Final results show Morse with 2,023 votes to 2,022 for Pluta.

Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta will face Alex Morse in the Nov. 8 mayoral election.

Photo by S.P. Sullivan/MassLive.comAlex Morse and supporters react as the final vote count shows him beating incumbent Mayor Elaine Pluta by one vote.

HOLYOKE – With all 14 precincts reporting, the general election for mayor will see newcomer Alex B. Morse face off against incumbent Elaine A. Pluta.

The final results showed only one vote difference between Pluta and Morse. According figures provided by Holyoke City Hall, Morse had 2,023 votes to 2,022 for Pluta.

This prompted Holyoke City Council member James M. Leahy to say, "Every vote counts."

The other candidates, Daniel C. Boyle and Daniel C. Burns were a distant third and fourth place.

The other race on the preliminary election ballot in Holyoke - again, to narrow the field to the top two - was 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. Alexander claimed victory in that race.

Complete Holyoke Election coverage »

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

In assessing the communications and warning systems used before and during the storm that killed 162 people, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said many people waited for additional information like seeing the tornado or a television or radio report about the urgency of the threat.

File photo / Associated PressDamage is seen in a devastated Joplin, Mo. neighborhood, in this May 30 photo. A federal agency released a report Tuesday that said many people ignored early tornado warnings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Many Joplin residents either ignored or were slow to react to the first warning sirens about a massive and deadly tornado this spring, partially because of years of false alarms, the government said Tuesday.

In assessing the communications and warning systems used before and during the storm that killed 162 people, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said many people waited for additional information like seeing the tornado or a television or radio report about the urgency of the threat.

“The majority of surveyed Joplin residents did not immediately go to shelter upon hearing the initial warning,” the report said, adding that those people “did not take protective action until processing additional credible confirmation of the threat and its magnitude from a non-routine, extraordinary risk trigger.”

A “vast majority” of Joplin residents didn’t respond to the first siren because of an apparent widespread disregard for tornado sirens, according to the report.

Richard Wagenmaker, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Detroit and leader of the assessment team, said it was unclear if the slow public response cost lives.

“It’s really hard to tell how many people that perished in the tornado did not take shelter,” Wagenmaker said during a conference call. “It was a very large tornado, so there were certainly a number of people who did all the right things, took shelter in the best available place, but still found themselves in situations that weren’t survivable. So it’s really hard to make that assessment.”

The report also said the National Weather Service was overall well-prepared and “performed in an exemplary manner” and that the combined efforts from the weather service, emergency management and the public “saved many lives.”

But there were also lessons to be learned, including beefing up the wording in tornado warnings, the report said. After the intensity of the storm was clear, the resulting warnings weren’t worded strongly enough “to accurately portray that immediate action was necessary to save lives.”

Instead, the tornado warnings issued were the “basic template,” Wagenmaker said.

“Once there became an awareness that something big was going on, we wanted the severe weather statements and warnings to project a heightened sense of urgency,” he said. The warnings should have said “something along the lines of ‘This is a very large and dangerous tornado and don’t mess around,’ basically.”

The report said the weather service was considering developing other forms of notifications including GPS-based communications involving text messages, smart phone apps and upgrades to the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio.

NOAA also said the agency wanted more collaboration between what it calls the “weather enterprise,” which includes the weather service, media and emergency management, in order to make warning systems consistently better at conveying the seriousness of a threat.

Keith Stammer, Jasper County emergency manager, said Joplin is a “weather-ready community” and supported the NOAA assessment.

“We have for years ... promoted weather radios and shelter in place,” he said.

He said the city has applied for federal funding 10,000 weather radios for Joplin households and for 4,000 in-place shelters for Joplin residents. The NWS assessment should illustrate the need for those resources, Stammer said.

The NWS team interviewed about 100 people, including residents, emergency responders and city officials, and also examined warning and forecast services before the powerful tornado cut through the southwest Missouri city of about 50,000 residents and reduced much of Joplin’s southern half to ruins.

Several people interviewed said they would like to see different siren tones for varying levels of emergencies, the report said.

Lynn Maximuk, director of the National Weather Service’s central region, pointed out that the siren systems are not run by the weather service but by emergency management departments.

“We’re trying to improve our services from the weather service and how we communicate the threat information to better serve the other parts of the weather enterprise, whether they be the media or emergency management or the private meteorological community to try to help them develop a better way to make our nation weather-ready,” Maximuk said.

Cleanup, recovery and rebuilding continue in Joplin. Four schools were destroyed and six other district buildings were damaged. Entire neighborhoods were leveled, as was much of the city’s main commercial district.

Glenn Coltharp, dean of education at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, said tornado sirens can’t be heard at his home in a rural area about 20 miles north of Joplin. He said he monitored the tornado on his weather radio and on television.

He said many residents he spoke to after the storm told him they heard the sirens and took cover.

“I think most people did hear it, and they took it seriously,” he said. “That would be my assessment.”

According to Springfield City Hall, Sarno captured more than 60 percent of the vote.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, left, and City Council President Jose Tosado, will face off in the Nov, 8 mayoral election.

SPRINGFIELD - Mayor Domenic Sarno will face off against City Council President Jose Tosado in the Nov. 8 city election.

According to results of the preliminary election released by Springfield City Hall Tuesday night, Sarno had 8,254 votes, or 60 percent, to 3,170 or 23 percent for Tosado.

Both men said they were pleased with the outcome, with Tosado adding, that he can "absolutely win" next month.

School Committee member Antonette Pepe came in third with 2,269 votes or just over 16 percent.

In the race for City Council, the following 10 candidates' names will be on the November ballot: Thomas Ashe, Timothy J. Rooke, Kateri B. Walsh, Bud L. Williams, James J. Ferrera, Justin J. Hurst, Amaad Rivera, Miguel A. Soto, Charles H. Rucks and Joseph R. Fountain.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

The decision on the appeal came down quickly.

File photo / The RepublicanHOLYOKE - Engineer Andrew Pavlica peers over the bell in the steeple at Mater Dolorosa Church. The steeple is a matter of contention between the diocese and protesters who are trying to keep the church open.

HOLYOKE – The Vatican upheld the decision to close Mater Dolorosa Church, disappointing a group of protesters who have been holding a 24-hour vigil in the building since June 30.

Despite the decision, protesters said they will continue the vigil and fight to keep their church open.

“We are committed to that. We have raised money, and we are continuing to raise money to continue the battle,” said Victor Anop, of Chicopee, a long-term church member.

He said the group will first ask the Vatican to reconsider the decision because new information has come to light about the condition of the church steeple and other issues.

If that is not successful, the group has retained the Carlo Gullo law firm in Rome and plans to appeal to the highest court in the Catholic church, the Apostolic Signatura.

The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, ruled Mater Dolorosa and Holy Cross churches in Holyoke should both close and create a new parish. Our Lady of The Cross opened in the former Holy Cross building on Sycamore Street in Holyoke in July.

One reason the diocese cited for the closing is concern about the condition of the steeple. Engineers hired by the diocese said is unstable and could collapse.

But they said the major reasons for the closing is that there are not enough Catholics in the city to support all the churches, and Mater Dolorosa is too small to house two merged churches.

After the original appeal was filed, protesters hired an engineer to examine the steeple. That engineer found no major problems.

The engineering report is one of the pieces of information that protesters will use when requesting reconsideration of the appeal, Anop said.

“The preliminary information was not substantive. We did not know many of the facts until we researched them,” Anop said.

The ruling on the appeal was unusually fast. Typically, it takes the Vatican more than a year to get an answer, and this one came in four months.

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

The diocese will continue to push protesters to leave the church, he said.

“Despite the disappointment felt by those appealing the parish closing, I pray that now they will come together in the new parish of Our Lady of the Cross,” McDonnell said in a written statement.

Eight schools in Western Massachusetts were also commended for making improvements and reaching federal progress goals.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanTenth grade English teacher Meaghan A. Callahan works with a student at the High School of Commerce in Springfield Tuesday.

Most of the worst performing schools statewide, including eight in Springfield and two in Holyoke, showed improvements in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exam students took this spring.

Tuesday the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the scores from the English, math and science exams that students in grades three through eight and 10 took in the spring. In the release, a lot of the focus was on the severely-underperforming schools.

Officials also released data on how much growth each student saw and how well schools have done in trying to reach federal progress goals.

The best news that came from the scores is 22 of the 35 schools statewide identified as the lowest performing Level 4 schools showed gains. All those schools are under pressure to improve or face a state takeover.

In Springfield, Homer Street Elementary showed the second-largest gain of the Level 4 schools statewide, showing an average increase of 12 percent in English and 20 percent in math. Alfred G. Zanetti School showed an average gain of 11 percent in English and 20 percent in math.

The Elias Brookings School, which faces new challenges because students are being taught in portable classrooms since the building was heavily damaged in the June 1 tornado, also saw sizable gains. Students improved by 12 percent in English and 18 percent in math, according to the state education department.

The only Level 4 schools in Springfield that saw declines were Chestnut Middle where English scores dropped 2 percent and math dropped 3 percent and at Kiley Middle School where English grades declined 4 percent and math decreased 2 percent.

In Holyoke, the two Level 4 schools, William J. Dean Vocational Technical High and Morgan School saw improvements, especially in English.

“I was happy to see a lot of my job is going to be to build on a good foundation that started last year,” said Charles A. Grandson IV, who took over as principal of High School of Commerce in Springfield this summer.

Already he has restructured the school so freshmen and sophomores are split into smaller teams with teachers dedicated to work solely with them. The 10th graders are assigned to an area called the MCAS corridor, since sophomores take the graduation exam in the spring.

Students who do not speak English well are also being grouped together with a small group of about 15 immigrants who have never had formal schooling in one class, about 155 of beginning to intermediate speakers are in a second group and others who need some support but who are pretty advanced working with another group of teachers, Grandson said.

“Next year I would like to see at least an improvement of 15 points from where are now,” he said.

At Commerce, this year’s English scores increased 11 percent in English but dropped 1 percent in math. English scores still remain well below the state average with 48 percent of Commerce students scoring in the highest two categories of advanced or proficient while 84 percent of students statewide scoring proficient or above. Statewide 3 percent of students failed English while 14 percent failed the subject at Commerce.

Last year’s 10th graders at Dean High in Holyoke saw solid increases with an 11 percent gain in English, a 3 percent increase in math and a 9 percent rise in science.

That school’s scores were so low last year the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education required the city to hire a private company for the fall to help turn around the poor performance. The improvement brings scores up to 39 percent of high school students scoring advanced or proficient in English.

Superintendent David L. Dupont said the scores show solid increases in English, but he remains concerned about math scores at all schools.

The Level 4 schools have barely had a year and little extra money to focus on making drastic changes to turn around improvement so the increases have been a good first step, Dupont said.

“What has helped (at Dean) is integrating more ELA (English) into the vocational areas,” he said.

At Morgan School English scores jumped 8 percent overall and math increased 5 percent.

One of the bright spots at Morgan was the gains in the middle school grades, which is the most difficult level to improve. Seventh-grade English scores increased by 32 percent while eighth-grade math improved by 10 percent.

But Dupont said the most frustrating thing is the struggle to improve the math scores. “We have sought significant teacher input to find out how to do that,” he said.

Eight Western Massachusetts schools were also among the 127 list of commended schools recognized for sizable improvements. They are Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle in Chicopee, Center and Neil A. Pepin schools in Easthampton, Mountain View in East Longmeadow, Leverett Elementary, Westhampton Elementary, West Brookfield Elementary and Dryden Memorial in Springfield.

Fairview Middle in Chicopee has slowly improved over the past three years and its increases 4 percent in English this year helped it to make federal progress goals in English, Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. said.

In Chicopee, other bright spots were in Comprehensive High School where there was an 11 percent increase in English and 14 percent increase in math and at Anna Barry School, whose 5 percent increase in English and 1 percent gain in math moved the school from a Level 3 status to a better Level 2, Rege said.

Educators continue to put in a number of initiatives to help students improve and have been doing a better job of reaching students who are most at risk of failing, he said.

“We have seen steady increases but very moderate increases. When you start as low as we did it is hard to catch the bar,” Rege said.

A full list of school-by-school scores can be obtained at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/mcas.aspx.

Newcomer Alex Morse and incumbent Elaine Pluta will compete for mayor in the Nov. 8 general election. Watch video

Photo by S.P. Sullivan / MassLive.comAlex Morse, right, celebrates with supporters after Morse finished one vote ahead of incumbent mayor Elaine Pluta in Tuesday's primary election.

HOLYOKE – Newcomer Alex B. Morse took the top spot in his first municipal election Tuesday – by a single vote – to set up an Election Day showdown with Mayor Elaine A. Pluta, who finished second.

In the other race on the ballot, Conservation Commission Chairman Gordon P. Alexander finished first and Police Capt. Alan G. Fletcher second to set the competition for the Ward 7 City Council seat on Nov. 8.

Christopher M. Kulig finished third and was eliminated in the Ward 7 council race.

City Clerk Susan M. Egan was dead-on with her turnout prediction – 22 percent – or 5,180, of the 23,532 registered voters.

Morse finished with 39.1 percent of the vote, Pluta 39.09 percent, business consultant Daniel C. Boyle 15.6 percent and former city councilor Daniel C. Burns 5.9 percent.

Morse is 22 and has never held elected office. But he said voters seemed to embrace his message of innovation, transparency and leadership, though Pluta is expected to exploit his lack of experience.

“This proves that people want open government, they want transparency, they want to move forward. I just told people, ‘Tonight, we celebrate, but tomorrow, we’re back to the grind,” Morse said, at his headquarters on Northampton Street.

Morse graduated from Brown University in May and was laid off this summer from his job as a career counselor and job developer at CareerPoint. Pluta backers complained Morse could campaign full time while she could run for office only after work hours and on weekends.

The age and inexperience questions, Morse said, are baseless: “Not about age, not about age.”

“People want accountability. They want open and transparent government. We had a plan and I think that distinguished us,” he said.

Pluta is 67 and in her first, two-year term as mayor after being on the City Council for 14 years. She now must fight to ensure hers isn’t just a one-term tenure in the face of Morse’s vow he has the momentum.

Pluta told supporters at her Westfield Road headquarters the key from now until Election Day is one word: work.

“Thank you everybody. We’ve got our work cut out for us. That’s OK. We know where we stand and we know what we have to do. I’m going to do my part,” Pluta said.

“We are, too,” a woman in her headquarters shouted.

Pluta is expected to emphasize her formation of a task force to cut property taxes and another to deal with the city’s highest-in-the-state teen-pregnancy rate, along with stewardship of major projects like a new $14.5 million library, a new $8.1 million senior center and a planned Big Y plaza with 250 jobs.

Supporters of all four mayoral campaigns said Pluta was hurt by a controversy involving former acting fire chief William P. Moran. Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni is awaiting a clerk magistrate’s ruling on his request that a criminal complaint be issued against Moran after he said Moran sent a fire truck on a fake call to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside June 15.

Moran, who worked on Pluta’s 2009 campaign, at the time of the June incident was acting fire chief. He is now a deputy fire chief on leave using accrued vacation and sick time.

Casino gambling looks to be an issue in the mayor’s race. The state Legislature and Gov. Deval L. Patrick are considering legalizing casino gambling.

Pluta supports a plan from Paper City Development, a limited liability company, to build a gaming resort at Wyckoff Country Club.

Morse has said he wouldn’t lead the charge to put a casino here but has avoided outright opposition.

He has said the city’s economic focus should be on the high-technology possibilities related to the $168 million high performance computing center being built on Bigelow Street at the canals.

The Ward 7 council seat is up for grabs because incumbent John J. O’Neill isn’t running for reelection.

Casino gambling also will be an issue in the Alexander-Fletcher race.

Alexander is against a casino, Fletcher in favor of it.

Alexander opposes a casino at Wyckoff, which is in Ward 7 on the Mount Tom range, because negatives like traffic, noise and crime would outweight positives.

Fletcher said that with more than 25 percent of the population here living in poverty, the city needs the more than 1,000 jobs a casino would bring.

Alexander got 41.5 percent of the vote to Fletcher’s 33 percent and 25.4 percent for Kulig, a member of the charter review commission.

“It feels good,” Alexander said. “I think people understand my regard for the ward and my desire to do the right thing for the ward.”

Fletcher, a city native, said he is battling a coalition of Alexander and other outsiders who moved here and who are trying to pin him as a single-issue candidate on casino gambling.

“I think by me getting elected, or being one of the finalists for Ward 7 helps because the people I’m running against are a coalition to prevent people like me from office,” Fletcher said.

"I'm for public safety and other things, but they're trying to pin me down on one issue, the casino," he said.

A drizzly day and a 14.7 percent turnout in Springfield exceeded some predictions but still made for a sleepy turnout.

Photo by Don Treeger / The RepublicanAntonette Pepe, right, is embraced by her friend Connie Long early in the evening Tuesday night. Pepe finished third in the Springfield mayoral primary.

SPRINGFIELD – In retrospect, the cautionary attitude Karoline Sullivan took toward the potential victory cake was a wise one.

“Just in case, I didn’t write ‘Congrats, Antonette’ on the cake. In 2008 I wrote ‘Congrats Pats’ on a cake when the (New England) Patriots lost, and we saw how that turned out,” said Sullivan, 29, of Westfield, who said she isn’t even a registered voter but caught the political bug while working as a volunteer for Springfield mayoral candidate and School Committee member Antonette Pepe this election season.

“I used to not give one care. But now I know every vote counts,” Sullivan said.

Pepe came in last of three candidates in the Tuesday preliminary mayoral race between Mayor Domenic Sarno and City Councilor Domenic J. Sarno.

Pepe, 70, is a salty member of the committee who garnered a recent bounce of credibility based on her attack of Schools Superintendent Alan J. Ingram for a $30,000 housing bonus he received nearly four years ago.

Sarno grabbed 8,254 votes, Tosado won 3,170 and Pepe won 2,269.

However, if there was a soundtrack to the preliminary election, crickets may have been the thing. A drizzly day and a 14.7 percent turnout in Springfield exceeded some predictions but still made for a sleepy turnout.

But the candidates were less so. A jittery Tosado turned out at his victory party at Aquarius on State Street close to 8:30 p.m., reluctant to claim victory.

“I think I’m in second,” Tosado said. “I’m cautiously optimistic though.”

His campaign manager, Ryan McCollum, was slightly more hyped up.

“Voter 10,000 through 20,000 is much different than 1,000 through 10,000,” McCollum said.

Tosado’s supporters, which looked rather sparse in the large venue, said their candidate stands not just for Hispanic voters.

“He has an enormous amount of management experience and an enormous amount of community experience,” said supporter Alfonso Acuna, of Springfield.

Sarno was clearly buoyed by his large margin.

“There’s no pretense about me. I have integrity, honesty and I try to do the little things that matter a lot to me,” Sarno said.

The winner of the general election will serve for a four-year term. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD – His supporters chanted “four more years” as Mayor Domenic J. Sarno coasted to victory in the Tuesday preliminary election, but second-place finisher Jose F. Tosado said he can “absolutely” win in the final election Nov. 8.

Sarno, seeking a third term, won a three-way race for mayor on Tuesday’s ballot, beating Tosado, president of the City Council, by a vote of 8,254-3,170, nearly a 3-1 margin. The third place finisher, School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe, was eliminated in the preliminary, with 2,269 votes.

“I think it was a resounding victory tonight,” Sarno said, after arriving at his headquarters on Allen Street to the applause and cheers of a roomful of supporters. “I am very happy with the results. There is more to be done.”

Sarno said the margin of victory shows that people support his vision for the city and the job he is doing.

Tosado and his supporters also celebrated, gathering at the Aquarius Club on State Street.

“We plan to win,” Tosado said. “It feels good. It feels good. I feel like we just won the Super Bowl.”

In the other race on the ballot, 10 of the 13 candidates vying for five at-large City Council seats move on to the Nov. 8 ballot. The top vote-getter was incumbent Councilor Thomas Ashe followed by Councilor Timothy J. Rooke.

The three candidates eliminated in the council race were: David F. Ciampi, John W. Stevens, and Bruce Samuel Adams.

Pepe and state Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, appeared at Tosado’s celebration and gave their endorsements.

State Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley Rivera, D-Springfield, in contrast, was celebrating at Sarno’s headquarters.

Summing up her reaction to the vote, and the campaign summer-long campaign, Pepe said. “No regrets. No sour grapes.”

The voter turnout in Springfield was 14.7 percent – low but better than a 10 percent prediction from Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola. Tosado and some of his supporters say they will go after the voters who stayed home as well as seeking out Pepe’s supporters.

Some of Sarno’s supporters said they were not surprised that he handily beat Tosado and Pepe.

“People have faith in him,” said Donald Mason, a Springfield teacher. “He’s done a good job in the past, and we know he will continue to do a good job.”

“He (Sarno) is out there for the people,” said Margaret Fratini. “He is a very giving and caring man.”

Her husband Francis described Sarno as a “24/7” mayor.

At Pepe’s headquarters, the early excitement as the first results trickled in gave way to a more subdued mood as Sarno’s share of the vote got larger and larger.

“You only have to beat Tosado,” Pepe’s daughter, Michele, reminded her mother as they huddled around the television set at the Main Street, Indian Orchard headquarters.

Twenty minutes later, Pepe was on the phone to Tosado, conceding second place.

Sarno, 48, has served two, two-year terms as mayor, beating former Mayor Charles V. Ryan in 2007, and defeating Council President Bud L. Williams in 2009.

At his campaign celebration, he thanked his family, friends and supporters.

Tosado, 57, has served on the City Council for four, two-year terms, and was the first Latino elected to the council in 2002. He has served as council president three times, as chosen by members of the council.

He previously served on the School Committee and was an appointed member of the former Police Commission.

The winner of the Nov. 8 general election will serve for a four-year term. The term for mayor has been two years in the past, but was expanded to a four-year term this year, as approved by voters in 2009.

The three candidates for mayor took part in three debates during the past two weeks, conducted by the McKnight Neighborhood Council, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and WGBY-TV.

During the campaign, Sarno has repeatedly defended his four-year tenure as mayor, saying he provided strong leadership during difficult times. The vote Tuesday “reaffirms my administration’s focus” on public safety, education and strong fiscal management, Sarno said.

Tosado and Pepe said the city is in worst shape since Sarno took office, with less safe streets and worsening conditions in the school system. Tosado said he has presented concrete plans for improving public safety, including a proactive rather than reactive strategy to crime.

Sarno said he has a zero tolerance position on crime, and has worked with a task force of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to crack down youth and gang violence and drugs and has made progress in taking guns off the street. He said there have been pockets of success in the school system.

Miguel Rivas, a Tosado supporter, said “now we know what we have to do, including making sure Tosado’s message reaches the voters.

Pepe thanked her supporters, especially her husband, Russell. She remains on the School Committee with two years left on her term.

“I can’t tell you how much you mean to me,” Pepe said as she hugged her husband, triggering the first of a dozen rounds of applause from the crowd.

While Sarno had no comment on Pepe Tuesday after the vote, she called Sarno “a cheerleader, not a leader.”

Staff writer Jack Flynn contributed to this report.

Marble Arvidson's family is planning a candlelight vigil next week in Brattleboro, Vermont to mark the 1-month anniversary of his disappearance.

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

BRATTLEBORO, VT. -- Volunteers conducting a ground search last weekend for missing teen Marble Ace Arvidson, who was last seen the day before Tropical Storm Irene last month, found no trace of the boy, organizers said.

More than 100 people scoured the countryside in West Brattleboro on Saturday and Sunday looking for signs of the missing high school senior. Volunteers will be back out there over the weekend to resume the search in additional areas where Arvidson was known to hike. Organizers are seeking volunteer hikers over age 18 to volunteer to take part in the search. Non-hikers of any age are also welcome to perform support work.

Search volunteers will gather for direction at 9 a.m. in the Chelsea Royal Diner parking lot on Route 9 in West Brattleboro, or can arrive later in the day. Hikers are asked to wear sturdy footwear and clothing appropriate for the weather, and to bring compasses, GPS units and cell phones. Search and recovery procedures will be taught.

The searches are led by Arvidson's aunt, Patricia Kittredge, who is on leave from the National Guard.

Brattleboro police are asking the public for help locating Marble Arvidson, 17, who was last seen a day before Tropical Storm Irene battered the Green Mountain State. (Republican Photo/ Robert Rizzuto)

His family is also planning a candlelight vigil for Sept. 27 to mark the one-month anniversary of his disappearance. The vigil will be from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the gazebo behind the courthouse in downtown Brattelboro. Candles will be provided.

Arvidson left his home on Aug. 27, one day before Irene caused major flooding in the Brattelboro area. He is considered a missing person, and not a runaway. Just before he was last scene, Arvidson was paid a visit at his home by an unidentified man, who so far has not come forward despite appeals from Arvidson's family.

The Find Marble nonprofit organization has launched a fundraising campaign to cover expenses of the search effort, including a $1,000 reward offered for information leading to Arvidson, printing costs for thousands of flyers and posters, and ground search supplies including maps, whistles and hunting season visibility gear.

The ground searches are funded entirely by private donations and Arvidson's family and friends. No law enforcement money is available for this purpose.

Donations of any amount may be made on line at http://marbleace.chipin.com/marble-arvidson. Checks made out to the "Find Marble Fund" may be mailed to Find Marble, PO Box 882, Brattleboro VT 05302.

A web page (www.findmarble.org) and a Facebook group (Find Marble) both offer photos of Arvidson and information.

Tips concerning Arvidson or the unidentified visitor to his home may be phoned in to the Brattleboro Police at 802-257-7946, sent anonymously to the post office box above, or e-mailed to findmarble@gmail.com, which is also the e-mail address for additional information about the case or upcoming activities.

The phone number for general inquiries about activities related to Arvidson's disappearance is 413-478-1669. Ground search inquiries should go to 802-257-9111.

Veterans Field was badly damaged in the June 1 tornado.

The Republican/John SuchockiVolunteers from Blue Cross Blue Shield offices in Massachusetts came to Monson to restore Veterans Field that was damaged by the June 1 tornado. Barbara Tierney, of Suffield, Conn., pulls nails while Liz Hughes, of Westminster, steadies the board for a park bench they were making.

MONSON - The rain poured down, but that didn't stop the 80
volunteers from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' "Blue Crew"
from working to restore the tornado-damaged Veterans Field on State
Street Tuesday.

There were groups piling a mix of clay and sand on the three
sunken baseball diamonds, another group spreading mulch at the
playground, and yet another group constructing picnic tables and
benches.

"I heard about the devastation, and I thought this was the
perfect opportunity to give back to the community," said Blue Cross
sales director Barbara M. Tierney, of Suffield, who helped to measure
the wood for the picnic tables. "I liked the idea of helping kids too."

Stephan M. Corbin, of Belchertown, a Blue Cross sales account
executive, said as soon as he saw the Monson project on the list, he
added his name.

"To be able to give back to the town of Monson is spectacular,"
Corbin said.

Corbin was supervising the piling of clay at one of the baseball
diamonds.

"The clay got heavy in the rain, but nobody's complaining. It's
a great cause and a great opportunity," Corbin said.

The restoration of Veterans Field was one of 30 projects around
the state that Blue Cross Blue Shield employees participated in as part
of their first all-company service day, which featured 15,000 volunteer
hours in one day.

In addition to Blue Cross employees, volunteers from
City Year helped out, and Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High
School provided lunch for the volunteers.

Parks and Recreation Director Timothy Pascale was grateful for
the help. Pascale said ever since the tornado on June 1, flooding has
been a problem on the field and hard to remedy with a three-man
department.

Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers told Blue Cross that the under-12 recreation baseball team couldn't play any games in Monson because of the tornado damage at the field.

"Your efforts will make it so that our children will once again
have a place to go and play their games, where parents and their
toddlers will be able to take a morning and spend time in the fall
sunshine," Neggers wrote to Blue Cross.

Pascale added that they always wanted more benches, but could
never afford to buy them.

"This is awesome. These are things we would never be able to do.
They supplied the wood chips for the playground and wood for the
benches," said Pascale, adding that Blue Cross also will donate tools
they used to his department.

"Sometimes it's hard to put into words what the volunteers mean
to you, or to us," Pascale said. "It's an exciting thing to watch."

Pascale said the town supplied the 150 cubic yards of clay and
sand for the baseball diamonds. He said the diamonds needed to be filled
in about three or four inches and nothing had been added to them in the
20 years he's been working for the department.

Over the weekend, a Boy Scout troop from Townsend rebuilt one of
the dugouts that went airborne during the tornado and crashed into a
house across the street. The Blue Cross volunteers painted the inside of
it.

Blue Cross Chief Operating Officer Bruce M. Bullen also helped
out. He was putting the benches together.

Marcia E. McFarland, Blue Cross sales director, said they are "thrilled to support the town" and
to "help it get back on its feet."

A public hearing is slated to be held before the Select Board Oct. 24

File photo / The RepublicanBarry L. Roberts who has been working to create a downtown improvement district, is pictured here in the 2009 Amherst 250th Anniversary Parade.

AMHERST – Those hoping to create a Business Improvement District downtown have collected enough signatures and are now moving to the next phase - presentation to the Select Board next month.

Signatures have been certified by assessors and have been sent to the Town Clerk’s office and a public hearing on the proposal has been scheduled for Oct. 24, said Barry L. Roberts, a developer and improvement district committee member. The Select Board needs to approve the district’s creation.

State law mandates that the proponents of the district obtain the signatures of at least 60 percent of the property owners within the designated area.

Tony A. Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, said they have obtained between 63 and 66 percent of those owners. “When you consider (the signatures were collected) by volunteers, that’s nothing to sneeze at.

“It’s a great success, it’s really an exciting time,” he said.
According to the improvement’s Web site, the district “creates a way for property owners to pool their resources to fund and coordinate improvements and supplemental services in commercial areas with the ultimate goal of promoting business and cultural activity and enhancing property values”

The district “will provide a better environment because we will have an extra pot of money,” Maroulis said.

Roberts said he expects the district will collect annual fees of about $400,000, including in-kind services provided by non-profit members as well as the town, which will be part of the district. Fees are based on the assessed property values.

The Board of Directors will determine the focus of how that money is used. “The focus will change over time.”

Money could be used for beautification, or to buy trees or pay for promotions. “Anything we deem is appropriate...This will be a cash flow we can rely on,” Roberts said.


Creation of a the district “can be a very good as a hedge and a way to compete against a mall, which is doing the exact same thing as a BID. It’s good to see everyone working together,” Maroulis said.

Northampton created an improvement district in 2009. Districts have also been established in Westfield and Springfield.

Maroulis said joining the district is not mandatory. Property owners will have 30 days after it’s approved to opt out, Roberts said.

Roberts said that the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College officials have signed on and have been extremely supportive. Committee members have been working with college officials to promote the downtown and not just send students to the malls.

“We’ve been very successful. Both colleges are willing; it’s been very refreshing,” Roberts said.

The City Council approved 8-0 a resolution that will allow the School Department to drop its student sports fee and its recent increase in the student high school parking fee.

AGAWAM – The City Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution that will allow suspension of a $100 student team sports fee as well as dropping a $120 increase in the student parking fee at Agawam High School.

The council approved the resolution by Mayor Richard A. Cohen by an 8-2 vote. City councilors Robert E. Rossi and Jill P. Simpson voted against the measure.

“I am very happy,” Cohen said after the vote. “The councilors who voted for it did the right thing. I’m disappointed in those who voted against it, especially in these difficult economic times.

The resolution calls for using $97,000 of $220,000 in additional and unanticipated state aid to replace revenue the School Department expected to generate from a sports team fee and from increasing the high school parking fee from $40 to $160.

The School Department earlier this month unanimously endorsed the mayor’s request to use the extra state aid to drop the sports fee and leave the fee to park at Agawam High School at $40, contingent on the council’s approval.

Several councilors as well as several School Committee members spoke in favor of the resolution, saying that paying the fee schedule would pose a hardship on families.

“There are people in town who probably cannot afford fees,” City Councilor John F. Walsh said.

Walsh, who chairs the Finance Committee, said that group voted 5-0 to table action until it could get a breakdown of how the $97,000 would be used. However, he and other councilors noted that the mayor had provided that information just prior to Monday’s meeting.

Simpson commented that parents are used to paying fees for their children to take part in sports, something they have had to do since their offspring have been old enough to play sports.

Rossi said officials could find $97,000 somewhere in the School Department’s approximately $34.4 million fiscal 2012 budget.

“I suggest to the School Committee to put their creative caps on to come up with the money. There is a little bit of fluff in that budget and I think they could find it,” Rossi said.

Cohen said he wants to use the remainder of the $220,000 to offset taxes.

Members of the United Church of Christ congregation voted to adopt a welcoming statement that will make the church ‘open and affirming.’

LONGMEADOW – Members of the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow voted Sunday to offer an specific welcome to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people as well as others who may have felt marginalized by society during a special church meeting Sunday.

About 115 people voted on a welcoming statement which means the church may now be recognized as an “open and affirming” congregation, by the United Church of Christ, the national denomination with which First Church is affiliated.

“This is an important day for our congregation,” said the Rev. Michael S. Bennett, senior pastor of First Church. “This has been a process of discernment – much more than just a vote. It has been about listening and learning so that we might be truly welcoming.”

The statement reads, “We, the First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, strive to live out our stated mission to seek love and justice in our world. We welcome persons of every age, race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, mental, physical, emotional, economic and social status, and circumstance of life into the full participation and ministry of our church.”

The vote was the culmination of a process of planning, study, discernment, dialogue, and prayer which lasted over two years.

“Many at our church felt that we were already very welcoming,” Mary Friedman, of Longmeadow, chair of a specially appointed open and affirming committee said.

“Open and affirming” is part of the “Welcoming Churches” movement in 11 mainstream Protestant denominations which recognize a need for a clear and inclusive welcome to those who may have felt excluded by Christian churches. There are over 100 churches with such statements in Massachusetts now and more than 800 nationwide.

The groundwork programs were organized by the open and affirming study committee, and included events such as panel discussions with gay people and Bible scholars who expounded on sections of the Bible which have been used to justify intolerance.

The massive cream puffs and eclairs, which sell for $3.75, have been enormously popular with fair-goers at The Big E for years.

By BRIAN STEELE
bsteele@repub.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Ray Billie, co-owner of the bakery Big E Cream Puffs and Big E Clairs, said he won’t drop the prices on his products because he refuses to sell anything less than high-quality treats.

The massive cream puffs and eclairs, which sell for $3.75, have been enormously popular with fair-goers at The Big E for years. Billie said between 50,000 and 60,000 people bought the pastries last year.

“It’s a good product. We’re very happy with it. People like it,” Billie said of the cream puffs. “We don’t change anything (year to year). ... It’s the best quality we could possibly manufacture.”

Thousands of shells, custard and cream are made in-house every day for the cream puffs and eclairs, the only items besides the $1.50 drinks the bakery sells, and Billie said it’s very rare to have leftovers. When they do, though, they are donated to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, he said.

The shop opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m.

Customers can watch most of the production. The bakery has back rooms, but a lot of the work is done in front of large windows. Billie said that helps people trust the products.

The cream puff recipe hasn’t changed a bit since the business started, the eclairs have stayed the same since they were added to the menu about five years ago and the ingredients are measured carefully to make sure every pastry tastes exactly the same, he said.

“After 10 years, it’s really second nature, but we don’t assume anything,” he said.

Two big dollops of cream sit in the middle of the cream puffs’ shells. To make it, 42 percent butterfat heavy cream is whipped for six-and-a-half minutes. Billie said if it were whipped for 10 minutes, it would turn into butter, but he joked that calories don’t count during fair season and people can walk them off throughout the day.

Work begins at the bakery each year about a month before The Big E opens. “There’s a lot of preparation, a lot of ordering, a lot of analyzing to get as much done prior to the fair as we can just because of the sheer volume,” he said.

The dough is made and frozen before opening day. Billie said it takes about 40,000 eggs to make enough. Last year, frosting the eclairs required more than two tons of chocolate, he said.

Billie will be making cream puffs and eclairs “as long as I’m breathing,” he said. “This is not a job for us. It’s enjoyment.”

Thursday, however, will usher in am every-other-day cycle of rain through early next week.

September 21, 2011 - Springfield - Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - A pedestrian crosses at Main and Liberty streets in a thick early Wednesday morning fog.

SPRINGFIELD - Enjoy it while lasts.

Wednesday morning’s heavy fog will give way to a pleasant late summer day with highs in the 70s, abc40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Mike Masco said.

“Then it just goes downhill,” Masco said.

Thursday, the last full day of summer, will usher in an every-other-day cycle of heavy rains that could bring as much as 2 to 3 inches of the wet stuff to the Pioneer Valley through early next week.

Slow-moving thunderstorms and flooding are possible, Masco said.

The lawyer for two Americans jailed as spies in Iran said they will be released Wednesday after more than two years in custody.

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 file photo, US hikers Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal, attend their trail in Iran. The lawyer for two Americans jailed as spies in Iran says a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal has been approved by the courts, clearing the way for the release of the men after more than two years in custody. Masoud Shafiei says he plans to go to Tehran's Evin prison later on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 to begin the procedures for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. (AP Photo/Press TV, File)

ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The lawyer for two Americans jailed as spies in Iran said they will be released Wednesday after more than two years in custody following a court approval of a $1 million bail deal.

The Iranian attorney Masoud Shafiei said he planned to go to Tehran's Evin prison to begin the procedure for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal.

"The case is over," Shafiei said. "The court has ordered that they be freed on bail."

The two were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and sentenced last month to eight years each in prison. A third American arrested with them, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year on bail.

Shafiei said he would meet the two Americans at 3 p.m. local time at Tehran's Evin prison. Swiss and Omani diplomats were standing by at the prison, waiting to pick up the two Americans. Switzerland represents American interests in Iran because the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Tehran and the prisoners are expected to be taken to Oman after their release.

The case of Bauer and Fattal, who were convicted of spying for the United States, has deepened strains in the already fraught relationship between Washington and Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was first to mention last week that the Americans' could be released, is in the United States and is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

Shafiei said the bail of $500,000 for each of the men was posted after some last-minute bank problems were resolved. He did not say who put up the money.

"There is no obstacle to their freedom now," the lawyer said. "It's only a matter of time before they are out of jail," he added. "They can go to the U.S. the way Sarah did."

The release of the pair will likely follow the pattern of Shourd's release last September after a $500,000 bails was posted. She was then flown on a private plane to the Omani capital Muscat. Last week, Oman dispatched a plane belonging to the Gulf country's ruler to fetch the two Americans if the freedom-for-bail was reached.

Omani officials declined to comment on the ongoing proceedings for the Americans' release. They only said the private plane, sent from Muscat to the Iranian capital last Wednesday, was still in Tehran.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Oman has close ties with both Tehran and Washington and plays a strategic role in the region by sharing control with Iran of the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which is the route for 40 percent of the world's oil tanker traffic.

The three Americans — friends from their days at the University of California at Berkeley — have maintained their innocence and denied the espionage charges against them.

Their families and the U.S. government say they were just hiking in northern Iraq's scenic and relatively peaceful Kurdish region when they may have accidentally strayed over the unmarked border with Iran.

Since her release last year, Shourd has lived in Oakland, Calif. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.

Bauer proposed marriage to Shourd while in prison.

Phone messages left for Fattal's mother and brother in Philadelphia were not immediately returned Wednesday.

It was not clear where the two men will be reunited with their families after their release. The last direct contact family members had with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010 when their mothers were permitted a short visit in Tehran.

___

Associated Press Writer Saeed El-Nahdy in Muscat, Oman, contributed to this report.

Charges against the suspect includes carrying a dangerous weapon - a golf club.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A 34-year-old city woman, allegedly angered over her ex-boyfriend’s relationship with another woman, used a golf club to break three double-pane windows in that woman’s Cabot Street apartment Tuesday morning, according to Holyoke police.

Officer Jan Saj, summoned to a third floor apartment at 16 Cabot St., for a report of a golf club-wielding woman breaking windows, saw no broken glass in front of the building, Capt. Arthur R. Monfette said.

“The security doors were locked and nobody would buzz him in,” Monfette said.

When Jan went to the back of the building, however, he saw that three of the apartment’s windows had been broken.

Angelica Cruz,, of 76 Chapin St., fourth floor, was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, breach of peace while armed and wantonly injuring real or personal property, police documents state.

Her ex-boyfriend, George H. Thomas, 32, of 178 Brown Ave., was arrested on an outstanding warrant that had been issued out of Holyoke District Court, Monfette said.

Cruz had taken out a restraining order against Thomas at a different location the previous day, Monfette said.

Morse won a surprise preliminary election victory over incumbent Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta on Tuesday. Watch video

S.P. Sullivan, MassLive.com(L-R) Christina Ramos Martinez, Jossie Valentin and Adrian Dahlin, Alex Morse supporters interviewed at his campaign headquarters on election night.

While early fundraising figures suggested that 22-year-old Alex Morse would give incumbent Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta a run for her money in Tuesday's preliminary election, nobody could've predicted Morse would come out on top by just one vote.

In the weeks leading up to election day, Pluta, 67, will undoubtedly be playing up her experience, while Morse will try to cast his youth as "an asset," as he did in an interview with The Republican. Either way, Morse brings with him something often missing from local politics: young voters.

Would the fresh faces seen at his campaign headquarters Tuesday night have been interested in Holyoke's electoral politics if he wasn't on the ballot?

"I wouldn't have. That's a good point," said Adrian Dahlin, a Morse supporter who spent Tuesday holding signs for the candidate. "It was uniquely what Alex was offering that got me to actually to spend some time out here donating my time to a candidate."

Christina Ramos Martinez currently lives in West Springfield, but she grew up in Holyoke and worked with Morse on their high school council. She said she was never much interested in the city's mayoral politics until Morse launched his campaign.

"He's more of a role model to the Latin young people here in Holyoke, I think, because they see him, he's young and he speaks their language," she said.

As for the question of whether 22 is too young to be mayor — which supporters seem to be tired of fielding from reporters — they don't see it as an issue.

"I've known him since he was about 18 years old," said Jossie Valentin, a counselor at Holyoke Community College who met Morse when they worked together organizing the Western Mass Youth Pride Prom. "When he was 18, he was 18 going on 40."

Two charges of attempting to burn a dwelling and attempting to burn a motor vehicle were dismissed.

File photo by The Republican / Don TreegerAttorney David P. Hoose (left) stands with his client, Anthony P. Baye, during an appearance in Hampshire Superior Court.

NORTHAMPTON — Prosecutors have amended the charges against a man suspected of setting a series of fires in Northampton, including one blaze that killed a World War II veteran and his adult son.

A Hampshire County grand jury Tuesday handed up a new indictment charging Anthony Baye with six counts of misleading a police officer. Each charge relates to a separate interaction Baye had with law enforcement, including two on the morning of the Dec. 27, 2009 fires and in subsequent interviews.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that charges of attempting to burn a dwelling and attempting to burn a motor vehicle were dismissed.

The 26-year-old Baye faces two murder charges for allegedly setting a fire that killed 81-year-old Paul Yeskie Sr., and 39-year-old Paul Yeskie Jr. He has pleaded not guilty.

A 60-year-old man died in August 2010 when alarms signaling a fast heart rate and potential breathing problems went unanswered for nearly an hour.

WORCESTER — UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester is stepping up efforts to prevent nurses from tuning out monitor warning alarms following the death of a patient whose alarms signaling a fast heart rate and potential breathing problems went unanswered for nearly an hour.

The 60-year-old man died in August 2010, but the death was only reported to the state in the spring.

Officials say the death may be the result of so-called "alarm fatigue." It was the second such death at the hospital in four years.

The state cited various violations by the hospital, including not responding to alarms "in a timely manner."

The Boston Globe reports that hospital officials refused comment on the latest death, but assured the state Public Health Department that it is taking steps to improve care.