The promotions company that insured the raffle haven't said yet if it will pay.

Associated PressNate Smith and his dad Pat Smith, second from right, pose for a photo after the 11-year-old sank a trick shot during a charity hockey game Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, in Faribault, Minn. Nate shot a puck 89 feet and through a tiny hole barely larger than the puck to win a $50,000 prize, but may be whistled for a rules violation because it was his brother Nick's name that had been drawn for the chance to make the shot. Nate's dad Pat Smith wanted to set a good example for the kids and told organizers the next day. The promotions company that insured the raffle, Odds On Promotions of Reno, Nev., haven't said yet if it will pay.

FARIBAULT, Minn. — An 11-year-old Minnesota boy has made an astounding hockey shot — sending a puck into a tiny hole 89 feet away.

The shot at a charity game should be worth $50,000, but there's one problem: Nate Smith was standing in for his identical twin, Nick.

Nick Smith says he was outside when his ticket was drawn to make the shot Thursday at the charity game in Faribault. So, his brother stepped in.

Nate Smith says he was "stunned" when the puck went in.

Their father told organizers Nate, not Nick, made the shot. Pat Smith says honesty is the best policy.

The general manager of the company that insured the raffle says processing claims takes about three weeks and he can't make a decision on payment until he's done.

The Dow closed down 77 points after bouncing around most of the day.

Associated Press photoCustomers shop at a Home Depot store in North Little Rock, Ark., Monday. Home Depot Inc.'s second-quarter net income rose 14 percent as shoppers picked up lawn and garden products and made storm-related repairs during the summer, company said Monday. It also raised its earnings guidance.

NEW YORK – Worries about Europe’s economic and debt problems sent stocks Tuesday to their first loss in four days.

The major indexes bounced up and down in another volatile day. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 120 points in the first half hour of trading after a report showed that Germany’s economy stalled last quarter and dragged down growth for Europe.

The Dow recovered and had a slight advance at midday, but resumed its drop after the leaders of France and Germany tried to calm worries about Europe’s debt problems by pushing for long-term political solutions. Investors were hoping for immediate financial measures like the introduction of a single bond jointly backed by the eurozone’s members. The Dow fell as many as 190 points in the early afternoon before again recovering.

At the close, the Dow was down 76.97, or 0.7 percent, to 11,405.93. It was the first time in seven trading days that the Dow rose or fell by less than 100 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 11.73, or 1 percent, to 1,192.76. The Nasdaq composite fell 31.75, or 1.2 percent, to 2,523.45.

“The real question the market is trying to answer is: Are we going to have another recession or not?” said John Burke, head of Burke Financial Strategies with $200 million in assets under management. “Today, the answer is maybe yes, because it doesn’t look like Europe has figured out a solution to its debt.”

A proposal for a Europe-wide tax on financial transactions also hurt stocks, said Nick Kalivas, vice president at broker MF Global. “It’s another slap in the face to the banking system” and would cut into profits and limit trading, he said. “The path toward economic growth still looks pretty uncertain.”

The day’s trading showed how critical economic developments about Europe have become to U.S. investors. But Tuesday’s losses were moderate and pointed to some stability in the market after the selling that sent the S&P 500 down 17 percent from July 21 to last Wednesday.

In the U.S., economic reports Tuesday were mixed: Housing remains weak, but factory output rose last month at its fastest pace since an earthquake in Japan disrupted global manufacturing in March.

“Investors don’t know which way to go here,” said Paul Brigandi, senior vice president of Direxion Funds, which has about $7 billion in assets under management.

On one side, he said buying looks attractive because stocks are cheaper after the recent plunge.And more U.S. companies on Tuesday joined the stream of those that have reported earnings above analysts’ expectations. But on the other side, selling looks appealing because of worries about the global economy and debt problems in the United States and Europe.

Prices for gold and Treasurys rose as money moved into investments considered safer. Oil fell on worries that a weaker economy will mean less demand for energy.

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday it will keep its credit rating on the United States at the top grade. Two of the three major credit-rating agencies now have stood by their AAA grade of U.S. debt. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. on Aug. 5. That sent stocks on a volatile slide last week.

Europe’s economy and debt troubles have been among global investors’ main concerns over the last year and a half. On Tuesday, the European Union reported that economic growth in the 17 countries that use the euro slowed to 0.2 percent between April and June from 0.8 percent the previous quarter. Germany’s growth fell to 0.1 percent from 1.3 percent.

That will make it even tougher for Spain and other countries to raise revenue. Some European countries have borrowed so much that they may need help repaying debt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a “new economic government” for Europe and said all countries that use the euro should have mandatory balanced budgets and better coordination of economic policy. They also pledged to harmonize their corporate taxes to show they are “marching in lockstep” to protect the euro.

In the U.S., the government reported that homebuilders are still stuck in their years-long slump. They broke ground on new homes at an annual rate of 604,000 last month, according to the Commerce Department. That’s down from 613,000 in June. In 2005, before the housing bubble burst, housing starts were typically above 2 million.

Manufacturing may be recovering. The Federal Reserve said industrial production rose 0.9 percent last month on a pickup at auto factories, utilities and mines. Manufacturing was one of the strongest industries after the recession ended in 2009, but its growth has slowed this year.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose 3.9 percent after it said net income rose 5.7 percent last quarter from a year ago on strong overseas sales. Earnings growth was stronger than analysts expected, and the world’s largest retailer raised its profit forecast for the year.

Home Depot Inc. rose 5.3 percent after it said second-quarter net income rose 14 percent and raised its profit forecast.

Investors have largely ignored the strong earnings that companies have reported for the second quarter. Those in the S&P 500 index earned a record amount per share last quarter on an operating basis, which ignores one-time costs and other special items, according to S&P senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.

Investors have been overwhelmed by the market’s volatility, said Tim Holland, portfolio manager of the Aston/Tamro Diversified Equity fund. “When you have these big swings, people completely lose focus on companies and their results. They’re paying more attention to the market than the companies that make up the market. The earnings season was good and better than expected.”

Holland said companies also have healthier balance sheets than during the financial crisis of 2008. He has been buying stocks that are cheaper following the market’s plunge. “We like to buy the best when they’re depressed,” he said.

Energy stocks in the S&P 500 fell 1.7 percent after oil fell $1.23 per barrel to settle at $86.65.

NYSE Euronext Inc. fell 8.4 percent for the biggest loss among stocks in the S&P 500 on worries that a possible European financial-transaction tax could hurt its profits.

Saks Inc. fell 4.6 percent after it said it’s going into the fall season “a bit more cautiously.” Its higher-income customers have been spending more, because they’re more protected from the weak job market than middle-income Americans. But the volatile stock market could hurt wealthy shoppers’ confidence.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.22 percent from 2.31 percent late Monday as investors moved into things considered safer. A bond’s yield falls when its price rises. The 10-year yield fell to a record low of 2.03 percent last week.

Gold rose $27 per ounce to settle at $1,785. Last week, it rose above $1,800 for the first time.

Nearly three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume at 4.5 billion was close to its average over the last year of 4.3 billion.

The Dow rose 213 points Monday after a series of acquisitions led by Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility. Its rise of 763 points over three days was the Dow’s biggest since November 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis.

Todd Farland, superintendent of Cold Spring Golf Course, said there are many factors involved in deciding whether to build a driving range.

BELCHERTOWN - As they proceed toward a planned May 2012 opening of Cold Spring Golf Course, the developers are in the early stage of determining whether to build a driving range at the course.

"We are at the baby steps stage,'' course superintendent Todd Farland said about the driving range after a presentation Monday to the Conservation Commission.

"We are not there yet, but we are hopeful,'' Farland said.

Members of the Conservation Commission told the Cold Spring representatives that there are are certain areas of the section of the property designated for the driving range where they would not want to have golf carts riding, for example, when employees go out to pick up the golf balls that have been hit.

Farland said that as long as the carts could be driven on the areas that are not so sensitive for wetlands issues, he and his staff could pick up the remaining golf balls on foot without a problem.

There are also sections of the proposed driving range area where Conservation Commission members were concerned about regrading or clearing vegetation.

Farland said, "A lot of this will determine whether we can even put a driving range there.''

Conservation Agent LeeAnne Connolly told the commissioners that work has been going on with the current owner of the golf course property for two years and he has had cooperative relations.

"We have been working with the Cold Spring Golf Course and ther has been some give and take.'' Connolly said.

Qianlong (USBoston) LLC bought the partially built golf course in 2009 and plans to finish work and open it next year.

The master plan for this former orchard also includes a banquet hall, single-family homes and condominiums.

Farland said the golf course itself is bilt and nearly ready to play and will be open to the public in May 2012.

"The greens are beautiful,'' Farland said.

A clubhouse, maintenance building and paths for golf carts still have to be built and plans are to have the buildings constructed in the fall and winter and have the place ready for the public by the spring of 2012.

Farland said there will be various types of packages for playing golf, including memberships, leagues and other features.

Qianlong has plans for what would be the largest banquet hall in Belchertown, and it might be constructed by next summer.

The project on Route 21 was started in 1997 with plans for the golf course and housing, including 150 condominiums and a small number of single-family homes.

Work was stalled for years at a time because of the legal and financial problems that the first two developers faced.

Qianlong is now interested in building a smaller number of housing units

The China-based company has built more than 30,000 unites of housing in China during the past 19 years.

Police plan to resume the search in the morning.

HARDWICK – State police field troopers said Tuesday afternoon they were assisting local police in searching for a missing person in a wooded area in town.

State police said the person, a resident who is believed to have been missing since July 29, may be in possession of a handgun.

The search was called off for the evening shortly before 6 p.m., and is scheduled to resume in the morning with a police dog, police said.

Hardwick Police Cpl. Kevin M. Landine told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that the man, in his 50s, lives in the area of 546 Hardwick Road (Route 32A), which is where search teams were stationed. The man, whose name was withheld, is wanted on outstanding warrants for traffic violations, Cpl. Landine said.

Rescue personnel from Barre and police from West Brookfield were assisting with the search.

The laboratory in Amherst is the only one in Western Massachusetts that analyzes drugs seized by police.

BOSTON -- State public health officials, facing a budget shortfall, are again thinking about closing the only Western Massachusetts laboratory that analyzes drugs seized by local police, according to the president of the union for employees at the lab.

The state Department of Public Health is considering possible closure of its laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and laying off employees at the lab, the union president said.

The lab, which employs three chemists and a supervisor, analyzed 4,629 samples of illegal drugs for municipal police departments in Western Massachusetts, plus an additional 1,527 samples that came from the main state lab in Boston, during the most recent fiscal year, according to the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists, the union that represents employees of the lab.

Jennifer Manley, communications director for the state Department of Public Health, issued a statement on Tuesday that said: “As a result of the ongoing national economic downturn, agencies across state government have experienced unprecedented budgetary constraints. We are in the process of developing implementation plans for the FY12 budget, and no decisions have been made regarding the UMass Lab.”

Manley declined to comment beyond the statement.

The Amherst lab currently has about a 33-day backlog of analysis. It analyzes and weighs LSD, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs confiscated in criminal cases. The lab's reports and testimony from chemists are often used in trials or grand jury investigations.

Joseph Dorant, president of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists, is planning to send a letter to state legislators on Wednesday, asking them to approve $300,000 to keep the Amherst laboratory operating for this fiscal year.

Dorant said the work at the laboratory is critical for public safety and assuring the streets are safer.

"Our greatest concern is that the entire legal process will be compromised and more criminals will slip through the proverbial cracks, putting all people at risk," Dorant said.

The Springfield Police Department transports seized drugs each week to the Amherst lab for testing, Dorant said. The Holyoke Police Department drops off samples once every three weeks, he said.

If the Amherst lab closes, police in Western Massachusetts might be required to transport samples to the state Department of Public Health's main laboratory in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Dorant said.

Under that scenario, police would spend more time on the road and police might be forced to wait longer for results from the lab. It could also add to fuel costs for municipalities. Police said they need to transport the illegal drugs themselves to preserve continuity of evidence.

The Jamaica Plain lab can't absorb the work from Amherst because it is already facing about a three-month backlog, Dorant said. That backlog in Jamaica Plain will grow if it is required to perform the work that now takes place in Amherst, he added.

Robert P. Frydryk, chief of police in Palmer, and Patrick Archbald, deputy chief of police for the University of Massachusetts Police Department, said on Tuesday they would oppose closure of the Amherst lab.

"It's been a wonderful resource over the years and certainly would be going forward," Archbald said.

Donald A. Poirot, chief of police in Adams and the president of the Western Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said closure of the Amherst lab would strain the resources of police departments in Western Massachusetts. "We would have to travel further," Poirot said. "That comes at a cost."

Also, as a result of a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision, chemists in Jamaica Plain and Amherst receive multiple summonses a day to appear in various courts throughout the state, according to Dorant. If the Amherst lab closed, then chemists from Jamaica Plain might have to travel to Western Massachusetts to testify at court, resulting in more time away from the lab and increasing the backlog, he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that criminal defendants have a right to cross-examine forensic analysts about lab reports.

Chemists in the Amherst lab made 60 court appearances in the fiscal year that ended June 30, while Jamaica Plain chemists made 188 court appearances, Dorant said.

Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said he would like to keep open the Amherst lab. Rosenberg said he doesn't know if the state Legislature could approve $300,000 to preserve the lab, especially with pending federal budget cuts that could impact many state programs.

"I would hate to see that office closed and the service moved to another part of the state," Rosenberg said.

The Amherst lab also faced a threat of closure in 2009, because of budget cuts.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation found, however, that more Bay State children face poverty than in 2000.

File photo by Don Treeger / The ReppublicanChildren cool off in the Alice Corson Water Park on Main Street in Holyoke one day last month. A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, of Baltimore, ranks the Bay State as the third best state nationwide for children's overall well-being.

BOSTON – More Massachusetts children are in school and fewer are giving birth than in 2000, helping to make Massachusetts one of the best states for children’s overall well-being. But it’s not all good news for the state’s children.

Although the Bay State ranked third overall in child well-being in state-by-state rankings in the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, more children faced poverty and many lived in families with unemployed parents.

The foundation, a Baltimore based children’s advocacy group based that ranks each state based on 10 social and economic factors, found that Massachusetts children living below the federal poverty line increased by 16,153 between 2008 and 2009, suggesting to advocates that the weakened economy and housing crisis has taken its toll on the state.

During that period, children living below the federal poverty line, defined as $21,756 for a family of two adults and two children, increased in the state from 169, 460 to 185,613. That’s an increase from 12 percent to 13 percent of the state’s 1.43 million children. The Massachusetts rate was 14 percent in 2000.

“In general the increase in poverty is tied to the economic health of the country right now, or lack of health,” said Benita Danzing, research director for Massachusetts Kids Count.

But the state’s child poverty rate is still well below the national average of 20 percent, and the state improved its ranking to five from seven because of an 18 percent jump in the national poverty level from 2000 to 2009.

“States that have more positive policies towards children and families tend to have lower poverty rates,” said Danzing, pointing to Massachusetts’ landmark health care legislation as an example.

Unemployment benefits, food stamps, early education, and other programs targeted toward low income and poor families also help families avoid poverty, Danzing said.

While Massachusetts has fared better than many states, children are still feeling the effects of foreclosure and the unemployment rate, which was 7.6 percent in the most recent report, for June.

Since 2007, 3 percent of Massachusetts children, 70,000, have seen their families’ home foreclosed on. Three percent of children in 18 other states also had their homes foreclosed.

In 2010, 126,000 children, or 9 percent, lived in a home that had at least one unemployed parent. That compares with the national average of 11 percent.

Although cuts have shrunk the budgets of many state programs for needy families, advocates say families can be protected if states invest what money they do have into programs that help parents provide stable homes and provide children with education and support.

“We need to create policies that help people build assets so they can weather these downturns in the economy,” said Danzing.

Massachusetts ranked in the top 20 in all categories and had the lowest rate of teen births in the country. The state’s teen death rate did increase by 10 percent, which was not explained in the survey. The national average dropped 7 percent. Massachusetts still ranked seventh.

New Hampshire was first in the overall child well-being rankings, followed by Minnesota. Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas and New Mexico ranked lowest.

Four of the five largest U.S. tobacco companies sued the federal government Tuesday over new graphic cigarette labels that include the sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the warnings violate their free speech rights and will cost millions of dollars to print.

AP PhotosIn this combo made from file images provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows two of nine new warning labels cigarette makers will have to use by the fall of 2012.

Four of the five largest U.S. tobacco companies sued the federal government Tuesday over new graphic cigarette labels that include the sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the warnings violate their free speech rights and will cost millions of dollars to print.

The companies, led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co., said the warnings no longer simply convey facts to allow people to make a decision whether to smoke. They instead force them to put government anti-smoking advocacy more prominently on their packs than their own brands, the companies say. They want a judge to stop the labels.

"Never before in the United States have producers of a lawful product been required to use their own packaging and advertising to convey an emotionally-charged government message urging adult consumers to shun their products," the companies wrote in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

The FDA refused to comment, saying the agency does not discuss pending litigation. But when she announced the new labels in June, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called them frank and honest warnings about the dangers of smoking.

The FDA approved nine new warnings to rotate on cigarette packs. They will be printed on the entire top half, front and back, of the packaging. The new warnings also must constitute 20 percent of any cigarette advertising. They also all include a number for stop-smoking hotline

One warning label is a picture of a corpse with its chest sewed up and the words: "Smoking can kill you." Another label has a picture of a healthy pair of lungs beside a yellow and black pair with a warning that smoking causes fatal lung disease.

The lawsuit said the images were manipulated to be especially emotional. The tobacco companies said the corpse photo is actually an actor with a fake scar, while the healthy lungs were sanitized to make the diseased organ look worse.

The companies also said the new labels will cost them millions of dollars for new equipment so they can frequently change from warning to warning and designers to make sure the labels meet federal requirements while maintaining some distinction among brands.

Joining R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard in the suit are Commonwealth Brands Inc., Liggett Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Inc. Altria Group Inc., parent company of the nation's largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, is not a part of the lawsuit.

The free speech lawsuit is a different action than a suit by several of the same companies over the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The law, which took affect two years ago, cleared the way for the more graphic warning labels, but also allowed the FDA to limit nicotine. The law also banned tobacco companies from sponsoring athletic or social events and prevented them from giving away free samples or branded merchandise.

A federal judge upheld many parts of the law, but the companies are appealing.

Mary Loftus Levine will be its first female executive director in the organization's nearly 160-year history.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A woman who started her education career as a Massachusetts elementary school teacher and special education counselor has been named the new leader of Connecticut's largest public employee union.

Officials at the 41,000-member Connecticut Education Association say Mary Loftus Levine will be its first female executive director in the organization's nearly 160-year history.

Levine has been the union's policy director since 2008, and starts her new position Thursday. She succeeds John Yrchik (YURR'-chick), who is retiring Wednesday.

Levine started her career as a teacher in the West Springfield, Mass., public schools.

She later moved into contract bargaining and political advocacy throughout western Massachusetts, then joined CEA in 1986 as an organizer and labor negotiator.

CEA's members include public school teachers, retired educators and college students preparing to move into teaching.

New results show that Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island students who took the ACT college entrance exam achieved some of the highest scores nationwide.

HARTFORD, Conn. — New results show that Southern New England students who took the ACT college entrance exam achieved some of the highest scores nationwide.

Massachusetts teens had the nation's best scores in results released Wednesday. Twenty-two percent of its graduating seniors took the test, averaging 24.2 on a scale of 1 to 36.

The U.S. average score was 21.1.

In Connecticut, where one of every four graduating seniors took the test, the average score was 23.9. That placed it second behind Massachusetts.

About 12 percent of Rhode Island students also took the ACT, averaging 23.0.

The ACT is widely used in the South and Midwest. Another test, the SAT, is predominant elsewhere and is the most widely used in southern New England states.

Some students take both tests to impress selective colleges.

Two hundred teens swarmed the Big Y supermarket in Longmeadow, spending more than $2,000 on food for the needy.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanTeens from South New Jersey look for the best value for food purchased at the Big Y supermarket in Longmeadow and bound for area food banks Tuesday as they take part in the 2011 Maccabi Games day of caring and sharing. From left are soccer coach David Heier, Laurel Heier, 14, Harrison Faulseit, 13, Sierra Anderson, 14, and Kylie Goldfarb, 14. The Springfield Jewish Community Center is hosting part of the week-long olympic-style sporting event for more than 800 Jewish teens ages 13-16 from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Israel.

SPRINGFIELD – Organizers say the Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam,” meaning “repairing the world,” is at the heart of the Jewish Community Center’s Maccabi Games Days of Caring and Sharing.

This week, more than 800 Jewish teenagers, ages 13 to 16, from around the world are competing in the Olympics-style games in the city. As required of all athletes, they took time off to act by the “tikkun olam” creed.

Two hundred teens swarmed the Big Y supermarket on Bliss Street in Longmeadow on Tuesday, spending more than $2,000 on food for the needy. They came in two groups, with soccer players arriving in the morning and swimmers and track and field athletes in the afternoon.

The food was donated to Rachel’s Table, a Springfield non-profit that distributed it to area shelters, pantries and soup kitchens. Rachel’s Table raised the money for the drive and gave the volunteers Big Y Silver Coins, which act as coupons.

“The athletes come together (for) so much more than a regular athletic competition,” said Deborah Rubenstein, Executive Director of Rachel’s Table. “It’s nice to win, but it’s really about saving a community.”

Nevertheless, the event was a contest. The groups were split into teams and asked to spend as close to $50 as possible. Whoever bought the most food and saved the highest percentage of money will be recognized in the Maccabi Games newspaper, said Rubenstein.

“It’s fun. It’s nice to help people,” said Jillian Snow, 14, a soccer player with the Chicago delegation. Her team picked out more than $90 worth of corn, rice, chicken and other nutritious food, much of it on sale. After redeeming their Silver Coins, they paid $53.16 and saved 41 percent.

“It’s nice to know this food is going to people who really need it,” said soccer player Sarene Shaked, 15, of a New Jersey delegation.

Store Director Robert McGoldrick said other customers also donated food. Big Y has held regular drives for Rachel’s Table for eight years, he said.

“It’s a lifelong lesson for these kids,” said McGoldrick. “We enjoy it as much as the kids do.”

Also on Tuesday, Maccabi Games athletes threw a dance party, complete with volleyball and table tennis, for sheltered girls from Girls Inc.

Wednesday, two carnivals were scheduled at the Springfield Jewish Community Center for kids from area summer camps, Gray House and the Boys and Girls Club. A senior Olympics event was set with residents of Ruth’s House Assisted Living in Longmeadow, along with bowling games for children and young adults with special needs at Shaker Bowl in East Longmeadow.

Of all the candidates for the position, Ramos said he stood out because of his easy-going, hard-working attitude and his eagerness to learn.

GREENFIELD - The search began last year. Now, the Police Department has its man.

Mayor William Martin swore in Felix Ramos, 24, as the city’s first special police officer in ceremonies on Friday.

Ramos has all the authority of a full-time officer and underwent the same training and screening.

Under state legislation enacted in April, Martin plans to appoint more special officers to cover a wide swath of the city and give the department more flexibility in its staffing.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Ramos, who graduated from the reserve police academy in January. “I plan on sticking around for a while.”

Ramos hopes to earn a degree in law enforcement at Westfield State University or Greenfield Community College in the near future. In the meantime, he’s learning the law and the city’s streets through hands-on experience.

Chief David F. Guilbault said Ramos is an intelligent officer who came highly recommended. Ramos began work immediately after his swearing-in.

“He’s a great guy. We think he’ll do real well,” said Guilbault. “I can’t find anyone who has a bad word to say about him.”

Ramos has several family members who have served in law enforcement, including his uncle Michael Rivera, who is a police officer in Springfield.

“It’s been an interest my whole life,” he said.

He grew up in Northfield and Montague. He has a girlfriend and two daughters.

His colleagues have welcomed him with open arms, Ramos said, and he is focused on learning the ropes.

The Army improperly tested new bullet-blocking plates for body armor and cannot be certain that 5 million pieces of the critical battlefield equipment meet the standards to protect U.S. troops.

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)The body armor used by most U.S. troops comprises a ballistic vest with two large, hard ceramic plates that protect the upper body from bullets and shrapnel. The equipment has been crucial for American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly a decade.

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army improperly tested new bullet-blocking plates for body armor and cannot be certain that 5 million pieces of the critical battlefield equipment meet the standards to protect U.S. troops, the Defense Department's inspector general found.

The Pentagon report focused on seven Army contracts for the plates, known as ballistic inserts, awarded between 2004 and 2006 and totaling $2.5 billion. The inspector general's audit, carried out over a two-year period ending in March, found the tests were incomplete, conducted with the wrong size plates or relied on ballistic test rounds that were inconsistent. Due to the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tests under certain temperatures and altitudes were scrapped altogether.

"Consequently, the Army cannot be sure that ballistic inserts meet ... requirements," the report said. "As a result, the Army lacks assurance that 5.1 million ballistic inserts acquired through the seven contracts provide appropriate protection."

The inspector general said it did not conduct its own tests so it couldn't say whether the plates were defective.

In response, the Army said Tuesday that it had initiated improvements to the testing system before and during the inspector general's audit. The service also said "all inspector general recommendations to improve the testing processes have been implemented. ... The Army continues to work with the test community for test improvements to provide the best body armor possible to the soldier."

The Aug. 1 report was the fourth in a series by the inspector general in response to Rep. Louise Slaughter. Since January 2006, the New York Democrat has pressed the military about the effectiveness of body armor after The New York Times reported that 80 percent of Marines serving in Iraq who had been shot in the upper body had died because of inadequate body armor.

The body armor used by most U.S. troops comprises a ballistic vest with two large, hard ceramic plates that protect the upper body from bullets and shrapnel. The equipment has been crucial for American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly a decade.

The 51-page IG report said the Army program manager for soldier equipment could provide only "limited assurance" that the plates met requirements. The inspector general found that for all seven contracts the program manager did not have a consistent way of measuring and recording velocity of the test rounds. Two designs were approved without valid tests.

The Army said it had created a database for test information, standardized the protocol for ballistic testing and continues to scan body armor plates before deployment and during a soldier's tour of duty to ensure there are no internal cracks.

"The Army conducts rigorous and extensive testing of body armor to ensure that it meets U.S. Army standards and is safe for use in combat," the service said in comments included in the report.

In an interview, Slaughter said she planned to write to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Secretary John McHugh calling their attention to the inspector general's report. Both Panetta and McHugh are former House colleagues of Slaughter, a 13-term congresswoman.

"This needs to be told," she said, remembering the dead and wounded from the nation's wars. "At the least, we should have some confidence that this part is taken care of, that in the future more diligence is taken."

The state's ban on texting and driving has yielded minimal arrests; an international war crimes suspect is found living in the Bay State; and more of the morning's headlines.

This bear was seen by Monson resident Gary L Bridgamn in his back yard on Aug. 14. Bridgamn said an automatic camera caught first glimpses of the bear and he came home to find it snacking out of his bird feeder.

• State's text ban is all talk, no action [BostonHerald.com]


• Easthampton police investigating vandalism reports [GazetteNet.com]


• Salvadoran war crime suspect found living in Massachusetts [Boston.com]


• License of National Grid driver suspended after fatal crash [WorcesterTelegram.com]


• Northampton officials consider legislation banning feeding bears [NorthamptonMedia.com]


• Connecticut woman recounts home invasion by 5 masked men [Courant.com]


Good neighbor hailed after chasing down man who kidnapped 12-year-old girl
• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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Caffery's run has raised $15,000 so far, but more is expected.

Photo by Diane Lederman / The RepublicanUniversity of Massachusetts lecturer Glenn Caffery sits in his office just days before embarking on his 3,312 miles cross country to raise money for Alzheimer's research.

DURHAM, Conn. - Glenn Caffery survived the July heat wave in Wisconsin, two leg injuries and the sadness of losing his father-in-law when he still had miles to go.

Still Caffery, 49, who teaches in the resources economics department at the University of Massachusetts, did what he set out to do three months ago - run across the country to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease - that disease killed his father nine years ago.

He left Oregon May 19 on his 3,312 mile journey and was slated to arrive in Westerly, R.I. Wednesday night. He ran without a support vehicle of any kind carrying all his gear - a light tent, food and drink and some belongings - in his stroller, donated by Baby Jogger. But along the way, he met people who ran parts of the journey with him and put him up.

“It’s been rewarding beyond my wildest expectations,” he said Tuesday early afternoon with just under 60 miles left in his journey. “I’ve been engaged with people. It’s helped me personally to work out my experience we had with my dad.

As of last week, his run has raised about $15,000.

The journey began inauspiciously with an ankle injury. That he said “was really discouraging. I felt the trip was threatened. It was kind of overwhelming I so wanted to heal and finish.

He said his only goal “was to have some fun and not get hurt... and here I am hurt.” But he understood “it was really out of my control.”

He rested a half a day, took ibuprofen, but still the swelling stayed. “It really impaired my mobility.” He started walking and noticed it wasn’t getting worse. “I kept going. I was really gratified each morning it was a little better than before.”

He said he had to change his thinking too and just consider “moving forward” as the goal not always running. But he did start running again. He’d start his day when he camped between 6 and 7 in the morning. He would continue until sometime 11 at night. Sometimes it was slow going because of traffic or having to run on a shoulder on a road that was not suited for his mission. But he said, his body held up through it.

“Moving is good for the body, idleness is bad for the body,” he said as he walked. “I’m not really pushing myself hard. I go all day long beyond when I want to go. That’s the hard part. I don’t sprint ever. I’m respectful, gentle to my body. My hip has been fabulous.” He had surgery in 2009.

“When I’m just on the road. I’m pain free. I feel better than I felt in eight years.”

But the weather was hard. “I felt beaten down in Wisconsin.” But when night came, it was a little easier.

He camped a lot but when his second injury occurred, his daughter called some hotel owners on the route and explained what his was doing and that he needed a room and ice. He was put up for free. Caffery said in one small hotel didn’t’ have an ice machine and the owner drove into town to get him some.

Another issue was eating enough. When it was hot, he didn’t feel like eating. “I started getting into chocolate milk.”

And then his father-in-law James Francis McDonnell, who had been ill, went into surgery in July. He couldn’t hear his wife on the phone as she was telling him what happened because of the reception. He ended up flying out to Philadelphia from Detroit to see him and then returning to continue on with his mission, then flying out for the service after he passed. “Going back on the road was difficult. The only thing that made it easy was he so much wanted me to succeed. That’s what kept me going.”

He is glad he did. “There were an awful lot of high moments,” he said. He said the scenery and wildlife were amazing. But he said the people he met were the best.

He said if any one of the encounters had happened in a year, he would have felt blessed. But “seeing my daughters in their towns was the greatest joy and getting to my mom’s,” he said.

Celia Caffery lives in Minneapolis and Emily Caffery in Ann Arbor, Mich. His mom Dolores Caffery lives in Wallingford, Conn. His mom ran the last half mile with him to her house. Then with still two days to go there was a reception. “It felt very celebratory.”

Caffery said he didn’t want to consider the end yet. Initially he planned to come home to Leyden Wednesday night and get back to work Thursday. But his boss told him to take some time.

"The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" is a collection of the stories that Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel published in the magazine Redbook in 1950 and 1951

The seven stories in "The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" were originally published by Theodore Geisel in Redbook in the early 1950s.

SPRINGFIELD - The late Springfield native who penned characters and tales that have taught lessons to children around the world for decades has seven rare stories being released as a book in September.

"The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" is a collection of the stories that Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel published in the magazine Redbook in 1950 and 1951, as he was making his transition into a world-wide literary icon.

Charles D. Cohen, the South Deerfield dentist who has become known for his healthy obsession with the author, has written an introduction for the hardcover book.

“These were not stories that were found in a drawer after his death,” Cohen told Publishers Weekly. “Ted Geisel felt very strongly about them. They were good enough to be published in magazines and Ted drew from this pool of stories when he created the popular Yertle the Turtle and The Sneetches collections."

This 2002 Republican file photo shows Charles D. Cohen standing alongside his collection of Dr. Seuss memorabilia which was on loan to the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum in Springfield at the time.

Cohen was instrumental in pushing along the process at Random House which led to their release, according to an interview with Kate Klimo, vice president and publisher of Random House/Golden Books Young Readers Group. He has scoured the internet to purchase the original magazines and after building a relationship with the publishing company years ago, he ended up writing introductions for anniversary re-releases of Dr. Seuss classics.

In between anniversaries, he once again discussed the concept with Klimo and other Random House officials and Geisel's estate was supportive of the project. The rest is history.

The book is scheduled to be released on Sept. 27 and will sell for a list price of $15. It will also be released as a downloadable audio book or CD, which is slated to cost $12.

As a special promotion for book stores, Harper Collins is shipping special preview packs containing a "Cat in the Hat" hat, a sneak-peek of the stories and a packet of magic Bippolo seeds. Three booksellers will also receive a Dr. Seuss badge in their seed packet, earning them a bottle of champagne from the publisher.

Amherst is eligible for up to $1 million in block grant money.

Amherst Town Hall

AMHERST - Agencies who want to submit requests for proposals for block grant money have until Sept. 15 to do so.

A committee charged with recommending how the town’s allotment of the funds is used has established priority lists for the types of projects it will support as well as the three geographical areas in which the money should be spent.

The town is eligible to apply for up to $1 million in so-called mini-entitlement money. Of that, the town can spend $200,000 on social-service programs and $600,000 for other projects. The remaining money is used for administration of the grants.

If the town does not spend the $600,000 on non-social service projects, then the amount of money for social services would be reduced as well, said Nathaniel Malloy, associate planner and liaison to the Community Development Committee.

The town was first eligible for the money in 2005. The funding is given to the state by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which in turn distributes it to eligible communities for qualifying programs. The grant money has to be used for housing, community development projects and social service activities that help low- and moderate-income people.
The town was first eligible for the money in 2005. The funding is given to the state by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which in turn distributes it to eligible communities for qualifying programs. The grant money must be used for housing, community development projects and social service activities that help low- and moderate-income people.

The grant program asks that communities target a particular area or areas and the committee is recommending funding focus on projects in East Amherst Village, downtown and North Amherst. Projects like affordable housing or infrastructure improvements are among the many that could be funded, Malloy said.

For social service spending, the Community Development Committee has ranked homelessness and shelter services as the top priorities for funding, followed by funding for youth development and after-school care second, followed by adult education and job training and then emergency and preventive services such as having a pot of money available for emergency rental or fuel help.

The committee will hold a meeting on Sept. 20 to allow agencies to make presentations. The committee will then hold a public hearing on Oct. 12 to make recommendations to town manager John P. Musante who ultimately decides which projects to apply for.

Last year, the town supported using $375,000 for infrastructure improvements to make sidewalks more accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and those using public transportation along Main Street and $200,000 to buy property on West Street for affordable housing, among the projects.

The requests are due about a month earlier than in the past, Malloy said, to give the state more time to review them.

The accident, which involved a car, was reported about 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Republican file photo

WILBRAHAM – Emergency personnel have been summoned to the scene of an accident that injured a motorcyclist on Boston Road Wednesday morning.

Police said the accident, which also involved a car, occurred about 8 a.m. near Horizon’s Restaurant which is located at 2200 Boston Road.

Additional information was not immediately available.

The president's plan is likely to contain tax cuts, jobs-boosting infrastructure ideas and steps that would specifically help the long-term unemployed.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama greets people at DeWitt Dairy Treats, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011, in DeWitt, Iowa, during his three-day economic bus tour.

WASHINGTON — Seeking a jolt for a wilting economy, President Barack Obama will give a major speech in early September to unveil new ideas for speeding up job growth and helping the struggling poor and middle class, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.

The president's plan is likely to contain tax cuts, jobs-boosting infrastructure ideas and steps that would specifically help the long-term unemployed. The official emphasized that all of Obama's proposals would be fresh ones, not a rehash of plans he has pitched for many weeks and still supports, including his "infrastructure bank" idea to finance construction jobs.

On a significant and related front, Obama will also present a specific plan to cut the suffocating long-term national debt and to pay for the cost of his new short-term economic ideas.

His debt proposal will be bigger than the $1.5 trillion package that a new "supercommittee" of Congress must come up with by late November.

The president will then spend his fall publicly pressing Congress to take action as the economic debate roars into its next phase. Both the economic ideas and the plan to pay for them will be part of Obama's speech, although the address will focus mainly on the jobs components.

The president's speech is expected right after the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not yet disclosed his plans.

No final decisions on the economic package have been made.

Seeking re-election in a dispiriting economic time for the nation, Obama's rollout plan allows him to come into September swinging after one of the roughest periods of his presidency.

Obama has hinted about new economic ideas for days as the Republican presidential contenders take whacks as his record. Obama's economic team has been hashing out the new package since he and Congress struck a last-minute debt deal in late July to prevent a debilitating government default.

Obama has been rumbling through the Midwest all week, lobbying the locals along the way to help him pressure a divided Congress into working with him. He has one day of his bus tour left on Wednesday before returning to Washington and heading on a vacation with his family.

Come September, Obama will try to reframe the jobs debate and press lawmakers to act on his ideas. And, since he is almost sure to face political opposition from Republicans, particularly the leadership of the House, he is already preparing to lobby the American public for support if Congress tosses his ideas aside.

As the leader of the country, Obama is under unparalleled pressure to start showing more economic progress. His own job is expected to depend on it.

Nearly 14 million people are unemployed. Many millions more have given up looking for jobs or haven't found a way to move from part-time to full-time work.

The administration official would not offer details about the tax cuts Obama is likely to propose for the middle class.

They are expected to be separate from the extension of the payroll tax cut for employees that Obama has lobbied for by the day. Obama also has promoted a familiar list of other ideas, including patent reform and three major trade deals. And he has pushed for longer benefits for the chronically unemployed.

As for debt reduction, Obama is trying to have some say over the highly influential committee charged with recommending major changes fast.

That 12-person panel of Republicans and Democrats will start work in September on coming up with — by Nov. 23 — $1.5 trillion in savings over the coming decades. If not, or if Congress fails to approve the committee's plans, automatic spending cuts that both parties oppose would kick in across the government.

Obama's plan will be bigger. By how much isn't clear, but he has already envisioned $4 trillion in cuts over a slightly longer period of time.

He was in serious talks with House Speaker John Boehner during the recent, wrenching talks over a similar big package, between $3 trillion and $4 trillion. And those talks had included the potential for economic help like the payroll tax cut extension; Obama's new plan is likely to follow similar form.

Without offering any specifics about his plans, the president has been telling audiences he will get detailed in September, and then fight it out.

"My attitude is, get it done," he said in one Iowa town hall on Monday. "And if they (lawmakers) don't get it done, then we'll be running against a Congress that's not doing anything for the American people, and the choice will be very stark and will be very clear."

The economy has rebounded from a deep recession Obama inherited, but growth and hopes have stalled.

The unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent. No president in recent history has been re-elected with a jobless rate nearly that high.

Mayor Richard A. Cohen said he hopes the School Department can abolish fees for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The Republican file photoStudents take part in a pep rally at Agawam High School, where the School Committee has just increased the student parking fee.

AGAWAM – The School Committee Tuesday unanimously approved raising the annual student fee for parking at Agawam High School from $40 to $160 to raise enough money to abolish the newly adopted fees for taking part in extracurricular activities.

School Committee members also voted unanimously to cap the newly adopted fees for taking part in team sports at $200 per student and $400 per family.

Board members took that tack after discussing the issue for more than an hour during their meeting Tuesday at the high school.

Mayor Richard A. Cohen said at the conclusion of the meeting that he is hopeful that the academic year after the next there will be no fees.

“I’m not happy with all of this going on,” School Committee member Roberta G. Doering said following the voting for modifying the new system that takes effect for the coming academic year. “We tried to do the best we can for our kids and our families.

“It was well worth the time to come up with something that was pretty fair,” School Committee member Linda M. Galarneau, the chair of the board’s policies subcommittee, said.

Earlier this year, the School Committee had adopted a fee schedule calling for charges of $25 per extracurricular activity, $100 for a parking space and $100 per team sport. That fee schedule was projected to generate $97,318 over the 2011-2012 academic year to help fund the School Department’s fiscal 2012 budget. It marked the first time, the School Committee had had any student fee other than a parking fee.

Galarneau’s subcommittee came up with a recommendation to change the fee schedule to charging $100 to take part in one team sport and $200 to take part in two or more team sports. The subcommittee also recommended that students getting free lunches pay nothing to take part in sports and those getting reduced price lunches pay $50 per sport. In addition, it suggested that students in academic honor societies and in activities like band, the school newspaper and the yearbook that carry academic credit not have to pay an extracurricular activity fee.

Committee members agreed to adopt the subcommittee proposal regarding students who get free or reduced price lunches but to leave questions about that status off their application forms. The school would take their status into account regardless to maintain confidentiality.

John W. Kunasek, the city’s former parks and recreation director, suggested raising the parking fee enough to eliminate all other student fees, including those for sports. He floated that proposal during the public speak-out session allowed at the beginning of every School Committee meeting.

Kunasek suggested charging students anywhere from $1 to $1.50 to $2 a day for parking at the high school.

Obama is due to leave Washington Thursday for his 10-day trip to Martha's Vineyard.

Associated PressIn this Aug. 25, 2010 file photo, President Barack Obama greets people gathered outside Nancy's Restaurant in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Mass. 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.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's summer getaway to Martha's Vineyard has awakened a seemingly annual debate: Is there ever really a good time for the president to go on vacation?

Given the demands of the job and the always-looming possibility of an unexpected crisis at home or abroad, the political perils of the presidential vacation never seem to go away. This summer, the vacation dilemma is compounded by the country's urgent demand for jobs, the debt crisis that's left Washington with a hangover, and the public's frustration with political gridlock.

The president has promised that new jobs initiatives are coming soon. But the American people won't hear details of those proposals, or any other solutions to the nation's economic woes, until Obama returns from his summer sojourn in Martha's Vineyard, the wealthy island enclave off the Massachusetts coast where he and his family will vacation for the third straight year.

Obama is due to leave Washington Thursday for his 10-day trip.

And the president isn't the only one taking a break this summer. Most lawmakers left town in early August, right after reaching a deal with the White House to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic government default. Congress isn't expected to get back to work until early September.

With the lawmakers away, there's probably not much Obama could get done on the economic front even if he did cancel his trip. And even if Congress stayed in Washington, too, there are no quick fixes for the country's deep economic problems.

"They don't have anything to act upon," Rich Galen, a Republican consultant, said of both Obama and Congress. "If anyone knew what the answer to this was, they'd do it."

Then there's the issue of perception. Obama will be vacationing at a rented multi-million dollar estate on an island known as a haven for the rich and famous at a time when millions of Americans are out of work and countless more are financially strapped.

Bill Clinton's aides were so concerned about vacation perceptions that they polled the public before deciding where he should go. While Clinton preferred trips to Martha's Vineyard, polling sometimes pushed him toward the more rugged Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Former President George W. Bush was criticized for spending nearly 500 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, during his two terms in office. He was there in August 2001 when he received a CIA briefing paper warning him of al-Qaida's intentions to strike the United States — just over a month before the Sept. 11 attacks would occur. And in 2005, he remained on vacation after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans and devastated the Gulf Coast. His presidency suffered from his response to the storm and his decision to not immediately return to Washington.

Some of Obama's prior vacations have come under fire as well. Last summer, he was chided for not taking his family on a Gulf Coast vacation following the BP oil spill. When he finally did travel to the Florida Panhandle for a weekend, his attempts to soothe public concern about the safety of the region's beaches were tainted when the White House released a photo of the president and daughter Sasha swimming in water that turned out not to be the Gulf.

Perhaps mindful of the president's image, the White House booked Obama on a three-day, economy-focused bus tour through the Midwest right before the start of his vacation. He also traveled to Michigan last week to speak at a factory that makes batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said he doesn't think the public begrudges the president a break to recharge and spend time with his family. Besides, Carney said, the president is never really off-duty, since White House advisers go with him and he still receives regular briefings on national security and the economy.

"The presidency travels with you. He will be in constant communication," said Carney, also noting that Martha's Vineyard is close enough to Washington that Obama could make it home quickly if needed.

Two of Obama's counterparts on the world stage had to cut their vacations short this summer because of pressing events at home. British Prime Minister David Cameron came home from Tuscany early to preside over the response to riots spreading across England. And French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended his Mediterranean vacation early amid fears that his country's credit rating could be downgraded.

Short of an unexpected crisis, Obama seems determined to follow through with his Martha's Vineyard plans. And he has adamantly rejected the notion of calling Congress back from its break.

"The last thing we need is Congress spending more time arguing in D.C.," he said during a speech in Michigan last week. "What I figure is, they need to spend more time out here listening to you and hearing how fed up you are."

Political analyst Thomas Mann said that would be all well and good, if that were actually how politicians spent their time away from the nation's capital.

"Most members of Congress go home and see people who think just like they do," said Mann, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "It would be wonderful if people in Congress actually had to confront citizens who disagreed with them."