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Holyoke halting unauthorized receipt of paid personal, vacation and sick days by part-time municipal workers

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Mayor Elaine Pluta praised the MUNIS accounting software for making more efficient the assessment of municipal payroll, budgets and leave such as vacation and sick days.

HOLYOKE – The city is halting unauthorized receipt of paid personal, vacation and sick days by part-time municipal workers.

The crackdown is thanks to the results of the MUNIS accounting software established in recent years that helps track each employee and the time off that each category of employee is permitted, a press release from Mayor Elaine A. Pluta said.

The changes also show the city is working to heed recommendations to improve employee attendance and benefit information made in January by the state Inspector General and in 2007 by the Department of Revenue, the press release said.

City Solicitor Lisa A. Ball said in an interview Monday the crackdown affected 20 to 25 employees at the Holyoke Public Library, the Board of Assessors, the Council on Aging and other offices.

The review is ongoing, so more employees might be affected, she said.

It was unclear how much money the incorrect usage of time off for part-timers and nonunion employees has cost the city because the mistakes have gone on at least 20 years, she said.

“The mayor is committed to the city’s ordinances being properly followed and that tax dollars are not spent needlessly,” Ball said.

MUNIS is a division of Tyler Technologies of Falmouth, Maine.

Officials here and in other municipalities consider MUNIS a system that streamlines handling of payroll, departmental budgets, grants, purchasing and bids, work orders, accounts payable, cash management and goals-planning.

In March 2010, Pluta appointed city paralegal Donna J. Dowdall the MUNIS administrator at a yearly salary of $55,400.

Nonunion employees got a memo July 29 that said the city would begin immediate enforcement of ordinances and policies related to leave for such workers, the Pluta press release said.

Part-timers will no longer get paid personal and legal holidays, which only full-timers are entitled to under ordinances, Ball said.

Part-timers get vacation and sick days, but only under certain formulas that up to now have been used incorrectly, she said.

Also, she said, part-time workers will no longer get paid sick leave because ordinances permit them only unpaid sick leave.

“Once employee leave balances are corrected, the proper totals will be entered into the city’s MUNIS software system. MUNIS will allow the city to ensure that all employee leave is properly accrued, expended, and paid, as applicable,” the press release said.


Springfield residents reclaim their neighborhoods for National Night Out

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An estimated 10,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases, participated in National Night Out.

nojuanamom.jpgJuana Hernandez, right, poses with her mother, Natividad Hernandez, at the National Night Out event Tuesday at Allen Park Apartments.


SPRINGFIELD - A year ago Juana Hernandez was new to her Allen Park neighborhood and just amazed at the size of the neighborhood’s National Night Out festivities.

There were so many people that she said she just stood and watched it all.

This year Hernandez volunteered to help organize the event and get everything running.

“It’s awesome!” she said. “It’s absolutely great.”

She and her family moved to Allen Park Apartments, off Allen Street in Sixteen Acres, about 18 months ago.

She credits the event last year with helping her to get to know some of her neighbors and swelling everyone’s sense of pride and belonging to the neighborhood.

“It’s something for the kids to do outside, and everyone can come over and get to know who’s here,” she said.

Linda Ferranti of Winn Residental Management, the property managers for Allen Park Apartments said the event has been a highlight of the summer going back eight years, drawing around 400 people each year.

Working the grill, Ferranti said she ordered 600 hot dogs, 600 hamburgers and trays of rice, ziti and other fixings.

“So far, so good,” she said.

Although there is nothing simple about the preparation - it takes weeks to arrange all the food, the two bounce houses, face painter and DJ - the event is a simple way for neighbors to meet neighbors, she said.

Across the county, neighborhoods were hosting similar events as part of the annual mid-summer rally against crime and violence.

An estimated 10,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world participated or about 40 million people in all.

The Allen Park celebration was one of five separate Night Out events in Springfield.

08/02/11-Springfield-Staff Photo by Dave Roback- Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno reaches around Susan Sota of the Indian Orchard Citizens Council to shake the hand of Indian Orchard Community Police Officer Joseph Piemonte during the National Night Out program at Hubbard Park in Indian Orchard on Tuesday.

Event were also held at the Seniority House on Chestnut Street, Worthington Commons on Worthington Street, East Springfield and Indian Orchard.

Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Commissioner Fitchet is committed to the program as a way for the department to establish ties with the public, he said.

“We want people to know there is a bond between the police and the public,” he said.

People who feel a connection with their neighbors and with the police, they are less likely to look the other way when there is trouble

“This is kind of a going-away party for crime and violence,” he said.

Kalise Anthony who was there with her 7-year-old son, Mekai, and some friends, said the National Night Out event is a great time.

“We come every year,” she said.

“The kids get to know each other, and all the parents get to know each other’s kids,” she said.

rafael vega.jpgSpringfield police officer Rafael Vega sits on his Piaggio motor scooter at Tuesday's National Night Out event at Allen Park Apartments. He said the event is so great they should have it twice a year.

Springfield police officer Rafael Vega, perched on one of the department’s Piaggio three-wheel motor scooters, said it is a great event for police to mix with members of the public.

A member of the department’s ordinance enforcement squad, Vega said most of the time when he is meeting people at their homes it is to enforce city ordinances about mowing the grass or removing an abandoned car from the front lawn.

“Ninety percent of the time, it’s a negative encounter,” he said. “This is totally positive.”

“They ought to do it twice a year,” he said.

Video: Helmut Ernst becomes 2nd Massachusetts transportation official to lose his job in wake of Big Dig light fixture collapse

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Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan announced his decision while touring the Big Dig tunnel system with a group of lawmakers.

BOSTON - Helmut Ernst, the chief highway engineer in charge of the Big Dig tunnel system, was terminated effective immediately on Tuesday, making him the second top transportation official to lose his job in the wake of a light fixture collapse in one of the tunnels earlier this year.

Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan announced his decision while touring the Big Dig tunnel system with a group of lawmakers on Tuesday.

The announcement followed the conclusion of a review on Friday conducted by an outside law firm into comments Ernst made to the Boston Globe regarding a culture of secrecy surrounding highway safety issues at the transportation agency. Ernst had been placed on unpaid administrative leave July 13 pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by McKinsey & Company to provide an independent look at inspections and documentation procedures.

“That review caused me to conclude and the team to conclude that he can no longer serve as District 6 Highway director,” Mullan said, declining to elaborate on the findings of the review out of concern for personnel privacy issues.

Mullan said he had a great amount of “respect” for Ernst, and tried to reach an agreement with the engineer to serve in another capacity within the transportation department, but Ernst declined. Ernst will not receive a severance package.

Obituaries today: Walter Gonski, 83, of Northampton; lawyer in private practice

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Obituaries from The Republican

Walter Gonski 8311.jpgWalter W. Gonski

NORTHAMPTON - William Walter Gonski Jr, 83, of Ridgewood Terrace passed away Sunday at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke. Born in Whately on Jan. 7, 1928 he was the son of the late William W. Gonski Sr. and Annette (Farrick) Gonski. The family moved to Northampton and became lifelong residents. He attended local schools graduating from Northampton High School in 1945. He served in the Army during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1947. He went on to graduate from Northampton Commercial College and American International College. He went to work at the former Prophylactic Brush Company in Florence and later at American Bosch in Springfield as an industrial engineer. While working full time at American Bosch, he attended Western New England Law School at Night. He became associated with William H. Welch Law Office and worked there for many years before establishing a practice of his own. He was a member of the Hampshire County Law Library Association. He also served on the local draft board. He was a lifelong member of the St John Cantius Church.

Obituaries from The Republican:

Springfield detectives, seeking wanted felon, don't get their man but arrest Lamont Sunderland, 26, on drug and firearm charges

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Police found Sutherland on a mattress with loaded firearm under his pillow.

lamontsutherland26crop.jpgLamont Sutherland

SPRINGFIELD – Detectives, seeking a wanted felon in the South End Wednesday morning, didn’t get their man after knocking on the front door of an apartment where they believed he was staying.

That knock - on the door of the second floor apartment at 69 Central St. - yielded, however, the arrest of another suspect allegedly armed with a loaded semi-automatic handgun and in possession of 72 bags of heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said detectives Michael Goggin and Robert Bohl of the department’s warrant apprehension unit thought they saw the suspect they were originally seeking peer out the window after they knocked on the door and announced themselves at about 7 a.m.

When nobody answered the door, they entered with a passkey, searched the apartment and inside a bedroom found a man face down on a mattress with his hands under the pillow, Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.

When Goggin and Bohl ordered the man to show his hands, he moved to hide something and the officers grabbed his hands. Underneath the pillow they found the .25 caliber handgun, Delaney said, adding that the detectives then found the drugs on the bed, Delaney said.

The man who peered out the window closely resembled, but was not the sought-after suspect, and was not arrested, Delaney said.

The man on the bed, Lamont Sutherland, 26, of 48 Cherry St., was charged with possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition, possession of a firearm while in commission of felony, improper storage of a firearm, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and violation of a drug-free school zone (Milton Bradley School).

Judge who ordered Casey Anthony to serve probation leaves case

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Strickland did not say why he was removing himself, but Anthony's defense lawyers had accused him of prejudice.

Cheney Mason, Casey Anthony, Dorothy Clay SimsCasey Anthony talks with her attorneys, Cheney Mason, left, and Dorothy Clay Sims before the start of her sentencing hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, July 7, 2011. Judge Belvin Perry sentenced Anthony to four years for lying to investigators. While acquitted of killing and abusing her daughter, Caylee, Anthony was convicted of four counts of lying to police officials trying to find her daughter.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A judge who ordered Casey Anthony back to Florida to serve probation for check fraud stepped down from that case Wednesday and Anthony's lawyer warned she would be in danger if she has to return from an undisclosed location.

Circuit Judge Stan Strickland recused himself from the case two days after signing an order that Anthony had to report for a one-year-probation term. Strickland did not say why he was removing himself, but Anthony's defense lawyers had accused him of prejudice after he gave television interviews about Anthony's acquittal last month in her trial on charges of murdering her child.

Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over Anthony's murder trial, was taking over the probation case.

Anthony has until 10 a.m. Thursday to report to the Orlando probation office, said Gretl Plessinger, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

"We are prepared to begin her probation," Plessinger said. "Our goal is to treat her like any other probationer."

Defense attorney Jose Baez told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday he hoped that Anthony will not have to return to Orlando this week and that his team was seeking an immediate hearing for their motions to quash the judge's probation order.

Anthony has vanished from public view since her acquittal by a jury in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. She was convicted of lying to detectives but released from jail because of time served. Baez said bringing Anthony back to Orlando would only add to what he called the "circus-like atmosphere" around her case.

Strickland sentenced Anthony in January 2010 to probation after she pleaded guilty to seven counts of using checks stolen from a friend. The state Department of Corrections had interpreted the sentence to mean that Anthony could serve the probation while she was in jail for her murder trial, but the judge said last week that he intended the probation to be served after her release.

On Monday, Strickland signed a "corrected" version of Anthony's probation order to make clear she was supposed to start the one-year term after her release from jail.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Baez and his team said Anthony already served her probation while in jail and to have her do so again would be double jeopardy. They said Florida law stipulates the judge cannot amend his sentence more than 60 days after it was signed, which was in January 2010.

Her attorneys also argued that Strickland has revealed a prejudice against Anthony in two television interviews he gave after her acquittal last month. They said he is no longer qualified to issue the amended order since he recused himself from Anthony's criminal case and that the amended order was fraudulently filed since there was no court proceeding attended by Anthony or her attorneys.

"This thing is over and done. And for some reason things seem to keep coming up again for no apparent reason, for absolutely no apparent reason, other than let's just keep this thing going, let's just keep this madness going and engage in the circus-like atmosphere that is called the Casey Anthony case," Baez said.

Baez said there were threats against Anthony because of her acquittal and Orange County would have to provide security if she was forced to return. To back up that claim, Anthony's attorneys included a flyer in their motion that showed a doctored photo of Anthony with a bullet mark on her forehead. Text underneath the photo reads in part, "With a forehead that big, the headshot will be easier."

Baez did not say where she was located, only that she was not in Florida when the judge's order was signed Monday.

An inmate can't serve probation while in jail, said Karin Moore, a law professor at Florida A&M College of Law, so Strickland has the ability to correct what he may consider an illegal sentence.

"He can correct an illegal sentence anytime, which he thinks he is doing now," Moore said.

Honda Civics and Accords from mid-1990s are favored targets for car thieves in Massachusetts and across the nation

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Newer model cars, with their enhanced security systems, are harder to steal.

honda-civic-20000.jpgThe 2000 Honda Civic was the most frequently stolen car in Massachusetts in 2010.

SPRINGFIELD – Honda Civics and Accords from the mid- to late-1990s continue to be the favored targets for car thieves, both in Massachusetts and across the nation.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau has just released its annual “Hot Wheels” report naming the ten most stolen vehicles in the United States. Topping the list for 2010 is the 1994 Accord, followed by the 1995 Civic.

That squares with what police are seeing on the streets of Springfield, detective Edward Cass, a member of the police department’s car theft unit, said Wednesday.

“They are the hot cars here and they unusually get stripped,” Cass said, generalizing the most frequently-stolen cars here to Accords, Civics and Acura Integras built in the mid-to-late 1990s. “They have always been easy to steal by popping the steering column.”

The 1994 Integra comes in at number 8 on the national list.

Most Frequently Stolen Vehicles, 2010   
RankNation (Make | Model | Year)Massachusetts (Make | Model | Year)
1Honda | Accord | 1994Honda | Civic | 2000
2Honda | Civic | 1995Honda | Accord | 1996
3Toyota | Camry | 1991Toyota | Camry | 1996
4Chevrolet | Pickup (Full Size) | 1999Acura | Integra | 1995
5Ford | F150 Series/Pickup | 1997Nissan | Maxima | 1997
6Dodge | Ram | 2004Toyota | Corolla | 1996
7Dodge | Caravan | 2000Dodge | Caravan | 2000
8Acura | Integra | 1994Nissan | Altima | 2005
9Ford | Explorer | 2002Jeep | Grand Cherokee | 1996
10Ford | Taurus | 1999Ford | Explorer | 1997
 
Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau 


VTEC engines from those three vehicles, favored by street-racers and late-night rubber-burners, are particularly sought by thieves. “It’s like ‘Fast and Furious’ Cass said of the series of street-racing films.

Cass evoked another iconic car movie, “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” when he said that an experienced car thief can literally make off with one those mid-1990 Accords, Civics or Integras in less than a minute. “They just pop the ignition, if they have the proper tools, and off they go,” he said.

Newer model cars, with their enhanced security devices, are harder to steal, Cass said. Of the nearly 52,000 Honda Accords stolen nationally, over 44,000 were models made in the 1990s, compared with fewer than 5,700 that were produced since 2000, according to the Hot Wheels list.

Cass stressed that alarms and such things as steering-wheel locking devices are helpful in deterring thieves. “They will move onto the next Honda Civic two driveways down,” he said.

For the first time since 2002, the top-ten list features more domestic makes than foreign ones. These include: the 1999 Chevrolet pickup (full-size), the 1997 Ford F-150 pickup, the 2004 Dodge Ram, the 2000 Dodge Caravan the 2002 Ford Explorer and the 1999 Ford Taurus.

Cass said, however, that Springfield area car thieves still tend to heavily favor the foreign makes. Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers, have been among the domestic makes that are vulnerable around here, however, he said.

Cass said such stolen car lists tend to mirror the most popular vehicles within the selected geographical region. “We are a middle-class city so we don’t have too many (Cadillac) Escalades rolling around,” he said.

Interestingly enough, however, the 2007-2009 Escalade was the most popular among car thieves nationally, according to data released a year ago by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The number of motor vehicle thefts in Springfield has plummeted since the early 1990s, when thieves stole thousands of cars each year. According to statistics released earlier this year by the FBI, there were 872 motor vehicle thefts in 2010 — a 75% drop from the 25-year peak of 1993, when 3,770 cars were stolen.

The span of 1990-1994 accounts for the 5 years with the highest auto-theft rates in Springfield since 1985. The lowest rate of the past two-and-a-half decades came in 2009; 2010 represents the second-lowest rate during that period.

In Hampshire County, Northampton has seen a similar trend: after peaking at 160 motor vehicle thefts in 1991, there were just 29 thefts in 2009, the most recent year for which data are available.

PM News Links: Motorist chases boys accused of throwing rocks at cars, mom charged with punching infant on MBTA bus and more

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U.S. Rep. Barney Frank rejected suggestions left-leaning Democrats will challenge President Obama in next year’s primaries due to a controversial deal between the White House and Republicans to raise the federal debt ceiling.

Celina Cass memorial 8311.jpgA memorial for Celina Cass is seen, Tuesday, in Stewartstown, N.H. Click on the link, below, for a report from New England Cable News on the investigation into the death of the 11-year-old girl, whose body was found Monday in the Connecticut River.

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.


Ask the Candidates: Holyoke mayoral hopefuls discuss William Moran controversy

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Mayor Elaine Pluta and challengers Daniel Boyle, Daniel Burns and Alex Morse see the Moran issue differently, in some cases very differently.

Holyoke mayoral candidates, 2011Running for the office of mayor in Holyoke in 2011 are, left to right, incumbent Elaine A. Pluta and challengers Daniel C. Burns, Alex B. Morse and Daniel C. Boyle.

HOLYOKE – Mayor Elaine A. Pluta said she is avoiding politics and saving the city money in her handling of the William P. Moran controversy.

But mayoral challengers Daniel C. Boyle and Daniel C. Burns said last week the issue with Moran – a deputy fire chief who is under criminal investigation and who aided Pluta’s election campaign in 2009 – actually is drowning in politics.

On June 27, Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni requested a criminal complaint be issued against Moran after he said Moran sent a fire truck on a fake call to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside June 15.

Moran, whom officials said is on paid administrative leave, at the time was acting fire chief.

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Here's a look at what the candidates had to say about the issue. Follow more coverage on our Holyoke election page.

Elaine A. Pluta

Pluta said that while Moran’s brother, Timothy J. Moran, who also is a deputy fire chief, also worked on her 2009 election as campaign manager, William Moran mostly held campaign signs.

Still, Pluta said, she hasn’t politicized the Moran issue. Instead, her guide has been to ensure due process is followed for any city employee in legal trouble, she said.

To do otherwise leaves the city vulnerable to costly lawsuits from employees who could claim deprivation of rights, she said.

The three-member Fire Commission, which the mayor appoints, has met several times in executive session about Moran. Commissioners have refused to disclose votes taken about Moran.

“Fairness and proper deliberation are what all city employees deserve and what ultimately protects cities from costly legal consequences when that proper legal path is not followed,” Pluta said.

“Holyoke has expended far too much money, over $1 million, in the past several years on outside legal costs and settlements,” Pluta said.

She takes this position, she said, “in full recognition” that other candidates, and particularly Boyle, have tried to gain politically on the Moran issue by accusing her of botching the issue.

Officials have declined to comment on reports that one of the Fire Commission’s executive-session votes on Moran was to suspend him without pay for five days.

A deputy fire chief makes $68,775 a year.

Daniel C. Boyle

Boyle, a business consultant, said Holyokers are smart enough to know Pluta is favoring the Morans.

“If William Moran worked in the private sector, he would be out of work on suspension without pay. If exonerated of the charges, he would then be reinstated and receive full back pay,” Boyle said.

“In my opinion, there is no way Holyoke taxpayers should be paying William Moran’s full salary for what amounts to at least 10 weeks of paid vacation. For the mayor to suggest that she won’t play politics in this instance, when it comes to William Moran, all she plays is politics and cronyism,” he said.

Still, he said, “Given the mayor’s track record when it comes to Moran, her inaction was expected.”

Burns, a former city councilor, and Boyle said it was curious that before Pluta took office in January 2010, William Moran in 2009 had been demoted to captain. That came after what a previous Fire Commission said was conduct unbecoming a firefighter, which Moran said was untrue.

A year later, under a Pluta-appointed commission, Moran was reinstated to deputy chief.

City Solicitor Lisa A. Ball and Commission Chairwoman Priscilla F. Chesky have said Moran was reinstated to deputy chief after an agreement between his lawyer and the city.

Daniel C. Burns

Burns said Pluta is fooling no one by helping Moran.

“I think she’s trying to say it’s not political, but obviously, it seems, from the time she became mayor, it was political, to get him back into the department,” Burns said.

Also, he said, the Fire Commission’s closed-door decisions on Moran are unfair to taxpayers wondering about the fire chief.

“We haven’t heard from the commission,” Burns said.

Alex B. Morse

Mayoral candidate Alex B. Morse said, “Until the investigation’s complete, I’m going to refrain from commenting. I want to run a postive campaign. I don’t want to comment on another candidate.”

Pluta, Boyle, Burns and Morse will compete in the preliminary election Sept. 20 with the top two finishers vying in the general election Nov. 8.

State police charge 57-year-old Donald Petigny-Perry with overnight break-in in Leverett

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State police are seeking to determine if the suspect is responsible for other area break-ins

State Police file art

LEVERETT - An electronic device, stolen overnight from a home here while the occupants slept, ultimately led to the arrest of the man who allegedly stole it, thanks to installed tracking software that enabled state police to track down his moving vehicle.

State police in the Northampton barracks learned of the overnight robbery shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday when the victims awoke to discover their home and vehicle had been broken into, according to a release.

The victims, however, could track the stolen item on their computer and reported its location to the barracks.

Trooper Michael T. Tucker was then able to stop the suspect’s vehicle, recover the stolen item and arrest the man behind the wheel.

Donald Petigny-Perry, 57, of Montague was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime and state parole authorities immediately revoked his active parole.

Trooper Amy J. Maclean is now probing whether Petigny-Perry is responsible for a recent rash of robberies in Western Massachusetts. Maclean and detectives from several area police departments are attempting to locate other victims and stolen property, Anyone with information regarding recent robberies is asked to call the state police barracks in Northampton at (413) 584-3000.

Finances of Putnam Vocational High School in Springfield subject of investigation by Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni

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School Committee member and mayoral candidate Antonette Pepe said she is disturbed that basic facts about the investigation remain secret.

 Hampden County District Attorney Mark MastroianniMark G. Mastroianni , speaks to the audience following his taking the oath of office for Hampden County District Attorney, earlier this year.

SPRINGFIELD – District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni’s office has opened an investigation into financial mismanagement at Roger L. Putnam Vocational High School, city officials disclosed Wednesday.

The investigation, confirmed by City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula, is focusing on possible wrongdoing uncovered at the State Street high school after new principal Gilbert E. Traverso took over in July, 2010.

City officials also confirmed that a long-awaited audit into the school’s past management has been completed, and will made public within the next few weeks.

The 38-page report will be turned over to Superintendent Alan J. Ingram for review before being released to the public, according to Mark Ianello, the city’s director of internal audits.

The disclosures by Ianello and Pikula came during a meeting of the City Council’s Audit Committee that featured renewed expressions of frustration from elected officials that so little information has been released about the city’s year-long investigation at Putnam.

“People are feeling right now that you are (running) a cover-up here,” said Councilor Melvin A. Edwards, who said rumors about wrongdoing at Putnam have been circulating for months.

Asked if the FBI was also involved in the probe, Pikula said he could not comment any further.

School Committee member and mayoral candidate Antonette E. Pepe said she was disturbed that basic facts about the investigation remain secret., more than a year after the city audit began.

“We still don’t know how much money is missing, what else was taken, and how many people were terminated,” said Pepe, adding she continues to receive phone calls from taxpayers and parents at Putnam who want to know what is happening.

In April, city officials provided the first public confirmation that a long-running audit and investigation at the high school had led to a major shakeup, including terminations, suspensions and transfers of employees.

At that time, city officials also confirmed that the internal audit had been requested by Traverso shortly after he arrived at Putnam as a replacement for Kevin McCaskill, who resigned in June, 2010 to take a job as director of school design for Hartford public schools.

McCaskill, who ran Putnam for six years, has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing at the school.

Right to Repair Coalition petitions to get auto repair question on next year's statewide ballot

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The proposal would require auto manufacturers to sell diagnostic information to independent repair shops, so long as it doesn’t beak trade secrets.

Right to repair 2010.jpgMike Reardon, left manager of West Side Tire and Auto Service at 930 Memorial Ave., in West Springfield, and Pete Kearing, right owner of the business look over a car being worked on in their garage last year.

By KYLE CHENEY

BOSTON - Backers of legislation aimed at boosting independent vehicle repair shops who say they’ve been deprived critical repair information and codes by large auto manufacturers are hoping to settle the hard-fought issue – a magnet for Beacon Hill lobbyists – once and for all.

Unable to advance their plan in the Legislature, the so-called Right to Repair Coalition, a group of independent auto dealers, aftermarket parts dealers, consumer groups and other auto interests, has filed paperwork with Attorney General Martha Coakley to take a proposal to the 2012 ballot.

The proposal would require auto manufacturers to sell diagnostic information to independent repair shops – which they say is critical for them to serve customers and compete with dealers – so long as that information doesn’t beak trade secrets. No state has passed right-to-repair legislation, although proponents have pointed to other states’ efforts to impose restrictions of requirements on auto dealers.

Major auto companies – BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and others – and their backers contend that the effort has been driven by aftermarket parts resellers seeking to obtain the manufacturers' trade secrets and duplicate complex and expensive parts more cheaply.

Interests on both sides have hired prominent strategists to either kill or advance the proposal within the Legislature. Opponents have turned to former House Speaker Thomas Finneran and the public affairs firms Rasky Baerlein and O'Neill and Associates, while proponents have enlisted former Senate President Robert Travaglini, prominent Democratic strategists Stephen Crawford and Larry Carpman, and Art Kinsman, a spokesman for the Right to Repair Coalition.

Kinsman said that proponents of the legislation were motivated to seek ballot access by a recent letter-writing campaign that drew more than 25,000 supporters to urge their lawmakers to back legislation on the issue.

“We just got so many positive signs,” Kinsman said in a phone interview. “This has always been a consumer-based issue, and there seems to be a real solid amount of public support for this.”

A pending bill on the issue with more than 60 cosponsors is awaiting action within the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. The legislation’s lead sponsor, Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, is backing the ballot effort as an option, should lawmakers fail to act.

Opponents of the legislation – including the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, New England Service Station and Auto Repair Association, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, the Massachusetts High Tech Council, Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the AFL-CIO and various other unions, and the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, among others – called the ballot push an effort to “bypass the legislative process.”

“The filing of the ballot question on so-called ‘Right to Repair’ makes it crystal clear that this issue is about parts, not repairs. The after-market parts industry has spent many millions of dollars over three legislative sessions trying to force it through the Massachusetts Legislature, including more than a million dollars in the first half of this year alone,” wrote the Massachusetts Auto Coalition, the umbrella group for opponents of the bill, in a statement. “Today they are committing to millions more to circumvent legislative authority.”

“Massachusetts consumers know they can already get their cars serviced and repaired wherever they like. They don’t need an unnecessary law to prove that,” the statement continued. “In fact, passage of this initiative could actually complicate the system in place today and limit repair choice.”

To place the proposal on the ballot, backers would need Attorney General Coakley to certify the language of their plan by early September, followed by a two-month effort to gather 68,911 signatures. If the signature drive succeeds, lawmakers would have until May 2012 to pass the plan, propose an alternative or allow the question to continue to the ballot.

The right to repair proposal joins what is shaping up to be a crowded field of high-profile policy questions on the 2012 ballot, should supporters succeed in their signature gathering efforts. Other proposals with backing from major advocacy groups include proposals to sanction and regulate medical marijuana and to repeal the state’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance. Ballot question proponents face a Wednesday afternoon deadline to file additional petitions.

Kinsman said he believed that the Right to Repair Coalition – whose backers include AAA of Southern New England, the Massachusetts Independent Auto Dealers Association, New England Tire and Service Association, Retailers Association of Massachusetts, Bridgestone Retail Operations, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, Midas International Corporation, Firestone, the Consumer Electronics Association, AutoZone, NAPA, Allied Auto Parts, LKQ, Meineke and various other organizations – is prepared to take the question to voters.

“You don’t file the papers, in my opinion, unless you’re willing to go all the way,” he said. “Today is really, literally the first step where you’re just filing papers, keeping that option on the table, but I’ll just emphasize, in no way are we abandoning our legislative effort.”

Given the prominent advocates on both sides of the proposal, the issue appears certain to result in an expensive and contentious campaign, should the ballot question move forward.

Furious lobbying over the issue has vexed lawmakers for years.

"Last session there was one issue I could never get my arms around and that was the right to repair,” Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell, said during a June hearing on the bill, noting that “both sides have spent an obscene amount of money advancing their interests.”

Kinsman said backers believe public support for the measure has grown despite the increasingly fractious debate.

“If this does go through the process and ends up on the ballot, I like our chances for the public to support us on this,” he said.

Monson school social worker helping community

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Superintendent Dardenne said school social worker Maria Maloney has been "terrific from day 1 after the storm" and "has really carved out her wealth to the community by what she's done."

IMG_1291.jpgMonson School District Social Worker Maria D. Maloney

MONSON - Thanks to a $4,000 grant, the school district's social worker has been available this summer to talk to students and residents about feelings they may be experiencing in the aftermath of the June 1 tornado.

Social worker Maria D. Maloney said she has done a lot of supportive counseling, and also helped parents with problem-solving strategies.

The majority of students coming in to see her are elementary school-age who are frightened that another tornado will happen, or who are still grieving over the loss of their home and belongings.

Monson was one of the hardest hit communities in the tornado's 39-mile path, and its destruction is evident two months later, as the downtown and other parts of town are still marked by damaged houses and buildings and downed trees. Numerous homes were reduced to piles of rubble.

She said those having the most difficult time may have experienced another trauma in recent months, such as the death of a relative. She said it helps them them to talk about it, and to relive the day of the tornado. A lot focus on the "train noise" that they heard as the tornado whipped through the town.

"It's very important that children be able to tell their story . . . That way they can work it out," Maloney said.

There are also techniques parents can use to distract their children if another storm comes through - such as making a "busy box" featuring activities like games.

"That's a way to distract them when the weather is inclement," Maloney said.

It's also important for parents to keep the same routines, including bedtime rituals, such as reading or music, and to be sure to reassure their children, and to find out what their fears are. One young boy told Maloney he was worried he would be forgotten about because there is a new baby in their home. That was a fear his mother didn't know he had, because he hadn't expressed it at home, Maloney said.

Most children have visited with her two to four times. She estimates that she's seen 20 families since the tornado. Parents may notice that their younger children are more "clingy" and anxious, are afraid to be alone, or cannot sleep, and that older children may be "acting out" because they are angry over what happened.

"I think parents should feel comfortable about bringing their kids here," Maloney said.

Signs that adults may be having difficulty coping with the tornado are lack of motivation to go to work, to shower, or to eat.

She gives parents basic materials about trauma provided by The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

"Families don't have to have been directly impacted. (Children) may see the way downtown looks and it may be very frightening for them," Maloney said.

She encourages parents to have their children play outside, to have them play with their friends. She tells children to talk to their parents about their feelings. Those who want to make an appointment with Maloney can call (413) 267-4150, ext. 1007.

Superintendent Patrice L. Dardenne said the grant was given to the Parent Teacher Student Association by the United Way of the Pioneer Valley to fund the social worker during the summer.

Dardenne said Maloney has been "terrific from day 1 after the storm" and "has really carved out her wealth to the community by what she's done." Dardenne said counseling and support will continue to be provided to students once they return to school on Aug. 30.

Motorcyclist killed in Monson crash identified as Timothy Sherman of Springfield

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Police said Sherman was operating the motorcycle at 79 miles per hour in a posted 35 mile per hour zone.

MONSON - Monson police have identified the operator involved in the fatal motorcycle accident on Tuesday night as Timothy W. Sherman of 502 Wilbraham Road in Springfield.

Police Chief Stephen Kozloski Jr. said the accident was reported at 7:40 p.m. on Lower Hampden Road.

Just prior to the accident, an officer parked on the side of the road, several hundred feet from the accident scene, clocked Sherman on radar traveling eastbound at 79 miles per hour in a posted 35 mile per hour zone. Kozloski said Sherman continued past the officer at a high rate of speed, entered a slight curve in the road and then traveled off the right side of the roadway before hitting a tree.

He was taken to Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer by Monson Fire Department ambulance where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Monson Police Department was assisted in the investigation by the state police collision analysis and reconstruction section.

Family of wounded soldier Joshua Bouchard, of Granby, has connection to historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center

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On the same day that the original Walter Reed was scheduled to close, July 27, Josh was undergoing a new surgical anti-pain procedure at the new Bethesda location.

Joshua Bouchard 2010.jpgWounded U.S. Marine Sgt. Joshua J. Bouchard of Granby, center, is greeted last year as he arrives at the Westover Metropolitan Airport. He was injured Afghanistan in July 2009. He is seen here with his father and representatives of a Virgina based pilots group. From left behind him are, his father, James J. Bouchard, and pilots John W. Hoffmann and Charles L. Van Nostrand.

GRANBY – James J. Bouchard, of Granby, has spent many hours at the historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., which closed last week after more than a century of serving wounded veterans.

Those veterans have included his son, Marine Sergeant Joshua (“Josh”) Bouchard, who was severely wounded in Afghanistan in 2009 and was awarded a Purple Heart.

Josh touched the hearts of people in Western Massachusetts, who welcomed the stricken warrior home with much fanfare. He still has a year of rehabilitation left to go, said his father.

The family has a strong connection with Walter Reed, whose new, expanded version in Bethesda, Md., is now called Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

On the same day that the original Walter Reed was scheduled to close, July 27, Josh was undergoing a new surgical anti-pain procedure at the new Bethesda location. A mechanism was implanted in his back, his father said.

James talks about Walter Reed with a mix of gratitude and sadness. “There are a lot of injured guys and a lot of tragedies,” he said. “You wouldn’t think there was any hope, but six months later, they’re walking and they want to go home.

“That’s the best part about Walter Reed.”

James got to sleep in the same room with Josh during his son’s rehabilitation at Walter Reed. “He said, ‘Dad, you snore!’” reported James.

While he was visiting, James also got to go kayaking with his son. He explained that custom-made prostheses help the patients take on such challenging tasks.

The Walter Reed staff “is wonderful at rehabilitation,” said James, who is a Vietnam veteran.

He said his son is taking a driver’s education course at Walter Reed which will enable him to drive with his hands, “like a boat.”

Josh lost his leg when an anti-tank mine exploded in Afghanistan. He also broke his right arm and had part of his back crushed. His best friend and his mentor were both killed in the blast.

Before Walter Reed, the young Marine Sergeant was also treated at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany and McGuire Veterans Hospital in Richmond, Va., where he underwent a five-hour operation.

In the years since, Scandahoovian, the jewelry company, asked him to be the face of its “Soldier to Soldier” campaign to raise funds for wounded veterans. A group called “Homes for Our Troops” has offered to build him a home in 2012.

But pain has a way of intruding. James Hackemer, a fellow amputee Josh befriended at Walter Reed, was recently was killed in a roller coaster accident in Syracuse, N.Y., that shocked the nation.

Hackemer died on July 8, the anniversary of Josh’s wounding.


Tenants finally able to move in to new Amherst housing project

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Peter A. Gagliardi, executive director of the Springfield-based HAP Inc. said he first stepped on to the 4.1-acre site in September 2000.

Butter1.JPGButternut Farm, an affordable housing project in Amherst, features three new buildings and a renovated barn. The 26-unit project recently opened.

AMHERST – Heather Steele had been living at Echo Hill for eight years hoping some day she’d be able to move better place.

Only July 1, and she and her 9-year-old son moved to Butternut Farm at 12 Longmeadow Drive. “This is like a palace,” she said of her two-bedroom apartment on two floors.

Before she had bedrooms off the living room on one floor. Also, her son now has room to play outdoors.

Tenants like Steele began moving into the affordable housing project July 1, a project first envisioned more than a decade ago.

Peter A. Gagliardi, executive director of the Springfield-based HAP Inc. said he first stepped on to the 4.1-acre site in September 2000.

But the project had been delayed because residents had filed a series of legal challenges. The Supreme Judicial Court ultimately affirmed a Land Court ruling that the Zoning Board of Appeals did not exceed its authority when it granted a comprehensive permit for affordable housing in South Amherst.

Such a permit allows a project to be built in a residential zone because it is classified as affordable housing.

The project then faced some funding issues as the economy suffered, but in 2009 the project was awarded $6.5 million in federal stimulus money.

Gagliardi said he wants to focus on the present, not the past. The completed project is “providing better housing opportunities than they (tenants) had before. It just feels really good (to see it done.)”

The units are nice, he said, as is the setting just of Route 116 with a bus stop near by. “I think it works well.”

The idea was to provide housing for people who worked in town but couldn’t afford to live here or for those like Steele who already lived here, but wanted a more suitable place. Gagliardi said 70 percent of the tenants fit those categories.

The complex has 26 rental apartment or townhouse units in three new buildings and in the restored farmhouse. There’s also a community room with a kitchen where neighbors can gather and a play structure and basketball hoop.

“This is very nice, people are great,” Steele said of her new neighbors.

Allison Ahearn had been living in town and she, her partner and three children moved in because the units “they looked really nice.” She said they “were affordable and the school system is great.”

“I like the neighborhood,” she said.

To be eligible, tenants need to have incomes at or below 60 percent of the median income. Several units are reserved for tenants with lower household income thresholds. A single person can earn no more than $32,880 with income for a household of six capped at $54,480.

One or two units might be available, said Director of Rental Property Management Faith Williams, as the paperwork on those units is still pending.

Anyone interested in living here may call the property management division at HAP at (413) 233-1711.

Judge deems Jonathan White of Southampton, accused of elaborate arson scheme, too dangerous to release on bail

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According to the prosecutor, White rigged up an elaborate device intended to burn down the house in Southampton where he lived.

MORIARTY.JPGJudge Cornelius Moriarty on Wednesday ruled there are no conditions he could impose on the release of Jonathan Francis White that would ensure the public safety.

NORTHAMPTON – A judge ordered a man accused of an elaborate arson scheme to be held without right to bail Wednesday, saying that there were no conditions he could impose on his release that would ensure the public safety.

Jonathan Francis White, 51, was arraigned several hours before his dangerousness hearing on a charge of attempted arson. According to prosecutor Michael Russo, White rigged up an elaborate device intended to burn down the house at 3 East St. in Southampton where he lived.

On July 30, according to Russo, White asked a neighbor to drive him to the bus station in Springfield. En route, he asked the neighbor if he could leave his laptop computer with her. When the woman asked why, White replied, “You’ll understand later,” according to Russo.

According to Russo, the woman detected a strong odor of gas coming from White’s house when she returned, and contacted police. Officials from the Holyoke Fire Department, Holyoke Gas and Electric Co. and the state fire marshall’s office were summoned to the premises and found that an appliance had been moved so a natural gas pipeline could be opened. Investigators also found a highly flammable aerosol can of starter fluid inside a microwave that was attached to a timer. They were able to disable the device before it ignited.

Police in Gloucester arrested White over the weekend, beginning a rapid-fire series of legal procedures. Within three days, White was arraigned in Northampton District Court, indicted by a Hampshire County grand jury, arraigned in Hampshire Superior court and, hours later, ordered held without right to bail following a dangerousness hearing.

At the hearing, several law enforcement officials, including a state police arson expert, testified about the contraption at 3 East St. and the possible repercussions had it gone off. Russo called the device “a ticking time bomb in the center of Southampton.”

Defense lawyer Alan Rubin told Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty III that his client is scheduled to have a follow-up procedure to gall bladder surgery he had two weeks ago. Doctors are scheduled to remove a stent from an area near White’s gall bladder on Aug. 11, and White has a pre-operative appointment for that procedure on Thursday, Rubin said.

“His treatment could fall through while he’s in jail,” Rubin told the judge.

Russo suggested that the Hampshire County Sheriff's Office could take White to crucial medical appointments if need be. In the end, Moriarty ordered the defendant held.

“I find the allegations here are extremely heinous, given the level of planning and the potential destruction,” the judge said.

Moriarty told Rubin to obtain an affidavit from White’s doctor outlining his condition and the necessary treatment for it. The judge scheduled a pretrial conference for Aug. 25 and put the case on the October trial list.

Russo said the house at 3 East St. is “family property” but did not say who besides White lived there.

Agawam City Council approves $250,000 supplemental School Department budget

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Two Agawam city councilors opposed a $250,000 supplemental School Department budget, saying it will just add to the base for coming years' budgets.

AGAWAM – The City Council Monday approved a $250,000 supplemental School Department budget despite objections by two councilors, who argued it will just add to the base educational budget for years to come.

That action brings the city budget for fiscal 2012, which started July 1, to about $73.6 million and the School Department budget to about $34.4 million.

The council approved the supplemental budget 7-2 with city councilors Robert E. Rossi and John F. Walsh casting the nay votes.

In late June, the City Council approved a fiscal 2012 budget just in time to meet its July 1 deadline with the understanding that the School Department would come up with a supplemental budget of $250,000 to restore some of the 31.8 full-time equivalent positions slated for elimination. Councilors agreed with Mayor Richard A. Cohen that the $250,000 could come out of the reserve account.

However, Monday, Rossi and Walsh seemingly backtracked.

Rossi said he had a problem with the School Department still charging user fees to students for taking part in activities and hiring a secretary to keep track of them.

“It wasn’t exactly what I thought they would do with the money,” Rossi said.

Walsh argued that adding $250,000 to the School Department budget would add up to $2.5 million over the next 10 years.

City Councilor Jill S. Messick said councilors agreed on their strategy in June and expressed anger at Rossi and Walsh for seemingly reversing themselves.

“To say now we did not do it, that is bull....,” Messick said.

“I don’t think we have any choice but to go for it,” City Councilor Robert A. Magovern said of the supplemental spending.

City Councilor Dennis J. Perry argued in favor of adopting the supplemental budget on the grounds that it would reduce class sizes in first grade and kindergarten from the mid twenties to the teens.

The supplemental budget restored a total of 11 positions to the School Department. They are three teachers, five teachers aides, two secretaries and the school resource officer.

Both Cohen and interim School Superintendent William P. Sapelli argued strongly in favor of adopting the supplemental budget.

The mayor said he agrees with the council that officials should put schoolchildren first and that on Aug. 16 the School Committee’s Policy subcommittee will take a look at whether use fees should continue to be charged students.

Earth's two moons? It's not lunacy, but new theory

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Astronomers came up with the scenario to explain why the moon's far side is so much more hilly than the one that is always facing Earth.

earth-2-moons.jpgThis artist's rendering provided by Martin Jutzi and Erik Asphaug, University of California, Santa Cruz via Nature shows a simulation of a collision between the Moon and a companion moon, four percent of the lunar mass, about 4 billion years ago. Earth once had a second moon, until it made the fatal mistake of smacking its big sister, some astronomers now theorize. For awhile when the Earth was young, it had a big moon, the one you see now, and a smaller "companion moon" orbiting above. Then one day that smaller moon collided into the bigger one in what astronomers are calling the "big splat."

WASHINGTON — In a spectacle that might have beguiled poets, lovers and songwriters if only they had been around to see it, Earth once had two moons, astronomers now think. But the smaller one smashed into the other in what is being called the "big splat."

The result: Our planet was left with a single bulked-up and ever-so-slightly lopsided moon.

The astronomers came up with the scenario to explain why the moon's far side is so much more hilly than the one that is always facing Earth.

The theory, outlined Wednesday in the journal Nature, comes complete with computer model runs showing how it might have happened and an illustration that looks like the bigger moon getting a pie in the face.

Outside experts said the idea makes sense, but they aren't completely sold yet.

This all supposedly happened about 4.4 billion years ago, long before there was any life on Earth to gaze up and see the strange sight of dual moons. The moons themselves were young, formed about 100 million years earlier when a giant planet smashed into Earth. They both orbited Earth and sort of rose in the sky together, the smaller one trailing a few steps behind like a little sister in tow.

The smaller one was a planetary lightweight. The other was three times wider and 25 times heavier, its gravity so strong that the smaller one just couldn't resist, even though it was parked a good bit away.

"They're destined to collide. There's no way out. ... This big splat is a low-velocity collision," said study co-author Erik Asphaug, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What Asphaug calls a slow crash is relative: It happened at more than 5,000 mph, but that's about as slow as possible when you are talking planetary smashups. It's slow enough that the rocks didn't melt.

And because the smaller moon was more than 600 miles wide, the crash took a while to finish even at 5,000 mph. Asphaug likened the smaller moon to a rifle bullet and said, "People would be bored looking at it because it's taking 10 minutes just for the bullet to bury itself in the moon. This is an event if you were looking at, you'd need a big bag of popcorn."

The rocks and crust from the smaller moon would have spread over and around the bigger moon without creating a crater, as a faster crash would have done.

"The physics is really surprisingly similar to a pie in the face," Asphaug said.

And about a day later, everything was settled and the near and far sides of the moon looked different, Asphaug said.

Co-author Martin Jutzi of the University of Bern in Switzerland said the study was an attempt to explain the odd crust and mountainous terrain of the moon's far side. Asphaug noticed it looked as if something had been added to the surface, so the duo started running computer simulations of cosmic crashes.

Earth had always been an oddball in the solar system as the only planet with a single moon. While Venus and Mercury have no moons, Mars has two, while Saturn and Jupiter have more than 60 each. Even tiny Pluto, which was demoted to dwarf status, has four moons.

The theory was the buzz this week in Woods Hole, Mass., at a conference of scientists working on NASA's next robotic mission to the moon, said H. Jay Melosh of Purdue University.

"We can't find anything wrong with it," Melosh said. "It may or may not be right."

Planetary scientist Alan Stern, former NASA associate administrator for science, said it is a "very clever new idea," but one that is not easily tested to learn whether it is right.

A second moon isn't just an astronomical matter. The moon plays a big role in literature and song. And poet Todd Davis, a professor of literature at Penn State University, said this idea of two moons — one essentially swallowing the other — will capture the literary imagination.

"I'll probably be dreaming about it and trying to work on a poem," he said.

Pickup taken from home of dead NH girl, Celina Cass, 11

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Neighbors said the vehicle is typically driven by the girl's stepfather.

Missing GirlThis cell phone photo shows law enforcement officials standing near a silver pickup truck being removed from where it was parked near the home of Celina Cass, in Stewartstown, N.H., Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. Cass, 11, had been missing for a week before her body was found nearby in the Connecticut River, on Monday. (AP Photo/Lynne Tuohy)

LYNNE TUOHY
Associated Press

STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. (AP) — Investigators probing the death of an 11-year-old northern New Hampshire girl, Celina Cass, hauled away a silver pickup truck from outside her home Wednesday.

Neighbors said the vehicle is typically driven by the girl's stepfather. While the pickup was on a flatbed outside the house, technicians could be seen examining its undercarriage.

Investigators said Wednesday that they didn't expect to make any announcements on the progress of their investigation into the death of Celina Cass, whose body was found Monday in the Connecticut River, almost a week after she disappeared.

New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young wouldn't comment Wednesday on the investigation.

On Tuesday, Young said an autopsy failed to determine how the girl died. She said further toxicology tests and more investigation were needed, but that the death was considered suspicious.

Meanwhile, Jeanine Brady, a family friend and the employer of Celina's mother, said the girl's body had been turned over to the family and that a private service was being planned. Brady wouldn't say where or when the service would be held. Public memorial services could be held at a later date.

Divers found Celina's body Monday near a hydroelectric dam that spans the Connecticut River between Celina's hometown, Stewartstown, and Canaan, Vt., ending an intense search that at its peak involved more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

Celina, who lived with her older sister, mother and stepfather a mile from Canada, was last seen at her home computer around 9 p.m. on July 25 and was gone the next morning, authorities said. Police said there was no sign of a struggle and there was no indication she ran away or someone took her.

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