View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The victim in a fatal car crash in Dartmouth has been identified.

DARTMOUTH - The victim killed in a deadly one-vehicle crash in Dartmouth has been identified as 21-year-old Stephanie Merejildo, of New Bedford, Massachusetts State Police said Friday.  

Merejildo was killed after the car she was in ran off the road and into a tree in the area of Reed Road in Dartmouth on Thursday afternoon. 

The car had been traveling east on Route 195 when, for reasons not yet known, it swerved off the road.

The two other occupants of the vehicle--another woman and a juvenile--were both taken for treatment at separate hospitals in Rhode Island.

The woman, who was the driver of the vehicle, suffered "life threatening" injuries, while the nature of the juvenile's injuries have not been made public. 

State Police are still investigating how the crash occurred, though a spokesman stated Thursday that speeding was being investigated as a potential contributing factor. 

The May 21 court of honor begins at 1 p.m. at the high school auditorium, 237 West St. The public is invited to attend.

WARE -- Daniel Flynn, scoutmaster for the town's Boy Scouts of America Troop 281, has organized a Court of Honor that will take place on Sunday to recognize five boys who recently earned the Eagle status, the highest rank in scouting.

The Eagle quintet includes Calvin Cieslak Jr., Martin Flynn, Jude Killian, Derrick Legault and Benjamin Silverio.

Speakers at the event will be Ware's state legislative delegation: State Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, and state Reps. Donald Berthiaume, R-Spencer, and Todd Smola, R-Warren.

The projects the boy scouts undertook to earn the honor include activities that showed leadership, knowledge of scouting skills and the construction of memorial pathways. One of the new paths connects two cemeteries that date from the 1800s; another involved a new brick walkway in Aspen Grove Cemetery.

The May 21 court of honor begins at 1 p.m. at the high school auditorium, 237 West St. The public is invited.

After decades standing sentinel over this Southern city, the Confederate monuments are gone, amid a controversy that at times hearkened back to the divisiveness of the Civil War they commemorated.

NEW ORLEANS -- They were among the city's oldest landmarks, as cemented to the landscape of New Orleans as the Superdome and St. Louis Cathedral: a stone obelisk heralding white supremacy and three statues of Confederate stalwarts.

But after decades standing sentinel over this Southern city, the Confederate monuments are gone, amid a controversy that at times hearkened back to the divisiveness of the Civil War they commemorated.

The last of the monuments -- a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee facing defiantly north with his arms crossed -- was lifted by a crane from its pedestal late Friday. As air was seen between Lee's statue and the pedestal below it, a cheer went out from the crowd assembled below who recorded the history with their phones and shook hands with each other in congratulations. Many in the crowd had waited all day in anticipation.

Lee's was the last of four monuments to Confederate-era figures to be removed under a 2015 City Council vote on a proposal by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. It caps a nearly two-year-long process that has been railed against by those who feel the monuments are a part of Southern heritage and honor the dead. But removal of the monuments has drawn praise from those who saw them as brutal reminders of slavery and symbols of the historic oppression of black people.

Landrieu called for the monuments' removal in the lingering emotional aftermath of the 2015 massacre of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church. The killer, Dylann Roof, was an avowed racist who brandished Confederate battle flags in photos, recharging the debate over whether Confederate emblems represent racism or an honorable heritage.

While Roof's actions spurred a debate in many parts of the South about whether it was appropriate to fly the Confederate battle emblem -- and many places have taken it down -- the reaction in New Orleans seemed to go even further, knocking away at even weightier, heavier parts of history.

Landrieu drew blistering criticism from monument supporters and even some political allies. But in explaining his reasoning, the mayor has repeatedly said they do not represent the diversity and future of New Orleans.

"These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, ignoring the terror that it actually stood for," he said Friday.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Confederate monuments: 'We cannot be afraid of the truth'

"After the Civil War, these statues were a part of that terrorism, as much as burning a cross on someone's lawn. They were erected purposefully to send a strong message to all who walked in their shadows about who was still in charge in this city," he added.

Of the four monuments, Lee's was easily the most prominent: The bronze statue alone is close to 20 feet (6 meters) tall. It's a bronze sculpture of Lee looking toward the northern horizon from atop a roughly 60-foot-tall column.

It's not massive like the Superdome or alluring like Bourbon Street, but Lee in his uniform was a familiar landmark for tourists and commuters alike.

Lee's removal was planned during the day, and announced in advance. Earlier removals happened after nightfall, a precautionary measure due to security concerns for contractors and workers involved in the effort. Landrieu said the change was out of safety concerns because the statue was close to electrical wires and New Orleans' famous streetcar lines.

The atmosphere Friday was almost festive as dozens of people, some with lawn chairs, came out to see what many called history in the making.

"If you can see history as it happens, it's more meaningful," said Al Kennedy, who supported the removal. Speaking of the Confederate past, he said: "It's my history, but it's not my heritage."

In 2015, the City Council voted 6-1 to remove the monuments after a succession of contentious public meetings. Contractors involved in the removal process have been threatened; statue supporters sued repeatedly to keep the statues up.

At last, a court decision cleared the way for the April removal of what is likely the most controversial of the monuments -- seen as an overt tribute to white supremacy. Statues to the Confederacy's only president Jefferson Davis and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard followed in quick succession until only Lee was left.

See all 4 Confederate monument removals in New Orleans in photos and video

Attention now shifts to where the monuments will go and what will take their place.

The city announced an outline of its plans late Thursday. It said it has received offers from public and private institutions to take individual monuments, so it will solicit proposals on where they will go through an "open and transparent selection." Only nonprofits and government entities will be allowed to take part, and the city said the process will not include the Beauregard statue because of legal issues.

The city said those taking the statues cannot display them outdoors on public property in New Orleans.

The city plans to leave the column at Lee's Circle intact and will mount public art in its place.

An American flag will stand where the Davis statue used to be, and the area where the Liberty Place monument used to stand "will remain as is." The City Park Improvement Association, civic groups and the city will decide what will go where the Beauregard statue once stood.

The city wants to finish the work during its tricentennial year in 2018.

The man who was found floating face down in the Charles River Friday does not appear to have died as the result of a homicide, according to a spokesman for the Suffolk County DA's office.

BOSTON - The man whose body was found floating face down in the Charles River in Boston on Friday does not appear to have died from foul play, said Suffolk County District Attorney's Office spokesman Jake Wark in an email. 

Wark said the man has been properly identified and that a preliminary investigation into his death has not revealed evidence of a homicide.

The man, who was initially spotted in the area of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, near the Esplanade, had to be recovered from the river by a marine unit, said Wark.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the area, including Massachusetts State Police assigned to the DA's office. 

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is set to conduct an autopsy to make a final determination as to how the man died. 

A full house of WGBY-Channel 57's most generous supporters were recognized at the 13th annual Edward and Janet Murrow Society Gala on Friday night at the station's studios on Hampden Street.

SPRINGFIELD -- A full house of WGBY-Channel 57's most generous supporters were recognized at the 13th annual Edward and Janet Murrow Society Gala on Friday night at the station's studios on Hampden Street.

Cocktails and dinner were served for the public television station's top donors, members of the Murrow Society.

The Edward and Janet Murrow Society was formed to recognize donors whose support provides the foundation on which all of WGBY's success is built. Through their generosity and feedback, Murrow Society members help WGBY to identify and act on community needs by creating new programs, partnerships and services that strengthen the social fabric of the community.

For more information on the Murrow Society, call 781-2801 ext. 237 or ext. 246.

The market has been shut down and both defendants are barred from participating as vendors in state benefit programs in the future, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said.

SPRINGFIELD -- A father and son accused of running an EBT fraud scheme from their South End market have agreed to forfeit more than $900 in profits and pay $1,500 in fines to settle the case.

Ramon Diaz, 54, and Samuel Diaz, 30, both of New Haven, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to three public assistance fraud charges filed against them after state and city police raided the Dwight Mini-Mart in March 2016.

Eleven charges were dismissed against Ramon Diaz, owner of the store, and 13 charges were dropped against Samuel Diaz, the store manager, according to records of the April 12 settlement.

The defendants must pay a combined $1,500 in fines and forfeit $945 in cash seized by investigators during the raid. 

By contrast, the owner of Bethania's Fish & Meat Market in the North End agreed to pay $38,000 in restitution last year after pleading guilty in a public assistance fraud case.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said the resolution of the Dwight Mini-Mart case protects taxpayers from further abuses by the defendants.

The market has been shut down and both defendants are barred from participating as vendors in state benefit programs in the future, Gulluni said.

"The scheme employed by these offenders victimized taxpayers, compromised the integrity of the system and undermined those who legitimately rely on this program for the aid it provides," the district attorney said.

"Shutting down their business and prohibiting the offenders from future participation in any state-related benefits program will protect taxpayers and the system from future acts of fraud," he added.

Under state law, anyone pleading guilty to public assistance fraud can be sentenced to a maximum of one year in jail or required to pay fines of between $200 and $500.

The $945 forfeited by the defendants was found in the cash register on the morning of the raid. It was seized because it was "used or intended to be used to commit felony violations" of state law, Assistant District Attorney Mary Simeoli wrote.

In addition to seizing cash, investigators also confiscated a computer, cellphones, syringes, crack pipes and drug packaging materials sold at the market, police said.

The investigation began in December 2014 when an undercover Massachusetts State Police trooper began using an EBT card to purchase Enfamil baby formula for about $20 per container, and then selling the formula back to market for half price, court records show.

The trooper would receive about $10 per transaction -- and the store could sell the Enfamil again, records show. Samuel Diaz also allegedly sold the trooper individual, unwrapped cigarettes in violation of state law.

Between Jan. 11 and March 9, the trooper conducted five more illegal transactions before the market was raided on March 20, according to court records.

At Samuel Diaz's arraignment, a prosecutor requested $5,000 bail, citing the allegedly fraudulent transactions as well as what he called flagrant drinking and drug use outside the store.

Defense lawyer Jon Helpa denounced the bail request, saying the charges involved baby formula and cigarettes, not guns and drugs.

Both defendants were eventually released on $2,000 bail.

Five reputed organized crime figures from Greater Springfield accused in a federal extortion case will have their first hearing before a trial judge in Worcester on July 24.

SPRINGFIELD -- A federal extortion case involving five reputed organized crime members from Greater Springfield is crawling along as defense lawyers receive a mountain of evidence, including electronic data from the defendants' cellphones and other devices.

One of which, owned by defendant Gerald Daniele, is stalled in a queue at the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, because it's password protected, according to lawyers in the case who gathered in U.S. District Court in Springfield Friday for a status conference. 

Daniele, Ralph Santaniello and Giovanni "Johnny" Calabrese, all of Longmeadow, were arrested in August along with Richard Valentini, of East Longmeadow, and Francesco "Frankie" Depergola, of Springfield.

Santaniello -- identified by law enforcement sources as among the leaders of a drug-addled, shoestring Springfield Crew desperate for direction after its power base was decimated by state and federal prosecutors -- is accused of shaking down a city tow company owner with support from Calabrese, Depergola and Valentini in 2013.

The tow company operator chronicled the shakedowns on audio and video after he went to law enforcement officials for help, according to court records.

Daniele and Calabrese are accused of pressuring another man, a gambling addict indebted to Daniele, in a separate scheme.

The men have pleaded not guilty to all charges in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Santaniello and Depergola also are accused in a sweeping indictment out of federal court in Manhattan that entangled 46 gangsters from all five New York crime families. Springfield has long had ties to the Genovese crime family.

Santaniello and Depergola are accused in the New York indictment of colluding with Eugene "Rooster" O'Nofrio, a Genovese boss, and others to make a $30,000 extortionate loan at a Chicopee pizza shop.

Prosecutors in New York have been pursuing a "global plea" with most of the players there. The case has been sullied in New York by accusations there that FBI agents played fast and loose with a confidential witness.

An internal investigation has been ongoing and New York Mafia blogger Jerry Capeci has closely followed the legal maneuverings in that state. The blog is accessible only by subscription.

According to Capeci's column this week, 35 defendants in New York have agreed to plea deals in the case.

Lawyers for the local defendants on Friday said the global plea has not been particularly relevant to their conversations with prosecutors. A joint status report to U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson indicates no substantive plea negotiations have occurred.

Here, lawyers appear more focused on cataloging potential digital evidence gleaned from defendants' electronic devices. Defense attorneys told Robertson they were just beginning to sort through logs of their clients' data.

Michael Etin, a Florida attorney representing Daniele, who is at best a marginal defendant, told Robertson that he was struggling to open hard drives and thumb drives filled with data provided by the government and that his client's iPad was waiting to be unlocked at Quantico.

Marianne Shelvey, a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said Daniele's tablet had been shipped to Virginia because prosecutors do not have its password.

"If we had the password it would have alleviated" the delay, Shelvey told Robertson.

All of the Greater Springfield defendants have been released on bail but for Santaniello.

A pretrial conference has been scheduled before U.S. District Judge Timothy Hillman, who sits in Worcester, for July 24. Springfield federal Judge Mark Mastroianni is not involved in the case because he was Hampden district attorney when the investigation began in state court in 2013.

The Springfield City Council has scheduled hearings with department heads over the next two weeks for a detailed discussion of the proposed city budget for fiscal 2018.

The city spent about $890,000 on snow removal this year. On average it spends between $800,000 and $900,000 during the course of a winter.

CHICOPEE - The City Council settled its account for plowing and salting roadways just as temperatures began pushing into the 80s and 90s and winter became a memory.

The Council voted Tuesday to withdraw $790,361 from the free cash account, which is money collected in tax revenue from the previous year that was not spent, to settle the fund for plowing that was overspent in the winter.

In total the city spent $890,361 clearing roads of with ice and snow this winter.

The largest portion of the cost for snow removal was $466,523 for purchasing salt. That was followed by hiring private plowing contractors for $250,901, paying employee overtime at $157,283, purchasing de-icer for $10,915 and sand purchases at $4,738, Kos said.

The amount was far lower than the winter of 2015, which was an extraordinary winter which brought storm-after-storm and forced the city to spend $1.2 million on street cleanup. Last winter was unusually mild and snowless, leaving the city to spend about $466,000 on road clearing.

On average the city spends between $800,000 and $900,000 on snow removal a year.

"The snow and ice removal budget you are not obligated to pre-fund because it is a moving target," Mayor Richard J. Kos said, when asking Councilors to settle the account.

Traditionally the city budgets $100,000 for winter sanding, salting and plowing realizing that amount will be quickly eaten up with the cost of paying employees overtime, hiring outside contractors and the cost of sand and salt, he said.

The biggest change this year in snow removal is the Department of Public Works switched to using straight salt to treat roads instead of a mix of sand and salt, under the advice of state officials, Jeffrey Neece, Department of Public Works superintendent, said.

"It does a better job of cleaning the snow and you don't have to pick up the sand," he said.

When removed from the roads in the spring, the sand is considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly. The city found it also used less salt than it did when it used a combination of sand and salt, Neece said.

The city also pre-treats the roads with a liquid salt mixture that prevents snow from freezing above 10 degrees. That means there is a layer of water between the road surface and the snow and makes it easier to plow and keeps ice from forming, he said.

The City Council easily approved the transfer in a 12-0 vote with little discussion or debate.

Fire investigators from the Springfield Bomb and Arson squad and the State Fire Marshal's Office are investigating a fire in the Regal Beagle bar in Indian orchard. Authorities say the fire is suspicious.

SPRINGFIELD— A morning break-in and fire has temporarily closed the Regal Beagle bar at 567 Main St. in Indian Orchard, as investigators from the Springfield Bomb and Arson Squad and State Police troopers attached to the State Fire Marshal's Office comb through the debris.

Springfield Police Capt. Cheryl Clapprood said officers at the scene reported the bar had been broken into through the rear door and the ATM had been burned to get at the cash box inside. She said the same torch used to extract cash from the ATM was probably used to set the building ablaze. Police found burglary tools along with the torch.

Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said he estimates the fire caused about $40,000 in fire damage to the structure and interior decoration and furniture, but that amount may run much higher as health inspectors determine if food and liquor in the bar at the time of the fire is usable, or needs to be replaced.

Leger said a 911 call at 5:53 a.m. alerted firefighters to the blaze.

Leger said the Husky Pizzeria in the same building was not damaged.

Meanwhile, police are continuing their investigation into the break-in and arson of the building.

Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire apparently set inside the Regal beagle bar on Main Street in Indian Orchard Saturday morning. Police said the ATM machine was also torched to get remove cash from the machine. Dave Canton, Republican 

A local man was wounded Saturday morning when he was stabbed by an unknown assailant. Police said the man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including a stab wound to the leg and head injuries.

SPRINGFIELD— A Springfield man suffered a stab wound to the leg and head injuries after hew as attacked as he stood near a Locust Street convenience store just after midnight.

Springfield Police Sgt. Lewis Rosario said the male victim told police he was standing near the convenience store's Mills Street exit when two men came up and started fighting. During the dispute, one of the men stabbed him in the leg. The wounded man then fled up Belmont Avenue to escape his attackers.

The victim was found on a sidewalk on Belmont Avenue near its intersection with Fort Pleasant Avenue to the southwest of the original attack scene. He was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Three to four witnesses saw the attack and were questioned by detectives, Rosario said. The victim described his attackers as a white or light-skinned Hispanic male and a dark skinned male. He estimated both to be in their early 20s.

Springfield police detectives are continuing the investigation.

Police inspect the area of the parking lot of a Citgo convenience store at Mill and Locust streets just after midnight Saturday morning. A man was stabbed in the leg and suffered head injuries after two men attacked him. Dave Canton, Republican 

An Athol man pleaded guilty in U.S. district court in Worcester on Thursday to child pornography charges.

ATHOL - 49-year-old Arthur Cummings, of Athol, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in U.S. District court in Worcester on Thursday. 

Cummings is one of hundreds of people who have been arrested in the United States and internationally as the result of a large-scale operation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation known as "Operation Pacifier." 

The FBI's covert program geared towards tackling child pornography users and child exploitation, "Pacifier" has led to charges for people throughout the globe, according to the Bureau.

Yet if the program can be touted for its effectiveness, it hasn't been without some amount of controversy. 

Though it's helped bring charges against hundreds of people accused of viewing and distributing child pornography, some critics--mainly those accused of carrying out the crimes--have called the FBI's methods "unconstitutional." 

And Cummings, who is one of many that has faced charges as the result of the federal agency's operations, is also one of the many who has fought the government's case, alleging "unconstitutionality"; in November of 2016, he filed a memo requesting that a federal judge suppress evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation into his activities.

What was was the justification for the memo? Cummings objected to the method by which Bureau agents caught him.

"Playpen" and the FBI 

Cummings was first arrested on March 10, 2016, after federal agents raided his Crescent Street home in Athol--seizing his Dell laptop computer on which they later found numerous videos and over 100 images of child pornography; almost all of the images depicted real, known child victims.

An affidavit filed in support of a search warrant for Cummings' residence by a Special Agent with the FBI in March, 2016, describes the process by which federal agents investigated and ultimately arrested the Athol man. 

It all began with the website on which Cummings viewed the pornography--a "dark web" page, known as "Playpen," which the FBI has called the largest child pornography website in the world. 

"Playpen" was launched in 2014 using the Tor network--an online, identity-cloaking technology that allows users to anonymously access "hidden service" websites, often for the purposes of criminal activity. For a number of months, "Playpen" served an international cadre of users in the United States, as well as in countries as far flung as Israel, Chile, and Peru.   

After becoming aware of the "dark web" site's existence, the first step for the Bureau was to find and arrest the administrators running the site. 

Investigations led them to 58-year-old Steven W. Chase, a Florida man, who came to be known as the "the mastermind and gatekeeper of Playpen," as U.S. Attorney Westmoreland Rose, of North Carolina, put it. Chase was arrested in February of 2015, after federal agents seized the computer server hosting the website at a residence in North Carolina. 

After Chase's arrest, the site's remaining administrators, Michael Fluckiger, 46, of Indiana, and David Browning, 47, of Kentucky, were both arrested soon after.

Browning and Fluckiger now face 20 year prison sentences and Chase was sentenced to 30 years in prison in May.   

Operation Pacifier 

After tackling Playpen's administrators, the FBI launched "Pacifier"--its program to "go after Playpen's thousands of members," as the Bureau put it. 

The program entailed commandeering "Playpen" and covertly running it from the FBI's own servers in Newington, Virginia, for a period of roughly two weeks, between February 20 to March 4, 2015.

The program led to hundreds of arrests nationwide and internationally, but "Pacifier" soon became a controversial program--with dozens of lawyers across the country arguing that the Bureau's methods were without precedent.

How did the FBI identify users of the dark web site when Tor was ostensibly masking their activities? Something called a Network Investigative Technique, or "NIT."

NIT is a type of malware that allowed the Bureau to gain information on users of the "Playpen" site, even while the users believed they were using identity masking technologies.

Anytime a user of the site logged on, the NIT allowed information from the user's computer to be sent back to a computer "known to or controlled by the government." This information helped investigators to "identify the computer, its location, other information about the computer, and the user of the computer accessing" the Playpen site, according to the Special Agent's affidavit from 2016.  

In the case of Cummings, FBI agents were able to use NIT to ascertain his IP address, his geo-location, and the Internet Service Provider for the computer he was using--which turned out to be Time Warner. 

The FBI then served an administrative subpoena to Time Warner, asking that the company provide subscriber information associated with that specific IP address. That information, provided by the internet company, led the Federal agents to all of the private information associated with Cummings' Time Warner account--including his name, address, and apartment number. 

After agents scouted and surveilled Cummings' residence in the week following, all that was left to do was execute a search warrant on March 10, 2016. 

Objections to an "outrageous" process  

"Outrageous" was the word that Cummings once used to describe the government's NIT operation against him. 

Complaints by defendants lawyers have turned around the allegedly invasive nature of the government's technology and the allegedly legally nebulous basis for using it.  

A common legal response by those caught in the "Playpen" has been to file to suppress information collected by the government during its investigations, on the basis that the FBI did not act within proper legal frameworks when it conducted "Pacifier."  

Surprisingly, a number of judges have yielded to these complaints; faced with charges against several men who had been caught by "Pacifier," a federal judge in Tacoma, Washington said in December that it was "outrageous" that the FBI had effectively taken over and run a child porn site, though he continued on with prosecutions against the men just the same. 

If judges haven't stopped short of prosecutions, they haven't been wholly supportive of the government's approach to ascertaining charges. 

A motion to partially deny and partially grant a plea to suppress evidence in a Playpen-related case in Minnesota described the Government's legal statute for its warrant as the authority to "hack thousands of computers in 120 countries and to install malicious software for the purposes of investigating the private property of uncounted individuals whose identities and crimes were unknown to the Government before launching this massive worldwide search."  

Cummings, too, of course, was one who had attempted to argue his way out of charges; on November 14, 2016, Cummings had his lawyer file a memo in which he asked a federal judge to suppress everything collected by the U.S. government on February 21, 2015--the date when the NIT was used.   

"The NIT altered and overrode security settings on the computer, allowed the FBI to remotely search for and collect data from the computer's hard drive, and then transmitted that data to FBI agents in Virginia," the memo complains. 

The memo argued that the warrant used to apply the NIT was too large; that the "scope of the search and seizure authority the Government is claiming in this case is unprecedented."

Despite critiques, the Bureau has stood by its methods. 

Special Agent Dan Alfin, who played an active role in investigations for the case as part of the Bureau's Violent Crimes Against Children section, has said that cases involved with Pacifier "continue to be indicted and prosecuted." 

"It's ongoing and we continue to address the threat to the best of our abilities," said Alfin, in a statement about the operation on the Bureau's website. "It's the same with any criminal violation: As they get smarter, we adapt, we find them. It's a cat-and-mouse game, except it's not a game. Kids are being abused, and it's our job to stop that."

Cummings, who will serve a minimum of five and up to twenty years in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. 

The camps will teach students in elementary and middle school skills in basketball, soccer and lacrosse.

CHICOPEE - The Parks Department will offer basketball, lacrosse and soccer camps for boys and girls this summer.

Camps will be instructed by Chicopee High and Comprehensive High coaches. More information can be picked up at the Parks Department at 678 Front St. or by calling 594-3481. People can register their children in the office or by mail.

The boys basketball camp is for students entering grades four through nine. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 24 to 28 and the cost is $85 for residents and $95 for non-residents.

The girls basketball camp is for students entering grades four through nine. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 17 to 21 and the cost is $85 for residents and $95 for non-residents.

The boys lacrosse camp is for students entering grades three through eight. It will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 31 to Aug. 4 at Garrity Grove Park. The cost is $80 for residents and $90 for non-residents.

The Gold Star Soccer Camp, for boys and girls ages 5-14, will run from July 31 to Aug. 4 at Ike Alpert Park. To register or to find more information click on the website at goldstarsoccer.com.

Two people were transported to Baystate Medical Center following an early Saturday morning rollover crash at the intersection of West and Fuller Streets.

LUDLOW -- Two people were transported to Baystate Medical Center following an early Saturday morning rollover crash at the intersection of West and Fuller Streets.

Ludlow Police Sgt. Mike Gilrein said emergency crews responded to reports of a Buick Lacrosse that had rolled over near 746 West St. just after midnight.

The single vehicle crash, which remains under investigation, appears to have occurred when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve in the road, leading the car the roll over onto an embankment, he said. 

Gilrein said the driver faces various motor vehicle charges, including speeding and reckless operation.

There were no arrests for drunk driving or charges for operating under the influence, but an open container was reportedly found in the vehicle, he said.

The extent of the injuries of the two people who were transported following the crash injuries, as well as the total number of occupants in the vehicle are unclear, according to Ludlow Police. 

The crash had left a portion of Fuller Street closed for several hours as crews worked on a telephone pole that had been damaged at the scene, Gilrein said.

The street was expected to reopen around 10 a.m.

A Connecticut high school student and two other teenagers were killed in an early morning crash in Manchester, police and school officials have reported.

MANCHESTER, CONN. -- A Connecticut high school student and two other teenagers were killed in an early morning crash in Manchester, police and school officials have reported.

Police responded to reports of a single vehicle crash near 600 Center St. just before 1:30 a.m. Emergency crews found the car, which appeared to have hit a utility pole, engulfed in flames, the Hartford Courant reported.

Three occupants in the rear of the vehicle, whom FOX 61 identified as being between ages of 17 and 18, were killed in the crash.

One of the victims was a Manchester High School student, according to reports.

Two other occupants of the vehicle were transported to Connecticut Children's Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, the Courant reported.

Manchester Police Capt. Christopher Davis said police are working to identify the victims and are continuing to investigate the crash.

"Everything's on the table," he told the Courant when asked if speed or alcohol is thought to have played a role in the crash. "Most certainly we will look at speed ... as being a potential factor."

Davis called the crash "an incredible tragedy."

Classic car lovers and hungry folks all around came out to the Wheels & Waffles car show at the Eastern States Exposition on Saturday, May 20.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Classic car lovers and hungry folks all around came out to the Wheels & Waffles car show at the Eastern States Exposition on Saturday. 

Modern cars, classic cars and everything in between lined the Avenue of States on the fairground, with music from Real Oldies 1250AM WARE, and the folks over at Storrowton Tavern serving up complimentary gourmet waffles to anyone arriving in a collector, classic or custom vehicle.

The cloudy, cool start to the morning would quickly clear out, drawing visitors in to the latter half of the two-hour event, and making the way for what would be a gorgeous Saturday morning.

The next Wheels & Waffles event at the Eastern States takes place on August 19, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Check out photos from the event above, and let us know which car was your favorite in the comments below. For more information on the next event, visit the official event website here.

Police are seeking the public's assistance in identifying a man who is suspected of stealing a donation jar from a Connecticut Dunkin Donuts.

NEW BRITAIN, CONN. -- Police are seeking the public's assistance in identifying a man who is suspected of stealing a donation jar from a Connecticut Dunkin' Donuts. 

The man reportedly entered a Dunkin' Donuts in New Brite Plaza on East Main Street around 2 a.m. on May 14 and took jar containing about $100 in donations for the Hearing Loss Association of America, police told the New Britain Herald. 

The money was being collected on behalf of "Team Ty" for the annual Connecticut Walk 4 Hearing, police reported Friday. The walk seeks to help those who cannot afford listening devices.

New Britain Police Capt. Thomas Steck told the newspaper that he's "confident that with the help of the community someone will identify the suspect."

Anyone with information on the alleged theft is asked to call Detective Nathan Soucy at 860-826-3137.

Individuals can submit anonymous tips on the Community Tip Line at 860-826-3199 or online at newbritainpolice.org. 

Chicopee's College of Our Lady of the Elms held its 86th commencement on Saturday at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD- Chicopee's College of Our Lady of the Elms held its 86th commencement on Saturday at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.

Dr. Carolyn Jacobs, a renowned social work professor and spiritual director, was the guest speaker. Jacobs' work in religion and spirituality, social work clinical practice, organizational behavior, and teaching has been recognized with extensive publication and presentation credits.

She retired from Smith College in May 2015 after 34 years, 14 of which saw her serve as the dean of the School of Social Work and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor.

Today, Jacobs serves on the board of directors for the Mind & Life Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia- an organization cofounded by the Dalai Lama, together with contemplative neuroscientist Francisco Varela and entrepreneur Adam Engle. She also serves on the board of trustees not only for Elms College, but also for Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, as well as on the advisory committee for the Montague Catholic Social Ministries.

This was the final commencement ceremony led by President Mary Reap, who announced last year that she would retire as college president in the summer of 2017. The trustees' search committee recently selected Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., to be the college's 11th president.

The liberal arts institution conferred more than 300 degrees in the 11 a.m. ceremony on the West Street campus.

AMHERST - Graduates of the Hampshire College Class of 2017 were told at their commencement Saturday to help others who struggle to succeed in the modern world, and to look back on their education with pride.

The liberal arts institution conferred more than 300 degrees in the 11 a.m. ceremony on the West Street campus. The keynote speaker was Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, assistant professor of African American studies at Princeton University and author of "From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation."

"The political and economic status quo in this country has failed over and over again to deliver a better way to the vast majority of people in this country," said Taylor. "For millions of people, the status quo is increasingly intolerable. It gnaws away at the tiny threads that millions of people are hanging on to in their daily struggles to make ends meet.

"Now is the time for defiance," she said. "Perhaps most importantly, we need hope."

Taylor said there is much to learn from history, and its lessons can bring hope in dark times. She urged the graduates to push for justice, peace, human dignity and freedom.

"The great challenge facing every individual graduating today is to remain awake through this social revolution," she said, quoting from a 1965 commencement speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Oberlin College.

The graduating class also heard from Ellen Sturgis, chairwoman of Hampshire Coillege's Alumni Advisory Group.

"These amazing faculty, staff and your fellow students have taught you life skills. They've taught you how to think and learn and problem solve," said Sturgis. "When you go for (job) interviews, be bold. Show some Hampshire pride. Show them that we're a lot more than basket weavers and ultimate fanatics."

College president Jonathan Lash urged the graduates to use their skills to improve the world for themselves and others.

"Fearless inventors and doers, the world needs you now more than ever," said Lash. "You can learn anything, invent what you need, build what you can imagine. You are the change."

Saturday's commencement was the 47th in the school's history.