Minutes after the police union leadership announced its endorsement for Tosado, a member of the rank-and-file read a statement criticizing the board for not remaining neutral.

View full sizeStaff photo by Patrick JohnsonMayoral candidate Jose Tosado and police patrolmen's union president Joseph Gentile speak to the press in front of police headquarters. The patrolmen's union publicly endorsed Tosado in the race for mayor.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayoral candidate Jose Tosado received a critical endorsement Wednesday afternoon when the executive board of Springfield police patrol officers union threw the union's support behind Tosado in his quest for election.

At a press conference in front of police headquarters, Joseph Gentile, president of Local 364 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, said Tosado stands out among the three candidates for mayor as the clear choice of the 378-member union.

However, the endorsement was immediately called into question by police officer Thomas Liebel, who gathered reporters to announce the executive board’s endorsement did not represent view of the majority of the rank and file. The majority wants the union to offer no endorsement to any candidate, he said.

Gentile, in announcing the endorsement, cited Tosado’s record of public service with the former police commission, the school committee and now the city council. “Equally important to us is Jose has a willingness to listen to new ideas and is open to look for new ways to solve problems,” Gentile said. “Those are very important to us and that is why we are endorsing Jose Tosado.”

Liebel announced afterward that the endorsement is not representative of the feelings of the majority of officers in the union.

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonSpringfield police officer Thomas Liebel reads a statement criticizing the police union executive board for endorsing Jose Tosado for mayor. The majority of police officers wish the union to remain neutral in the mayor's race.

“A great majority of my fellow brother and sister officers wish to remain neutral and allow the voting public to decide the right candidate,” Liebel said, reading from prepared statement. “I am standing before you to let the citizens of Springfield know that the Springfield police officers do not back any candidate for mayor.”

Liebel said the union leadership had meetings with officers from each of the three shifts to announced the endorsement. But, he said, the board did not solicity any feedback at the meetings or allow union members in attendance to so much as perform a show of hands.

He said the board’s actions has resulted in “tension and hard feelings among officers.”

Leibel, who did not accept questions from the press after reading his statement, said the actions of the union’s executive board “compelled him to make this announcement to set the record straight.”

Gentile, in response, said the executive board followed the same exact procedures as it has is previous mayoral elections. The executive board alone is responsible for endorsements, and has never brought the question before the rank and file. He would say what the margin was with the executive board's vote, saying that information is always kept private.

“The executive board represents all of our members; Tommy Liebel represents none of our members,” he said.

Four years ago, the same union endorsed then-challenger Domenic Sarno in the race against incumbent Charles Ryan. Gentile said the endorsement was intended to be pro-Tosado, not anti-Sarno.

He declined to say what if any problems emerged in the relationship between Sarno and the union leadership. However, he did acknowledge that when the board invited the candidates to sit down for interviews prior to the endorsement vote, Tosado and Antonette Pepe accepted but Sarno declined.

Officer Rachel Thomas, union secretary and executive board member, disputed the charge that the majority of officers are not in agreement with the board's actions. The board staged meetings for each shift to explain its postions, and officers in attendance seemed favorable . No vote was taken at those meetings because the board has never handled endorsements that way, she said.

"I can clearly say (Liebel) is not speaking for the majority," she said.

Tosado thanked the union for what he said was “probably a difficult decision.”

He acknowledged that the union has publicly supported candidates before who after taking office did not return that support.

“I know they are taking a risk,” he said. “All I can say I will make a commitment to work with the police men and women of this city to see that we do a good job, a better job on public safety.”

DuMont, of Amostown Road, said the ordinance would be similar to one in East Longmeadow.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – A local landscaper has proposed the city create a home occupation zoning ordinance that would allow tradespeople to operate their businesses from their residences.

The landscaper, Joseph P. DuMont of 711 Amostown Road, said Tuesday that the city’s current zoning ordinances allow for only such professionals as doctors and lawyers to have home offices.

DuMont’s proposed zoning ordinance would allow such tradespeople as carpenters, electricians and landscapers to use their homes for their businesses as well as store equipment there.

The proposal is based on regulations adopted several years ago in East Longmeadow and would update the city’s zoning ordinances, most of which were written in the fifties and sixties, DuMont said.

Currently, DuMont said it is illegal for a tradespeople to park trucks used in their businesses in their driveways. The landscaper said town officials have told him to go ahead and store equipment at his home as long as no one complains about it.

“If nobody cares then what is the problem? Why not allow it?” he said.

Such a zoning ordinance would allow him to use the barn at his home for his business, DuMont said. The proposal has a number of controls he pointed out such as a requirement that equipment be stored behind the main building and screened from view.

“Basically, all I wanted to do was to start a discussion,” he said. “Ninety percent of new businesses nowadays start out of the house....Everyone I’ve talked to about it doesn’t seem to have any issues with it.”

DuMont’s proposal, for which he garnered the signatures of 12 voters registered in the city, two more than required, was received by the Town Council Monday. The council referred it to its Ordinance Subcommittee and the Planning Board, both of which will make recommendations to it. Passage of the ordinance by the council would require a two-thirds majority or the approval of six of the board’s nine members, according to Planning Administrator Richard A. Werbiskis.

The Planning Board has set a public hearing on the proposal for 7:05 p.m. Oct. 5 in the J. Edward Christian Municipal Office Building.

Werbiskis said he will reserve comment on the proposal until after the Planning Board’s public hearing.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 186 points to close at 11,433.

Associated Press photoHorst Reichenbach, head of the European Commission's task force for Greece, right, speaks during a news conference at the end of his first visit to the debt-hobbled country in Athens, on Thursday. Reichenbach said the main focus of efforts to right the economy in Greece should be a return to growth, after three years of recession. In the United States, Wall Street investors were calmed by growing expectations that Greece will not be defaulting on its debts anytime soon and will get the next batch of rescue funds due from its international bailout package.

NEW YORK – A joint effort by five major central banks to support Europe’s financial system set off a rally in U.S. stocks Thursday. Gold plunged and Treasury yields rose as traders sold the safest investments. Markets in Europe soared.

The European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve and three other central banks said Thursday they would provide European banks with unlimited dollar loans. The aim is to fend off worries that the banks could be weakened by their holdings of government bonds from Greece and other struggling European countries.

“It’s a pretty powerful action,” said Brian Gendreau, senior investment strategist at Cetera Financial Group. “And it’s another piece of news that leads you to think the crisis in Europe could be on the road to resolution.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 186.45 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 11,433.18.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 20.43 points, 1.7 percent, to 1,209.11. The index has jumped 4.8 percent this week but is still 10 points short of where it started the month.

Worries that European banks would struggle to borrow dollars have hung over markets in recent weeks. It’s a key element in the European debt crisis, rooted in the fear that cash-strapped governments in Greece and Italy won’t pay back their debts. European banks hold large amounts of debt issued by Greece and Italy, which they use as collateral to borrow dollars. The danger is that banks could lose their ability to raise money when other lenders won’t take the collateral.

Europe’s main stock markets jumped on the news. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 gained 3 percent. The euro rose against the dollar as confidence in Europe’s shared currency increased.

Gold plunged $45, or 2.5 percent, to settle at $1,781 an ounce. Treasury prices fell, pushing their yields up. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is used to set interest rates on a wide variety of loans, rose to 2.08 percent.

The Nasdaq rose 34.52 points, 1.3 percent, to 2,607.07. The index has jumped 5.6 percent so far this week and is up 1.1 percent in September. The Dow is down 1.6 percent this month, the S&P 0.8 percent.

Daniel Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital in New York, said the stock market has been overreacting to Europe’s debt crisis, swinging in response to each new development. “

Every time there’s news out of Europe that’s not bad, the market reacts positively, and that’s occurring on almost a nightly basis,” he said. “You’d think the U.S. economy might be part of what the market trades on, but the fact of the matter is, today and recently, it’s all been about Europe.”

A move by just the Fed or the European central bank alone wouldn’t have been nearly as effective in restoring confidence in European lenders. Traders that had laid bets against European banks may now think twice about doing so again, Gendreau said. “It’s the rare speculator that wants to go up against a slew of central banks and all their resources,” he said.

Bank stocks led the market higher. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose 3 percent to $107.97. Bank of America Corp. rose 4 percent to $7.33, the largest gain of the 30 stocks in the Dow. Morgan Stanley jumped 7 percent to $16.59 after reporting that its chairman, John Mack, would step down at the end of the year.

The stock market’s gains were tempered by a mixed batch of economic reports. First-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 11,000 to 428,000 last week. Economists had forecast a decrease. The New York and Philadelphia branches of the Federal Reserve also reported weak manufacturing in their respective regions.

On the positive side, factory output rose 0.5 percent in August, after increasing 0.6 percent in July. Autos and related products increased 2.6 percent, evidence that supply chain disruptions stemming from the Japan earthquake continued to ease.

None of the reports was compelling enough to change anyone’s view about the economy, Gendreau said. The market still appears evenly split between those who believe the US is headed for a long stretch of slow growth and those who think it’s about to slide into a recession.

Among stocks making big moves, HCA Holdings soared 12 percent to $20.84 after the largest U.S. hospital chain said it would buy back more than $1 billion of its stock from Bank of America.

Research in Motion Ltd. plummeted 16 percent in after-hours trading. The maker of BlackBerry mobile devices reported earnings and sales that came in far below Wall Street’s estimates. The company faces tough competition from Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones that use Google Inc.’s Android software.

The Swiss bank UBS plunged 10 percent to $11.41 on news that a trader could cost the bank as much as $2.2 billion. Switzerland’s largest bank warned that it could post a loss for the quarter as a result of the unauthorized trade.

Netflix fell 18 percent to $169.25, the biggest drop among stocks in the S&P 500 index, after the company said it expects fewer people to subscribe to its DVD-by-mail service as well as its streaming movie service.

Senate budget chief Stephen Brewer said the bill would hew closely to the broad framework adopted by the House: three casinos and one slot parlor.

BOSTON - Signaling that the Senate is eager to pick up where the House left off on the effort to bring casinos and slot machine gambling to Massachusetts, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will “most likely” release a revised version of the House’s proposal Friday, Senate President Therese Murray said after exiting the Senate chamber Thursday.

In addition, Senate budget chief Stephen Brewer, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said the bill would hew closely to the broad framework adopted by the House: three casinos and one slot parlor.

“That particular aspect has been pretty well agreed upon between the speaker, the Senate president and the governor,” Brewer said. “It will be a bill that will end up in a conference committee at some point in time because there are a lot of moving pieces, a lot of priorities.”

The Senate last session initially approved legislation calling only for three casinos.

After a session Thursday to debate pension reform legislation, the Senate scheduled a rare Friday meeting that Murray later said would likely feature the release of the Senate’s version of the gambling bill. Murray said earlier Thursday that the House bill might not even reach the Senate until Friday.

The release will kick off a 10-day countdown before the full Senate can take up the bill, the result of an order passed in July to give members a chance to familiarize themselves with the legislation and file amendments.

If the bill emerges Friday, the earliest the full Senate may consider it is Monday, Sept. 26 and it appears the Senate will look to take the bill up sometime that week, according to aides.

“People have plenty of chance to take a look at it and offer their suggestions … The president has indicated she won’t stifle the debate,” Brewer said. “It won’t fail because the clock ran out because there’s plenty of clock ahead of us as well.”

Brewer was referring to last year, when disagreements between the Legislature and the governor caused the collapse of efforts to agree on expanded gambling legislation. Their negotiations were complicated by lawmakers’ decision to wait until the final night of the legislative session to send the governor a bill.

Last year, the Senate adopted a proposal to introduce three casinos and exclude slot facilities, but the branch later adopted a compromise with the House that would have directed two slot parlors to the state’s racetracks. Patrick at the time rejected the slot parlors as “no-bid” giveaways to track owners.

But disagreements between the governor and lawmakers seem to have evaporated since then. The proposal that passed the House 123-32 on Thursday night has drawn praise from the Senate president and the governor. Patrick has said he is willing to support the slot parlor included in the bill because it would be competitively bid.

Opponents of expanded gambling in the Senate have indicated they are prepared to use their procedural options to lengthen debate, perhaps for several days. Murray said in a radio interview Thursday morning that she has no plans to “stifle” debate.

Sen. James Eldridge, one of the opponents, told the News Service Thursday he expects the bill to pass.

"I would acknowledge that it's an uphill battle on the debate, but remember that last session everyone was saying that casinos was going to pass and be signed into law and we were successful,” he said.
Eldridge said a number of senators are concerned about the inclusion of the slot parlor license in the pending bill as well as the number of casinos permitted under the legislation. He said some of his constituents who support expanded gambling think the state should start by allowing one casino.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

A welcoming ceremony will be at the Memorial School on Main Street.

File photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanThe Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee has agreed to allow the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to use the former Memorial School in Wilbraham as a temporary home for Cathedral High School.

WILBRAHAM - The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee will hold a welcoming ceremony for the students and faculty of Cathedral High School Sunday at 2 p.m. at Memorial School on Main Street.

“This is a welcome to the students of Cathedral from the students of Minnechaug,” Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee member Peter T. Salerno said.

Cathedral High School which is located in Springfield’s East Forest Park neighborhood, sustained significant structural damage as a result of the June 1 tornado.

Hampden-Wilbraham School Committee Vice Chairman Marianne Desmond said Salerno reached out to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and offered it use of Memorial School which was closed a year earlier.

After careful consideration, the diocese determined that the school could meet its needs for one and possibly two years while Cathedral High School rebuilds.

According to a lease agreement approved by the Wilbraham Board of Selectmen, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield will lease Memorial Elementary School for an annual fee of $360,500.

It is not the first time the former Wilbraham elementary school has been used to house students displaced by bad weather.

Last February, students and staff from Mapleshade Elementary School in East Longmeadow were moved to Wilbraham after their school was closed Feb. 4 due to cracks in the cafeteria roof caused by heavy snow.

Desmond said that on behalf of the School Committee she wished to extend a thank you to Salerno for reaching out to Cathedral to see if Memorial School would meet its needs.

Chapman, who is a graduate of Cathedral High School, said, “On behalf of the district, I am pleased to welcome our neighbor, Cathedral High School, and hope that Cathedral’s use of Memorial School will help the students and families as they move forward toward rebuilding their high school.”

The same two developers submitted proposals in the spring, but both were rejected by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, based on the city stating there was some confusion in the request for proposals process.

The Springfield Redevelopment Authority is currently evaluating two proposals for reuse of the former Visitor Information Center building, seen here in 2005, on West Columbus Avenue.

SPRINGFIELD – Two developers have again submitted proposals for re-use of the vacant, former Visitor Information Center building on West Columbus Avenue.

Both plans are under review and a decision is possible in October. The site has been vacant since 2009.

The latest proposals were opened Sept. 9.

The same two developers had submitted proposals in the spring, but both were rejected in June by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, based on the city stating there was some confusion in the request for proposals process. The decision was made to readvertise for proposals in August.

New proposals were submitted and opened Sept. 9, but kept confidential by a review committee.

The proposals were submitted by Peter J. Pappas and his company, Alliance Converting Machinery Inc., and by Lustra, LLC, listing Jennifer Stefanik as manager and also involving local developer Raipher Pellegrino.

The building has been vacant since November 2009 when the William C. Sullivan Tourist Information Center relocated to the nearby Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Pappas was not immediately available for comment, but has proposed two businesses for the vacant site: a family restaurant and bar named “Fergburger,” and a specialty coffee and dessert tenant.

Details on the Lustra proposal were not released.

Lustra was formed in April for the purpose of “food and beverage services and all other business associated with operating a restaurant,” according to its corporate records.

Pellegrino said his group has submitted a “similar proposal” to the one in June, but he declined further comment while there is an active review process.

Brian Connors, the city’s deputy director of planning and economic development, notified the developers on June 28 of the canceled proposals and the plan for a new request for proposals. The aim was to ensure that the terms are as clear as possible and any developers had “an equal and fair opportunity,” he said.

“Our goal is to move this process forward in a short time frame and we appreciate your patience and hope your interest in the property remains,” Connors said.

Forest Park business owners, residents and other volunteers are planning to turn out Saturday, Sept. 24 to help clean up the area around the "X" commercial district.

Springfield -- Forest Park business owners, residents and other volunteers are planning to turn out Saturday, Sept. 24 to help clean up the area around the "X" commercial district.

The group is planning to work from 9 a.m. to around 1 p.m., performing general grounds keeping, such as sprucing up sidewalk planters, weeding sidewalks and picking up trash.

Volunteers are asked to meet in the parking lot of Forest Park Liquors, 594 Sumner Ave. before 9 a.m.

People should bring trash or leaf bags, brooms and rakes, and other gardening tools.

Forest Park Business Association President Daniel Morrissey said “This is a great opportunity for those that care so much about the Forest Park neighborhood to lend a hand and really beautify the area and make it even more welcoming than it already is.”

Benson’s Bagels will provide bagels and coffee in the morning, while Nino’s Pizzeria has offered pizza in the afternoon along with Italian cookies from the new Sal’s Bakery and Cafeé.

Morrissey said anyone looking for more information, or of any professional landscapers wish to donation service, he can be reached at (413) 218-1525 or by email at info@exploreforestpark.org.

A second suspect in fatal shooting will be arraigned later this month.

Daniel Monteiro

SPRINGFIELD – James Rosario was trying to stop a verbal argument between others at a party at his family’s home when he was shot numerous times, according to court documents.

About two dozen family members and friends of the 18-year-old Rosario, fatally shot July 9 in front of his Edgeland Street home, were in District Court here Thursday to watch Daniel Monteiro’s murder arraignment.

Many of the family members wore t-shirts bearing Rosario’s name and photograph with “R.I.P (rest in peace)” written across the top.

After Monteiro, 21, of Brockton, denied the murder charge and was led out of the courtroom, one young man wearing the “R.I.P.” t-shirt screamed obscenities at Monteiro.

Outside the courtroom the young man collapsed into another family member’s arms as court officers and a victim witness advocate worked to keep people calm.

A second suspect, Carlos Bastos, 21, who has an address in Brockton and also at 27 Coomes St. in Springfield, will be arraigned on the murder charge Sept. 23. He was appearing in Plymouth Superior Court Thursday in an unrelated case, Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato said.

Donald W. Frank was appointed to represent Monteiro, who was held without right to bail by Springfield District Court Judge William J. Boyle.

Monteiro is serving a sentence in Plymouth county for unrelated firearms violations, Donato said. Plymouth Superior Court includes Brockton, where Monteiro lives.

On July 15, about a week after Rosario’s killing, Bastos was arrested in Brockton after a person was shot and wounded. Bastos was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and firearms crimes.

According to the police report on Rosario’s killing, the weapon in the July 15 Brockton shooting was a .45 caliber Highpoint Semi-Automatic handgun. A State Police ballistics expert said it was the same handgun used in Rosario’s murder.

Two witness reports, with names of the witnesses expunged from the court documents, used by Springfield police in getting a warrant for arrest for Monteiro and Bastos seem to point to Monteiro as Rosario’s shooter and Bastos being with Monteiro.

When police went to the 88 Edgeland St. home where Rosario lived with his mother and sister, they found him unconscious and bleeding from his face. A total of seven discharged casings were found.

Rosario’s mother was not home at the time of the party, family members have said.

Frank asked Boyle to let Monteiro stand just outside of the courtroom, behind an open side door, for the arraignment, where he would not be seen by anyone in the audience.

Frank said he did not want potential witnesses to see Monteiro in the courtroom and then identify him for the crime because they had seen him in court.

Donato said Monteiro should appear as all defendants do in view of all in the courtroom.

“You are aware his picture has been on Masslive.com, in the newspaper, on Channel 22. Isn’t it in the public domain already,” Boyle said as he denied Frank’s request.

Trager had no children, but Jesse Adams and Jesse Demers were two of her honorary brood.

File photo / The RepublicanEva Trager is seen in her store Country Comfort in Northampton, in 2003.

A day after her death, it wasn’t hard to find people with Eva Trager stories. Everyone in downtown Northampton, it seemed, had some connection to the feisty little owner of Country Comfort, the Main Street store that helped transform the city from a dull county seat into a unique shopping destination.

Trager died Wednesday of kidney failure at the age of 65. She spent the last 40 of those years as a downtown legend. When she and her ex-husband William Trager opened County Comfort in 1972, there were few reasons for people to come downtown. Some of the people who lead today’s vibrant Northampton crawled around her store as babies.

On Thursday, Country Comfort was closed and the bench in front of the store where Trager used to sit and snag passersby was covered with flowers and cards. Many stopped to write a reminiscence. Others just carried Trager around with them in their hearts.

Steve Oksanen and Greg Stone both knew Trager because they shared the downtown scene with her. Oksanen, a long-time fixture who plays the guitar on Main Street, never took up station directly in front of County Comfort, but saw plenty of Trager from just being around.

“I knew her for 40 years,” he said.

Stone, an artist, shared many friends with Trager and ran into her innumerable times during the 14 years he lived in downtown Northampton. As they stood on Main Streeet and about Trager, Daniel J. Yacuzzo stopped to add his own Trager stories. Now the executive director of the Business Improvement District, Yacuzzo used to own the Eastside Grill, a restaurant that helped pioneered the Northampton renaissance along with County Comfort. Trager, of course, was at the restaurant’s 20th anniversary party several years ago. When told it was a beer-and-wine event, she said, “Where’s Dan?”

“She said, ‘I want scotch,’” Yacuzzo recalled. “‘You have some downstairs, don’t you? Get a bottle.’”

Yacuzzo went downstairs, got a bottle of Dewar’s and hid it in the closet, except when Trager wanted a drink. He was among the many friends Trager used to waylay as they walked past her store.

“She’d say, ‘Sit down!’” he said. “She just wanted to chat.”

Laura Ewald, a long-time friend, accompanied Trager to some of her dialysis sessions. Trager would make the best of it, Ewald said, bringing food and keeping everyone on their toes with her sense of humor.

“I told her, ‘I don’t like it here,’ and she said, ‘Laura, if you don’t like it, how the hell do you think I feel?’”

Trager had no children, but Jesse Adams and Jesse Demers were two of her honorary brood. Both mourned in front of Country Comfort Thursday.

“She used to tell me it was like watching one of her own kids grow up,” said Adams, a city councilor whose father owns a jewelry store a few storefronts away. Both Adams and Demers spent many a day playing in the basement of Country Comfort with the vintage toys Trager kept.

“She was always so happy, no matter if she was sick or what,” said a distraught Demers, who considers himself Trager’s godson. “She loved life and would find joy in everything.”

Minda Goss, who consoled Demers, used to run a restaurant called The Soup Kitchen on Trager’s block. She called her long-time friend “a force to be reckoned with.” Goss said Trager formed strong bonds with the craftspeople who made the clothes and jewelry she sold. Trager especially liked to work with women’s co-ops and Third World artisans.

“There was nothing in there that wasn’t her,” Goss said.

Ruth Leuenberger worked in the store for Trager for several years.
“We remained friends,” Leuenberger said, “which is what happened to everybody who knew Eva. She was there at every life event I ever had. She helped me through college and helped me go to graduate school. You couldn’t ask for a more loyal friend.”

Trager’s niece, Shuli Pielet, traveled from Israel to Northampton to be with her aunt at the end. Pielet, who used to talk with Trager on the phone every week, believed she was her only niece until she saw the outpouring of love for Trager.

“She wasn’t just my aunt, she was everybody’s aunt,” Pielet said. “It’s just amazing.”

Peter B. Ives, the former pastor of First Churches, got to know Trager as soon as he came to town in 1989. The church is next door to Country Comfort and Ives would see Trager sweeping the sidewalk every morning and putting out “Penny the Penguin,” the ceramic penguin that graced the store’s doorstoop.

“Every child in this community, I’m sure, knew Penny the Penguin,” Ives said. “We all sort of started our day together here in downtown Northampton. We were building a community here and doing it together.”

County Comfort will host a celebration of Trager’s life on Friday from noon to 3 p.m. After that, the store will close for good.

Property owners who pay late taxes by Oct. 4 will not have a lien placed on their property.

Republican file photo

CHICOPEE – The Chicopee Tax Collector’s office has released a list of 107 property owners who owe taxes for 2010, in the hopes most will pay before a lien is placed on their property.

State law requires the city to release a list publicly before placing any lien on a piece of land. In Chicopee an automatic lien is placed on any property if taxes are delinquent for more than 18 months, said Carole J. Harms, city tax collector.

“It is not to embarrass anyone. It is something you do by law,” she said.

The names were published in the legal ads in The Republican and on MassLive.com on Wednesday.

The property owners have until 10 a.m., Oct. 4 to pay the money owed. If they do not meet the deadline, the debt is turned over to the city treasurer’s office and a 16 percent interest charge is assigned, she said.

Before turning the list over to the treasurer’s office, Harms said she sends a notice to everyone who is delinquent. In some cases she also makes a phone call to people who owe small amounts.

Many do pay when contacted. In February there were 292 people with outstanding taxes owed. That decreased to 220 by June 3 and now it is down to 107, she said.

Rarely do any of the tax delinquent charges result in the city actually taking the property for tax title, Harms said.

“Mr. (Treasurer Ernest N.) Laflamme works with the property owner to get it paid off,” said Jessica Hebert, the assistant treasurer. “Sometimes there is a miscommunication.”

Most of the amounts owed are between $1,000 and $2,000, with the largest being $4,763 by Jessica Lapa, trustee of the Joy Street Realty Trust, of 140 Joy Street.

The smallest amounts owed are under $20, with Gerald J. Kele and Gracinda V. Loureiro owning $13.60 for property at 37 Coolidge Road and Edward F. Gonet owning $14.99 for property on White Birch Avenue, according to tax collector’s records.

Some of the small amounts owed are from people who may own a second small piece of land next to their home that is on a different deed, Hebert said.

Morgan is a legendary reggae musician who has lived in Springfield since the 1970s.

View full sizePhoto courtesy of NYPDThis NYPD police photo shows a stack of bricks of marijuana that were seized as part of arrests Wednesday in the Bronx. Denroy Morgan of Springfield was arrested as part of the investigation.

SPRINGFIELD - A 66-year-old Springfield man was arrested in the Bronx Wednesday afternoon police found 25 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop, and the follow-up investigation led detectives to find a stash of 310 pounds of the drug in an apartment, New York City police said.

Arrested and charged with criminal possession of marijuana, failure to stop at a stop sign, and driving without a seat belt was Denroy Morgan of 90 Monticello St., Springfield.

The New York Daily News is reporting that Morgan is the legendary reggae musician who has lived in Springfield since the 1970s.

According to a NYPD release, officers with the Narcotics Borough Manhattan Tactical Response Team stopped Morgan's car in traffic as part of an ongoing investigation. As detectives talked with Morgan, they could smell the aroma of marijuana coming from inside the car. They asked Morgan about it, and he indicated there was some marijuana in the trunk.

The detectives opened the trunk and found two bags containing about 25 pounds of marijuana, police said.

Denroy Morgan

The investigation led detectives to 1122 Taylor Ave. in the Bronx where they executed a search warrant that resulted in the finding of the 310-pound cache of marijuana.

A second man, Wayne Swavy, 46, of Mount Vernon, N.Y. was arrested after he was seen leaving the Taylor Avenue apartment. Police found 16 pounds of marijuana in his car.

The Daily News quotes unnamed police officials saying the total haul is worth as much as $351,000 in street sales.

Morgan had a hit single in 1981 with the single "I'll do anything for you."

According to 1999 Springfield Republican article, Morgan was born in Jamaica but moved to New York when he was in his late teens. He moved to Springfield in the 1970s at about the time he started having children did not trust New York as a proper environment for raising children.

Morgan reportedly has 30 children with different partners, and several of them have established musical careers of their own, including the internationally known reggae group Morgan Heritage.

Penn National is the latest gaming company to express interest in Western Massachusetts, which is flatly guaranteed a casino in a bill that was approved overwhelmingly on Wednesday in the state House of Representatives.

File photo / The Patriot-NewsSlot machines are seen at Penn National's Holywood Casino in Pennsylvania.

BOSTON - With new legislation giving Western Massachusetts a leg up for a casino, Penn National Gaming, a national gambling company, is laying the groundwork for a possible casino in the Springfield area.

Penn National is the latest gaming company to express interest in Western Massachusetts, which is flatly guaranteed a casino in a bill that was approved overwhelmingly on Wednesday in the state House of Representatives. The bill is set for a debate and likely approval in the Senate the week of Sept. 26.

Eric Schippers, senior vice president for government affairs and public relations for Penn National Gaming, said the company is looking for a site in Western Massachusetts that would be strategically located to capture dollars now going to Connecticut casinos and would have strong community support. He said the company is currently having informal conversations about possible sites in the region.

"Springfield is certainly a place where we're placing a lot of focus, as well as communities around Springfield," Schippers said. "We have not pinpointed a location. We continue to explore multiple sites in Western Massachusetts. Springfield would definitely be on the list. Springfield is a place where we would be very interested."

Penn National, based in Wyomissing, Pa., currently operates 26 gaming facilities in 17 states and Ontario including a harness racing track and off-track betting in Bangor, Maine. The company, which has $2.6 billion in annual revenues, is planning to open next year additional casinos in Kansas City, as well as Toldeo and Columbus in Ohio.

The casino bill, approved by 123-32 in the House, designates a casino for each of three geographic zones, including one for anywhere in the four counties of Western Massachusetts, one in Boston, Worcester or surrounding communities and one in the southeastern part of the state. It also includes a slot parlor with up to 1,250 slot machines that could be anywhere in the state. Licenses would be auctioned to the highest bidder.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has expressed support for the bill. Last year, state legislators approved a casino bill, but Patrick rejected it when House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who has a horse track and a former dog track in his district, insisted on licenses for slots at two tracks. In this year's bill, DeLeo and Patrick compromised by agreeing to one license for a slot parlor that would be competitively bid.

DeLeo said the bill could create 15,000 jobs and provide millions of dollars in assistance to cities and towns.

"I am extraordinarily proud of the House's unwavering commitment to jobs and growth," DeLeo said in a statement after the vote.

Penn National looked at a site in southeastern Massachusetts and considered the Boston area, Schippers said. But the casino bill gives a federally-recognized Indian tribe, likely the Wampanoag of Mashpee, a year to negotiate the casino license set for the southeast part of the state. Schippers said Penn National does not want to wait a year.

"We are most comfortable and most interested in a license in the western zone," Schippers said. "We see that as really fitting within the model we have done in other communities."

Penn National would compete for a casino license with at least two other companies -- the Mohegan Sun of Connecticut, which has been planning a casino resort for 152 acres it leases off Exit 8 of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer, and Paper City Development, which is proposing a casino for the Wyckoff Country Club off Interstate 91 in Holyoke.

The competition is already heating up.

Mohegan, which operates the successful Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., is playing "a protection game" by proposing a casino in Palmer, Schippers said.

"It would appear to us the Mohegan Sun is trying to protect its flank in Connecticut," he said. "They are putting up a strategic defensive position in Palmer, or trying to."

Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. fired back.

“Talk is cheap and what other gaming companies say is irrelevant," Etess said in a statement. "For the past two and a half years Mohegan Sun has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to Palmer and to bringing a premier destination casino resort to Western Massachusetts.”

Mohegan has invested $10 million so far in its bid for a Palmer casino, a company official said.

Mohegan estimated that a Palmer casino could create 2,500 to 3,000 permanent jobs to operate the casino and 1,200 to 1,500 construction jobs each year during up to two years of building.

Paper City estimated 2,000 construction jobs over 12 to 18 months and 1,500 permanent jobs at a Holyoke casino.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno threw his support behind the Mohegan Sun's Palmer project in 2008, provided that "a casino in the woods" could benefit Springfield with expanded tourism, government financial assistance, jobs and business for city merchants.

Sarno said he has talked with Penn National Gaming about a possible casino for Springfield, but he downplayed the potential of that actually happening.

"Yes, there was an inquiry, but no ongoing discussions or definite interest shown," the mayor said in a statement. " I certainly listened, as I would with any prospective developer. It doesn't appear that the City of Springfield would have the appropriate land space. It is also my understanding that a number of companies are looking/inquiring in all Western Massachusetts communities."

Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said city officials have also discussed a casino for his city with Penn National Gaming.

Bissonnette said Chicopee is probably the best location for a casino in Western Massachusetts since it enjoys direct access to the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 91 and Interstate 291.

Bissonnette said two locations in Chicopee could be used for a casino, one consisting of about 110 acres owned by the Westover Metropolitan Development Corp., a quasi-public development group, between the turnpike and the Westover Metropolitan Airport, and more than 100 acres in the Chicopee River Business Park owned by Westmass Area Development Corp.

Bissonnette said he supports casinos because they create jobs and contribute taxes.

"My attitude is -- let the bidding begin," Bissonnette said.

Under the bill, voters in a potential host community would need to approve a ballot question for a casino to be sited in the community.

The vote by the state House of Representatives reverberated in Palmer on Thursday.

Paul I. Brody, vice president of development for Mohegan, said they are pleased that the casino bill has passed the first hurdle.

James L. St. Amand, of Palmer, the community liaison for Northeast Realty, heralded the House vote. Northeast is leasing 150 acres across from the turnpike exit on Thorndike Street to Mohegan Sun for a $500 million resort casino.

“They’re respecting the will of the people. Now it goes to the Senate and we’ll see what happens,” St. Amand said.

St. Amand said he supports the project because of the jobs and revenue it will bring to his town. St. Amand said he was not surprised, but disappointed with state Rep. Todd M. Smola’s negative vote.

“I would hope that he would offer an alternative for job creation,” St. Amand said about Smola, a Palmer Republican.

Palmer Town Council President Paul E. Burns said a casino in Palmer would bring needed jobs to the town, and the region.

But Iris L. Cardin, co-president of Quaboag Valley Against Casinos, said she is disappointed that the House approved the legislation, and that so many state representatives voted in favor of it. Cardin, of Palmer, said she finds it alarming that “so few people are worried about the effects.”

“We never did get a good cost benefit analysis,” Cardin said. The House on Wednesday night rejected a proposal by Rep. Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat, for a study on the costs and benefits of casinos before permitting them.

Cardin said she was happy Smola voted the way he did. In the coming weeks, she said her group is going to try and make people “more aware of the dangers” of casinos including increased crime, traffic and gambling addiction.

Four legislators from Western Massachusetts - Smola, plus Reps. Brian M. Ashe, a Longmeadow Democrat, Denise Andrews, an Orange Democrat and William Pignatelli, a Lenox Democrat -- voted against the casino bill.

Smola could not be reached despite several calls to his cell and home phones.

Ashe, whose district includes Monson, which abuts Palmer, said he promised people in Monson he would oppose casinos when he was first running for the state Legislature about four years ago. "I gave them my commitment back then," he said. "You are only as good as your word."

Ashe said he understands why people would support casinos and the jobs they would create, but he is concerned about excessive traffic in Monson and possible effects on schools and police.

Each package must be approved by the state's Economic Development and Housing Department.

WESTFIELD - The City Council Thursday night approved three tax incentive packages designed to draw two new businesses to the city's Northside and convince an existing business to launch a $20 million expansion project at Barnes Regional Airport.

The plans, which offer reduced property taxes over the life of the agreements, are expected to lead to the creation of about 150 new jobs in the city, develop or rehabilitate current vacant parcels and increase city revenue.

A five year package was approved for Armbrook Senior Living LLC which plans a 136-unit independent and assisted living facility on North Road. A second five-year plan was granted to Seal Ryt, an Easthampton manufacturing firm that plans to relocated to ServiStar Industrial Way.

A 15-year property tax incentive package is designed to convince Gulfstream Aerospace Services Corp. to invest $20 million in expansion at Barnes Regional Airport and create an additional 100 jobs for the region.

Each package must now gain approval from the state's Economic Development and Housing Department. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and city Advancement Officer Jeffrey R. Daley will seek state approval at a meeting Sept. 27 in Boston.

Also, the Gulfstream incentive is dependant upon that company's decision to expand in Westfield which is in competition with Wisconsin and Georgia.

Gulfstream senior vice president Ira P. Berman said the company's decision is expected "shortly" after the Sept. 27 meeting with state officials. Berman and other corporate representatives were in attendance at the City Council meeting Thursday night.

Gulfstream, which has owned and operated a facility off Elise Street here for several years, is considering expansion onto land it will lease from Barnes airport and create a 100,000 square foot service hangar for maintenance and other services to its newest and largest corporat jet.

The company and Airport Commission have already agreed to a 50-year lease for nearly 11 acres at a cost of about $54,000 annually. Included is an agreement for five 10-year lease extensions. Gulfstream currently employs 130 people at its facility here and the expansion will add another 100 jobs.

Ward 2 Councilor James E. Brown Jr. said the tax agreement for Gulfstream benefits the city because "we own the property and now have an opportunity tohave it developed, create jobs and increase revenue."

Each of the tax packages provide discounted property tax tables for the three businesses over the life of their agreement. Those agreements provide 100 percent tax reduction in the first year and decreasing amounts that will reach 20 percent of the assessed property value in year five for Seal Ryt and Armbrook.

Seal Ryt, now located in Easthampton, currently employs 20 workers and will expand that by at least 15 over the five year period. That company will invest about $2 million to purchase and convert a vacant warehouse on ServiStar Industrial Way.

Armbrook Senior Living will involve an overall investment of more than $20 million because the owner will also extend a water main from Falcon Drive to North Road at his expense.

The 15-year package for Gulfstream will offer the company 100 percent property tax forgiveness in the first year, 80 percent for years 2 through four; 60 percent years five through 7; 40 percent years 8 through 11 and 20 percent discount for years 12 through 15. In the end, Gulfstream's property tax is estimated at about $550,000 annually.

The proposal would pushed back the retirement age for future public employees and changes the formula for how pension benefits are determined.

The Republican | Joe DeburroThe Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday approved an overhaul of the state’s pension system that pushes back the retirement age for future public employees and changes the formula for how pension benefits are determined.

The bill aims to save the state $5 billion over the next 30 years and reduce the state’s $17 billion unfunded pension liability. It passed by a 24-10 vote.

“We need to do this to maintain the health of the commonwealth’s pension system and the integrity of the benefit that our employees depend upon,” said Sen. Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, who introduced the bill.

The bill estimates savings of $3 billion for the state and $2 billion for municipalities over the next 30 years by raising the minimum retirement age for most state and municipal employees from 55 to 60 while increasing the minimum age for receiving the maximum pension benefit from 65 to 67.

The changes begin with workers hired after Jan 1, 2012. It also reduces some incentives for early retirement.

An amendment adopted by the Senate would boost the retirement age by one year every six years for employees hired in that six-year period.

The bill must now be approved by the House before moving to Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s desk. Patrick, who has called pension reform one of his top legislative priories, filed a similar proposal in January.

Pension benefits under the proposal would be based on the average of an employee’s five highest wage-earning years, replacing the current three-year formula. Critics of the current formula say it has prompted abuse by workers who accrue many years of service at low pay, then seek a high-paying job for just three years, allowing them to receive a benefit much larger than the overall contribution they made to the system.

Proponents of the changes say this will help the state cover its unfunded liabilities, which are scheduled to be funded by 2040.

Earlier this year, the Legislature and the governor agreed to extend the schedule for fully funding the pension system from 2025 to 2040 to save the state $800 million in the current fiscal year, but with a potential cost to the state of $30 billion between now and 2040.

Fully funding the pension system would also help the state maintain its bond rating. A high bond rating allows the state to borrow at a low interest rate.

“A strong rating turns into savings for the commonwealth of millions in a year that we can invest in our roads and bridges, our schools and our other programs that we care about,” Clark said.

Massachusetts currently has a rating of AA-plus from Moody’s and Fitch, one notch below AAA. Standard & Poor’s has given the state a rating two notches below AAA but with a positive outlook.

Critics of the bill said the state could find savings through other methods. Public employees should not lose benefits because the state did not set aside enough money during good times, they say.

“We haven’t been paying our share of the debt we owe on our unfunded liability,” said Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, D-Arlington, who filed several failed amendments that would have protected employee benefits.

“The rating agencies in New York don’t care where we get the money,” Donnelly said. “They did not tell us we had to take it from our future employees.”

The bill does increase the base amount for calculating cost-of-living increases from $12,000 to $13,000, for current and future workers. It has not been raised since 1998. The state contributes 2.7 percent to the public pension fund, and public workers have one of the highest contribution rates in the country.

Lawmakers in the Senate said they were not happy about the overhaul, but felt it was necessary in the ever weakening economy.

“These are unpleasant exercises. It’s not always easy to do these things, but the world is changing,” said Sen. Stephen Brewer, D-Barre, the Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

Ray McGrath, a lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Police and the National Association of Government Employees, said the overhaul was not necessary because the pension system has been changed many times over the past decade. Lawmakers are not considering the positive results of those changes.

“It’s an attempt to provide some political cover for people to say they are doing something different,” he said.

Changing the benefit plans for future employees could hurt the state in the long run, McGrath said.

“We now have just created a two-tier system. Those who work today and those who work for the future in public service both on the state and local level,” he said.

The state Trial Court has ordered all Probate and Family Court register’s offices statewide – to close to the public at 3 p.m. each day and use the time to catch up on backlog of paperwork.

File photo / The RepublicanHampden County Register of Probate Thomas P. Moriarty, seen in a 2008 photo, is refusing a state order to close his office to the public every day to allow his staff to catch up on work.

SPRINGFIELD – The Hampden Probate and Family Court Register’s Office will no be hanging a closed sign on its doors at 3 p.m. each day, despite a state order to do so.

Thomas P. Moriarty, Hampden Register of Probate, on Thursday wrote to probate court officials he won’t close to the public an hour and a half early each day because it “would deny our most important stakeholders, the taxpaying public, access to justice.”

The Hampden Probate and Family Court Register’s Office sees a great number of people daily on paternity, divorce, custody and other matters, and many are not represented by lawyers.

Moriarty and other staff note many of those people, given the emotion-laden matters involved, are upset when they get to the court.

The state Trial Court has ordered all Probate and Family Court register’s offices statewide – beginning Monday – to close to the public at 3 p.m. each day and use the time to catch up on backlog of paperwork.

Other court clerks and registers in the region have orders to shorten hours and heads of those offices intend to follow the state directive.

State Probate and Family Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey said that she respects Moriarty’s decision and “at no time would force a court office to close unnecessarily.”

She said at the end of an Aug. 6 joint meeting including all registers of probate, “it was unanimous that all court offices felt it was necessary to restrict office hours to enable staff to complete work. Register Moriarty expressed reservations at the time, but agreed.”

Carey said she believes upon further reflection, Moriarty changed his mind and “believes that while his diminished staff is significantly challenged by the volume of work, he feels that he can keep the Register’s Office open until 4:30.

Moriarty had planned to go along with the directive, albeit reluctantly, when it was first announced. But the last-minute decision mind change to stay open was easy, he said.

“That’s what we’re hear for, the guys and gals out there that are paying the bills,” he said. He said closing to the public early would create predictable problems plus “a thousand problems we can’t even see that would be the byproducts.”

“We are pretty well caught up on our administrative responsibilities almost all of the time,” Moriarty said in his e-mail to Carey, with a copy to Hampden First Justice Anne M. Geoffrion.

Moriarty said he gave the proposal “very careful and deliberate consideration” and made the decision “with the utmost in respect.”

In a telephone interview Moriarty said Carey “is as sharp as a razor and she’s a good woman.”

When the decision was announced to close clerks’ offices to the public for a substantial number of hours in district, probate and housing court, several local lawyers said it will limit access to justice for all citizens.

The state Trial Court announced earlier this month 38 courts, facing case backlogs and staff shortages, will adjust the hours of clerks’ and registers’ offices beginning Sept. 19 in order to reduce processing delays.

Court sessions won’t be affected by the changes in office hours and access to clerks’ offices will be available for emergencies such as emergency restraining orders, harassment prevention orders, mental health emergencies and warrants.

“This reduction in counter and telephone hours will provide uninterrupted time for staff to prepare cases for court sessions and execute court orders, as well as to complete filing, docketing, scanning and other case processing,” according to the Trial Court announcement.

Springfield District Court Clerk Magistrate John S. Gay, who has said his office is at 68 percent of full staffing, said Thursday his office will give the new hours a try.

He said he and First Justice William J. Boyle will make assessments as they weeks go by, keeping tabs on how the backlog is being reduced and how the new schedule is going.

Western Division Housing Court Clerk Peter Q. Montori said the reduced counter and telephone hours is one attempt in a long line of changes the court has made in the last three years to “get our work done timely and effectively.”

He said the court requested the closure between noon and 2 p.m. so any emergencies can still be handled late in the day.

Interim Hampshire Register of Probate said Thursday that office will close at counter and telephone service to the public at 3 p.m. because it will provide a chance to catch up on backlog.

These are the new hours for the specified court clerks offices beginning Sept. 19.

Springfield District Court: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m. Regular hours of 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Probate and Family Courts, not including Hampden County: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Western Division Housing Court in Springfield: 8:30 a.m.-noon and 2-4:30 p.m.

Palmer District Court: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Springfield session of Hampden Juvenile Court: 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.

The plaintiffs are asking for damages and a change in the jail policy.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 10:53 this morning.

File photo / The RepublicanThe Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center in Chicopee

CHICOPEE – Two former inmates from the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center have filed suit in the United States District Court saying they were strip searched while male correctional officers videotaped them.

In the class action suit against Hampden Sheriff Michael J. Ashe and Patricia Murphy, superintendent of the jail, the women allege their Fourth Amendment rights to reasonable searches were violated.

“In this culture we respect the privacy of private parts, certainly in the viewing of the opposite sex,” said Howard A. Friedman, the attorney who is representing the two women.

The suit is being field by April Marlborough and Debra Baggett. It is unknown how many women would also be included in the class action suit.

“On information and belief, hundreds of women have been subjected to this humiliating and unconstitutional practice,” Friedman said.

Friedman said it is against basic dignity and makes some feel unsafe to have a man witnessing a strip search. It is especially a concern for a sizable number inmates who have been sexually abused.

He is asking for damages and wants correctional officials to change jail policy.

Inmates are strip searched when they are being moved to a segregation unit because of disciplinary reasons or mental health problems. A female officer conducts the search and is alone in the room with the inmate, but another officer videotapes the search from outside, Murphy said.

“The inmate must take off all her clothes, lift her breasts and, if large, her stomach, turn around, bend over, spread her buttocks with her hands and cough,” the suit said.

“During this entire process an officer with a handheld video camera stands outside the cell, a few feet away. The officer faces the inmate and records her naked body. This officer is almost always a male,” the suit said.

Officials for the correctional department said a male officer is only used when a woman is unavailable. Murphy could not say how often that happens but said the frequency of strip searches ranges from a few a week to a few a month, depending on the type of offenders in the jail at the time.

“We are required to videotape this kind of move (to segregation). It really ensures we are following protocol, policy and procedure,” she said.

The videotaping ensures the safety of the inmate as well as protects the correctional officers from false allegations.

During strip searches, the officer is required to videotape only from the shoulders and above, Murphy said.

“In an inmate search police strike a balance between safety, security and inmate dignity. Strip searches are only conducted when they are necessary,” said Attorney Edward J. McDonough of the Springfield firm Egan, Flanagan and Cohen, who is representing the sheriff’s department.

McDonough said the videotaping is the best way to document that the staff is doing their job properly, especially in a situation when the inmate may be violent or disruptive.

Meyer's courage during the six-hour ambush and firefight saved the lives of 36 people, both Americans and Afghans.

President Barack Obama applauds former Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyers, 23, from Greensburg, Ky, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, after awarding him the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Meyers was in Afghanistan's Kunar province in Sept. 2009 when he repeatedly ran through enemy fire to recover the bodies of fellow American troops. He is the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defying orders and tempting fate, Marine corporal Dakota Meyer charged five times in a Humvee into heavy gunfire in the darkness of an Afghanistan valley to rescue comrades under attack from Taliban insurgents.

On Thursday, Meyer was presented with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, by President Barack Obama.

Meyer's courage during the six-hour ambush and firefight saved the lives of 36 people, both Americans and Afghans. He killed at least eight Taliban insurgents. Firing from a gun turret on top of the Humvee driven by a fellow Marine, he provided cover for his team, allowing many to escape likely death.

He was defying orders from his commanders, who told him to stay back. The kill zone, they said, was too dangerous. But the young corporal, just 21 years old at the time, knew his friends were trapped that early morning in September 2009.

"In Sgt. Dakota Meyer, we see the best of a generation that has served with distinction through a decade of war," Obama said during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Meyer, later promoted to sergeant and now out of the Marines, is the third living recipient and the first Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The modest, soft-spoken 23-year-old now lives in his home state of Kentucky, working construction in the tiny town of Greensburg.

Obama praised Meyer for his humility and work ethic. When the White House tried to reach him in the middle of a workday to tell him his medal had been approved, he worried about whether he could take a call while on the job. So the White House arranged for the president to call during Meyer's lunch break. With a smile, Obama thanked him for taking the call.

In this undated photo released by the U.S. Marines, Sgt. Dakota Meyer poses for a photo while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ganjgal Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan. The White House announced the 23-year-old Marine scout sniper from Columbia, Ky., who has since left the Marine Corps, will become the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in decades for his actions in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Marines)

On the eve of the Medal of Honor ceremony, Obama and Meyer met in person, chatting on a patio near the White House Rose Garden, over a beer.

Despite Meyer's heroism, four Americans died in the ambush: 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, a 25-year-old from Virginia Beach; Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 30, of Roswell, Ga.; Corpsman James Layton, 22, of Riverbank, Calif.; and Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr., a 31-year-old gunnery sergeant from Columbus, Ga. A fifth man, Army Sgt. Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M., later died from his wounds.

Meyer says he has struggled with the national attention, with being recognized for the worst day of his life. He requested that memorial services for those who died that day be held in their hometowns at the same time he received the Medal of Honor.

The president assured Meyer that he had let no one down.

"Dakota, I know you've grappled with the grief of that day, that you said your efforts were somehow a failure because your teammates didn't come home," the president said. "But as your commander in chief and on behalf of everyone here today and all Americans, I want you to know it's quite the opposite."

For all the praise heaped upon Meyer, questions have also been raised about whether the military could have prevented the deaths of the five Americans. Two Army officers were reprimanded for being "inadequate and ineffective" and for "contributing directly to the loss of life" following an investigation into the day's events.

"You can't say this with any certainty, but the chances are, in my opinion, that yes they would have been" still alive, said retired Col. Richard Hooker, who led the investigation. Hooker spoke during an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

In this undated photo released by the U.S. Marines, then Cpl. Dakota Meyer, now a Sgt., second from right, poses for a photo while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ganjgal Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan. The White House announced the 23-year-old Marine scout sniper from Columbia, Ky., who has since left the Marine Corps, will become the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in decades for his actions in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Marines)

Meyer was part of a security team supporting a patrol moving into a village in the Ganjgal Valley on Sept. 8, 2009. Suddenly, the lights in a nearby village went out and gunfire erupted. About 50 Taliban insurgents on mountainsides and in the village had ambushed the patrol.

As the forward team took fire and called for air support that wasn't coming, Meyer begged his command to let him head into the incoming fire to help.

Four times he was denied before he and another Marine, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, jumped into the Humvee and headed into the fray. For his valor, Rodriguez-Chavez, a 34-year-old who hailed originally from Acuna, Mexico, would be awarded the Navy Cross.

With Meyer manning the Humvee's gun turret, the two drew heavy fire. But they began evacuating wounded Marines and American and Afghan soldiers to a safe point. Meyer made five trips into the kill zone.

During that fifth trip into the kill zone, a helicopter arrived at last to provide overhead support. Troops aboard the chopper told Meyer they had spotted what appeared to be four bodies. Meyer knew those were his friends.

"It might sound crazy, but it was just, you don't really think about it, you don't comprehend it, you don't really comprehend what you did until looking back on it," Meyer said.

Wounded and tired, Meyer left the relative safety of the Humvee and ran out on foot.

Ducking around buildings to avoid gunfire, he reached the bodies of his fallen comrades.

Meyer and two other troops dodged bullets and rocket-propelled grenades to pull the bodies out of a ditch where the men had died while trying to take cover.

___

Associated Press writers Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Ky., and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

One of Massachusetts' most wanted child support fugitives is making his first court appearance after being brought back from Nevada.

The Department of Revenue has featured Colucci in its to 10 list of child support fugitives.

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — One of Massachusetts' most wanted child support fugitives is making his first court appearance after being brought back from Nevada.

Gerard Colucci (kuh-LOO'-chee) is scheduled to be arraigned in Quincy District Court on Friday morning on charges stemming from failure to make more than 335 consecutive child support payments, worth at least $32,000 .

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey says charges against the 47-year-old Colucci include abandonment of a child without support and failure to comply with a support order. Conviction carries a penalty of up to 5 years in state prison or 2 1/2 years in a house of correction.

The Department of Revenue has featured Colucci in its to 10 list of child support fugitives.

It was not immediately clear if the former Braintree resident has legal representation.

On Saturday and Sunday, anyone interested in helping with a search is asked to meet at the Chelsea Royale Diner's parking lot on Route 9 in West Brattleboro at 9 a.m. both days.

Volunteers are needed to help find Marble "Ace" Arvidson, 17, who was last seen a day before Tropical Storm Irene battered southern Vermont.

BRATTLEBORO, Vermont - With hopes of enticing someone to come forward with information, family and friends of Marble Arvidson, a missing 17-year-old from West Brattleboro, Vt., have put up $1,000 reward.

"Somebody knows what happened that Saturday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. when he left the house," said Pat Cataldo, a friend of the family. "In the name of common decency, just let someone know what's going on. This kid didn't just drop off the face of the planet."

Arvidson was last seen on Aug. 27, about 12 hours before Tropical Storm Irene caused flooding across much of southern Vermont. Since then, several volunteer searches have turned up no clues as to the teen's whereabouts.

This weekend on Saturday and Sunday, volunteers are needed to participate in another search.

"We will be conducting large-scale ground searches in the woods and hiking trails of West Brattleboro," friends said in a statement on FindMarble.org. "We welcome anyone 18 or older to come and help us in our efforts to find Marble."

Hike for a Cause to find Marble Arvidson

Brattleboro police say Arvidson left his home on Marlboro Road in West Brattleboro early Saturday afternoon, after letting a man inside the house sometime after 1 p.m.

Police have not released further information about the man other than saying a housemate saw Arvidson let him in.

According to police, the teenager left a note saying he would return in a half-hour. He had plans with his girlfriend a few hours later, but never showed up.

Brattleboro police Det. Paul Beebe said police are treating Arvidson’s disappearance as a missing persons case as no one believes he ran away.

To find out how you can help in the search for missing teen Marble Arvidson, click here. (Republican Photo/ Robert Rizzuto)

At a press conference this week, Arvidson's mother Sigrid pleaded with the public to come forward with information about her son while thanking them for their efforts.

“This has been a difficult few months for the people of Brattleboro given recent events and you helping our family at this terrible time is appreciated very much," she said. "Any of you who know Marble and know his wonderful sense of humor and his quick intelligence must miss him."

Arvidson's aunt, Sgt. Maj. Patricia Kittredge of the Massachusetts National Guard, took leave from her duty and is in Vermont coordinating the searches.

Arvidson is about 6 feet, 2 inches tall with shoulder-length blonde hair, and he was wearing a black shirt and fedora at the time of his disappearance.

On Saturday and Sunday, anyone interested in helping with a search is asked to meet at the Chelsea Royale Diner's parking lot on Route 9 in West Brattleboro at 9 a.m. both days. Anyone using a GPS can program in the following address to find the restaurant: 487 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro, Vt.

Anyone with questions can email findmarble@gmail.com.

WAYS TO HELP:

Anyone with information about Arvidson's whereabouts is asked to call:

-- Brattleboro Police Department, (802) 257-7946
-- Confidential tip line, (802) 257-9111
-- Julie Cunningham, (802) 258-1390
-- Patricia Kittredge, (413) 478-1669.

ON THE WEB:

-- Email for more information at: findmarble@gmail.com.
-- A Facebook page has been established at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/111792128927067/
-- A Website, which serves as a clearinghouse for all search-related information, has been established at: http://findmarble.wordpress.com/

Home to more than 40 people, the River Inn was found to be infested with vermin and mold.

SPRINGFIELD – Residents of the River Inn on State Street, condemned by the city Sept. 7 after a series of code violations involving unsanitary living conditions, said Thursday their futures are uncertain.

“I don’t want to go back to where I was,” said David Jerome Denson, who said he lived in his car for three or four years before living for a short period with his son and then landing in a first-floor room here 8 months ago.

“I have no idea,” said third-floor resident Roberto Figueroa, when asked where he was going to go. “Maybe a shelter. That’s one of the options.”

“I am just hoping they can do something for us,” said third-floor resident Judy Ramirez.

Geraldine McCafferty, director of the Office of Housing for the city, said Thursday that officials are working to find housing for all of those who will be displaced. “The conditions were really horrible,” she said. “It’s not a place where many families say.”

Officials continue to work with those who remain there, helping them find low-cost housing and raise the first and last month’s deposits.

“We want to make sure people are living in property that is fit for human habitation,” said Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who said he sat in the parking lot of the complex one recent evening to “watch the goings-on.”

McCafferty said five families and 40 individuals were living there late last week when the property was inspected, and most of the families have since been relocated.

The city’s code enforcement department listed infestations of fleas, flies, bed bugs, rats and roaches along with the presence of black mold, the overwhelming stench of urine and feces, and the presence of unchecked trash and drug paraphernalia as some of the reasons to shut down the building.

Denson said he had mixed feelings about the place. Although the living conditions are bad, it’s better than a life on the streets, he said.

“This is where I rest my head,” Denson said. “Everything in my room is all I own.”

Denson said the bed bugs are the worst. “They tear you up man,” he said, displaying tiny red bit marks on his arms and chest. “I have nightmares at night that these things are going to devour me.”

Denson said the bed bugs get so bad at night that he sometimes walks the streets until dawn before returning to his room to sleep.

Ramirez agreed that the living conditions are unacceptable. “It’s no good, it’s filled with mold, the bathrooms are messed up, the floors are coming down, it’s not a place of living and it’s not worth ($600 a month).”

Everything about the place speaks of years of neglect: the carpets are stained and dirty, broken windows abound, walls are stained and peeling.

“This one is unusually bad,” said Building Commissioner Stephen Desilets. “We have gone round and round with this property before and it’s time to put an end to it .”

In spite of the squalor, however, it’s clearly a home of sorts for those who live there. Several cats could be seen dozing in windows. The sounds of televisions and conversations can be heard as one walks down the hallways.

“It’s not a bad place,” said a third-floor resident who declined to give her name. “It is what it is.”

Some residents, Denson said, have lived there for years.

The site began its history as a hotel in the early 1960s as a Travelodge motel. Since then, the facility has operated under more than a dozen names.

City records show the property has changed hands at least 9 times since 1984. The most recent transaction came in April 2011, when Gouri Corp. – owned by Belchertown resident Hemant Kumar Patel – sold the property to Geo Real Estate. Ahmed Aziz, of 44 Thompson St. in East Longmeadow, is listed as manager of Geo Real Estate in filings with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office.

Desilets said Aziz has been served with the condemnation documents and that the matter will likely be taken up in Housing Court on Friday. Aziz was not at the premises during an early morning and an early afternoon visit to the property on Thursday, and telephone calls to his East Longmeadow home went unanswered.

In addition to the squalor, crime has been an issue here. “It’s what I would consider a high crime area where violence and drugs has reared its head over the last several months,” Police Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Most recently, a man was attacked with a machete at the River Inn after he came to the aid of a woman being groped by the knife-wielding man. This attack served as a tipping point of sorts as Sarno pledged afterward that due to frequent police calls to the motel and complaints from the neighborhood, the city’s law department was taking a closer look at their options.

“It’s been an issue in that neighborhood that has been brought to my attention and I asked the appropriate authorities to go in there and do comprehensive inspections,” Sarno said.

“We want to eliminate criminal elements, make sure that people are living in proper conditions,” he continued. “It’s up to the ownership to follow through.”

It’s not clear, Desilets said, when the remaining residents will be forced to leave. “We don’t want to make anyone homeless,” Desilets said.

One of the issues before the court, Desilets said, will be to determine whether the property owner will put residents up in hotels until more permanent living arraignments can be secured.