Environmental activists are protesting what they say is the weakening of state regulations governing wood-burning power plants in Massachusetts, even as the facilities' owners said the regulations are too harsh.

A banner proclaiming the effects of burning wood to produce energy hangs from a stairway in Nurses Hall during an environmental rally at the Statehouse in Boston, Monday morning, Sept. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Environmental activists are protesting what they say is the weakening of state regulations governing wood-burning power plants in Massachusetts, even as the facilities' owners said the regulations are too harsh.

Activists from more than a dozen groups including the Sierra Club, MassAudubon and the Conservation Law Foundation, said Monday that regulations proposed by the Patrick administration undermine the state's commitment to green energy.

They say the administration should require the plants to adhere to stricter efficiency standards before receiving state subsidies.

Sue Reid, director of the Conservation Law Foundation-Massachusetts, said her group supported regulations outlined by the administration last year. A newer draft version of those regulations released earlier this year eases up on the limits placed on the plants, she said.

Under the newer proposal, she said, plants must burn at 40 percent overall efficiency to earn half a renewable energy tax credit from the state and 60 percent efficiency for a full credit. The tax credits are vital to making the plants economically feasible.

Allowing the 40 percent threshold weakens the regulations, Reid said.

Tougher regulations are needed given that the biomass energy facilities rely on cutting down trees, which absorb carbon dioxide, then turn around and burn the wood, releasing more of the carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect, advocates said.

"We have an historic opportunity to put an end to the double whammy ... of both instant harm and enduring harm," Reid said.

Wood power advocates have called the stricter standards arbitrary and unscientific and said they would make it harder for the plants to be economically viable.

Even the draft regulations unveiled in May go too far, according to Matthew Wolfe, an executive with Cambridge-based Madera Energy Inc., which is developing a biomass plant in Greenfield, one of several planned in western Massachusetts.

"They have essentially made biomass-to-electricity plants uneconomical," Wolfe said. "They are completely unattainable."

The final regulations have yet to be announced.

Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters on Monday that he did not believe his administration was backtracking.

"The choice that seems to be being debated right now is between an aggressive standard and an impossible standard and I think an aggressive standard is the right standard for us."

A state study in 2008 envisioned wood power contributing more megawatt hours of renewable electricity than either solar power or onshore wind by 2020.

Wood power's problems came as the state changed its views on wood's carbon emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions must be drastically cut by 2050 under Massachusetts law.

A state-commissioned report last year by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences indicated that burning a certain type of wood at large-scale plants would give off more carbon emissions by 2050 than coal-fired plants.

In response, the state promised to write stricter rules for the wood-burning plants. Activists then dropped a planned ballot question that would have required the tighter rules.

Massachusetts' proposed rules now demand unprecedented efficiency from large wood-burning power plants to qualify for renewable energy credits that such plants need to be financially viable.

Right now, the plants would operate at about 25 percent efficiency. The new rules say they must operate at 40 percent efficiency to qualify for even half a credit.

Wolfe said biomass developers just want the final regulations to be announced so they can start making decisions about whether to move ahead or not.

"We're hoping that after two years, they release the regulations so we have some certainty," he said.

Tell us who you're voting for and why.

S.P. Sullivan, MassLive.com(L-R, top to bottom) Springfield mayoral candidates: Antonette Pepe, Domenic Sarno and Jose Tosado. Holyoke Mayoral candidates Daniel Burns, Elaine Pluta, Alex Morse and Daniel Boyle.

OK, people of Springfield and Holyoke, you've heard plenty from the candidates. We've asked them questions. We've asked you to ask them questions. Election day is here.

So it brings us to the inevitable question: Who's got your vote?

This isn't just small talk here. We've got contested races for mayor in Springfield and Holyoke. Today's preliminaries will shape the one-on-one races in November. Some of your neighbors are probably still on the fence.

Catch up on our coverage through our Springfield and Holyoke election pages, and then let us know: How are you voting for and — more importantly — why?

As always, follow election day coverage all day from The Republican and MassLive.com.

For the Springfield metropolitan area, the state reported the unemployment rate was down from 9.1 in July to 8.4 in August.

Associated PressA line of job applicants snakes through a rope-line to attend the CUNY Big Apple Job Fair, in New York.

BOSTON - The state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development today reported that the August seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down both over-the-month and over-the-year in all 22 labor market areas.

Statewide, the August seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 7 percent, down from 7.8 percent in July. The rate was down 1.2 percentage points from the 8.2 percent rate of August 2010.

In the Springfield metropolitan area, the rate was reported down from 9.1 in July to 8.4 in August.

For the month of August, over-the-month job gains occurred in the Peabody and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton areas while the remaining 10 areas for which job estimates are published posted job losses.

Over-the-month, trade, transportation and utilities jobs increased in seven of the 12 areas. The August job estimates reflect approximately 6,100 striking workers in the Information sector who were not on company payrolls at the time of this survey. Seven of the area estimates were affected by the strike with the largest impact in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area.

Over-the-year, 11 of the areas added jobs while the Barnstable area posted a loss.

The largest gains occurred in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Worcester, Pittsfield, Framingham, and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton areas. The Pittsfield area also had the largest over-the-year growth rate at 8.2 percent followed by the Worcester area, at 3.5 percent.

Read more in The Republican on Wednesday.

School officials cited sensitivity over the proximity of the Flight 93 crash site and the recent anniversary of the 9/11 attacks among the reasons for not staging "Kismet," a Tony Award-winning musical set in Iraq.

Staff photo by Greg SaulmonA monument built by Kevin Joy of Amherst, co-organizer of a ceremony held on the Amherst Town Common to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, represents the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93.

A western Pennsylvania school district near the site where terrorists crashed a commercial airliner on Sept. 11, 2001, has jettisoned plans to stage a Tony Award-winning musical about a Muslim street poet after community members complained the production came too soon after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“There were some concerns,” Richland School Superintendent Thomas Fleming Jr. told the The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, Pa.

“After reviewing the script, the decision was made to move on rather than risk controversy. We’re in the business of trying to do what’s best for the kids – not to do anything detrimental if we can avoid it,” Fleming told the daily newspaper.

The Richland School District had planned to stage "Kismet," a Muslim-themed play set in Iraq, in February. But school officials ultimately bowed to community pressure, citing the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the school's proximity to the Shanksville field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. All 40 people aboard the plane were killed.

Fleming said the heightened sensitivity levels were understandable.

School music director Scott Miller told The Tribune-Democrat that the play, which won a Tony for best musical in 1954, was last staged in the district in 1983. He said the play's content wasn't inappropriate, but he and other members of the performing arts committee opted for a less offensive offering -- the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!"

In addition to the 40 who died in Pennsylvania, the al-Qaida-led attacks killed nearly 2,700 people at the World Trade Center in New York and 184 people at the Pentagon outside Washington.

HOLYOKE - Educators and housing advocates joined together to search for solutions to lending high mobility among students yesterday during a conference. The conference comes at the conclusion of a study done by the Rennie Center, a Massachusetts educational think-tank, which determined students who move frequently tend to struggle more often in the classroom. The study examined the so-called...

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE - Educators and housing advocates joined together to search for solutions to lending high mobility among students yesterday during a conference.

The conference comes at the conclusion of a study done by the Rennie Center, a Massachusetts educational think-tank, which determined students who move frequently tend to struggle more often in the classroom.

The study examined the so-called gateway cities, which included Springfield and Holyoke. It found in Holyoke more than 27 percent of students or at least 1,800 students moved in and out of the city in the 2009-2010 school year. In Springfield, about 23 percent of the student body or 6,346 of the children.

"What we have to do after the report is to do something," Holyoke Superintendent David L. Dupont.

Dupont said he has a plan to open a school for students who are transient so they can help students catch up so they are better ready to enter a regular classroom. But, he said he needs about $750,000 annually and a place to put it.

In preparation for Tuesday's repeal, all branches of the military have spent several months updating regulations. Lifting the ban also brings a halt to all pending investigations, discharges and other proceedings that were begun under the old law.

Navy Lt. Gary Ross, right, and Dan Swezy exchange wedding vows on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 in Duxbury, Vt. The two men recited their vows at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The partners of 11 years married at the stroke of midnight, just as the ban ended. At center is Justice of the Peace Greg Trulson. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

WILSON RING
Associated Press

DUXBURY, Vt. (AP) — Just as the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy took effect, Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were married before a small group of family and friends.

The two men, who'd been together 11 years, decided to marry in Vermont in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.

That way, they were able to recite their vows at the stroke of midnight — at the first possible moment after the ban ended.

"I think it was a beautiful ceremony. The emotions really hit me...but it's finally official," Ross said early Tuesday.

Hours before the change, the American military was also making final preparations for the historic policy shift. The Pentagon announced that it was already accepting applications from openly gay candidates, although officials said they would wait a day before reviewing them.

Ross, 33, and Dan Swezy, a 49-year-old civilian, traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., so they could get married in Vermont, the first state to allow gays to enter into civil unions and one of six that have legalized same-sex marriage.

Ross wore his dress uniform for the double-ring ceremony that began at 11:45 p.m. Monday at Duxbury's Moose Meadow Lodge, a log cabin bed-and-breakfast perched on a hillside about 15 miles northwest of Montpelier. The lodge says it hosted the state's first gay wedding in 2009.

Justice of the Peace Greg Trulson proclaimed the marriage at exactly midnight.

"This is Gary's official coming out," Trulson said.

Ross and Swezy were joined by close friends and some family members who shared champagne and congratulations with them after the ceremony.

Ross said he plans on having a full career in the military. "We're thrilled the policy is gone," he said of his and Swezy's reaction to the end of "don't ask, don't tell."

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that the military is prepared for the end of "don't ask, don't tell," a practice adopted in 1993 that allowed gays to serve as long as they did not openly acknowledge their sexual orientation. Commanders were not allowed to ask.

Last week, the Pentagon said 97 percent of the military has undergone training in the new law.

In preparation for Tuesday's repeal, all branches of the military have spent several months updating regulations. Lifting the ban also brings a halt to all pending investigations, discharges and other proceedings that were begun under the old law.

President Barack Obama signed the law last December and in July certified that lifting the ban will not diminish the military's ability to fight. Some in Congress remain opposed to repeal, arguing that it may undermine order and discipline.

Existing standards of personal conduct, such as those pertaining to public displays of affection, will continue regardless of sexual orientation.

There will be no immediate changes to eligibility for military benefits. All service members are already entitled to certain benefits, such as designating a partner as a life insurance beneficiary or as a caregiver in the Wounded Warrior program. But Swezy won't receive military health insurance or access to a support group when Ross is at sea.

Gay marriage is an even thornier issue. A Navy proposal to train chaplains to conduct same-sex civil unions in states where they are legal was shelved earlier this year after more than five dozen lawmakers objected. The Pentagon is reviewing the issue.

Ross, a 2002 graduate of the Naval Academy, is a surface warfare officer at the Army's Fort Huachuca. He expects to return to sea next spring.

He met Swezy in early 2000 while Ross was still an academy student. At the time, he didn't think through the personal implications of the military's ban on gay and lesbian service members serving openly. But as his relationship with Swezy grew, it became important.

Their Tucson home is about a two-hour commute from Fort Huachuca, which is near the Mexican border. Under "don't ask, don't tell," Ross could not talk about his relationship with Swezy, but he said some of his co-workers must have known.

"Anyone with any moderate perception could have figured it out," he said.

When he goes back to work Thursday, Ross isn't planning to advertise that he's married to a man.

"Even though the law goes away, it will still be the white elephant in the room until everyone comes to terms with it," he said.

Ross said the end of "don't ask, don't tell" will simplify many aspects of his life.

"It requires you to lie several times a day," Ross said of the old system. "Being in the military is extremely invasive. It becomes a web of excuses you make when you try to be as honest as possible but you can't be honest."

He hopes being able to talk about his relationship will make his work easier, too.

"If you're standing watch at midnight on a surface ship there's not much to talk about," he said. "It becomes very difficult to trust someone you can't be honest with."

___

Associated Press photographer Toby Talbot contributed to this report.

Polls are open until 8 p.m.

Michael Gordon / The Republican Turnout was reported slow Tuesday morning at the Springfield Boy & Girls Club on Carew Street as Springfield's preliminary election gets underway.

SPRINGFIELD – Voter turnout was slow Tuesday morning at the New North Citizens Council on Main Street but the good-natured debate outside the polling place was lively as supporters voiced their preferences for mayor during today’s preliminary election.

Polls throughout the city will be open until 8 p.m. as voters cast their ballots. Abc40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Mike Masco said that drizzly weather should gradually clear later this afternoon.

The Springfield preliminary election features a three-candidate contest for mayor and a 13-member field of candidates for five at-large council seats. The top two vote-getters for mayor, and the top 10 vote-getters for council at large, will move onto the Election Day ballot Nov. 8.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, seeking a third term, is being challenged by City Council President Jose F. Tosado and School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe.

Sarno supporter Pedro Hernandez praised Sarno’s response to the June 1 tornadoes that devastated swaths of the city. “He deserves to be compensated for that as far as getting another term,” he said.

Grisel Delgado said, however, that she supports Tosado for his support for the North End and the city’s youth throughout the city. “He is always there for them,” she said.

Wanda Miranda, warden for 1C, speaking at about 10:15 a.m., said turnout was low with only 7 votes cast. “I have been doing this for a couple of years and this is the slowest turnout,” she said.

Peggy Sullivan, warden for 2B at the Springfield Boys & Girls Club on Carew Street, said turnout was slow there as well with only 48 votes cast as of about 9:45 a.m. “That’s a very poor showing,” Sullivan said. “I thought we’d be busy given the interest in the mayor’s race.”

Pepe supporter Robert Lynch predicted victory at the polls. “I think she will get into the November elections,” he said. “Hopefully us and Tosado.”

Lynch said he believes Pepe will stand for accountability. “I think that has been lacking,” he said. “I think all our taxes have been going in the wrong places.”

Robert Sheehan, shortly before going inside the Boys & Girls Club to cast his ballot, said he was voting for Sarno. “I am just going to vote for the guy that is in there, he’s a nice guy,” he said.

The presidential aircraft has used Westover for parking purposes in the past.

Paul M. Heyl, ChicopeeAir Force One is parked at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee while President Obama attends the 66th General Assembly session of the United Nations in New York City.

CHICOPEE Air Force One, the aircraft used to transport President Barack H. Obama, is making a visit to Western Massachusetts today.

It is parked at Westover Air Reserve Base while the president is in New York City to attend attend the 66th General Assembly session of the United Nations.

This isn't the first time Air Force One has spent some time at Westover; with the base's proximity to Manhattan, it's frequently used to park the aircraft while the commander in chief is traveling in the region.

The base's security and the length of the runways at the federal installation makes it a perfect spot for Air Force One.

Westover also served as an alternative landing site for the space shuttle program.

The Republican and MassLive.com will be providing live updates throughout the day.

Preliminary elections are being held in Springfield and Holyoke Tuesday, with votes deciding on high contested mayoral races in each city, as well as races for at-large city councilors in Springfield and Ward 7 councilors in Holyoke.

The Republican and MassLive.com will be providing live updates throughout the day. Follow along below.

Polls are open until 8 p.m.

John Suchocki / The RepublicanVoter turnout was reportedly light at McMahon School in Holyoke Tuesday morning.

HOLYOKE – At least two poll wardens said they were pleased with the mid-morning voter turnout here as the preliminary election gets underway Tuesday.

Polls are open until 8 p.m. Abc 40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Mike Masco said that skies should gradually clear later this afternoon.

In Holyoke, four candidates for mayor are vying for the top two spots in the preliminary election for the right to move onto the Nov. 8 ballot: Mayor Elaine A. Pluta and challengers Daniel C. Boyle, Daniel C. Burns and Alex B. Morse.

“It’s going well,” said 5B warden Lise Provost at the Maurice Donahue School on Whiting Farms Road. “I thought it would be a lot slower and it’s going to start picking up through the day.”

As of 9:20 a.m., some 62 voters had cast their ballots at the Donahue School, Provost said.

Robert Griffin braved the drizzle outside the Donahue School to hold a sign supporting Pluta. “I think Mayor Pluta will run a good first today,” he said.

On the other side of the of the parking lot, Scott Welsch held a sign for Morse. “I am very optimistic, I think he is going to do well,” Welsch said.

A short time later, Ted Chalmers voted for Pluta over at the Metcalf School on Northampton Street. “I went to school with her and I know her husband,” Chalmers said. “I went to school with him too.”

Chalmers said he thought Pluta has been keeping a good handle on the city’s financial issues.;

“Turnout has been pretty steady here,” said Omar Rivera, warden at Metcalf. “This ward has always been good.”

Some 69 voters had cast ballots at Metcalf as of 9:40 a.m.

The other race on the preliminary election ballot in Holyoke – again, to narrow the field to the top two – is for the Ward 7 City Council seat. The three candidates are Gordon P. Alexander, chairman of the Conservation Commission; Alan G. Fletcher, a captain with the Holyoke Police Department; and Christopher M. Kulig, member of the charter review commission.

City Clerk Susan M. Eagan, speaking late Tuesday morning, said she has yet to receive any reports from the polling places. Eagan has predicted a turnout of about 22 percent.

Police said a fight at a house party early Sunday appears to have triggered the violence that led to the stabbings and beating.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – An Amherst Police Department cruiser.

AMHERST -- Police in this bustling college town have released more details about a spasm of weekend violence that included the stabbing of two University of Massachusetts students and a Boston man who was severely beaten.

The trouble began when Amherst police responded to a fight around 2:26 a.m. at a house party at 167 College St., an off-campus residence near Amherst College. Officers arrived and found a crowd of up to 250 "college-age people milling around," Amherst Police Detective Lt. Ronald A. Young said in a statement Tuesday.

Officers soon located a 21-year-old Boston resident who had been "badly beaten," Young said.

The Roslindale man, whom authorities declined to identify, has "no affiliation with the Five College community," Young said.

The injured man remains at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he's being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Investigating officers subsequently learned about two other young men -- both UMass students -- who were stabbed during the fracas and driven to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

"Both victims had sustained stab wounds, and both are expected to survive their injuries," Young said.

Police would only identify the students as a 19-year-old Amherst resident and a 22-year-old from White Plains, Md., a small town about 30 miles southeast of Washington.

Authorities did not indicate if they have any suspects in the assaults, or if any weapons were recovered at the scene. They also declined to say if the stabbing and beating incidents were related.

Young did not immediately return a phone call.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the Amherst Police Department at (413) 259-3000 or (413) 256-401. The Detective Bureau may be dialed directly at (413) 259-3015.

The department's email address is police@amherstma.gov, and its website is www.amherstpd.org.

Additional weekend activity by Amherst police included 263 calls for service and 53 arrests for crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to vandalism to liquor and drug violations.

Officers who responded to Sunday's violence immediately closed down College Street, preventing vehicles and pedestrians from coming and going as they canvassed the area for suspects, according to a report in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

The Northampton newspaper reported that Amherst College officials alerted students as a precaution, considering the proximity of the school to the scene of the fight.

The secretary who opened the envelope was looked at by medical personnel and declined treatment.

Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD - The discovery of white powder inside an envelope at Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni’s office Tuesday morning has prompted the isolation of a section of that office until the substance can be tested.

A secretary in the district attorney’s office opened an envelope at about 10:45 a.m. and discovered about a gram of white powder inside. She was looked by medical personnel and is not seeking treatment, officials said.

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Regional Haz-Mat Team ll and Springfield emergency personnel remained on the scene at the Hall of Justice early Tuesday afternoon.

Only a section of the district attorney’s office is closed and otherwise it is businesses as usual at the courthouse.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Palmer High School and Monson High School may also form a co-op football team.

Maureen Gallagher

PALMER - The School Committee on Wednesday night will discuss a request from high school students to reduce the parking fee from $100 to $50.

School Committee Chairwoman Maureen R. Gallagher said all of the committee members received petitions in the mail, signed by approximately 30 students, asking for their request to be considered. She said it was not clear who initiated the petition.

Gallagher said the number of empty spots in the student parking lot is noticeable, and that students are parking at a nearby church on Main Street to avoid paying the $100 fee, which has been in place for two years. Previously, it was only $5. She said the petition lists the reasons why the students are having a hard time paying the fee.

They wrote that it is another expense on top of paying for their car’s upkeep and insurance, and saving for college. The petition also includes data from schools around the region and what they charge for parking fees. Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, also in Palmer, has no fee. Monson, Ware and East Longmeadow, all charge less than $50, the petition stated. Monson charges students $45 for the entire year; starting in November, it decreases by $5 each month.

“This is something I wanted to address with the board at a later date anyway,” Gallagher said.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Palmer High School.

Gallagher brought up her concerns about another kind of fee at the Aug. 31 School Committee meeting - the $200 athletic fee that all students must pay to play a sport. Back in 2004, the first year they were instituted, the per sport athletic fee was $50; it has steadily increased over the years to make up for budget shortfalls.

Gallagher said she is not sure when the athletic fee discussion will take place. To date, she said athletic fees have already pulled in approximately $20,000 this school year. She questioned Athletic Director Peter Farr at the last School Committee meeting if the fees were affecting participation.

If the student wants to play more than one sport, it can have an impact, he said.

“It doesn’t help,” Farr said. “I don’t have many resources to waive fees.”

Gallagher expressed concern that numbers will continue to diminish with such a high athletic fee, especially when parents could be out of work.

“Really that’s a no-brainer. You’re going to put food on your table before you’re going to allow your child to play. In the end, it’s going to hurt the athlete, and it’s going to hurt the school system . . . athletics is an extension of the classroom in my opinion. Idle time causes problems, not in every case, but it can create problems,” Gallagher said. “I really wish the board would think about this. I’m not asking that we eliminate the fees, but even if we reduce it by $100, I wonder if that would bring back athletes.”

Due to low participation numbers, seventh-graders will be allowed to play some high school sports this school year, such as swimming, golf, girls field hockey and boys soccer and cross-country.

Gallagher also said it’s possible that a co-op football team may be formed with Monson High School, which currently lacks a football team.

“We’re working on that for next year. It would be a win-win for both schools,” Gallagher said.

Polls close in both cities at 8 p.m.

Springfield incumbent mayor Domenic Sarno, left, and challengers Jose Tosado, center, and Antonette Pepe, far right, square off in Tuesday's primary. The top two vote getters will advance to November's general election.

SPRINGFIELD – The city’s three mayoral candidates dodged diminishing rain showers Tuesday morning as they made their rounds throughout the city.

Their four counterparts in Holyoke did much the same

Polls in both Springfield and Holyoke will be open until 8 p.m.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, seeking a third term, is being challenged by City Council President Jose F. Tosado and School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe.

The two top mayoral vote-getters in both Springfield and Holyoke will move onto the Election Day ballot Nov. 8.

“I feel there is more to do, my job is not done and there is more to do,” Sarno said, adding that he is taking nothing for granted as voters weigh-in on his time as mayor and the merits of his challengers. “I always run hungry and appreciate and respect the voter’s consideration.”

Tosado said he hopes his ideas for improving public safety, economic development and education within the city has resonated with the voters.

“We will find out today,” he said.

ELECTION DAY COVERAGE: Follow Springfield and Holyoke primary coverage from The Republican and MassLive.com.

SPRINGFIELD:

• Springfield mayoral candidates split on casino issue

HOLYOKE:

• Holyoke financial disclosures show Mayor Elaine Pluta and candidate Alex Morse outspending candidates Daniel Burns and Daniel Boyle

FULL ELECTION COVERAGE:

• Live updates: Follow our live blog
• Ask the voters: Who are you voting for?

Pepe, meanwhile, said she felt “elated and excited...I am getting thumbs-up. We need a good person in office, we need somebody who is going to work hard, we need somebody who is honest, that’s what I am hearing. We also need somebody who is a woman.”

Sarno said he is hopeful that the clearing skies forecast for Tuesday afternoon will bring out more voters to the polls. “The feedback has been good,” he said.

Tosado, meanwhile, reminded voters that for the first time in Springfield, the mayor’s term has been expanded from a two-year to a four-year term as was approved by the voters in 2009.

“If they have been satisfied with the way things have been going for the past four years then their decision is clear,” Tosado said. “If they aren’t satisfied, they have some options.”

Pepe spoke too of the past few years and what a fresh pair of eyes could bring to the city. “Let’s face it, our track record hasn’t been going too well,” she said.

Springfield Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola said early afternoon that turnout has been slow. “I have been saying 10 percent” she said of the her projected voter turnout. “I am sticking with that unless we get an uptick in voting later this afternoon.”

The one surprise so far, Oyola said, has been a flurry of calls to her office from voters in the Ward 1 area in the North End.

In Holyoke, four candidates for mayor are vying for the top two spots in the preliminary election for the right to move onto the Nov. 8 ballot: Mayor Elaine A. Pluta and challengers Daniel C. Boyle, Daniel C. Burns and Alex B. Morse.

“It’s going great,” said Pluta at about 2:30 p.m.. “I just left Ward 7 and they had good turnout there, a lot of people coming and going.”

Morse wore a dark suit over a white shirt and red- striped tie as he stood Tuesday afternoon holding a campaign sign on Northampton Street. He was outside the Ward 6 voting place, the First Lutheran Christian School, with similarly equipped campaign helpers.

"I''ve visited pretty much all the (voting) locations....I'm trying to get out to all the polling locations. Up at 5 a.m.," said Morse, 22, a former career counselor.

He insisted he had eaten more than just donuts so far on the day of his first municipal election.

"There's egg salad and turkey sandwiches, go to the campaign headquarters if you want some food," he said.

“I think things are going to turn out and we are going to be victorious in Holyoke,” Burns said shortly after 3:30 p.m. “Right now the sun is coming out and we are pretty confident.”

Follow MassLive.com and The Republican for complete election results.

Amherst police said more details about the robbery will be released at 5 p.m. today.

Photo by Larry KelleyPolice respond to a robbery at the Northampton Cooperative Bank branch on College Street in Amherst Tuesday.

BELCHERTOWN – Belchertown police officers apprehended two suspects allegedly involved in the robbery of Northampton Cooperative Bank on College Street in Amherst early Tuesday afternoon.

Amherst police said more details about the robbery will be released at 5 p.m. today.

Belchertown Police Chief Francis R. Fox said Officers Valerie Cote and Jason Christofori stopped a vehicle matching the description that was released by Amhest police shortly after the robbery. He said that the vehicle was heading eastbound on Federal Street (Route 9) toward the center of the town, and that the officers took the two occupants into custody without incident.

“It was great work by the two officers,” Fox said.

Fox said the suspects were taken to the Amherst Police Department, and referred additional questions there, as it is an ongoing investigation. He estimated that the vehicle stop occurred about noontime.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said he believed that a Department of Corrections inmate had sent the soap

Dennis Leger / Springfield Fire Dept.Springfield firefighters respond to the Hall of Justice for the report of a suspicious envelope that spilled powder on an office worker

SPRINGIELD – White powder, found within an envelope inside Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni’s office Tuesday morning, was determined by investigators to be nothing more dangerous than pumice-style soap.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said he believed that the envelope had been mailed to the district attorney’s office by a state Department of Corrections inmate.

A secretary in the district attorney’s office opened the envelope at about 10:45 a.m. and discovered about a gram of white powder inside, some of which spilled on her. She was looked by medical personnel and is not seeking treatment, officials said.

The discovery prompted a response from city emergency personnel and the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Regional Haz-Mat Team IV.

Only a section of the district attorney’s office was closed while tests were performed on the powder. Otherwise, it was business as usual at the courthouse.

The scene was cleared about 2:15 p.m. Additional information was not immediately available.

Of the city's seven wards, there was only one race for City Council.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanAn observer looks at Holyoke's preliminary election ballot Tuesday morning.

HOLYOKE - By mid-afternoon, voter turnout for the preliminary election in this city was either brisk or bad, depending on the observer.

Christropher M. Kulig was putting in the sign-holding time in his bid for Ward 7 City Council, regardless of whether turnout was loud or light.

"We got out here at 7 a.m. Good, we got a lot of beeps, people waving, thumbs up," said Kulig, a member of the charter review commission.

He stood with family members up the road from the Ward 7 polling place, E.N. White School on Jefferson Street.

It was proving to be one of the busiest voting places befitting its location as the only ward race on the preliminary election ballot. There are seven wards.

Kulig, Gordon P. Alexander and Alan G. Fletcher are battling to be the top two vote-getters and the right to be on the Election Day ballot Nov. 8.

Incumbent Ward 7 Councilor John J. O'Neill isn't running for reelection.

The only other contest on the preliminary election ballot is a four- candidate field for mayor, pitting incumbent Elaine A. Pluta against challengers Daniel C. Boyle, Alex B. Morse and Daniel C. Burns.

Casino gambling has been an issue in the Ward 7 race, and also citywide, with a developer's proposal to put a gaming resort at Wyckoff Country Club, which is in Ward 7.

But despite the focus on Ward 7, poll warden Edward A. Hurley was disappointed in the turnout at about 1 p.m. Only 563 votes had been cast.

"It's been terrible," Hurley said. "You'd think there would be some interest,"

City Clerk Susan M. Egan has estimated a turnout of 22 percent. Polls close at 8 p.m.

At the Ward 6 polling place, the First Christian Lutheran School on Northampton Street, warden Charles M. Cavagnac had a different take.

He was pleased that more than 320 people had voted by about 12:30 p.m.
- tempering his positivity with the note that preliminary elections traditionally draw poorly.

"It's been very good for a primary. I think it's excellent for a primary. I guess the weather isn't great. I don't know. I haven't been outside since 5 a.m.," Cavagnac said.

Earlier in the day, City Councilor at large Kevin A. Jourdain, wearing a tie-less white dress shirt and toting a hammer, pounded one of his campaign signs into the ground at Bemis Road and Northampton Street. Jourdain's name wasn't on the Tuesday preliminary election ballot.

Councilor at Large Brenna E. Murphy stood holding a campaign sign outside the Ward 6 polling place on Northampton Street, the first Lutheran Christian School, beside her father Raymond P. Murphy Jr.

Brenna Murphy also wasn't on the preliminary ballot.

"Everyday's a campaign day," Brenna Murphy said. "Although I'm not on the ballot, I figure it could be beneficial to stand out here."

Murphy and Jourdain are among 11 candidates, including all eight incumbents, who will compete in the general election Nov. 8 for the eight at large council seats.

"I'm not on the ballot, but I'm out saying 'hi' to folks," Jourdain said, at the Ward 7 polls, E.N. White School on Jefferson Street.

"I really thank the citizens for coming out. We really debate some important issues and their input is important," Jourdain said.

Over in Ward 6, William Burns and Barbara LaFlamme were proof that family members come in handy at election time.

Burns, of Chicopee, one of eight siblings of mayoral candidate Daniel C. Burns, held a sign for his younger brother outside the Ward 6 polls, the First Lutheran Christian School on Northampton Street.

"Yeah, I think he'd make a good mayor," Burns said, leaning on a Daniel Burns for mayor gold-on-black campaign sign.

"It seems to be kind of quiet. People, you've got to expect that, with the weather, and it's a preliminary election," Burns said.

LaFlamme sported a sign for her brother, Alan G. Fletcher, a Holyoke police captain who is running for Ward 7 City Council. She was on a sidewalk up the road from the ward polling place, E.N. White School on Jefferson Street.

"I've only been here for an hour, so Alan can get something to eat, so it's kind of slow," said LaFlamme, of Holyoke.

She is sure her brother, a 44-year veteran of the Police Department who will retire next month, would be a good councilor.

"Alan is an independent person, really for the people, and he cares about the safety of the people, and the young people. He's all for the schools. He has to retire, so he has all this time, he can devote it to" being a councilor," she said.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

Protesters have been occupying the church since the last mass on June 30.

Photo by David Molnar / The RepublicanThe last mass Sunday Mass at Mater Dolorosa Church was conducted by The Most Reverand Timothy A. McDonnell, Bishop of Springfield, in June..

HOLYOKE – The Vatican Tuesday upheld the decision from the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese to close Mater Dolorosa Church.

Members appealed the decision to close the church building on Lyman Street and merge together the Mater Dolorosa and Holy Cross parishes to create a new church, our Lady of the Cross. The new parish is worshiping in the former Holy Cross Church on Sycamore Street.

More than 100 people protesting the closing of Mater Dolorosa Church have been holding a 24-hour vigil in the building since the last mass was held June 30.

The decision from the Vatican happened in an unusually short period of time. Most churches have waited more than a year for rulings on appeals.

“I think it is a recognition on the overwhelming body of evidence. The Vatican looked at this and clearly it was the correct and the only decision,” said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Springfield Diocese.

Protesters could not immediately be reached for comment.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

Massachusetts commissioner of public health John Auerbach said he hopes the lab will stay open beyond the end of this month.

BOSTON - The state Department of Public Health now is tabling a decision to close an Amherst lab that is the only one in Western Massachusetts for testing illegal drugs seized by police.

The department is re-evaluating an Aug. 18 announcement that it would close the lab at the University of Massachusetts on Sept. 30 in order to save money and consolidate operations, according to a spokeswoman. The department was planning to close the lab in order to cut costs after its budget for public health laboratories was reduced for the fiscal that began July 1.

"No decisions have been made about that," John Auerbach, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said on Tuesday when asked about the lab's future. "Unfortunately, we are dealing with a difficult budget year where we're having to tighten our belts. We are looking at a number of different ways to save money in the laboratory line item that we've received. At this point, we haven't made any final decisions. We are looking at a number of different options."

John Auerbach

"I hope so," Auerbach said when asked if the Amherst lab can survive beyond Sept. 30. "The laboratory does work that is necessary. It is part of a laboratory system that the department runs that covers a wide variety of different public health issues. We are concerned with ensuring the entire laboratory system is functioning well so that it can offer the kind of information that allows us to protect the public."

In August, a department spokeswoman set a Sept. 30 closing date and said, “Due to an unprecedented fiscal situation we have had to make extremely difficult decisions and at this time we plan to consolidate our resources and close the Amherst Drug Lab."

After that, law enforcement officials in Western Massachusetts made a strong case for keeping open the lab, said Joseph Dorant, president of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists, the union that includes the lab's three chemists and supervisors.

"My gut feeling is that it will survive but I really don't know," Dorant said of the lab.

Dorant also opposed the lab's planned closure and documented the importance of the service to police in Western Massachusetts. In the most recent fiscal year, the lab tested 6,156 samples of illegal drugs, including 4,629 for municipal police and 1,527 for the state lab in Boston, and employees of the Amherst lab made 60 court appearances.

The closure of the lab would have strained local police, forcing them to make "chain of custody" trips to Boston to deliver drug samples, Dorant said. Right now, for example, the Springfield police drop off samples at the Amherst lab once a week and the Holyoke police, once every three weeks.

The public health department planned to transfer the work in Amherst to the state lab in Boston, according to Dorant.

Last week, 23 state legislators from Western Massachusetts sought to keep the lab open, signing a letter that seeks $300,000 for the lab in a spending bill under review on Beacon Hill.

Auerbach said extra money would help.

"Certaintly, if there was additional funding within that line item -- that would alleviate the problem," Auerbach said. "We wouldn't need to reduce the funding within that line item. If the money was targeted specifically for the Amherst laboratory, we would be certain to use it for that purpose."

Officers allegedly found more than two kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the insoles of four pairs of shoes in Lanns' checked luggage.

The photo released by the Massachusetts State Police allegedly shows the insole-shaped cocaine packages that Carlos J. Lanns had hidden in four pairs of shoes aboard Jet Blue Flight 862 on Monday.

BOSTON — A New Jersey man who was allegedly caught at Boston's Logan International Airport with more than two kilograms of cocaine in several pairs of shoes has been ordered held on $300,000 bail.

Carlos J. Lanns, 24 of Hamilton, N.J., pleaded not guilty to drug charges at his arraignment Tuesday in East Boston District Court.

According to Massachusetts State Police, Lanns was taken into custody at the airport around 7 p.m. on Monday after arriving in Boston on a Jet Blue flight.

Following a joint investigation involving US Customs and Border Protection and state troopers, officers allegedly found more than two kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the insoles of four pairs of shoes in Lanns' checked luggage.

Prosecutors say there were reports of someone on the plane with drugs, but did not say what led them to Lanns.

Authorities say the cocaine had a street value of more than $200,000.

Lanns' lawyer said he has no record and intends to fight the charges.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.