The Dow Jones industrial average fell 17 points to 12,409.

Associated Press photoThe maker of St. Pauli Girl Lager, Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka posted a $279.8 million fourth-quarter profit Thursday, recovering from a year-ago loss as it saw a double-digit rise in wine sales in North America. The company also sells liquors such as Black Velvet Canadian whiskey, and its beer imports include Modelo Especiale from Mexico, Tsingtao from China and St. Pauli Girl from Germany.

NEW YORK – Stocks ended the day Thursday with small losses after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Japan.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell as many as 96 points in morning trading, but recovered most of its losses after a tsunami warning was lifted.

The Dow fell 17.26 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,409.49. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 2.03, or 0.2 percent, to 1,333.51. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.68, or 0.1 percent, to 2,796.14.

The quake rattled investors, partly since it struck near the same area as the massive earthquake that triggered devastating tsunami on March 11. Stock indexes pared their losses after the impact of the latest quake appeared to be less than initially feared.

In the U.S., economic news was mostly positive. The Commerce Department said 382,000 people applied for unemployment for the first time last week. That was the third drop in four weeks. The decline in applications suggests layoffs are slowing.

Major retailers also reported better-than-expected sales for March at stores that have been open at least a year. Analysts had predicted declines because of cold weather and higher gas prices.

Costco Wholesale Corp. rose 4 percent after reporting a 13 percent gain in sales. Limited Brands Inc. rose 1 percent after it said its revenue increased 14 percent because of strong sales at its Victoria’s Secret stores. Nordstrom Inc. and Macy’s Inc. also rose about 1 percent.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. rose 10 percent, the most of any stock in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. The home furnishings retailer posted strong results late Wednesday and said it expected earnings to rise 10 percent to 15 percent this year.

Constellation Brands Inc. rose 7 percent. The maker of Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka recovered from a loss in the same quarter a year ago and reported a double-digit increase in wine sales in North America.

KLA-Tencor fell 5 percent, the most out of any company in the S&P 500. The chip manufacturer gets 14 percent of its revenues from Japan.

Netflix, Inc. also fell, dropping 3 percent a day after the home-entertainment company announced its decision to pay nearly $1 million per episode to stream the TV series “Mad Men.” Dish Network Corp. emerged as a new competitor after announcing it would buy Blockbuster Inc. out of bankruptcy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note inched up to 3.56 percent from 3.55 percent late Wednesday.

The European Central Bank raised its main interest rate by a quarter point to 1.25 percent, a day after Portugal asked for a bailout. The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated trading volume was 4 billion.

The Springfield city solicitor said inspections this week found that 5 so-called cyber cafes in the city are still operating despite being issued cease-and-desist orders.

Republican photo by Patrick JohnsonLucky's Express Internet Cafe, seen here on Worthington Street in Springfield, is one of the internet cafes affected by Attorney General Martha Coakley's ruling that such operations are illegal.

BOSTON – After shutting down a Chicopee establishment last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha M. Coakley has submitted emergency regulations prohibiting illegal gambling at certain so-called "cyber cafes" and "phone card" businesses that are proliferating in the state and still apparently operating in Springfield.

The regulations come after Coakley's office, armed with a search warrant on March 30, shuttered an Internet cafe in Chicopee and confiscated some video games as part of an investigation of possible gaming violations, officials said. The regulations were also released as the city of Springfield is attempting to close five Internet cafes that opened there, according to the city solicitor.

Coakley, the state's two-term attorney general, said the establishments say they sell goods or services, such as Internet service or phone cards, but an investigation found those sales are a pretext for illegal Internet slot parlors and gambling.

“The goal of these regulations is to protect consumers,” Coakley said in a statement. “These cyber cafes are really cyber scams with no posted odds, minimum odds, or guarantee of payouts for patrons. With these regulations, we are making clear that such gambling operations at ‘cyber cafes’ and ‘phone card video gaming terminals’ are illegal.”

File photo | The RepublicanAttorney General Martha Coakley issued regulations to ban illegal gambling at Internet cafes.

At the "cyber cafes," people pay for a swipe card with points on it and use them to play video slots on dozens of computer screens. Winners can redeem the points accumulated on their swipe cards for cash, the attorney general's office said.

At the "phone card" establishments, provided at certain convenience stores, people can gamble on terminals after buying a phone card, the office said.

The emergency regulations are designed to clarify the laws around illegal gambling at these locations and end the practice of de facto gambling operations posing as sellers of goods or services, the attorney general said.

Harry Pierre, a spokesman for Coakley, said the regulations put operators on notice that this type of activity is illegal.

The attorney general's office last week closed down Cafeno's Cyber Cafe, 76 Main St. in Chicopee. Investigators also conducted similar operations at Internet cafes in Fairhaven and Fall River.

The regulations also come after the city of Springfield had moved to close the five Internet cafes that continue to operate there, said Springfield City Solicitor Edward Pikula. He said that the city last week issued cease-and-desist order against the five Internet cafes in the city for violation of city zoning laws.

"The city is very pleased that the attorney general has taken a lead in this important area," Pikula said on Thursday.

Officials again inspected the Internet cafes this week and found them to still be operating, Pikula said on Thursday.

"We followed up and they did not close," Pikula said.

Republican photo by Patrick JohnsonAn unidentified patron on Wednesday afternoon uses one of many computer stations inside Lucky's Express Internet Cafe on Worthington Street in Springfield.

Under city zoning, establishments with more than five video games are considered indoor places of amusement and are required to have special permits to operate.

Officials with the Springfield law department, the planning department, code enforcement and zoning will meet on Monday to review the attorney general's regulations and consider what actions to take, Pikula said.
The city was preparing to seek a court order to enforce its zoning against cyber cafes when Coakley issued her regulations.

Visits to two of Springfield Internet cafes, City Cyber Café in Liberty Plaza and Lucky’s Express Internet Café on Worthington Street, showed both were indeed in business Thursday afternoon.

There were approximately 20 to 30 people playing games at video stations in City Cyber Café. The manager did not wish to speak to the press.

There were fewer than five patrons inside Lucky’s, a converted bar in the center of the city’s Entertainment District. Empty computer stations were lined up along the wall and across the marble bar counter.

An employee, who would give his name only as George, said he had not heard anything about the Attorney General’s ruling. He disputed the characterization of the café as a gambling establishment.

People can pay to use the computers to get on the internet, he said. They can play various sweepstakes games on the computers, but do not have to, he said.

“People can get a coffee, go on the internet and check their e-mail, and have the option to play sweepstakes,” George said. Sweepstakes winners are redeemable for prizes including cash, he said.

If that is illegal, he said, then the attorney general should shut down McDonald’s too because the fast-food chain has its own sweepstakes games, he said.

Lucky's has been in business for about two months, and George said he hopes it remains open.

“This is the best job I’ve had in a long, long time, “ George said. “I hope she doesn’t shut us down.”

Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield, has filed a bill to ban Internet cafes from operating sweepstakes games in the state.

“I applaud the Attorney General for taking this important step to prevent cyber cafes from exploiting the elderly and working poor,” Coakley-Rivera said. “Allowing these types of scams to prey upon our citizens is unacceptable.”

Scott has served as Holyoke's chief since 2001.

Michael Beswick / The Republican04.07.2011 | SPRINGFIELD - Holyoke Police Chief Anthony R. Scott and comedian Bill Cosby at the Valley Press Club roast on Thursday night. Chief Scott will be retiring this month.

SPRINGFIELD - Legendary comedian Bill Cosby is set to lead an "Inquisitional Court" in the roasting of Holyoke Police Chief Anthony R. Scott at a retirement celebration this evening.

Scott, who has served as the city's chief since 2001, is retiring this month.

The roast is being held at Springfield's MassMutual Center. Cosby will be joined on stage by local media personalities and politicians, ranging from former Holyoke Mayor Michael J. Sullivan to abc40's Ray Hershel. The masters of ceremony are Brad Shepard, co-host of the WHYN Morning Show, and Michael A. “Bax” Baxendale, co-host of the WAQY Rock 102, the Bax & O’Brien show.

As the event got underway, the lobby outside the MassMutual Center's second-floor Grand Ballroom filled with public officials. A number of area police chiefs, including Francis Fox from Belchertown and Chicopee's John Ferraro were in attendance.

"You make a poor Southerner feel great," Scott quipped as he invited the crowd to begin eating dinner.

Asked what was going through his mind as a roomful of people prepare to celebrate his career -- and have some fun at his expense, Scott said: "I mean, 750 people coming out for a Southern boy from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans -- it feels good. This is really good. This is a culmination of 45 years. I feel damn good. I appreciate the support from all the people of Holyoke."

During his tenure as Holyoke's top cop, Scott cultivated a reputation as a no-nonsense crime fighter and an advocate against lenient jail sentences and low bails. He often invoked a catch phrase -- the "Hampden County Merry-Go-Round of Justice" -- in press releases that read like screeds against repeat offenders.

While Scott has had a rocky relationship with several members of Holyoke's city council, several councilors turned out for the event, including Kevin A. Jourdain, Todd A. McGee, Brenna E. Murphy and James M. Leahy.

"Despite conventional wisdom, not all city councilors are against the guy. I think Chief Scott is a really good guy. I wanted to come out and wish him well," Jourdain said.

Cosby's relationship with Chief Scott and the city of Holyoke dates back several years. In December, Cosby headlined a farewell dinner for senior citizens that Scott and Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta hosted at the Log Cabin. Cosby was also a featured speaker at Holyoke's 2007 "National Night Out Against Crime" events.

Proceeds from Scott's retirement roast will benefit the Valley Press Club scholarship program.

The new report by MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Massachusetts economy, indicates growth is not translating into jobs.

Hadley, Dec. 18, 2008 -- staff/ Michael S. Gordon -- Michael D. Goodman, at the UMass Donahue Institute.

HADLEY – The state’s economy is growing, but that growth is not translating into jobs, according to economists who study the state’s economy for the publication MassBenchmarks.

“It’s just hard to see job growth,” said Michael D. Goodman, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and an editor of MassBenchmarks. “I think we need to grow more. I think economic growth needs to be faster.”

Goodman also warned Thursday that cuts in government budgets, a weak housing market and rising energy prices could derail the progress the state has seen. Goodman said spiking oil and gasoline prices could be particularly damaging.

“It takes money right out of the pockets of consumers,” he said. “And since we don’t produce much oil here, it ships that money right to oil-producing countries. These high prices have a negative effect on consumer confidence. It makes people not want to spend money.”

The latest Massachusetts Current Economic Index for February was up 3.9 percent from January and 3.5 percent from February of 2010, Goodman said. The Index is an annualized rate of growth, meaning that if the economy grew as fast all year as it did in February, it would grow 3.9 percent over the year.

“Think of it as a speedometer,” Goodman said. “That’s pretty much on pace with the nation’s growth. That is respectable.”

Growth is not translating into jobs because workers are more productive, Goodman said. Much of the state’s growth has been in the highly productive technology sector in and around Boston.

MassBenchmarks is the journal of the Massachusetts economy published by the UMass Donahue Institute in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The Donahue Institute has offices in Hadley.

The national unemployment rate dipped to 8.8 percent in March. But in Springfield, the unemployment rate fell from 14.4 percent in January to 13.8 percent in February. Local unemployment statistics lag a month behind.

Goodman said the recession has been especially hard on places like Springfield, urban areas with large numbers of unskilled workers who held blue-collar jobs.

There was good unemployment news Thursday. New claims for unemployment dropped by 10,000 nationwide to 382,000, the third drop in four weeks.

For Massachusetts alone, there were 7,099 initial claims for the regular unemployment insurance program and 121,163 continued claims. Both initial and continued claims are down compared with last year.

Retailers collectively saw a 2 percent increase over last March, the International Council of Shopping Centers said. That compares with expectations for flat revenue or a small decline, according to The Associated Press.

File photo | The RepublicanMichael Goodman

UMass student leaders said they will fight the policy change.

The Republican file photo | John SuchockiThe University of Massachusetts Faculty Senate voted Thursday to support a policy that will ban all tobacco products from the Amherst campus effective July 1, 2013.

AMHERST – The University of Massachusetts Faculty Senate, in a 14 to 7 vote, supported a policy that will make the campus smoke-free beginning July 1, 2013.

But student leaders said they will do what they can to fight the policy change.

The Faculty Senate was the last stop in the policy change that was initiated by the senate’s Health Council. The Campus Leadership Council, composed of University of Massachusetts Chancellor Robert C. Holub and other top executives, approved the proposal last week.

But dozens of students packed the senate meeting Thursday afternoon to speak against the policy change. Many were non-smokers. Some carried signs reading “You can die for your country, you can smoke a cigarette” and “I am 18+, I have the right to smoke a cigarette.”

The first sign was held by Caleb Amaral, a smoker, the second by George Williams, a non-smoker.

Jarred Rose, a member of the Student Government Association, said that group sent a letter to the chancellor asking that both that association and the Graduate Student Association should be able to vote on the policy change not just the Faculty Senate.

Government Association member Nathan Lamb said it might be time for students to contact legal services.

Student Ben Taylor felt that the university was trying to legislate morality, and he doesn’t think it will help reduce smoking. He also believes it will punish employees who would have to leave campus to smoke.

Wilmore Webley

Wilmore C. Webley, who has been leading the campaign to make the campus smoke-free, said he polled students and 78 percent favor a smoke-free campus. He is a member of the health council and teaches a class called “Biology of Cancer and AIDS,” and has repeatedly conducted smoking surveys among students.

The campus banned smoking in buildings 26 years ago.

Smokers now must be 20 feet away from a building to smoke, but some say that’s hard to enforce. The new policy will ban all tobacco products, and would apply to anyone coming on campus, including staff, faculty, contractors and visitors. It would include parking lots and athletic events. The policy is similar to policies that have been adopted at more than 466 colleges and universities across the country, including at the universities of Florida, Kentucky, Oregon and Michigan.

But some students said they wouldn’t attend the university if it was smoke-free and others talked about the numbers of graduate students who would leave campus if they cannot smoke.

Ernest D. May, secretary of the senate, told students they would have two years to work on some improvements to the policy change.

Julia Lisa, a sophomore from New Jersey, said “if people want to pollute their lungs,” that should be their right.

And she said “I don’t think it (the change) should be a priority (on campus.)”

Jones was found with 26 bags of marijuana, 15 Percocet pills and $376 in cash.

The Republican file photo

Springfield police photoBernard Jones

SPRINGFIELD – Police arrested a 55-year-old city man on drug charges Thursday in the small park at State and Chestnut streets after being tipped off by Springfield Museums security that they seen him dealing marijuana, said Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Bernard Jones of 16 Kirk St. was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of Percocet tablets with intent to distribute.

He was found with 26 bags of marijuana, 15 Percocet pills, and $376 in cash.

Springfield Museums security contacted police after witnessing Jones in the park over the last few days selling drugs to homeless people who gathered there to get food from the Loves and Fishes soup kitchen at Christ Church Cathedral.

Jones is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Springfield District Court.

Jacques' sister testified that he lavishes affection on the son she fathered with a black man.

The Republican file photo | Michael S. GordonMichael F. Jacques, of Springfield, seen in Hampden Superior Court last year, is not expected to testify at his trial on arson charges in the burning of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ on the night Barack Obama was elected president.

SPRINGFIELD – The defense in the Macedonia Church of God in Christ arson case is expected to rest Monday without defendant Michael F. Jacques taking the witness stand.

After calling several witnesses Thursday who attested to the defendant’s character and lack of racial prejudice, defense lawyer Lori B. Levinson told the court said she expects to call Jacques' mother, Carol, as her last witness on Monday.

Michael Jacques, 26, is charged with burning down the future home of a black congregation – on Nov. 5, 2008 to protest Barack Obama’s election. Two other defendants, Benjamin F. Haskell and Thomas F. Gleason, both of Springfield, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last year to torching the church construction site on Tinkham Road.

Until Thursday, the 13th day of testimony, the prospect of Jacques taking the witness stand seemed likely. His name was on the defense witness list and, in an unusual move, he insisted on testifying during a November pre-trial hearing. After Thursday’s session ended, Levinson would not comment.

Jacques' sister, Amy, 19, told the jury that her brother never expressed any racial antagonism toward the black father of her 3-year old son David, and lavishes affection on the child.

To reinforce the point, Levinson showed a photo taken last year of David sitting on his uncle’s shoulders.

Referring to the first meeting between her brother and Terah Carter, the boy’s father, Amy Jacques said her brother acted “like any other person who meets someone.”

Previous witnesses testified that Jacques often used racial slurs, told racist jokes and held a low opinion of many blacks.

Another witness, Kenny Cullins, testified that he never saw Jacques or Haskell hanging out at Gleason’s home at 315 Tinkham Rd. in the hours before the fire, as prosecution witnesses have testified.

Cullins, the boyfriend of Gleason’s sister Kelly and father of her 2-year old child, said he and Kelly Gleason spent election night watching television at a friend’s apartment, switching between the election returns and mixed martial arts fights.

When they returned to Gleason’s home around 1 a.m., Gleason was there; he recalled smoking marijuana with Gleason, then going to bed before 3 a.m.

“If there were sirens, we most likely would have walked down the street to see what was going on,” Cullins said.

But under cross-examination from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Lee Ndumele, Cullins acknowledged being unsure of the time he returned to Gleason’s home, and also admitted that his memory of working earlier on election day at a fast food restaurant was mistaken.

Gleason testified this week that he led Jacques and Haskell through the woods behind his house to the church property, but turned around and began walking home before the fire started. The three men had spent election night drinking beer, smoking marijuana and complaining about Obama’s election before deciding to burn down the church, Gleason testified.

Also on Thursday, Kelly Gleason said she never saw Jacques or Haskell at her house, and had never met Jacques.

In a shift in position, President Obama said he would sign a short-term measure to give negotiations more time to succeed.

Associated PressHouse Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 7, 2011, after their meeting with President Obama regarding the budget and possible government shutdown. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and congressional leaders bargained and blustered by turns Thursday, still short of an agreement to cut federal spending and head off a midnight Friday government shutdown that no one claimed to want.

Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., at the White House at midday, and the three agreed to reconvene after dinner. In the interim, they dispatched aides to pursue a deal in negotiations in the Capitol.

With an agreement elusive, Republicans passed legislation through the House to fund the Pentagon for six months, cut $12 billion in domestic spending and keep the federal bureaucracy humming for an additional week.

Obama threatened to veto the bill even before it passed on a 247-181, mostly party-line vote. The administration issued a statement calling it "a distraction from the real work" of agreeing on legislation to cover the six months left in the current fiscal year.

Each side insisted the other would be to blame for the pain of a partial shutdown.

In a shift in position, Obama said he would sign a short-term measure to give negotiations more time to succeed.

That was one of the options available to Reid, although Boehner said he was confident Democratic lawmakers would persuade "Reid and our commander in chief to keep the government from shutting down" by signing the House-passed bill.

At the White House, a senior budget official said the impact of a shutdown "will be immediately felt on the economy."

It also would be felt unevenly, said Jeff Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Military troops would not receive their full paychecks, but Social Security recipients would still get monthly benefits, he said.

"National parks, national forests and the Smithsonian Institution would all be closed. The NIH Clinical Center will not take new patients, and no new clinical trials will start," he added in a roll call of expected agency closings.

But the air traffic control system would stay up and running, the emergency management agency would still respond to natural disasters and border security would not be affected.

There was no indication Reid planned to bring the House-passed stopgap bill to a vote, and he accused Republicans of blocking a deal by demanding anti-abortion provisions and a blockade on Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas and other pollutants.

"We don't have the time to fight over the tea party's extreme social agenda," he said.

It was unclear whether the day's maneuvering marked attempts by negotiators to gain final concessions before reaching agreement, or represented a significant setback to efforts to avoid a shutdown.

Either way, Boehner pointed out that the current clash was only the first of many likely to follow as the new, conservative majority in the House pursues its goals of reducing the size and scope of government.

"All of us want to get on with the heavy lifting that is going to come right behind it, dealing with the federal debt and putting in place a budget for next year," he said.

For all the tough talk, it did not appear the two sides were too far from a deal.

Officials in both parties said that in the past day or so, Democrats had tacitly agreed to slightly deeper spending cuts than they had been willing to embrace, at least $34.5 billion in reductions.

Agreement on that point was conditional on key details, but it was a higher total than the $33 billion that had been under consideration.

It also was less than the $40 billion Boehner floated earlier in the week — a number that Republicans indicated was flexible.

There also were hints of Republican flexibility on a ban they were seeking to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Officials said that in talks at the White House that stretched on after midnight on Wednesday, Republicans had suggested giving state officials discretion in deciding how to distribute family planning funds that now go directly from the federal government to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

That would presumably leave a decision on funding to governors, many of whom oppose abortion, and sever the financial link between the federal government and an organization that Republicans assail as the country's biggest provider of abortions.

Democrats seemed unlikely to accept the proposal, and it was not clear whether it might form the basic framework for an agreement.

Nor was it clear what, if any, changes were contemplated on the Republican calls for Environmental Protection Agency restrictions. On a vote Wednesday on an unrelated bill, the Senate split 50-50 on a call to ban the agency from regulating greenhouse gases.

But based on other votes during the day, there appeared to be a majority to support some restriction.

Reid criticized Republicans for seeking a ban on the use of federal and local funds to pay for most abortions in the District of Columbia.

But Republicans quickly circulated a list of previous instances in which Obama had signed a similar provision or Reid and House Democratic leaders had supported it as part of a larger measure.

Legislation passed by the House six weeks ago called for $61 billion in cuts and dozens of non-spending provisions.

The Senate has yet to pass an equivalent bill of its own, but Congress has passed a pair of short-term measures in the intervening time to keep the government running, approving a total of $10 billion in spending cuts at the same time.

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Ben Feller, Erica Werner and Julie Pace contributed to this report.

You'd still get your mail and your usual Social Security payment, but national parks would close and troops' pay might be delayed.

Associated PressFILE - A view of Half Dome from the valley floor of Yosemite National Park is shown in Yosemite, Calif. If lawmakers can't reach an agreement by midnight Friday, Yosemite in California and other National Parks across the country would close at a key time for many of the tourist destinations. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, FIle)

You'd still get your mail — and your usual Social Security payment. But troops' pay might be delayed, and you'd have to put off that spring break trip to a national park. How government services would or wouldn't be affected if there's a partial shutdown Friday at midnight:

• Benefit payments: Social Security payments would continue, and applications would still be processed. Unemployment benefits would still go out. Medicare would still pay claims for recipients, but payments to doctors and hospitals could be delayed if the shutdown were prolonged.

• Mail: Deliveries as usual (U.S. postal operations are not subsidized by tax dollars).

• Recreation: National parks around the country would be gated. The National Zoo and Smithsonian in Washington, too. The White House says a shutdown would cancel the popular National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in the nation's capital this weekend, though organizers are still hoping to go ahead.

• Taxes and loans: The IRS would not process paper returns, but the filing deadline would remain April 18 — already delayed three days because of a local holiday in Washington. It's unclear whether taxpayer help lines would be staffed. Tax audits would be suspended. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, would stop that work. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses would be suspended.

• Air travel: Air traffic controllers will stay on the job. Federal inspectors who enforce safety rules, too.

• International travel: The State Department would continue to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in need. But other services, such as issuing travel visas and passports, could be delayed or stop.

• Military and public protection: Pay for U.S. troops would be delayed, and some civilian Defense Department employees would be furloughed. Military operations in the Middle East and earthquake assistance to Japan would not be interrupted. All 116 federal prisons would remain open, and criminal litigation would proceed.

• Health care: Medical research at the National Institutes of Health would be disrupted, though patients would continue to receive care. The Centers for Disease Control would respond to an outbreak.

• Work safety: Inspectors would stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent danger.

• Dining out: Any emergencies involving food contamination still would be dealt with.

The new middle school will be located at the old Our Lady of Mount Carmel School on Margaret Street.

File photo | The RepublicanThe former Our Lady of Mount Carmel School on Margaret Street will become the site of a new Springfield public middle school.

SPRINGFIELD – The School Committee Thursday night voted to accept a proposal from School Superintendent Alan J. Ingram for a revised school boundary plan that includes the addition of a new middle school in the city’s South End.

The new middle school will be located at 36 Margaret St. in the South End, formerly Our Lady of Mount Carmel School.

Ingram said the plan decreases enrollment at three middle schools in the city and allows more students to attend schools that are closer to their homes. He said that national research shows that smaller middle schools benefit students’ achievement, their attitude toward school and their feelings of belonging.

Alan Ingram

About 260 students from the South End and Six Corners neighborhoods who currently attend Kiley Middle School will be assigned to the new middle school, Ingram said.

Other changes call for shifts in the Forest Park, Duggan, Kennedy and Kiley school zones, which will change the current school assignment next year for about 400 students.

Letters will go home to parents Friday explaining the boundary changes, Ingram said. The changes also will be explained on the school district website.

The testimonial was held because Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott is retiring April 30 after being chief since 2001.

SPRINGFIELD – Holyoke Police Chief Anthony R. Scott believes judges are to blame for everything from global warming to whales beaching themselves.

Glenn Beck is a liberal compared to Scott.

Those lines and others – such as how Scott loves press releases and loves attention – spiced a testimonial Thursday that showed Scott had become enough of a public figure in his 10 years as chief to draw 750 people to a dinner roast in his honor led by his friend, comedian Bill Cosby.

The roast featured local officials, area police chiefs and media personalities in a banquet room at the MassMutual Center.

Scott, who will be 65 April 19, is retiring April 30 after having been chief in Holyoke since 2001.

Speakers mixed one-liners aimed at Scott and each other in telling stories about the bad-guy-jailer and judge-hounder, with more than one marveling that a police chief from a small city had the juice to generate such an event.

“I’ve been chief in Chicopee for 20 years and trust me, half the people in Chicopee don’t know who I am,” Chicopee Police Chief John R. Ferraro Jr. said.

Cosby noted the packed room and began with a joke from the late Red Skelton discussing a funeral for a disliked man that drew 100,000 people.

“And Red said, ‘When you give the people what they want ,’” said Cosby pausing. “Well, here you are.”

Cosby has appeared at several functions at Scott’s request, including a dinner Scott threw for Holyoke senior citizens in December. He recalled a summer event held outdoors with hungry bugs.

“And they love dark meat. And these things, when they fly, they don’t land on a white person,” Cosby said.

Cosby ended with warm words for Scott, who was seated to the left of the podium on the dais.

“I know that you will never forget him because he’s very, very super, wonderful and human, and he has given of himself and that’s what public service is about. Thank you and God bless Chief Scott,” Cosby said, as the crowd erupted with the comedian’s second standing ovation of the night.

Ticket prices were $40 per person or $375 per table of 10, with Scott emphasizing that all of the money was being donated to the Valley Press Club scholarship fund.

Scott told The Republican before mounting the dais he was touched by the sold-out crowd.

“I mean, 750 people coming out for a Southern boy from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans — it feels good. This is really good. This is a culmination of 45 years. I feel damn good. I appreciate the support from all the people of Holyoke,” Scott said.

Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni referred to Scott’s blistering of judges for what he perceived to be their coddling of criminals with light sentences.

The new district attorney noted Scott’s flood of and “very well thought out and articulate ... rants about the justice system and the revolving door and those creatures that the devil put on earth called, the judges.”

Scott’s investigations, Mastroianni said, have turned up evidence judges are to blame for the economic melt-down, global warming and beached whales.

Since taking office, Mastroianni said he has learned of previously secret information, such as: Chief Scott wants his own TV show as a judge: “Judge Chief Scott.”

“It truly is a case of judge envy,” Mastroianni said.

Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette and a few others took note that Scott is a hard-core Republican with a stomp-on-the-bad-guys attitude toward crime. Pointing to Scott, Bissonnett said there was a reason the Fox News Channel and political pundit Beck have parted ways.

“Beck was too liberal for them. They want the real conservative,” Bissonnette said.

Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta said a politician learned fast in the Paper City not to mess with the chief’s budget. Senior citizens in the city’s high-rises can be counted on for two things, Pluta said: They vote and wave signs that say, “We love Chief Scott.”

Pluta and Bissonnette held up a banner for a “marketing campaign.” It consisted of a photo of Scott imposed on a merry go round horse – “Get on your pony and ride” – a reference to Scott’s staple criticism of Massachusetts justice as “the merry go round of justice.”

The masters of ceremonies for the roast were Brad Shepard, co-host of the WHYN Morning Show, and Michael A. "Bax" Baxendale, co-host of WAQY Rock 102 FM Bax & O'Brien Show.

The roast panel included John O'Brien of Rock 102, Meghan B. Sullivan, of the law firm Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield.

If no agreement is reached on the budget, the federal government is due to shut on Friday at midnight.

The U.S. Capitol is illuminated at night as Congress continues to work to avert a government shutdown on Capitol Hill Thursday, April 7, 2011 in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time growing short, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement Thursday night on a compromise to cut spending and head off a midnight Friday government shutdown that no one claimed to want.

Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader all said the differences had been narrowed in a pair of White House meetings during the day. They directed their aides to work through the night in pursuit of a deal.

"I expect an answer in the morning," Obama said in an appearance in the White House briefing room shortly after the meeting ended.

The comments capped a day in which the president, Reid and Boehner bargained and blustered by turns, struggling to settle their differences over spending cuts and other issues at the same time they maneuvered to avoid any political blame if they failed.

With the economy just now beginning to create jobs in large numbers, the president said a shutdown would damage the recovery, adding that "for us to go backwards because Washington couldn't get its act together is just unacceptable.

With an agreement elusive, Republicans passed legislation through the House to fund the Pentagon for six months, cut $12 billion in domestic spending and keep the federal bureaucracy humming for an additional week. "There is absolutely no policy reason for the Senate to not follow the House in taking these responsible steps to support our troops and to keep our government open," said Boehner.

But Obama flashed a veto threat even before the bill passed on a 247-181, mostly party-line vote. The administration issued a statement calling it "a distraction from the real work" of agreeing on legislation to cover the six months left in the current fiscal year, and there was no indication Reid would allow a vote on it.

For all the brinksmanship, there was agreement that a shutdown posed risks to an economy still recovering from the worst recession in decades.

The political fallout was less predictable, especially with control of government divided and dozens of new tea party-backed Republicans part of a new GOP majority in the House. Twin government shutdowns in the mid-1990s damaged Republicans, then new to power in Congress, and helped President Bill Clinton win re-election in 1996.

This time, individual lawmakers worked to insulate themselves from any political damage. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., both seeking new terms in 2012, became the latest to announce they would not accept their congressional salary during any shutdown. "If retroactive pay is later approved, I'll direct my part to the U.S. Treasury," said Nelson.

One day before the shutdown deadline, events unfolded in rapid succession.

In a shift in position, Obama said he would sign a short-term measure keeping the government running even without an agreement to give negotiations more time to succeed.

That was one of the options available to Reid, although Boehner said he was confident Democratic lawmakers would persuade "Reid and our commander in chief to keep the government from shutting down" by signing the House-passed bill.

At the White House, a senior budget official said the impact of a shutdown "will be immediately felt on the economy."

View full sizeHouse Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 7, 2011, after their meeting with President Obama regarding the budget and possible government shutdown. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

It also would be felt unevenly, said Jeff Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Military troops would not receive their full paychecks, but Social Security recipients would still get monthly benefits, he said.

"National parks, national forests and the Smithsonian Institution would all be closed. The NIH Clinical Center will not take new patients, and no new clinical trials will start," he added in a roll call of expected agency closings.

But the air traffic control system would stay up and running, the emergency management agency would still respond to natural disasters and border security would not be affected.

There was no indication Reid planned to bring the House-passed stopgap bill to a vote, and he accused Republicans of blocking a deal by demanding anti-abortion provisions and a blockade on Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas and other pollutants.

"We don't have the time to fight over the tea party's extreme social agenda," he said.

It was unclear whether the day's maneuvering marked attempts by negotiators to gain final concessions before reaching agreement, or represented a significant setback to efforts to avoid a shutdown.

Either way, Boehner pointed out that the current clash was only the first of many likely to follow as the new, conservative majority in the House pursues its goals of reducing the size and scope of government.

"All of us want to get on with the heavy lifting that is going to come right behind it, dealing with the federal debt and putting in place a budget for next year," he said.

For all the tough talk, it did not appear the two sides were too far from a deal.

Officials in both parties said that in the past day or so, Democrats had tacitly agreed to slightly deeper spending cuts than they had been willing to embrace, at least $34.5 billion in reductions.

Agreement on that point was conditional on key details, but it was a higher total than the $33 billion that had been under consideration.

It also was less than the $40 billion Boehner floated earlier in the week — a number that Republicans indicated was flexible.

There also were hints of Republican flexibility on a ban they were seeking to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Officials said that in talks at the White House that stretched on after midnight on Wednesday, Republicans had suggested giving state officials discretion in deciding how to distribute family planning funds that now go directly from the federal government to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

That would presumably leave a decision on funding to governors, many of whom oppose abortion, and sever the financial link between the federal government and an organization that Republicans assail as the country's biggest provider of abortions.

Democrats seemed unlikely to accept the proposal, and it was not clear whether it might form the basic framework for an agreement.

But Republicans quickly circulated a list of previous instances in which Obama had signed a similar provision or Reid and House Democratic leaders had supported it as part of a larger measure.

Legislation passed by the House six weeks ago called for $61 billion in cuts and dozens of non-spending provisions.

The Senate has yet to pass an equivalent bill of its own, but Congress has passed a pair of short-term measures in the intervening time to keep the government running, approving a total of $10 billion in spending cuts at the same time.

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Ben Feller, Erica Werner and Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Photo IDs have been issued to all Kiley Middle School students so that misbehavior can be reported by bus drivers.

File photo | The Republican

SPRINGFIELD – Officials at Thursday night's School Committee meeting said steps are being taken to improve the behavior of students on school buses.

School Committee member Antonette Pepe said identifications with photographs have been issued to all Kiley Middle School students so that misbehavior can be reported by the bus drivers to the school.

Reducing the length of bus rides next year for some students should help with behavior problems, Pepe said. Some students from the South End now are on school buses for 40 minutes each way to Kiley Middle School. Next year, some of those students will walk to the new middle school in the South End, Ingram said.

The School Committee on Thursday approved Ingram's plan for a new middle school at the former Our Lady of Mount Carmel School on Margaret Street in the South End.

Antonette Pepe

Ingram said that students will be suspended for bad behavior on school buses. He said the school bus policy needs to be reviewed so that students who are suspended from the bus are not then picked up by bus drivers.

Pepe had a meeting earlier this week at Kiley Middle School with about 50 bus drivers who complained that students are spitting on them, climbing through bus windows and the roof hatch of the bus and dangling over the bus mirror.

“This is a serious issue,” Pepe said.

She said that if a student is suspended from the bus, then a parent will have to drive the child to school.

“Parents have to parent,” she said.

Laviolette and Visneau, already accused of 2 Monson housebreaks, also have been linked to a house break on Zuell Hill Road.

Republican file photo

MONSON – Police Chief Stephen Kozloski Jr. said charges have been filed against two men already accused of breaking into homes on Nieske and Reimers roads.

Derek T. Laviolette, 21, homeless, and William M. Visneau Jr., 23, of 9 Reimers Road, also have been linked to a house break on Zuell Hill Road, he said.

They have been charged with an additional count of felony daytime breaking and entering, malicious destruction of property over $250 and larceny from a building.

They were being held in lieu of bail at the Hampden County House of Correction on previous breaking and entering, vandalism and larceny charges. They denied the charges at their April 1 arraignments.

Kozloski said the men were stealing jewelry and video games and selling the stolen property in Springfield.

A strong aftershock ripped through northeastern Japan, killing two, injuring dozens and piling misery on a region still buried under the rubble of last month's devastating tsunami.

(AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Manabu Kato)Dish and shelves scatter at a restaurant in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, April 8, 2011, following a big aftershock that rocked earthquake-weary Japan late Thursday.

By JAY ALABASTER & MOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Writers

SENDAI, Japan (AP) — A strong aftershock ripped through northeastern Japan, killing two, injuring dozens and piling misery on a region still buried under the rubble of last month's devastating tsunami.

The quake late Thursday was the strongest tremor since the March 11 jumbo and did some damage, but it did not generate a tsunami and appeared to have spared the area's nuclear power plants. The Fukushima Dai-ichi complex — where workers have been frantically trying to cool overheated reactors since they lost cooling systems last month — reported no new abnormalities. Other facilities retained a connection to the grid or switched to diesel generators after the 7.1-magnitude quake knocked out power to much of the area.

Many people in the area have lived without water and electricity for nearly a month, and the latest tremor sunk more homes into blackness: In total, around 3.6 million households — about 60 percent of residents in the area — were dark Friday, said Souta Nozu, a spokesman for Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves northern Japan.

Five conventional plants in the area were out, and it was not clear when power would be restored, he said.

Matsuko Ito, who has been living in a shelter in the small northeastern city of Natori since the tsunami, said there's no getting used to the terror of being awoken by shaking.

"I was almost as scared as much as last time," said the 64-year-old while smoking a cigarette outside. "It's enough."

(AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Yasushi Kanno)Traffic jams are seen as the traffic lights were turned out due to a blackout following a big aftershock in Sendai, northern Japan early Friday, April 8, 2011. The quake rocked quake-weary Japan late Thursday, rattling nerves as it knocked out power to the northern part of the country and prompted tsunami warnings that were later canceled.

She said she started screaming when the quake struck around 11:30 p.m.

"Something has changed," she said. "The world feels strange now. Even the way the clouds move isn't right."

Thursday's quake initiated a tsunami warning of its own, but it was later canceled. Two people were killed, fire department spokesman Junichi Sawada reported Friday. A 79-year-old man died of shock and a woman in her 60s was killed when power was cut to her oxygen tank. More than 130 people were injured, according to the national police agency.

The temblor's epicenter was in about the same location as the original 9.0-magnitude tremor, off the eastern coast and about 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Sendai, an industrial city on the eastern coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was strong enough to shake buildings for about a minute as far away as Tokyo, about 200 miles (330 kilometers) away.

At a Toyota dealership in Sendai, most of a two-story show window was shattered, and thick shards of glass were heaped in front of the building. Items fell off store shelves and a large automated teller machine crept across the floor at a FamilyMart convenience store.

Police directed cars through intersections throughout the city on Friday because traffic lights were out. Small electrical fires were reported.

While the city is far enough inland that it largely escaped tsunami damage, people there lived without regular services for weeks. Within an hour of Thursday's quake, they rushed convenience stores and cleared shelves of ice, water and instant noodles — items that were in short supply after the bigger quake.

(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)Broken windows are seen following Thursday's earthquake in Sendai, northern Japan Friday, April 8, 2011. A big aftershock rocked quake-weary Japan late Thursday, rattling nerves as it knocked out power to the northern part of the country and prompted tsunami warnings that were later canceled.

The operator of the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said there was no sign the aftershock had caused new problems there. Workers briefly retreated to a quake-resistant shelter in the complex and no injuries were reported.

After the March 11 quake knocked out power in the region, the wave flooded the plant's diesel generators, leaving the complex without any electricity. Workers have been struggling to stem a tide of radiation since, using makeshift methods to pump cooling water into the reactors. That work continued uninterrupted after the latest quake, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Other facilities along the northeastern coast remained connected to a power source Friday, and the agency said they were all under control. Backup generators kicked in at two — Rokkasho and Higashidori.

At a third north of Sendai — which has been shut down since the tsunami — one of three power lines was supplying electricity, and radiation monitoring devices detected no abnormalities. The Onagawa power plant's spent fuel pools briefly lost cooling capacity, but it resumed because a power line was available for electricity.

"It's the way it's supposed to work if power is lost for any reason," said David Lochbaum, director of the nuclear safety project for the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

___

Associated Press writers Shino Yuasa, Malcolm Foster, Ryan Nakashima, Mari Yamaguchi and Cara Rubinsky in Tokyo and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.

With time growing short, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement Thursday night on a compromise to cut spending and head off a midnight Friday government shutdown that no one claimed to want.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)The U.S. Capitol is illuminated at night as Congress continues to work to avert a government shutdown on Capitol Hill Thursday, April 7, 2011 in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With time growing short, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement Thursday night on a compromise to cut spending and head off a midnight Friday government shutdown that no one claimed to want.

Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid all said the differences had been narrowed in a pair of White House meetings during the day. They directed their aides to work through the night in pursuit of a deal.

"I expect an answer in the morning," Obama said in an appearance in the White House briefing room shortly after his second sit-down of the day with the lawmakers.

The comments capped a day in which the president, Reid, D-Nev., and Boehner, R-Ohio, bargained and blustered by turns, struggling to settle their differences over spending cuts and other issues while maneuvering to avoid any political blame if they failed.

With the economy just now beginning to create jobs in large numbers, the president said a shutdown would damage the recovery. "For us to go backwards because Washington couldn't get its act together is just unacceptable," he said. The White House announced he had postponed a scheduled trip to Indianapolis for the morning.

But agreement remained elusive, and Republicans passed legislation through the House at mid-day to fund the Pentagon for six months, cut $12 billion in domestic spending and keep the federal bureaucracy humming for an additional week. "There is absolutely no policy reason for the Senate to not follow the House in taking these responsible steps to support our troops and to keep our government open," said Boehner.

Obama flashed a veto threat even before the bill passed on a 247-181, mostly party-line vote. The administration issued a statement calling it "a distraction from the real work" of agreeing on legislation to cover the six months left in the current fiscal year, and there was no indication Reid would allow a vote on it.

As they left the White House after the evening meeting, Reid and Boehner issued a brief written statement that said they had narrowed their disagreements and said they would "continue to work through the night to attempt to resolve" the remaining ones.

Republicans want deeper spending cuts than the Democrats favor and also are pressing for provisions to cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood and stop the EPA from issuing numerous anti-pollution regulations.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Barack Obama speaks after a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., at the White House in Washington, regarding the budget and possible government shutdown, Thursday, April 7, 2011.

"They're difficult issues. They're important to both sides and so I'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism," said the president.

For all the brinksmanship — and the promise of more in the Senate on Friday — there was agreement that a shutdown posed risks to an economy still recovering from the worst recession in decades.

The political fallout was less predictable, especially with control of government divided and dozens of new tea party-backed Republicans part of a new GOP majority in the House. Twin government shutdowns in the mid-1990s damaged Republicans, then new to power in Congress, and helped President Bill Clinton win re-election in 1996.

This time, individual lawmakers worked to insulate themselves from any political damage. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., both seeking new terms in 2012, became the latest to announce they would not accept their congressional salary during any shutdown. "If retroactive pay is later approved, I'll direct my part to the U.S. Treasury," said Nelson.

One day before the shutdown deadline, events unfolded in rapid succession.

In a shift in position, Obama said he would sign a short-term measure keeping the government running even without an agreement to give negotiations more time to succeed.

That was one of the options available to Reid, although Boehner said he was confident Democratic lawmakers would persuade "Reid and our commander in chief to keep the government from shutting down" by signing the House-passed bill.

At the White House, a senior budget official said the impact of a shutdown "will be immediately felt on the economy."

It also would be felt unevenly, said Jeff Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Military troops would not receive their full paychecks, but Social Security recipients would still get monthly benefits, he said.

"National parks, national forests and the Smithsonian Institution would all be closed. The NIH Clinical Center will not take new patients, and no new clinical trials will start," he added in a roll call of expected agency closings.

But the air traffic control system would stay up and running, the emergency management agency would still respond to natural disasters and border security would not be affected.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)Justin Castro, a National Park Service employee, is pictured during an interview at his jobsite, the Oklahoma City National Memorial, in Oklahoma City, Thursday, April 7, 2011. President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders bargained and blustered by turns Thursday, short of an agreement to cut federal spending and avoid a government shutdown at midnight Friday that would close some services, such at the national parks, national forests and the Smithsonian Institution.

There was no indication Reid planned to bring the House-passed stopgap bill to a vote, and he accused Republicans of blocking a deal by demanding anti-abortion provisions and a blockade on Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas and other pollutants.

"We don't have the time to fight over the tea party's extreme social agenda," he said.

It was unclear whether the day's maneuvering marked attempts by negotiators to gain final concessions before reaching agreement, or represented a significant setback to efforts to avoid a shutdown.

Either way, Boehner pointed out that the current clash was only the first of many likely to follow as the new, conservative majority in the House pursues its goals of reducing the size and scope of government.

"All of us want to get on with the heavy lifting that is going to come right behind it, dealing with the federal debt and putting in place a budget for next year," he said.

For all the tough talk, it did not appear the two sides were too far from a deal.

Officials in both parties said that in the past day or so, Democrats had tacitly agreed to slightly deeper spending cuts than they had been willing to embrace, at least $34.5 billion in reductions.

Agreement on that point was conditional on key details, but it was a higher total than the $33 billion that had been under consideration.

It also was less than the $40 billion Boehner floated earlier in the week — a number that Republicans indicated was flexible.

There also were hints of Republican flexibility on a ban they were seeking to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood. Officials said that in talks at the White House that stretched on after midnight on Wednesday, Republicans had suggested giving state officials discretion in deciding how to distribute family planning funds that now go directly from the federal government to organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

That would presumably leave a decision on funding to governors, many of whom oppose abortion, and sever the financial link between the federal government and an organization that Republicans assail as the country's biggest provider of abortions.

Democrats seemed unlikely to accept the proposal, and it was not clear whether it might form the basic framework for an agreement.

But Republicans quickly circulated a list of previous instances in which Obama had signed a similar provision or Reid and House Democratic leaders had supported it as part of a larger measure.

Legislation passed by the House six weeks ago called for $61 billion in cuts and dozens of non-spending provisions.

The Senate has yet to pass an equivalent bill of its own, but Congress has passed a pair of short-term measures in the intervening time to keep the government running, approving a total of $10 billion in spending cuts at the same time.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Ben Feller, Erica Werner and Julie Pace contributed to this report.

From cradle to grave, minority populations tend to suffer poorer health and get poorer health care than white Americans. In a first-of-its-kind report, the government is recommending steps to reduce those disparities.

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh is shown in this July 13, 2010 file photo taken at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House in Washington. In a first-of-its-kind report, the government is recommending steps to reduce the disparities in health care between minority populations and white Americans. The plan being released Friday April 8, 2011 runs the gamut from improving dental care for poor children to tapping "promotoras," savvy community health workers who can help guide their Spanish-speaking neighbors in seeking treatment. But it acknowledges that giving everyone an equal shot at living a healthy life depends on far more than what happens inside a doctor's office _ or steps that federal health officials can take Koh said.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — From cradle to grave, minority populations tend to suffer poorer health and get poorer health care than white Americans. In a first-of-its-kind report, the government is recommending steps to reduce those disparities.

The plan being released Friday runs the gamut from improving dental care for poor children to tapping "promotoras," savvy community health workers who can help guide their Spanish-speaking neighbors in seeking treatment.

But it acknowledges that giving everyone an equal shot at living a healthy life depends on far more than what happens inside a doctor's office — or steps that federal health officials can take.

"It's also a product of where people live, labor, learn, play and pray," Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, told The Associated Press. "We really need a full commitment from the country to achieve these goals."

HHS wouldn't put a dollar figure on its own pending projects, but said it plans to pay for them with money already in hand and not subject to Congress' ongoing budget battle.

The tight economy casts doubt on how much states and other groups may be able to chip in, said Dr. Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

But "we'll never be a healthy nation unless we address these inequities," Jarris said. "There's a lot of momentum finally building" to do so.

Recent years have brought some improvements in health disparities, although racial and ethnic minorities still lag in many areas — from higher infant mortality rates to lower overall life expectancy. In between, they're more likely to suffer from a host of illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and asthma.

Part of the problem is access to care: Minorities make up more than half of the 50 million people who are uninsured, the HHS report says. The Obama administration's year-old health-care overhaul addresses some of the insurance gaps.

But there's a growing appreciation that disparities are more complex. Even geography plays a big role — in shared ancestry and customs, local industry, easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and how easy and safe it is to get physical activity in a particular community.

Among the HHS plans outlined in Friday's report:

—Working with states to increase by 10 percent the number of poor children who receive preventive dental care, including cavity-blocking sealants.

—Hiring trusted local people to serve as community health workers who can help diabetics understand and stick to their doctor's care instructions. A Medicare pilot program has begun in Mississippi and Texas, and will spread to other areas.

—Increasing use of trained promotoras, the Spanish term for those trusted locals. Head Start will use them to direct parents to health services.

—Developing reimbursement incentives to improve the quality of care for minority populations, such as better prevention of heart disease and strokes.

—New studies comparing which treatments work best for diabetes, asthma, arthritis and heart disease in minority populations.

—Creating an online national registry of certified interpreters that doctors or hospitals can use for patients who don't speak English.

—State grants to measure and improve community asthma care.

HHS held meetings around the country to gather input from state and local officials, community groups and average citizens on barriers to health equality, and a separate report reflects strategies for community efforts.

That inclusiveness should "bring more people to the work of eliminating disparities," said Cheryl Boyce, former director of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. "It has to trickle down into community action."

With speeds reaching more than 100 mph, and a police helicopter monitoring the chase from the sky, authorities arrested a Rhode Island man on multiple warrants Thursday afternoon.

BOURNE, MASS -- A dramatic high-speed police chase that began late Thursday afternoon on the South Shore ended about a half-hour later on Cape Cod, where a wanted man was taken into custody after wrecking a stolen car outside the state police barracks in Bourne.

The made-for-Hollywood chase at points reached speeds of more than 100 mph, with multiple law enforcement agencies and a police helicopter joining the pursuit.The incident ended when 24-year-old Nicholas J. Marshall crashed a black Volkswagen SUV at the Bourne Rotary, just yards from the police barracks.

Initial reports indicated the Johnson, RI, man was carrying a loaded shotgun, but investigating officers said they did not recover a weapon at the crash site. The vehicle Marshall was driving was reported stolen in Rhode Island, police said.

"It was amazing, just amazing. I've never seen a car going that fast," eyewitness Stacy Grass told The Cape Cod Times.

Marshall, who was wanted on several outstanding warrants, suffered minor injuries after rolling the SUV. He was charged with multiple offenses, including speeding, failure to stop and operating to endanger.

According to police, Marshall had several active arrest warrants, including a fugitive-from-justice warrant from Massachusetts and theft warrants issued by authorities in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

Marshall was treated for minor injuries at Falmouth Hospital, where he remained under police guard Thursday evening. Arraignment information was not immediately available.

Authorities described a dicey chain of events beginning on Route 495 in Mansfield and ending when Marshall lost control of the SUV after soaring over the Bourne Bridge. State troopers immediately converged on Marshall and took him into custody, police said.

No officers were injured in the incident, but two cruisers sustained paint damage after a minor collision at the end of the chase, police said.

Mansfield police initiated the pursuit around 5:50 p.m. Thursday, with state police joining several minutes later. As Marshall fled south on Route 495, he drove over a strip of stop sticks -- devices placed onto the roadway by police to puncture and slowly deflate the SUV's tires. Police said Marshall continued to drive with two punctured tires, however, merging onto Route 25 and crossing the Bourne Bridge.

State police said they closely monitored speeds, traffic volume and density of surrounding areas throughout the chase. A helicopter from the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing monitored the pursuit from the sky.

State Police Major Anthony Thomas praised troopers for following proper pursuit protocol and taking a "dangerous suspect" into custody without injuring civilians.

Here are the average energy prices in the Pioneer Valley for the week ending today.

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The exhibit is a joint Polish and American project carried out under the auspices of the Consulate of the Polish Republic in New York.

The Republican | Diane LedermanPolish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka answers questions at a talk at the University of Massachusetts marking the opening of an exhibit celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Polish Solidarity movement.

AMHERST – Polish Consul General Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka was a journalist when workers at Gdansk, Poland, went on strike in 1980.

She was at the shipyard as the workers locked themselves in and wouldn’t leave. She could only observe, however – the existing Communist regime prohibited Polish journalists from publishing. But those strikes and the Solidarity movement led to end of Communism in that county and helped spread democracy to neighboring countries.

Junczyk-Ziomecka was at the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday to mark the opening an exhibit “Human Solidarity, Polish Solidarnosc,” with 20 plates portraying the history through maps, photos, press clippings and a narrative that also makes connections with the history of the American labor movement. It will be on display through May 31 in the lower level of the W.E.B. DuBois Library.

The exhibit, created in 2010 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Polish Solidarity movement, was a joint Polish and American project carried out under the auspices of the Consulate of the Polish Republic in New York.

Junczyk-Ziomecka said that the difference between her country’s reach for freedom and the revolutions this year in Egypt, Yemen and Libya is that in those countries “there is no a leader.”

“We had Lech,” she said, referring to Lech Walesa, who eventually became president in 1990. He had been a labor leader for more than a decade.

She said she’s afraid about what will happen to Israel during the unrest: “Israel’s security (depends) on Egypt.” And she said the United Nations will be looking to create a Palestinian state.

She said while the revolts continue, “we have to provide human help, to help people who have no places to.” That’s our obligation to them.”

Another difference between the Solidarity movement and the current revolutions, Junczyk-Ziomecka pointed out, is that in Poland there was no bloodshed, although she said strikers thought they would be shot. She said a priest came and offered to hear confession. “Many were afraid ...There was a (long) line to one priest.”

When she was teaching journalism she would tell her students “what is important is not to stay home. Have an instinct something very important, historical is going on.” And get out and see it, she said.