The Delaware Republican left after refusing to answer a question about gay marriage.

Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (AP photo/Rob Carr)

Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell says she has no hard feelings toward CNN’s Piers Morgan after walking off his show, but she’s declined an invitation to return.

The Delaware Republican left Morgan’s show Wednesday after refusing to answer a question about gay marriage. She complained that Morgan was being rude.

O’Donnell said Thursday she was more than a good sport in the face of “inappropriate” questions from Morgan.

O’Donnell was promoting her new book, “Troublemaker: Let’s Do What it Takes to Make America Great Again.” The tea party favorite won the GOP primary for Senate unexpectedly last year but lost the general election.

Morgan said it was the first walk-off he’s had in 25 years of doing interviews.

Obituaries from The Republican today.

James. B Newton

SOUTH HADLEY - James B. Newton, 84, passed away at home on Aug. 11. Born on February 25, 1927 in Springfield, he was the son of John and Dorris (Beach) Newton. At age 15 he got his pilot's license and loved flying over Brimfield where his extended family made its home. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army in the 8th Photographic Technical Squadron. He graduated from Amherst College in 1949 and was later employed in his family's electrical wholesale business, Oakes Electric Supply Co. in Holyoke. As a creative entrepreneur he also developed businesses focused on training and education in the electrical industry, including the Sales Tech Corp. in South Hadley and Profile Systems, Inc. In recognition of his efforts, he was a recipient last year of the National Association of Electrical Distributors Foundation Legacy Award for being one of the 10 most influential people in the association's history. In recent years he spent time archiving antique electrical items and expressing his opinion in letters to the editor. He was also a member of the Holyoke Rotary Club and served on the boards of the Holyoke Boys Club, Engineering Society of Western Massachusetts and National Association of Electrical Distributors.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Albert, Loretta
  




• 
  Bourassa, Bernice E.
  



• 
  Buxton Jr., Arthur E.




• 
  Cizeski, Leo R.
  



• 
  Coss, Irvin L.
  




• Curto, Shane M.
  




• 
  Desellier, Therese H. "Terry" (Hebert)
  



• 
  Dion, Lester A.




• 
  Drenzek, Walter E.
  



• 
  Dudek, Helen
  




• Dyjak, Louise (Ciszek)
  




• 
  Labonte, Gerald P.
  



• 
  Miciak, Agnes L. (Fiega)




• 
  Newton, James B.
  



• 
  Prior, Claire A. (Guidette)
  




• Stelle, John H.
  




• 
  Valentini, Maria R. (Daniele)
  



• 
  Watkins, Celeste

Obama on Thursday said Syrian President Bashar Assad should resign and that his suppression of his people had made him unfit to lead.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., greets a supporter after speaking to the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce at Christ Central Ministries in Columbia, S.C., Monday, July 19, 2011.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — White House hopeful Michele Bachmann says President Barack Obama has moved too late and with too little force in response to Syria's crackdown on dissent.

The Republican presidential candidate tells South Carolina residents that "better late than never" is no way to conduct foreign policy.

Obama on Thursday said Syrian President Bashar Assad should resign and that his suppression of his people had made him unfit to lead. Obama is also giving his administration authority to impose new sanctions against Syria.

Bachmann says the U.S. should expel the Syrian ambassador to the U.S. and recall the U.S. ambassador. She told a rally in Columbia, S.C., that they need a "tough hombre-ette" in Washington.

Bachmann is in the middle of a three-day campaign swing through South Carolina, a key primary state.

No injuries were reported in the late Thursday morning collapse.

Photo by John Suchocki / The Republican Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Moran, in ladder at right, looks over damage resulting from a partial building collapse at 534 South Bridge St. Thursday morning.

HOLYOKE – Jose Rodriguez said he had been standing on the steps of 534 South Bridge St. late Thursday morning when he got a sudden and inexplicable urge to move.

“Something told me to move, so I moved,” said Rodriguez.

It was a good thing that Rodriguez heeded that inner voice because moments later, as he walked south down South Bridge Street, a cascade of bricks and debris came showering down onto the sidewalk from the roof and upper wall of the four-story building.

“I would have gotten killed,” said Rodriguez, still a bit shaken about 90 minutes after his close call.

Rodriguez said he believes he was saved by a “guardian angel - or something.”

No injuries were reported in the collapse at 532 and 534 South Bridge St. It occurred shortly after 11 a.m. and has left 15 families homeless.

“If you look at the sidewalk and see the piles of bricks on it, it’s amazing that nobody got hurt,” Lt. Thomas Paquin, spokesman for the Holyoke Fire Department, said.

The falling debris damaged a vehicle and left a tangle of tree limbs on the street and sidewalk in front of the building.

Julio Flores, who lives on the second floor of 534 South Bridge, said he was sitting in his living room watching television when the roof partially collapsed.

“It sounded like a freight train coming down my wall,” Flores said. “I looked out the window and saw a bunch of people pointing to the sidewalk.”

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanHolyoke Fire Department Capt. Mark Fortin checks out the damage to the facade of 534 South Bridge St., Holyoke.

Michael Gow, who lives across the street at 535 South Main, said the noise from his vantage point sounded like a screechy truck door coming to a close.

“Once you saw the dust cloud you knew it had something to do with a building,” Gow said.

Paquin said adjoining buildings at 530 and 542 South Bridge St., each with approximately 15 families, were also evacuated. Those tenants, however, will likely be allowed to return to their homes later Thursday.

The tenants at 532 and 534 South Bridge, however, will not be allowed to return to their homes until the building is repaired, Paquin said.

The landlords, Tony Bisone of Florida and Mount Holyoke Management, respectively, are making arrangements to temporarily place their disrupted tenants elsewhere, Paquin said.

The sidewalk in front of the building will remain closed and that section of roadway will be closed to traffic until the building can be repaired, Paquin said.

As to why the building collapsed, Paquin said “I have no idea."

The Wilbraham police department's K-9 unit assisted in tracking one of the suspects.

Springfield Police photosTop, left to right: Anthony Tyler and Alexander Langford. Bottom, left to right: Patrick Hourihan and Anthony Wright.

SPRINGFIELD - A 911 call placed by a "frightened, yet brave" 13-year-old girl led to the arrests of three East Longmeadow men and one Springfield man on breaking and entering charges Wednesday.

The call came in to Springfield's dispatch center at 7:19 p.m., Springfield police cadet Melissa Rodriguez said in a press release. The girl, calling from an upstairs bedroom at her home on Mount Holly Drive in the city's East Forest Park neighborhood, told dispatcher Kaira Grant that she'd seen a man in a hooded sweatshirt walk through her backyard and enter the home. The girl hid before calling for help.

Police surmised that the suspect was communicating with accomplices via a cell phone after the girl told Grant she could hear the man in her home talking to someone, but that she couldn't hear anyone answering him. Police immediately issued a "be on the lookout" alert for potential suspects in the area.

The girl heard the man slamming cabinet doors and breaking glass downstairs, periodically exclaiming, "Where is it?". She heard the man walk upstairs, rummage through more of her family's belongings, and then head back downstairs, apparently leaving the home. Officers arrived at the home shortly after the suspect fled, Rodriguez said.

As officers began interviewing the girl at the scene, another pair of officers at the intersection of Gifford Street and Allen Ridge Road spotted a vehicle occupied by four men – all of whom fit the description the girl had provided. Rodriguez said the officers initiated a traffic stop after observing the car's occupants attempting to conceal their faces, and after recognizing one of the men as a suspect in several previous breaking-and-entering incidents.

Back at the crime scene, Wilbraham's K-9 officer arrived with police dog Charon to assist in tracking the suspect. Charon picked up the scent in the backyard of the girl's home and followed it through the woods to Gifford Street (see map at right), leading officers to the driver of the car – later identified as Anthony Tyler – that the Springfield officers had stopped.

Rodriguez said the officers examined Tyler's shoes and found a tread pattern consistent with footprints at the girl's home. Officers also observed broken glass embedded in the soles of Tyler's shoes -- consistent with the girl's description of hearing glass shattering during the break-in.

Believing that several suspects may have acted in concert during the break-in, police arrested all four of the vehicle's occupants: Patrick Hourihan, 23, of 9 South Meadow St., East Longmeadow; Alexander Langford, 19, of 7 Melwood Ave., East Longmeadow; Anthony Wright, 21, of 21 Saugas Ave., East Longmeadow; and Anthony Tyler, 19, of 91 Corcoran Blvd., Springfield.

The men are charged with breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony (putting a person in fear) and attempting to commit a crime (stealing a controlled substance from an authorized dispenser). Hourihan also faces a Ludlow warrant involving a parole violation and Langford faces a Westfield warrant involving a suspended license and uninspected motor vehicle.

Not guilty pleas were entered Thursday for all four men in Hampden County District Court. Their cases were continued to Sept. 14.

Langford, Tyler and Hourihan all were held on $25,000 cash bail; Wright was held on $1,000 cash bail.

In her release, Rodriguez made a point of praising dispatcher Grant as well as the Springfield and Wilbraham officers involved in the arrest. "A frightened, yet brave, 13 year old was kept safe due to their tremendous efforts and great team work," she wrote.

Reporter Suzanne McLaughlin contributed arraignment information.

A union leader said the closure of the lab will have a devastating effect on public safety in Western Massachusetts.

BOSTON -The administration of Gov. Deval L. Patrick is confirming that it will close a state-run, drug-testing laboratory in Amherst at the end of next month because of budget problems.

The lab, a longtime fixture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is the only lab in Western Massachusetts for weighing and testing illegal drugs seized by local police departments.

“Due to an unprecedented fiscal situation we have had to make extremely difficult decisions and at this time we plan to consolidate our resources and close the Amherst Drug Lab,” said Jennifer Manley, communications director for the state Department of Public Health, in a statement.

The statement said the public health department will save $192,000 in salaries this fiscal year with a closing date of Sept. 30. The total savings for this fiscal year would be $227,000, the statement said.

According to Manley, four employees at the lab will be laid off, but under union rules, they may have the opportunity to bump other employees depending on their position and seniority.

The planned closure of the lab comes after the Patrick administration shuttered a popular branch of the Registry of Motor Vehicles at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield in 2009 as part of a plan that shut down 11 Registry branches across the state to cut costs during a fiscal crisis in state government. Officials of the state’s Trial Court are also planning to close Westfield District Court and move its employees and operations to other nearby district courts as part of a move to close a dozen courthouses across the state to save money.

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.

Joseph Dorant, president of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists, said he met with public health officials on Wednesday afternoon and they told him of the planned closure of the lab by Sept. 30. Dorant said the planned closure doesn’t make sense.

“The impact on public safety in the western part of the state is going to be devastating,” Dorant said.

Police in Western Massachusetts may need to transport seized drugs to the public health lab in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Dorant said.

The closure of the Amherst lab will increase the current 90-day backlog at the Jamaica Plain lab and require local police to spend more time on the road, Dorant said. It could also take longer to test illegal drugs from Western Massachusetts, he said.

Springfield police currently transport drugs to the lab once a week and Holyoke police, once every three weeks, he said.

More details coming in The Republican.

The small town of Holland has had two break-ins in recent weeks- at the Holland Market, and at a Stafford Road home.

HOLLAND - Police are investigating a break-in that occurred early Wednesday morning at the Holland Market on Mashapaug Road where someone smashed the glass front door with a rock to steal more than 20 cartons of Camel cigarettes.

Police Chief Bryan C. Haughey said the ATM machine also was tampered with, but nothing was taken from it. Haughey said he is working with Oakham police and police in Thompson, Conn., as those communities also have had break-ins recently that were similar.

This the second break-in in recent weeks in the small town.

Haughey sad that on Aug. 10, a Stafford Road resident reported that their door was kicked in and an 80-pound safe was stolen that contained sports memorabilia, such as trading cards. A Toshiba laptop also was taken in that incident.

A witness reported seeing a thin, white woman with red hair tied in a ponytail leaving the area in a sport utility vehicle.

Haughey said anyone with information about either break-in is asked to call (413) 245-0117. He said updates are posted on the department's Facebook page.

Beverly Echols told police a domestic dispute turned violent.

File photo by Mark M. MurrayBeverly Echols is seen in Hampden Superior Court in February during her arraignment on charges that she stabbed her husband, Joel, to death.

SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court grand jury on Thursday indicted Beverly Echols with second degree murder in the killing of her husband Joel M. Echols on Feb. 19.

Beverly Echols had told police a domestic dispute got physical and she stabbed her husband.

The mandatory punishment for second degree murder is life in prison; but with a second degree conviction a person can apply for parole after 15 years.

There is no guarantee a person will get parole after 15 years or at any time.

If a person is tried and convicted of first degree murder, however, they cannot even apply for parole.

Echols pleaded innocent to the charge of murder in February in Springfield District Court; the grand jury indictment brings the case to Hampden Superior Court on the second-degree murder charge.

Echols, 41, of Springfield, was held without right to bail. An arraignment date in Superior Court has not yet been set.

In a statement to police when arrested Echols said she called police to the 26 Vinton St. home after stabbing her 45-year-old husband.

“I didn’t think that I had stabbed him hard or anything,” she told police at the time of her arrest.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 419 points — a return to the wild swings that gripped the stock market last week.

Associated PressSpecialist Gregg Maloney works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011.

NEW YORK — Just when Wall Street seemed to have settled down, a barrage of bad economic reports collided with fresh worries about European banks Thursday and triggered a global sell-off in stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 419 points — a return to the wild swings that gripped the stock market last week.

Stocks were only part of a dramatic day across the financial markets. The price of oil fell $5, gold set another record, the 10-year Treasury hit its lowest yield, and the average mortgage rate fell to its lowest in at least 40 years.

The selling began in Asia, where Japanese exports fell for a fifth straight month, and continued in Europe, where bank stocks were hammered because of worries about debt problems there, which have proved hard to contain.

On Wall Street, the losses wiped out much of the roughly 700 points that the Dow had gained over five days. Some investors who bought in the middle of last week decided to sell after they were confronted with a raft of bad news about the economy:

— More people joined the unemployment line last week than at any time in the past month. The number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits for the first time rose to 408,000, or 9,000 more than the week before.

— Inflation at the consumer level in July was the highest since March. More expensive gas, food, clothes and other necessities are squeezing household budgets at a time when most people aren't getting raises.

— Sales of previously occupied homes fell in July for the third time in four months — more trouble for a housing market that can't seem to turn itself around. This year is on pace to be the worst since the late 1990s for home sales.

— Manufacturing has sharply weakened in the mid-Atlantic states, according to a report from the Federal Reserve. Manufacturing had been one of the economy's strongest industries since the recession ended in 2009, but its growth has slowed this year.

The manufacturing news was especially bleak on an already bad day, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at brokerage BTIG. He called the Fed report "an atrocious set of numbers."

"That really set the market on its head," he said.

Wall Street and other financial markets have wrestled for several weeks with fears that a new recession might be in the offing. Morgan Stanley economists said in a report Thursday that the U.S. and Europe are "dangerously close to recession."

"It won't take much in the form of additional shocks to tip the balance," they wrote.

Worries about European debt also hang over the market. A default by any country would hurt the European banks that hold those European government bonds, plus American banks that have lent to their European counterparts.

Renewing the fears, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that U.S. regulators are looking at the U.S. arms of big European banks to make sure they have enough money for day-to-day operations.

"I don't want to pretend that the market knows what it's thinking about too much," said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds. "We live in an environment of sell now and ask questions later. The European market was off very heavily this morning before the markets opened. But honestly there wasn't any news of any substance. We always collect whatever crumbs we can find and point to them."

Asian markets started Thursday's drop. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.3 percent. The main stock indexes in South Korea and India each dropped a little more, then Europe more than that — 4.5 percent in Britain and 5.8 percent in Germany.

In the United the United States, the Dow fell 419.63 points, or 3.7 percent, to 10,990.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 53.24, or 4.5 percent, to 1,140.65. The Nasdaq composite fell 131.05, or 5.2 percent, to 2,380.43.

The Dow is down 13.6 percent since stocks began falling July 21 — four weeks that have rattled Americans watching their retirement savings and other investment accounts shrivel.

Lee Applegate, a retired sales executive from Cincinnati, watched the latest market plunge uneasily but said he was planning to stay the course with his investments. He and his wife have several retirement accounts.

He remembers the mistake he made in pulling his money out of stocks in early 2009, just before the market started its two-year surge. Since March 9 of that year, the S&P 500 is up 68.6 percent.

"I think things are going to get worse before they get better," Applegate said. "But I'm still going to ride it out."

Last week was one of the wildest in Wall Street history. The Dow moved more than 400 points on four straight days for the first time. But stocks had been relatively stable this week because investors were calmed by strong earnings reports.

The Dow had fallen 76 points Tuesday and risen four points Wednesday — the first time in nearly three weeks that the average rose or fell by less than 100 points on two straight days.

That ended Thursday. And with stocks down big, money flooded into U.S. Treasurys and gold, both considered safer investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly fell below 2 percent for the first time, hitting 1.98 percent, before rising to 2.07 percent. Low yields show that investors are willing to accept a lower return on their money in exchange for safety.

The price of gold reached yet another high — almost $1,830 per ounce. Gold keeps setting records, with some investors looking for stability and others simply looking to cash in.

The price of oil fell $5.20 to $82.38 per barrel after the economic reports raised concern among traders that demand for gasoline would fall. One survey this week found Americans have already cut back on gas 21 weeks in a row.

And the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to its lowest on record. The rate on the 30-year fixed, the most popular mortgage, hit 4.15 percent — the lowest in at least 40 years and barely beating the record from last November. The last time long-term rates were lower was in the 1950s, when 30-year loans weren't even widely available.

Nicole Sherrod, a managing director at broker T.D. Ameritrade, said the market volatility has led more clients to put automatic protections in place to sell a stock or an investment fund once it falls below a certain value.

"Our clients are saying that this is not a buy and hold market," she said. "This is a buy and protect market."

In addition, computer systems that are programmed to analyze charts, capitalize on tiny changes in price and execute trades with no human intervention are making the market rougher.

High-frequency trading programs make up about half of the trading volume in a normal market day but 70 percent or more on a volatile one.

The average mortgage rate fell to its lowest level in at least 40 years.

This is an update of a story posted at 1:21 this afternoon.

Associated Press photoTrader Gregory Rowe, left, and specialist Gennaro Saporito work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

NEW YORK – Just when Wall Street seemed to have settled down, a barrage of bad economic reports collided with fresh worries about European banks Thursday and triggered a global sell-off in stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 419 points – a return to the wild swings that gripped the stock market last week.

Stocks were only part of a dramatic day across the financial markets. The price of oil fell $5, gold set another record, the 10-year Treasury hit its lowest yield, and the average mortgage rate fell to its lowest in at least 40 years.

The selling began in Asia, where Japanese exports fell for a fifth straight month, and continued in Europe, where bank stocks were hammered because of worries about debt problems there, which have proved hard to contain.

On Wall Street, the losses wiped out much of the roughly 700 points that the Dow had gained over five days. Some investors who bought in the middle of last week decided to sell after they were confronted with a raft of bad news about the economy:

• More people joined the unemployment line last week than at any time in the past month. The number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits for the first time rose to 408,000, or 9,000 more than the week before.

• Inflation at the consumer level in July was the highest since March. More expensive gas, food, clothes and other necessities are squeezing household budgets at a time when most people aren’t getting raises.

• Sales of previously occupied homes fell in July for the third time in four months – more trouble for a housing market that can’t seem to turn itself around. This year is on pace to be the worst since the late 1990s for home sales.

• Manufacturing has sharply weakened in the mid-Atlantic states, according to a report from the Federal Reserve. Manufacturing had been one of the economy’s strongest industries since the recession ended in 2009, but its growth has slowed this year.

An East Longmeadow zoning bylaw prohibits outdoor movie events.

EAST LONGMEADOW – An outdoor movie night to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network on Aug. 26 has been canceled due to safety concerns and potential bylaw violations.

Maureen Basile, owner of Maureen’s Sweet Shoppe in the Heritage Village Shoppes on Harkness Avenue, joined with other businesses in the plaza to organize the fundraiser. The event would have included a free family-friendly movie on the big screen in the parking lot of the shops. Money from concession stand sales would go towards the Children’s Miracle Network.

The event was approved by the Board of Selectman, but denied by the Planning Board after they heard concerns from the Police Department Chief Douglas Mellis and the town’s public safety officer Sgt. Richard Bates.

“The issue is not about the charity event itself, it’s about the bylaw violation and the safety concerns,” said Planning Board Director Robyn D. Macdonald.

Macdonald said there is a town bylaw specifically prohibiting events such as this.

“The zoning bylaw prohibits outdoor movie establishments,” she said.

Macdonald said the town bylaws also prohibit activities that would disrupt abutting neighbors. She said there are residents on Anthony Drive which directly abut the property. Their windows face the plaza and they would have to deal with the increased traffic and the noise from the event, she said.

Macdonald said the police department was also concerned with the event.

“There were serious safety concerns dealing with children and vehicular movement especially after dark,” she said.

Basile said they had created flyers announcing the event and had already rented the movie screen.

Macdonald said Basile was advised to wait until she was approved before advertising the event.

“We are disappointed that we couldn’t have the event,” Basile said.

Basile said the shop owners will figure out another way to raise money for the charity.

The new superintendent will replace Kenneth J. Grew who has agreed to serve as interim superintendent for one year.

LUDLOW – The School Committee has been advised by the consultant assisting with the search for a new superintendent to leave School Committee members off the Search Committee.

Consultant Patricia Correira told the School Committee that having community members serve on the Search Committee “shows that the School Committee trusts their judgment.”

“It’s their children,” Correira said.

Correira advised that a Search Committee to screen applicants for school superintendent should consist of three parents, three teachers including a special education teacher, one administrator, three community members including a senior citizen, a representative from either the Board of Selectmen or the Finance Committee and a student.

“Let the teachers pick their own representative,” Correira advised.

She said community members could be selected by lottery if there is a lot of interest in serving on the committee.

“That eliminates the finger pointing,” Correira said.

She said School Committee members do not want to be accused of stacking the committee for the choice of the next superintendent.

“Nobody would say that,” School Committee member James P. “Chip” Harrington joked.

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

The new superintendent will replace Interim Superintendent Kenneth J. Grew who has agreed to serve for one year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State auditor said $1 million in public assistance fraud found in three month period.

Suzanne Bump

SPRINGFIELD – Gina Campanini is paying $139,161 back the state at the rate of $200 per month after a fraud conviction called “one of the most egregious” in a three month period.

The case of Campanini – a West Springfield woman who admitted to funneling MassHealth funds to her dead mother, spouse, brother and daughter – is the case spotlighted in a new report from State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump.

Christopher Thompson, spokesman for Bump, said of Campanini’s case, “It was one of the most egregious cases we saw over the last quarter.”

Bump said examiners with her office’s Bureau of Special Investigations identified $1 million in public assistance fraud in a three month period ending June 30.

Campanini admitted in Hampden Superior Court to billing the Massachusetts Medicaid Program for a personal care attendant services that she didn’t receive.

She was eligible to receive assistance under MassHealth as a result of a long-term disability, but an investigation showed that between 2006 and 2009 she submitted time slips identifying her deceased mother as her personal care attendant. The payments to her mother, who died in 1993, went directly into Campanini’s personal bank account.

The personal care assistance program, funded by Medicaid, helps eligible elderly and disabled Massachusetts residents in their daily routines, so that they can continue to live in their own homes.

At her sentencing in May Judge Peter A. Velis sentenced Campanini to 2 years in the Chicopee Women’s Correctional Center but suspended the sentence and placed her on probation for full 12 years.

As conditions of that probation she has to pay $200 in restitution each month; she must report any cash gift or other amount over $50; and she must give a twice annual financial statement to the Probation Department.

Gerard J. DiSanti, Campanini’s lawyer, did not want to comment on the auditor’s report. According to Bump, in the nine years that the special investigations bureau has been investigating fraud in the personal care assistant program, it has identified $7.1 million in fraudulent activities.

The bureau also has discovered personal care assistants who steal from or abuse their clients.

Examiners in the last three months identified 163 people who “tried to cheat the state out of welfare, food stamps, childcare services, health care benefits, public housing or cash assistance.”

Thompson said Campanini’s case was the only one from Western Massachusetts included in the three month period the report covered.

He did give as another example a case in July in Berkshire Superior Court.

Vanessa Brown, 46, of Pittsfield, pleaded guilty to taking $26,000 in false medical assistance between November 16, 2007 and May 15, 2009.

Berkshire Superior Court Judge John Agostini sentenced Brown to a 2-4-year state prison sentence.

Bureau of Special Investigations Quarterly Report 81811

The state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported that July job estimates show an increase of 12,700 jobs.

BOSTON – The number of jobs in the state increased by 12,700 in July, but consumer confidence dropped significantly over the past three months, according to separate reports issued Thursday by the state and by Mass Insight, a Boston consulting firm.

The state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported that the preliminary July job estimates show an increase of 12,700 jobs, for a total of 3,246,800 jobs in Massachusetts.

This report also included figures on the private sector gaining 11,600 jobs, and the July total unemployment rate remaining at 7.6 percent, below the national rate of 9.1 percent.

The state labor report, which is issued on a monthly basis, also reported that the number of jobs in Massachusetts increased by 56,800 or 1.8 percent between the end of July 2010 and the end of July 2011. Private sector jobs were reported being up 61,900 over that same one-year period for a growth rate of 2.2 percent.

Commenting on the jobs increase and the consumer confidence drop, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said, “I see the glass half full, 50,000 plus new jobs in a year. That to me is the most important trend.”

Murray said he is concerned about the drop in consumer confidence, something he attributes in part to “the inability of some of the leaders in Washington to compromise and the volatility on the whole debt issue.”

Murray said he sees Massachusetts coming out of the economic downturn better than some states.

“We took a blended approach. We made cuts. We raised some additional revenue. We made some infrastructure investments,” Murray said. “That is something I think Washington should emulate.”

The state bases its employment statistics on a survey of employers and bases its unemployment rate numbers on a survey of households.

The consumer confidence report, based on telephone polling and issued by Mass Insight every three months for the past 20 years, is an attempt to measure confidence in current and future economic conditions.

The rating of 56 reported Thursday was the lowest for any three-month period since the one that ended in Jaunary 2009.

William H. Guenther, president of Mass Insight, responded to his firm’s report by saying, “There has been a steady march downward. "We are now down to essentially the levels we were at after the 2008 crash.”

Guenther said having the Mass Insight confidence report issued the same day as the state employment numbers is coincidental.

“The unemployment data released today looks more positive. so the economic picture in the state looks better than in other parts of the country,” Guenther said.

The state confidence rating was four points lower than the national one recently published by the Conference Board. Guenther said timing is an important consideration for all of these surveys and pointed out that the current state consumer confidence rating telephone surveys were being conducted at the end of July, when the stock current market was drop was just starting.

Guenther said a weak economic recovery combined with what he called “the political quagmire in Washington.”

“That does not provide encouraging news for people,” Guenther said.

Fontaine allegedly brandished a Baby Desert Eagle BB gun during the standoff.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 9:59 this morning.

File photo by Lori Stabile / The RepublicanPalmer police officer Scott T. Camilleri is shown outside the Palmer Police Department in 2004 after attaining full-time status. He started as a part-time police officer in Palmer in 1997.

PALMER - Palmer Police Officer Scott Camilleri was legally justified in the July 4 non-fatal shooting of 17-year-old Shawn Fontaine, Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said a statement released on Thursday.

Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said he is grateful that the investigation was done thoroughly and quickly, and said that it helps give the department some closure.

"This lets us close this chapter and continue on with the business of providing public safety and police services to the residents of our community," Frydryk said.

"While regrettable, the level of force that we used was justified given the circumstances," Frydryk added.

Frydryk had said all along that he thought the officer's actions were appropriate.

Until Thursday, the name of the officer had not been released. Camilleri is an eight-year veteran of the force, and was placed on paid administrative leave for approximately two weeks until Frydryk returned him to duty. At the time, Frydryk said he was confident that Camilleri would not be penalized after the district attorney finished his review of the case. He explained that placing the officer on leave was "standard police procedure of an incident of this type."

The night of July 4 officers responded to 22 Pinney St. for a report of a male with a gun. The gun turned out to be a BB gun, but officers initially believed that it was a semi-automatic handgun.

A 20-minute standoff ensued, with officers asking Fontaine multiple times to drop the weapon.

Camilleri shot Fontaine once in the abdomen with his department-issued .40-caliber Smith & Wesson as the teenager approached the officers, still holding the gun.

When Fontaine got up and continued his advance toward the officers, Camilleri fired a second shot that struck Fontaine in the ankle.

"Fontaine had armed himself before he had arrived at the residence with criminal intent to use the weapon," Mastroianni said in a press release. "He knew that his weapon looked like a firearm, and he maintained it drawn throughout his encounter with police, giving the clear impression he was going to fire it."

According to a statement provided by Palmer Detective Sgt. Scott E. Haley in Fontaine's court file, Fontaine told the officers, "Shoot me! Shoot me! You better shoot me because I'm going to shoot you and I won't miss."

None of the officers involved in the standoff will face criminal charges, Mastroianni said.

Fontaine faces six counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon -- a Magnum Research Baby Desert Eagle .177-caliber BB gun -- and one count of carrying a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident.

He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference in Palmer District Court on Aug. 25. He is being represented by Attorney Michael N. Kallock and denied the charges during his arraignment last month at his hospital bed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.

First to arrive on scene the night of July 4 were Palmer Officer Brian P. McNally and Auxiliary Officer Joseph Niedziela, and Fontaine pointed the weapon at them.

Mastroianni's press release stated that the home belonged to a relative of Fontaine, and that he had been staying there. Two weeks earlier, Fontaine had been asked to leave so he threatened retaliation; Fontaine showed up that night with no notice to his relatives. Six people were home at the time - three adults and three children, ages 5, 13 and 19. McNally repeatedly ordered Fontaine to drop the weapon, but he refused.

Palmer Police Sgt. Christopher J. Burns then arrived with Camilleri, followed by two Monson police officers and state police. Fontaine then pointed the weapon at Camilleri and the other officers.

Because Camilleri knew Fontaine, Burns asked Camilleri to talk to him.

"Fontaine's assaultive movement towards officers brought him to be five or six feet away from Officer Camilleri. The officer (Camilleri) then discharged his service weapon, striking Fontaine in the abdomen and knocking him to the ground . . . Fontaine began to get up, still armed and moving toward Officer Camilleri," the release states.

The investigation of the incident was conducted by troopers in the state police detective unit assigned to Mastroianni's office, crime scene services and troop C barracks, as well as the Palmer and Monson police departments.

The project, which borders State Street, Dwight Street and Willow Street, has generated 100 construction jobs and will create another 50 hotel jobs, according to the developers.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The Republican The entrance to the tornado damaged Epiphany Tower building is seen Thursday at 145 State St. in downtown Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – A 98-room Holiday Inn Express hotel is scheduled to open next spring, despite sustaining about $100,000 in damage from the June 1 tornado.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the hotel’s developer confirmed that the $6 million project is moving toward a March or April opening at a press conference at the 143 State St. site Thursday afternoon.

The project, being developed by Jamsan Hotel Management of Lexington, will transform an eight-story vacant building, formerly the Epiphany Tower, across the street from the MassMutual Center on Main Street.

Dilip Patel, president of Jamsan Hotel Management, said the tornado shattered 60 windows and damaged the roof and exterior of the building. But the repairs will not derail the project from its spring opening, and work on most of the 98 rooms is already complete, Patel said.

Sarno said the hotel will add another piece to the State Street corridor redevelopment project that already includes the federal courthouse at 300 State St. and the Springfield Data Center on Elliot Street.

“This will give us an eclectic mix” of hotels downtown, Sarno said, while providing rooms for visitors and customers for downtown restaurants.

The hotel will have a swimming pool and fitness club, and provide quick access to the MassMutual Center for visitors attending events there, Sarno added.

Patel said his company, which operates 40 hotels nationwide, was attracted to Springfield after learning there was a shortage of hotel rooms for events downtown.

The project is being developed in partnership with the Epiphany Development Corp., a non-profit arm of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Church. The church’s leader, Archbishop Timothy Paul Baymon, said the Lexington-based development firm will build and manage the hotel, but the property will eventually be turned back to the Epiphany Development Corp.

City Councilor Melvin A. Edwards said the project provides another encouraging sign that Springfield is rebounding from its financial troubles and attracting new development.

The project, which borders State Street, Dwight Street and Willow Street, has generated 100 construction jobs and will create another 50 hotel jobs, according to the developers, who initially hoped to complete construction by this November.

Edwards said the project is being financed by private investors, but the benefits will be reaped by the entire city. “The fact that a private developer wants come here and invest in Springfield is exactly what we’re looking for,” Edwards said.

Stores are trying everything they can think of to disguise the fact that you're going to pay more for clothes this fall.

Associated Press A boy looks for pants in the 'back to school' uniform department at Target.

NEW YORK — Stores are trying everything they can think of to disguise the fact that you're going to pay more for clothes this fall.

Some are using less fabric and calling it the new look. Others are adding cheap stitching and trumpeting it as a redesign. And the buttons on that blouse? Chances are you're not going to think it's worth paying several dollars more for the shirt just to have them.

Retailers are raising prices on merchandise an average of 10 percent across-the-board this fall in an effort to offset their rising costs for materials and labor. But merchants are worried that cash-strapped customers who are weighed down by economic woes will balk at price hikes. So, retailers are trying to raise prices without tipping off unsuspecting customers.

"Let the consumer trickery begin," said Brian Sozzi, Wall Street Strategies retail analyst

Retailers have long tried to mask price hikes — for instance, jacking them up more than needed so that they can offer a "sale" on the higher price. But the new strategies come as merchants' production and labor costs are expected to rise 10 percent to 20 percent in the second half of the year after having remained low during most of the past two decades. Costs can quickly add up: Raw materials account for 25 percent to 50 percent of the cost of producing a garment, while labor ranges from 20 percent to 40 percent, analysts estimate.

Stores already have passed along their rising costs to customers by raising prices on select items. The core Consumer Price Index, which includes spending on everything except food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in July, the Labor Department said Thursday. But now that production costs are going up even higher, merchants are increasing prices on a broader range of merchandise. Because of their concern that shoppers will retreat, though, retailers are treading the line between style, quality and price.

Some merchants are making inexpensive tweaks __ additional stitching, fake button holes, fancy tags __ to justify price increases. Those embellishments can add pennies to $1 to the cost of a garment, but retailers can charge $10 more for them, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group.

"We're not seeing deflation or inflation; we're seeing con-flation," he said. "Stores are making consumers believe they're getting more for their money."

After the price of the fabric for its girl's corduroy pants almost doubled, catalog retailer Lands' End, based in Dodgeville, Wis., raised the price of the pants by $7 to $34.50. The company, a unit of Sears Holdings Corp., also added buttons and stitching on the pockets to dress them up.

"Consumers are going to notice the price differences," said Michele Casper, a Lands' End spokeswoman. "But they are also going to get a lot of added benefits so they know they're not getting short-changed."

Others are taking away things, but marketing it to customers as the latest trend.

Spencer Elmen, owner of Cupid's Lingerie, which operates five stores in Arkansas, said he is seeing more items in his store that are even skimpier than usual, from underwear to mini dresses. He says that's because designers are finding clever ways to conceal the fact that they're clothes have less fabric.

Elmen said $39.99 teddies, which are $5 more than that they were last year, feature a studded heart that gathers up the material to disguise the fact that less fabric is being used. He also noted that the corsets with fishnet patterns are priced about 5 percent more at about $49, even though they also have less material.

"They're just being more creative with less fabric," Elmen said.

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch is advertising "Redesigned 2012" jean collection in its stores and on its website, touting that the jeans are "softer, with the perfect amount of stretch." They're also mostly priced between $78 and $88, about $10 more than last year, according to Jennifer Black, who heads up research firm Jennifer Black & Associates.

Sozzi, the Wall Street Strategies retail analyst, examined the jeans and believes they are "thinner" and of "cheaper quality." That extra stretch, he says, simply could mean the retailer is saving costs by using less denim.

Eric Cerny, an Abercrombie & Fitch spokesman, declined to comment. But Cerny reiterated what executives told investors in recent months: the bulk of increases on items will start to happen in September and the chain will not sacrifice quality to achieve cost reductions.

Bill Melnick, director of strategic planning at SAI Marketing, which studies consumer behavior at major consumer brands, said most shoppers may not notice retailers' tactics to disguise prices. But he says shoppers won't buy if they can't afford it.

"Shoppers are being pragmatic," he says, nothing that they think "'If it fits into my budget, then it's a sale.'"

Rhonda Sayen, a Stephens City, Va., resident, said she checked out prices on new fall items and noticed jeans that were about $40 a year ago are now closer to $60. She also said she's spotted lower quality T-shirts at some of the stores.

"I know prices have changed," said Sayen, who added that she and her husband are sticking to a $400 budget for clothing and supplies for her four children ages 3 to 18. "You ain't fooling me."

Police say 58-year-old Roy Limbaugh of Danvers stabbed officer John Melto at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday after Melto confronted him while patrolling off Route 1.

DANVERS — Police have a suspect in custody after he allegedly stabbed a Danvers police officer in a restaurant parking lot.

Police say 58-year-old Roy Limbaugh of Danvers stabbed officer John Melto at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday after Melto confronted him while patrolling off Route 1. Police say Melto's injuries don't appear to be life-threatening.

Limbaugh allegedly fled in a Volkswagen Jetta, but state police say a motorist spotted him, covered in blood and driving erratically in Randolph, about 35 miles from Danvers. They say the motorist followed Limbaugh and a state police officer arrested him at about 7 a.m. in an industrial area in Randolph.

Danvers police say they had been searching for Limbaugh, a registered sex offender with outstanding warrants against him.

According to court documents, the five stole items including Playstation games and consoles.

EAST BROOKFIELD — Five people are accused of stealing dozens of items from a Leicester Walmart, sometimes stuffing goods into the strollers of children they brought along.

According to court documents, the five stole items including Playstation games and consoles, which they took after using tools from the hardware department to saw through display cases.

At times, they'd allegedly stuff items into stollers alongside the three children, all of whom were under 5-years-old.

The Telegram & Gazette reports a judge in Western Worcester District Court on Thursday ordered the suspects held on bail amounts from $5,000 to $40,000. The judge also ordered the state to take custody of the children.

The suspects include Billmary Cruz and David Ortiz of Framingham, and Willmary Cruz, Omayda Velez and Eric Valentin, all of Worcester.

One scenario could pit U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch against U.S. Rep. Bill Keating.

S.P. Sullivan, MassLive.comRep. Michael Moran and Sen. Stanley Rosenberg hear testimony at the Joint Committee on Redistricting's public hearing in Greenfield.

Much has been said about the possibility that Western Mass. could lose one of its two U.S. House representatives in the remapping of the state's Congressional districts. But in a recent Boston television interview, the legislators tasked with re-drawing the state's Congressional district maps raised another possible — some might even say likely — scenario.

On an episode of "On The Record" posted on TheBostonChannel.com, WCVB's Janet Wu asked Sen. Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and Rep. Michael Moran, D-Brighton, whether the outcome of the redistricting process could see two Eastern Mass. reps "duking it out."

Moran told Wu and co-host Ed Harding that a reshuffling of the crowded Eastern Mass. districts could pit U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-South Boston, against U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Quincy. Though he described the scenario as "one of many" outcomes.

Rosenberg, meanwhile described the seemingly countless configurations the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, which finished up a series of hearings across the state earlier this summer, has been presented with.

"There are many scenarios and we 've seen maps proposed to us that have virtually every member running against some other member," Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg also dismissed the suggestion that he might take extra steps to protect the two Congressional districts in Western Mass. — seats currently held by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and John Olver, D-Amherst. Olver is a close friend of Rosenberg, who once worked as Olver's top aide in the state Senate. Here's an excerpt of his exchange with host Ed Harding:

Harding: With all this history, there might be some questions about you being involved in this in terms of conflict of interest, so are you protecting Congressman Olver in the map redrawal here?

Rosenberg: That's a 'When do you stop beating your wife?' question. The answer to that is, I've been in politics for 40 years, I am friends and close friends with every one of the members of Congress. I've worked with each of them. Steve Lynch and I served in the Senate together, Barney Frank and I have common interests, Bill Keating and I served in the Senate together, so I know and have worked with all of them

I'm going to be totally fair. We're going by the numbers, we're going by the rules, and these maps will be constitutionally defensible and will meet the best interests of the Commonwealth. Watch the full interview »

Voters can watch video of hearings and submit their own testimony on the committee's website.

Update 11:20 a.m.: Sen. Rosenberg said Friday that the committee "hasn't set a date yet" for final maps to be drawn. "My hope is that we'll be finished by Thanksgiving," he said, adding that the joint committee is still gathering and analyzing data.