"My reasons for running are simple. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs," Fountain said in a statement.

Joseph R. Fountain

SPRINGFIELD - Joseph R. Fountain, who has formally announced his candidacy for City Council, said his primary focus will be on helping to bring more jobs to Springfield.

“My reasons for running are simple. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs,” Fountain said in a statement. “We can talk about public safety, but if kids don’t have a job and the people they look up to and interact with don’t have jobs and the only people with money are criminals, no amount of police is going to help.”

Fountain, 38, of 30 Santa Barbara St., is running for an at-large seat on the council.

He is employed by the Springfield public schools as a substitute teacher and works as a consultant for minority-owned construction companies. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1998 and a master’s degree in special education in 2006, and has an administrative license as a superintendent / assistant superintendent, he said.

Fountain said he wants to increase jobs “by reducing costs of small businesses in Springfield by offering things like pool health insurance, reduced utility costs and low-interest loans,” while wanting those small companies to expand and hire a certain percentage of Springfield residents.

Fountain said he is most proud of his role in seeking ward representation, citing his role in initiating the first federal lawsuit for ward representation in 1993.

His priorities include creating the pool health insurance program for any small business that could reduce their costs; and creating a municipal power company that will sell natural gas, produce electricity, produce biodiesel fuel for home heating and place solar panel arrays.

He also proposes changing the major functions of the School Committee and school management to create great schools; creation of a “Grow Springfield 2030” program; and teaching teachers, administrators, police and policy makers how to be culturally competent.

Press secretary Jay Carney said that there's really no such thing as a presidential vacation since Obama will travel with his aides and receive regular briefings.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama, with his daughters Malia Obama and Sasha Obama, waves to a gathered crowd as they leave the Bunch of Grapes book store in Vineyard Haven, Mass., Friday, Aug. 20, 2010, where the first family was vacationing.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will vacation with his family in Martha's Vineyard at the end of this month as he's done in years past, the White House said Wednesday, despite the weak economy and negotiations on the nation's debt problem.

Press secretary Jay Carney defended Obama's plans to take a break even as he's pledged urgent action on those issues.

"I don't think Americans out there would begrudge that notion that the president would spend some time with his family," Carney said.

Carney added that there's really no such thing as a presidential vacation since Obama will travel with his aides, receive regular briefings on national security and the economy and be able to return to Washington if necessary.

"The presidency travels with you. He will be in constant communication," Carney said at the White House briefing.

Last August, the president, Michelle Obama and their two daughters spent 10 days at a rented farm on the wealthy island retreat in Massachusetts.

The accident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. near 98 Briggs St.

Dennis Leger / Springfield Fire Dept.Emergency personnel rescued a trapped bucket loader operator late Wednesday morning in Indian Orchard after live wires fell onto the bucket loader that he was operating. The man was not injured.

SPRINGFIELD – A man on Briggs Street in Indian Orchard, working to take down a tree, escaped injury late Wednesday morning when the falling tree brought live wires down onto the bucket loader that he was operating.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said the victim, one of two men working on the tree, remained inside the bucket-loader while firefighters cleared the immediate area and waited for Western Massachusetts Electric Co. personnel to de-energize the wires.

The accident occurred near 98 Briggs St. shortly before 11 a.m. Two homes lost power for a time because the falling tree took down their service lines, Leger said.

"What we need in Washington is leadership, not last-minute Larry," Murray told the State House News Service.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, left, is seen with U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown.

By KYLE CHENEY

BOSTON — Lt. Gov. Tim Murray sharpened the Democratic Party's attack on Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown on Wednesday, labeling him a "last-minute Larry" reluctant to lead on controversial issues as they move through Congress.

"What we need in Washington is leadership, not last-minute Larry," Murray told the News Service, repeating the phrase three times in an eight-minute interview.

Murray, who has frequently been the Patrick administration's point-man on transportation matters - and often played the role of attack dog for Gov. Deval Patrick during the 2010 reelection campaign - ripped Congress for failing to pass a long-term reauthorization of transportation funding, and noted he was particularly piqued by a recent letter from Brown to Patrick warning against hiking the state gas tax.

"I appreciate Senator Brown's interest in transportation here in the commonwealth but the fact of the matter is that for the past two years, they've been unable to pass the federal transportation reauthorization bill," Murray said. "The only way that's going to get passed is by these Scott-Brown self-proclaimed moderate Republicans to step forward and lead, not be a last-minute Larry, as he has been on a lot of these other issues. There's no issue that's more inextricably linked to job creation and creating jobs than transportation."

Murray also took aim at Brown's fleeting support for the budget offered by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan that would have resulted in a 30 percent cut in federal transportation aid to Massachusetts. Brown, Murray said, "should be stopping at the construction sites across Massachusetts and telling these guys he doesn't want them working anymore."

Murray's barbs for Brown, coming during an otherwise dormant time on Beacon Hill, come as national Democrats honed a similar line of attack against Gov. Mitt Romney, contending that the former Massachusetts chief executive wavered on controversial issues - like a plan to lift the national debt ceiling in exchange for major spending cuts - until after it was too late to impact the public dialogue. Romney is seeking the Republican nomination to run for president in 2012 while Brown is hoping fend off a Democratic challenger to win election to his first full-term in the U.S. Senate.

Both men have defended their records. Brown, in particular, has cast himself as moderate and thoughtful, weighing the pros and cons of issues before making a final judgment.

Brown's office declined to comment on Murray's attack, but Eric Fehrnstrom, Brown's political consultant, returned fire.

"It's been so long since we've heard anything from the lieutenant governor that I was beginning to think the office was vacant," said Fehrnstrom, who also works for Romney. "It's unfortunate that one of the few times he's chosen to speak up is to call for higher gas taxes. That will hurt Massachusetts families and make it harder to create jobs. Tim Murray's pro-tax and anti-jobs policies are bad medicine for a weak economy."

In July, Murray said Massachusetts should revisit a conversation about transportation financing and revenue and has said the gas tax is one of many options policymakers could look at to support the transportation system.

Asked last week whether he would reprise his proposal to raise the gas tax, which was almost immediately rejected by the Legislature in 2009 before lawmakers voted to raise the sales tax 25 percent, Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters, "You want me to just opine so that you can all go say that there's a secret plan to raise the gas tax?"

The governor then said he liked the gas tax as a revenue source because it provides direct funding for transportation. "Do we have a plan to raise the gas tax? No we do not. We are looking at all kinds of options for how we leave a sustainably financed system and we have to because that's part of the generational responsibility of this job," Patrick said.

In his letter to Patrick, Brown urged him to take a gas tax hike off the table. Brown said the Massachusetts gas tax is higher than the national average "and with budgets stretched to meet the rising cost of food and other expenses, a further increase in the price of gas would cause real hardship for families." He also noted Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned in April about the impact of higher gas prices on the economy and that President Obama "spoke out earlier this year against raising the federal gas tax."

Before proposing a 19-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax in 2009, Patrick rejected the idea as a candidate in 2006 and after his election that year, said a News Service interview that "relying for additional revenues on something we're trying to break our dependence on doesn't seem to me to be a formula for long-term success."

The clamor for additional sources of transportation funding in Massachusetts has grown in recent weeks as state officials have taken stock of the fact that Washington seems less likely to provide a consistently increasing pot of aid, and may implement deep cuts. Similarly, Big Dig debt has crowded out the capacity of the state highway system and the MBTA to chip away at a backlog of maintenance needs, and the 2009 sales tax hike proved insufficient, in the eyes of transportation officials, to fully support the state's transportation system: roads, rail, bridges, airports and maritime facilities.

Officials on a panel advising Transportation Secretary Jeff Mullan - who is departing next month for the private sector - suggested last month that Massachusetts is more dependent on federal transportation funding than most states. Asked whether the state should wean itself off federal transportation funding to become more independent, Murray pointed out that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue - virulent enemies on most issues - stood together earlier this year to ask policymakers to find new ways to finance transportation infrastructure.

"The federal government, in my mind, should do its part," Murray said. "If there's any issue that there should be bipartisan agreement - I mean, mother of god, you've got Richard Trumka and Tom Donohue standing together. They stood together saying we believe you need to continue to invest and find additional ways to invest in our transportation infrastructure, because it's jobs. It's jobs now and it's jobs in our future. We need it. The federal government should not be retreating on transportation funding.

Police found Henderson was in a stolen car only because he made a left turn without using his signal.

The Republican file photo

Embery Henderson

SPRINGFIELD - Police arrested a 20-year-old homeless man in the city’s South End at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday for larceny of a motor vehicle and other charges after a routine license-plate check revealed he was driving a car that turned out to be stolen from a Greenfield car dealership.

Embery Henderson was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, attaching false license plates, driving without a license, larceny under $250, failure to use a turn signal, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon: a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, according to police.

Officers Scott Richard and Matthew Rief spotted a gray Hyundai Genesis make a left from South Main Street onto Cross Street without using a signal. Before stopping the car, they ran the vehicle’s plate though the cruiser’s on-board computer and found the plate did not match the car, police said.

Police charge Henderson drove the Hyundai into the police cruiser and another vehicle on Cross Street, and then got out to run. He fought with Reif and Richard when they caught up with him and placed him in custody, police said.

The plate on the car was traced back to a woman in Greenfield, who told Springfield police that her car had been dropped off for repairs at Country Hyundai in Greenfield. When the dealership was contacted, it found the plate had been taken off the customer’s car, a laptop and the keys to several vehicles had been taken from the office, and a gray 2012 Hyundai Genesis was missing from the lot.

Henderson denied the charges at his arraignment Wednesday in Springfield District Court.

He is due back in court on Aug. 30 for a pre-trial conference. Bail was initially set at $10,000 cash, but it was revoked and Henderson ordered held after records show he was already out on bail for an unrelated court case.

The clean-up was tied to a hotel project that was supposed to be developed next to the Roundhouse.

File photo / The RepublicanThe Roundhouse parking lot is seen in 2008 during a hazardous waste cleanup.

NORTHAMPTON – The owner of the Roundhouse building is suing the former Bay State Gas Company for breaching its agreement to lease the building until it completes mediation work on the hazardous waste surrounding it.

Robert G. Curran, Jr., who owns the 15,348-square-foot building, filed suit in Hampshire Superior Court this week seeking $439,552 in rent he claims the gas company owes him. Bay State, now known as Columbia Gas, agreed to lease the Roundhouse while in the process of digging up toxic waste from the former Northampton Gas Works. Northampton Gas Works is no longer in existence, but Bay State Gas, it’s successor, is responsible for the buried coal waste it left behind. The Roundhouse was once the headquarters for Northampton Gas Works.

The clean-up was tied to a hotel project that was supposed to be developed next to the Roundhouse. Although that project ultimately fell through, Bay State Gas dug up the parking lot and removed most of the hazardous waste. On April 26, 2010, Bay State Gas notified Curran that its work was completed and that it would cease to lease the Roundhouse, according to the suit. However, the suit states that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a remediation order forcing the gas company to continue the clean-up until December of 2012.

The lease calls for Bay State to pay Curran $312,792 a year to lease the Roundhouse. Factoring in “additional rent,” Curran is demanding a total of $439,552, plus attorney’s fees. In addition to breach of lease, the suit alleges unfair and deceptive labor practices on the part of Bay State Gas Company.

Shiela Doiron, a spokeswoman for Bay State Gas, said she could not comment on the suit.

The Dow has lost more than 2,000 points in less than three weeks.

Associated Press photoSpecialist Stephen Steinthal works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 2,000 points in less than three weeks.

NEW YORK – Back to reality for the stock market – and back down.

Wall Street focused Wednesday on the bleak landscape ahead for the economy and sold off, wiping out the big gains from a day earlier and then some. The selling was intensified by worries about debt problems in Europe. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 519.83 points.

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve said it planned to keep interest rates ultra-low for two more years. After some initial confusion, the stock market staged a huge comeback and had one of its best days.

But the interest-rate news proved to be a distraction. The Fed made the pledge because it sees almost no chance that the economy will improve substantially by 2013, and when investors focused on that, they dumped stocks again.

“Now it gets back to the fundamentals,” said Mark Lamkin, founder of Lamkin Wealth Management, which manages $215 million.

The Dow closed at 10,719.94, down 4.6 percent for the day. By points, it was the ninth-steepest decline for the market. The Dow has lost more than 2,000 points in less than three weeks.

Wednesday was another day marked by big moves on the stock market. The Dow was down more than 300 points within minutes of the opening bell. It recovered some of that loss, then drifted steadily lower in the last two hours.

The market has traded that way for two weeks, lurching up and down. The most extreme example was Tuesday, when the Dow swung more than 600 points from a loss of 205 points to a gain of 429 points in the one hour and 45 minutes after the Fed’s statement.

The stomach-churning highs and lows are reminiscent of the fall of 2008, the depths of the financial crisis, when swings of 800 or even 1,000 points in day were not unheard of.

The S&P 500 finished the day down 51.77 points, or 4.4 percent, to 1,120.76. The Nasdaq composite index is down 101.47 points, or 4.1 percent, to 2,381.05.

Gold rose above $1,800 per ounce for the first time as more money poured into investments considered safe at a volatile time for the financial markets. Gold closed up, $41.30, to $1,784.30 per ounce. Just 10 days ago, gold was $1621.70 per ounce.

The 10-year Treasury note, which has also served as a haven, also rose sharply. Its yield fell to 2.11 percent from 2.26 percent late Tuesday. It had reached a record low of 2.03 percent on Tuesday. A bond’s yield falls when its price rises.

Investors have bought U.S. government debt even after S&P stripped the United States of its top credit rating, AAA, late last week.

On top of concerns about the U.S. economy, Wall Street’s attention is still on Europe. Investors there are worried that Italy and Spain may be the next countries unable to repay their debts.

The European financial system has been battered by fears about banks’ holdings of bonds issued by heavily indebted countries such as Greece and Portugal. This week, there have been additional concerns about banks’ exposure to other banks.

“It’s the same game of Old Maid playing out in Europe that was played out here during the subprime mortgage crisis,” said Quincy Krosby, an economist and market strategist with Prudential Financial.

In Asia, the concern is that higher inflation in China could lead to slower growth. China, Brazil and other less-developed countries have provided the strongest economic growth since the world began to recover from recession in 2009.

Police and fire firefighters are on the scene of a serious accident at Lovefield and O'Neil streets involving a tractor-trailer and at least one car.

View full sizeRepublican staff photo by Don TreegerEasthampton firefighters inspect the remains of a truck that caught fire following a Wednesday afternoon car accident in Easthampton. The crumpled front end of a car involved in the crash can be see in the background behind one of the fire trucks.

View full sizeSubmitted photoThe view from the Manhan Rail Trail facing south shows a tractor-trailer on fire at Lovefield and O'Neil streets.

Easthampton police said they did not have any information available for the press about the number of vehicles involved or any injuries.

Firefighters from Easthampton and Northampton responded after the tractor trailer caught on fire.

Police have blocked off traffic at the far ends of Lovefield and O'Neil streets and are detouring traffic along other routes.

The accident was reported at about 4:30 p.m.

The accident scene is where Lovefield Street meets O'Neil Street along a portion of the adjacent Manhan Rail Trail merges with the road.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

View Larger Map

The board deliberated for more than an hour an initially voted to offer the job to Christopher Lindquist of the Westfield Athenaeum.

File photo by Cori UrbanSharron Sharry is seen at the Greenfield Public Library in 2009.

AMHERST - After more than an hour of discussion and two votes, the Jones Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to offer the library director’s position to Sharon Sharry from the Greenfield Public Library.

The search committee in a three to two vote had recommended the hiring of Christopher Lindquist from the Westfield Athenaeum.
The board voted first to offer him the position but the Board of Trustees were divided. After further discussion the board voted to unanimously offer it to Sharry.
In her report Sara McKee, chairwoman of the Search Committee and president of the trustees wrote, “The Library is indeed fortunate in having two such highly qualified candidates.”

Six among the nearly two dozen who attended Tuesday night’s trustee meeting spoke in favor of hiring Sharry before the vote because of her enthusiasm and her ability to inspire.

The search committee received 100 hard-copy responses to the candidates at the staff meetings and public presentations, plus online responses either from those attending the presentations or those who had watched on television. Sharry received mostly favorable comments. But according to the report “staff reaction to Mr. Lindquist’s public presentation was almost uniformly negative.”

But McKee had said,
“Public presentations are not the whole of it. Christopher Lindquist was asking those hard questions. I want a director. Amherst Town Meeting and the Finance Committee are very interested (that the library plan.)

“There is still an immense amount of work to do in planning Financial Planning is a huge piece of that. He’s got his programmatic budget set three years in advance. I don’t see that kind of planning mentality (in Sharry.)”

The Jones Library has a $2.19 million annual budget and circulates more than any other library in Western Massachusetts, according to the library budget report. Longtime library director Bonnie J. Isman retired Dec. 10 after 30 years.

Tevis Kimball, curator of special collections, has been acting director. Besides McKee and Kimball, the search committee included trustee Austin Sarat; Tony A. Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce; Lucy McMurrer, president of the Friends of the Jones Library, and Matthew Berube of the Jones library staff.

The stop was one of many during Brown’s statewide jobs tour.

U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown, of Wrentham, is seen at The Notch Visitors Center in Amherst Wednesday. Here, Brown, left, sets off on a hike with Andrew Falender of Lincoln, president of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and others.

AMHERST - Massachusetts' junior senator, Scott P. Brown was invited to the Notch Visitors Center Wednesday by the Appalachian Mountain Club to hike and that’s what he did, even though he was greeted by dozens of people waving signs and a chorus of shouts for jobs and taxing the rich.

The stop was one of many during Brown’s statewide jobs tour. Earlier in the day he was in Pittsfield meeting with business leaders at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce.

Brown was joined on the hike by environmentalists from private land trusts, and state and federal agencies. He led the way up Bare Mountain, almost racing to the top. A few with signs hiked as well, most waited for the senator to return to the bottom of the mountain, which he did about an hour later.

He field questions on top of the mountain and later on the bottom. “We have some challenges, we got into this mess long before I got there,” he said. The problems will not be solved overnight, he said.

“They picked some good people for the commission, I’m encouraged by that.” Sen. Harry Reid, majority leader, Tuesday named Patty Murray, D-Washington, Max Baucus, Montana and John Kerry, D-Mass. as part of the 12 member so-called “super committee” charged with coming up with $1.5 trillion or more in budget savings over the coming decade.

Brown still however, opposes raising taxes “in the middle of a 2 1/2 year recession.”

Raising taxes “are a job killer.” And he said “the President hasn’t been pushing tax cuts.” He later repeated that “taxing the rich is not a proposal that’s before us.”

He wants to hear what the budget committee comes up with. The committee, which must be named by Tuesday, is to report to Congress by Nov. 23.

He believes that climbing from the economic doldrums will only happen with jobs that come with “economic security for businesses.” He said “the down grade was a shock,” referring to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ last week. “It will encourage us to get things moving.”

He said with Congress’ approval rating of about 14 percent “it’s going to take a lot of work to establish trust (with the American people.)”

But he said the bi-partisan support for President Barack Obama’s proposal that would give tax credits to businesses who hire unemployed veterans “shows we can work together.”

But those holding signs reading “Save the American Dream” and “Healthcare not Warfare” disagreed with Brown’s approach to the budget.

“If you want to heal America, you tax Wall Street, you have to tax the rich,” said Leo Malley, associate director/ Region 1 Community Organizer with the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Peter Ramos of Florence addressed Brown from a wheelchair before Brown started the hike. He asked Brown if he knew about Stavros and the agency that helps people with disabilities. Brown said he did not. Ramos said the program helps “thousands of people live decent lives.”

Stavros wanted Brown to know about the importance of Medicaid and want Brown’s support.

Brown was invited to hike by the mountain club because they wanted to thank him for his support for the environment and show off the area’s resources.

Brown believes resources like the New England National Scenic Trail help bring in businesses as well as tourism. Supporting the environment “these are bipartisan issues, it’s a no-brainer.. Looking around, he said “We have incredible natural resources.”

The tractor trailer caught fire following the accident, and firefighters from Easthampton and Northampton were called to put out the flames.

View full sizeRepublican staff photo by Don TreegerEasthampton firefighters inspect the remains of a truck that caught fire following a Wednesday afternoon car accident in Easthampton. The crumpled front end of a car involved in the crash can be see in the background behind one of the fire trucks.

View full sizeSubmitted photoThe view from the Manhan Rail Trail facing south shows a tractor-trailer on fire at Lovefield and O'Neil streets.

This is an update of a story that was originally posted at 4:58 p.m.

Easthampton – Two people were killed in a fiery crash between a car and a tractor trailer at Lovefield and O’Neil streets Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The accident happened at about 4:30 p.m. The tractor trailer caught fire following the accident, and firefighters from Easthampton and Northampton were called to put out the flames.

Easthampton police were at the scene of the accident Wednesday night investigating the accident. A police spokesman said they were expected to be there until at least 9 p.m.

The office of Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan confirmed Wednesday that the two occupants of the car were killed Their names were not released to the press.

No other information was available.

Easthampton Police Chief Bruce McMahon, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, said the deceased were a man and a woman, and they were thrown several feet from their convertible sedan upon impact with the truck.

The driver of the truck declined medical treatment at the scene. His name was also not released, McMahon told the Gazette.

The accident scene is where Lovefield Street meets O'Neil Street along where a portion of the adjacent Manhan Rail Trail merges with the road.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

View Larger Map

The closures of 12 courthouses would reportedly save $3.4 million a year and allow the redeployment of 300 judges and other staff.

File photo by Mark M. MurrayRobert A. Mulligan, chief justice of the Trial Courts of Massachusetts, is seen at an editorial board meeting of The Republican two years ago.

BOSTON - The state’s top administrative judge submitted a report to key legislators on Wednesday, providing a required 90 days notification of previously-announced plans to close a dozen of the state’s courthouses including Westfield District Court.

The 16-page report, mandated under a state law, would allow leaders of the Trial Court to begin the closures in mid-November. Operations and staff in the courthouses would be relocated to other courts.

Judge Robert A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management, said the closures would save $3.4 million a year in lease and operational costs and allow the redeployment of 300 judges and staff to fill significant personnel shortages at other courthouses. Mulligan said the $3.4 million is equal to the annual costs for 85 clerical workers. He estimated one-time costs of the closures at $1.1 million.

Mulligan said he is asking legislators to approve an additional $32 million for this fiscal year, though there is no bill yet to accomplish that. Mulligan said that money would primarily be used to prevent hundreds of layoffs of court employees and to lift a hiring freeze.

“We're still going to have to close courthouses,” Mulligan said in an interview. “Even in the best of fiscal times, we can't maintain 101 courthouses.”

The report painted a picture of a state with an excessive number of courthouses. Massachusetts has 101 court buildings, compared with 60 in New Hampshire, 45 in
Connecticut, 59 in Maryland and six in Rhode Island, the report said.

Mulligan declined comment on the sequence of the closures, but he said Westfield would be among the more complicated. He said a maximum of six courthouses could be closed this fiscal year.

According to the report, the operations of Westfield District would be consolidated into district courts in Chicopee, Holyoke and in Great Barrington. The 26 employees at Westfield District would be assigned to different courts. Westfield District serves nine cities and towns including Agawam and Westfield.

Westfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant said Wednesday there are many unanswered questions about the planned closure and a tremendous amount of anxiety among employees.

Contant said he expected the closure report would be submitted. Trial Court leaders announced the planned court closures on July 12 but had not given the required three months legal notice until Wednesday.

Contant said the closure of Westfield District would have “horrible results” for access to justice and would increase costs for cities and towns partly because police would need more time to drive farther for court appearances. He called for court leaders to hold a public hearing on the plan in Western Massachusetts.

“I'm still hoping we can be spared here in Westfield somehow,” Contant said.

Mulligan said the court system is hurt by a tremendous budget shortfall that has caused the loss of 1,141 employees, including 250 court officers, through retirements and attrition since July 2007. The Trial Courts currently have 6,488 employees.

The budget for the Trial Courts for the fiscal year that started July 1 is $509 million, down $96 million from $605 million in July 2008, Mulligan said.

Mulligan said a "very expensive" lease for Westfield District is one reason it is being targeted for closure. The state pays $710,500 a year in rent for Westfield District Court on a lease that expires on Dec. 31.

Mulligan said any savings from the planned closures would preserve jobs in the Trial Courts.

“My mantra has been 'Employees before leases,' " Mulligan said.

The closures, recommended by a court relocation committee, would also include district courts in Brookline, Hingham, Gloucester, Leominster, Westboro, Wareham and the Charlestown section of Boston.

truTV plans to show the six-month-old trial each day for 8 days, a network official said.

Republican file photoJanuary 14, 2011 - Springfield - Republican staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - Edward B. Fleury, right, meets the media after a jury in Hampden Superior Court Friday afternoon found him not guilty on one count of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of furnishing machine guns to minors stemming from an October 2008 machine gun show he organized where Christopher Bizilj, 8, of Ashford, Ct. was accidentally killed by a Micro Uzi he was shooting. With him are his lawyers, Rosemary Curran Scapicchio, left, and Amy L. Codagnone, center.

SPRINGFIELD - The cable network truTV announced that it plans to show in its entirety the manslaughter trial of Edward B. Fleury beginning Thursday at 9 a.m.

Fleury, the former police chief of Pelham, was acquitted on Jan.11 on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj, who accidentally shot at a machine gun expo in Westfield organized by Fleury.

The network will broadcast the trial each weekday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The broadcast is expected to take eight days. The trial in real time from opening arguments to Fleury's acquittal lasted nearly two weeks.

truTV specializes in reality programing, including courtroom trials, police chases and undercover police stings.

The owner of Yes Computers in Northampton says the tax-free weekend is bigger than Christmas.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanDaniel L. Evans, salesman at Manny's TV and Appliance at 1872 Boston Road WILBRAHAM, looks over one of the many TV's that will be up available for this weekend tax free holiday.

SPRINGFIELD – Whether it’s a MacBook Pro for college, a new refrigerator or a leaf blower for the backyard, if it’s expensive and people figure they’ll need it for fall it will be selling big this weekend during the state’s sales tax holiday.

“The tax free weekend has grown into our biggest sales weekend by far, surpassing Christmas many fold,” said Mark Wineburg, owner of Yes Computers, an independently owned but authorized Apple computer store on Pleasant Street in Northampton. “All our staff works. We have lines out the door. Everyone’s inner libertarian comes out.”

Most Apple computers retail for more than $1,000, Wineburg said.

“So people feel they are getting a pretty good deal,” he said.

Daniel J. D’Arcy, owner of All Power in Granby, said he’s had people come in already to pick things out at the dealership which sells outdoor power equipment, including lawnmowers, generators, dirt bikes, motorcycles and generators.

“It really helps us,” D’Arcy said. “I think it does create a few new sales, not just making people who would buy anyway come in on that day. There are some sales you just wouldn’t get.”

Massachusetts’ tax free weekend runs Saturday and Sunday. There will be no 6.25 percent sales tax collected on sales of items costing $2,500 or less. There are exceptions. Sales tax will still be charged on all motor vehicles, motorboats, meals, telecommunications services, gas, steam, electricity and tobacco products.

D’Arcy said he’s had to remind customers that motorcycles and motorboats are still taxed. Small outboards, those costing less than $2,500, are tax-free and he expects to sell a few of those.

Also leaf blowers. After all, ‘tis the season, D’Arcy said. The 6.25 percent sales tax on alcohol is no longer in effect having fallen to a voter referendum.

Last year, when the alcohol tax was still in play and the weekend meant big business for package stores, the state estimates that the weekend cost it $19.9 million in uncollected revenue. Neighboring Connecticut will have a tax free week from Aug. 21 through Aug. 27. Shoppers there will have one week to buy items of clothing and footwear costing under $300 without paying Connecticut sales tax.

Daniel L. Evans, a salesman at Manny’s TV and Appliances in Wilbraham, said the tax holiday has a peculiar impact on the consumer psyche.

“It’s 6.25 percent. We can run a 20 percent off sale and people won’t even blink,” he said. “But this weekend they say ‘If I can get the government, that’s good enough.’”

Manny’s is also running sales and discounts during the tax break.

Wineburg said the tax free weekend also draws people who would normally buy a computer online to avoid the sales tax. Those are the customers he’s working to win over to his store which has a staff of 12.

“They now have a personal connection with the people helping them with their technology choices,” he said. “And the money stays locally. I pay my staff. My staff spends the money locally. I pay my expenses here at the store and that money helps the economy. Everybody benefits.”

Lorenz said he’s retiring because he had a stroke in 2009. It’s not that business is bad.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanThe Don Lorenz General Motors dealership in Greenfield, seen here, is scheduled to close later this month.

GREENFIELD – Don Lorenz Inc. Buick and GMC is scheduled to close Aug. 29 after 57 years, making it the latest in a long line of family owned dealerships to fall in the last few years.

The building and the car franchises have been sold, owner Steven N. Lorenz said Wednesday. He can’t reveal the buyer of the dealership site at 369 Federal St. and there were no records on file at the Franklin County Registry of Deeds.

Lorenz also said he’s sold the new-car franchises back to General Motors. A General Motors spokesman didn’t know Wednesday whether those Buick and GMC franchises will reopen in the Greenfield area.

Lorenz said he’s retiring because he had a stroke in 2009. It’s not that business is bad.

“I can’t do what I used to do,” he said. “In this business it’s not unusual to work 11-, 12-hour days. I’m only working three or four hours a day.”

The dealership has 12 employees left and many of them already have job offers elsewhere.

The former Lorenz Honda, also in Greenfield, was sold last year.

Lorenz’s father, Don, started the business in 1954 selling new Buicks a few blocks south on Federal Street. Over the years, the family added Oldsmobile, GMC Truck, Pontiac and Cadillac.

But GM contracted. It closed the Pontiac and Oldsmobile brands entirely and in 2009 pulled all three Cadillac dealerships in the Pioneer Valley as part of a wider strategy to close 1,300 of the 6,000 dealers it had when it was forced to seek federal bankruptcy protection.

GM’s cuts were just part of an industry-wide contraction. Massachusetts had 470 dealerships in 2009 and just 404 as of Jan. 1, 2011, according to statistics provided by the National Automobile Dealers Association. Nationally, the number of dealerships has fallen from 22,500 in 2000 to 21,200 in 2009 and 17,600 as of Aug. 2.

Orr Cadillac in Springfield closed in 2010 after having been in business since 1921. Fedor Pontiac in Easthampton closed in 2010.

Suburban Chevrolet in Southwick closed in 2008.

In 2010, Medeiros Williams Chevrolet in Wilbraham converted to a used-car only dealership and gave up its Chevrolet franchise.

In Chicopee, Bob Pion Buick GMC was in danger of losing its GM franchises before getting reinstated in 2010.

Topor Dodge in Chicopee closed in 2010, selling its Dodge franchise to Bertera which moved it to West Springfield.

There have been expansions, too. Sarat Ford in Agawam bought Northampton Ford, renaming it Ford of Northampton. Balise Motor Sales opened new buildings in West Springfield for its Honda and Lexus brands.

Curry Honda in Chicopee has broken ground on a $4.5 million new Honda building and has plans to build a new Nissan dealership building.

Donald F. Pion, owner of Bob Pion Buick GMC, said high unemployment has many people delaying new car purchases. The up-and-down stock market doesn’t help, either.

“That being said, business is OK,” Pion said.

One of four police officers disciplined for the incident has filed an application for a criminal complaint against Tyrisha Greene. Watch video

This is a Springfield Police Department booking photo of Melvin Jones III taken after he was allegedly beaten by four police officers last year.

SPRINGFIELD – The amateur videographer with the colorful vocabulary who memorialized the alleged 2009 police beating of Melvin Jones III during a traffic stop may be charged with illegal wiretapping.

One of four police officers disciplined for the incident on Nov. 27, 2009, Michael Sedergren, has filed an application for a criminal complaint against videographer Tyrisha Greene. Sedergren, who was suspended for 45 days, claims it was illegal for Greene to videotape him without his consent.

Greene made a 20-minute film that included Jones, who is black, being struck repeatedly by a white officer with a flashlight while a group of other white officers stood by without intervening. The video also included an expletive-filled commentary by Greene, 29, who sounded alarmed by the scene that unfolded on Rifle Street.

Police reports were that Jones, who had a criminal record, grabbed one of the officers’ guns as they tried to arrest him. Jones disputed this and a Hampden County grand jury rejected allegations that Jones behaved aggressively toward police. Medical records show bones all over his face were broken and he was partially blinded in one eye.

The officer at the center of the controversy is now-retired patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, a lightning rod when he was on the police force with a past history of allegations of police brutality.

Asher was fired from the police force a day after he received a disability pension from the state. He also faces criminal charges in Chicopee District Court; his trial is pending.

Three other officers, including Sedergren, were disciplined in connection with the incident. Sedergren did not appeal his suspension but filed his own complaint against Greene in District Court in late July, alleging improper interception of wire and oral communication.

A so-called “show cause” hearing during which a clerk-magistrate will vet the alleged evidence against Greene is scheduled for Aug. 17 in Chicopee District Court.

Greene has been a reluctant witness, according to court records, and could not be reached for comment. However, her lawyer, Daniel D. Kelly, said Sedergren sought the complaint under a state law aimed at organized crime-fighting tactics.

“Even a cursory review of the law would show that the Legislature took the time to insert a preamble into the statute showing that it is specifically aimed at organized crime prosecutions,” Kelly said. The law specifically prohibits secret audiotaping without a person’s consent.

Police Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Sedergren filed the complaint personally, not on behalf of the Police Department. “If officer Sedergren feels his rights were violated under the law then he has the opportunity to make his case in court, just like everyone else,” Delaney said.

A lawyer for Jones – who was charged with shoplifting, domestic battery and drug trafficking on separate occasions since the 2009 incident – contends Sedergren can be heard on Greene’s videotape calling Jones a racial expletive.

“They’re really just trying to intimidate and silence her, but whether she’s charged or not (the tape) can still be used in court,” said attorney Shawn P. Allyn, who represents Jones in a civil rights lawsuit against the police in U.S. District Court.

Ann Lambert, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Boston office, said although the ACLU opposes a “big brother” society, the law is designed to combat secret audiotaping of conversations, not amateur videographers, which are rampant.

“Just the fact that you’re unaware of it doesn’t make it illegal,” Lambert said. “It doesn’t sound like there was anything secret about it at all.”

District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni this year charged patrolman Derek V. Cook with illegal wiretapping in connection with taping a station-house fight after which he was charged with assaulting two superiors. He pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a police officer, and, in a plea-bargained agreement, the wiretapping charge was dropped last month.

The longest-serving governor in Texas history has flirted with a presidential run since spring and has spent the past few months courting Republicans in early voting states.

Associated Press In this Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011 file photo, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at a national prayer rally in Houston.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry is running for president, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, a move certain to shake up the race for the GOP nomination much to the delight of conservatives looking for a candidate to embrace.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the governor would make his intentions known on Saturday while visiting South Carolina and New Hampshire just as most of his presidential rivals compete in a test vote in Iowa.

Official word of Perry's entrance into the race came just hours before eight candidates, including GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, were to appear on stage during a nationally televised debate.

It wasn't much of a surprise. The longest-serving governor in Texas history has flirted with a presidential run since spring and has spent the past few months courting Republicans in early voting states and laying the groundwork for a campaign. He met privately with potential donors from California to New York and gave rabblerousing speeches to party faithful, casting himself as a fiscally responsible social conservative.

His intentions became even clearer over the past few days when officials disclosed that he would visit an important trio of states, a campaign-like schedule timed to overshadow the debate and the Iowa straw poll and, perhaps, wreak havoc on a field led by Romney.

Unlike others in the race, Perry has credibility with the at-times warring camps of the GOP's primary electorate. The pro-business tax-cutter who has presided over Texas' recent economic growth also is a devout social conservative with deep ties to some of the nation's evangelical leaders and Christians who dominate the pivotal Iowa caucuses.

But Perry also has never run a national campaign before, and it's unclear whether his Texas swagger and contemplation of state secession will sit well with GOP primary voters outside his state. Also an open question is whether he can raise the money necessary to mount a strong campaign against those who have been in the race for months or more.

He also may face fierce opposition from secular groups and progressives who argue that his religious rhetoric violates the separation of church and state and that his belief that some groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, should be allowed to discriminate against gays is bigoted.

Within the Republican Party, Perry has enemies among moderates who question his understanding of national and international policy, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who ran against him for governor in a bitter 2010 primary race.

An early adopter of tea party rhetoric, Perry even has some opponents in the movement. They complain he hasn't taken strong enough stances on state spending and illegal immigration, in part because as governor Perry signed a law making Texas the first state to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and blasted a proposed border fence as "idiocy."

But before he starts pumping up supporters and wooing detractors, Perry will need to raise name recognition outside of Texas and conservative circles along with funds to fill a presidential campaign coffer. None of the money he's raised for Texas elections can be used in a national race, so he is starting from scratch.

The governor lags well behind previously announced candidates in both campaign workers and fundraising, mostly because he denied any interest in the presidency until late May. But the story he tells of having no interest in higher office until friends and family persuaded him to join the race adds to his carefully cultivated image as a Texas cowboy reluctantly riding into Washington to save the day.

The campaign will attempt to position Perry between the moderate Romney and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a tea party favorite.

Perry, who has been governor for 11 years, has touted his business-friendly job-creation skills in Texas as evidence of fiscal wisdom, giving him a chance to drain support from Romney, whose conservative record is burdened by the health care plan he implemented as governor of Massachusetts.

Social conservatives already support Perry in equal numbers to Bachmann, who never has held an executive office and who some Republicans consider too far right to beat President Barack Obama.

In polls conducted before he joined the race, Perry was in a statistical tie with Bachmann and within striking distance of Romney.

A career politician with 27 years in elected office, Perry calls his economic track record in Texas a model for the country, arguing that low taxes, little regulation and tough lawsuit restrictions help create jobs and attract business. Texas has fared better than most states during the Great Recession, though it has the highest rate of uninsured residents and among the poorest populations in the country.

Perry is a full-throated critic of both Democratic and Republican politics in Washington, advocating a weaker federal government with smaller entitlement programs and greater states' rights. He recently signed a pledge to cut spending, place a cap on future government expenses and balance the budget.

When asked during one of the first tea party rallies in Austin in April 2009 about a pre-Civil War clause that allowed Texas to secede from the Union, Perry said that if current federal government overreach continued, Texas could consider secession again.

The Texas governor's office, however, is the weakest in the nation. Voters elect top state executives and all judges, and the Legislature drafts the state budget and sets its own agenda. The veto is the only real power the Texas governor has other than appointing people to lesser government offices.

Democrats will highlight what they say are Perry's extreme right-wing beliefs, such as opposing the national income tax and the direct election of U.S. senators. States' rights is one of Perry's biggest issues, and he has said individual Legislatures should decide matters such as gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana. Those stances could draw conservative opposition — unlike his well-known love of guns.

Perry last year told an Associated Press reporter that he carries a laser-sighted pistol while jogging, and that he used it to shoot a coyote that threatened his daughter's dog that came along one day for a run. Texans touted what they called a heroic act, and gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. issued a "Coyote Special" edition of its Ruger .380-caliber pistol complete with "A True Texan" emblazoned on the side.

How such stories play on a national stage could determine whether Perry can secure the GOP nomination. He'll also have to prove he has the skill to put on a national campaign.

While Perry looks good on television and gives fiery speeches, he is less disciplined in one-on-one encounters where he has made comments like the once about secession. He also did not fare well during the one debate he agreed to in his 2010 gubernatorial race, appearing awkward while repeating talking points rather than engaging the other candidates.

Shea said he did not see Reynold’s fatal stabbing at the club because he was hitting a person who hit his friend James Dowd, who had stepped in to quell a fight between Peter D’Amario and another man.

Eric Denson

SPRINGFIELD – Michael Shea said Thursday after he saw his friend Conor W. Reynolds bleeding, he saw someone running past him and gave chase.

Shea said he did not see Reynold’s fatal stabbing at a March 2010 party at the Blue Fusion club because he was hitting a person who hit his friend James Dowd, who had stepped in to quell a fight between Peter D’Amario and another man.

D’Amario, a Cathedral classmate and friend of Reynolds, previously testified he nudged a man with his foot because the man was talking to his girlfriend and that’s when the sequence of trouble began.

Shea, 19, took the stand on the fourth day of hearings in the murder case against Eric Denson, 22, of Springfield, who is charged with killing 17-year-old Reynolds, the Cathedral High School soccer standout.

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. Denson’s trial is slated for Oct. 3.

Shea said he joined with Dowd and another friend Kemo William, in chasing the man he first saw running, and another man who was with him, to the Racing Mart parking lot near the club. Shea did not say why they stopped following the men and left the Racing Mart, but Dowd testified previously one man lifted up his shirt and he thought the man was indicating he had a gun.

Shea described the man he saw running in the club as the having a red hat and black jacket on.

The defense contends police used a still photograph of Denson from the Racing Mart surveillance tape to improperly influence the 12 witnesses to identify Denson as the assailant based on clothing alone.

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

Shea said he was shown a group of photographs of eight men and could not identify anyone. Denson’s picture was in the group.

He was later shown the still photograph from the Racing Mart and said the man in the red hat and black jacket in the image was the one he chased.

Mastroianni has said one of the the two men in the still photograph is Denson. He said police, from the video, got the license of a car Denson got into, and the car’s operator confirmed he picked up Denson in that car at the Racing Mart.

Also on the stand Thursday was Springfield Police Sgt. Roy Carter, who produced the still photograph from the Racing Mart video.

Defense lawyer Harry L. Miles showed Carter other video footage from several of the store and gas station surveillance cameras bearing images of men dressed in red hats and dark clothing.

He asked Carter why he didn’t print still photos of those men.

Carter said he was told by detectives to search the video for a small time frame, which matched the time frame when Shea and Dowd said they saw the man in the red hat at the Racing Mart.

Carter said the other men in red hats and dark jackets were among the crowd milling around after the shooting.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Friday.

The Dow plunged 634 points Monday, soared 429 points Tuesday, and dove 519 points Wednesday.

Associated Press photoEdward Radziewicz, right, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

NEW YORK — Wall Street's wildest week since 2008 careened into another 400-plus point move for the Dow on Thursday. This time, stocks shot up after investors saw small signs that the economy might not be headed into another recession.

Fewer Americans joined the unemployment line last week, and a technology bellwether said revenue could grow faster this quarter than analysts expected. The news pushed prices on long-term Treasurys down, and gold fell from its record high.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 423.37 points.

During a calm market, such a large move would rank as the Dow's biggest in months. For this volatile week, it's more than 100 points off the average. The Dow plunged 634 points Monday, soared 429 points Tuesday, and dove 519 points Wednesday. It's the first time the Dow has ever had four straight 400-point days.

Carlton Neel, who manages about $2 billion as a senior portfolio manager at Virtus Investment Partners, said investors are so scared of being the last one out of the market in a downturn or the last one in during a rally that they are stampeding in herds, creating more volatility.

"Fear tends to be a much more powerful emotion, and the sell-offs tend to be more violent than the rallies," he said. "But people are worried about missing the bottom, so you will have a few melt-ups along the way." That's because memories of the last meltdown in 2008 are still fresh in the mind of many investors.

In October 2008, the Dow had four days of 400-point plus gains and four days of similar losses. That includes a 936-point surge on Oct. 13 after European central banks pledged more aid to banks and the U.S. Treasury offered details about its plan for U.S. banks. Two days later, a report showed retail sales had fallen more than anticipated and the Dow dropped 733 points.

On Friday, the government will say how much people spent at retailers during July. Economists expect a 0.4 percent rise in retail sales, according to FactSet.

This week's ricocheting is reminiscent of 2008, when the financial crisis battered stocks. The last time the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose or fell by 4 percent in four straight trading days, as it has just done, was Nov. 19, 2008 through Nov. 24, 2008, according to Kevin Pleines, an analyst at Birinyi Associates. It's only the third time since 1934. October 1987, including the day known as Black Monday when the S&P plunged more than 20 percent, was the first instance.

The Dow climbed 3.9 percent Thursday, to 11,143.31 The S&P 500 rose 51.88, or 4.6 percent, to 1,172.64. The Nasdaq rose 111.63, or 4.7 percent, to 2,492.68.

The surge came after the government said the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell to 395,000 last week, down 7,000 from a week earlier. It's the first time the number has dropped below 400,000 in four months.

Analysts said it may be a sign that the job market is slowly improving after its three-month slump. Job growth slowed to an average of 72,000 in May, June and July. In the previous three months, employers added 215,000 jobs per month, on average.

"It's the first scrap of economic data we've had recently that says the idea that we're going into another recession may be overdone," Neel said.

In the last few weeks, investors have grown more worried about the economy. The government said last month that it grew at its slowest pace in the first half of 2011 since the recession ended in 2009. Unemployment is still above 9 percent.

Technology stocks helped lead stocks higher. Cisco Systems Inc.'s profit for the latest quarter topped analysts' expectations. Cisco is considered a bellwether for the tech industry because it is the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment. The company also said revenue may grow more quickly in the current quarter than analysts were anticipating. Cisco soared 16 percent. As a group, tech stocks in the S&P 500 rose 4.5 percent.

Financial stocks also rebounded from their steep drop Wednesday, up 6.3 percent after a 7.1 percent drop a day earlier.

Media conglomerate News Corp., which owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, rose 18.1 percent. Its earnings, reported late Wednesday, were stronger than analysts expected.

Department store chain Kohl's Corp. rose 7.2 percent after it said profit rose 17 percent last quarter on stronger sales of store-label brands.

In recent weeks, investors largely ignored the strong profits that companies have reported since July. Of the 452 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported second-quarter results so far, total earnings are up 12 percent.

Investors have been more focused on worries about the weak U.S. economy and Europe's debt problems.

The leaders of France and Germany, the biggest Eurozone economies, said they will meet next week to talk about how to solve the region's financial difficulties. Worries that the continent's debt problems could hurt the banks that own European government bonds have weighed heavily on financial stocks and the broader market. Pain for European banks could lead to more trouble for the U.S. banking industry and the economy because global financial firms are so closely linked.

Reports also circulated Thursday that European officials were considering a temporary ban on selling stocks short, which is a way that traders bet a stock will fall.

Rumors have been a force driving the market in the last week. On Friday, speculation that Standard & Poor's may downgrade the U.S. from its top AAA credit rating helped knock down stocks. It turned out to be correct.

This week, the scuttlebutt has centered on European banks, French ones in particular. The head of France's central bank said Thursday that the country's banks are solid, and he blamed "unfounded rumors" for big drops in their stocks.

Prices for longer-term Treasurys fell, as investors felt less need to put their money in investments considered safe. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.33 percent from 2.11 percent late Wednesday. A bond's yield rises when its price falls.

Investors had been pouring money into Treasurys earlier in the week, briefly knocking the 10-year note's yield to a record low of 2.03 percent Tuesday. Treasurys have held onto their reputation as a safe place to put money even after S&P cut the U.S. credit rating to AA+ last Friday.

Gold fell $32.80 per ounce to $1,751.50 Thursday. It had rocketed above $1,801 per ounce for the first time on Wednesday as stock markets tumbled around the world.

CME Group raised the amount of money that investors must put up to buy a gold contract on its COMEX exchange by 22 percent late Wednesday.

The Vix index, a measure of investor fear, fell 9 percent to below 40. The index shows how worried investors are that the S&P 500 will drop over the next 30 days. It does that by measuring prices for stock options that investors buy to help protect their portfolios. The Vix is still more than double where it was in early July and remains up 22 percent for the week.

The Dow's climb on Thursday pulls the average further away from bear market territory: The Dow is now 13 percent below its high for the year, reached on April 29. A drop of 20 percent would mean the bull market that began in March 2009 has turned into a bear, a period of stock declines.

All three major U.S. stock indexes are still down between 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent for the week. For the year, the Dow is down 3.8 percent, the S&P is down 6.8 percent and the Nasdaq is down 6 percent.

Joseph O'Malley, who owns Xteme Paintball on Main Street, is accused of doing unauthorized earth moving in a wetlands area near the Westfield River.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 1:02 this afternoon.

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AGAWAM – Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced Thursday a grand jury has returned indictments on three charges stemming from the breaching of a sewer line here March 18. That sent 720,000 gallons of raw sewage into wetlands in the part of the community near the Westfield River known as the Meadows.

Mastroianni, in a press release issued Thursday, stated that Joseph O’Malley, who owns Xtreme Paintball at 369 Main St., used an excavator in wetlands on property not owned by him and bordering his business. O’Malley will be summoned to Hampden County Superior Court for arraignment within the next two weeks, according to Mastoianni’s office. He will be arraigned on charges of unlawful altering of bordering land subject to flooding, discharge of pollutants and injury to real or personal property.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Christopher J. Golba said the property in question may be accessed through 147 Meadow St. It is within 500 yards of the Westfield River in the area known locally as the Meadows. He said he does not know who owns the property.

Meanwhile, Mayor Richard A. Cohen said Thursday that it cost $138,065 to correct the breaching of the sewer line. However, the mayor pledged that the work will not cost the city’s taxpayers anything.

“My greatest concern was to protect the taxpayers of the Town of Agawam. They will not pay for the expenses incurred from this incident and I will continue to aggressively pursue all involved for complete resolution,” the mayor stated in a press release issued by his office.

O’Malley struck a sewer line, damaging it, causing sewage to leak onto the ground, according to the statement.

O’Malley then left the excavator, which sank into mud and became stuck, without notifying anyone of the damage he had done, the release states.

He allegedly worked in wetlands without permission or appropriate approval to prevent water runoff from the land flowing onto this property. Under the Wetlands Protection Act, local conservation commissions set conditions for any work done within 100 feet of a wetland.

Mastroianni stated that when the matter came to light the next day, 720,000 gallons of raw sewage had accumulated on the ground.

The Agawam Police Department, staff from the Wetlands and Waterways program of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s western regional office investigated.

O’Malley, 30, of West Brookfield violated sections of the Wetlands Protection Act, the Massachusetts Clean Water Act and did damage to city property in violation of the law.

He could not be reached for comment. The business certificate for Xtreme Paintball on file in the town clerk’s office lists O’Malley as the concern’s owner with an address of 153 Shea Road in West Brookfield. Xtreme Paintball’s Web site states its hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.