A Hampden Superior Court jury on May 24, 2017, acquitted Christian Cabrera of Holyoke of rape and other charges.

SPRINGFIELD -- Christian Cabrera of Holyoke was acquitted Wednesday by a Hampden Superior Court jury of rape and assault and battery.

Cabrera, 25, had been charged with raping a woman at the Pines Motel in Chicopee Aug. 15, 2016.

The jury in the trial before Judge John S. Ferrara began deliberating about 1 p.m. Tuesday and had a verdict by mid-afternoon Wednesday.

At his arraignment in December 2015, bail had been set at $200,000 cash or $2 million surety. Cabrera was represented by lawyer Elizabeth Rodriguez-Ross.

MGM Springfield notified the Mass. Gaming Commission that its commitment to provide 54 market rate housing units downtown is currently on hold as considers locating many of those units at the long-vacant block at 31 Elm St. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD -- An MGM Springfield official told the Mass. Gaming Commission on Thursday that it has delayed a market rate housing project due to a new location under consideration at Court Square that may include affordable housing units.

Seth Stratton, vice-president and general counsel for MGM Springfield, said the site under consideration, a long-vacant block at 31 Elm St., is being discussed by city officials, a Peter Picknelly's OPAL Real Estate Group, and MGM. City officials and MGM have agreed that restoring that vacant block could be "transformative" event for that area, but those negotiations have delayed development of the housing component, Stratton said. 

MGM Springfield's host community agreement with the city calls for the company to develop 54 market rate apartments, as part of an effort to bring more full-time residents downtown.

MGM revealed the latest housing discussions as part its quarterly report to the Gaming Commission during a meeting held at the MassMutual Center on Thursday.

MGM had been planning its market rate housing project at the former School Department headquarters at 195 State St., which it purchased from the city in 2016 for $600,000.

However, Stratton said the Court Square site could be a "win-win" for the city and MGM.

Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen P. Crosby said he is inclined to support the ongoing effort, due to MGM and the city working together but there must be a reasonable point where the market-rate housing commitment moves forward.

The market rate housing is a "critical element" of the casino project, "and it ain't going away without dire consequences," Crosby said. It was hoped the apartments would be ready with the opening of the casino.

Stratton said MGM appreciates the commission's patience.

The building at 31 Elm St., is owned by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, which selected OPAL Real Estate Group as the preferred developer.

Under current discussions, OPAL would continue to be the developer, but MGM would invest in that project toward its commitment to provide market rate housing downtown," Stratton said.

The project, in order to be feasible under current economic conditions, needs tax credits if it remains under OPAL, Stratton said. If so, the tax credit assistance is expected to come with a requirement for at least 20 percent affordable housing units, he said.

The redevelopment of 31 Elm is planned for mixed residential-commercial use, and might have a total of 60 apartments, Stratton said. Under that scenario, there could be 48 market rate apartments, building toward MGM's commitment of 54, and 12 affordable units, comprising of 20 percent of the units in the building, Stratton said. 

The changes under consideration would require some adjustments to the Host Community Agreement with the city, which would be subject to approval from the City Council, officials said.

The Gaming Commission will be "very watchful," Crosby added.

The $950 million MGM Springfield casino is under construction on 14.5 acres in the city and is expected to open to the public in late 2018. 

Sen. Eric Lesser's years-long bid to study high speed train service from Springfield Boston appears to be back on the rails.

Massachusetts state Sen. Eric Lesser's years-long bid to study high speed train service from Springfield to Boston appears to be back on the rails.

Lesser's proposal for the state Department of Transportation to study the expansion of East-West rail service unanimously passed the state Senate Thursday afternoon as an amendment to the Senate's version of the state budget. The measure also made it into the final budget last year, but was axed by the veto of Gov. Charlier Baker.

"We're very grateful," Lesser said in an interview after the vote. "It's a tremendous shot in the arm."

The measure must still survive a conference committee with the House of Representatives, a final Senate budget vote and Baker's veto pen before it is enacted. Lesser said he has had personal conversations with Baker about the measure, and is in active talks with the goal of winning the governor's support.

Baker's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Lesser's petition for the study drew 26 cosponsors from both the House and the Senate, including heavy support from both Republican and Democratic legislators from Western Mass. The measure would authorize the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to conduct a full feasibility study of the issue, which Lesser says is a necessary step for the project to come to fruition.

In remarks in the Senate's chamber before the vote, Lesser described high-speed rail as a potentially "transformational" project for the state -- and one which could address economic imbalances between Boston and the parts of Massachusetts west of I-495.

'"If you leave the 617 area code of Massachusetts, there are many areas of our Commonwealth that have been falling behind," Lesser said.

Lesser touted east-west rail as a way of making cross-state commuting a more realistic option -- a development he said could create job opportunities for Western Mass. residents and housing opportunities for current Bostonians seeking a lower cost of living.

And he said that Western Mass. residents have paid for their fair share of Boston infrastructure projects.

"Our taxes paid for the Big Dig, our taxes pay for the Green Line extension also," Lesser said. "We do want and expect fairness in return." 

Sens. Karen Spilka, Anne Gobi, Harriette Chandler, Adam Hinds and Donald Humason also spoke in favor of the bill.

"This is an initiative that's important to people that live in my district and that I have been happy to support," Humason said.

Lesser has made higher-speed rail across the state one of his signature issues, making it a staple of his reelection campaign last year and advocating for it in the Statehouse.

Lesser, who won reelection for a second term in November, said the project should be treated with urgency due to ongoing economic development projects in Springfield, including the upcoming MGM Springfield casino and the redevelopment of Union Station.

Service between Springfield and Boston is currently limited, with a single train per day making the direct trip between Springfield and Boston. A multi-state study last year recommended an expansion to eight trains per day that would cost between $554 million to $660 million, and Lesser has said Massachusetts needs a more focused study to evaluate costs and benefits to the state.

The proposal for a feasibility study passed both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature with broad bipartisan support last year.

But Baker vetoed the study in July, suggesting instead that the legislature propose a new study that would also examine bus service and other potential ways to improve transit across the state. Legislators did not take up the measure again, either to override Baker's veto or adopt his changes, so the study was never authorized.

MassLive later reported that Peter Pan bus company owner Peter Picknelly had lobbied against the rail study, and Lesser has since blamed the measure's failure on "special interests." Picknelly sent an email to Baker opposing the measure, saying it wrongly focused on rail above other transit options and that enhanced rail service could threaten his business.

Asked in October whether Picknelly's email opposing the study had influenced his thinking, Baker said that he believes that it makes sense to consider all transit options rather than focusing on rail service.

"I'm a big believer in multimodal transportation, whether you're talking about bikes or buses or light rail or heavy rail, I think we should look at all options. I think it's a problem when people think there's a single solution to any of these issues," Baker said. "We should be pretty open-minded about what the right means or the right mode is to get people from one place to another."

A woman from Clarksburg was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to her role in a heroin distribution operation.

PITTSFIELD - A Clarksburg woman was sentenced to prison Thursday after pleading guilty in Berkshire District Court to charges related to selling heroin. 

22-year-old Courtney Tatro will serve one year at the Hampden County House of Correction, Chicopee Woman's Facility for the charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute.

For the charge of conspiracy to violate the drug laws--which Tatro also pleaded guilty to--she was given a suspended sentence and ordered to serve one year of probation. 

Tatro was initially arrested on June 27, 2016, after a lengthy investigation into heroin distribution by a number of law enforcement agencies, including the Berkshire County Drug Task Force and North Adams police.

Tatro, who was one of five arrested during the investigation, was taken into custody in North Adams after police conducted a motor vehicle stop of the car she was in, finding hundreds of bags of heroin hidden in the vehicle.

At the time of her arrest, Tatro had been under investigation for a number of months. Police believed she was in the process of transporting the heroin from the Holyoke area to North Adams when she was taken into custody.  

As part of her probation, Tatro has been ordered to remain drug and alcohol free and to undergo regular drug testing. 

The MBTA, which sees $1 billion in taxpayer money every year, is still in "turnaround mode," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday as he announced Brian Shortsleeve, brought in two years ago to help right the troubled public transit agency, is stepping down from his role as interim general manager.

The MBTA, which sees $1 billion in taxpayer money every year, is still in "turnaround mode," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday as he announced Brian Shortsleeve, brought in two years ago to help right the troubled public transit agency, is stepping down from his role as interim general manager.

Shortsleeve isn't going to be too far away, though. He'll be taking a slot on the all-volunteer fiscal control board tasked with overseeing the MBTA's turnaround. 

Steve Poftak, a member of the fiscal control board, is stepping down from his seat and assuming the role of interim general manager.

The move is effective July 1^st and temporary. Poftak is expected to return to the board after a permanent general manager takes over the T.

Poftak will become the fourth person to head the agency in roughly two years. Beverly Scott, who came in under Gov. Deval Patrick, left in 2015. Frank DePaola took over, and then retired in June 2016.

Baker successfully lobbied the state Legislature for the power to create the fiscal control board, which has been in existence for two years. Baker installed the board after a brutal 2015 winter crippled the MBTA and shed light on the system's lack of reliability, among other problems.

Baker announced the search for a permanent general manager in February 2017. The search is expected to last six to eight months.

The market rate for a general manager, according to Baker's transportation chief Stephanie Pollack, is in the high 200s to the low 300s. Massachusetts officials are also seeking a commitment of 3 to 5 years from whoever takes the job. 

To recap: Guy on left (@BrianShortsleev) stepping down as interim GM, joining control board. Guy on right (@spoftak) doing reverse. #mbta pic.twitter.com/epoBkjFjlZ

-- Gintautas Dumcius (@gintautasd) May 25, 2017

Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist, took the job of chief administrator shortly afterwards, focusing on fiscal reforms and later stepping in as interim general manager. He told transportation officials that he would stay at the agency for two years.

Poftak, who lives in Boston's Roslindale neighborhood, is taking leave from his job as executive director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School in order to step up as interim general manager. He has previously worked for the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, a local think tank.

Poftak said he considers himself an optimist. "I believe the MBTA's best days are yet to come," he told reporters at a press conference to announce the job changes.

When Poftak returns to the five-member board, he will take the slot of fellow member Lisa Calise, who has taken an administration and finance job with UMass after the working for the Perkins School for the Blind.

"There's a lot more work we and the MBTA have to do, and I'm confident that the board and the new GM will have the resources and the tools they need to complete this turnaround," Baker said Thursday.

Transportation for Massachusetts, an advocacy group, praised Shortsleeve.

"Incoming Interim General Manager Steve Poftak has been engaged in improving transportation in Massachusetts for more than a decade," Chris Dempsey, the group's director, said in a statement. "He is a regular T rider and cares about the rider experience. We look forward to working with him as he leads the agency through this transition."

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker launching search for 'turnaround CEO' for MBTA

Robert Honsch is on trial for murder in the fatal shooting of his wife Marcia Honsch, whose body was found in Tolland State Forest in 1995.

SPRINGFIELD -- A state police ballistics expert testified Thursday two or three shots were fired at the Tolland State Forest site where Marcia Honsch's body was found in 1995.

Trooper John Schrijn was on the stand at the Hampden Superior Court trial of Robert Honsch, charged with the fatal shooting of his wife Marcia Honsch, 53.

Schrijn said he went to the site when the body was found and collected ballistic evidence. 

He described the different components of fired ammunition found at the scene as well as the metal jacket of a bullet found in Marcia Honsch's head during an autopsy.

Marcia Honsch's body was not identified until 2014. At the same time a body found behind a shopping center in New Britain, Connecticut, was identified as Elizabeth Honsch, the 16-year-old daughter of Robert and Marcia Honsch.

The three had been living in Brewster, New York.

Robert Honsch was arrested in July 2014 in Dalton, Ohio, where investigators said he was living under an assumed name with a new wife and three children.

Although the trial before Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney is for the killing of Marcia Honsch, Sweeney has allowed the prosecution to present evidence about Elizabeth Honsch's killing. 

Robert Honsch is the suspect in both deaths, and he is slated to stand trial in Connecticut for the slaying of Elizabeth Honsch, whose body was found on Sept. 28, 1995. 

Jurors were again shown pictures of Marcia Honsch's body when it was found on Oct. 6, 1995, near a dumping station at the campground in Tolland State Forest.

Schrijn used the photos displayed by Assistant District Attorney Karen J. Bell to show where ballistic evidence was found.

Another prosecution witness Wednesday was Maria Warner, who was a criminalist for the Connecticut State Police.

She testified to the items submitted as evidence in the case of the "Jane Doe" found behind the shopping plaza in New Britain.

Warner said many current forensic testing tools were not available at the time the body was found. 

Capt. James P. McInerney is the 2017 recipient of the Charles H. Tracy Award, given to a Chicopee veteran who goes above and beyond to help fellow veterans. Watch video

CHICOPEE - Capt. James P. McInerney first served his country fighting in the Korean War and, despite being taken prisoner of war for 33 months, he re-enlisted and fought in the Vietnam War.

Retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, the city resident continues to serve his country and his community as a tireless volunteer at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, as a member of seven different veterans' organizations and most recently as an organizer of Honor Flight New England, which takes veterans to Washington D.C. so they can view and reflect on war memorials and be recognized.

Thursday McInerney was granted the 2017 Charles H. Tracy Award, which is given to a city veteran who goes above and beyond to help fellow veterans. The award, created in 2008, is given in a ceremony just before Memorial Day.

Mayor Richard J. Kos thanked McInerney as well as the other past award winners and said the event starts a long weekend of solemn memorial services in the city that is designed to remember those killed in war.

"It is impossible to calculate the amount of caring and sharing that Capt. McInerney has provided to veteran patients and residents, however his volunteer time is a priceless asset to the Holyoke Soldiers' Home," Benjamin Strepka, special projects manager to Mayor Richard J. Kos, said while reading the proclamation to McInerney.

McInerney was nominated by three different organizations and selected by Kos for the award. Because the award is always a surprise, he said he only learned he was the recipient when he walked into City Hall for the ceremony.

When asked why he gives so much time at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, running bingo, Christmas parties and other events, McInerney simply answered, "We enjoy it...It is a good group at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. They deserve it."

He got involved with organizing the honor flights after two area World War II veterans returned from one and talked about how much they enjoyed it. McInerney said he then decided it would be great for Korean veterans to participate, handed out about 25 applications to members of the Korean War Veteran Association Chapter 2000 and made sure they filled out the paperwork. The group went to Washington D.C. last year.

Also attending the ceremony were past honorees Delfo Barabani Jr., Harvey Lafleur, Donald Isabelle, Louis Brault and Charles Kovitch. Speakers also remembered the award winners who have since died George Moreau, Joseph Roberts, Delfo Barabani Sr. and Kenneth Usher.

"When you look at the past award winners, it is quite an honor," McInerney said.

State Rep. Joseph Wagner, D-Springfield granted a proclamation from the House to McInerney and representatives from several local senators also gave them a proclamation. Senators were in a budget hearing and could not attend.

Veteran Frederick Borowiec, of Chicopee, has worked with McInerney to help veterans and said he deserved the award for many reasons.

"The work he has done in Chicopee and for the veterans and the service he did for his country. He came through the ranks and don't forget he was a prisoner of war for 33 months," he said.

Four graduating high school seniors from Holyoke, Massachusetts -- Jacques Courchesne, Jelitza Gonzalez, Andrew Mier and and Josephine Moriarty -- received scholarships of $4,000 each from the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center on Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

HOLYOKE -- Four graduating high school seniors received scholarships of $4,000 each from the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center.

"To our member institutions, this scholarship program is about not just helping deserving students along the path to success, but cultivating a new generation of leaders who will make a difference for society across a range of endeavors," said John T. Goodhue, computing center executive director.

Mayor Alex B. Morse announced the scholarship winners on Wednesday: Jacques Courchesne, Jelitza Gonzalez and Andrew Mier, all of whom will be attending the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and Josephine Moriarty, who will be attending Boston University. All are graduating from Holyoke High School.

"I'm proud of our students and grateful to the (computing center) and its member institutions for their support of the scholarship program," Morse said. The program is just one part of the (center's) commitment to the city and of our partnership around education and workforce training."  

The $165 million computing center opened in November 2012 on Bigelow Street between Appleton and Cabot streets. It is operated by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UMass, Boston University, Northeastern University, EMC Corp. of Hopkinton, an information storage, backup and recovery firm, and Cisco Systems Inc., a California-based internet network equipment maker, also are partners in the computing center.

The center features an acre-sized room of thousands of computers that researchers use to sift through data. Among topics studied using the facility are atmospheric aerosols' impact on climate, micron-sized particles' movement inside acoustic fields, how data security systems can be designed, the mapping of Lou Gehrig's Disease, what causes banana blight in Costa Rica, how to predict earthquakes and the science of how fluids move.

The computing center scholarship is in its fourth year and is open to Holyoke public school students who will be attending one of the computing center's partner universities, Goodhue said.

Scholarship winners were chosen based on an 800-word essay answering the question, "What do you see as the three biggest challenges currently facing Holyoke, and what would you do to address them?" he said.

It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries.

CHICOPEE -- Police are investigating a report of shots fired on Lucretia Avenue. 

It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries.

"This is an active crime scene," Officer Michael Wilk, the department's spokesman, wrote in a Facebook post. 

The incident was reported around 5 p.m. Police blocked off most of the short street that runs parallel to the Connecticut River. There were a number of markers showing evidence in front of one multi-family house near the intersection of Tourtelotte Avenue.

Police also towed a tan Honda hatchback car from the scene.

Police asked the public to avoid the area as officers and detectives investigate. Wilk urged any witnesses to call the department at 413-592-6341.

This is a developing story that will be updated after further reporting.

View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The East Longmeadow Jaycees Carnival, typically a staple of East Longmeadow's Fourth of July celebration, will not be held this year.

EAST LONGMEADOW -- East Longmeadow's Fourth of July celebration this year will not include a carnival that is typically a staple of the festivities, as the group that put it on is no longer functioning.

In a press release, East Longmeadow Town Manager Denise Menard said the East Longmeadow Jaycees Carnival will not be held this summer because the town branch of the national junior chamber of commerce group known as East Longmeadow Jaycees has disbanded.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Jaycees for their years of service to the town with the carnival, and many other community events," Menard said. "We understand this may be disappointing as the carnival has been a town tradition for many years, but community efforts are well underway to bring you all of the things you have come to expect and love about the parade and fireworks."

Maureen Basile, former coordinator for the East Longmeadow Jaycees, did not immediately respond to a voicemail left by The Republican on Thursday evening.

Menard said a fireworks display will still be held July 3 immediately after the Rotary Club's summer concert. The parade will be held on July 4 at 10 a.m.

For a full list of East Longmeadow's planned Fourth of July events, visit www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/4th.

The tentative agreement calls for a compensation package that ensures all teacher salaries are increased to meet the average pay for teachers across Western Massachusetts.

SPRINGFIELD -- In June city teachers will vote on two contracts that would increase their salaries.

"We have some of the best teachers in the nation," said Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Warwick. "We want to keep the ones we have and attract even more to come work for our district."

It took more than a year for the Springfield Public Schools administration and the Springfield Education Association to reach a tentative agreement that will increase teacher salaries to meet the average pay for teachers across Western Massachusetts.

The tentative agreement includes a one-year contract retroactive to July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017, and a three-year contract beginning July 1, 2017, said Tim Collins, teachers union president.

Collins said the city and the bargaining team did the best they could under the circumstances.

"The governor and the Legislature are not funding schools in the commonwealth in an equitable manner. They are not fulfilling their constitutional obligation," he said.

Collins noted a state study released in 2015 that found funding for public education is not adequate or equitable. If fully implemented, the study's recommendations could cost the state more than $1 billion extra each year in education costs.

Based on the calculations in the study, Collins said the Springfield schools should have received an additional $25 million for the coming school year.

"I would seriously say that Springfield students are not receiving the education they rightfully deserve," he said.

Collins said he would not address details of the contract until all teachers have had an opportunity to read it for themselves.

"I am pleased that these long and difficult negotiations have come to a conclusion that both parties feel is the best that we could do, and will help the district and the people working in it move forward," said Collins, who will retire in June after a career in education that includes 45 years as a teacher.

Warwick said the salary increase in the tentative agreement builds on increases that were built into the previous two teachers contracts.

"We managed to increase the salaries of many teachers to the average of Western Mass. and even have surpassed that average in many cases," Warwick said. "This tentative agreement ensures that no teacher, regardless of their step and level, is paid below the regional average."

Warwick said the district was committed to increasing teacher salary against a backdrop of budget reductions.

"Our teachers have done great work and they absolutely deserve the raises represented in this tentative agreement," said Warwick.

The School Committee, which supports and already authorized the tentative agreement, will vote on it at a regularly scheduled meeting June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

"We're heading in the right direction and this tentative agreement leverages the momentum needed to continue that work," said School Committee Vice Chairman Peter Murphy. "We know our teachers deserve this and we never lost sight of that."

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the tentative agreement marks a milestone for the city and school district.

"Our teachers have heart. They teach here because they love our urban community and we have always respected and appreciated their high level of professionalism and dedication. Now, we can better reflect that in their paychecks," Sarno said.

Nicholas Dean said Monday he had not protested for or against Confederate monuments.

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Crescent Leadership Academy Principal Nicholas Dean has been removed from his job. The announcement was made shortly after a video surfaced showing him wearing rings associated with white nationalism and the Nazi movement.  

He "will not return as the Principal or be associated with Crescent Leadership Academy," the charter school's parent group and board said in a statement Thursday (May 25).

Dean declined to comment.

Photographer Abdul Aziz posted the video to Facebook and YouTube three days after Crescent Leadership management removed Dean from the campus while investigating a photo that showed him at the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee next to a Confederate flag.

The principal had told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Monday that he went to the Lee statue only as a student of history, to record an important moment -- the removal of Confederate monuments by Mayor Mitch Landrieu -- and was not protesting on either side.

Dean was also interviewed two weeks ago in a podcast that bills itself as defending Western civilization. The podcast's other guest was anti-Muslim, anti-Marxist activist Kyle Chapman.

In both the video and the "Guerrilla Radio" podcast, Dean identifies himself as "Nick Andrews."

He says straight off in the podcast that he works in a charter school that enrolls mostly African-American students.

The podcast host says, "So it's probably fair to say, then, you're not a white supremacist, or some crazy KKK member from the Confederate past?" 

Dean responds, "I am not by my definition, absolutely not. But by others', most certainly." 

The video shows Dean wearing two rings that have been used as symbols of white nationalism: a German Iron Cross and a skull ring that was awarded to key members of the SS.  

The Anti-Defamation League warns that the Iron Cross should not be taken as a hate sign in isolation: Although the German symbol is favored by white supremacists, it also has become a fashion element for skateboarders who might not know its roots.

Southern Poverty Law Center researcher Alex Amend said Dean's gear in the video -- from "the 300-esque 'Sparta' shield to the America Metallica letters t-shirt... baseball helmet, goggles" is "very popular among 'alt-right' street activists." 

Dean is holding an American flag in the video, and complains that journalists don't know their history. 

Aziz identifies the video event as the "May 7, 2017 'Battle of New Orleans' aligned with known white nationalist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, League of the South and the Based Stick Man movement."  

The Guerrilla Radio podcast, dated May 4, bills itself as an emergency special episode. The host warns that left-wing activists are being bused into New Orleans to take down Confederate monuments.

The interview lasts about 25 minutes. When the host laments that Marxist professors tell whites to hate themselves, Dean doesn't disagree, saying that he considered himself a liberal Democrat until he went to Goddard College in Vermont for graduate school with "radical leftists."

"If these people get their way, I don't exist," Dean says. 

After that, he began working in largely black schools. "I started seeing how the black community looked at each other and how race and tribe is so powerful for them, and I really respected that. Even though they fight a lot, kind of tribally, there's a sense of unity among blacks that's just understood," Dean says. "That was when I began my own kind of identity, if you will, quest." 

Among the other points he makes in the interview: 

• Dean calls Take 'Em Down NOLA, which advocated for removing the monuments, "a black supremacy movement."
• He says he asked his students about the removal issues. Some of them advocated keeping the monuments up, saying they preserved history, as did some of his school's mostly African-American staff, he says. 
• Removing the "benign" symbols -- the monuments -- wouldn't solve the city's problems, Dean says in the podcast. "It's a very dangerous city," he says. "Here's this bronze statue of Lee -- but he's watching a war everyday."
• Seeing Lee as pro-slavery and pro-secession is revisionist history, Dean tells the podcast host, and some of Abraham Lincoln's writings "would be considered as vile as anything any white supremacist, that they would say, is today." 
• When the host asks why New Orleans police have not arrested leftist agitators, Dean defends the force, saying they're understaffed and busy with ordinary crime and Jazz Fest.

The racist site podblanc reposted the "Guerilla Radio" episode, tagging it "White Genocide." 

Crescent Leadership is the city's public school for students who have been expelled. Dean speaks frequently of his students in the podcast episode, often with concern, saying as of January 6 percent of them had been shot.

"We work with the students that have kind of challenging behaviors," Dean says in the podcast, and briefly explains the school's efforts to help the students change their behaviors and become productive members of society who change society for the better.

The Recovery School District authorizes Crescent Leadership's charter. Superintendent Kunjan Narechania praised the board's decision to remove Dean.

"Educators are role models, and they should prioritize this sacred role above all else," she said in a statement. "While the circumstances surrounding this decision are regrettable and damaging, I appreciate the board making a swift decision so that school can move forward and so that our community can continue to heal." 

The charter school's management group, Rite of Passage, runs a variety of programs for troubled youth in 16 states, according to its website. The Rite of Passage superintendent would not say whether Dean might continue to work elsewhere in the organization.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Dean described himself as an "American nationalist" intent on destroying neo-Marxism. That is Chapman's self-description.

Valley Venture Mentors graduated the 100th startup company from its Springfield accelerator Thursday at the MassMutual Center. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD -- Smokers, and all people as it turns out, are pretty predictable. 

Where a smoker is, who the smoker is with, what that smoker is doing and the time of day determine if that smoker will light up a cigarette.

Lumme, an Amherst startup business founded by University of Massachusetts computer scientists and electrical engineers, uses all those behaviors as predictors. Using a motion sensor on a smartwatch, Lumme can monitor smoking behavior and all these other predictive behaviors as a way to beat addictive behavior. In clinical trials at Yale, Lumme can predict that next cigarette 6 minutes beforehand with 95 percent accuracy.

"Things that we do every day are strongly influenced by context," Akshaaya Shanmugam, program manager at Lumme, said. "It helps us understand why we do what we do and when we do it."

Lumme was one of 12 prize-winning companies as Valley Venture Mentors graduated 36 companies from its five-month-long accelerator program on Thursday. The graduation was part of a daylong series of competitions, showcases and networking events at the MassMutual Center.

Each of the dozen finalists got between $5,000 and $25,000. Based in Springfield, Valley Venture Mentors aims to help entrepreneurs with an idea for a product or a service to build a business.

The knowledge of human nature enables Lumme to send a smoker a message encouraging quitting and discouraging that next cigarette, often before the smoker even feels the urge, said Abhinav Parate, head of research and development.

"The next use for this technology would be to tackle obesity and overeating," he said. "We can tell with a sensor in a smartwatch  and by your arm movements if you are eating, drinking or smoking. We can tell if you are exercising."

Lumme would cost about $70 for six months -- a pittance, Shanmugam said, compared with a pack-a-day habit. The target buyers would be health insurers and corporate wellness programs looking to get workers to improve their health habits.

Lumme is already working with the National Cancer Institute. Shanmugam said she hopes to have a product on the market in eight months to a year.

Valley Venture Mentors graduated the 100th startup company from its accelerator Thursday night. By the end of the year, it will have graduated 210 companies from all its programs combined.

And by the end of summer, it will move from temporary quarters in Tower Square into DevelopSpringfield's new Springfield Innovation Center building on Bridge Street.

"A lot of our startup companies have a business model issue or they have a presentation issue," said Liz Roberts, Valley Venture Mentors CEO. "They have to identify a need. They have to be able to say they have a product that answers that need. Otherwise they have a technology in search of a market. That is bad."

Many of the startups are in health care. New England Breath Technologies is developing a way to sense blood sugar in a person's breath instead of by blood, said Ronny Priefer, a Western New England University professor who is chief scientific officer.

"It frees patients from having to take a finger prick every day to test their sugar," he said. 

The technology has already been in one clinical trial and gets a wider one this summer, Priefer said.

Here are the finalists, the amount of their award and a short description of their business, as provided by Valley Venture Mentors:

Barakat Bundle ($5,000): A non-profit providing life saving bundles to mothers and newborns in South Asia

Ernest Pharmaceuticals ($12,500): Programmed bacteria to treat metastatic breast cancer

Genoverde Biosciences, Incorporated ($25,000): Engineering trees with increased CO2 (carbon dioxide) capture capabilities to combat global climate change.

Kwema ($10,000): Building Safer communities through quick response technology

Lumme ($10,000): Cracking the code to beat addictive behavior

M1 Tapes ($12,500): The M1 SmartScribe is the best tape measure in the world. Measure and mark 3 times faster, no pencil needed!

MEANS Database ($22,500): Waste less, feed more. Nonprofit tech devoted to business-friendly food recovery.

New England Breath Technologies ($25,000): Pain-Free Diabetic Monitoring; Just a Breath Away

Nonspec ($7,500): Delivering low cost, adjustable, and durable prosthetic limbs to the world.

ProjectMQ ($5,000): Search less. Play more. Discover video games you'll love at ProjectMQ, a new hope for indie games.

RecordME ($5,000): RecordME makes musicians, speakers, & venues more money by providing studio quality recordings & distribution with our proprietary hardware!

Streamliners ($10,000): Streamliners sells aerodynamic devices to the trucking industry, saving $4,000/truck per year in fuel costs, paying for itself in three months.

Springfield City Councilor Melvin Edwards kicked off his campaign for re-election on Thursday night. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - "I was born here. I will be buried here," said Springfield City Councilor Melvin Edwards, expressing his life-long devotion to the City of Homes amidst food and cocktails at his re-election campaign kick-off Thursday night.

The event was held at the Society of Our Lady Mount Carmel Club on Winthrop Street, where a large crowd gathered to support the incumbent.  

Edwards, who has served in his current position as Councilor for Ward 3 for the better part of a decade, emphasized his experience Thursday night, as well as his optimism and receptiveness to criticism.  

"I've worked hard, I have been passionate about the issues that I thought were important, I have learned from things you have shared with me," Edwards said.

Edwards was first elected to his current position in 2009.  

Attendees of the kick-off often commented on the incumbent Councilor's deep ties to the city. 

"He's just a great guy, definitely an asset to the city of Springfield," said Linda Langevin, adding that at one time Edwards had been her neighbor. Though they're not neighbors anymore, Langevin said that they're still great friends, and that she's seen countless examples of Edwards' leadership throughout the years. Langevin, who has a history of community activism, said the two have worked together on a number of projects geared towards improving the city, including Keep Springfield Beautiful and the Preservation Trust.

As much history as Edwards may have with the city, the City Councilor intimated Thursday that he is also very much looking towards the future. 

In an interview with The Republican, the Councilor said he is excited by the potential surrounding the MGM Casino project; he said that the uptick in jobs and economic opportunity surrounding the project will be good for the city, though he noted that with the influx of people and traffic public safety should also be prioritized.  

"The effect of MGM goes beyond just the construction jobs that will occur as a result of creating the building," Edwards said, noting that he believed the city should be applauded for the way the host agreement was designed to spur development and economic opportunity in the areas surrounding the new casino.

The creation of new jobs and opportunity has been a key part of his platform throughout his career, Edwards argued Thursday night.

Economic insecurity and its effects have been a key source of distress for Springfield for years. During his speech, Edwards acknowledged that the city faced many obstacles, but said he had hope for the future. 

"There's a lot of challenges in the city--but for anyone who has ever sat and talked with me they know that I'm the glass half full type of guy," Edwards said.

"I am hopeful that this shining city on a hill will continue to rise and that I will be a part of that," he said. 

A Southbridge man was arrested in Dudley on Monday night and now faces drug charges.

DUDLEY - Police say they found eight bags of crack cocaine, $408 in cash, and a digital scale in Cristian Collazo's car after he was pulled over for a lane violation in Dudley earlier this week. 

Collazo, 21, of Southbridge, was also allegedly in possession of 1.6 ounces of marijuana when he was stopped by police in the area of Southbridge Road in Dudley around 10 p.m. Monday, Dudley police said Tuesday in a statement. 

Police also observed other materials consistent with drug distribution. 

Southbridge, a small town that sits on the state border with Connecticut, neighbors Dudley. 

Collazo now faces multiple charges, including:

• Possession of a class B drug
• Possession of a class B drug with intent to distribute
• Possession of more than one ounce of marijuana 
• Possession of a class D drug with intent to distribute 

Collazo was scheduled to be arraigned in Dudley District Court Thursday. 

Northampton will hold an interfaith worship that focuses on fighting climate change.

NORTHAMPTON -- An interfaith worship will be held in Northampton that seeks to facilitate conversation on how best to resist and combat global climate change.

"Prayers for the Planet: Reverence and Resistance" will focus a critical eye on the threat of global climate change, and will feature discussion by Reverend Mariama White-Hammond and Jay O'Hara, two well-known climate activists. 

White-Hammond is Minister for Ecological Justice at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston, but also has considerable experience as a community organizer and activist. She speaks nationally about "ecological justice" and has focused largely getting African American churches engaged in work to combat climate change.    

O'Hara is a Quaker climate activist and founder of Climate Summer, a summer internship program that focuses on connecting college students with resources for activism. 

"Climate change threatens everything we love," said Dan Cottle, publicity director for the event in a statement Thursday. "The world's great religions are united in their call to humanity to honor the sacredness of Earth and to create communities in which human beings and all of life can flourish," Cottle said. 

"This unusual event will give people who don't normally gather together - people of different faiths, social and climate justice activists, and the general public - an opportunity to gather in one place to express our shared reverence for the Earth and our commitment to care for it," said Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, an organizer for the event. 

In addition to discussion by activists and community members, the event is also scheduled to feature a number of musical acts, including performances by the Amherst Gospel Choir, and a number of other local artists. 

"Prayers for the Planet: Reverence and Resistance" will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 11, on the grounds of Congregation B'nai Israel, 253 Prospect St., Northampton. For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.  

Republican Greg Gianforte has won the special election for Montana's sole U.S. House seat a day after being charged with assaulting a reporter.

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- Republican multimillionaire Greg Gianforte won Montana's only U.S. House seat on Thursday despite being charged a day earlier with assault after witnesses said he grabbed a reporter by the neck and threw him to the ground.

Gianforte, a technology entrepreneur, defeated Democrat Rob Quist to continue the GOP's two-decade stronghold on the congressional seat. Democrats had hoped Quist, a musician and first-time candidate, could have capitalized on a wave of activism following President Donald Trump's election.

Instead, the win reaffirmed Montana's voters support for Trump's young presidency in a conservative-leaning state that voted overwhelmingly for him in November.

Gianforte was a strong favorite throughout the campaign and that continued even after authorities charged him with misdemeanor assault on Wednesday. Witnesses said he grabbed Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper, and slammed him to the ground after being asked about the Republican health care bill.

Gianforte dropped out of sight after he was cited by police and ignored calls on Thursday by national Republicans for him to apologize to the reporter.

He emerged only at his victory celebration Thursday night, where he said he accepted responsibility for the incident. "Last night I made a mistake and I took an action I can't take back and I am not proud of what happened," Gianforte told the crowd. "I should not have responded the way I did and for that I am sorry."

The last-minute controversy unnerved Republicans, who also faced close calls this year in the traditionally Republican congressional districts in Kansas and Georgia. A runoff election is scheduled for next month in Georgia between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel after Ossoff fell just short of winning outright.

Gianforte showed lukewarm support for Trump during his unsuccessful run for governor in Montana last fall but did an about-face and turned into an ebullient Trump supporter after he started campaigning for the congressional seat vacated by Republican Ryan Zinke, when he was tapped by Trump to serve as Interior Department secretary.

Gianforte urged Montana voters to send him to help Trump "drain the swamp," brought in Vice President Mike Pence and first son Donald Trump Jr. to campaign for him and was supported by millions of dollars of ads and mailers paid for by Republican groups.

But the theme of the election shifted Wednesday night when Jacobs walked into Gianforte's office as he was preparing for an interview with Fox News.

Jacobs began asking the candidate about the health care bill passed by the House when the crew and Jacobs say Gianforte slammed him to the floor, yelling "Get out of here!"

Gianforte's campaign issued a statement Wednesday blaming the incident on Jacobs. But on Thursday night, Gianforte apologized both to Jacobs and to the Fox News crew for having to witness the attack. "I should not have treated that reporter that way and for that I'm sorry, Mr. Jacobs."

It had been unclear if Gianforte's assault charge would impact the race. About a third of eligible voters in Montana had already cast their ballots in early voting, and others said it didn't influence their vote.

Shaun Scott, a computer science professor at Carroll College in Helena, said the assault charge was barely a factor in his decision.

"If you have somebody sticking a phone in your face, a mic in your face, over and over, and you don't know how to deal with the situation, you haven't really done that, you haven't dealt with that, I can see where it can ... make you a little angry," Scott said Thursday.

Quist, a popular 69-year-old singer and cowboy poet who was the front man for the Montana's Mission Mountain Wood Band, was helped by money that poured in from across the U.S. as Democrats seek to capture congressional seats that would have been considered safely Republican a year ago.

But Gianforte also benefited from millions of dollars spent on ads and mailers by GOP groups like the Conservative Leadership Fund.

Gianforte campaigned as a gun-loving Montanan endorsed by the National Rifle Association to build his credibility among hunting enthusiasts and to motivate gun rights activists to vote. He echoed the Republican Party mantras of cutting taxes, beefing up the military and securing the country's borders.

Montana is a conservative-leaning state that became even more so after voters last November overwhelmingly supported Trump, voted in Republican majorities in the state Legislature and elected GOP candidates to four of five statewide elected positions, leaving Gov. Steve Bullock as the only Democratic statewide elected official.

A Democrat has not held the Montana U.S. House seat since Pat Williams departed in 1997 after he decided not to seek re-election.

Quist ran a nontraditional populist campaign that saw appearances by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He stuck to issues that have broad appeal in Montana, such as maintaining and improving access to public land. He collected nearly $3.2 million from individual donors across the U.S.

But Quist had to overcome reports of financial problems that included unpaid taxes, a loan default and legal squabbles with a former band member over royalties and a contractor over payments. He tried to turn those negatives into positives by saying his story illustrated problems many Montanans face because of high health care costs.

Libertarian Mark Wicks was the third candidate in the race.

On Feb. 1, 1982, police found Troy Wicker Jr., of Muscle Shoals, shot to death in his bed -- a gunshot wound to his right eye. Watch video

On his eighth scheduled execution date, Tommy Arthur was put to death by lethal injection for a 1982 murder-for-hire Thursday night. 

Arthur made a thumbs up gesture with his left hand to his daughter Sherrie who was in the witness room between Arthur's attorney Suhana Han and another unidentified woman. At one point he also winked towards his daughter.

Arthur, his voice quivering and choking up, read out the names of his children. "I'm sorry I failed you as a father. I love you more than anything on Earth," he said.

He did not admit to or mention anything about the crime that landed him on death row - the shooting death of Troy Wicker Jr.  

The execution began about 11:50 p.m., ten minutes before the death warrant was to expire, said Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn.  

As long as the execution begins before midnight then the Alabama Attorney General stated they should complete the execution, Dunn said. "It went exactly according to protocol," he said.

The execution was to have begun at 6 p.m. but was delayed by appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the execution had not begun by midnight, the state would have had to sought another execution date.

The execution was in contrast to the Dec. 8 execution of Alabama Death Row inmate Ronald Bert Smith, who for 13 minutes heaved and gasped for breath and two consciousness tests were performed before the lethal drugs were administered. Smith's attorneys called it "botched" but Dunn said it too had gone to protocol.

Arthur slowly drifted off after they began administering the first of three drugs about 11:50 p.m. and his breathing became more shallow. He was pronounced dead at 12:15 p.m.

Gov. Kay Ivey's office issued this statement minutes after Arthur's death:

"How to proceed when faced with a potential execution is one of the most difficult decisions I will ever have to make as governor. After much prayer and careful and deliberate consideration, I thought it best to allow the decision of a jury of Tommy Arthur's peers to stand. In allowing the execution to proceed this evening, the rule of law was upheld, and Mr. Wicker's family can finally rest knowing that his murderer has faced justice.

"Three times Tommy Arthur was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Each time his case was reviewed thoroughly at every level of both our state and federal courts, and the appellate process has ensured that the rights of the accused were protected.

"No governor covets the responsibility of weighing the merits of life or death; but it is a burden I accept as part of my pledge to uphold the laws of this state. Mr. Arthur was rightfully convicted and sentenced, and tonight, that sentence was rightfully and justly carried out."

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he hoped the family of Troy Wicker can begin to recover.

"Thirty-four years after he was first sentenced to death for the murder of a Colbert County man, Thomas Arthur's protracted attempt to escape justice is finally at an end.  Most importantly, tonight, the family of Troy Wicker can begin the long-delayed process of recovery from a painful loss."  

Original article continues below:

A prison spokesman says that the execution is back on for tonight after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a temporary stay of Alabama Death Row inmate Tommy Arthur.

The decision came down about 10:40 p.m. Thursday.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority opinion denying a stay despite Arthur's attorneys challenges to the method of execution using the controversial drug midazolam and whether Arthur's attorneys should have access to a phone during the execution. The number of justices who voted for or against the stay was not included in the order.

"Alabama plans to execute Thomas Arthur tonight using a three-drug lethal-injection protocol that uses midazolam as a sedative. I continue to doubt whether midazolam is capable of rendering prisoners insensate to the excruciating
pain of lethal injection and thus whether midazolam may be constitutionally used in lethal injection protocols," according to her dissent. "Here, the State has--with the blessing of the courts below-- compounded the risks inherent in the use of midazolam by denying Arthur's counsel access to a phone through which to seek legal relief if the execution fails to proceed as planned."

Arthur's attorneys had argued that they should have a constitutional right to access to the courts through the execution. "Its (the court's) action means that when Thomas Arthur enters the execution chamber tonight, he will leave his constitutional rights at the door," Sotomayor stated in her dissent.Niece of victim: Tommy Arthur execution delays have put family through 'living hell'

Attorneys for Arthur had asked the court this afternoon to halt the execution. 

The prison system is carrying reporters over to the prison to witness the execution this evening. Temporary stays like this are not uncommon, with SCOTUS granting several temporary stays before the execution either happens or is permanently stayed.

The death warrant for Arthur is only valid for May 25. So if the temporary stay had lasted past midnight, the state would have to seek a new execution date once the stay is lifted. 

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals this afternoon denied requests from Arthur's attorneys to halt the execution. 

Arthur was set to be executed at 6 p.m. at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore for the 1982 murder-for-hire of Troy Wicker Jr. in Muscle Shoals.

It is the eighth time since 2001 Alabama has set an execution date for Arthur, nicknamed the "Houdini of Death Row" for his escape from the first seven times - often at the last hour - mainly due to legal wrangling by his attorneys.

Arthur, 75, is the second oldest inmate on death row. He also is the third-longest serving inmate among Alabama's 184 death row inmates.

The inmate's attorneys haven't heard whether Gov. Kay Ivey will stop the execution, which would be her first execution as governor.

However, Ivey today informed Arthur's attorney she was once again denying their request for DNA testing for hair samples associated with the case. "DNA testing of the hair samples would serve no purpose but to confirm a fact that has already been presented to the three separate juries, all of whom convicted Arthur of capital murder," wrote Ivey's general counsel, Bryan Taylor.

 

7:35 p.m. Arthur's attorneys file reply briefs to SCOTUS regarding Alabama Attorney General's arguments that their petition and request for another review of their lethal injection challenges and stay of executions should be denied.4:11 p.m. 

5:30 p.m. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas granted the temporary stay regarding the appeal on allowing Arthur's attorneys to have access to a cell phone.According to a press release from Arthur's attorneys Sherrie Stone, the daughter of Arthur, is expected to witness her father's execution and will be accompanied by Mr. Arthur's lead counsel, Suhana Han. Stone may be available to talk briefly to media on Thursday night.

5 p.m.

Arthur's attorneys filed a second request for stay of execution to the U.S. Supreme Court pending action on their petitions - one for a review of their claims that Alabama's method of execution represents cruel and unusual punishment and the other on allowing the attorneys to have cell phones.

The method of claims are that the drug midazolam doesn't sedate the inmate enough so he won't feel pain. It is an argument already shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court but Arthur's attorneys say there have been other examples since then.

"In order to adequately brief this Court on the important Questions
Presented, Mr. Arthur requires a temporary stay of execution," his attorneys argue. "If it is not granted, Mr. Arthur will suffer the most irreparable injury imaginable: he will be strapped to a gurney, administered a drug that Alabama knows will not render him insensate, and then, injected with a succession of drugs that will paralyze and suffocate him, and then induce cardiac arrest in a way that
has been described as "the chemical equivalent of being burned at the stake."

The Alabama Attorney General's Office in its reply noted that Arthur's lethal injection claims had been rejected by the Supreme Court before.

"Given that Arthur today is facing the eighth setting of his execution for the brutal murder of Troy Wicker, he is well versed in the inequitable art of filing eleventh-hour lawsuits on the eve of his execution dates," the Attorney General's Office stated. As far back as August 2007, Arthur filed a last-minute method-of-execution challenge (his second), which the district court dismissed on the doctrine of laches "because the plaintiff unreasonably delayed in bringing this action," where Arthur waited until after the State moved to set his execution date," the Attorney General's Office stated.

"Three months later, Arthur's third (challenge) was also dismissed as meritless, previously litigated, and unreasonably late," the Attorney General's Office stated. "Undaunted, Arthur has continued to employ this same tactic of filing to stop his execution."   

4:45 p.m.

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton gave this rundown of what has been happening at the prison and with Arthur in the past day.

At 4 p.m. Alabama Prisons Commissioner Jeff Dunn and warden Cynthia Stewart met with Wicker's two sons, who will be in the victim witness room, Horton said.

Arthur had no visitors in the past 24 hours but called a friend, a son and daughter, and his attorneys, Horton said. Arthur also refused a breakfast and a final meal.

Arthur's request to view a photo of his children during the execution was granted, Horton said.

Arthur has been allowed to view a TV outside his holding cell where he was moved to on Tuesday, Horton said.

Midazolam concerns

Arthur and his attorneys are seeking a stay of execution so they can further litigate his challenges on two issues. 

Tommy Arthur March 2017 

On Tuesday, Arthur won a legal victory when the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed a judge's ruling that rejected Arthur's claim that the Legislature, not the prison system, should decide on the method and drugs used in executions. Arthur's attorneys then quickly filed an emergency request for a stay of execution to that court, stating that his execution should wait until litigation over their claims that the legislature should select the lethal injection drugs is completed.

Arthur's appeal to the U.S. 11^th Circuit, based on Arthur's challenge to Alabama's method of execution that includes the drug midazolam as one of the three drugs, was denied earlier this afternoon.

Death penalty opponents, and other inmates and their attorneys will be closely monitoring the execution because of the controversial sedative midazolam used by Alabama and several other states in their lethal injection drug combinations. Lawyers have argued midazolam does not sedate the inmate enough to not feel the burning pain of the other drugs administered to stop the heart and lungs.

Here is AL.com's coverage of the death penalty in Alabama.

The 11th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court have previously denied Arthur's and other inmates' challenges in Alabama and other states to lethal injection method that include midazolam. The Inmates cited problems - inmates struggling on gurneys - with executions in nation states using midazolam.

But in their current appeal Arthur's attorneys argue there have been problems with more recent executions in Alabama and other states since Arthur's previous challenges to the state's lethal injection method were rejected.

Among those executions cited in their current appeal is the Dec. 8 execution of Alabama Death Row inmate Ronald Bert Smith, Smith heaved and appeared to be gasping for breath for about 13 minutes after being injected with midazolam. He was given two consciousness tests -- one to make sure an inmate is sedated is routine -- before the final two drugs were administered.

Smith's lawyers called the execution "botched," but Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the prison system followed its protocol. Prison officials, however, have refused to provide attorneys with records of executions, according to the court documents.

Arthur's lawyers argue in their latest appeal that Arthur faces "a nightmarish death ... conscious but entirely paralyzed, unable to move or scream his agony."

Cell Phone appeal

Wednesday night the 11^th Circuit issued a ruling that affirms a lower court's denial of a request by Arthur's attorneys to have access to a cell phone or land line phone while in the execution witness room so they could call a court in case there is a problem.

Arthur's attorney Suhana Han this morning filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of the 11^th Circuit's ruling on the cell phone issue.

Claims innocence

Arthur, while admitting to a previous murder in 1977, he maintains his innocence in the 1982 slaying of Wicker. He and his lawyers say there is no physical evidence such as DNA or fingerprints that link him to Wicker's death.  

At first, Wicker's wife Judy claimed she had been raped and her husband killed by a burglar wearing a wig. But she was later convicted in her husband's death and sentenced to life in prison. She later  testified at one of Arthur's three trials that she paid Arthur $10,000 of her husband's life insurance money to kill her husband.

Judy Wicker and Arthur were in a romantic relationship. Arthur at the time was in a community corrections program, working at a mobile home dealership, for his guilty plea in the shooting death of his sister and the wounding of another woman five years earlier. He had been sentenced to life for that crime.

Judy Wicker was paroled after serving about 10 years of her life sentence.  

Arthur denies Judy Wicker's claims and contends he was involved in Troy Wicker's death. He has repeatedly tried to have evidence tested for DNA that he says was never tested. Gov. Ivey denied the testing of a wig (allegedly worn by the killer), which state officials say had been tested before in 2009 and found not to contain any genetic material.

"I am not guilty," Arthur recently wrote to AL.com. He claimed the state will be "murdering" him if they go through with the execution.

Alabama prosecutors and Wicker's family has said Arthur has had enough appeals.

Troy Wicker Jr. 

"For many years, Thomas Arthur has abused the judicial process by heaving frivolous and baseless claims on the courts at the last minute in an effort to delay his lawful execution for a heinous crime he committed in 1982," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall recently wrote in March after one of Arthur's appeals to block another execution date from being set. "His latest filing is simply more of the same. Arthur's execution has already been set seven times.  His conviction and sentence were affirmed by the courts years ago, and last month (February) the United States Supreme Court once again declined to hear his claims.  Justice demands that his execution date should once again be set," he stated.

Vicki Wilkerson, a niece to Troy Wicker told AL.com in an email that: "There are no words to describe the living hell that this has been for the Wicker family. We are hoping and praying that the execution is not delayed any further."

Timeline of Arthur's case:

• On Feb. 1, 1982, police found Wicker, of Muscle Shoals, shot to death in his bed -- a gunshot wound to his right eye.
• At the time of the Wicker murder, Arthur was serving at a Decatur work release center for a conviction in the 1977 murder of his sister-in-law, Eloise West, in Marion County. Another woman was wounded. Having two murder convictions in that short a span made him eligible for the death penalty.
• Arthur was convicted of capital murder in 1983.
• In 1985, Arthur's conviction in the Wicker case was overturned because details of the earlier murder had been introduced at his trial.
• On Jan. 27, 1986, while awaiting retrial, Arthur escaped from the Colbert County jail by shooting a jailer in the neck with a .25 caliber pistol and forcing another jailer to open his cell. He was caught a month later by FBI agents in Knoxville, Tenn., after robbing a bank.
• Arthur was retried for the Wicker murder in 1987, with the case moved to Jefferson County because of publicity. He was convicted, but the conviction was again overturned. Wicker's wife at first claimed she was raped by a burglar who then killed her husband. But she was later convicted in the case and she testified at a later trial for Arthur that she had sex with Arthur before the shooting and then paid him $10,000 from her husband's life insurance policy after the killing.
• Arthur was tried again in Jefferson County and convicted in 1991. That verdict was upheld.
• Before he was sentenced, Arthur asked jurors to recommend the death penalty. He said that he did not have a death wish, but that the sentence would provide more access to appeals. A lawyer for the state at that time said Arthur "knows how to work the system."
• Tuscumbia attorney William Hovater, who was appointed to defend Arthur after he fired his first two attorneys and later escaped from the Colbert County Jail, told a reporter after one trial that he had worked a plea agreement for Arthur to be sentenced to life without parole, if he pleaded guilty. Arthur declined. "He never admitted that he did it," Hovater told a reporter.

View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.