Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says of Obama: "He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."

Associated PressAfter posing for a photo summer school kids help President Barack Obama to his feet, Monday, Aug. 15, 2011, in Chatfield, Minn., outside the George H. Potter Audirorium during his three-day economic bus tour.

WASHINGTON — Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Republicans must decide whether they're going to "swear allegiance to the tea party" or work with Democrats to create jobs.

Gibbs, who now advises President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, tells NBC's "Today" show Congress should "pay attention to creating jobs again."

He also suggested that some Republicans "do not want to see this economy get better" because they know continuing misery will likely improve their election prospects.

Gibbs says Obama favors a number of moves to help businesses step up hiring. He says "the president is not focused on keeping his job, most of all. He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."

The former White House spokesman also says that Congress likely will be asked to continue payroll tax relief.

The lawmakers are worried that their colleagues might approve expanded gambling legislation that favors Native American tribes in their region.

By KYLE CHENEY
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON — Worried that their colleagues might approve expanded gambling legislation that favors Native American tribes in their region, southeastern Massachusetts lawmakers are urging Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders to pass a bill with "no strings attached."

"We thought it was important to communicate at this stage to all to the parties that are having discussions on the issue that if the proposal is going to be three regional resort casino locations, the southeastern Mass location should not have any string attached," Rep. Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford) said in a phone interview. "All three locations should be treated equally and all three of them should be competitive through a process of whoever has the best proposal."

Cabral and four other Democrats from the region - Rep. Robert Koczera of New Bedford, Rep. Kevin Aguiar of Fall River, Rep. Christopher Markey of Dartmouth and Rep. Paul Schmid of Westport - signed a letter late last month to the governor, Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Therese Murray and the lawmakers chairing the economic development committee asking that they ensure "competitive bidding in an open and fair process" for the right to operate a casino.

"It's obviously an issue we have to deal with," said Aguiar said in a phone interview.

DeLeo and Murray have indicated that they anticipate debate next month on expanded gambling legislation and lawmakers are waiting to see details of the legislation that will be put on the House floor.

Lawmakers backed a proposal last year to sanction three resort casinos and two slot parlors at state racetracks, but Gov. Deval Patrick effectively killed the plan when he moved to reject the slot parlors, calling them "no-bid contracts" for wealthy track owners. The bill would have divided the state into three regions and permitted one casino in each. Region 1 included Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex and Worcester Counties; Region 2 included Norfolk Bristol Plymouth, Nantucket, Dukes and Barnstable Counties; and Region 3 included Hampshire, Hampden Franklin and Berkshire Counties.

Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which has actively sought approval to run a casino, pending the receipt of land in trust from the federal government, argued that a Native American-run casino would provide "great benefit to all of Southeastern Massachusetts."

"Our resort casino in Southeastern Massachusetts will be an easy commute for residents of both Fall River and New Bedford. We will employ many of the people in these two great cities who are currently looking for work, both in construction jobs as well as in good, permanent jobs operating the resort casino and associated businesses," Cromwell said in a statement to the News Service. "We plan to take a comprehensive, regional approach, working with local businesses to promote travel and tourism and other economic development throughout the region. In addition to negotiating a contract with the Commonwealth that will guarantee revenue from our casino operations, we will negotiate an intergovernmental agreement with the municipality where our resort casino will be located, ensuring much-needed funding for schools, public safety, and infrastructure, among other things."

Cromwell described the tribe's 12,000-year history on the land that now makes up the southeastern part of the state, and he noted that because the tribe is federally recognized, it has "certain rights to conduct gaming in our ancestral homeland."

"Our proposal is to work cooperatively with the Commonwealth and the good people of this region to ensure that we maximize the jobs and revenue that will directly benefit the people who live here," he said. "We look forward to the passage of an expanded gaming bill this fall, and to getting to work on this great project for Southeastern Massachusetts."

The five lawmakers who signed the letter wrote that "providing for a Native American preference for obtaining a casino license would incur significant risk for the Commonwealth." The predicted "years of litigation" and the triggering of the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act "which would limit the revenue potential that a state license would otherwise offer and cede regulatory control to the federal government."

"The people of Southeastern Massachusetts, in particular, have worked for decades to bring gaming to our region," the lawmakers wrote. "It would be a terrible irony to finally open those opportunities to the Commonwealth, but simultaneously handicap Southeastern Massachusetts' ability to quickly take advantage of them."

“Ultimate Antarctica” will showcase the work of award-winning photographers Dan Mead and Sally Eagle from Sept. 6 to Oct. 31.

View full sizeDan Mead and Sally EagleA female elephant seal featured in Dan Mead and Sally Eagle's photo exhibit "Ultimate Antarctica."

EASTHAMPTON – Pictures of toddling penguins, smiling seals and majestic glaciers will line the walls of the Grubbs Gallery at Williston Northampton School as part of an exhibit featuring Antarctic wildlife and landscapes.

“Ultimate Antarctica” will showcase the work of award-winning photographers Dan Mead and Sally Eagle from Sept. 6 to Oct. 31. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 25, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

They took the photos during a 24-day trip to the frozen continent in 2009. For more than 35 years, the Great Barrington couple have traveled all over the world and photographed every continent together.

A press release from Williston said that even though many of the species in the exhibit are endangered, the point of the show is not to document their decline, but to celebrate Antarctica’s biodiversity.

The exhibit’s written foreword says Mead and Eagle traveled to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, the Antarctic peninsula and the mainland to “capture the dramatic landscape and its endearing wildlife, to convey a sense for the character and scale of these places and species, so that we may feel some semblance of what it’s like to experience them.”

“The educational value of the exhibit is similar to all the exhibits in the Grubbs Gallery – it is an accessible venue for our students, as well as the public, to experience all forms of contemporary art,” said curator Marcia Reed in an email. “I thought their pieces were powerful and intriguing so I selected them to exhibit.”

The couple could not be reached for comment. A Williston spokesperson said they were traveling.

Mead was a clinical social worker and Eagle was the first Executive Director of the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation in Sheffield. Their photos have been displayed in galleries worldwide, including in Spain, Brazil and Australia.

Their photograph “Sand Sprinters” shows ostriches in the Namibian desert. It was displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and won a “Highly Commended Award” in a BBC/London Natural History Museum contest in 2008.

The “Ultimate Antarctica” exhibit is free and open to the public. The Grubbs Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and selected Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The GOP presidential candidate said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be committing a "treasonous" act if he decided to "print more money to boost the economy."

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Aug. 15, 2011.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Rick Perry's red-hot rhetoric -- well known in Texas -- is on full display in his presidential campaign.

While visiting Iowa, the GOP presidential candidate said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be committing a "treasonous" act if he decided to "print more money to boost the economy." Perry said if Bernanke did that "we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."

Perry also said he would be a president who is "passionate about America — that's in love with America." Asked whether he was suggesting that President Barack Obama didn't love his country, Perry said: "You need to ask him."

Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs hit back, raising Perry's past comments about Texas secession and suggested he might be inclined to stoke falsehoods about the president's birthplace.

Prosecutor said Brittany Perez never put herself in harm's way.

Daniel Horne

SPRINGFIELD – Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder said Tuesday to lose a child at any time “is of course a traumatic event that causes suffering.”

“But to have your child indiscriminately gunned down in your own home – the sanctuary of your own home, in your presence, is by any measure an unspeakable horror,” he said.

Kinder spoke those words at the sentencing of Daniel Horne, found guilty Monday by a jury of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Brittany M. Perez nearly two years ago.

“Time will never heal those wounds. And the defendant, of course, must be held accountable for that tragedy,” Kinder said.

Kinder had no choice in sentencing Horne, 28, of Springfield on the second-degree murder conviction, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

A defendant can apply for parole after serving 15 years of the sentence.

The jury also convicted Horne of three illegal firearm charges. Defense lawyer Andrew M. Klyman asked Kinder to not add any extra time for those crimes, saying Horne was “deserving of a small measure of mercy.”

Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato asked for an additional 4½ to 5 years for one of the gun charges.

Kinder sentenced Horne to a 3-5-year state prison sentence on one of the gun charges, saying the murder life sentence starts after the gun sentence. That would delay Horne’s ability to ask for parole.

Donato said unlike many victims in such cases, Perez “did not put herself in harm’s way” and had no involvement in illegal or dangerous activities.

“Brittany Perez was gunned down in front of her family for no reason but a stolen TV,” she said.

The prosecution said Horne shot up to 6 bullets into Perez’s 55 Wilmont St. home because he thought someone in the home had something to do with stealing a television.

Four of those bullets fired Oct. 18, 2009, hit Perez, and one went into her brain.

Bobbie Jo Maynard, Perez’s mother, sobbed as she talked to Kinder. “She was everything to me. She was a real good girl. No matter what troubles, she was always happy. She was never sad. She brought a wonderful son into the world.”

“To take her away from me like this, I can’t believe it....My daughter is not replaceable,” she said.

Maynard said Brittany’s son, 14 months old at the time of his mother’s death, refers to her as mom. “I’m his grandmother not his mother, he needs his mother there. I don’t even know what to tell him when he gets older,” she said.

Bryana Lee Mercaelo, Perez's sister, wrote a statement for Kinder: “On Oct. 18, 2009, I was living on 55 Wilmont Street and I was only 12 years old and I saw my sister, Brittany Marie Perez, get shot. It was one of the worst things someone can ever go through. Ever since that day, I really can’t sleep and I wake up crying and wishing my sister was still here.”

Franky Perez, Brittany’s father, talked to the judge as he sat beside Maynard at the prosecution table. He said his daughter became a mother at a young age and embraced every day of every moment she became a mother.

He said, “She had that smile that brightened that rainy day, the smile that changed the frown on someone.”

At Perez’ funeral, hundreds of mourners recalled her as a shy, earnest student and a devoted mother.

Perez had been advancing through a teen parenting program at the YMCA of Greater Springfield, was poised to earn her GED diploma and had her eye on a nursing career, according to her teachers.

Klyman asked Kinder to see Horne, whose family and friends were in court, as more than just a person convicted in this case. He said Horne has two children, is a high school graduate who has taken college courses, and worked at a number of jobs as a store clerk.

Horne had only one past conviction, for assault and battery, Klyman said.

Westfield's election season is underway and a preliminary election, if needed, will be held Sept. 27.

WESTFIELD - The Planning Board has endorsed new regulations governing the placement and use of lawn signs -- particularly political signs -- and will send them to the City Council for consideration at the council's Aug. 18 meeting.

The request for the review and adoption of new regulations was prompted by freshman City Councilor David A. Flaherty as he prepared to launch his re-election campaign, which included new signs.

The councilor said he will ask City Council approval of the regulations at the Aug. 18 meeting. The Planning Board and City Council have each held public hearings on the rules and there was not public opposition.

Flaherty said one question remains concerning the size of signs. He originally suggested a 10-foot maximum but said Wednesday that is expected to change to "substantially smaller, probably three or five feet in size."

Regulations will restrict candidates or causes to the placement of one sign per residential lot throughout the city, and signs will not be permitted on public property including road sides. Signs will not be displayed on buildings except headquarters of candidates or organizations sponsoring the sign. Signs cannot contain moving parts, shall not be illuminated and shall not obstruct view by motorists and of traffic control signals.

A time restriction will also be in place, preventing the placement of signs more than three months before an election or event and removal will be required within three days following an election or event.

Westfield's election season is underway and a preliminary election, if needed, will be held Sept. 27. The general election will be held Nov. 8.

11-year-old Caroline Gonzalez won a contest meant to get young people interested in municipal government.

Associated PressJustin Bieber accepts the Do Something music artist award at the Do Something Awards on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011, in Los Angeles.

FORNEY, Texas — The 11-year-old "mayor for a day" of a Dallas-area city knows what her first major act in office will be: Renaming part of Main Street for teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.

A temporary sign for "Justin Bieber Way" will go up today during a ceremony in Forney, Texas.

City Manager Brian Brooks says the request came from 11-year-old Caroline Gonzalez. She won a contest meant to get young people interested in municipal government. She’s active in student council, recycling and community service projects.

Brooks says city officials weren’t able to reach Bieber to invite him to Forney, which is about 15 miles east of Dallas.

The tween politician’s act won’t cost the community much. Officials say the sign was made for about $20.

Chaclas told police they fled their approach because they smelled a skunk.

From left, Juan Figueroa and Jessica Chaclas in photos provided by Springfield Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD – A 25-year-old Wilbraham woman, arrested on heroin charges early Tuesday in the South End, told police officers that she fled their approach because she smelled a skunk and didn’t want to get sprayed.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said police officers spotted the woman, along with a 36-year-old Springfield man, standing at the corner of Locust and Acushnet streets and talking with motorists who drove up to them.

Officers Jose Canini and Daniel Huard suspected the couple were dealing drugs and when they moved closer, the couple ran towards Mill Street. The officers then saw the male hand something to the female who in turn stuffed it into her bra, Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.

When Jessica Chaclas, 25, of 327 Stony Hill Road told police they had been fleeing a skunk, the officers didn’t believe her and summoned a female officer to search her. That search netted 37 bags of heroin packaged for sale, Delaney said.

Chaclas and Juan Figueroa, 36, of 21 Rutledge St., were charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and violation of a drug-free school zone (Mill River Park).

The letter from Louis Hasbrouck to Robert Hodgkins cites a July 27 violation of the board’s cease and desist order.

File photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanKeith Harmon Snow, left, and Robert Hodgkins, right, Williamsburg neighbors, are seen in Northampton District Court in December. Snow was seeking relief from the court for the frequent sounds of gun fire coming from the adjacent property owned by Hodgkins.

WILLIAMSBURG – The zoning enforcement officer has found the owners of a shooting range at 74 Village Hill Road in violation of a zoning board ruling and order them to stop firing automatic weapons there or risk fines and penalties.

The letter from Louis Hasbrouck to Robert C. Hodgkins cites a July 27 violation of the board’s cease and desist order. Specifically, Hasbrouck said the number of rounds fired that day, the duration of the shooting and the use of the explosive Tannerite all exceed the patterns of use of the range prior to 2003. The zoning board had ordered that the use of the range revert to the level of activity in that year.

In addition, Hasbrouck wrote that the automatic weapons used on July 27 were likely manufactured after May 18, 1986 and thus could only be used commercially, another violation of the zoning board’s order.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

Hayes allegedly stole $12 from a donation can for the Jimmy Fund.

An Athol man who stole a Jimmy Fund collection can from the town police station must serve a year’s sentence at the Franklin County House of Correction.

Orange District Court Judge David Ross found John Hayes, 37, guilty on Monday of larceny under $250 in connection with the Sept. 22 theft of approximately $12. The Jimmy Fund was founded in 1948 to raise funds for cancer patient care and research for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The judge was shown a videotape of Hayes bringing the can into a police station restroom and emerging some time later without it.

The prosecutor in the case, assistant Northwestern district attorney Beth Lux, told Ross, “As a breast cancer survivor, I am particularly mindful of the seriousness of stealing from a fund that supports research and cancer care. I hope this sentence teaches Mr. Hayes’s 13-year-old son, who was present at the time of the theft, that stealing is wrong and will not be tolerated.”

Defense lawyer Rachel Weber argued that there was insufficient evidence tying her client to the North Street break-in.

File photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanJudge W. Michael Goggins is seen in Northampton District Court earlier this year.

NORTHAMPTON – A Northampton District Court judge ordered Yaazziel Q. Rivera held without right to bail Tuesday, ruling that the suspect in a North Street assault is too dangerous to release.

Rivera, 18, of Amherst is accused of breaking into the 42 North Street home of Donna Cavanaugh, beating her about the face and threatening to kill her while trying to rob the home in the early hours of Aug. 10. Cavanugh, who said she did not know Rivera, suffered facial fracturer from the assault.

Rivera was arraigned on Aug. 12 and pleaded innocent to the charges. However, a judge scheduled Tuesday’s dangerousness hearing for him in lieu of setting bail. At the hearing, Northampton police Det. Timothy Satkowski testified that Cavanaugh told him she had gotten out of bed to use the bathroom when an intruder hit her in the head, knocking her to the floor. After her assailant struck her several more times, he demaned to know if there was any more money in the house, Satkowski said. The intruder then said, “Don’t get up or I’ll kill you,” according to Satkowski

Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Michael Russo played Judge W. Michael Goggins a 911 tape in which an apparently terrified Cavanugh told a dispatched of the incident and said she didn’t feel safe in her home. Police arrived as Cavanugh was on the phone.

Detective Cory Robinson said police connected Rivera to the crime through statements made by a resident at a 129 Pleasant St. rooming house. The woman told police that Rivera, whom she identified as “Chris,” had been at her apartment prior to the North Street incident and returned at 12:30 p.m., shortly after it took place. She reported that Rivera seemed nervous and edgy, Robinson said, and changed his clothes in her room. At first, Rivera told the woman he had broken into a house, but then changed his story to say he had broken into a car, Robinson said.

The woman observed Rivera take some cash out and counted $66, according to Robinson. Cavanugh had reported that $67 was missing from her home. Later, the Pleasant Street resident told police that Rivera answered “I know” when she told him she’d heard that a home had been broken into.

Greenfield police officer Richard Brook also testified at the hearing that he reposnded to a report of a break-in the previous month at an apartment in Greenfield occupied by Rivera’s father. The father told Brook he suspected his son “Chris.” The elder Rivera showed Brook a computer that was on when he returned to the apartment from vacation. Yaazziel Rivera’s Facebook page was open and there were messages indicating that Rivera was trying to fence the stolen goods, according to Brook. The father told police he had asked his son to leave his house because he was abusing drugs and alcohol.

Defense lawyer Rachel Weber argued that there was insufficient evidence tying her client to the North Street break-in. She noted that the rooming house resident was not in court and could not be questioned by her. Goggins nonetheless called the evidence against Rivera “overwhelming” and ordered him held pending trial. Goggins scheduled a further court hearing in the matter for Sept. 16.

Readers say Springfield needs real solutions as the city looks to replace outgoing Superintendent Alan Ingram.

Alan Ingram's decision to resign as Springfield’s school superintendent when his contract expires in June has drawn mixed reactions. Supporters feel Ingram was doing a good job in the face of immense challenges and that the school system in the city was showing incremental improvement.

Detractors, including School Committee member Antonette Pepe and City Councilor Jose Tosado, both of whom are candidates for mayor, have been outspoken. Ingram faced harsh criticism when a $30,000 contract bonus was discovered, a bonus that critics contend was intended as a down payment for a house in the city, one that Ingram never purchased. Ingram insisted there was never any requirement for him to use the money to help purchase a home and refused to repay the money to the city when asked to do so by the School Committee.

Readers have also been divided when it comes to evaluating Ingram's tenure in Springfield, but one thing is clear - many recognize the need for solutions, not simply criticism.

Here is a selection of comments from readers on the Ingram resignation:

scarypicture says:
No matter where ones stands on Ingram's performance, this city needs to develop a voice of reason as the search to replace its leader begins. In a nod to Nopol, I think too many people are voting like Pepe speaks… AGAINST everything. Voters don't cast ballots FOR someone or something - they vote as a backlash to punish. Sarno beat Ryan because people tired of paying for trash and an unpopular, out of town police chief left his post early. I hope Ingram doesn't figure prominently into this years mayoral campaign… and once the election is over - I hope Springfield takes a long look at itself before figuring out what is needed in a Superintendent of school chief next spring and beyond.

hadathought says:
I have to agree with NoPol's comments posted under a different iteration of this story. Gee, and recently I was thinking of how refreshing it was not to have all the fighting over the schools in the paper every day as we did under Negroni. Springfield is a good example of where big mouthed Monday morning quarterbacking politics gets us. I 'd like to see the accomplishments of those who deem themselves qualified to judge the competence of any school superintendent. It's easy to bad mouth people in public positions. . . . much harder to propose solutions to our problems. Springfield will be lucky to find anyone who wants the job.

I assume that the school committee had annual evaluations of Dr. Ingram? Or maybe not? A non-clown school committee would have evaluated him and come to a decision as to whether they wanted to renew his contract. They would have thoughtfully discussed the merits of retaining him versus looking elsewhere. I'm not seeing any mention of this, so did it happen? Probably not.

Funny how Ingram lists a number of improvements and the best that Pepe and Tosado can say is "he didn't turn the system around". Isn't "increased school attendance; decreased truancy; a decrease in the percentage of student suspensions; an increase in Advance Placement exams; and gains in Student Academic Proficiency such as Reading/English Language Arts (Grades 3-8 and 10) and Science and Technology (Grades 3, 5, and 8)" a pretty good start? I think that at least is enough to described his effectiveness as "mixed".

Pepe claims that he "deliberately selects certain grade levels and certain statistics and not others in listing his accomplishments". Shocking! No, not that he did it, that a member of the school committee doesn't know what an "accomplishment" is -- it is a positive thing, not a negative thing. I don't know anyone who has ever touted their weaknesses.

Otibuaries from The Republican today.

Marguerite R.D. Brochu

CHICOPEE - Marguerite R. "Peg" (Tessier) Dearness Brochu, 79, died Sunday at the Wingate at South Hadley nursing home. Born in Holyoke, she was the youngest of 14 children and graduated from the former Precious Blood High School. After working several years at a local finance company, she became the office manager for the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce where she was a devoted employee in a job she loved for 22 years before retiring in 1994. She was an active volunteer for the Chicopee Senior Center and was honored with the Volunteer of the Year Award in 1999.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Albuquerque, Julia
  




• 
  Atkinson Sr., Paul E.
  



• 
  Brochu, Marguerite R. Dearness "Peg" (Tessier)




• 
  Cappel, Elsie E.
  



• 
  Casella, Joseph F.
  




• Casey, Eleanor M.
  




• 
  Cizeski, Leo R.
  



• 
  Codding, Priscilla I.




• 
  CRERAN, THOMAS E.
  



• 
  Finch, Irene G. (Gallagher)
  




• Freedman, Estelle August
  




• 
  Gilmore, Gloria C.
  



• 
  Green, Robert




• 
  Lempart, Janet S. (Marcinkowski)
  



• 
  Lewenczuk, Elizabeth M. "Betsy" (Heideman)
  




• Lindsey, Harry W.
  




• 
  Linnehan, Mary Ann "Mae"
  



• 
  Marsh, Thomas Potter




• 
  Mattern, Joan M.
  



• 
  Mentzen, Martha
  




• Miciak, Agnes L. (Fiega)
  




• 
  Mitchell, Ruth (Green)
  



• 
  Napolitan, Richard A. "Dick"




• 
  Santos, Cecile G. (Bergeron)
  



• 
  Sibley, Kenneth G.
  




• Skowronski, Sarah (Szoka)
  




• 
  Smith, Linda F. (Edwards)
  



• 
  Smith, Pauline




• 
  Tsitsirides, Eleni (Braoudakis)
  



• 
  Tsitsirides, George
  




• Whalen, John P.
  




• 
  Wojtas, Joseph T.
  

Bachmann has stumbled over cultural references before.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks outside her campaign bus after the Black Hawk County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011, in Waterloo, Iowa.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann got her Elvis Presley dates all shook up during a campaign stop Tuesday in South Carolina.

The congresswoman from Minnesota played the Elvis tune "Promised Land" at a local restaurant and told the crowd of 300 that she wanted to say happy birthday to the king of rock 'n' roll.

"Before we get started, let's all say happy birthday to Elvis Presley today!" Bachmann said.

But Aug. 16 is the anniversary of Elvis' death, in 1977, and someone in the crowd shouted back, "He died today!"

Bachmann didn't respond and launched into her speech.

She didn't miss a beat on the Elvis front either. As she signed autographs, she paused for a brief shag dance with one of her fans.

Bachmann corrected herself later as she spoke with reporters, noting the date marked Presley's passing, not his birth.

"As far as we're concerned, he's still alive in our hearts," Bachmann said.

Bachmann has stumbled over cultural references before. In June, she kicked off her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, calling it the home of American actor John Wayne. The town was actually home for a time to serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

The announcement was made as the lieutenant governor visited a Head Start building in the Maple High-Six Corners area that was damaged by the tornado.

Timothy Murray

SPRINGFIELD – Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray announced Tuesday that communities that were struck by tornadoes on June 1 will compete for state grants totaling $230,000 to help create rebuilding plans within the path of destruction.

Murray announced the planning grants during a Springfield visit and tour of the Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield Head Start program office on Madison Avenue in the Maple High-Six Corners area, which was among buildings that were damaged,

“It will take months if not years to get communities back to pre-storm conditions,” Murray said. “Planning is important.”

In many cases, communities will be looking to rebuild what was lost and damaged, Murray said. In other cases, the communities will want to create “higher and better uses” in the affected neighborhoods, he said. The grants are available to communities in Hampden and Worcester counties.

“We remain committed to supporting our municipal partners as we continue the important work of rebuilding communities affected by the June 1 storms,” Murray said. “While it is encouraging that the Head Start program in Springfield is back to work, helping children and families in the community, there is more work to be done.”

The funds are available from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and can be used to bring a professional planner or regional planning agency to assist a community in its rebuilding efforts.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Ward 3 City Councilor Melvin A. Edwards said they are very pleased that the state is stepping up with state grant assistance. They were among various officials including state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, taking part in the tour.

In Springfield, the mayor has established a 15-member citizen advisory committee to assist with the Rebuild Springfield effort. The city is also making plans to hire a consulting firm to help prepare a tornado rebuilding master plan.

Head Start estimates there was approximately $200,000 in tornado damage including the slate roof, windows, heating-air conditioning units, interior damage, ripped up fencing, playground equipment and uprooted trees. The private nonprofit agency has insurance, and is also seeking federal loan assistance. The building’s location in a historic district creates a greater expense such as restoring some damaged stain glass windows and a wrought iron fence.

Murray also urged residents and business owners, who have not already applied for federal disaster assistance, to submit applications by the new Aug. 22 deadline, set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Administration officials said that federal stimulus funded program has provided work for 129 private sector weatherization contractors and 21 special purpose electrical and heating contractors.

File photo by Mark M. MurrayJames Neveau, left director of the MassGreen Initiative at Springfield Technical Community College gives a tour of the school's weatherization training program area to Jeffrey Simon , director of the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment office back in April. Most of the building materials around them was purchased for training using federal stimulus dollars.

BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick is touting a “major milestone” in the state’s use of federal stimulus dollars – the weatherizing of 10,000 homes in Massachusetts.

Patrick said the initiative has not only saved money and energy for thousands of families but has also helped create much needed jobs as the state works to climb out of the recent recession.

Administration officials said that as of the end of July, the federal stimulus funded program has provided work for 129 private sector weatherization contractors and 21 special purpose electrical and heating contractors.

Nearly 3,000 individuals have received a stimulus-funded paycheck.

The money set aside for the weatherization program is a fraction of the $7.4 billion Massachusetts has received in stimulus dollars since President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009.

Clinton said the United States remains the world's strongest leader but is wisely building coalitions to respond more effectively and better promote universal values of human rights and democracy.

Associated PressSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrive for an event at the National Defense University in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. response to crises in Libya and Syria on Tuesday, saying the Obama administration is projecting "smart power" by refusing to act alone or with brute force to stop autocratic repression in the two countries.

Clinton said the United States remains the world's strongest leader but is wisely building coalitions to respond more effectively and better promote universal values of human rights and democracy.

"The United States stands for our values, our interests and our security, but we have a very clear view that others need to be taking the same steps to enforce a universal set of values and interests," she told an audience in a joint appearance at the National Defense University with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"We are by all measurements the strongest leader in the world and we are leading, but part of leading is making sure that you get other people on the field. And that's what I think we are doing," she said.

Clinton has been a champion of the administration's "smart power" policy, which aims to combine defense, diplomacy and development to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. The term is most commonly used to describe the strategies President Barack Obama has employed in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. has placed heavy emphasis on civilian projects designed to eliminate the roots of extremism. But Clinton said other elements of smart power are also at work in Libya and Syria.

She and Panetta both noted that Libyan rebels had scored recent significant military gains in their struggle to oust Moammar Gadhafi after months of stalemate.

Clinton said Libya was a study in the use of "strategic patience," whereby the United States resisted the impulse for immediate intervention and instead helped to build support for the country's nascent opposition, which the U.S. now recognizes as Libya's legitimate government. She said the unprecedented NATO-Arab alliance protecting civilians on the ground was a key result of the tactics of smart power.

"This is exactly the kind of world that I want to see, where it's not just the United States and everybody is standing on the sidelines while we bear the costs," she said.

In Syria, Clinton said Washington had adopted a similar stance. The administration has imposed sanctions to protest a ruthless crackdown on reformers but has thus far resisted calls to make an explicit demand for President Bashar Assad to step down, something it did with Gadhafi.

Clinton said it would be a mistake for the administration to demand Assad's ouster on its own because it wouldn't be effective given Washington's long-strained ties with Damascus and limited U.S. influence and trade with Syria.

"It is not going to be any news if the United States says Assad needs to go," she said. "OK, fine, what's next? If other people say it, if Turkey says it, if (Saudi) King Abdullah says it, there is no way the Assad regime can ignore it."

"I think this is smart power, where it is not just brute force, it is not just unilateralism," she said. "It is being smart enough to say you know what we want a bunch of people singing out of the same hymn book and we want them singing a song of universal freedom, human rights, democracy, everything that we have stood for and pioneered over 235 years."

The plant developer is continuing efforts to secure funding and seek out future power sales agreements.

WESTFIELD - Westfield Concerned Citizens will continue their opposition to a planned $400 million natural gas power electric generating plant here with a demonstration Wednesday to draw attention to petitions and letters of support for their cause.

The group has chosen the Southampton Road School for the 11 a.m. demonstration, a location within 1.5 miles of the ServiStar Industrial Way plant site, Katelyn J. Barzee said.

The group formed shortly after the 2007 announcement of plans to construct the 400-megawatt plant by Pioneer Valley Energy Center, a division of Energy Management Inc. of Boston. Energy Management is also developer of the Cape Wind Farm project planned for Nantucket Sound.

File photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanWith the Tighe-Carmody Reservoir in Southampton as a backdrop, officials in 2008 announce the sale of water to the planned Pioneer Valley Energy Center. From left are then Holyoke Mayor Michael J. Sullivan, Pioneer Valley Energy Center project manager Matthew A. Palmer and then Westfield Mayor Michael R. Boulanger. A group of concerned citizens in Westfield opposes construction of the plant.

The plan Wednesday was to present petitions to Energy Management Chief Executive Officer James Gordon but he is not expected to attend.

Energy Center project manager Matthew A. Palmer said he was not aware of the demonstration.

"We have been building community support in opposition to the plant for some time now," said Barzee. "We have petitions and endorsement letters from green businesses against the plant."

Pioneer Valley Energy Center will develop a 35-acre site off ServiStar Industrial Way and Ampad Road and had planned to begin operations by 2012.

But, Palmer said Tuesday that the poor economy and continued appeals by Westfield Concerned Citizens to state and local permits have delayed the project.

The state Department of Environmental Protection issued its final air quality permit to PVEC late last year and a similar permit is pending from the federal Department of Environmental Protection. The developer has secured necessary local permits.

"We have been working through the appeals," said Palmer. "We continue to workout financing for the plant and power sales agreements."

Palmer and company officials assured Westfield officials last year that precautions will be taken during construction and operation of the plant to prevent emergency situations such as an explosion Feb. 7, 2010 at a similar plant under construction is Middletown, Conn. That incident killed six construction workers and injured another 12.

A bill was filed by House and Senate Republicans in the wake of a fatal hit-and-run accident in Taunton.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON - In response to a fatal hit-and-run accident in Taunton two weeks ago, House and Senate Republicans offered a proposal Tuesday that would allow the Registry of Motor Vehicles to permanently revoke the licenses of certain habitual traffic offenders.

The bill, filed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and House Minority Leader Brad Jones, would create a three-tiered system of license suspensions for habitual offenders, adding two levels to the current law with progressively more severe punishments.

“Drivers who repeatedly violate the law after having their license revoked are not only abusing the system, they present in many cases a serious threat to public safety. The registrar and other officials need the tools to keep such drivers off the road for more than four years at a time, and this legislation will provide them,” Tarr said in a prepared statement.

Paul Baran

The GOP caucus invited Democrats in the Legislature to support the bill. “Protecting public safety transcends party lines, and we need a collaborative effort to strengthen this law as soon as possible,” Tarr said.

Paul Baran, a 55-year-old Taunton resident with a checkered driving history, was arrested June 6 for allegedly hitting and killing 17-year-old Nicholas Silva-Thomas and then fleeing the scene of the accident.

Lawmakers referred to Baran as a “road menace.”

Baran’s driving record, according to media reports, included nine serious accidents, at least five license suspensions, and numerous citations for driving without a license, speeding, refusing to obey police and leaving the scene of an accident. Counting the license suspension for this most recent charge, Baran’s license has been suspended 16 times over the past 22 years.

“In light of recent events, this legislation must be moved now,” Jones said in a statement. “The public can no longer be put in danger by these drivers who should clearly not be on the road. By providing stronger tools to state and local officials, hopefully we will prevent any further tragedies of this magnitude.”

Under current law, habitual traffic offenders can be denied a driver’s license for up to four years if they have been convicted at least three times of committing one or more enumerated offenses, or if they have been convicted of 12 or more offenses that carry a 30-day license suspension.

The listed offenses include driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, making a false statement in an application for a learner’s permit or driver’s license, leaving the scene of an accident, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, driving without a license and the use of a vehicle while committing a felony.

The bill offered by Beacon Hill Republicans would increase the penalty for a first time habitual offender to a five-year license suspension.

A Level 2 habitual traffic offender would be defined as a driver who has previously had their license suspended for being a habitual offender and commits an additional three non-listed driving offenses carrying 30-day suspensions. Level 2 offenders would be subject to having their license suspended for not less than five years and not more than 15 years.

The most serious classification – Level 3 – would be reserved for drivers already punished as a habitual offender who commits one additional listed offense, or a Level 2 offender who is convicted of two additional non-listed driving offenses punishable by a 30-day suspension.

Under the bill, a Level 3 habitual offender shall have their license suspended for up to their lifetime, but not less than five years. Additionally, the registrar of motor vehicles would be empowered to set terms and conditions on the return of a license to any level of habitual offender.

Kristen Fontaine is accused of one armed robbery and one attempt to rob.

The Republican / File photo

SPRINGFIELD – A Holyoke woman and an Easthampton man Tuesday denied robbing at gunpoint the Mobil gas station and convenience store at 1120 Riverdale St. in West Springfield May 23.

Kristen Fontaine, 31, of 351 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke; and Jonathan Cunningham, 34, of 4 Bernie Ave., Easthampton, denied charges of armed robbery while masked, and assault with a dangerous weapon for the Mobil robbery.

Fontaine also denied charges of attempt to commit a crime and assault with a dangerous weapon. She is accused of trying to rob the Shell gas station and convenience store at 2044 Riverdale St. in West Springfield at gunpoint on May 23.

Bail was set for both at $2,500 cash or $25,000 surety by Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis.