The Baker-Polito administration has awarded $300,000 to assist Westfield with its industrial park expansion.

WESTFIELD -  The Baker-Polito Administration has awarded a $300,000 Site Readiness Fund Program grant to the City of Westfield.

The grant will fund the expansion of the city's Turnpike Industrial Park, as well as be used to fund predevelopment activities to spur private investment at a city owned site adjacent to the current industrial park. 

"Assisting communities in transforming underutilized property into opportunities for development and job growth continues to be an important component of our economic development strategy," said Governor Charlie Baker, in a statement regarding the grant. "This funding will empower Westfield's ability to provide attractive locations for businesses looking to invest in the region."

The grant will allow for important predevelopment efforts such as geotechnical studies, master planning, and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) pre-permitting for the 66-acre site that currently sits adjacent to the existing Turnpike Industrial Park. 

Before this grant, there was no environmental permitting at the site, which was a hindrance to private investment in a potential expansion of the current industrial park.

"Across the Commonwealth, we are working with communities looking to move beyond roadblocks to economic development ," said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. "This program gives our municipalities the resources to tackle those challenges, connect residents to jobs and prepare communities for success and growth."

"This resource will address one of the significant obstacles facing communities as they seek to attract private industry and create jobs: the lack of project ready sites for companies and industry to relocate or expand in Massachusetts," said Secretary of Housing and Community Development Jay Ash. "This collaboration with our partners at MassDevelopment and the City of Westfield will make a significant impact on the city's ability to attract private investment and increase job creation in the region."

MassDevelopment is responsible for administering the Site Readiness Fund Program. 

View obituaries from The Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Veritas Preparatory Charter School is a tuition-free public school for grades five through eight that is open to all students through a lottery system.

SPRINGFIELD -- Veritas Preparatory Charter School marked its fifth anniversary this week -- along with the five-year renewal of its charter and the purchase of its 370 Pine St. building -- as it sent off its second class of graduating eighth-graders to area high schools.

The 55 graduates, who wore caps and gowns, received diplomas on Thursday evening at CityStage as friends and family took cellphone videos and showered them with bouquets and balloons.

The scholars, as Veritas Prep students are called, were praised by Executive Director Rachel Romano, the school's founder, and Principal Emily Beacher for embracing and mastering a challenging college preparatory curriculum.

"You embraced math concepts usually reserved for high school students," Beacher said.

Most of the graduates will be going to a Springfield public high school, with many headed to the new Springfield Honors High School that is slated to open in a wing of Commerce High School at the start of the new school year.

"The scholars leave a legacy of challenging work and achievement," Romano said. She said Veritas Prep scholars have surpassed their district peers and are outperforming statewide averages, with 83 percent scoring proficient or advanced in English language arts (ELA) and 75 percent scoring proficient or advanced in math.

As a sign of the school's success and stability, Romano said the state board of Elementary and Secondary Education recently renewed its charter "unconditionally" for another five years.

In the letter notifying Veritas Prep of its charter renewal, Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester said, "The charter school initiative is a key component of education reform in Massachusetts, and your school has proved what a strong vision, high standards and hard work can accomplish for the students of Massachusetts."

With the help of PeoplesBank, other local banks and a MassDevelopment grant, Romano said Veritas Prep recently closed on its $3.2 million purchase of the former nursing home where the school has been operating since its 2011 founding.

"Securing a permanent home speaks to the stability of our school," said Romano. "It reinforces our commitment to transform public education in the city of Springfield."

Class representatives Yashi Agarwal and Mohammed Abassi spoke at the ceremony, encouraging their classmates to continue their academic journey with the goal of graduating from college.

Agarwal asked her classmates to imagine a better society -- one that is is accepting and encouraging of people from different backgrounds.

Abassi, who is headed to The MacDuffie School in the fall, said he learned to respect in his teachers and to confide in them when he had doubts.

As a charter school, Veritas Prep is a tuition-free public school that is available to all students through an open lottery system. Operating expenses are primarily funded by per-pupil tuition revenue paid by the state, as well as federal and state entitlement grants.

The school also receives funding from private foundations, corporations and individuals to support its growth, special projects and mission. Unlike district schools, however, charter schools are responsible for buying or leasing their own facility and paying the expenses associated with the facility.

The City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Richard Cohen's $90 million budget for fiscal year 2018, but not without making changes to the spending plan.

AGAWAM -- The City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Richard Cohen's $90 million budget for fiscal year 2018, but not without making changes to the spending plan.

"The council approved the budget, but with new cuts and an amendment," a city official said Friday, just days after the council rejected the proposal.

Details of the reductions were unavailable. Cohen and city councilors did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.

On Monday, the council voted 6-3 against a resolution to adopt the mayor's budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Councilors questioned some of the budget's carryovers, or the transfer of unused funds from one fiscal year to the next.

City solicitor Patrick Toney said the council had violated the city charter by failing to pass the budget on Monday. The attorney said the council would have to hold a special meeting to reconsider its "illegal vote against the budget." That meeting happened Thursday evening, with the council passing the plan with changes.

"The City Council shall adopt the budget, with our without amendments, within 45 days following the day the budget was received by it," the charter states. Toney said the budget was "transmitted to all pertinent parties" on May 11, which means the 45-day period ends Tuesday, June 27.

The charter allows the council to amend the mayor's budget by making cuts, but the city's legislative body lacks authority to reject the spending plan outright. Last year, for example, councilors trimmed almost $380,000 from Cohen's $88.8 million budget for fiscal 2017, which ends June 30.

Shortly before voting against the budget on Monday, the council approved a number of cuts proposed by Councilor Christopher C. Johnson, a former Agawam mayor. Johnson's cuts would have trimmed around $300,000 from the mayor's proposal.  

If the council had failed to take action on the budget before the June 27 deadline, the city charter requires the spending plan to "become part of the appropriations for the year and be available for the purposes specified."

Cohen's general fund budget of $90.7 million includes $89.6 million for operating expenses and $1.1 million for capital improvement costs. Almost half the budget, or around $43.6 million, goes directly to Agawam Public Schools. 

Meanwhile, projected revenue from the city's self-sustaining departments -- receipts from water, wastewater, and the Agawam Municipal Golf Course -- is almost $9.9 million.

"The mayor stands behind his balanced budget and hopes the council will pass the budget Thursday evening at their special meeting," Toney told The Republican on Wednesday.

Jersey barriers and farm gates have replaced saw horses and signs meant to block access to the railroad crossing where Department of Public Works foreman Warren P. Cowles was killed in a collision with a train.

Representative Richard Neal celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first initial bid for public office at Springfield Union Station on Friday night.

SPRINGFIELD - Four decades ago, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal's political career began in Springfield Union Station.  

The official, who now serves the First Congressional District of Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress, first ran for political office in 1977, making a bid for a seat on Springfield's City Council.

The announcement for that candidacy was made at Union Station where Neal, surrounded by a small group of devoted followers, spoke about his ambitions for a life in politics. Neal would ultimately be elected in 1978, before being named President of the City Council only a year later. From there, Neal's political career took off, with the young official going on to become Springfield's Mayor in the early 1980s, before later being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988.

On Friday night, Neal returned to Union Station to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that first bid for public office. The station, which was in a period of decline and decay when Neal first entered office in the 1970s, has now, after years of development and $94 million in floor-to-ceiling renovations, been revitalized.

A lot of that revitalization has been the work of Neal, who has been called a "driving force" behind the effort, and has lobbied on behalf of various parts of the project, even cutting a deal to install historic Grand Central benches inside the facility.  

Neal's family and Springfield Mayor Sarno introduced the Congressman Friday night, lauding him for his public service as well as his personal warmth as a family member and father. 

Neal's daughter, Maura Katherine Neal, spoke about her father's commitment to both his work and his family. "Growing up, all my brothers and I knew was campaigns," Neal said, relaying stories of how her family's life was an endless series of campaign events and parties. "While my memories are all of parties and campaigning and signs and all that fun, they're also of my father spending all day, all night working," she said, tearing up. 

Neal said her father's commitment to his work was equal to his commitment as a father. "He was always squeezing in one more thing in his busy schedule for us," she said. 

When it was his time to speak the Congressman kept it brief, thanking his family and supporters and commenting on how much time had passed since the early days of his career. "It's been 14, 700 days since we met before under this clock," Neal said, noting that, throughout all that time, the same people that had supported him 40 years ago are the same people standing by him presently. "You've lifted my aspirations," he said to them. 

"I love you all, thank you," he concluded. 

Union Station's opening weekend festivities continue Saturday with a black-tie gala and Sunday with an open house.

Planners expect the station -- with its bus and rail service, retail, dining and office tenants and 377-space parking garage -- will draw 5 million passengers in its first year of operation, a number that could swell to 8 million or more annually.

A missing 15-year-old girl may be "hiding out" in the Springfield area.

SOUTHBRIDGE - Police are searching for 15-year-old Allison Degray, who left her home in Southbridge on June 21 and hasn't been seen since. 

Sgt. Robert Salisbury of the Southbridge Police Department said police believe Degray may be "hiding out" in the Springfield area, as several of her extended family members live there.

"We've exhausted a lot of the areas to search in our area," said Salisbury, commenting that police had been checking a number of local residences. 

Salisbury said police believe Degray purposefully ran away and that she was not taken against her will.

"At this point, we just would like to get her home, get her off the streets and make sure that she's safe," Salisbury said.

Police describe Degray as being 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing approximately 140 pounds.

She also has three distinctive tattoos, a sun tattoo on her left arm, a Yin Yang symbol on her right ankle, and an "illuminati-style" pyramid on her right thigh.

Police say that when she ran away Degray was last seen wearing a red crop top and blue shorts.

Police say anyone who believes they may have information on Degray's whereabouts should call Southbridge police at 508-764-5420.

Police in Sturbridge are searching for a woman accused to stealing money through "sleight of hand."

STURBRIDGE - Police in Sturbridge are asking for the public's help in identifying a woman who allegedly stole $320 from a supermarket through "sleight of hand" on Tuesday.  

Police say the woman entered the Shaw's Supermarket on Main Street and went to the store's Service Desk. At the desk, the woman asked to exchange eight $100 dollar bills into a smaller denomination. During the exchange, the woman allegedly pocketed sixteen $20 bills, police said. 

Anyone who believes they may be able to identify the woman captured in these surveillance images has been asked to contact the Sturbridge police at 508-347-2525.

Saudi security forces said Saturday they disrupted a plot to attack the Grand Mosque at Mecca, home to the holiest site in Islam, just as the fasting month of Ramadan concludes.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi security forces said Saturday they disrupted a plot to attack the Grand Mosque at Mecca, home to the holiest site in Islam, just as the fasting month of Ramadan concludes.

The Interior Ministry said it launched raids in Jiddah province, as well as two areas in Mecca itself, including the Ajyad Al-Masafi neighborhood, located near the Grand Mosque.

There, police said they engaged in a shootout at a three-story house with a suicide bomber, who blew himself up and led to the building's collapse. He was killed while the blast wounded six foreigners and five members of the security forces, according to the Interior Ministry's statement. Five others were arrested, it said.

The Interior Ministry "confirms that this terrorist network, whose terrorist plan was thwarted, violated, in what they would have perpetrated, all sanctities by targeting the security of the Grand Mosque, the holiest place on Earth."

"They obeyed their evil and corrupt self-serving schemes managed from abroad whose aim is to destabilize the security and stability of this blessed country," the statement said.

The ministry did not name the group involved in the attack. The ultraconservative Sunni kingdom battled an al-Qaida insurgency for years and more recently has faced attacks from a local branch of the Islamic State group.

The disrupted attack comes at a sensitive time in Saudi Arabia as King Salman earlier this week short-circuited the kingdom's succession by making his son, Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman, first in line to the throne. The newly appointed crown prince, 31 years old, is the architect of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen against Shiite rebels, now stalemated. He has also offered aggressive comments about the kingdom confronting Shiite power Iran.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have cut diplomatic ties to neighboring Qatar and are trying to isolate the energy-rich tiny country over its alleged support of militants and ties to Iran. Qatar long has denied those allegations.

The Grand Mosque has been the target of militants before. In 1979, a group of militants seized the mosque, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day, for two weeks as they demanded the royal family abdicate the throne. The official toll of the assault and subsequent fighting to retake the mosque from hundreds of armed militants was over 100 people killed and 500 wounded.

Qatar isolated after 4 Arab nations cut diplomatic ties

On Friday evening, Congressman Richard Neal celebrated the 40th anniversary of that announcement with supporters in the refurbished transportation center.

SPRINGFIELD-- U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, a longtime advocate for Union Station's resurrection, announced his first candidacy for public office -- the Springfield City Council -- at the station in 1977.

And on Friday evening, the Springfield Democrat celebrated the 40th anniversary of that announcement with supporters in the newly refurbished transportation center. 

Union Station's grand reopening follows a $94 million floor-to-ceiling renovation and rehabilitation years in the making.

The facility was built in 1926 to replace earlier stations. But it has been mostly empty since the late 1970s, and was underused and decaying for decades prior to that, as interest in rail travel declined.

The new Union Station will offer service from Amtrak and Connecticut's commuter rail system to New Haven and on to New York City beginning in 2018. It will have local bus service from the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and long-distance service from Peter Pan Bus Lines and its partner, Greyhound.

Neal's vision is to have Union Station once again be a focal point for the city, like stations in Washington, D.C., and closer to home in New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut.

And the grand opening celebrations don't stop with Friday's gathering. On Saturday, a gala organized by Spirit of Springfield will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. The event will be catered by Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel and students from American International College will serve as hosts. The Republican and MassLive will have a reporter and photographers at the party. 

And on Sunday, two free open house events will give a look inside Union Station.

The first, from 10 a.m. to noon, is for contractors who worked on the project and their families, according to Spirit of Springfield. The second open house for the general public is from noon to 2 p.m. 

The open houses will feature historic vehicles from Peter Pan Bus Lines and collector George Holman, as well as a model railroad display by the Amherst Rail Society, which puts on a display every winter on the grounds of The Big E.

Artist Ed Pessolano will discuss the murals he created for the station. Ken Guerin Drama Studio will offer train conductor role-play. And The Republican will be there with books commemorating the station.

The Springfield Museums are also planning hands-on activities for children.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday night blocked parole for Charles Manson follower and convicted killer Bruce Davis.

LOS ANGELES -- California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday night blocked parole for Charles Manson follower and convicted killer Bruce Davis.

Brown's rejection issued late Friday night is the fifth time Davis has been recommended for parole by a state panel only to see it blocked by a governor, and continues Brown's unflinching pattern of refusing to allow anyone from Manson's "family" to be freed.

On Feb. 1, the parole panel recommended release for the 74-year-old Davis, who is serving a life sentence for the 1969 slayings of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea. Davis was not involved in the more notorious killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others by Manson's group.

Brown in his written decision acknowledges the factors that led the board to recommend parole for Davis: His efforts to improve himself, his academic progress, and 25 years with no discipline for misconduct.

But he said these things are "outweighed by negative factors that demonstrate he remains unsuitable for parole.

"These cult murders have left an indelible mark on the public -- the Manson Family is still feared to this day," Brown wrote. "Incredibly heinous and cruel offenses like these constitute the 'rare circumstances' in which the crime alone can justify a denial of parole."

Also, Brown added "his continued minimization of his own violence and his role in the Manson Family further shows that he remains an unreasonable risk to the public."

The governor's decision came a week before the deadline.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also rejected Davis' parole bid before Brown made a common ritual of it.

A message left with Davis lawyer Michael Beckman was not immediately returned.

Davis is serving his time at the California Men's Colony at San Luis Obispo.

During the half-century since the slayings, parole panels decided five times that Davis is no longer a public safety risk. Officials have cited his age and good behavior behind bars that includes earning a doctoral degree and ministering to other inmates.

Davis testified at his 2014 hearing that he attacked Shea with a knife and held a gun on Hinman while Manson cut Hinman's face with a sword.

"I wanted to be Charlie's favorite guy," he said then.

• Jeff Baker: Charles Manson was born bad and never changed

Beckman, who has been fighting for years for the release of Davis, said in February that his client is the most rehabilitated prisoner among the 2,000 he is representing in the penal system.

"There's no one even a close second," Beckman said.

On Thursday, California officials denied parole for convicted killer and Manson follower Patricia Krenwickel.

Parole denied for Charles Manson follower Patricia Krenwinkel again

Cynthia Coons, of Holyoke, was arraigned in Hampshire Superior Court Friday and ordered held on $100,000 bail after she was indicted on charges of conspiring to have a witness in a rape case against her husband killed before trail.

Northwestern DA office 

NORTHAMPTON - A Holyoke woman was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail after she was arraigned Friday in Hampshire Superior Court on charges of conspiring to have a witness in a rape case against her husband killed before trial, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. 

Cynthia Coons, 50, is being charged with conspiring with her husband, Jason Coons and a friend, Elinor Roberge, to hire a hitman to kill the alleged victim in a rape case brought against Jason Coons. The trio believed if they could kill the witness, charges against Coons would be dropped.

Coons was originally arraigned on charges in Hampshire District Court in April, and has been held since. Her husband was incarcerated in the Hampshire House of Correction on unrelated charges at the time of the alleged plot, and has remained in custody. Roberge was released on her personal recognizance, with conditions, pending trial.   

Prosecutors called Coons an "integral player in two separate murder for hire plots." According to investigators, payments for the killing had already been started when the three were arrested. 

William J. Brown IV of Pittsfield was arrested Wednesday. and charged with the June 2 shooting of another man during a fight on Robbins Avenue. He is being held pending a dangerousness hearing.

William J. Brown IVCourtesy Pittsfield Police Department 

The Berkshire Eagle reported that Williams J. Brown IV was arrested on South John Street after police on patrol spotted him and attempted to arrest him. They ordered Brown to lay on the ground but he refused. One officer drew a Taser and Brown ran. Police were able to run Bronw down and he was taken into custody.  

Police officers were at the Berkshire Medical Center emergency room on an unrelated matter just before 11:30 p.m. June 2 when the alleged victim was brought to the hospital in a private car. He was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the side. The victim did not cooperate with police, but witness statements and surveillance video from a nearby business indicate Brown as the suspect.  He could not be located and an arrest warrant was issued.      

The victim did not cooperate with police, but witness statements and surveillance video from a nearby business indicated Brown as the suspect.  He could not be located and an arrest warrant was issued.      

Thursday, Brown entered pleas of not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card, carrying a dangerous weapon and two counts of resisting arrest.  He was ordered held without the right to bail pending a dangerousness hearing Monday.     

Founder Francesco Ferrentino emigrated from Salerno, Italy, with his parents at age 16 in 1970.

BRIMFIELD -- Francesco's Restaurant celebrated 30 years in business this month.

The family-run eatery, located along Route 20 in Brimfield at 45 Palmer Road, was started by Francesco Ferrentino.

He emigrated from Salerno, Italy, with his parents at age 16 in 1970. He married his wife, Rosa, six years later. All his formal education occurred prior to arriving in the U.S.

"I went to school in Italy," he said.

Ferrentino credits the restaurant's longevity to his family, hard work, being open seven days a week, making ingredients including sauces from scratch, and variety -- seafood, veal, chicken and beef.

"Everything is made by us," he said. "Family is the strength.

"If you don't have (that) you cannot go into (the) restaurant business."

After Ferrentino suffered a back injury, his daughter Cathy, 38, took over as chef and now runs the establishment with assistance from his son, Alfonso, 37, and his wife.

Asked what he would say to someone entering Francesco's for the first time, Ferrentino said: "I would recommend anything- veal, chicken, beef, fish, we got 'em all."

When he opened the restaurant in 1987, the owner said he was not aware of the three-times per year Brimfield antiques and collectibles show. Ferrentino said the restaurant is mobbed when the flea market is in town.

The restaurant's web page bears this slogan: "A Day Without Wine Is Like A Day Without Sunshine."

Francesco's is open for lunch and dinner.

At the end of the 2016-17 school year, there were 41 active recruits working in local classrooms.

SPRINGFIELD -- Teach for America corps members Madeline DiGiovanni and Tiffany Porter are eager to begin working with low-income students in local schools.

The young women are among 25 new Teach for America recruits -- hailing from Massachusetts to Michigan and New Jersey to Arkansas -- who have been assigned to schools in Holyoke and Springfield in the fall, when the program enters its third year here.

During a welcoming event at the Museum of Springfield History last week, DiGiovanni and Porter said the social justice mission of Teach for America spoke to their core values.

DiGiovanni, a 2017 graduate of Brown University, will teach ninth grade special education students at Holyoke High in the fall.

She said her plan to attend medical school changed when she met a Teach for America recruiter in the spring of her senior year. An advocate for mental health reform and for erasing the stigma attached to mental illness, DiGiovanni said she wanted to do something right after graduation.

"I realized I wanted to work face-to-face with children," she said, adding that Teach for America would give her that opportunity.

Porter, a 2016 graduate of Howard University, is one of eight children and a former YMCA camp director. Her younger brother Xavier was this year's valedictorian at the Springfield High School of Science and Technology.

She said she is thrilled that Teach for America now has a presence in her hometown. She will teach sixth and seventh grade science at Impact Prep at Chestnut Middle School.

"I'm thrilled to be working in my home community," she said. "There is no place else I want to be."

Teach for America Western Massachusetts Managing Director Kwame Webster, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse and Springfield officials welcomed the new recruits during last week's event, which included a lesson in Springfield's history during a tour of the museum.

Earlier in the day, the recruits had a chance to visit some of the schools where they have been assigned.

In an address, Morse praised the recruits. The mayor said his horizons were expanded when he attended an Upward Bound program at Northfield Mount Herman, a prep school in Gill, when he was a Holyoke public school student.

"It's all about access," he said. "What you're doing is restorative justice."

Morse said Holyoke Public Schools, with its 47 percent Hispanic population, faces challenges, and added that the system is making strides in lowering its dropout rate and increasing graduation rates.

Morse told fellow Brown alum DiGiovanni that public service is a worthy, challenging and rewarding career.

Teach for America corps members make a two-year commitment to work in the schools. The hope is that they will stay on in city schools as long-term teachers.

The program includes ongoing and intensive professional development training,  beginning with a summer institute based in Lawrence city schools.

This year's recruits include five graduates of the Five Colleges in Western Massachusetts, Webster said.

At the end of the 2016-17 school year, there were 41 active recruits working in local classrooms, he said. And as of last week, nine of those who have completed their two-year commitment to Teach for America are staying on in jobs in city schools, he said.

Five  questions about Teach for America answered:

Q: Who do they recruit?

A: Recent college graduates and professionals from varied backgrounds who are committed to social justice and agree to teach for at least two years in a low-income school system.

Q: Do corps members take jobs from veteran teachers?

A: Corps members apply for open jobs and go through the same interview and hiring process as any candidate, but no community is obligated to hire Teach for America teachers.

Q: Do Teach for America members create a revolving door of teachers?

A: Teach for America teachers are more likely than others to stay in the classroom during the first two years. Some 90 percent of its first-year teachers return for a second year, compared with 83 percent of first-year teachers in high-poverty schools and 86 percent of all new teachers.

Q: How does Teach for America spend its money?

A: Corps members are paid by the district they work in, just like any other teacher. Teach for American invests about $51,400 per corp member over three years, starting with the recruitment year. The expenditure breaks down to $16,400 to recruit and select each teacher, $7,000 to train each new teacher and $14,000 in professional development during each of their two years in the classroom.

Q: Does Teach for America prefer charter over traditional schools?

A: The organization has no preference for the mode of school governance. About twice as many corps members work in district schools as in charters. Teach for America believes that school leaders need autonomy to exercise leadership.

Source: Teach for America.

The home is run on donations and volunteer help. It will take no money from state or federal funds. Watch video

CHICOPEE - As the Allard siblings watched, a team of volunteers snipped a purple ribbon in half and officially turned their childhood home into a place where people will be able to live their final days in a home-like atmosphere surrounded by caring people.

"It is a tribute to my father. This is what he would have wanted," Paul Allard said.

It is also the culmination of a 10-year dream for Ruth Willemain and multitudes of volunteers who worked to create Harmony House, a hospice home where people who cannot spend their last days in their own home can come as an alternative to dying in a nursing home, hospital or other institutional setting.

The first resident Harmony House will move into the home Monday. For now two residents at a time will live in the three-bedroom ranch home with a three-season porch.

"What we are doing today is not just a ribbon cutting. We are giving people hope," Amy Corcoran, president of the Harmony House board of directors.

During the celebration, speaker-after-speaker talked about Willemain, a long-time hospice volunteer, who had seen similar homes in the Midwest and wanted to start one in Western Masssachusetts.

Rev. Edwin Larson, now retired pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Holyoke,  remembered her the first time she approached him with the idea and he joked that he simply said "yes" to her request for help.

"I will help you...We will stand together, we'll see this vision through to the best of our ability and today is really the fulfillment of that vision and I'm proud and delighted to be here with you," he said.

At first it was difficult but volunteers started buying into the idea, plans were made, money was raised and the organization about two years ago bought a 3,000 square-foot home on View Street which needs extensive renovations.

"The Allards saw the vision and embraced it," Larson said.

When the purchase of the View Street home became tied up in court, the three siblings, Paul Allard, Peggy Breault and Sandra Clayton, learned about the Harmony House plan through one of their former neighbors Pam Quirk, who is the vice president of the board of directors of Harmony House.

Their father Clem Allard had died and their mother Helena Allard is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is unable to live at home. The siblings were debating what to do with the house when they heard about Harmony House.

"It was a good way to help them get started," Breault said. "They are all special people. They are giving people."

The siblings offered to let the organization use the home at no cost as long as it paid the utilities and insurance. They replaced the flooring while Harmony House volunteers helped them clean out decades worth of belongings, painted, installed a ramp and customized the house to fit the needs of someone under hospice care.

"This is wonderful what they are doing," Clayton said.

Harmony House is run completely by volunteer efforts and donations. It receives no federal or state funding and residents will not be charged, Willemain said.

"You have given the best gift to us, the gift of your time," she said to the crowd. "We have been blessed beyond belief and all we can say is thank you."

Construction companies have volunteered to do work at the Pendleton home and the home at View Street, multiple churches have given their time and raised money and many other organizations and individuals have helped.

Too many people who are in hospice care end up in nursing homes or other institutions because they are alone or do not have family or friends capable of caring for them. Some are homeless and living in shelters and others may have an elderly spouse who is unable to care for them, she said.

Harmony House is intended for people diagnosed with a terminal illness who have a maximum of three months to live and are under the care of a hospice organization. Instead of spending their final days in a nursing home, they will live in the comfort and family-like setting of the house where they can have visitors when they like instead of at prescribed times, can eat what they want and can simply take a walk or just go outside if they are able, Willemain said.

Harmony House volunteers are in contact with a variety of organizations who will refer residents, Quirk said.

The opening of the home was contingent on the organization finding enough volunteers who have a medical background that could staff the home 24-hours a day. Figuring people agree to work one eight-hour shift a month, they needed 93 volunteers, Quirk said.

The organization has enough people to open but continues to seek more medical volunteers who can include certified nursing assistants, nurses, doctors and others with related experience. The group also continues to seek people who can provide one meal a month for about six people and also has a large wish list of items needed for the home. More information about donating or volunteering can be found on the website harmonyhousewm.org.

The house will also be staffed with one volunteer who does not have medical training. They will do basic housekeeping chores and mostly serve as companions to the residents, Willemain said.

"He keep repeating 'You guys forget that I'm Pakistani' over and over again," a witness told police.

SPRINGFIELD - A former employee at Denny's restaurant on Boston Road is facing criminal charges after clashing with co-workers and threatening to blow up the restaurant.

Mohammed Y. Haroon, 48, of Springfield, pleaded not guilty on June 1 in Springfield District Court to making a bomb threat and threatening to commit a crime.

The charges were filed after Haroon, a native of Pakistan, got into a dispute with his boss and co-workers after punching out at 5 a.m. before his shift ended, according to the police report.

When the manager told him to finish his work first, Haroon stormed out of the office and into the dining room, the report said.

"You keep forgetting that I'm Pakistani," he said, before telling co-workers he would throw one "in the fryers (and) burn him up real pretty," according to the report.

In a statement heard by three co-workers, he also threatened to blow up the restaurant, the report said.

Judge William Hadley set bail at $5,000 personal surety and ordered the defendant to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, report once a week to a probation officer and stay away from the restaurant and its employees.

During a hearing on June 12, the judge ordered Haroon to report once a day, not once a week, to his probation officer.

Haroon is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on July 25.

Haroon, who is listed as disabled on the police report, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct following a traffic stop in April 2016, court records show.

He allegedly tried to run down two Springfield police officers who stopped his SUV for having excessively tinted windows. One officer drew his firearm to stop Haroon, whose son was a passenger in the vehicle, according to the arrest report.

Information about the disposition of those charges was not immediately available Friday, but court records indicate that Haroon is on probation from an earlier case.

A Colorado dad is campaigning to ban smartphone sales to children under the age of 13.

A Colorado dad is campaigning to ban smartphone sales to children under the age of 13. He and other parents think the government needs to take concrete steps to prevent pre-teens from becoming addicted to their phones. Many believe it's a health issue. Others say the government shouldn't be involved in these decisions. It should be left up to parents to decide what's best for their children. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Tim Farnum started the campaign after he noticed the effect smartphones had on his children. 

"One of my sons, I took it away, and it was a pretty dramatic, very violent outburst," said Dr. Timothy J. Farnum, a father of five who is an anesthesiologist by training. "He was very addicted to this little machine. It kind of scared me, and that's really how it started."

He and other parents believe smartphones are harming children. Instead of playing outside, or with each other, more and more children are staring at screens all day. That's not good. Instead of poking at their phones all day, children should be enjoying their childhood. 

Besides, there's no real reason children should have smartphones. Most children under the age of 13 will not be using their smartphones for anything besides video games. Do children really need to be on social media or in constant contact with their friends over the latest elementary school gossip? There's no good reason for young children to have smartphones.

 

Others say it should be up to parents to decide when they want to give their child a smartphone. The average pre-teen probably doesn't need a phone but is that for the government to determine? That choice should be left for parents to decide. Who else would know what's best for their child? If your pre-teen is addicted to smartphones, that's on you, not the government.

"When youngsters leave our house to go somewhere, as parents, we often say, 'Where are you going? What are you going to be doing? Who are you going to be with, and when will you be back?' And sometimes, we forget to use that terminology when they're online," Shifrin said. "Those parameters stay the same regardless of what kind of media those youngsters are using, whether it's tablets, computers, laptops or cell phones."

It's a matter of personal responsibility. It's not as though there's some smartphone blackmarket for preteens. Stores are not trying to manipulate preteens into buying phones so they can get addicted. It's not a thing. It's parents who are giving children phones too early, doing nothing to set limits on its use, then freaking out when their child is addicted to their phone. 

 

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A salon employee said the victim had just informed Rodriquez's wife about her husband's alleged affair when the discussion "quickly turned hostile and an argument ensued," according to a police report.

SPRINGFIELD - A Springfield man suffered a broken jaw and brain injury after allegedly delivering some bad news to the manager of a hair salon in the Eastfield Mall.

William Rodriguez, 36, pleaded not guilty Monday in Springfield District Court to one count of assault and battery with serious bodily injury.

The charge was filed after a confrontation last month in the food court between Rodriguez and the alleged victim, who had just left the Hair Palace Salon after informing Rodriquez's wife of an "indiscretion" involving her husband, according to the police report.

Minutes after leaving the salon, where Rodriguez's wife works as manager, the victim crossed paths with Rodriquez, who had just arrived at the mall, the report said.

Rodriquez knocked the man down with one punch and continued punching him on the ground, with the victim's head repeatedly hitting the floor, the report said.

Walking into the salon, Rodriquez bragged, "I just beat that guy up," and then fled out the back door as police arrived, the report said.

The assault, which took place about 3 p.m. on May 27, left the victim unconscious, with a broken jaw and bleeding in his brain. He was transported to Baystate Medical Center, where his injuries prevented him from speaking to police.

Two weeks later, after being transferred to a rehabilitation center, he gave his first  statement to investigators.

The victim said he could not recall the assault, but said it was likely due to his discussion with Rodriguez's wife about a sexual affair the defendant was having or contemplating, the report said.

A salon employee told police the victim came in to tell Rodriquez's wife about the alleged affair, but the discussion "quickly turned hostile and an argument ensued," the report said.

To defuse the situation, the employee took the victim to Donovan's Irish Pub nearby in the mall. On their way back, Rodriquez approached the victim from behind and punched him in the face, the report said.

"Don't you ever disrespect my wife like that again," Rodriquez allegedly said after knocking the other man down.

Based on accounts from several witnesses and video surveillance footage from the mall, Rodriquez was arrested.

On Monday, after denying the charge, he was released on $1,000 cash bail by agreement of Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski and defense lawyer Matthew Hutchinson.

Judge Matthew Shea also ordered him to stay away from the victim and approved a motion by Szafranski to subpoena the victim's medical records.

Rodriquez, a self-employed barber and native of Newburgh, New York, is due back in court on Sept. 8.

The program will run weekly on Thursday evenings.

CHICOPEE - The Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring a weekly girls summer softball clinic for youths entering grades five through nine.

The program will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays from July 6 through Aug. 3 at Szot Park. It is for new or experienced players and will focus on developing individual skills for hitting, fielding and pitching.

The cost is $50 per person and the clinic is limited to 30 people. Registration and waiver forms may be picked up at the Chicopee Parks Department office, 687 Front St. For more information call the department at 413-594-3481.