A Tennessee teacher who disappeared with a 15-year-old, female student was arrested Thursday afternoon and the girl has been found unharmed. Watch video

A Tennessee teacher who disappeared with a 15-year-old female student was arrested Thursday afternoon and the girl has been found unharmed.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced on Twitter that Tad Cummins, 50, was taken into custody and Elizabeth Thomas was recovered safely in northern California.

The Tennessean reports that the two were found in a cabin in Cecilville, California which is 120 miles away from the Oregon state line.

The two were the subject of a nationwide search that lasted a little over a month.

Cummins, a former teacher at Culleoka Unit School, fled with Thomas in March just before he was fired by the school system and was accused of having sexual contact with Thomas.

MEDIA: We are planning for an afternoon news conference. Details will be announced as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/Tw7IKNWZ38

-- TBI (@TBInvestigation) April 20, 2017

Two months prior to their disappearance, the former health science teacher had been caught kissing the girl, according to documents obtained by WKRN News 2.

Two days after Cummins fled with Thomas, the two were spotted on surveillance cameras in an Oklahoma City Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart video in Okla. shows missing Tenn. girl, ex-teacher with altered appearance

The TBI has not yet released any further details about the arrest and rescue.

The Wilbraham Police Department recently posted the following arrests on the department's Facebook page. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

WILBRAHAM -- The Wilbraham Police Department recently posted the following arrests on the department's Facebook page. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 6, Officerrs Harold Swift and Lawrence Rich responded to the Wilbraham Commons, 269 Stony Hill Road, for "a male acting irrationally," police said.

As a result, 55-year-old Richard Bertassi of Wilbraham was expected to be charged with assault and battery "after having a dispute with a resident manager," police said.

Later that day, Officers Sean Casella and Daniel Ryan responded to an erratic operator call on Main Strait at 4:18 p.m. Officers stopped Connecticut resident Danielle Works on Main Street near Delmor Circle.

Works "showed obvious signs of impairment," said police, who charged the 38-year-old Stafford Springs woman with OUI drugs, negligent operation, and illegal possession of prescription drugs.

At 8 p.m. Friday, April 7, Officer Christopher Rogers responded to a call for a hit-and-run crash on River Road. Rogers learned that a vehicle that sideswiped another vehicle on Boston Road near Krazy Jake's restaurant kept driving after the collision.

Rogers stopped the fleeing car at the intersection of River and Old Boston roads. The driver, 30 year-old Christopher Berube of Westfield, "was at fault in the crash" and appeared to be "very intoxicated," police said.

Berube failed field sobriety tests and was charged with OUI-liquor (second offense), negligent driving, and leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, police said.

At 4:08 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, Officer James Gagner did a random registration check of a blue Subaru, whose registered owner had a suspended license and a warrant for his arrest. As a result, police said, 26-year-old Matthew Freeman of Ware was taken into custody without incident.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is rejecting an allegation by Aaron Hernandez's attorney that it is illegally withholding the former New England Patriots' brain from Boston University researchers.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is rejecting an allegation by Aaron Hernandez's attorney that it is illegally withholding the former New England Patriots player's brain from Boston University researchers.

On Thursday afternoon, attorney Jose Baez held a press conference outside a medical examiner's office, saying that Hernandez's family had decided to donate his brain to chronic traumatic encephalopathy research following his prison suicide yesterday.

But, he alleged, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reneged this morning on an agreement to provide the brain to researchers with Boston University's CTE unit, in favor of having its own doctors perform a procedure to preserve it for analysis.

"It is our position that [Chief Medical Examiner Henry Nields] is withholding Aaron Hernandez's brain illegally," Baez said.

Just over an hour after Baez's allegations, delivered to a crowd of reporters and streamed live by local news stations, Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Dan Bennet released a statement rejecting claims of improper actions by the medical examiner's office.

"The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting an investigation into the circumstances of Aaron Hernandez's death, which may require further analysis of his body," Bennett said. "Once that is complete the brain will be released to Boston University. No one is going to stand in the way of the family's wishes for Boston University to have Aaron Hernandez's brain."

The statement did not address Baez's claims that the office had agreed to turn the brain over this morning before its reversing position. An Office of Public Safety and Security spokesman did not immediately return a request for further comment.

Hernandez was found hanged in his cell in Shirley's Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center early Tuesday morning. His reported suicide came days after he was acquitted of a 2012 double murder, though he was still facing a life sentence for the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd.

Baez said that researchers with Boston University's highly regarded CTE unit had arranged to take custody of the brain from the medical examiner's office at 10 a.m. But, he alleged, he medical examiner's office decided that its doctors, rather than BU's, should preserve the brain for research -- a process known as "fixation."

Baez said the family lacks confidence in the office given what he described as a history of "missing evidence" and "misconduct" in the case.

CTE, a degenerative brain disorder disproportionately common among NFL players who have suffered concussions, has been linked to mental health problems and suicide. Baez said he was not making any statements about whether Hernandez suffered from the disorder at the press conference.

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, joined other Democrats Thursday in questioning whether reported communications between White House strategist Steve Bannon and his former employer Breitbart News violated an ethics pledge.

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, joined other Democrats Thursday in questioning whether reported communications between White House strategist Steve Bannon and his former employer Breitbart News violated an ethics pledge.

The senators, in letters sent to Bannon and Stefan Passantino, the White House's designated agency ethics official, sought clarification regarding recent reports that President Donald Trump's chief strategist has had extensive interactions with Breitbart, where he previously served as executive chairman.

The Democrats further raised concerns about whether those reported actions complied with a late January executive order the president signed regarding ethics and other Office of Government Ethics requirements, or if Bannon received a waiver from them.

"Your communications with Breitbart appear to violate the ethics pledge outlined in Executive Order 13770. Because they relate to news coverage of the Trump Administration, your conversations appear to qualify as 'communications relating to the performance of your official duties with a former employer,'" they wrote in the letter to Bannon. "In addition, because you left your position at Breitbart less than one year ago, these communications appear to be in clear violation of both the pledge and OGE regulations."

Under the president's executive action, Warren and Markey contended, all executive appointees much sign an "ethics pledge" that prevents them from participating in matters related to former employers unless granted a waiver.

Federal ethics regulations, meanwhile, bar executive branch employees from participating in certain matters involving a former employee, they added.

Pointing to various news reports suggesting communication between Bannon and Breitbart News, the senators further asked whether the president's strategist had signed an ethics pledge. They also questioned what guidance was issued if he had received a waiver from the order or other federal regulations.

The Democrats, for example, cited a March Business Insider report suggesting that Bannon phoned Breitbart Washington Editor Matthew Boyle "and unloaded on him" after the website published a story critical of Trump's Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Boyle, however, has called to story "absurd and fake news" and rejected claims that Bannon sought to steer White House coverage, according to The Hill.

U.S. Sens. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, joined the Massachusetts Democrats in signing their names to the letters.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Thursday defended communities adopting the "sanctuary cities" moniker, saying it's a "political term."

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Thursday defended communities adopting the "sanctuary cities" moniker, saying it's a "political term."

For many communities, it's a "values statement," Healey added.

So-called "sanctuary cities" opt not to comply with federal immigration laws. Supporters say the stance helps immigrant communities build trust with local law enforcement officials.

"I think that it's important that local communities retain the ability to say they want to designate themselves a sanctuary city," Healey said while appearing before the New England Council, a business group.

Bristol County sheriff says elected leaders of 'sanctuary cities' should be arrested

President Donald Trump's administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from cities that call themselves "sanctuary cities." In a March press conference, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, "[W]hen cities and states refuse to help enforce immigration laws, our nation is less safe."

Healey said creating a climate of fear in immigrant communities doesn't help law enforcement. "I respect the rights of communities that make that designation," she said.

Threatening to block federal funds from sanctuary cities "legally doesn't make sense to me," Healey added.

Should sanctuary cities lose federal funding?

Massachusetts has strict protocols for dealing with prison deaths, such as ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez's apparent suicide.

Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

PARIS (AP) -- Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.

Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station Thursday night at the center of the avenue popular with tourists.

The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France's tense presidential election. Security is high preceding the vote after police said they arrested two men Tuesday in what they described as a thwarted terror attack.

The incident recalled two recent attacks on soldiers providing security at prominent locations around Paris, one at the Louvre museum in February and one at Orly airport last month.

A witness identified only as Ines told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting and saw a man's body on the ground before police quickly evacuated the area where she works in a shop.

A French television station hosting a televised event with the 11 candidates running for president briefly interrupted its broadcast to report the shootings.

None of the candidates immediately commented.

A day after he was found hanging from a bedsheet in his cell, an autopsy has officially determined that former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's death was a suicide.

A day after he was found hanging from a bed sheet in his cell, an autopsy has officially determined that former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's death was a suicide.

An autopsy on Hernandez began Wednesday and was completed Thursday by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Henry N. Nields, who determined that the cause of Hernandez's death was asphyxia by hanging, according to a statement from the office of Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.

Three handwritten notes were found next to a Bible in the cell, according to the statement from Early as well as Massachusetts State Police Colonel Richard McKeon and Secretary of Public Safety Daniel Bennett.

Hernandez, 27, was found hanging just after 3 a.m. Wednesday. He was taken to  UMass Memorial Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster and pronounced dead. Hernandez was serving a life sentence at the Souza-Baranowski Correction Center in Shirley for the 2013 murder of Odin Llyod. Last week, he was acquitted of the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

There were no signs of a struggle and Hernandez was alone at the time of the hanging, Early's office said. Hernandez had been locked in his cell around 8 p.m. Tuesday and no one entered until a correction officer saw him hanging at 3:03 a.m.

Cardboard was jammed into the door tracks of Hernandez's single-inmate cell, which Early's office said was to impede entry into the cell. The correction officer who found Hernandez had to force his way through the impeded door to enter the cell and render aid.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released Hernandez's body on Wednesday, but withheld some tissue, including his brain, until the cause and manner of his death were determined.

"Now that the cause and manner of death have been determined, the brain will be released to Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center as Mr. Hernandez's family wishes. The center studies a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes who have experienced repetitive brain trauma," the statement said.

MBTA apologized on Thursday after the public transit agency released a spring commuter rail schedule that put a new station, Boston Landing, in a zone that would have riders pay $6.25 to travel about 5 miles.

MBTA apologized on Thursday after the public transit agency released a spring commuter rail schedule that put a new station, Boston Landing, in a zone that would have riders pay $6.25 to travel about 5 miles.

The Worcester/Framingham Line schedule originally had a new commuter rail station, Boston Landing, in Zone 1, meaning passengers traveling from Boston Landing to South Station and to Boston Landing from South Station would have to pay $6.25 one-way, or $12.50 round-trip.

After MassLive.com asked about the zoning designation, a MBTA spokesman said it was an error and the station is in fact placed in Zone 1A, where a one-way trip costs $2.25.

Located in Boston's Brighton neighborhood and next to the Massachusetts Turnpike, Boston Landing will be home to the Celtics and Bruins' new practice facilities. The world headquarters of New Balance, the shoe company, and WGBH, the public radio station, are also near to the new commuter train station.

New Balance helped pay for the commuter rail station, which opens on Monday May 22, 2017.

The spring commuter rail schedules go into effect that same day.

The MBTA's initial placement of Boston Landing in Zone 1 led to criticism from riders on Twitter.

Boston Landing has been assigned to ZONE 1. That means a trip from South Station to Boston Landing costs $6.25 one way. Insanity!

-- David Perry (@FramWorMBTA) April 19, 2017

A monthly Zone 1 pass costs $200.25, while a monthly Zone 1A pass costs $84.50, the same as a monthly pass for subway/bus service.

Going all the way to South Station from Worcester (Zone 8) costs $363 on a monthly basis, or $11.50 for a one-way trip.

In an email Thursday, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said Boston Landing's Zone 1 designation was an "error" and transit agency officials were correcting the mistake later in the day.

See inside the new Boston Bruins practice facility: Warrior Ice Arena (photos)

Massachusetts State Police are searching for a man who is believed to be responsible for the shooting of two men in Lynn on Easter Sunday.

LYNN - A manhunt is underway for an "armed and dangerous" murder suspect who is believed to have gunned down two men in Lynn on Easter. 

Massachusetts State Police are assisting Lynn authorities with locating 44-year-old William A. Cash, who allegedly shot the men as they walked home from church services in the city's downtown area on Sunday. 

The shooting occurred in the area of Exchange Street at approximately 3:09 p.m. on the religious holiday. Both men were shot multiple times. 

Police say Cash has a long criminal record that includes convictions for armed robbery, drug trafficking, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He is believed to have ties to Lynn, Boston, and Florida.

The weapon used in the attack was not recovered by police, which is why Cash has been deemed "armed and dangerous." 

The victims have been identified as 46-year-old Leonard Clement, a legally blind "community activist," who was shot Sunday and died from his wounds. The other victim is 41-year-old Prince Berlin, a friend of Clement's, who remains in the hospital. 

Clement and Berlin were apparently active members of ECCO--an Essex County social justice group affiliated with various church groups--and Clement was also apparently a prominent member in the East Coast International Church in Lynn.

Cash is described as being 5'10" tall and weighing 330 pounds or more. Police say he has occasionally used an alias: WILLIAM S. BANKS. At various times he has also used alternative dates of birth of 7/6/71, 7/7/71, and 7/6/81, according to police.

Police say Cash may be driving a silver/gray 2005 Chrysler with Massachusetts registration 3FS 819.

Anyone who sees CASH or has information on his whereabouts has been asked to immediately contact the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section at 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873).

GTI Massachusetts NP Corp. would pay $50,000 to $100,000 a year into the city of Holyoke, Massachusestts general fund and issue $15,000 in grants to community groups as part of its agreement to run a medical marijuana facility here, officials said Thursday, April 20, 2017 at a neighborhood meeting.

HOLYOKE -- GTI Massachusetts NP Corp. would pay $50,000 to $100,000 a year into the city general fund and issue $15,000 in grants to community groups as part of its agreement to run a medical marijuana facility here, officials said Thursday.

"We want to be an active member of this community. We want to do what is right," company manager Adam Robbins said.

The Ward 1 neighborhood meeting featuring GTI Massachusetts representatives discussing its proposal for 28 Appleton St. was organized by Ward 1 Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez and Councilor at Large Rebecca Lisi and held at Kelly School, 216 West St.

The proposal is for a medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility on the second floor of a building in a general industry zoning district. It is not for a medical marijuana dispensary, though GTI Massachusetts does plan to seek a dispensary license here, Robbins said.

The meeting drew about 20 people.

GTI Massachusetts is discussing a host-city agreement that would involve making payments to the city. Such facilities are tax exempt, in terms of the building and land, but they do have to pay taxes on their equipment, said Holyoke lawyer John J. Ferriter, representing GTI Massachusetts.

An initial payment would be made to the city general fund of $50,000 and that could increase in later years ton $100,000 or more, Robbins said.

That's on top of the $8 million investment the company would make in building its facility, Ferriter said.

Details about how the $15,000 worth of grants would be distributed to community groups will need to be developed perhaps with the city Law Department, Lisi said.

In the first year, the facility would employ 25 to 30 people in full-time jobs at $14 an hour with benefits. That would increase to 100 employees in three years, Robbins said.

Check back with MassLive.com for more details about the medical marijuana discussion in the Holyoke Ward 1 neighborhood.

View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts State Police will be conducting a two-week traffic enforcement effort in Springfield starting this week.

SPRINGFIELD - Massachusetts State Police have announced that they will be conducted a two-week, high visibility traffic enforcement effort in Springfield that begins this week. 

The stated goal of the effort is to reduce injuries and fatalities in motor vehicle crashes--with a specific focus on stopping people from speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and distracted driving, police said.

The initiative will be conducted by teams of two Troopers, who will be posted in the city for a minimum of two hours per shift in one of three designated zones, State Police said.  

When the effort is over, statistics from data gathered during the initiative will be compiled. 

Arkansas carried out the first execution since 2005 after three other lethal injections planned by the end of the month were scrapped in the face of court challenges.

VARNER, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas has executed an inmate for the first time in nearly a dozen years as part of its plan to execute several inmates before a drug expires April 30, despite court rulings that have already spared three men.

Ledell Lee was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m. Thursday. The 51-year-old Lee was given the death penalty for the 1993 death of his neighbor Debra Reese, whom Lee struck 36 times with a tire tool.

Arkansas had scheduled eight executions over an 11-day period before the end of April, when its supply of one lethal injection drug expires. The first three executions were canceled because of court decisions.

Two more inmates are set to die Monday, and one on April 27. Another inmate scheduled for execution next week has received a stay.

The flushing is required by state regulation and cleans the pipes of rust, bacteria and removes sediment.

CHICOPEE - Residents may see some discoloration in their water over the next few months as the Water Department will be flushing all the hydrants in the Willimansett area.

The annual program will begin on Sunday on Chicopee Street, near the interchange of Interstate-391, and move north. The first phase will include Meadow Street, Old Field Road, McKinstry Avenue and the adjoining streets. Once the Water Department reaches Narragansett Boulevard, employees will go north to Chicopee Street at Yvonne Street and flush all the hydrants north on adjacent streets, said Alan Starzyk, water superintendent.

The area in the middle of Chicopee Street, which is under construction, is expected to be flushed last.

The Water Department will flush hydrants between 8 p.m. and midnight, Sunday through Thursday. It is expected to take until mid-June or mid-July to complete the entire project, which will cover about 200 streets, he said.

The flushing is done at a time when water usage is low and to give any sediment time to settle before morning when people use water more. It is possible people may see a slight decrease in pressure during flushing and if any home has discoloration they should run cold water until it clears. If it does not clear residents should call the Chicopee Water Department at 413-594-3420 between 7a.m. and 5 p.m.

Flushing the hydrants, which is required by state regulation, is the most effective way to clean the interior of the pipe of bacteriological regrowth, rust and any internal sediment because the water velocity essentially scours the internal pipe, he said.

The Water Department also uses the process as one way to ensure hydrants are in working order and to test the water pressure of pipes which can indicate leaks, he said.

With the weather turning to rain and the footing not conducive to walking with stilts, the colorful and extremely tall artists tip-toed into the Lyman and Merrie Woods Museum of Springfield History to entertain patrons in the great hall.

SPRINGFIELD- At nine-feet tall, one would expect these circus performers to be found under the big top. But on Friday, members of The SHOW Circus Studio of Easthampton found themselves doing a lot of ducking in downtown Springfield.

With the weather turning to rain making their footing not conducive to walking with stilts, the colorful and extremely tall artists moved indoors and tip-toed through the doors of the Lyman and Merrie Woods Museum of Springfield History to entertain patrons in the great hall.

The troupe also juggled, balanced plates and posed for photos with patrons as a part of school vacation week activities at the Springfield Museums. Wearing a slimming stripe suit, Ryan Freeze, being just under six feet tall without stilts, was the official greeter outside the show.

The SHOW Circus Studio is a circus training facility in located at the Paragon Arts and Industry Building in Easthampton. As a recreational circus school, adult and youth students learn the aerial arts (trapeze, fabric & lyra), juggling, hand balancing, tumbling, mini trampoline, tight wire, rolla bolla, rolling globe, partner acrobatics and clowning.

Justin K. Webber of Springfield is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of John K. White on June 16, 2013, in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD -- In a few months it will be four years since the fatal shooting of 38-year-old John K. White near his Indian Orchard home. Police said he was an innocent bystander, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A new trial date of Oct. 10 was set this week in Hampden Superior Court for Justin K. Webber, the man accused of murder in the case.

There have been various trial dates set and postponed for Webber, who at age 20, in November 2014, denied the murder charge at his arraignment in Springfield District Court. The latest trial date had been May 3.

Justin Webber
 

Police said White was shot after he left his home at about 5:20 p.m. on June 16, 2013, to investigate a disturbance involving some 15 to 20 people at the corner.

Shots rang out in the area of 12-14 Montcalm St. and White, fatally injured, collapsed to the ground, police said.

Webber is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a loaded gun and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

The case had a big delay in June when Donald W. Frank took over as defense lawyer and asked for time to review the case. He has filed numerous motions in the case.

The latest postponement was a joint request by Frank and Assistant District Attorney Matthew W. Green.

The reason given in the motion to continue the trial is that the parties continue to obtain discovery (possible evidence) through the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and that the prosecution is searching for additional evidence including a crime scene video.

Frank writes that he is unable to proceed without such material, that he is seeking to determine if a prosecution witness is an "agent," and that he needs to reconstruct the crime scene to establish the location of recovered ballistics and other evidence.

Frank is seeking information about a man the prosecution has identified as a jailhouse informant, who said Webber told him about the killing while both were in jail.

Whether or not the man was given promises or rewards on his own cases and then sought to get information from Webber -- making the man a government agent in the eyes of the defense -- is Frank's area of inquiry.

"Relationships, communities are what really holds this world together. And I ask you, I beg you, to maintain this community in the wonderful way that it is," Ludlow Selectwoman Carmina D. Fernandes told HAPHousing Inc., the group trying to build a 43-unit affordable housing complex in Ludlow.

LUDLOW -- The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a final hearing May 17 on a controversial plan to build 43 low-income rental units near a busy intersection, elementary school and wetlands area. The hearing is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Ludlow High School, 500 Chapin St.

Despite widespread opposition from town officials and residents, including one member of the Board of Selectmen who begged the project proponent to consider another site, HAPHousing Inc., the largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing in Western Massachusetts, hasn't wavered from its goal to build on a 5-acre parcel at 188 Fuller St.

The project's impact on traffic and public safety and its proximity to the school and a large wetlands area are among the reasons selectmen oppose the plan. All five board members have cited support for affordable housing in Ludlow, where only 3.48 percent of housing is considered affordable, but argue that the Fuller Street site is the wrong spot for a project of this magnitude.

The state has set a 10 percent affordable housing goal for all commonwealth communities.

Some Ludlow officials have even suggested the town repurchase the land from HAPHousing, which recently changed its name to Way Finders.

"We should never have sold this piece of property," Jason Martowski, chairman of the Conservation Commission, said at the ZBA's April 12 hearing on the plan. Martowski has repeatedly asked Way Finders to sit down with town officials to discuss the possibility of selling the parcel back to Ludlow. "I put it on the table, made an offer to them, (but) there's been no dialogue since," he said.

Way Finders is using Chapter 40B, the state's affordable housing law, to build the project, which would not be allowed under regular town zoning regulations. However, Chapter 40B allows developers to override local zoning rules in communities that have not met the state's 10 percent affordable housing goal.

Although Ludlow's affordable housing stock recently rose from 2.2 percent to 3.48 percent, the town is still well below the state goal, according to Rudy Perkins, a project manager and staff attorney at Way Finders.

The nonprofit also has support from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which has determined that the proposed site and design are appropriate, Perkins said.

Because the town has not met "any of the other statutory or regulatory minima," Perkins said, "there is therefore a rebuttable presumption that there exists a regional affordable housing need that outweighs local concerns."

Ludlow's ZBA can approve the project, approve it with conditions, or reject it outright. If the ZBA were to reject the project, Way Finders could appeal to the State Housing Appeals Committee, which has authority to overrule local ZBA decisions and generally greenlights 40B projects that it deems reasonable.

Selectwoman Carmina D. Fernandes, an attorney, reiterated what she's said at past hearings on the contentious plan.

"We're not against your project. We're against this location," she said at the April 12 hearing before the ZBA. "The density for the small area is just too much. The location, right across from the school, is just too much."

Fernandes and her colleagues on the Board of Selectmen say they have worked well with HAPHousing, now Way Finders, in the past and had hoped build on that good relationship. HAP must also consider Ludlow's concerns about the project, town officials said.

"The mighty dollar, as we can see today, is not everything in this world," Fernandes said. "Relationships, communities are what really holds this world together. And I ask you -- I beg you -- to maintain this community in the wonderful way that it is."

Activist Marc Osten has been identified as the operator of a motorcycle who has succumbed to his injuries following a crash Monday, according to police. Watch video

AMHERST -- Activist Marc Osten has been identified as the operator of a motorcycle who has succumbed to his injuries following a crash Monday, according to police.

Police said the motorcycle was traveling east on Kellogg Avenue when it struck a tree. Osten was transported to Baystate Medical Center. No other vehicles were involved.

The incident remains under investigation by members of the Amherst Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit.

Osten, who just last week led a protest in front of Bank of America to call attention to banks funding oil pipelines, was also involved in chaining himself to the TD Bank entrance in December to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

"I don't think I've ever met someone who every minute of his life was lived with the intention of what he can do to make the world better," said Dineen O'Rourke, a Hampshire College student who met Osten in December.

She and others worked on the TD Bank campaign, where four including Osten were arrested after they chained themselves to the bank.

O'Rourke said they spent two weeks planning that and Osten opened his house to the group and fed them. "He was absolutely so generous. It was so mind-boggling just meeting him, learning how to form this inter-generational connection with one another."

She said she'd seem outside of a protest and "he'd be planning another one."

She said it's hard to believe he has died.

No residents were injured, but one of three family dogs died in the fire. Watch video

This is an update of a story posted at 2:31 p.m. Friday

HOLYOKE - A fire Friday afternoon caused significant damage to a three-family home on Brown Avenue, displacing as many as eight residents.

The fire, reported shortly before 2:30 p.m., apparently began on the second floor of 25-27 Brown Ave., spread up to the attic and roof, said Holyoke Fire Department Capt. Anthony Cerruti. 

No one was injured, he said. Firefighters were able to rescue two of the three family dogs that had gotten trapped on the third floor.

He said as many as eight people were displaced in the fire. The Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Red Cross was called in to assist the displaced with temporary housing and other needs.

He estimated the damage to be at least $75,000 and possibly much more.

The building, according to the Holyoke assessor's office, is owned by Dennis Lau and Lyudmyla Koval of Suffield, Connecticut, and is valued at $142,000.

The second and third floors sustained heavy fire, smoke and water damage, and firefighters cut a hole in the roof to help ventilate smoke. There was also heavy exterior damage.

The building next door at 29-32 Brown Ave. sustained heat damage, he said. The vinyl siding closest to the burning house melted.

Cerruti said it is too early so know what caused the fire. Officials with the state fire marshal's office are on scene to assist with the investigation into the cause.

One resident, Carlos Rodriguez, said he had just returned home to see the building on fire and his wife and young son screaming for help out a second floor window.

Rodriguez, through an interpreter, said he and another man rushed upstairs to rescue them.

He said he tried getting to the third floor to get the dogs but by then the smoke was too heavy. He stood at the the bottom of the stairs and called the dogs by name but they did not come, he said.

Firefighters rescued and helped resuscitate two of the three dogs.

Rodriguez, standing at the scene wrapped in a blanket and cradling his young son, said he and his family had lived there for eight years. He did not know what would happen now but he was glad no one was hurt.

Brown Avenue is located off South Street.