Eric Vale, 35, of Springfield, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to selling guns, ammunition and cocaine to confidential informants on the government's payroll.

SPRINGFIELD - A city man whose defense attorney negotiated his client's way out of a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence will instead spend a decade behind bars for selling drugs, guns and ammunition to two government informants.

Eric Vale, 35, dissolved into tears when his lawyer, Jared Olanoff, talked about the impact an extended absence would have on Vale's two sons, 8 and 5. The boys came to the courthouse with family members for Vale's sentencing on Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

Vale signed a plea agreement with prosecutors agreeing to a 10-year sentence after the government assented to taking an "Armed Career Criminal" label off the table.

"I was able to convince the government that 15 years was too much. And we're extremely grateful they agreed," Olanoff told U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni. "I'm sort of ashamed to say that this was the best I could do for my client."

The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) was passed by Congress and designed to drive federal sentencing guidelines up for repeat offenders. The label triggers a 15-year mandatory sentence. The act became controversial when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that certain language in the statute was "overly vague" and thus unconstitutional.

The 2015 ruling by the high court saved scores of defendants 15-year sentences and applied retroactively, so many more prisoners were able to challenge the label under the new definition of "armed career criminal" and win motions for new sentences. At the same time, federal prosecutors relaxed their own interpretations of the law in pending cases.

Vale appeared the beneficiary of that shift in philosophy.

He pleaded guilty to selling a .380 caliber pistol and a "rack of rounds" to an undercover informant in 2013, for a grand total of $550, according to court records. The same year, Vale sold the same mole an eighth of an ounce of cocaine for $160, and two years later sold him a 9mm pistol for $500, plus 50 grams of cocaine for $1,500 to a second cooperating witness.

In April of 2015, Vale, who also lists aliases of "Eric Valle" and "E-Money," was arrested by Springfield police, who recovered more than an ounce of cocaine, marijuana, drug packaging materials and more than $37,000 in cash.

Vale pleaded guilty in that case and received a three-year sentence, Olanoff said, which will run concurrently with his federal sentence.

The defense lawyer also noted in his argument before the judge that the informants in Vale's case were "hungry" and cajoled federal agents to put them on the payroll and out on the streets so they could pay their phone bills, for instance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Wagner told Mastroianni on Wednesday that while Vale's criminal record was troubling, he is not "the worst of the worst" of defendants who find themselves in federal court.

Just before Mastroianni handed down the sentence, Vale stood and apologized to the court, plus his family members.

"I didn't just destroy my life, I destroyed theirs too," he said to the judge.

"I don't really see much need in me expressing my feelings on this ... you just summed them up," Mastroianni responded, adding that the boys were examples of the collateral damage of crime.

Lots of businesses will be closed Monday. Here is a list of what's open and what's closed on Memorial Day.

Francisco Reyes was found guilty of multiple counts of rape and indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl.

Patrick Johnson | pjohnson@repub.com 

PITTSFIELD -  A 37-year-old Pittsfield man was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in state prison on Thursday after he was found guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl, according to the office of Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless.

A jury deliberated for four hours before finding Francisco Reyes guilty of two counts of rape of a child by force, and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14.

An unidentified girl, who is now age 15, told police that Reyes raped her multiple times between November 2014 and July 2015. 

Judge Edward McDonough Jr. sentenced Reyes to 10 to 12 years for the rape charges, and nine to 10 years on the indecent assault and battery charges. Both sentences are concurrent. 

Reyes was ordered to serve his sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Cedar Junction in Walpole. 

The $54.5 million project on Wendover Rd. is about 25-percent complete. The structural steel is done, mechanical systems are going in, and the exterior envelope is going up. Watch video

With a little more than a year to go before students are moving through the halls, construction of Pope Francis High School in Springfield is on schedule and on budget according to David Owen, project manager for the new building.

The $54.5 million project on Wendover Road is about 25 percent complete. The structural steel is done, mechanical systems are going in, and the exterior envelope is going up.

Work began about 9-months ago on the 117,000 square foot building and a mild winter only caused a handful of missed work days.

"Since the groundbreaking ceremony in September, we've seen a tremendous amount of progress on our new facility," said Jennifer Lopez, director of marketing for Pope Francis High School. "It's been exciting to watch the architect's plans come to fruition."

The centerpiece of the interior design are the "civic steps," a stairway linking the top two floors of the school. Designed to be used as bleacher seating as well as stairs, the area will be used as a platform where students can listen to speakers and bolster a sense of community.

With the first day of classes scheduled for August 29, 2018, the future is almost here for the students and staff of Pope Francis High.

Beer lovers, mark your calendars: Vanished Valley Brewing Co. will begin selling cans from its brewery at 782 Center St. on Wednesday, May 31.

LUDLOW -- Beer lovers, mark your calendars: Vanished Valley Brewing Co. will begin selling cans from its brewery at 782 Center St. on Wednesday, May 31.

Opening day hours for the small-batch brewery are from 2-6 p.m. Depending on the availability of beer, more sale days may be added.

"Moving forward and until further notice, we are bringing all can sales on-site to the brewery," Vanished Valley posted on its Facebook page Monday.

As the brewery gets closer to opening day, co-owners Josh Britton and Mike Rodrigues will announce which beers will be available for sale. This information will be regularly updated on Vanished Valley's Facebook and Twitter accounts and on the company's website, www.vanishedvalley.com. 

The brewery is located behind Rodrigues' landmark Center Street restaurant, the Europa Black Rock Bar & Grille.

Britton, a Wilbraham resident, is Vanished Valley's head brewer and hype man.

The brewery itself is named for the former towns that "vanished" after they were intentionally flooded to create Quabbin Reservoir, the largest inland body of water in Massachusetts. 

Over the past few months, Vanished Valley has been dealing with licensing issues, leading to some fits and starts. In March, the brewery announced it was opening for growler sales, but then immediately delayed the opening, citing ongoing licensing issues. 

Raising concerns about President Donald Trump's recent statements regarding the United States' policy toward North Korea, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, led a group of Democrats this week in urging the Republican to take a diplomatic approach in dealing with the country.

Raising concerns about President Donald Trump's recent statements regarding the United States' policy toward North Korea, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, led a group of Democrats this week in urging the Republican to take a diplomatic approach in dealing with the country. 

The congressman, in a letter signed by 64 House Democrats, cautioned Trump against taking military action in North Korea, contending it would likely spur a counter-reaction that could threaten the lives of South Koreans, U.S. service members and Americans residing in South Korea.

He added that although the president has the authority to act in cases of emergencies, the Constitution and War Powers Resolution of 1973 require congressional approval before he can engage in military action abroad against a state that has not attacked the U.S. or its assets.

McGovern and other Democrats called on the president to take a diplomatic approach to North Korea -- something which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently touched on when saying the administration's goal is to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. 

"In such a volatile region, an inconsistent or unpredictable policy runs the risk of unimaginable conflict. That is why we strongly urge you to adhere to the diplomatic approach recently articulated by Secretary Tillerson...We support Secretary Tillerson's statement that the preferred method for resolution is "direct talks with North Korea," including persuading them to relinquish their nuclear weapons by assuring them that they 'do not need these weapons to secure the existence of [their] regime,'" the letter stated.

The Democrats asked the president for more information on the steps his administration is taking toward direct negotiations that could mitigate the risk of "catastrophic war" and a denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

They also sought details on steps Trump is taking to address humanitarian issues, like the reunification of Korean and Korean American families and the repatriation of US service members' remains.

Lawmakers, however, warned that if the president's plans do include a military component, they "stand ready to exercise (their) constitutional duty to approve or reject any such military action," the letter concluded.

U.S. Reps. Michael Capuano, D-Somerville; Katherine Clark, D-Melrose; Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and Niki Tsongas, D-Lowell, joined McGovern in signing the letter, which came after the Washington Post reported that Trump had called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a "madman with nuclear weapons" during an April phone call with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

Trump: Kim Jong Un a 'madman with nuclear weapons,' according to transcript of call with Philippines' Duterte

The president, according to a transcript of the call, told Duterte that the U.S. has two nuclear submarines near North Korea and offered that America "can't let a madman with nuclear weapons let on the loose like that," the newspaper reported.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, told the Associated Press in April that the Trump Administration had settled on a North Korea strategy of "maximum pressure and engagement."

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, criticized Trump's handling of relations with North Korea earlier this month.

"President Trump is gambling with possible nuclear war when he doubles down on threats of a major, major conflict with North Korea," he said on May 2. "We don't need tough talk from President Trump, we need tough diplomacy." 

Luis Suarez, 27, of Springfield, was charged with receiving stolen property (a car) and with habitually driving even though his license has been revoked, according to Wilbraham police.

WILBRAHAM -- An unlicensed driver from Springfield was caught driving a stolen car in Wilbraham on May 20, according to Wilbraham police.

Luis Suarez, 27, was driving a Honda Civic when he was stopped at Ski-In Ski Haus, a Boston Road business, just after 3:30 a.m., police said.

A routine check of the car revealed that it had been reported stolen from the City of Westfield, according to police, who attempted to take Suarez into custody.

The Springfield man "was initially non-compliant," police said, requiring help from a backup officer. Suarez was charged with receiving stolen property and driving with a revoked license "as a habitual traffic offender," police said.

Springfield police assisted at the scene with a Spanish-speaking officer.

Suarez was expected to be arraigned in Palmer District Court. The outcome of his hearing was not immediately known.

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Principal Andrew Linkenhoker was promoted to superintendent by a unanimous vote by the board of trustees on Wednesday.

NORTHAMPTON -- Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Principal Andrew Linkenhoker was promoted to superintendent by a unanimous vote of the board of trustees on Wednesday.

Linkenhoker has been the Smith Voke principal for the past three years.

He previously was principal of Monson High School from 2011 to 2014. The Monson resident was the district's assistant high school principal for four years. He previously served as that district's guidance counselor, and at Westfield High School in that role.

Linkenhoker earned a doctorate in education from the University of Phoenix in 2009.

The five-person Smith Voke board of trustees includes three elected members and two ex-officio members. Michael T. Cahillane, John E. Cotton and Thomas M. FitzGerald are elected. The ex-officio members are Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz and the superintendent of city schools, John Provost.

Linkenhoker will replace interim Superintendent Kevin Farr, who has served in that role for the past year.

Defense lawyers in a three-defendant gun case want to question Springfield police officer Gregg Bigda about his actions.

SPRINGFIELD -- Hampden Superior Court Judge Mark D. Mason on Thursday told the lawyer for embattled city police officer Gregg Bigda to bring him case law that supports Bigda's desire not to testify in a gun case.

Bigda on Wednesday invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify in a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence in the 2015 case.

Mason had Bigda's lawyer, Thomas Rooke, come into court Thursday to argue as to why Bigda's invoking of his Fifth Amendment right should be accepted.

Rooke said he advised Bigda not to testify because he is under investigation by federal law enforcement as well as the state attorney general. The investigations pertain to Bigda's actions in the interrogation last year of juveniles suspected of stealing an unmarked police vehicle.

In an interrogation video obtained by The Republican, Bigda is seen threatening to beat both suspects and threatening to kill and plant drug evidence on one of the boys if he doesn't cooperate.

The questioning took place after a police pursuit that began in Wilbraham and ended in Palmer. Springfield detectives showed up at the scene of the arrest, uninvited, when they heard of the pursuit over the scanner. The interrogation took place at the Palmer police station Feb. 27, 2016.

Bigda was suspended for 60 days over the incident and now is assigned to the records division, according to police.

The three defense lawyers in the Springfield gun case now before Mason want to use the Palmer video to question Bigda's credibility. Mason has taken the matter under advisement.

Mason said he understands why Bigda wants to invoke his Fifth Amendment right as to any questions about the Palmer incident.

"Candidly I'm likely to permit him to do so as to the Palmer video," Mason said.

But, he said, a separate issue is whether Bigda can invoke that right with respect to testimony about the Springfield gun case. He said he would instruct lawyers in the gun case that they can't question Bigda about the Palmer incident.

Rooke said if Bigda waives his Fifth Amendment right in the gun case, it might affect his ability to invoke that right in the future. Mason said his understanding of the law is that testifying about the gun case would not affect Bigda's future ability to assert his Fifth Amendment right.

He set a hearing for June 5, when Rooke is to present case law or any other reasons to support his concern about Bigda's ability to assert his Fifth Amendment right in the future if he testifies in the gun case. 

Bigda was the sole witness at the grand jury proceeding that resulted in the indictments on gun charges of Jose Sosa, Paul Finegan and Marquies Johnson. Sosa is from Chicopee and the other two men are from Springfield. The charges stem from a Forest Park traffic stop in 2015.

Mason said the case "has had a fascinating history," much of which has only been revealed in recent weeks.

Defense lawyers Timothy Farris, Joe Smith III and Janet Glenn have raised questions about a "supplemental report" authored by Bigda that says officers overheard a conversation in the holding cell where the three co-defendants were held at booking.

The lawyers were given the report last week by Assistant District Attorney Mary Sandstrom. They have questioned why the date Bigda wrote on the report does not match a time stamp for when the report was entered into the police department's electronic records. The defendants have also raised questions about the truth of the supplemental report.

Mason said that at the June 5 hearing he will also hear evidence about the system for time stamps at the police department and about what kind of video or audio systems the police department has in its holding cells. Sandstrom said the audio and video are used to monitor cells for security purposes but do not record.

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum opens the first weekend in June at the Springfield Museums.

SPRINGFIELD -- There will be green eggs and ham on the menu Friday, June 2, when The Sheraton Monarch Place hosts a Seussian Celebration fundraiser for The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum.

And like the fictional Sam-I -Am, the party's host  Paul C. Picknelly, knows that he'll have to do some cajoling to get people to try it.

"I think its the first time we've done it," he said. "We'll see if anyone is brave enough."

The Seussian Celebration fundraiser is from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, 1 Monarch Place, Springfield. The cost is $100 a ticket and all of that money is a straight donation to the museum, Picknelly said, which makes it tax-deductible.

The money will go toward the museum's $7.5 million capitol campaign, Seuss in Springfield: Building a Better Quadrangle.

Registration is available online here or through the Springfield Museums.

Beloved children's author Dr. Seuss, in real life Theodor Seuss Geisel, was born in Springfield March, 2, 1904.

The new Seuss museum occupies part of the William Pynchon Memorial Building on the quadrangle grounds. It will have three-dimensional multimedia environments replicating scenes from Geisel's childhood in Springfield as well as life-sized three-dimensional characters and places from his books.

The fun will continue all weekend, according to the Springfield Museums and Spirit of Springfield, with a parade at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 3, on Mulberry Street. Not only is that were Geisel lived -- but "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" was his first book for children.

The Suessian Family Festival is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Quadrangle. The museums have other events set for the rest of the month. A full schedule is available online at springfieldmuseums.org/Seussinspringfield.

Over 200 children will get swimming lessons for free or reduced prices thanks to a $4,000 grant the Greater Holyoke YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts received from the USA Swimming Foundation, an official said on Thursday, May 25, 2017.

HOLYOKE -- Over 200 children will get swimming lessons for free or reduced prices thanks to a $4,000 grant the Greater Holyoke YMCA has received, an official said Thursday.

"Educating children how to be safe around water is just as important as teaching them to look both ways before they cross the street," YMCA aquatics director Kerry Cordis said in a press release.

"The Y teaches children of all ages and backgrounds that water should be fun, not feared, and this practice not only saves lives it builds confidence," she said.

The grant from the USA Swimming Foundation will allow for swimming lessons for free or reduced prices to 215 children, said Julie Chartier, YMCA development and marketing director, in an email.

Registration for the YMCA's swimming lessons begins June 17 and the lessons run from July 2 to Aug. 26. People can register online at holyokeymca.org/programs/aquatics or at the YMCA at 171 Pine St., she said.

About 500 children take swimming lessons at the YMCA each year. The YMCA uses a scale to determine who receives financial aid based on household income. Those who apply for financial help with swimming lessons will know in two or three days whether they have been approved, she said.

The cost for youth swimming lessons is $44 to $80 per session, which typically last about seven weeks, depending on age, swim level and membership type. Adult lessons cost $57 to $80 per session depending on membership type, she said.

"We also offer private and semi-private lessons for both children and adults ranging anywhere from $15 to $37," Chartier said.

The USA Swimming Foundation is the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming, which is a 400,000-member organization that is the national governing body of the sport of swimming in the United States, its website said.

The USA Swimming Foundation awards annual grants through a competitive process. This year the foundation received nearly 200 applications and awarded 71 grants totaling more than $342,000 to help fund learn-to-swim programs in 25 states, the press release said.

The Holyoke YMCA can be reached at 1-413-534-5631.

Distracted driving is any behavior that causes the driver to not be giving full attention to the road, and the consequences can be life altering. Watch video

HOLYOKE - On the final day of school, Holyoke High School seniors were given a simple message from officials with the Hampden District Attorney's Office: you don't want to see us again.

Hampden DA Anthony Gulluni, assistant district attorney James Forsyth, and Director of Community Outreach Tony Simmons appeared at the senior class' final assembly to drive home the message that driving while drunk, drug or distracted can lead to death, injury, or prosecution and jail time.

"It is extremely important  - especially the summer is coming on, you're graduating and you have all these fun events - that you understand responsibility that you have to yourself, your family and friends and other people on the road to be careful in your car," Gulluni said.

That responsibility means no driving while drinking or while on drugs, and not allowing anything to to take your eyes off the road.

Distracted driving is a catch-all term for a myriad of behaviors that could all lead to someone getting killed or injured, or arrested and prosecuted.

Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is prominent, but so too are texting, talking to passengers, or even adjusting the radio. Distracted driving is any behavior that causes the driver to not be giving full attention to the road.

"It is serious," Gulluni said.

Simmons, the director of the Community Safety and Outreach Program, asked how many of the seniors know of someone who was involved in a fatal car crash. More than a dozen hands went up.

"It's pretty painful, huh? This issue effects everyone."

Simmons said the forum fits in with fits in with Gulluni's philosophy of prevention before prosecution, he said.  His office makes an effort to reach out to area high schools about the dangers of distracted driving and the life-long consequences.

"We don't want any of you guys behind the wheel for this, or to be a passenger. So we're giving you some information."

The forum featured the showing of a 19-minute video called "Stop the Swerve," that features interviews with participants and photos from the scene of fatal accidents on I-91 in Springfield and on Bates Road. In each, the driver had been drinking and had allowed himself to be distracted.

Forsyth, who in his capacity as prosecutor for motor vehicle homicide cases, said he has in 16 years  gone to more than 100 scene where someone has died in an automobile crash, including one of his uncles, said none of the people in the room ever want to see him again in his professional capacity.

"Because either A: someone you love is dead, or B: you just killed someone," he said. "It's that simple."

There have been and continue to be many warnings about driving while intoxicated, but not nearly as much emphasis about the dangers of driving while texting, he said.

Forsyth asked one student to use his phone to compose a text reading "I'll be there in a few minutes," and asked the others to time how long it took to type and send.

When the answer was four seconds, Forsyth used a tape measure to show how far a car traveling 40 mph can go in four seconds. It extended from the front up the auditorium, past row after row of students and out into the hall.

Forsyth said if this were an actual driver and an actual text, he could have potentially run over dozens of people while his eyes were off the road.

 "You never know what will pop up in four seconds," he said.

A federal appeals court has dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries.

A federal appeals court has dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the travel ban. It's the first appeals court to rule on the revised travel ban. Trump rewrote the ban after several legal defeats. His administration will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeals court decision blocks the administration from suspending new visas for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

A federal judge in Hawaii has also halted that provision and the freeze on the U.S. refugee program. Trump's administration is fighting that decision in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A federal appeals court dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six-Muslim majority countries on Thursday, siding with groups that say the policy illegally targets Muslims.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six-Muslim majority countries on Thursday, siding with groups that say the policy illegally targets Muslims.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the Republican's administration from temporarily suspending new visas for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit is the first appeals court to rule on the revised travel ban, which Trump's administration had hoped would avoid the legal problems that the first version encountered.

"Congress granted the president broad power to deny entry to aliens, but that power is not absolute. It cannot go unchecked when, as here, the president wields it through an executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation," the chief judge of the circuit, Roger L. Gregory wrote.

Trump will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A central question in the case is whether courts should consider Trump's past statements about wanting to bar Muslims from entering the country.

The federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban cited comments made by Trump and his aides during the campaign and after the election as evidence that the policy was primarily motivated by the religion.

Trump's administration argued that the court should not look beyond the text of the executive order, which doesn't mention religion. The countries were not chosen because they are predominantly Muslim but because they present terrorism risks, the administration says.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours. Trump tweaked the order after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the ban.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It got rid of language that would give priority to religious minorities and removed Iraq from the list of banned countries.

Critics said the changes don't erase the legal problems with the ban.

The Maryland case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center on behalf of organizations as well as people who live in the U.S. and fear the executive order will prevent them from being reunited with family members from the banned countries.

Alex's Bagel Shop is considering moving to the current location of a Mobil gas station on Route 5.

LONGMEADOW -- Once running on fumes, a long-standing Longmeadow bagel shop's search for a new location may be refueling as it considers moving into the Mobil gas station on Route 5.

Alex's Bagel Shop owner Alex Belyshev said he has had preliminary conversations with architects and other professionals about whether placing the store there would be feasible. The property is at 467 Longmeadow St.

"We're still talking about it. ... (We're) not really done yet," Belyshev said in an interview Thursday morning. "I hope it's going to be done, (but) it's hard to say."

A voicemail from The Republican left at the Mobil station Thursday was not immediately returned.

The bagel shop has served breakfast out of its Williams Street location for about 50 years. Big Y, which owns the building, plans to expand its grocery store into the bagel shop space, and has given Belyshev until the end of the year to move out. 

Alex's has been on a month-to-month lease with Big Y for the better part of the past decade. Big Y is paying for a real estate broker who is helping Belyshev find a new storefront, Mathieu D'Amour, Big Y's vice president of real estate and development, said in February.

The Ludlow Board of Selectmen has granted a one-day permit to Vanished Valley Brewing Co. to sell beer and wine at its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at 782 Center St.

LUDLOW -- The Board of Selectmen has granted a one-day permit to Vanished Valley Brewing Co. to sell beer and wine at its grand opening party from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at 782 Center St.

Mike Rodrigues, co-owner of Vanished Valley with Josh Britton of Wilbraham, had applied for the special permit, which was unanimously approved by selectmen at their May 16 meeting.

The Police Department has been notified about next month's party, according to Ludlow Town Administrator Ellie Villano.

Rodrigues has been before the Planning Board and is "all set as far as all of that is concerned," Villano said at last week's selectmen's meeting. "This is to allow him to have the grand opening," she said.

The event would likely feature a tent and be held outdoors, according to Villano.

"I would think that he'd have to have it in, like, a tent in an outside area, because there's no room for anybody to go into the brewery," Villano told the select board.

The brewery is located in a small barn-like building behind Rodrigues' restaurant, the Europa Black Rock Bar & Grille at 782 Center St.

In other positive news for Vanished Valley, the latest entry in Western Massachusetts' increasingly crowded microbrewery market, the upstart business announced this week that it will soon be selling cans of beer at its Ludlow facility.

Contending that the National Institutes of Health funding is needed to advance health care breakthroughs and other research, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report Thursday detailing how cuts proposed in President Donald Trump's budget could impact Massachusetts hospitals, universities and researchers that rely on those dollars.

Contending that the National Institutes of Health funding is needed to advance health care breakthroughs and other research, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report Thursday detailing how cuts proposed in President Donald Trump's budget could impact Massachusetts hospitals, universities and researchers that rely on those dollars.

The report, which the Massachusetts Democrat said her office prepared after the president's initial budget proposed cutting nearly 20 percent from NIH, highlighted the benefits of funding biomedical research in the Bay State.

Specifically, it asserted that: Massachusetts researchers supported by NIH funding have helped transform the way physicians treat cancer, blindness, diabetes and other diseases; NIH funding supports the careers of young Massachusetts scientists; publicly funded research spurs developments in the private sector; and Massachusetts NIH-backed projects have saved lives and reduced health care costs around the world.

The $5.7 billion in NIH cuts proposed in Trump's budget, the report further contended, "would dramatically reduce the NIH's ability to fund innovative, life-saving research into causes and treatments of disease."

Pointing to those findings, Warren argued that the president's proposed cuts "make no sense, and they must never become law." 

"Massachusetts has a world-class scientific community that has generated enormous health and economic benefits for our state and for the entire country," she said in a statement. "To keep making progress toward critical health care breakthroughs and to stay on the cutting-edge of research, we must protect and strengthen federal investments in the NIH."

The University of Massachusetts Boston, Tufts Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Baystate Medical Center, Harvard University and Boston Medical Center are among several Massachusetts-based entities that have been awarded NIH funding.

Trump's proposed $4.1 trillion budget slashes food stamps, Medicaid

Trump's $4.1 trillion proposed budget, which the White House has called "A New Foundation for American Greatness," looks to institute policies that it says ensure federal resources "maximally support the highest priority biomedical science by reducing reimbursement of indirect costs and implementing changes to the National Institutes of Health's structure to improve efficiencies in the research enterprise."

It further directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and NIH to develop policies in 2018 to reduce regulatory burdens on NIH funding recipients.

The proposal would cut the overall NIH budget from $31.8 billion to $26 billion, according to reports.

Sammie Smith, 68, who has lived in the home with his family for over 21 years, said he has been suffering from ill health and wished he had more time to work out a way to stay. Watch video

Updates story posted at 9:33 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD -- Dozens stood out in the rain Thursday morning to protest the foreclosure eviction of an elderly man and his son from their Sixteen Acres home.

What the anti-eviction group Springfield No One Leaves initially billed as an eviction blockade turned into a full-throated protest when members of the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and city police ordered the group off the property at 2163 Wilbraham Road and across the street.

Sammie Smith, 68, who has lived in the home with his family for over 21 years, said he has been suffering from ill health and wished he had more time to work out a way to stay.

"I don't like it. It's not right," said Smith as he waited inside his kitchen for sheriff's deputies to enter his home and evict him. "They didn't give me enough time to try to get myself together or anything. But that is just the way it is."

Smith's son, Kevin Smith, had to work Thursday morning and was not present for the eviction, according to Springfield No One Leaves.

Sammie Smith fell behind on his mortgage payments when his wife, Cinda Smith,  died, according to a press release issued by the organization.

Before her death, Smith's wife told him not to worry about the mortgage because she had purchased insurance that would pay off the house if anything happened to her or him. She did not realize, however, that when she refinanced the house in 2006, that insurance policy became void.

"Sammie, having limited education, did not understand the communications that (U.S. Bank Trust N.A.) and their debt collectors were sending him as he thought the insurance company had taken care of the home like his wife had told him would happen," the press release states.

Smith and his son, according to Springfield No One Leaves, were willing to pay rent in order to stay.

Such evictions, according to Springfield No One Leaves, are characterized as "no-fault evictions" because there is a viable alternative to eviction and families are willing to pay.

Legislation was again introduced at the Statehouse in January to outlaw these types of evictions and require lenders to rent to families after foreclosure. State Reps. Bud Williams, Jose Tosado and Angelo Puppolo and state Sen. Eric Lesser have all signaled support for the bill, according to Springfield No One Leaves.

Rose Webster-Smith, a lead organizer at Springfield No One Leaves and a resident of Sixteen Acres, said the sheriff's department allowed Smith to gather his valuables and medicine before a family member took him off the property.

Webster-Smith said the sheriff's department told her that Smith's belongings will be taken to a secure area that he will have access to.

Sheriff Nick Cocchi, in a press release, stated he has instructed his staff "to do all in all in their power to assist the Smith family during this difficult time. We have made several personal visits to the Smith house to discuss their options in an effort to assist them."

Cocchi stated he has ordered the department's housing specialist to find both temporary and permanent housing for Smith and his son.

"I know this is a very difficult time for Mr. Smith and my team is committed to assist him to secure new housing," Cocchi said.

The sheriff's department received an order from the Western Housing Court in Springfield to carry out the eviction, Cocchi said.

"I understand this has been a very long process over many months to get to this unfortunate point of eviction, however, I must carry out the court's order," he said.

Webster-Smith said Springfield No One Leaves will pressure U.S. Bank to sell the property back to Smith.

"This is really about making sure that the banks can't do this in silence," Webster-Smith said. "Too many people leave their homes when they are in the beginning stages of foreclosure. They don't understand that foreclosure and eviction are two separate entities in the state of Massachusetts."

Smith said he welcomed the support. "I love it," he said. "It shows you that somebody cares."

Protesters said earlier in the morning they were prepared to risk arrest. Members of the sheriff's department were evidently prepared to make arrests, given the number of zip-ties that they had at the ready to serve as restraints.

In the end, no one was arrested and the eviction proceeded without interference from the protesters.

Elizabeth Parra, a spokeswoman for U.S. Bank Trust N.A. said the bank serves as trustee on the security into which the mortgage on 2163 Wilbraham Road was bundled. She said the servicer is Caliber Home Loans.

"As trustee, we do not direct or get involved with any of the activity related to the individual properties in the trust," Parra stated in an email.

A spokesman for Caliber Home Loans could not be immediately reached for comment.

Victor Ramos of Quaker Road was charged with five counts of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, and possession of burglary tools, police said.

SPRINGFIELD - A 30-year-old city man was arrested and charged with multiple car break-ins in lower Forest Park early Thursday after a caller to 911 followed the man and relayed his position, police said.

Victor Ramos of Quaker Road was charged with five counts of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, and possession of burglary tools, said police spokesman Sgt. John Delaney. Ramos also had outstanding warrant for breaking and entering.

Delaney said police received a 911 call at about 5 a.m. from someone who reported witnessing a man with a backpack breaking into a car at Woodside Terrace and Leyfred Terrace.  The caller began following the man while staying on the line with police dispatch, Delaney said.

The caller relayed a description of the man and the clothes he was wearing, and police arriving on scene were able to spot him right away, Delaney said.

Ramos dropped the bag and attempted to run was but was stopped quickly, Delaney said.

Police recovered a toolkit, flashlight, a small safe and women's jewelry in the bag, he said.

Ramos was due to be arraigned Thursday in Springfield District Court.

Hadley parade organizer Jean Baxter doesn't know why, but more people are really interested in coming to the annual Memorial Day Parade Sunday.

HADLEY - Jean Baxter doesn't know why, but more people seem to be interested in participating in the annual Memorial Day parade Sunday.

And Baxter, one of the organizers, is expecting a big crowd if the weather is fine.

More people than usual have been calling about sending parade floats. "People may be more concerned about national and patriotic issues," she said. "I don't know why." But she said people are thinking about "what can I do that's positive."

"We're open to saying yes" to anyone who wants to participate, she said. "Sometimes there are cows, line dancers on a flatbed. It's an eclectic mishmash. You never know what's going into the casserole."

The Goodwin Memorial Library asked about providing a float, and so did Sunderland.

The parade leaves from the American Legion after the flag raising at 2 p.m. and continues to West Street. The Hopkins Academy marching band will play at the memorial on the north end of the commons. Route 9 will be closed during the parade.

The parade will include Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, horses, antique cars and trucks, and emergency personnel among the marchers.

Refreshments will be served at the Legion hall following the parade. 

Forecasts call for temperatures in the low 70s and a chance of rain.