DEP officials began investigating after receiving a complaint from a tenant.

SPRINGFIELD – The state Department of Environmental Protection announced Monday that it has fined two Springfield property owners improper removal of asbestos from a property they own on Tacoma Street.

The state DEP fined Jason S. Balut and Steven R. Drouin $33,185 each for violating state asbestos regulations. According to terms of an agreement reached in the case, Balut and Drouin will only have to pay fines of $5,000, and the remaining $28,185 will be suspended when they complete a 1-year probation.

The DEP began investigating the pair in January 2010 after receiving a complaint from tenants that Balut and Drouin improperly removed asbestos insulation from a boiler in the basement. An inspection of the property found traces of asbestos insulation on the basement floor, outside the house and among one of the tenants’ belongings.

In addition to the fine, Balut and Drouin were required by DEP to hire a licensed asbestos abatement contractor to clean up the property.

Property owners or contractors with questions about the proper removal and handling of asbestos can call the nearest DEP regional office. More information on asbestos, including health effects, can be obtained from MassDEP’s web site: http://www.mass.gov/dep/air/asbguid.htm

Special Agent Fred Gutt cautioned that the test does not necessarily rule out the deceased suspect because investigators do not know whether DNA on the tie is that of the hijacker.

AP file photoA 1971 artist's sketch released by the FBI shows the skyjacker known as 'Dan Cooper' and 'D.B. Cooper', was made from the recollections of passengers and crew of a Northwest Orient Airlines jet he hijacked between Portland and Seattle, Nov. 24, 1971, Thanksgiving eve.

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The FBI says DNA found on the tie of hijacker D.B. Cooper does not match a new suspect in the case.

Special Agent Fred Gutt cautioned that the test does not necessarily rule out the deceased suspect because investigators do not know whether DNA on the tie is that of the hijacker. Gutt said there are three different DNA samples on the tie and that it's possible it had been used previously by other people.

Gutt says the FBI had an inconclusive round of fingerprint testing and that investigators are now working with family members to identify items that could be tested further for fingerprints.

Federal investigators have checked hundreds of leads since the man dubbed "D.B. Cooper" parachuted from a flight with $200,000 dollars in ransom in 1971.

The animal control center will reduce its public hours from 21 hours per week to 13 hours, through Sept. 30.

Republican file photoThomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center

This is an update of a story that was first posted at 6:52 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD – The Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, in response to budget cuts, has announced that it will be closed to the public two additional days a week through Sept. 30.

The center, located on Cottage Street, is typically open five days a week to the public, but is now changing to three days a week, center director Pam Peebles said Monday.

The center has been closed to the public regularly on Sundays and Mondays. Beginning this week, the center will also be closed on Wednesdays and Fridays, expected to continue to Sept. 30, as additional funding is sought to return to the normal hours, Peebles said.

The reduced hours do not affect field services and emergency responses, Peebles said.

Budget cuts eliminated one staff position and all employees must take unpaid furloughs, Peebles said. The center has 10 staff members including Peebles.

“It’s disheartening,” Peebles said. “We want to be available to do a good job for the city we serve. The last thing we want to do is reduce the hours. The city is really struggling.”

The center will continue to provide animal care seven days a week, but the public hours are being reduced from 21 hours weekly to 13 hours.

The center is open Tuesday and Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m., and on Thursdays from 2 to 7 p.m.

The center is open to the public to bring in animals for adoption and care, to reclaim animals.

While the city plans to reduce furlough days for lower paid employees, the change is not yet in effect for the animal control workers.

Woishnis is facing four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and the bail amount was agreed upon by the prosecution as well as the defense.

This updates a story posted at 9:34 a.m. Monday.

SUNDERLAND -- The man accused of stabbing four people at a Sunderland wedding party on Saturday was held in lieu of $1,000 bail, according to Mary Carey, communications director for the Northwestern District Attorney’s office.

Sunderland Police Chief Jeffrey Gilbert said Ian Woishnis, 28, surrendered to town police between 11 p.m. Sunday and midnight Monday. The Amherst resident is accused of stabbing four people at a party held at the Pioneer Valley Apartments, 39 Old Amherst Road, on Saturday night.

Carey said Woishnis is facing four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and that the bail was agreed upon by the prosecution as well as the defense.

"The bail was considered since he has a lack of defaults on his record and since he turned himself in," Carey said. "The lack of defaults refers to that fact that every time he has been required to come to court he has shown up."

None of the stabbing victims sustained life-threatening injuries, although one man was still at Springfield's Baystate Medical Center on Sunday, according to Gilbert.

Authorities did not publicly release a motive for the assaults, which remain under investigation by Sunderland and state police.

"All I can say is that he was not a welcome guest (at the party). He was told not to show up, and he did so any way," Gilbert said, adding that he was unsure if the bride and groom were present.

A Massachusetts State Police trooper from the Northampton barracks said a state police K-9 unit assisted Sunderland police with the initial search for Woishnis, who fled the scene of the party after the incident.

The Old Amherst Road apartment complex is located on a stretch of roadway between routes 47 and 116 in Sunderland.

Carey said Woishnis is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 7 for a pre-trial conference.

The worst unrest in London in decades saw buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps set alight, stores burglarized and police officers pelted with bottles and fireworks, as groups of young people rampaged through neighborhoods across the capital.

A car burns after it was set on fire by rioters in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011. Youths set fire to shops and vehicles in a host of areas of London _ which will host next summer's Olympic Games _ and clashed with police in the nation's central city of Birmingham, as authorities struggled to halt groups of rampaging young people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

By DAVID STRINGER & RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writers

LONDON (AP) — Violence and looting spread to new areas of London on Monday — and to a second major city — as shops and cars were set ablaze and authorities struggled to contain the spiraling disorder on a third night of rioting in Britain's capital, which will host next summer's Olympic Games.

The worst unrest in London in decades saw buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps set alight, stores burglarized and police officers pelted with bottles and fireworks, as groups of young people rampaged through neighborhoods across the capital.

Fire crews battled to control a raging blaze that swept through a 100-year-old family run furniture store in Croydon, in south London, and forced nearby homes to be evacuated.

In the nation's central city of Birmingham, dozens of people attacked shops in a main retail district — spreading the chaos beyond London for the first time since violence broke out on Saturday night.

As authorities struggled to keep pace with the unrest, Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his summer vacation in Italy and will convene a meeting of the government's crisis committee on Tuesday to toughen the response to the escalating violence.

It began late Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police's shooting of a suspect turned violent, leaving parts of the high street charred and its shops looted. But some have blamed the unrest on unemployment, insensitive policing and frustration across Britain over the government's austerity budget, which will bring deep cuts to social services and welfare payments.

A car, behind the taxi, burns after it was set on fire by rioters in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011. Youths set fire to shops and vehicles in a host of areas of London _ which will host next summer's Olympic Games _ and clashed with police in the nation's central city of Birmingham, as authorities struggled to halt groups of rampaging young people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

"There is significant disorder breaking out in a number of our communities across London," Tim Godwin, the acting London police commissioner said Monday, acknowledging that the 1,400 officers police deployed across London were struggling to halt the unrest.

Some residents called for police to deploy water canons to disperse rioters, or call on the military for support.

Witnesses in several neighborhoods said police were slow to respond as violence broke out in communities in the east and south of London previously untouched by the chaos, leaving young thugs free to set fires and steal from high street stores.

The small groups of youths — most with their heads and faces covered — used SMS messages, instant messaging on BlackBerry cell phones and social media such as Twitter to coordinate their attacks and outwit the police.

Once the preserve of businesspeople, BlackBerry handsets are popular with teenagers, thanks to their free, fast instant messaging system. Blackberry's manufacturer, Research in Motion, said in a statement that they were assisting authorities in their investigation and "feel for those impacted by the riots in London."

Police were also monitoring Twitter, and warned that those who posted messages inciting the violence could face arrest.

British police officers are deployed during riots in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011. Youths set fire to shops and vehicles in a host of areas of London _ which will host next summer's Olympic Games _ and clashed with police in the nation's central city of Birmingham, as authorities struggled to halt groups of rampaging young people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

In the Peckham district of south London, where a building was set ablaze along with a bus — which was not carrying passengers — onlookers said the scene resembled a conflict zone. Cars were torched in nearby Lewisham, and shops looted in south London's Clapham district.

"There's been tension for a long time. The kids aren't happy. They hate the police," said Matthew Yeoland, a 43-year-old teacher watching the unrest in Peckham. "It's like a war zone and the police weren't doing anything. There were too many people and not enough police."

In the Hackney area of east London, hundreds of youths attacked shops and set fire to cars. Hussain Sayem, a 25-year-old retail worker, said he had sympathy for London's stretched police. "How can the police handle it?" he said.

Violence broke out late Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when peaceful protest over the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, who was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday, turned violent.

Two police cars and a double-decker bus were set alight, stores were looted and several buildings along Tottenham's main street — five miles (eight kilometers) from the site of the 2012 Olympics — were reduced to smoldering shells.

Duggan's death stirred old animosities despite efforts by London police to build better relations with the city's ethnic communities after high profile cases of racism in recent decades.

Police say Duggan was shot dead when police from Operation Trident — the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community — stopped a cab he was riding in.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, said a "non-police firearm" was recovered at the scene, and media reports said a bullet had been found in an officer's radio.

However, the Guardian newspaper reported that the bullet in the radio was police-issue, indicating Duggan may not have fired at the officer.

Duggan's partner, Semone Wilson, insisted Monday that her fiance was not connected to gang violence and urged police to offer more information about his death. But she said the riots appeared to be no longer linked to the initial protests. "It got out of hand. It's not connected to this any more. This is out of control," she said.

Many Tottenham residents claimed that the looting was the work of greedy youths — rather than fueled by anti-police sentiments.

"It's nothing to do with the man who was shot, is it?" said 37-year-old Marcia Simmons, who has lived in the diverse and gritty north London neighborhood all her life. "A lot of youths ... heard there was a protest and joined in. Others used it as an opportunity to kit themselves out, didn't they, with shoes and T-shirts and everything."

As the unrest spread to the districts in the south and west London on Sunday, and to other neighborhoods on Monday, some pointed to rising social tensions in Britain as the government slashes 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending by 2015 to reduce the huge deficit, swollen after the country spent billions bailing out its foundering banks.

The past year has seen mass protests against the tripling of student tuition fees and cuts to public sector pensions. In November, December and March, small groups broke away from large marches in London to loot. In the most notorious episode, rioters attacked a Rolls-Royce carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to a charity concert.

However, the full impact of spending cuts has yet to be felt and the unemployment rate is stable — although it highest among youth, especially in areas like Tottenham, Hackney and Croydon.

Some locals insisted that joblessness was not to blame. "We are going to get people blaming the economy and what happened last week, but that's not the real reason this happened," said Brixton resident Marilyn Moseley, 49. "It's just an excuse for the young ones to come and rob shops."

Godwin urged communities to help clear the streets of people, and called on families to contact their children and ensure that they were not involved in the chaos.

Home Secretary Theresa May, the Cabinet minister responsible for policing, and London Mayor Boris Johnson also cut short summer vacations in an attempt to deal with the crisis.

May said 215 people had been arrested and 27 charged so far, including an 11-year-old boy accused of burglary. About 100 of those arrested were 21 or younger and 35 police officers had been injured in the violence, police said.

Police in the city of Birmingham, 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of London, confirmed that officers had arrested 35 people amid disorder across the city center, where shops were being vandalized.

In the south London neighborhood of Brixton — the scene of riots in the 1980s and 1990s — youths smashed windows, attacked a police car, set fire to garbage bins and stole video games, sportswear and other goods from stores on Sunday night.

Like Brixton, Tottenham is an impoverished area with an ethnically diverse population, a large black community and a history of unrest.

Tottenham was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the fatal stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others — and underscored tensions between London police and the capital's black community.

Johnson condemned the "utterly appalling" destruction caused by the riots. "People have lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods through mindless violence," he said in a statement.

For civic leaders and Olympic organizers, the violence was an unwelcome reminder of London's volatility, less than a year before the city hosts the 2012 Games.

The International Olympic Committee said it had confidence in British authorities.

"Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC," spokesman Mark Adams said. "It is, however, directly handled by the local authorities, as they know best what is appropriate and proportionate. We are confident they will do a good job in this domain."

Images of buildings and vehicles in flames broadcast around the world were poor publicity for the city as it prepares to host the games.

"You can imagine how stretched the police would be if this were to occur during the Olympics," said Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics. "So I think this will create a worry within City Hall and the Home Office."

___

Jill Lawless, Meera Selva, Stephen Wilson and Dancia Kirka contributed to this report.

Prosecutor said police did nothing wrong in getting identifications of Eric Denson in Conor Reynold's stabbing.

The Republican/Mark MurrayEric B. Denson, center, with defense lawyers Harry Miles and Bonnie Allen.

SPRINGFIELD – The first day of an expected week of hearings in the murder case against Eric B Denson, who is charged with stabbing Conor W. Reynolds, featured a lot of questions about clothing and hats, both style and color.

Denson’s defense team is asking Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis to throw out the identifications of Denson made by 12 people who were at the March 13, 2010, party at the Blue Fusion Bar and Grill on St. James Ave. where Reynolds was fatally stabbed.

Denson’s trial is slated to begin Oct. 3.

The defense contends police used a still photograph taken from a surveillance video from a nearby gas station and convenience store improperly, in a way that influenced the young people to finger Denson, 22, of Springfield, as the stabber, based on clothing.

Hampden District Attorney Mark M. Mastroianni, who is prosecuting the case, said police acted permissibly and responsibly in how they used the still photograph.

Both Mastroianni and defense lawyer Harry L. Miles said the still photograph does not show facial features, but does show a person with a red hat and dark jacket, as well as white shoes.

Mastroianni said the person in the gas station video is Denson.

Mastroianni said the stabbing happened in an overcrowded place in “a very quick, unanticipated way.”

He said a lot of people gave descriptions and some were different. He said details in common between some witnesses appeared to be clothing style and colors. He said “as in any case” witnesses give varied descriptions that “sometimes change and develop.”

Miles said to Velis in his opening statement in the hearings, “Nobody really saw the features of the individual who did the stabbing.”

Peter D’Amario, 19, who was a Cathedral High School classmate and friend of Reynolds, testified Monday he was beside Reynolds at the party, which was a birthday party for fellow Cathedral student Javaughn Griffin.

Mastroianni objected to questions by Miles about events leading up to the stabbing, but D’Amario was allowed to testify about a few of his own actions. He said he had nudged someone at the party with his foot because that person was talking to his girlfriend.

D’Amario said a woman began “screaming at us” and he nudged her away with his arm to her stomach.

Another Cathedral student was punched by someone who then left the party, D’Amario said.

D’Amario said “someone ran up and stabbed Conor” and the knife cut D’Amario’s arm as it swept downward. Denson is also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the injury to D’Amario.

D’Amario said Reynolds had had no interaction with the stabber.

After being treated at Baystate Medical Center D’Amario went to the Police Department. He was shown a photo array of eight black males, which included Denson. He selected a different photograph, not Denson, and said he was confident on a scale of eight out of ten it was the stabber.

Later that day detectives showed D’Amario the still photograph showing Denson walking past some gas pumps. D’Amario identified the man in the photograph, wearing a black jacket, as the stabber.

Miles asked D’Amario if seeing the still photograph was the reason he changed his initial description of the stabber’s hat color from black to red. D’Amario said it wasn’t the reason, he had just remembered the real hat color between the two police interviews.

The hearing began as family members of Denson sat on one side of the small courtroom and members of Reynolds family sat across the aisle.

By last week's deadline, just nine people were certified for the 2011 ballot for the eight ward seats on the City Council. Seven of them are incumbents.

View full sizeRepublican file photoIn this Republican file photo, Michaelann C. Bewsee, center, stands with two other supporters of representation on election day 2007. Four years later, Bewsee said the lack of candidates for ward seats on the City Council "isn't right."

SPRINGFIELD – Community activists said Monday they are disappointed that so few candidates emerged this year to run for eight ward seats on the City Council, and will strive to get a more crowded field in future elections.

By last week’s deadline, just nine people were certified for the 2011 ballot for the eight ward seats, including seven incumbent councilors. Just one ward councilor, John A. Lysak in Ward 8, has an opponent on the November ballot.

“It isn’t right,” said Michaelann C. Bewsee, who is a founding member of Arise for Social Justice, one of the organizations that pushed for ward representation. “A lot of people took out (nomination) papers, but didn’t follow through.”

In contrast, 30 people were on the ballot for the eight ward seats in 2009, the first year of the new ward representation system in Springfield.

“No matter how worthy a city councilor is, nobody deserves a free ticket to re-election,” said Gumersindo Gomez, executive director of the Puerto Rican Veteran’s Center, and a long-time advocate for ward representation. “This is not what we fought so long and hard for.”

Bewsee and other community activists said there will be an effort to engage and energize young leaders in the community to run for office in future local elections.

Two organizations, The Springfield Institute and MassVote, have agreed to help a coalition of local organizations in generating greater interest in the election process, Bewsee said.

The activists, including representatives of Arise and the NAACP, have a press conference scheduled today at 1 p.m., on the steps of City Hall, to talk about their plans.

Gumersindo Gomez

Arise was among plaintiffs that filed two federal voting rights lawsuits in 1997 and in 2005 in pursuit of ward representation.

Voters approved ward representation in 2007 after decades of debate, multiple rejections by the City Council, a petition drive, multiple nonbinding ballot questions, and the federal suits.

The system that was approved by voters created five at-large seats and eight ward seats, in place of nine at-large seats. The new system began with the 2009 election.

City Council President Jose F. Tosado, who pushed for ward representation, praised the current ward councilors, but said a basic premise for the new system “was to increase citizen participation and involvement in local government and the electoral process.”

“That has not happened,” Tosado said. “We must continue to advance that cause.”

Six ward councilors are unopposed on the ballot, and a seventh, Ward 6 Councilor Amaad I Rivera, chose to run for an at-large seat instead this year. There is one candidate for Ward 6, former School Committee member Kenneth Shea.

Bewsee said ward representation is already working to bring more racial and geographic diversity to the City Council. The goal of creating added interest and involvement from candidates, however, has not been achieved, she said.

Some factors that may have led to the small field for the ward seats might range from people being satisfied with the new incumbents, to some people being focused more on tornado recovery efforts.

But it also showed that more must be done to mentor and assist young leaders in the community, Bewsee said.

Thousands of Verizon landline workers took to picket lines Monday from Massachusetts to Virginia, fighting management demands for contract givebacks and disputing that their work is unprofitable.

Stephanie Steer, second from left, and fellow hotel workers join striking Verizon workers during a rally at Verizon's Chesapeake Complex in Silver Spring , Md., Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. Thousands of striking workers in Verizon Communication Inc.'s landline division joined picket lines and rallies Monday at company offices from Massachusetts to Virginia, a union official said. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Verizon Communication Inc. countered that its 45,000 unionized workers in the East should not expect the kind of compensation they were paid when the phone company was a monopoly — and when no one questioned whether a household needed a land line.

Analysts said the strike came at a key point in the evolution of telecommunications: the beginning of the demise of the ordinary wired home phone.

"Fewer and fewer people are using their traditional land lines," said Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics in Boston.

The company used managers to replace workers Monday, but said demonstrators at some offices had caused some service disruptions by keeping the managers from getting in; it did not provide details.

Verizon also said it was investigating several instances of possible sabotage by employees, including fiber-optic lines being cut. It said the damage affected phone, Internet and TV service in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

Union spokeswoman Candice Johnson said it was "a management tactic, rolling out the idea of sabotage." She said the union "does not condone illegal action of any kind."

Strikers claimed two demonstrators were hit by a replacement worker's car near Buffalo.

Johnson and company spokesman Richard Young said management and labor — the workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — met face-to-face on Monday in New York. They had no word on progress.

The contract expired at midnight Saturday.

Verizon Wireless, the non-union and much more profitable division of which Verizon owns 55 percent, was not affected by the strike. But the wireless operation was a focus of contention anyway.

The company said its "wireline" business, as opposed to wireless, had declined over the last decade both in customer base and profits.

Company spokesman Richard Young said the company wants to freeze the workers' pensions but is willing to enhance their 401k accounts. He said management is also demanding that workers contribute to their health insurance premiums.

Young said the workers' benefits "no longer reflect today's marketplace.'

"The phone company is not a monopoly anymore," he said. "There are dozens of competitors."

CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said its best-paid workers get about $77,000 a year in New York. The company puts the figure at $91,000 and said benefits average $50,000.

Johnson said Verizon is asking $20,000 per worker in annual concessions.

Strikers said it was wrong to separate them from the company's overall profitability — Young said it made $3 billion in the first half of this year — because they are the underpinnings of the profitable wireless sector.

Paula Lopez, 60, a customer service representative on a picket line in New York, acknowledged that fewer people used land line phones but said land lines were "the stepping stones and building blocks for wireless. ... That's where they got the money to start up the wireless."

"We built this company and we gave them the ability to have wireless," said Lori Speciale, vice president of IBEW 2214, on a picket line in Buffalo.

The company acknowledged that wireless is not totally independent of the landline workers and that FiOS cable TV, Internet and phone packages, which the strikers install and maintain, are profitable. But Young said the company could not ignore that the divisions the strikers work for were unprofitable overall.

Demonstrators also complained that the company was squeezing them when high-level executives were making millions.

Mark Maurer, a customer representative, said as he demonstrated in Garden City, N.Y., "What I find hard to understand is how the executive compensation could be so obscene in this day and age."

Young said executive pay was based on performance and had been approved by stockholders.

Analyst Entner said the problem is, "The company is half in trouble."

He said the loss of land lines is accelerating "and only with the introduction of FiOS has that been stemmed. The workers know that, but they also know their checks come from a big, profitable company.

"So we're in concession bargaining, with the company saying we need concessions or jobs will be lost and the workers doubting jobs will be lost because the company is doing all right," Entner said.

Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said the stakes were high enough for both sides that he doubted a strike of more than a week. Verizon's last strike, by 86,000 workers, lasted two weeks in 2000 and caused many repair delays.

"This kind of bargaining, with pensions and health insurance givebacks, is happening everywhere now," he said. "The union worries about opening the door on these things but they don't want a long strike."

AT&T Inc., the only U.S. phone company larger than Verizon, wrung some concessions from unions in 2009, when contracts covering about 90,000 workers expired. The negotiations ended without a strike, and with workers shouldering some premiums and co-payments for their health insurance.

A 19-month-old girl was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where she died Monday morning, according to Holyoke police. Her death is being investigated by city and state police.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE -- Authorities are investigating the death of a toddler who was the subject of an emergency medical call reported at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at 93 Jackson St., according to Holyoke police records.

The 19-month-old girl was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where she died Monday morning, Holyoke Police Lt. Matthew Moriarty said.

The toddler had visible wounds, including cuts and bruises, and police are investigating the cause of the injuries.

"Nobody's in custody at this time. It's still under investigation," Moriarty said Tuesday.

Holyoke detectives and Massachusetts State Police investigators assigned to the office of Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni are conducting the probe.

An official cause of death won't be known until an autopsy is performed by the state Medical Examiner's office. It was unclear when that might be completed.

More information will be posted on MassLive.com as details become available.

Gunfire reports early Tuesday followed a busy couple of days for Holyoke police, who are investigating a homicide and a suspicious death.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE -- City police received multiple gunfire reports early Tuesday, all of which emanated from the South Holyoke neighborhood.

"We've had several in the night," Holyoke Police Lt. Matthew Moriarty said, "but we've found nothing -- no victims, no shell casings."

The first incident was reported shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday in the vicinity of South Canal Street, followed by other calls in that area and the Adams Street area.

Officers searched the neighborhood repeatedly but were unable to turn up evidence of any shootings, Moriarty said.

An officer patrolling that section of the city also reported hearing gunfire, but police were unable to locate the source.

The reports followed a busy couple of days for Holyoke police, who continue to investigate Monday's suspicious death of a 19-month-old toddler and the stabbing death of a 24-year-old man.

The fatal Sargeant Street stabbing, reported at 8:39 a.m. Monday, is the city's third homicide in the past seven weeks.

Police received a report at 4:18 a.m. Tuesday of a home invasion on Loring Street, but a ranking Springfield officer was unable to immediately provide details.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD -- Police responded to a report of a possible home invasion on Loring Street in the city's South End around 4:18 a.m. Tuesday, but details were not immediately available.

Springfield Police Sgt. Jeffrey Martucci said he could not confirm if a home invasion had occurred.

"They're still working on it. I have no particulars (on the incident)," he said around 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Preliminary police reports indicated that the incident occurred in the 100 block of Loring Street, but officials were unable to immediately confirm an address.

It was unclear if a suspect was apprehended. Officers were searching sections of the South End for a man armed with a gun, according to initial police reports.

It took some time for police personnel to pinpoint the address of the report. Language barriers were cited.

Mario Lawrence-Gulley, 22, of West Haven, Conn., was charged with two counts of assault and battery, larceny and resisting arrest in connection with an incident reported around 2:20 a.m. Monday in Springfield's entertainment district.

Springfield Police DepartmentMario Lawrence-Gulley

SPRINGFIELD -- A Connecticut man was arrested early Monday in the city's entertainment district for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and her friend.

Mario Lawrence-Gulley, 22, of West Haven, was charged with two counts of assault and battery, larceny and resisting arrest in connection with the incident, which was reported around 2:20 a.m. Monday in the vicinity of Stearns Square, according to Springfield police.

Officers dispatched to a report of a disturbance encountered Lawrence-Gulley's girlfriend, who claimed her boyfriend assaulted her friend. When the girlfriend, who was not identified by police, came to her friend's aid, Lawrence-Gully assaulted her, too, according to Springfield Police Cdt. Melissa Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Rodriguez said the girlfriend claimed that Lawrence-Gulley punched her and knocked her to the ground, then continued to kick her before fleeing with her pocketbook.

She was transported to Baystate Medical Center for treatment of a possible broken arm, Roriguez said.

Meanwhile, Lawrence-Gulley was spotted moments after the alleged assault with his girlfriend's pocketbook near her vehicle. When officers attempted to take him into custody, Lawrence-Gulley began to resist, fight and shout obscenities, Rodriguez said.

Arraignment information was not immediately available.

Orlando Reyes, a 38-year-old homeless man, threw a rock through a window at the Shell gas station at 636 Main St., then reached in stole some items, according to police.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE -- Police arrested a city man in connection with an alleged smash-and-grab incident reported early Monday at the Shell gas station at 636 Main St.

Holyoke Police Lt. Matthew Moriarty said Orlando Reyes, a 38-year-old homeless man, threw a rock through a window at the station, then reached through the broken window and grabbed some items.

Police did not specify what was taken from the station, but Reyes cut his arm on broken window glass as he reached for the items, according to Moriarty.

"He was found in the area and subsequently arrested," the lieutenant said.

Reyes was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Holyoke District Court on charges of breaking and entering at night with intent to commit a felony, larceny from a building and malicious destruction of property valued at more than $250.

The roof has leaks in the kitchen area, the conference area, and every classroom in the lower wing.

SOUTH HADLEY – The roof of the Senior Center keeps popping new leaks, and town officials are stepping up efforts to get the $750,000 they need to fix it.

After a Community Development Block Grant failed to materialize by a narrow margin, South Hadley Town Planner Richard Harris and Town Administrator Paul Beecher enlisted the help of State Senator Stan Rosenberg and State Representative John Scibak to apply to the Block Grant’s Reserve Fund.

To lessen the sum requested, the town is also seeking permission from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to “reprogram” $250,000 from a grant originally designated for rehabilitation of a house on School Street.

The Senior Center roof has leaks in the kitchen area, the conference area, and every classroom in the lower wing, said Senior Center Director Joanne Trybus.

“It’s critical that it be taken care of,” said Harris.

“The leaks are causing damage to the interior,” said Trybus, “but we don’t want to make expensive interior repairs until the roof is fixed, so we try to make temporary adjustments.”

Stopgap and preventive measures have included barrels and buckets.

“We put a plastic barrier over our Meals on Wheels area, so we don’t get chips of paint falling down from the ceiling,” said Trybus.

In the past few months, a leak has formed over the walk-in refrigerator-freezer, which Trybus describes as “a very expensive piece of equipment.”

The town’s Department of Public Works does its part by cleaning out the drains to prevent blockages.

People have talked about getting a new Senior Center, said Trybus, but that doesn’t happen overnight. Besides, she said, the building on Dayton Street is “located in an ideal spot,” off Route 116.

The center serves about 600 people a week. “We’re a very active senior center, “ said Trybus. The building is 87 years old, and has served as a Senior Center since 1982.

An earlier grant paid for an engineer to examine the roof and make recommendations for repairing it.

No salary has been set for the position yet.

The Republican | Don TreegerKenneth Grew

LUDLOW – The School Committee in September will form a Search Committee to select a permanent school superintendent for the school district.

Meeting on Thursday, the School Committee decided to include three parents, three teachers, an administrator, a School Department employee, three community members, a student and a representative from either the Board of Selectmen or the Finance Committee on the Search Committee.

The School Committee plans to advertise for the superintendent position in November and hopes to come up with a final choice by March 8.

Community members will be asked to take an online survey on the Ludlow public schools website regarding the qualities they would like to see in a new superintendent.

School Committee members have agreed that a new school superintendent should have a master’s degree, with other advanced degrees preferred, five years teaching experience and administrative experience.

The new school superintendent is to receive a three-year contract.

A Search Committee will interview semi-finalists and bring three to five finalists before the School Committee to be interviewed publicly before a vote is taken.

School Committee members are still discussing the salary for a new school superintendent.

Consultant Pat Correira said the town of Palmer currently is advertising for a school superintendent and says it will pay between $125,000 and $140,000 for the position.

School Committee members will set a salary range for the position at either their August or September School Committee meeting.

A new superintendent will replace Kenneth J. Grew who is serving as interim superintendent for a year.

Grew replaced Theresa M. Kane in the position. Kane resigned to take a position as superintendent of the East Windsor, CT, public schools.

Correira told the School Committee that in the Berkshires some superintendents are paid $99,000, while on the South Shore of Massachusetts there are principals who are paid $130,000.

School Committee Chairwoman Maureen R. Gallagher was the sole committee member to vote against the change, calling it "back door politics" and a "done deal" before it even became a meeting agenda item.

PALMER - Seventh-graders will be able to play on some junior varsity high school sports teams this coming school year, but the decision was not without controversy at Wednesday's School Committee meeting.

School Committee Chairwoman Maureen R. Gallagher was the sole committee member to vote against the change, calling it "back door politics" and a "done deal" before it even became a meeting agenda item.

School Committee members James L. St. Amand, Robert Janasiewicz and Gary Blanchette voted in favor of the change; member David M. Lynch was absent.

Athletic Director Peter Farr said he applied for a waiver to allow seventh-graders on junior varsity teams because he was anticipating low numbers for certain fall sports, such as girls' field hockey, golf, and boys' soccer and cross-country. He said he may also apply for a waiver so the seventh-graders can participate on the boys' and girls' swim teams in the winter.

"The problem I have with this," Gallagher said, "is this pretty much is a done deal."

She said Farr filed an application for the waiver with the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference on May 27, and it was approved. She said she has a problem with the School Committee putting a "rubber stamp" on something that has already been approved, and questioned why it wasn't brought up at the committee's May meeting. She added that she first heard about the issue in the grocery store, when she was approached by a parent of a seventh-grader.

Farr explained that he is trying to keep "a balance of numbers" on the junior varsity teams, and said it's hard to have a soccer team with only 12 or 13 players. Gallagher said she is concerned about safety, and said she feels seventh-graders are too young to be playing on high school teams. Gallagher questioned the impact this would have on recreational soccer teams, something Farr said he couldn't answer.

St. Amand said if anyone should take blame for not bringing it forward sooner, it should be him, as it was discussed at an athletic subcommittee meeting, of which he is a member. Gallagher said the subcommittee cannot authorize anything, to which St. Amand responded, "Don't tell me about the law."

"I don't need you to lecture me . . . I've been on the board longer than you," St. Amand said.

St. Amand said there were other more pressing issues at the time, such as the superintendent leaving and the budget, and also was not sure when the deadline was for the application.

High School Principal Mary Lou Callahan defended the process, saying she felt "very strongly that it was not done in an underhanded way." She said girls' softball is another sport that lacks enough participants. Callahan said she signed off on Farr's initial request.

"You did not know what you signed . . . So you did not know what was really going on with this," Gallagher said.

Farr said his intention was "not to create this chaos, this dissention." St. Amand said he took offense about the insinuation that something underhanded occurred.

Gallagher said apparently there are some parents who are pushing for their middle school children to play at the high school level, and that's what precipitated the request.

Gallagher asked for the rosters for the sports, and also told Farr to come before the board if he wants to pursue a waiver for the winter sports.

"I'm not fond of having to do this either, but I'd rather have it available if needed," Blanchette said.

The Polish National Credit Union in Granby recently donated $2,000 to the project.

GRANBY – August is green beans month in Granby.

July was stuffing mix month, June was gravy month, and pie crust mix month is coming up in September.

The people who run the Community Thanksgiving Basket Project in Granby are trying a new month-by-month approach to making sure low-income families in Granby have a good holiday come November.

“It’s a really great program,” said Ann M. Guenette, director of Senior Services in Granby, of the Thanksgiving Basket Project.

The Senior Center collaborates on it every year with Immaculate Heart of Mary, Church of Christ Congregational, the Living Gate and First Presbytarian Churches, as well as the Granby schools and other members of the community.

When November comes around, volunteers deliver the Thanksgiving ingredients, plus frozen turkeys, to “about 150” low-income families and elders in Granby. The schools come into the picture because their social workers help locate Granby families that might need help.

The Polish National Credit Union in Granby recently donated $2,000 to the project, and PeoplesBank and Florence Savings have donated cloth bags, some insulated, in which the goodies will be delivered.

“We store everything here at the Senior Center,” said Guenette.

She said she had never heard of a town using a month-by-month approach before, but the Basket Project committee decided to try it instead of waiting until fall.

“People at that time of year are being asked to give in 10 different directions,” said Guenette. “In July, they might be better able to afford it.

Also, it gets the public thinking about hunger year-round, said Guenette.

Some may be surprised to hear that the hunger rate in Granby is higher in July than it is in November. People come to the regular food pantry at the Senior Center (separate from the Thanksgiving donations) in greater numbers in summer, she said Guenette.

That might be because children are out of school and don’t have access to a school cafeteria, she said.

Not all the food distributed at Thanksgiving is in nonperishable cans and boxes, said Guenette. Some fresh vegetables get donated along with the turkeys.

Pasquale's in East Longmeadow has 231 seats and 46 existing parking spaces.

East Longmeadow, Nov. 19, 2003 -- staff/ Michael S. Gordon -- Pasquale's Restaurant.

EAST LONGMEADOW – Patrons of Pasquale’s Ristorante who park in the Pride Plaza on North Main Street will soon see signs warning of towing if they continue to park there.

Robert Bolduc, the owner of the Pride Plaza, met with the Planning Board Tuesday to discuss parking violations on his lot.

Bolduc said he has constant problems with patrons of Pasquale’s parking their cars in his lot.

Michael Torcia, the owner of Pasquale’s, attended the meeting as well, but did not speak about the issue.

“I’m really just here to listen and see what the problem is,” he said.

Bolduc said he constantly has cars filling up the spaces meant for the patrons of the gas station and other shops in the plaza. Pasquale’s is on left side of Thompson Street, which divides the two properties.

Planning Board Chairman George C. Kingston said he believes this a problem that should be resolved between neighbors.

He suggested that Bolduc put up signs that warn customers that they will be towed if they park in the plaza. He told Torcia to put up a sign on his door warning customers as well.

Bolduc said he was hoping the issue would be resolved amicably without the need for signs.

“No one is going to be happy if they go in for dinner and they come back and their car is gone. And the police department is not going to be happy if they have to start dealing with this,” he said.

Pasquale’s was closed for close to two years and reopened in 2010. When they met with the board in March of 2010 it was decided that they would not require a special permit to operate the restaurant and that a site plan review would be enough. The parking spaces were calculated according to the seating. There are 231 seats and 46 existing parking spaces with five labeled on Thompson Street.

Bolduc said the parking spaces are not enough. He said he pays for the spaces on his lot and during busy times in the day he needs all of this spaces. The Pride Plaza has a gas station, Lux Boutique, JB’s Ice Cream and several other shops.

Bolduc said he will be posting the towing signs soon.

While she said it will be difficult to leave Holyoke, she is looking forward to working in Monson.

MONSON - Paula S. Fitzgerald is leaving her position at the Morgan School in Holyoke to become principal at Quarry Hill Community School here.

While she said it will be difficult to leave Holyoke – she lives in the city, and is a product of its schools – she is looking forward to working in Monson.

“I’ve heard very good things about Monson . . . There’s something appealing about K-4. That’s where the love of literacy begins,” Fitzgerald, 50, said. “I love Holyoke, but this is the opportunity for something a little bit different.”

Fitzgerald will start working in Monson on Sept. 1, but will be making appearances at the school before then. She has been at the Morgan School, which houses kindergarten through eighth grades, for three years; prior to that, she was the vice principal at E.N. White School. She also taught reading at the Dr. Marcella Kelly School.

She is familiar with challenges, as Morgan has been declared an underperforming school by the state, meaning student test scores have been too low. She said the school has been making progress.

Working in Monson will present a different kind of challenge, as the community is still in recovery and rebuilding mode after the June 1 tornado devastated parts of town. There are also homeless students, displaced from their homes.

Fitzgerald started her career in education as a teacher and reading coach. She got her bachelor’s in education from Elms College in Chicopee and certificate of advanced graduate studied in administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She said she always has loved helping children, so education was a natural choice for a career.

She followed in the footsteps of her mother and mentor, the late Mary Signet.

She said her mother taught in Holyoke schools for 39 years, most of the time at Kelly School.

“She always believed in us working hard,” said Fitzgerald, who has two sisters.

Fitzgerald said she is still in the midst of contract negotiations. She replaces Neil Gile, who left to take a principal job at Wolf Swamp School in Longmeadow.

Superintendent Patrice L. Dardenne announced Fitzgerald’s appointment at the Aug. 3 School Committee meeting, and also introduced her to the committee.

“She impressed all of us . . . We are very excited about her coming on board,” Dardenne said.

Fitzgerald will attend an open house at the school on Aug. 29 and will be on hand for the kindergarten orientation on Sept. 1.

Dardenne also noted that there is a vacancy in the high school assistant principal position, and he is in the process of trying to fill it.

The website has been part of the city's site almost since the Community Preservation Committee’s inception in 2005.

Voters in Northampton adopted the Community Preservation Act in 2005.

NORTHAMPTON – With the next round of funding coming up, the Community Preservation Committee is urging the public to reviews its comprehensive Web site.

The committee is charged with distributing funds collected under the authority of the Community Preservation Act, which Northampton voters adopted in 2005. The state act authorizes communities to collect revenues by imposing a surcharge of up to 3 percent on local property taxes. Northampton opted to exercise the maximum 3 percent.

At the time the city adopted the act, the state matched local funds 100 percent. Since then, the state match has dropped to 30 percent as more and more communities adopted the measure, stretching the state’s share thin. Community Preservation funds may be used only for affordable housing, conservation, historic preservation and recreation. Among the local beneficiaries are Forbes Library and Valley Community Development Corporation, which developed affordable housing. The city also tapped Community Preservation funds to buy former farmland it is turning into ballfields in Florence.

The website has been part of the city’s site almost since the Community Preservation Committee’s inception in 2005. It includes meeting schedules and agendas, application forms and eligibility requirements. Once applications are submitted, the committee posts them on the site so the public can review them in depth. Applications for the fall round of funding are due Sept. 6.

“People who are interested in the (Community Preservation Act) use it a lot,” said committee member William Breitbart. “If they want to apply for funding, it gives them the information they need to do that.”

A clickable map shows the locations of all projects that have received funds from the committee. There are also telephone numbers by which people can contacts board members and staff.

Some citizens are currently circulating a petition to rescind the law in Northampton. The groups, which is still gathering signatures, wants to place the question on the November ballot. City Councilor Eugene C. Tacy, who is facilitating the effort, said some residents are unhappy about some of the grants, specifically a $250,000 grant to Grow Food Northampton to help create a community gardens and $250,000 in Community Preservation money used to upgrade a boarding house on North Maple Street.

Supporters of the act say it has brought in money to fund a wealth of needs that would otherwise have gone unfilled. Despite the drop in matching funds, the state’s share has averaged 64 percent since 2005, according to the committee. Other beneficiaries of Community Preservation money include The Academy of Music, Forbes Library and Look Park .