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Massachusetts judge upholds ban on corporate contributions to politicians

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Two businesses with ties to the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance had argued that businesses should be treated the same way as unions.

BOSTON -- A Suffolk Superior Court judge has upheld Massachusetts campaign finance laws, which bar political contributions by businesses but allow contributions by unions.

Two Massachusetts businesses, 1A Auto and 126 Self Storage, whose owners Rick Green and Michael Kane are active in the fiscally conservative advocacy group Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, had challenged the law.

Judge Paul Wilson issued an order dated Tuesday dismissing the challenge. "To find for the Plaintiffs, I would have to ignore binding and directly applicable United States Supreme Court precedent," Wilson wrote. "To do that is beyond my power."

The businesses, represented by lawyers from the Goldwater Institute, a conservative Arizona-based think tank, had argued that the same political donation rules should apply to businesses and unions.

But attorneys for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance argued that businesses are different from unions, and government is within its rights to regulate each entity differently.

Under Massachusetts campaign finance law, businesses are not allowed to contribute to candidates. Individuals can donate up to $1,000 per year and unions can donate up to $15,000.

Wilson noted that the Massachusetts laws banning business contributions to state politicians date back to 1907 and 1908 -- around the same time Congress passed a similar law on a federal level at the behest of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt.

"In the ensuing century, the ban on corporate contributions has been an essential part of the Legislature's efforts to prevent corruption in Massachusetts elections," Wilson wrote. Similar laws remain in place on a federal level. He noted that individuals who are associated with a business can still make political contributions as long as the money does not come from the corporation itself.

The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling allowed corporations to make unlimited independent expenditures, money spent to help a candidate without coordinating with that candidate directly. But the Supreme Court specifically did not address the question of whether businesses can be barred from donating to a candidate directly.

The businesses had argued that barring business contributions limits their rights to free speech, and treating them differently from labor unions violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. and Massachusetts constitutions. The Office of Campaign and Political Finance responded that the rules are narrowly tailored to address the state's interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption, and corporations and unions are different entities that can be governed differently.

Wilson found that previous Supreme Court rulings serve to uphold OCPF's position. He said the state has a legitimate interest in avoiding corruption by barring corporate campaign contributions, and the plaintiffs did not bring enough evidence to show that unions are similarly situated to businesses and must be governed by the same laws.

Emily Snyder, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, which represented OCPF, said, "The court's order affirms our longstanding right to ban corporations from making campaign contributions and avoid even the risk of political corruption. This decision is a victory for our democracy."

Paul Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said Wilson is "on the wrong side of history" with his ruling.

"Throughout the country, you are seeing court case after court case allowing for more free speech and more equal protection under the law," Craney said in a statement. "Unfortunately in this case, our judge decided to preserve the status quo, which unfairly protects the interests of unions, over the interests of citizens and employers in state campaign finance law."

Jim Manley, the Goldwater Institute attorney representing the businesses, said the organization stands by its position and believes Wilson's ruling conflicts with recent U.S. Supreme Court and federal court decisions.

"There is room to debate many campaign finance regulations, but this is not one of them," Manley said in a statement. "A total ban on businesses participating in the political process -- while their counterparts from the other side of the bargaining table dole out stacks of cash to their preferred candidates and committees -- is unfair from any perspective."

This story was updated to include comments from Snyder.


Former Sweetheart Restaurant in Shelburne Falls to become brewpub

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Development is expected to take place in 2018 and 2019.

SHELBURNE -- If all goes as planned, the former Sweetheart Restaurant on Route 2 will see new life as a brewpub, restaurant and banquet hall.

Contractor Joseph S. Rae presented architectural plans and told the Shelburne Selectboard he expects to develop the project in two phases over 2018 and 2019. The board this week approved a $38,437 local tax break to support the project.

Incorporated as Sweetheart Realty LLC, Rae and lawyer Kevin D. Parsons bought the vacant building in October of 2015 for $220,000. Rae's business "specializes in utility pipeline construction and trenchless methods of pipeline installation."

For months, "build the pipeline" signs were posted in front of the building, and heavy equipment was parked outside. Now, with no local pipeline to construct, the two have apparently shifted gears. Workers have been improving the exterior of the property and building a stone patio.

Discussion of the Tax Increment Finance deal, or TIF, took place over two separate meetings, with proponents saying the project will create jobs and boost the economy. The matter will go before town voters in May.

The iconic structure was built in 1914, soon after the opening of the Mohawk Trail scenic highway, according to the Greenfield Recorder. At the time, the concept of taking a "Sunday drive" was new.

Severe thunderstorm warning declared for parts of Hampden, Worcester counties

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The storm could bring 60 mph winds and nickel-sized hail.

The National Weather Service on Thursday evening issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the eastern part of Hampden County and the southern part of Worcester County.

The warning, issued at 6:15 p.m., is tracking a storm moving up from Connecticut at around 85 mph.

The storm has the potential for 60 mph winds and nickel-sized hail when it reaches central Massachusetts.

The warning is in effect until around 6:45 p.m.

Areas included in the warning are Oxford, Uxbridge, Millbury, Charlton, Coventry, Palmer, Stafford   and Spencer.

Streets, sidewalks, neighborhood crime watch topics set for Holyoke Ward 7 meeting

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Ward 7 residents in Holyoke, Massachusetts can discuss issues of concern to them at a neighborhood meeting with Councilor Todd McGee and School Committee member Nyles Courchesne on April 27 from 6 to 7 p.m. at E.N. White School, 1 Jefferson St.

HOLYOKE -- Streets and sidewalks with winter receding and the neighborhood crime watch will be among topics Ward 7 residents can discuss with their elected representatives April 27.

The meeting with Todd A. McGee, Ward 7 representative on the City Council, and Nyles L. Courchesne, Ward 7 School Committee member, will be from 6 to 7 p.m. in the library at E.N. White School, 1 Jefferson St.

A representative of the Police Department will attend to discuss crime watch issues and answer questions, said McGee in an email, adding "also, (we'll) address street and sidewalk concerns now that winter is gone (hopefully gone)."

Courchesne will give updates about school issues, he said.

For more information call McGee at 413-262-5895 or Courchesne at 413-533-0531.


1 person killed after car crash in Deerfield

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DEERFIELD - One person has died as the result of a one vehicle car crash in Deerfield on Thursday night, according to police.  Deerfield police and firefighters were called to the intersection of Sugarloaf Street and Thayer Street at approximately 5:44 p.m., where they found a vehicle crashed into a tree.  The sole occupant of the car was killed in...

DEERFIELD - One person has died as the result of a one vehicle car crash in Deerfield on Thursday night, according to police. 

Deerfield police and firefighters were called to the intersection of Sugarloaf Street and Thayer Street at approximately 5:44 p.m., where they found a vehicle crashed into a tree. 

The sole occupant of the car was killed in the crash. 

Deerfield Police, the State Police assigned to the District Attorney's Office, and the State Police Crash Reconstruction team are investigating the cause of the crash. 

Sugarloaf Street is to remain closed for several hours police said at 6:18 p.m.

No other information has been released at this time. 

 

Springfield Armory kicks off 'Great War' exhibit on WWI centennial

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The Springfield armory kicked off a WWI exhibit on Thursday. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Armory kicked off a nine-month exhibit this week examining the role that the historic structure played as an arms producer during World War. 

Push the Green Hand Ahead: Springfield Armory in World War I--which is slated to run from April 6, 2017 to January 7, 2018--enjoyed its opening reception on Thursday night, with crowds of city residents coming out to immerse themselves in the rich history of the old building.

The exhibition's curator Alex Mackenzie said that the idea for the new exhibit came about largely because 2017 is the WWI centennial, with Thursday marking the one hundredth year to the day since the U.S. entered the "war to end all wars."

Mackenzie also explained that the exhibition's title comes from the fact that, at the beginning of the war, a makeshift clock was erected outside the Springfield Armory's workshops that counted rifle production instead of time. A red hand on the clock measured the arms quota needed by the U.S. Army against a green hand that measured the amount of equipment that had been produced by the armory workers on a given day. 

This clock was used to motivate "workers to speed production, do their bit, and always "push the green hand ahead!" said Mackenzie.

On display were firearms and weapons produced by the Springfield Armory during this period, as well as many of the tools used to manufacture them.

The exhibit featured a profile on Thomas Blanchard, the prolific Springfield inventor who created a number of machines--like the Blanchard lathe--that were used to fashion gun stocks and other materials at the armory.  

Weapons created by a number of wartime contractors in the Connecticut River valley--including Remington, Smith & Wesson, and Colt--could also be seen. 

Some pieces on display weren't merely interesting for their historical significance but for their visually evocative nature--a good example being the bullet-hole riddled German helmet that curator Mackenzie calls the "had-a-bad-day-helmet." The helmet was picked up by an Army Nurse after the Battle of the Argonne Forest in 1918, eventually coming into the armory's possession years later, Mackenzie said. 

During the run of the exhibit, Mr. MacKenzie will showcase other artifacts of the era from the Armory collection, as part of the popular "Curator's Corner" series.

Visitors can reserve a spot for this series. There are to be four curatorial programs scheduled to occur on Saturday at 2:00 pm through the year: May 6, July 29, October 7 and December 9 of 2017. 

Shutesbury police arrest Turners Falls man in connection to recent break-in

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A Turners Falls man was arrested for a Shutesbury break-in on Wednesday.

SHUTESBURY - A Turners Falls man was arrested by police on Wednesday in connection with a recent residential break-in in Shutesbury. 

Shutesbury-breaking.jpgMatthew Campagna.  

30-year-old Matthew Campagna was taken into custody after an investigation by a number of Franklin County police agencies.  

On the morning of March 29, a Shutesbury homeowner returned to their residence on Montague Road to find a strange car parked in their driveway and their front door kicked in. Upon entering the house they discovered an unknown man, who, upon seeing them, bolted out the back door and fled in the scene in the vehicle. 

The homeowner was able to secure a description of the man and the vehicle and turned the information over to police. 

Police now believe the man involved in the break-in was Campagna. The charges he is facing have not yet been revealed. 

Shutesbury police said that the Deerfield Police Department provided assistance in identifying Campagna, while the Montague Police Department helped in apprehending him. 

1 person sent to Baystate for 'serious' injuries after car crash in Greenfield

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One person was seriously injured after a car crash in Greenfield on Thursday.

GREENFIELD - One person was seriously injured in a two-car accident in Greenfield on Thursday, according to police. 

After receiving multiple calls about a bad crash, officers with the Greenfield Police Department responded to the area of Route 2 near the Bernardston Road off-ramp at approximately 12:30 p.m. 

Witnesses at the scene told police that a red Chevrolet involved in the crash had been traveling the wrong way on the off ramp before colliding with a white van.

Police said that the operator of the van received only minor injuries, while the operator of the Chevrolet suffered "severe injuries" and had to be taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment.

The accident is still under investigation, police said. 


Western Massachusetts legislators get preview of court videoconferencing

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Hampden Clerk of Courts Laura Gentile said bringing in so many prisoners to court is a safety hazard and an expense.

SPRINGFIELD -- Western Massachusetts legislators on Friday got a preview of videoconferencing technology that will be coming to Hampden Superior Court, hopefully, soon.

In Chicopee, a staff person at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center demonstrated how a conference room in that facility can be connected to a courtroom in Springfield through a large TV screen.

The Chicopee facility has been using the system mostly with Worcester courts. The facility has women inmates from all over the state.

Hampden Clerk of Courts Laura Gentile said as soon as the Hampden County Sheriff's Department has the system up and running at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, it can be put to use in courts here.

She said videoconferencing is technology she is passionate about. Bringing is so many prisoners to a crowded lockup at the Hampden County Hall of Justice is a safety hazard and a great expense, she said.

Judith Fabricant, chief justice of the Superior Court for the state, said statewide 75 percent of events for which videoconferencing is appropriate use the technology. Videoconferencing is used most often for bail reviews and pretrial hearings.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, who is the regional administrative judge for Western Massachusetts, said inmates like the videoconferencing system.

"Inmates don't like to be shackled," he said, adding that they then are transported to court, put in a crowded lockup, then transported back.

State Trial Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey was on hand at the event Friday and said legislators have been "partners in justice" with the courts. She noted the effect of the opioid crisis on many different state departments, including the courts and public health.

McDonough praised the work of local legislators, saying, "Nothing happens without you. We know that."

Gentile said over the past 10 years, with a few exceptions, Hampden Superior Court has been the busiest court in the state in terms of cases entered and disposed. She held up the 60-page docket for the day and said that is typical.

Stockholm attack: Alleged Sweden terror attack kills 4 when hijacked beer truck plows into store

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A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store Friday, killing four people, injuring 15 and sending screaming shoppers scattering in panic in what Sweden's prime minister called a terrorist attack.

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store Friday, killing four people, injuring 15 and sending screaming shoppers scattering in panic in what Sweden's prime minister called a terrorist attack.

A nationwide manhunt was launched and one person was arrested following the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon in Europe.

Nearby buildings were locked down for hours in the heart of the capital and the main train station was evacuated.

"Sweden has been attacked," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a nationally televised press conference. "This indicates that it is an act of terror."

He added: "The country is in a state of shock."

The truck traveled for more than 500 yards (meters) along a promenade known as the Drottninggatan and smashed into a crowd outside the Ahlens department store about 3 p.m. It came to rest in the entrance to the building. TV footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.

"People were screaming and running in all directions," said Brandon Sekitto, who was in his car nearby.

He added that the truck "drove straight into the Ahlens entrance."

"I saw the driver, a man in black who was light around the face area," Brandon told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. "I heard how some women were screaming, 'Run, run!'"

Although there was confusion throughout the day on the number of victims, the Stockholm City Council said in the evening that four had been killed and 15 were wounded, nine seriously.

Authorities evacuated the nearby Central Station, a hub for regional trains and the subway system. All trains to and from the main station were halted and several large shopping malls in Stockholm were shut down. Sweden's national theater, Dramaten, canceled three performances Friday evening.

Police arrested a man in Marsta, a northern Stockholm suburb close to the international airport.

"We have arrested one in whom we are particularly interested," Jan Evensson of the Stockholm police told a news conference.

He said the person looked like the man depicted wearing a greenish hood in a surveillance camera photo the police released earlier.

"We continue to investigate at full force," Evensson said, urging people not to go to central Stockholm.

Stefan Hector of Sweden's national police said the working hypothesis was that "this is an act of terror."

The Swedish brewery Spendrups said one of its trucks had been hijacked a few blocks from the scene earlier in the day.

"It is one of our delivery trucks. In connection with a delivery to a restaurant called Caliente, someone jumped into the truck and drove it away while the driver was unloading his delivery," Spendrups spokesman Marten Luth told the Swedish news agency TT.

The beer company's truck driver was not injured, he said.

The truck crash appeared to be the latest attack in Europe using a vehicle.

In an attack last month claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove into a crowd on London's Westminster Bridge, killing three people and injuring many others before stabbing a policeman to death. He was shot and killed by police. A fourth person, a woman thrown into the Thames by the force of the car attack, died Thursday.

The IS group also claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France, in July 2016 during a Bastille Day festival, as well as another truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf cut short a visit to Brazil on Friday to return home and sent the royal family's condolences to the families of the victims.

Condolences poured into Sweden. In neighboring Finland, President Sauli Niinisto said he was shocked by the "maniac act of terror," adding "every terror attack is to be equally condemned. But it touches us deeply when such an attack takes place in our Nordic neighborhood."

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called the attack a cowardly attempt "to subdue us and the peaceful way we live in Scandinavia."

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the Eiffel Tower's lights will be turned off from midnight Friday in homage. She expressed her "strong emotion" over "this new terrorist attack of immense cowardice."

EU Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that "my heart is in Stockholm this afternoon. My thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends of today's terrible attack."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said "one of Europe's most vibrant and colorful cities appears to have been struck by those wishing it -- and our very way of life -- harm."

Juncker also said "an attack on any of our (EU) member states is an attack on us all" and that Sweden can count on EU help.

In February, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Sweden could be the next European country to suffer the kind of extremist attacks that have devastated France, Belgium and Germany. Two days after his remarks, a riot broke out in predominantly immigrant suburb of Stockholm where police opened fire on rioters, a surprise to many Swedes who aren't used to officers using guns.

Friday's crash was near the site of a December 2010 attack in Stockholm in which Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen who lived in Britain, detonated a suicide bomb, killing himself and injuring two others.

Abdulwahab had rigged a car with explosives in the hope the blast would drive people to Drottninggatan -- the street hit Friday -- where he would set off devices strapped to his chest and back. The car bomb never went off, and Abdulwahab died when one of his devices exploded among panicked Christmas shoppers.

Ludlow police launch animal cruelty probe after social media images shared at high school

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School administrators were alerted to the alleged incident after photos were circulated at the high school, said Sgt. Daniel J. Valadas, a spokesman for the Ludlow Police Department.

LUDLOW — Authorities launched an animal-cruelty investigation Friday after receiving reports of social media images being shared at Ludlow High School.

School administrators were alerted to the alleged incident after photos were circulated at the high school, said Sgt. Daniel J. Valadas, a spokesman for the Ludlow Police Department. Officials did not disclose the nature of the photos.

Based on a preliminary investigation, Valadas said, enough probable cause was established to bring charges of animal cruelty, a felony, and disrupting a school assembly against two Ludlow High School students -- an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl. Both teens live in town, he said.

Applications for criminal complaints were filed in Palmer District Court, but additional details were not immediately available. "The investigation into this case is ongoing," Valadas said.

Todd H. Gazda, superintendent of Ludlow Public Schools, declined to discuss the incident. "This is a police matter and we do not have any comment at this time," he said in an email to The Republican late Friday afternoon.


 

Ex-girlfriend of murder defendant Michael Rodriguez testifies she didn't see who fired fatal shots at Julian Cartie

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Michael Rodriguez is charged with murder in the fatal 2009 shooting of Julian Cartie in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD -- Jacinda Matias, the ex-girlfriend of murder defendant Michael Rodriguez, spent hours on the Hampden Superior Court witness stand Thursday and Friday being questioned about the early morning hours of Feb. 22, 2009.

Matias, who is charged with accessory after the fact of murder, answered many of the questions with, "I don't remember."

Julian Cartie, 25, of New Britain, Connecticut, was fatally shot that morning after the clubs closed in downtown Springfield.

Matias was driving a car with Rodriguez in the passenger seat. She testified that she was stopped at a light in downtown Springfield when she heard gunshots.

She said Rodriguez was out of the car when she heard the shots, and he got back in and she sped off. She said she could not see Rodriguez when he was out of the car.

Matias said she did not see who fired shots.

She first said she never talked to Rodriguez about that morning, even as she drove him from the scene and as their relationship continued.

But later she said she didn't remember if there was conversation in the car as they drove from the scene.

"It was a long time ago. I was drinking," Matias said.

Rodriguez was arrested by police and federal agents in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in December 2014, nearly six years after Cartie was shot to death near Crown Fried Chicken at State and Main streets in Springfield.

Cartie, a former football star at New Britain High School, was scheduled for deployment with the Connecticut National Guard to Iraq later that year.

The break in the cold case came with information through a message to Text-A-Tip that led them to Matias.

Although she was not truthful with police in early interviews, the information about Matias eventually led police to Rodriguez, 32, of Holyoke.

Matias said that although she has an agreement to testify for the prosecution, nothing has been promised her about what will happen to her case.

Under cross-examination by defense lawyer David Rountree, Matias said she knew Rodriguez's real name but did not tell police what it was. She just told police what she called him, which was a completely different first and last name.

Peter Picknelly, Springfield business owners, to host fundraiser for LG Karyn Polito

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Other hosts for the $250-a-head fundraiser in Springfield include Tim Rooke, Tony Ravosa and other Springfield-area business owners and politicians.

SPRINGFIELD -- Peter Picknelly and other Springfield-area business owners and politicians are hosting a fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.

According to an invitation obtained by The Republican/MassLive.com, the evening reception at the Student Prince in Springfield will be held April 27. It is being billed as a way to "kick off Maifest," referring to the German celebration of spring, with carolers, hors d'oeuvres, beer and wine. Tickets to a 6 p.m. main reception cost $250 per person, and tickets to a 5:30 p.m. pre-reception cost $500 per person.

Picknelly, the owner of Peter Pan Bus Lines, has lobbied Gov. Charlie Baker and Polito on the issue of Boston-to-Springfield rail. Although some lawmakers are pushing for a study of high-speed rail, Picknelly wants any study to include all forms of transportation along that corridor. Baker has taken Picknelly's position and vetoed a budget provision last year that would only have studied rail.

In addition to Peter and Melissa Picknelly, other hosts include Tim Rooke, Julie and Nabil Hannoush, Kevin Sears, Alysson and Tony Ravosa, and Andy Yee.

Ravosa is a former Springfield city councilor who pitched a casino in East Hartford and has criticized a different plan to build a casino that would compete with MGM Springfield.

The Hanoushes have been involved in development in Westfield. Sears is a real estate agent and vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Realtors. Yee is a restaurateur and part owner of the Student Prince. Rooke is a Democratic Springfield city councilor who supported Baker's campaign.

Baker and Polito are expected to run for re-election in 2018, although they have not made an official announcement yet. Baker has $5.2 million in his campaign account and Polito has $2.4 million in hers.

Tahirah Amatul-Wadud to speak at Westfield State University's 28th annual Interfaith Breakfast

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Westfield State will hold its 28th annual interfaith breakfast next Wednesday.

WESTFIELD - Westfield State University will hold its 28th annual Interfaith Breakfast next Wednesday.

This year's breakfast will serve as a fundraiser for Common Goods, Westfield State University's food pantry that provides food and basic hygiene products to staff and students who may be in need of it.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Chicopee attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, Esq., whose law firm fights on behalf of civil rights issues and domestic relations law. In 2015, Amatul-Wadud was invited to the White House to take part in the "Celebrating and Protecting America's Tradition of Religious Pluralism" ceremony.

Tahirah Amatul-Wadud.jpg 

The breakfast will also be an opportunity to honor the late Dr. Catherine Dower, a celebrated professor of music at the University who chaired the Music department from 1956-1967, and was named the professor emerita of music history and literature after her retirement in 1991.

Dower also gifted $1 million to Westfield State to establish the Catherine Dower Center for the Performing & Fine Arts in 2015. She will be honored posthumously Wednesday. 

Another feature of the event will be the Wall of Healing and Hope--a display created in 2016 by the Westfield-based Opioid Task Force that honors those who have struggled with or died from opioid addiction.

The breakfast will be held Wednesday, April 12, from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., in the University's Scanlon Banquet Hall. Individual tickets are $20 while reserving a table for eight is $160. The event organizers have also asked that people who plan attending consider bringing a non-perishable food donation for Common Goods.  

People who wish to attend the breakfast may purchase a ticket by visiting www.westfieldalumni.org/interfaith.

Mohamed Fofanah acquitted of attempted murder, guilty of assault for shooting at Massachusetts trooper

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Mohamed Fofanah of Hartford was charged with shooting at state Trooper David Stucenski in Springfield on April 30, 2016. Watch video


SPRINGFIELD - A jury late Friday acquitted Mohamed Fofanah of armed assault with intent to murder in a case where he was charged with shooting at a state police trooper.

After deliberating for about three hours, the jury found Fofanah, 36, of Hartford, guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon, with the victim being the trooper, David Stucenski.

The jury also found Fofanah guilty of carrying a firearm without a license (subsequent offense), carrying a loaded firearm, possessing a firearm with a defaced serial number, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

Jurors acquitted Fofanah on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. He had been accused of pointing a gun at two civilians following him in a car after they witnessed an auto accident involving Fofanah's car.

And jurors acquitted Fofanah of mistreating or interfering with a police dog. Stucenski had testified when his canine partner Frankie jumped Fofanah, Fofanah punched Frankie with a close fist and choked him until Frankie got free and got a different hold on Fofanah. Fofanah was treated for bite wounds.

Sentencing is set for Monday before Hampden Superior Court Judge John S. Ferrara.

Stucenski testified Fofanah fired a shot at him in the early morning hours of April 30, 2016, in the city's South End.

Stucenski said Fofanah was 15 to 20 feet away when he fired and missed. Fofanah fired the gun when Frankie was "just about" on top of of the suspect.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Schmidt told jurors in his opening statement Thursday that when the gun Fofanah used was recovered at the scene, there were five live rounds and one spent shell in it. The gun's serial number was obliterated, he said.

Andrew M. Klyman, Fofanah's lawyer, said his client was not firing at the trooper with the intent to harm him. He asked jurors to listen to the testimony about the actions of Stucenski and, more importantly, the actions of Frankie.

Schmidt said a civilian called 911 after seeing a motorist crash into several vehicles and then leave his car off West Columbus Avenue.

Stucenski testified he was responding to a dispatch about the incident. He said Fofanah walked toward him under an underpass. The trooper said Fofanah didn't respond to repeated orders to stop, even when Stucenski warned that he would release his canine.

"Canine Frankie is much faster than I am," Stucenski said, saying the dog was running toward Fofanah when Fofanah took a gun from his waistband and "fired directly at me."

Stucenski said at that point he didn't have his own gun out.

When Fofanah was arrested, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said he was an undocumented immigrant who now stands to be deported.

State police said that a records check of Fofanah revealed he is a "deportable felon," based on felony offenses committed in Connecticut. As a result of his arrest in Springfield, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was contacted and has filed a detainer against Fofanah.

According to state police spokesman David Procopio, Fofanah is from Sierra Leone. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, and had previously been identified by ICE for deportation, Procopio said.

According to Connecticut court records, Fofanah was sentenced in 2010 to five years in prison for criminal possession of a firearm. The sentence was to be suspended after 30 months, and he was released on probation in December 2013.


$66M Franklin County courthouse officially opens in downtown Greenfield (photos, video)

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After three years and $66 million, officials held an opening ceremony for the Franklin County Justice Center in the heart of downtown Greenfield.

GREENFIELD -- After three years and $66 million, the new Franklin County courthouse had an official opening ceremony Friday.

Open for business since February, the Franklin County Justice Center houses five courts -- district, superior, juvenile, housing and probate, and family -- in one "modern, secure, code-compliant public building."

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

Franklin County gets 21st century courthouse

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

In early 2014, the old 1931 courthouse was emptied, and around 100 staffers moved to temporary quarters at the Greenfield Corporate Center on Munson Road about two miles away.

The return of court workers to Main Street is expected to support downtown revitalization.

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

Correspondent Mary Serreze contributed to this report.

Massachusetts, New Jersey men face charges in Vermont after allegedly cruising down I-89 at over 100 mph

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Two men were arrested Friday for speeding in Vermont.

Vermont State Police troopers say they caught two men -- one from Massachusetts and the other from New Jersey -- cruising down I-89 at speeds over 100 mph during separate incidents Friday. 

thumbnail_Jemas%2c Jacob.jpgJacob Jemas. 

Now both men are facing charges of excessive speed.   

Jacob Jemas, 22, of Princeton, New Jersey, was arrested after Vermont state troopers clocked him traveling at 116 mph in a 65 mph zone at 2 p.m., police said. Jemas had been driving on I-89 southbound in the area of Sharon, Vermont. 

Jemas was arrested and processed at the Royalston Court before being cited to appear in Windsor Superior Criminal Court. 

Earlier Friday, approximately 30 miles away, 30-year-old Eric Lemare, of Medford, Massachusetts, received a similar citation after police caught him allegedly traveling 104 mph north on I-89 in the area of Williamstown, Vermont. 

Lemare wasn't arrested, but was cited to appear in Washington Superior Court-Criminal Division to answer for an excessive speed charge. 

Husband of Joanne 'Jo' Ringer, missing Clarksburg woman, found dead

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The husband of a missing Clarksburg woman was found dead at his residence on Friday.

CLARKSBURG - The husband of Joanne "Jo" Ringer, the 39-year-old Clarksburg woman who hasn't been seen since March 2, was found dead at his home by police on Friday, according to a statement released by the Berkshire District Attorney's Office.

42-year-old Charles "Chad" Reidy was discovered dead inside his garage, after police officers responded to his home on Halls Ground Road for a well-being check.

Police say that, from the evidence gathered at the scene, it appears that Reidy committed suicide. 

However, police are still investigating Reidy's death. 

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Reidy is the husband of Joanne Ringer, who was reported missing by Reidy on March 2 after she failed to show up for a new job in Easthampton. 

Her abandoned car was later discovered in Easthampton on March 6.

A number of law enforcement agencies are investigating her disappearance, including Massachusetts State Police, Clarksburg, North Adams and Easthampton police, and the Berkshire Sheriff's Department. 

Police release identity of fatal Deerfield crash victim

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Police have released the identity of the victim in the fatal Deerfield car crash that occurred Thursday night.

DEERFIELD - Officials have released the identity of the victim of the fatal Deerfield car crash that occurred Thursday night. 

Mary Carey, spokesman for the Northwestern District Attorney's Office, identified the victim as 19-year-old Sarah Bresnahan, of Easton, in a statement Friday.

Bresnahan was killed after her car collided with a tree near the intersection of Sugarloaf Street and Thayer Street on Thursday night.

She was the sole occupant of the car at the time, according to police. 

Carey said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. 

 

 

Obituaries from The Republican, April 7, 2017

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View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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