seriousness that could prevent the world's financial markets from panicking and punishing the U.S. by demanding higher interest rates for the huge amounts of cash it must constantly borrow. Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong early Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to reassure financial markets that America's economy is sound and that a deal on the debt limit would be reached.

In a conference call with his colleagues on Sunday, Boehner said that his new plan "is gonna require some of you to make some sacrifices."

"If we stand together as a team, our leverage is maximized, and they have to deal with us. If we're divided, our leverage gets minimized," Boehner said, according to excerpts the speaker's office distributed to Republican offices.

"I would prefer to have a bipartisan approach to solve this problem," Boehner said on Fox News Sunday. "If that is not possible, I and my Republican colleagues in the House are prepared to move on our own."

Top congressional aides labored to try producing a compromise Sunday that the House and Senate could quickly approve, and Obama and Boehner spoke by phone, aides said.

Administration officials took to the airwaves on Sunday to make their case, with White House chief of staff William Daley saying Obama would veto a bill that didn't extend the borrowing limit into 2013.

"The president believes that we must get this uncertainty in order, to help the American economy and help the American people," Daley said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also underscored administration opposition to a short-term extension of the debt ceiling. Reaching out to investors, he said on CNN's "State of the Union" that a U.S. default was unthinkable, saying, "We never do that. It's not going to happen."

Schumer was interviewed Monday on MSBNC.

Cathedral High School students will attend classes at Wilbraham's Memorial School.

The Republican | Don TreegerThe Memorial School in Wilbraham.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayBishop Timothy A. McDonnell announces the new school locations at a press conference Monday.

An updated version of this story is now available.

SPRINGFIELD - Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has announced plans for new locations for Cathedral High School and St. Michael's Academy Middle School.

Both schools were heavily damaged in the June 1 tornado that ravaged the city, and have been closed since the storm.

Cathedral High School students will resume classes this fall at Wilbraham's Memorial School. St. Michael's Academy Middle School will attend classes at the Holy Cross School on Eddywood Street.

The sites are among several temporary locations the Diocese considered, including Building 20 on the Springfield Technical Community College campus and St. George's School in Chicopee.

Prior to the storm, the Surrey Road complex housing Cathedral and St. Michael's Academy had been the daily destination for 650 students in grades six through 12.

The high school's graduating class this year numbered 111.

Cathedral High School students finished their school year at Elms College in Chicopee; St. Michael's Academy students were moved to a space at Western New England University.

This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.

Police say the man was wanted in connection with a break-in and assault in Princeton.

WEST BOYLSTON — A man who was being chased by police is dead after leaping off a highway bridge in central Massachusetts.

State police tell the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that the man stopped his car at the side of the Interstate 190 bridge in West Boylston early Monday, got out of the vehicle, climbed over a barrier and fell into a river just as a state trooper was pulling up behind him.

The man was found dead a short time later. His name has not been released.

Police say the pursuit began around midnight when police tried to stop the vehicle on Route 140 in Sterling. It ended about a half hour later.

Police say the man was wanted in connection with a break-in and assault in Princeton on Sunday.

The program set to begin Thursday will offer rebates of $150 on refrigerators and $50 on air conditioners.

GE photoThe GE Cafe refrigerator

BOSTON — The state is launching a new rebate program for buyers of certain energy-efficient appliances.

The program set to begin Thursday will offer rebates of $150 on refrigerators and $50 on air conditioners for consumers who certify that they are replacing their current, less energy-efficient models.

The program is a scaled-back version of one that was so popular when it was initially launched last year that funding was exhausted within 2-1/2 hours and a computer server crashed.

State officials say $2 million is available for this year's program, enough to fund about 20,000 rebates.

Consumers must apply for the rebates online or through a customer service center.

Vermont Yankee's current operating license expires in March, 2012.

Associated Press photoThe Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is seen on the banks of the Connecticut River in Vernon, Vt.

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The owner of Vermont's only nuclear power plant plans to move forward with a $60 million refueling this fall despite uncertainty about whether it will be able to operate beyond March, when its current operating license expires.

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., which is locked in a legal battle with the state over the future of the Vermont Yankee plant, said the company's attorneys felt the company would eventually win its legal battle with the state.

Earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued Vermont Yankee a 20-year license extension that would allow the plant to remain open until 2032. But the state, which claims it has jurisdiction over the plant's operation, wants the plant to close and has so far not acted on a state certification that it says is needed for Vermont Yankee to remain open.

Entergy's lawsuit challenging the state is scheduled to go to trial in September.

"Our board believes both the merits of the company's legal position and the record strongly support its decision to continue to trial scheduled to begin on Sept. 12," said Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard. "On that basis, the decision was made to move forward with the refueling as planned."

Saturday had been the deadline for ordering the fuel rods that will be used in the refueling, scheduled for October.

Vermont Yankee said Monday that during a typical 30-day refueling outage, approximately 120 fuel assemblies, or one-third of the reactor core, are replaced.

While the refueling is under way, about 5,000 other maintenance chores are performed that can only be done when the plant is shut down.

Also in Business Monday: Voices of the Valley, the Western Mass business calendar, and more.

Republican photo by GREG SAULMON Evan H. Gregg, site manager for www.locationreservoir.com, stands for a portrait at Open Square's Mill 1 event space in Holyoke earlier this month. Gregg's website helps film production crews connect with spaces and locations in Western Massachusetts for video shoots.

Start the week informed with Business Monday from The Republican:

Teddy Bear Pools owner Ted Hebert plays passion into sports philanthropy
On the Western Massachusetts sports scene, you’ll find “Teddy Bear” teams playing everything from small fry baseball to senior hockey. Read more »

Evan Gregg's 'Location Reservoir' website pitches Western Massachusetts as film location
The main focus of the website is the location database, which features properties – from the Steaming Tender restaurant in Palmer to the Poet’s Seat tower in Greenfield – that are available as filming locations across the region. Read more »

Connecticut couple cooks growing business
Yolanda Torres said that before Yolanda’s Sofrito Puerto Rico went on the market, grocery stores had several brands on the shelves. Now there are very few as customers seem to prefer Yolanda’s blend. Read more »

Summer jobs few and far between for teen-agers in Hampshire, Franklin counties
A statewide study of teen employment by the Joint Committee on Workforce Development of Massachusetts showed a drop from 53 percent in 1999 to 29 percent in 2009. Read more »

More Business Monday:

Voices of the Valley: Marcos 'Jay' Alvarado, owner, Jizay's Global Tech in Holyoke

UMass Memorial Health System's bond rating upgrated by Moody's Investor Services

Commentary: Is an expanded Massachusetts bottle bill necessary?

Construction continues on Kohl's in Springfield

Family Dollar to open new store in Enfield

ShopRite of Enfield donates $20,000 in materials to area schools

Open enrollment set in Massachusetts for health care

United Technologies profits on the rise

Hotel demand, rates up in Boston area

Commentary: Beyond repatriation, tax reform will have lasting economic impact

Bush-era gift-tax exemptions nearing end

Notebooks:

Western Massachusetts business calendar: July 28 - Sept. 14

The AP found that $252,750, or 76 percent, of the $330,810 Neal has raised this year came from PACs.

Republican file photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanU.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal speaks at a press conference in the U.S. District Courthouse in Springfield.

An Associated Press review of campaign finance disclosures released over the weekend found that more than three quarters of the money raised this year by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, came from political action committees, or PACs.

The AP found that $252,750, or 76 percent, of the $330,810 Neal has raised this year came from PACs, more than any of the other members of Massachusetts' House delegation.

Neal's office said PAC contributions do not affect his votes in Congress.

"The congressman welcomes the support of individuals and PAC’s, but he votes in the best interest of the people he represents," spokesman William Tranghese told the AP.

Neal's colleagues Edward Markey, William Keating and Stephen Lynch also received more money from PACs than individual donors.

The AP found that Rep. John Olver, D-Amherst, has raised $262,668 this year, with 45 percent of it from PACs.

Prior to 2010, Neal had run unopposed or with little opposition for several election cycles, spending significantly less than $1 million per election. In 2010, however, he faced a challenge from Republican Tom Wesley and ramped up campaign spending. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Neal's 2010 campaign more than tripled the amount spent in the 2008 election, spending 16 times as much as Wesley, at $2,304,756 to Wesley's $143,835.

Neal defeated Wesley 59 percent to 41 percent.

Regardless of whether he faces another Republican or third-party challenger in 2012, Neal may be gearing up for the results of Massachusetts' congressional redistricting efforts. The Commonwealth is losing one of its 10 Congressional seats, and one of the many possible outcomes would pit Neal and Olver against one another in a consolidated Western Mass. district.

Neal's campaign currently has $2,326,140, slightly more than he spent overall in 2010, on hand. Olver has $240,664.

Read more about campaign disclosures at OpenSecrets.org.

Bishop McDonnell said the diocese is committed to rebuilding the Cathedral High School campus on Surrey Road.

The Republican | Don TreegerThe Memorial School in Wilbraham.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayBishop Timothy A. McDonnell announces the new school locations at a press conference Monday.

This is an update of a story posted at 9:53 a.m. today.

SPRINGFIELD – Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell announced Monday that Cathedral High School will relocate to the vacant Memorial Elementary School in Wilbraham this fall, staying there until its tornado-damaged campus can be rebuilt on Surrey Road, possibly taking up to two years.

McDonnell also announced that St. Michael’s Academy Middle School, also seriously damaged by the June 1 tornado, will relocate to the Holy Cross Campus on Eddywood Street, off Plumtree Road, just a few blocks from Cathedral. The St. Michael’s Elementary School was undamaged.

Cathedral’s entire academic program can fit at Memorial School, with plans to use some modular units for non-academic programs, McDonnell said. St. Michael’s Middle School’s move will lead to some slightly increasing class sizes, he said.

“They are ‘safe harbors’ if you will while we undertake everything necessary to bring us back home, here to Surrey Road in East Forest Park,” McDonnell said. “Cathedral will be back. Cathedral will be here. Cathedral will continue.”

The announcement was made directly outside Cathedral, and was followed by a tour inside the building that revealed serious damage to sections of the roof, walls, floors, windows, the science wing, gymnasium, and elsewhere.

The diocese has considered other temporary locations for Cathedral including two floors of a building at Springfield Technical Community College. The community college site, however, faced challenges of not being ready in time for the start of school in September, McDonnell said.

The U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno joined in praising the short-term and long-term diocesan plans for Cathedral.

Mario Johnson of Enfield, whose son Michael is entering his senior year at Cathedral, said parents have been on “pins and needles” the past two months, and are relieved a temporary location is selected. In addition, Johnson said he and other parents favored the Wilbraham site over the community college site, believing it offered a better environment.

Diocese statement on new school locations:

Below, the full text of a press release sent by the Diocese this morning.

SPRINGFIELD – New homes for two, tornado-damaged schools were announced by Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell at a press conference at Cathedral High School, today. At the same time he announced both schools will be restored eventually in the east Forest Park neighborhood.

The Memorial School building in Wilbraham was named the best candidate as a temporary home for Springfield’s Cathedral High School. St. Michael’s Academy Middle School will move in with the elementary students on the grounds of Holy Cross Parish.

“After many hours, much work and massive reviews, we have identified Memorial School in Wilbraham as the candidate for the temporary relocation of Cathedral High School,” Bishop McDonnell said at a 9:30 a.m. press conference July 25. “We have had fruitful dialogue with officials at Hampden Wilbraham Regional School District who have been very understanding of our situation. The district has already undertaken to begin the necessary legal and regulatory procedures and notifications required.

“We can accommodate our entire high school academic program in the Memorial School Building utilizing one or two temporary modular units for additional non-academic space,” he said.

Cathedral anticipates opening in September with 350 students. Bus transportation will be provided to the temporary quarters.

“For St. Michael’s Middle School, we have undertaken to rearrange classes at the Holy Cross Campus on Eddywood Street, off Plumtree Road, just a few blocks from here, slightly increasing some class sizes so as to fit the middle school in the elementary school,” Bishop McDonnell continued. “It will be tight, but it is very doable, thanks to some great cooperation on the part of the Holy Cross parish community who will free up some additional space,” he said.

Bishop McDonnell said there are currently “some excellent options for the preschool relocation that we hope to announce within a few days.”

Bishop also said, “I want to stress these are temporary relocations. The goal and commitment is to complete our structural analysis here very shortly and then, through the coming months, working with our insurance carriers, city, state and federal partners, prepare the detailed plans to bring Cathedral High School home to Surrey Road and to provide St. Michael’s Academy Middle School with its own quarters.”

Bishop McDonnell thanked the many dignitaries in attendance including Congressman Richard Neal and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.