John O'Brien and Michael Baxendale, co-hosts of the "Bax & O'Brien Morning Show" on Rock 102, are challenging people to donate $102 to ride the popular "Tornado" water ride with them on Tuesday at Six Flags New England in Agawam.

John O'Brien

Michael Baxendale

AGAWAM -- As part of Rock 102's ongoing "Operation Recovery" to aid victims of the June 1 tornadoes that tore through the heart of Hampden County, the radio station's top-ranked morning deejays, John O'Brien and Michael Baxendale, are looking for some brave souls to ride the "Tornado" with them.

In this case, the tornado in question is a popular water ride at Six Flags New England in Agawam. And the co-hosts of the "Bax & O'Brien Morning Show" -- broadcast weekday mornings from 5:30 to 10 on 102.1 FM WAQY -- are seeking members of the public willing to donate $102 cash for an opportunity to take a splash with them on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The donation price includes park admission, according to Steve Nagle (steve@rock102.com), the radio show's producer.

"All proceeds will go directly to helping those in need as they still try to get back on their feet," Nagle stated in a release Friday.

The tornado relief fundraiser is being co-sponsored by the Spirit Of Springfield.

"We’re also putting out a challenge to all local businesses to come donate $102 at Six Flags on (Tuesday)," Nagle said.

Those who don't want to get wet can mention Rock 102 at the Six Flags box office for a reduced Tuesday admission rate of $36.99. The amusement park is located at 1623 Main St. (Route 159) in Agawam.

The ride itself is located in the Hurricane Harbor section of the amusement park. Up to four riders board a large inner tube shaped like a clover that plunges through a tunnel resembling a giant funnel from a height of more than seven stories, according to the park's website.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno stopped by Friday's breakfast to congratulate the students on a summer well spent.

SPRINGFIELD – Six weeks of work, three hours of celebrating.

For 440 students taking part in the summer employment program sponsored by the Massachusetts Career Development Institute, that worked out to be a good deal Friday.

The participants came to the MassMututal Center for a pancake breakfast, music and speeches to mark the end of the summer program.

The program was part of the state’s YouthWorks summer job initiative designed to provide structured and supervised work for youths 14 to 21.

In Springfield, 65 employers, from dance studios to insurance companies, took part in this year’s program, said Desilynn M. Gladden, the program director.

One was Destiny Weaver, 16, a student at Science and Technology High School who spent six weeks helping students sharpen their dance and social skills at Dream Studio at 1580 Main St.

“It was fun,” Weaver said.

It also paid $150 a week, she added.

Another counselor, Kiara Spells, 14, of Springfield, also worked at the studio, doing everything from supervising and entertaining children to feeding them lunch.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno

Because incumbent Garcia was unopposed, the nomination papers problem means Ward 2 voters will have no school board member on the ballot.

Staff Photo by Dave RobackSchool Committee member Yvonne S. Garcia works with a child on a drawing in a 1999 photo..

HOLYOKE – The name of Ward 2 School Committee member Yvonne S. Garcia won’t be on the Nov. 8 election ballot because she failed to submit enough signatures of registered voters from the ward to qualify, an official said Friday.

Garcia, who has held the seat since 1995, said in a brief interview on her front porch at 351 Chestnut St. she will urge voters to vote for her by writing her name on the Election Day ballot.

But because Garcia was unopposed, voters in Ward 2 will have no ward-based candidate on the ballot.

To be eligible as a candidate for the seat, Garcia had to submit nomination papers bearing signatures of at least 50 registered voters from Ward 2 by July 26.

Among the problems were that some people who signed Garcia’s nomination papers live outside Ward 2, City Solicitor Lisa A. Ball said. She declined to discuss other possible problems with Garcia’s papers.

Each School Committee member is paid $5,000 a year.

The committee has 10 members, consisting of the mayor as chairman, one from each of the seven wards and two at-large members.

The city Board of Registrar of Voters contacted Garcia by certified mail about the problem with signatures on her nomination papers and offered her a hearing, but she failed to respond, Ball said.

Garcia said supporters who were gathering signatures for her mistakenly let non-Ward 2 residents sign her nomination papers.

“It really doesn’t bother me,” Garcia said. “It really doesn’t. The thing is, yes, I enjoyed being on the School Committee, but the way the (state) is doing things, they’re tying our hands.”

She hadn’t intended to run again. She had planned to support the candidacy for the Ward 2 seat of a woman she declined to identify who decided against running, prompting Garcia to try to retain the seat, she said.

She considered leaving the School Committee for a few reasons. She objects to restrictions that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has put on the school system, she said, and believes she can do more for young people with her private after-school program Lean on Me. She said the runs the business across the street from her home.

Also, she had wanted to link her business with some of the city schools and figured that would be easier to do if she was off the School Committee, she said.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will touch down in Springfield on Sept. 11 to begin working on a home for a deserving city family. The Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Western Massachusetts has helped out with the project, which has been in the works for several weeks. Watch video

Updates a story posted at 12:17 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno assumed his customary spot on the steps of City Hall Friday to announce good news for the city.

Extremely good news, in fact.

In three weeks, one still-unidentified family will get its home rebuilt or renovated courtesy of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Flanked by a local contractor and 30 volunteers from Western New England University, the mayor announced that the Emmy-winning reality show will touch down here Sept. 11 to begin working on a home for a deserving family.

The fortunate family will get the news from host Ty Pennington during the show’s signature ‘door knock’ scene before being packed off for a one-week vacation courtesy of the show.

After seven days of non-stop labor, the family will return to a new version of its old home, the latest of more than 180 built or transformed by "Extreme Makeover" since the series began in 2003.

The announcement came 2½ months after Greater Springfield was ravaged by a tornado that damaged an estimated 1,000 structures and tens of thousands of trees. In Springfield, the city condemned around 170 buildings and ordered the emergency demolition of more than 20 structures.

Sarno would not say whether Springfield’s selection was related to the June 1 tornado, citing the show’s policy of keeping its decision-making under wraps.

But he said several families are being considered for the home renovation work, and the decision will be made in coming days.

“I can say this is very good for Springfield, and for the deserving family that will receive a new home,” the mayor said.

The project has been in the works for several weeks, helped along by the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Western Massachusetts, which provided a list of its 400 members to the show’s producers.

The association will be helping to collect donations and overseeing volunteers. The main contractor, N. Riley Construction of Chicopee, will be volunteering its services, as well.

A number of groups, from the Pioneer Valley Red Cross to local architects and interior designers, have already signed on to help.

“We’re thrilled to be part of this project and already have tons of support,” said company owner Nick Riley of Chicopee. “But we (still) need your help and donations.”

By coincidence, a busload of Western New England University students was touring City Hall during the 11 a.m. press conference.

By 11:30, nearly all the students had signed on for the project, including Elizabeth K. Walsh of Peabody.

“We’re very excited,” Walsh said, adding that she has never built anything larger than a book case.

Karlene S. Ball, creative services director for abc40-FOX6, said the station is pleased the show has selected Springfield, and will promote the crew’s visit and the episode, which could run six to eight weeks after the filming.

“It’s great for the community when a reality show comes here that does such good things,” she said.

The popular ABC show was last in this region a little more than two years ago, when the the Hill family from Suffield, Conn., had their home rebuilt by the "Extreme Makeover" crew and a few thousand area volunteers.

Massachusetts regulators have approved deals by the state's second-largest utility to buy power from three land wind farms scattered around New England

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts regulators have approved deals by the state's second-largest utility to buy power from three land wind farms scattered around New England, the firm announced Friday.

NStar said the Department of Public Utilities approved contracts between the utility and Hoosac Wind in Massachusetts, Groton Wind in New Hampshire and Blue Sky East in Maine.

DPU officials could not be immediately reached for comment after business hours Friday.

Under Massachusetts law, utilities must get 3 percent of their electricity demand through long-term contracts with renewable power providers.

The NStar deals represent about 1.6 percent of its demand, so even with the DPU decision, the utility still must buy more renewable power.

National Grid, the state's largest utility, met its entire obligation by agreeing to buy half the power from Cape Wind, the nation's first federally-approved offshore wind farm. But NStar has said it wants to pursue cheaper power.

National Grid's 15-year deal, negotiated directly with Cape Wind, sees the power starting at 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour and increasing 3.5 percent annually.

NStar has kept pricing on the three deals confidential, but analysts have estimated the power costs at about 9.4 cents per kilowatt hour. The three deals are fixed price contracts, meaning the price per kilowatt hour doesn't increase over time. NStar selected its contracts after a competitive bidding process that emphasized lowest price and drew about 74 qualified bids.

Offshore wind costs more than land wind, in part because of the cost of building and maintaining huge sea turbines.

National Grid has said large scale projects like the 468-megawatt Cape Wind are essential to meet coming renewable energy demands and it's worth the extra cost of about $1.50 a month for an average residential user (about 618 kilowatt hours usage).

The Hoosac project in Monroe, Mass., and Florida, Mass., is roughly 29 megawatts and is set to be running by July 2012. The 32-megawatt Blue Sky East wind farm in Eastbrook, Maine, is scheduled to be operating by May 2012. The 48-megawatt Groton project in Groton, N.H., is scheduled to be operating by December 2012.

The Blue Sky deal is for 15 years, while the other two are for 10.

The Hoosac and Groton projects are owned by the Spanish power utility Iberdrola SA. Blue Sky is owned by Boston-based First Wind.

Bradley came under direct verbal warfare by a Texas congressman in 2005.

Raymond S. Bradley

AMHERST – What began as science eventually became politics, which positioned Raymond S. Bradley, a climatologist at University of Massachusetts, squarely in the crosshairs of perhaps Congress’ most vehement global warming denier.

In a new book, “Global Warming and Political Intimidation: How Politicians Cracked Down on Scientists as the Earth Heated Up,” published by University of Massachusetts Press, Bradley tells what it was like to be the target of a legislator who tried to destroy his reputation and that of other key global warming researchers.

“You realize they have infinite power, and they can ruin you,” he said. “The book came out of the frustration and aggravation of my own experience.”

In 2005, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce, Texas Republican Joe Barton, went after Bradley and two colleagues, whose research provided some of the most important evidence indicating that the sharp rise in global temperatures in the 20th century was influenced by human activities.

The book is dedicated to Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican representative from New York, who stood up to defend the researchers from the attacks of Barton, considered a close friend of the oil companies.

“What saved us is that suddenly you had two prominent Republicans arguing in public, and that just never happened during that Bush administration,” Bradley said.

“They would have ruined us, if not for the strength of Sherwood Boehlert. He was the man of principle who stood up to the bullies,” he said. In a letter to Barton, Boehlert wrote, “My primary concern about your investigation is that its purpose seems to be to intimidate scientists rather than to learn from them, and to substitute congressional political review for scientific review.”

Bradley, who directs the Climate System Research Center at UMass, said that as the presidential primary season heats up this summer, he is dismayed to see that climate change and global warming have not emerged as important topics for the candidates.

“That’s how far we’ve come in this country in terms of talking about real substantive issues. It’s become so politicized, you can’t even put it on the table,” he says.

While the extreme U.S. weather in recent months, from outbreaks of deadly tornadoes to drought to record heat, cannot be said to be the result of global warming, “We can say that the kinds of ‘unusual’ weather conditions we have seen over the last few months are likely to become much more common in the future,” Bradley said.

According to the state police, a Burlington, Conn. resident learned that someone had opened several credit card accounts in her name between Aug 1-6, racking up hefty charges along the way.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Detectives with the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad are asking the public for help identifying a woman wanted in connection with an identity theft/fraud scheme which has been ongoing for the past few weeks.

According to the state police, a Burlington, Conn. resident learned that someone had opened several credit card accounts in her name between Aug 1-6, racking up hefty charges along the way.

Connecticut State Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the female suspect shown in surveillance photos taken from stores where the fraudulent purchases were made.

The woman, pictured at a Target store in New Britain on Aug. 2, used these credit cards to make several purchases. Although troopers say they have developed investigative leads in this case, they are seeking information to identify the woman.

The woman was seen leaving the Target store parking lot on August 2nd in the green Jeep Cherokee pictured below. It appears that there are several stickers on the rear hatch of the vehicle.

Additionally, numerous fraudulent purchases have been made with the same bogus accounts throughout Connecticut and New York.

Police said it looks like the woman may have a tattoo on her upper pectoral area and that the stickers on the Jeep make the vehicle unique and identifiable.

Anyone who may know the identification of this woman or recognizes the vehicle is asked to contact Connecticut State Police Troop L at (860) 626-7900 where all tips and information can be submitted confidentially.

Information can also be submitted via the text-a-tip program by addressing the message to CRIMES (274637) with TIP711 in the message along with the information.

Councilor At-Large Donald Cykowski said he was “disappointed that we went for the fish ladder.”

View full sizeRepublican file photoJoseph P. McCoy

EASTHAMPTON – City Council President Joseph P. McCoy is calling for greater education, outreach and compromise between the city government and residents, citing conflict over issues like the Manhan River Dam fish ladder.

McCoy, 53, is running for a fourth term as an at-large councilor in the Nov. 8 election’s only contest so far. He is one of six declared candidates for four seats.

The cost of the fish ladder has ballooned from $750,000 in stimulus funding through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to $1.34 million. Some have taken issue with the price tag and have put up signs along Route 10 reading, “Fiscal Responsibility! Fix the Potholes Not the Fish Ladder.”

A citizen complaint in May about $590,000 in cost overruns prompted an audit by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General.

Completing the ladder could cost the city about $150,000 if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers takes on the work as a habitat restoration project. It would be done as a 65-35 percent cost-share, said Mayor Michael A. Tautznik, and is expected to cost $440,000.

McCoy said the new price is “unfortunate,” but the ladder will “create a buzz” that could draw people to the city when it’s complete. Projecting environmental friendliness is an important way to make the city attractive, he said.

Many don’t realize that grants are earmarked for particular projects, he said. The stimulus money can only fund the ladder, so fixing pot holes would have to be done another way.

Councilor At-Large Donald L. Cykowski, 72, is running for a fifth term and said he was “disappointed that we went for the fish ladder.”

“The federal government has spent an awful lot of money on it. ... It seems like we could be fixing our roads,” he said. “Even our sidewalks are a mess.”

Cykowski said the city should have found money for infrastructure improvements instead. If the fish ladder had been put off until those projects were complete, he said, he might see it differently.

Planning Board member Chester A. Ogulewicz, Jr., 55, agreed fully with Cykowski. He is running for a first term as an at-large councilor.

“If I’m elected to the Council, I would not be in favor of using any money from the city for the fish ladder,” said Ogulewicz. “I don’t see an immediate need for that.”

He said he would rather the city open the Municipal Building on Fridays. It only operates Monday through Thursday as a cost-saving measure, which Ogulewicz said is a disservice to the residents.

McCoy and Ogulewicz were the only at-large candidates certified for the ballot as of Wednesday. Cykowski, incumbent Andrea H. Burns, former police captain Donald C. Emerson and former selectman Donald J. Polonis have not returned nomination papers yet. Ronald D. Chateauneuf is not seeking a third term.

Burns did not return a request for comment by press time. Emerson and Polonis could not be reached.

Their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he has not been notified of the verdict but he will definitely appeal the sentence if true.

View full sizeFILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 file photo, US hikers Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal, attend their trail at the Tehran Revolutionary Court, Iran. The website of Iran's state TV reported Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011 that two American hikers held in Iran have been sentenced to 8 years in jail each. (AP Photo/Press TV, File)

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Two American men already held for two years in Tehran have been sentenced to 8 years each in prison on charges of espionage and illegal entry into Iran, state TV reported Saturday.

The announcement appeared to dash hopes for the imminent release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal after Iran's foreign minister suggested earlier this month that the trial could clear the way for their freedom.

The Americans deny the charges and say they were only hiking in a scenic and largely peaceful area of northern Iraq near the Iranian border.

The two men have been held since July 2009 after being taken into custody on the Iran-Iraq border. A third American who was taken with them, Sarah Shourd, was released in September 2010 on $500,000 bail and returned to the United States.

Shourd's case "is still open," the website irinn.ir reported.

Bauer and Fattal, who are both 28, have been sentenced to three years each for illegal entry into Iran and five years each for spying for the United States, the website quoted "informed sources" at Iran's judiciary as saying. It was not immediately clear if that includes time served. They have 20 days to appeal the sentence.

Their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiei, said he has not been notified of the verdict but he will definitely appeal the sentence if true.

"I've not been notified of any verdict in the case of my clients," Shafiei told The Associated Press. "This is a strong verdict inconsistent with the charges."

The Americans say they mistakenly crossed into Iran when they stepped off a dirt road while hiking near a waterfall. While other parts of Iraq remain troubled by violence, the semiautonomous Kurdish north has drawn tourists in recent years, including foreigners.

The case has added to tensions between the United States and Iran that were already high over other issues, including Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. government has appealed for the two men to be released, insisting that they have done nothing wrong. The two countries have no direct diplomatic relations, so Washington has been relying on an interests section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to follow the case.

Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he hoped "the trial of the two American defendants who were detained for the crime of illegally entering Iran will finally lead to their freedom." Their lawyer also had expressed hope they might receive a pardon for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Phone and email messages left for Sarah Shourd; Shane Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey; and the families' media representative, Samantha Topping, were not immediately returned.

Maine is currently the only state in New England that doesn't allow either gay marriage or civil unions.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The renewed effort to get gay marriage approved in Maine kicked off Saturday as petition-gatherers fanned out across the state, targeting farmer markets, parades and festivals in communities form York to Bangor.

EqualityMaine says the effort targeted a number of communities including Portland, Kennebunk, Biddeford, York, Bangor, Ellsworth and Brunswick.

The idea was to target heavily attended festivals. Thus, signature-gatherers were at a street festival in Biddeford, an art festival in Brunswick, and the Bob Dylan concert in Bangor.

EqualityMaine spokesman Timothy Rose channeled Bob Dylan in his comment that he believes Mainers are coming around to the idea of gay marriage after rejecting it in 2009: "The times they are a changing. The great thing for us is that hearts and minds are changing on marriage equality."

Maine is currently the only state in New England that doesn't allow either gay marriage or civil unions.

To get gay marriage on the 2012 ballot, organizers need to collect at least 57,277 voters' signatures by Jan. 30. The bill would first go to the Legislature, which would have an option to pass it.

Carroll Conley Jr. of the Christian Civic League of Maine said the organization is disappointed to see Maine put through another referendum on gay marriage, but said "we also see this as an opportunity to promote the merits of natural marriage to a society."

"I know that a lot of times we're accused of imposing our morality but in a Democracy, nobody imposes morality — you make the case for it. There are very few of our laws that don't have some sort of moral implication. We'll make the case," he said.

The treatment carries potential risks ranging from blood clots to infection to cancer and may even run afoul of federal rules, doctors say.

View full sizeFILE - In this Aug. 16, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to workers as he makes a campaign stop at D.C. Taylor Roofing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He calls it innovative. Others call it a big risk. In any case, the stem cell procedure that Perry had last month was an unusual experiment to fix a common malady: a bad back. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

He calls it innovative. Others call it a big risk. In any case, the stem cell procedure that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had last month was an unusual experiment to fix a common malady: a bad back.

Perry, the newest GOP presidential candidate, has access to the best possible care and advice. Yet he and his doctor chose a treatment beyond mainstream medicine: He had stem cells taken from fat in his own body, grown in a lab and then injected into his back and his bloodstream during a July 1 operation to fuse part of his spine.

The treatment carries potential risks ranging from blood clots to infection to cancer and may even run afoul of federal rules, doctors say. At least one patient died of a clot hours after an infusion of fat-derived stem cells outside the United States. It's not clear how much of this Perry might have known.

His doctor and friend, orthopedist Dr. Stanley Jones, could not be reached for comment despite repeated requests to the spokeswoman for his Houston-area hospital. Jones told the Texas Tribune that he went to Japan for a stem cell treatment that helped his arthritis and that he had never before tried the procedure he used on Perry. He also said it had no side effects or risks.

However, some top scientists are questioning the safety and wisdom of Perry's treatment, especially because it was not part of a clinical trial in which unproven therapies are tested in a way that helps protect patients and advances medical knowledge.

Perry "exercised poor judgment" to try it, said Dr. George Q. Daley, of Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "As a highly influential person of power, Perry's actions have the unfortunate potential to push desperate patients into the clinics of quacks," who are selling unproven treatments "for everything from Alzheimer's to autism."

Daley is past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, a group of 3,000 scientists and others in the field. He consults for several biotech companies and favors stem cell research. But of Perry's treatment he said: "I would never in a million years accept for one of my family members to undergo this."

On the campaign trail Thursday in New Hampshire, Ray Sullivan, Perry's chief of staff, said: "The governor consulted with his physician and decided the best course of action for him. He's very pleased with the results of the surgery, with the rapid recovery and with the procedure that he had. And he feels like that is certainly his right to determine the best course of treatment for him."

Perry's treatment was first reported by the Texas Tribune. The procedure was done by Jones, who works at Foundation Surgical Hospital — a private, doctor-owned orthopedics center in suburban Houston — but Perry spokesman Mark Miner would not say where it took place.

"The governor chose this procedure to repair a reoccurring back ailment" and has confidence in the team that did it, Miner told The Associated Press. "The governor believed in this innovative approach."

It used Perry's own "adult" stem cells — not embryonic stem cells, a controversial technology that involves destroying an embryo, which the governor opposes. Adult stem cells have long been used to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma — it's what doctors are using when they do bone marrow transplants. The cells are being studied for everything from heart disease to diabetes, but it's too soon to know if these approaches are safe or effective.

Some orthopedic surgeons, including Dr. Christoph Meyer at Jones' hospital, are experimenting with stem cells to help bones heal. The cells usually are taken from bone marrow and injected or implanted in the trouble spot, such as a knee or shoulder. The theory is that these "master cells" will follow cues from cells around them and form bone or cartilage, though scientists worry they also might spur unwanted growth and cancer.

Perry, however, had an even more experimental procedure: stem cells from fat removed by liposuction and grown in a lab for some time before they were put into his spine and bloodstream.

"It's a new technology that doesn't have the track record of the older ones," Meyer said. "Doctor Jones and Governor Perry made a bold move but that's how all advances in medicine have been made. I think it says a lot about Governor Perry that he was willing to try something like this that was new and untested. I mean that in a positive way."

However, Dr. George Muschler, an orthopedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, said fat-derived stem cells are "an unusual choice" because they don't form bone as readily as those from marrow.

Using them as was done for Perry is "quite experimental and it's quite controversial because there isn't good evidence yet, at least in the medical literature, that fat cells work better or even work at all in repairing bones," Muschler said. "It's out there, a little past the edge of what mainstream medicine would generally accept."

The Cleveland Clinic has three patents on cell-related technologies Muschler developed, and he has consulted for Medtronic Inc. and the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Thomas Einhorn, orthopedics chairman at Boston University, has tested some experimental stem cell therapies himself. He said one concern is that Perry's cells were grown in a lab dish with other ingredients where there is more of a risk they will transform into cancer and any breach in sterility could lead to an infection once they were put into a vein.

He also took issue with infusing the cells into Perry's bloodstream. "I can't think of any reason to do that. I wouldn't want to cause a blood clot."

It also enters a gray area with the FDA, which does not regulate how doctors practice medicine but does oversee medical products. Growing the cells in culture and possibly mixing them with other substances may make these modified cells a product. The FDA got an injunction barring a Colorado company from growing marrow-derived stem cells in this way; lawsuits over that are pending.

FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said that the agency could not comment on Perry's treatment and that each case must be evaluated individually.

Besides safety concerns, little is known about whether such cell therapies work.

Patients may believe cells helped them, but there's no way to know they did unless a study is done comparing those who did and did not receive such treatment, said Dr. Scott Rodeo, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He was a physician to the USA Olympics Teams in 2004 and 2008 and is associate team physician for the New York Giants football team.

Perry still wears a back brace sometimes now on the campaign trail, but he wasn't available for an interview Thursday. On July 12, less than two weeks after his surgery, he told an AP reporter: "Every day has been better. Not quite ready to go run a marathon in July but I feel great, wear a little brace and good to go. Everything is awesome."

___

Associated Press writers April Castro in Austin, Texas, and Steve Peoples in Dover, N.H., contributed to this report.

Mayoral candidates have parted company on the issue of assessing Agawam High School students fees for parking, sports and extracurricular activities.

The 2011 candidates for mayor in Agawam are, from left, incumbent Richard A. Cohen, former state Rep. Rosmarie Sandlin and Walter A. Meissner III.

AGAWAM – While the School Committee has modified the fee schedule at Agawam High School by dropping the requirement that students pay $25 per extracurricular activity, its dramatic increase in the parking fee has generated some controversy.

The School Committee Tuesday voted unanimously to increase the fee students pay to park at the high school from $40 to $160 to permit the School Department to raise enough revenue to eliminate the extracurricular fee. The committee also changed the fee structure for taking part in team sports at a cost of $100 per sport so that participating in team sports will be capped at $200 per student and $400 per family.

The School Department calculated that the fees schedule should raise more than $97,000 to help support its fiscal 2012 budget. Officials have argued many surrounding towns have already had fees for participation in sports. They range from East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Granby and Longmeadow to Ludlow, Northampton, Palmer, South Hadley, Southwick, West Springfield and Westfield, according to the school superintendent’s office. East Longmeadow and Granby have fees for taking part in extracurricular activities.

The three candidates for mayor this fall were asked to express their opinions about the issue. They are Mayor Richard A. Cohen, former state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin and Walter A. Meissner III.

Rosemary Sandlin

Sandlin said she continues to oppose fees at the high school with the exception of charging students to park. Charging students $100 to bring a vehicle to school is “not an outrageous amount to park,” the candidate said.

However, Sandlin draws the line at raising the parking fee to as much as $160 and continues to oppose charging students anything to be on a sports team or take part in extracurricular activities. She noted that the fee schedule will mean that some families will have to pay as much as $560 a year if a child brings a vehicle to school and it has children involved enough in sports teams to trigger a $400 sports fee.

“It’s like another quarterly tax bill. It’s almost like a fifth quarter (tax) bill,” Sandlin said. “What’s next?”

She expressed concern the parking fee will also impact athletes disproportionately because they have to stay after school for practices as well as transport sports equipment.

Walter Meissner

Meissner also took a strong stand against assessing students at Agawam High School any fees, including a fee to park a vehicle at the school.

“The parking lot is paved. Where do we draw the line?” Meissner said.

Assessing fees is a burden on students that makes it hard for them to take part in sports or extracurricular activities at the school, he contended.

“These children don’t even have the opportunity to vote. We are sticking our children under the bus,” Meissner said.

The candidate suggested one reason local communities might be assessing such fees is because there is now less aid to cities and towns from the state.

“Maybe the state is drowning in debt because they throw their money around and then it costs us,” Meissner said.

While saying fees are regrettable, Cohen argued that in today’s economic climate they are necessary.

“Nobody likes fees, including myself, but this is a plan the (school) superintendent brought forth in the budget to save teachers and positions,” the mayor said.

Richard Cohen

Cohen called the School Committee’s Aug. 16 vote “a good compromise.”

“I am hopeful that these fees are only temporary and when the economy improves it is my intent that they be eliminated,” the mayor said.

Several areas such as women's votes and meeting criteria are outdated.

Mary L. O'Connell

WESTFIELD - The City Council's ad-hoc committee on rules and the city charter is expected to work on updating "obvious and necessary" changes to the charter before involving the full council or a charter commission for a comprehensive review.

Ward 4 City Councilor Mary L. O'Connell, chair of the ad-hoc group, said this week she favors continued review by her committee along with council's Legislative & Ordinance Committee.

The committee's work will include a compilation of recommendations of "correcting the simple, obvious, issues such as sections that address votes of women and meetings which now do not comply with the state's Open Meeting Law or other state and federal regulations," O'Connell said.

"These areas can be addressed by us, prepared in an overall recommendation to the full City Council and handled with a home-rule petition," she said. "A more thorough inspection of the charter, concerning any changes in departmental organization or terms or office for elected officials can then be addressed by review from the full City Council or a charter review commission."

O'Connell said she expects a report and recommendations prepared for the full council by December. "The (full) council could then decide to refer the review to a charter review commission," she said.

The ad-hoc committee, along with members of Legislative & Ordinance Committee, met this week with former city solicitor Peter H. Martin who now serves as consultant for the charter-review effort.

Martin observed that the charter contains issues that are no longer in existence and things that do not comply with state and federal laws, said O'Connell.

"The charter is dated 1920 so a lot of things are out of tune with today's laws and regulations," said O'Connell.

The ad-hoc committee was formed earlier this year to launch a comprehensive review of City Council rules and the charter. It is responsible for recommending updates and changes to the full council for consideration.

The last review of the charter, apparently never completed, was done in the 1970s.

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association opposes the meals tax, calling it regressive.

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BOSTON – A municipal tax on restaurant meals is proving to be a financial boon for cities and towns reeling from cuts in state assistance and the rising costs of running government.

A total of 146 of the state’s 351 cities and towns have adopted the tax, approved two years ago by state legislators and the governor as a local option for communities, according to the state Department of Revenue.

The tax, just 0.75 percent, raised $60.7 million statewide for the fiscal year that ended June 30 and $27.1 million the year before that, the revenue department says.

The tax comes to about 37 cents for every $50 spent on a restaurant meal. The tax brings the 6.25 percent statewide sales tax to 7 percent for people dining out, but any money from the 0.75 percent stays in the community.

While it’s yet another tax on people, it’s helping pay for police, fire and other services and saving jobs in communities such as Northampton, Palmer, Springfield and West Springfield, municipal leaders say.

West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson says some of the money raised from the meal tax will help pay for new tennis courts and an upgraded track, both part of a planned new high school. The 0.75 percent tax has raised $1.1 million since it took effect in West Springfield in October of 2009.

“It was a good decision for us,” Gibson said. “The revenues have exceeded our projections.”

Gibson said most of the money from the tax is generated by visitors, not residents. People often stop in West Springfield for a meal as they travel through the region on Route 5 or the Massachusetts Turnpike, Gibson said.

Elsewhere in Western Massachusetts, Springfield has raised $2.36 million from the tax; Northampton, $939,000; Chicopee, $849,000; Amherst, $536,000; Sturbridge, $394,000; Greenfield, $240,000; Hadley, $390,000; Palmer, $189,000; Great Barrington, $171,000 and Pittsfield, $163,000, according to the revenue department.

Paul E. Burns, president of the Palmer Town Council, said the tax is relatively small but generated about $114,000 the most recent fiscal year for his town.

“It’s not a lot, but in these times, where do you make that up?” said Burns, estimating the money pays for between two and four municipal jobs.

Critics have said the tax singles out the struggling restaurant industry.

Rudi R. Scherff, manager and co-owner of the Fort and Student Prince restaurant in downtown Springfield, said the local meals tax is not huge but customers notice it.

“Anything is a disincentive for people to dine,” Scherff said. “It’s going to hurt us.”

Scherff said the local option tax should not be increased by state legislators and the governor. He said restaurants are being hurt by the slow economy.

“Don’t pile on any more,” he said.

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association opposes the local option meals tax, calling it a regressive tax that is felt most by low-income people.

“The average American spends 47.9 percent of their food budget at restaurants, according to the National Restaurant Association,” said a statement on the state association’s website, www.massrestaurantassoc.org. “Dining out is no longer just a luxury for the wealthy; it is a lifestyle necessity.”

The tax is small, but it can have a big effect in a community. The mayors of Northampton and Springfield said the local meals tax is sent into general funds and helps pay for basic services. They said the tax is especially important in the wake of cuts in state assistance.

“The revenues go to the city’s general fund and support core operations: police, fire, DPW, health and human services,” said Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. “If we didn’t have this revenue, I would have to explore more cuts to services and programs and more layoffs.”

Sarno said he has not heard any complaints about the local meals tax since it took effect in the city in October 2009.

Some communities, including Agawam, Holyoke, Ludlow, Westfield and Wilbraham, have not approved the tax, according to the revenue department.

Critics are concerned about imposing another tax when residents are already paying increased fees and property taxes.

“You can just tax the citizens of this town so much,” said Robert A. Magovern, a member of the Agawam City Council, which has so far avoided the tax.

Agawam Mayor Richard A. Cohen said he is not planning to propose the local meals tax at this time. “I’m trying to help small businesses, not hurt them,” Cohen said.

In Holyoke, Mayor Elaine A. Pluta said she is proposing the local restaurant tax, plus an additional 2 percent on the city’s 4 percent motel rooms tax. Both would need to be approved by the Holyoke City Council.

“I think we should take advantage of it,” said Pluta, adding that the tax would help compensate for cuts in state aid the past four years.

The state Legislature and governor also approved a law to allow communities to raise the local 4 percent tax on a motel or hotel room by up to an additional 2 percent. The two local-option taxes were approved at the same time the state’s sale tax was raised from 5 percent to 6.25 percent.

Northampton approved both the local meals tax and the extra 2 percent on the motel tax.

“It really just replaced lost funding sources,” said Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins. “It was an important addition to the revenue stream.”

Gov. Deval L. Patrick fulfilled a campaign pledge from 2006 when he signed the local-option taxes into law.

“Since day one of our administration, Governor Patrick and I have engaged with municipalities to understand their needs and concerns, including the ability to make their own decisions about generating revenue,” Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said in a prepared statement. “This local option provides that type of opportunity.”

Murray noted that small towns are also benefiting from the local meals tax, even if they don’t have many restaurants.

Blandford, Gill, Sunderland, Whately, Hatfield and Orange are among towns in Western Massachusetts to approve the local tax.

Gill, a town of 1,500 people in Franklin County, raised $9,785 during the last fiscal year from the local meals tax.

“For Gill, that’s a lot of money,” said Ann Banash, a member of the board of selectmen in the Franklin County community. “Anything we can do to raise revenues, we’re doing. It’s the same way in most towns.”

It took three years, some legal wrangling, an untold number of fundraisers and $13,000, but the Easthampton Community Center is finally accessible to wheelchairs and power chairs.

Easthampton Community Center Directory Robin Bialecki stands on the new handicapped-accessible ramp the center has installed at the Clark Street facility.

EASTHAMPTON – It took three years, an untold number of fundraisers and $13,000, but the Easthampton Community Center is finally accessible to wheelchairs and power chairs.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, people with physical disabilities were able to enter the building at 12 Clark St., which holds a food pantry, thrift store and reception hall, more easily than ever before.

“Three years ago, this was a dream,” said the center’s director Robin Bialecki.

The center held fundraisers like dinners, bake sales and plays to pay for the 60-foot ramp at the rear entrance. Local banks made donations, as well, and “people would send in $5 here, $10 there,” said Bialecki.

The reception hall can be rented out for events and classes. It hosts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, art classes, karate lessons and much more. A community dinner is held most Tuesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

These activities make handicapped accessibility crucial, and Commission on Disability chair Heidi Martin-Coleman said the ramp is “huge for the community.”

“Just to know that this important service is available to the community is just enormous,” said Martin-Coleman, who uses a wheelchair and a service dog. “It’s very easy (to use) and it’s just wonderful. It’s nice and smooth. With the (wood) treatment on it, it’s going to last a long time.”

Mayor Michael A. Tautznik, state Sen. Michael Knapik, R-Westfield, and state Rep. John W. Scibak, D-South Hadley, spoke at the ceremony and lauded Bialecki and the rest of the volunteer staff.

“Nothing is easy anymore. Nothing comes without a great deal of hard work,” said Knapik. “I commend you.”

“This is another example of how, when people get together, they really can make a difference,” said Tautznik.

Raymond Redfern, a member of the Licensing Board, walks with a cane and said he often had difficulty making it up the stairs. The new ramp is a welcome addition to the center, he said.

There is still little handicapped accessibility to the basement, which holds the thrift store and pantry. The center has a small elevator capable of bearing 400 pounds, but it wouldn’t hold the weight of a person in a power chair. To make it accessible would require a whole new elevator, Bialecki said, which has been estimated to cost $18,000.

Bialecki said she lifts people out of their power chairs and puts them in a wheelchair so they can use the elevator.

The fire was called in just before 5 p.m. on Saturday.

PALMER - Firefighters are at the scene of a structure fire at 4112 High St. in the Thorndike section of town.

The fire was called in just before 5 p.m. on Saturday. The state fire marshal's office was notified, as well as the building inspector.

More details will be published as they become available.

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Organizers said the event is a fusion of many island cultures.

The Republican/ Michael BeswickCynthia Washington, of Springfield, participates in the Springfield Caribbean Carnival parade on State Street in Springfield Saturday.

SPRINGFIELD - Following a thunderous procession up State Street, the city's annual Caribbean Cultural Festival got in full swing Saturday with a carnival at Blunt Park, complete with traditional island dress and dance - and curried goat.

Organizers said the annual festival has grown in size and popularity since it was founded approximately 10 years ago.

"As well as locals, people have started coming from Boston, West Hartford - everywhere," said Valbert Johnson, of Springfield, a founder of the festival and a native of Jamaica.

The local festival is among a growing trend of Caribbean-themed festivals that take place across the globe. All are similarly colorful and celebratory and draw visitors celebrating their heritage and those who want to celebrate along with them.

"It's beautiful," said Roy Wood, also of Springfield and a native of Barbados who immigrated to this city more than two decades ago, adding that a growing Caribbean population locally has added to the event's popularity.

The Caribbean Community is comprised of 15 island nations including Belize, Haiti and Jamaica.

Johnson said he expected the number of visitors to reach up to 15,000 by nightfall, spurred on by the warm weather and live music line-up in addition to the wide variety of vendors offering all types of Caribbean fare. The event is put on by a 10-member committee whose members hail from various islands.

"We try to make it a fusion. Something from all the islands. That's the best way to do it," Johnson said.

The park filled with families mid-afternoon, with Jean Tailleur's rented tractor-trailer truck stacked with eight giant speakers greeting visitors as they streamed in.

From the speakers blared music from Tailleur's native Haiti, which he explained is distinct in that is is dually French- and Spanish-influenced.

Tailleur, 42, came to the United States as a political refugee when he was 25, was schooled as a mechanic, married, bought a home and is raising his three children here.

"This country offers many opportunities. You just have to be willing to work hard to take advantage of them," he said.

A male teenager who lived on the first floor had to jump out a window to escape the fire, which is not considered suspicious.

PALMER – A fire at 4112 High St. in the Thorndike section displaced the three families who lived there, killed a cat on the first floor and forced a male teenager to jump out of his window to escape.

“There was heavy fire and smoke on the first floor and significant smoke damage throughout the rest of the building,” Palmer Fire Capt. David Pranaitis said.

Pranaitis said the fire at the three-family home was called in just after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and was contained within 15 minutes. The scene wasn’t cleared until three hours later, however.

A male teenager who lived on the first floor had to jump out a window to escape the fire. The teen was home alone at the time, he said.

Pranaitis said one of the cats on the first floor was saved.

A second floor tenant also was home, heard the smoke detector going off and called 911. The third floor tenant, the owner, was not there; his name was not available.

No one was injured. Twenty-five firefighters responded, from the Palmer and Three Rivers fire departments. Monson firefighters provided station coverage.

The fire is still under investigation, but is not considered suspicious. Pranaitis said the preliminary investigation showed that it started in the dining room on the first floor. He expects more information to be released on Monday; the state fire marshal’s office also will investigate, he said.

The Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting some of the tenants with housing, he said.

The road was shut down for three hours and was reopened once firefighters cleared the scene.

The firefighters had to leave their spot at the sixth annual Nostalgia Day at Legion Field to respond to the fire.

The second annual Eileen Diemand Memorial softball tournament will be held Sept. 10 to honor Diemand and raise funds for the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

HADLEY – Elise Diemand says her mom was just that – a real mom who would attend softball games, horse and sheep shows and dressage events among the myriad activities she and her sister were involved in.

Eileen Diemand, who grew up on a farm in Williamsburg and instilled the love of farm and animals in her two daughters, died in 2007 at the age of 49 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The second annual Eileen Diemand Memorial softball tournament will be held Sept. 10 to honor Diemand and raise funds for the National Foundation for Cancer Research. Those wishing to play have until Aug. 22 to register.

“The event is to celebrate her memory and to raise money for a really good cause,” Elise Diemand said. “She was vibrant, (and) she had so much life (that) we wanted to find a way to honor her.”

After marrying Stephen Diemand, who also had a farm in Northampton, Eileen Diemand continued the family tradition of farming. She and her children were involved in 4-H.

Regina Diemand says her mother was everyone’s mom. She would bring giant coolers to 4-H shows and share the food with all the children.

She would travel to almost every event in which her children were involved, including Florida for college softball spring training. Regina Diemand played centerfield for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, her daughters said.

She loved people, loved cooking – she was a cook at Smith College – and having people to her home for dinners, her daughters remembered.

And, while she was recovering from the bone marrow transplant, Eileen Diemand was organizing a party, Elise Diemand said.

More than 150 friends and family attended. “She wanted to see everyone she loved. She wanted to thank her family and friends,” her daughter said.

And although she needed to slip off for a nap that day, “she had a smile on her face the whole time,” Regina Diemand said. The party was Aug. 11, 2007, just two weeks before she went into the hospital for the last time.

Eileen Diemand also loved softball, and played herself – even if “she wasn’t the most athletic person,” Elise Diemand said. “She had spirit.”

She would typically flub her plays, so the tournament features an award for the “Super Blooper” – or the “Eileen Play of the Day.”

Last year, a cousin was awarded that distinction, Regina Diemand said. Her cousin, who never hits the ball, was so surprised when she did that she forgot to run, and when she turned to run, took one step and fell flat on her face. The prize last year was a blender because their mother brought one everywhere she went so she could make smoothies or adult beverages depending on the crowd.

The tournament last year netted $3,293. This year, they’re hoping to bring in at least $4,000.

“She would have loved to have been there,” Elise Diemand said. “It felt she was there looking down on us. You definitely felt she was there.”

To register, go online to www.eileendiemandmemorial.com. A team or individual can sign up.

Those who don’t play can watch the tournament, which begins at 9 a.m. at Fort River field. There will be raffles and food for sale.

In 2009, the most recent year covered by the state Department of Public Health, Holyoke had a rate of 96.8 births by mothers who were between the ages of 15 and 19 per 1,000 female teens.

HOLYOKE – The four candidates for mayor agree the key to reducing the city’s state-leading rate of births among teenage mothers is to educate young people about the consequences and intervene to help them.

Mayor Elaine A. Pluta and challengers Daniel Boyle, Daniel C. Burns and Alex B. Morse discussed why they are suited to devise and deliver ways to help reduce the teen-pregnancy rate.

The top two finishers among the four candidates in the Sept. 20 preliminary election will square off on Nov. 8.

In 2009, the most recent year covered by the state Department of Public Health, Holyoke had a rate of 96.8 births by mothers who were between the ages of 15 and 19 per 1,000 female teens. The statewide average was 19.5. It marked the fifth straight year in which Holyoke led the state in teen-birth rate, but the rate did drop from the 115.3 births in 2008.

Medical professionals and counselors say it is important for parents, guardians, teachers and other role models in the community to deliver the message to young women and men that early childbearing carries tremendous emotional, physical and financial ramifications. Those effects take a toll not only the parents and children, but the whole community, they said.

It is often the case that the reasons young women become pregnant include lack of awareness of options, lack of an authority figure for guidance, pressure from a boyfriend to have sex and inconsistent use of birth control. That’s according to resources such as the state Department of Public Health, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, and TeenHelp.com, which says it tries to bring awareness to teenagers’ issues.

In Holyoke, the mayor serves as chairman of the School Committee.

Here’s a look at what the candidates have to say about addressing the teen-pregnancy rate:

Elaine A. Pluta: Pluta, 67, who has three grown children, appointed a task force to deal with teen-pregnancy and sexual health issues.

That includes establishment last year of a curriculum that instructs ninth-graders about the consequences of being a parent, she said.

The task force focuses on: ensuring young people and their families have access to counseling and other programs; educating about the duties of being a parent and general sexual health; and community engagement, because teen-pregnancy affects the whole community, she said.

“They’re caught in the cycle: They’re in poverty, they get pregnant, they can’t get a job, they’re in poverty. We’re trying to break that cycle,” Pluta said.

Daniel C. Boyle: Boyle, 63, a business consultant, has a grown daughter. As mayor, Boyle said he would see what steps to reduce teen-pregnancy have worked in other communities and consider applying them here.

Exploring how problems have been turned around elsewhere is a practice he learned in his business experience, including as co-owner of the Diamond Fiber Products Co., in Palmer, which he and his partner sold in 1989, he said.

Also, Boyle said he would establish a mentoring program. Parents who had children at a young age could speak to young people on the pros and cons of being a parent and how it affected their ability to go to college and get a good job, he said.

“I think that would be an extremely effective tool,” Boyle said.

Daniel C. Burns: Burns, 54, a former city councilor, speaks from the experience of having grown up as one of nine children and being the parent of six children with wife Kathleen A. (Kane) Burns.

“The mayor can ensure young people are instructed about the responsibilities of being a parent,” he said. “There’s a big, big responsibility,” Burns said. Among young people, he added, “There’s almost an accepted belief that some people have children.”

The message that having a child is life-consuming must be instilled in young people, Burke said. “That’s the reality of it, and I think that they’re so young they don’t have a grasp of it,” he said.

Alex B. Morse: Morse, 22, a former career counselor at CareerPoint, is the only candidate who is single and without children. But he said he believes his former job at Career Point, his age and energy level have provided him with more interaction with young people than the others in the race.

Young people need to be advised they have choices, that getting pregnant and becoming a parent perhaps can wait until they attend college, get a job and find a career, Morse said.

“We need to start holding parents (of these young people) accountable,” Morse said. The city can take a role in holding parents accountable by establishing strong relationships between schools and parents, such as with regular meetings, he said.