The apparent drowning victim, 44-year-old Dong Soo Kim of Chicopee, never surfaced after diving into the water to save his daughter, who fell from their boat. The girl was rescued by passing boaters.

File photo by Manon MirabelliAuthorities have recovered the body of a 44-year-old man who drowned in the Middle Pond section of Congamond Lakes on Saturday afternoon.

SOUTHWICK – State and local police continue to probe the latest fatality in Congamond Lakes, the third drowning death in just over three months at the series of ponds straddling the Massachusetts-Connecticut line.

Police confirmed the death of a man whose body was pulled from the Middle Pond section of the lake Saturday evening, but authorities have yet to release his name.

However, The Republican and other local media outlets have identified the drowning victim as 44-year-old Dong Soo Kim, who reportedly lives in Chicopee. His street address was not immediately available.

Kim dove into the lake to rescue his 8-year-old daughter, who fell from their boat just after noon on Saturday. Police said the girl was rescued by passing boaters, but her father never surfaced.

Kim's daughter fell overboard as the boat made a sharp turn in Middle Pond, the largest of Congamond's three adjoining ponds. The other sections are North Pond and South Pond.

The girl was expected to be OK, but she was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield as a precaution.

Members of the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team responded to the scene at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, according to a press release from state police headquarters in Framingham. Divers retrieved the body of an adult male at 8:25 p.m., but police declined to publicly identify the victim until family members were notified.

Southwick Police Officer Paul Miles identified the victim as Chicopee resident Dong Soo Kim, according to a 22News report. But Southwick Police Sgt. Kirk Sanders was unable to confirm that information to The Republican early Sunday morning.

"I have no paperwork on the incident," Sanders said.

Lt. David A. Ricardi, a veteran Southwick police officer, said the recent Congamond drownings -- three since mid-June -- were puzzling.

"I've been here close to 30 years, and we've never had (these) kinds of incidents happen," Ricardi told Fox Connecticut News.

The other recent drowning victims were 22-year-old Larry Cauley, of Suffield, Conn., who died June 19, and 19-year-old Kevin J. Major, of Westfield, who died July 11.

Prior to those fatalities, the last reported Congamond drowning was in August 2000, when an 18-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., died in South Pond, the second-largest pond. Before that, a 33-year-old West Suffield, Conn., man died after drowning in Middle Pond in October 1994.

Motorists said they can't understand why barriers were erected on the 1,576-foot-long bridge and then construction stopped on the $10 million project.

Repair and painting on the South End Bridge have been delayed, after a problem with fabricating a key part, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The bridge, located on Route 5 over the Connecticut River between Agawam and Springfield, is currently down to one lane in each direction.

Motorists have called a local state senator and written to The Republican, saying they can't understand why barriers were erected on the 1,576-foot-long bridge and then construction stopped on the $10 million project.

“The South End Bridge from Springfield to Agawam has not had workers on it for two months and yet the barriers are still up both ways, creating inconvenient traffic congestion,” wrote Andrew E. Skroback Jr., a financial adviser in West Springfield, early this month. “Why?”

The Republican photo by Michael S. Gordon View of the South End bridge from the Agawam side.

Another motorist said that it is disturbing to see the traffic backed up at the bridge, also called the Julia B. Buxton Bridge, especially given the fact that traffic is currently heavier than normal due to the Big E.

“Why do these people get contracts and then move on to another job?” the person wrote to the newspaper. “They should be required to do the repairs once they tie up the bridge.”

Michael Verseckes, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, said the bridge is being painted and undergoing other repairs.

Verseckes said there was “an unexpected mishap” with the fabrication of an expansion joint, which allow bridges to be slightly flexible during periods of extreme heat and cold. Verseckes said a new expansion joint is being custom made, but he could not say how long this would take. He said the problem occurred on the ramp on the Agawam side, not the bridge itself.

“The barriers are still up because of the work that has occurred along the sides of the bridge, done in anticipation of the installation of the expansion joint,” he said. “We appreciate the area neighbors' tolerance of this delay and we're working to get the project back up and running.”

Verseckes said painting may have occurred under the bridge during the past two months and may not have been seen by people.

In June, Verseckes said work involving the Springfield side of the bridge should be done by next summer. Work on the Agawam side should be completed this fall.

He said he couldn't immediately determine how the delay would affect that schedule.
He said the barrels are necessary to safely guide traffic over the bridge and can't just be taken down.

Sen. James T. Welch, a West Springfield Democrat, said the delay is frustrating, especially for people who use the bridge each day. He said the state is at the mercy of the manufacturer of the expansion joint and he does not blame the state for the delay.

“They are doing everything they can to help the situation,” he said.

Welch said his office has been contacted by some people asking about the project.

The bridge-painting work is being done by the Michigan-based Atsalis Brothers Painting. According to that company’s website, the project involves approximately 500,000 square feet to be painted.

Work on the Springfield ramp area is being done by David G. Roach & Sons of Ware and work on the Agawam side is being done by MIG Corp. of Acton, according to a June article in The Republican.

Springfield's violent crime rate was slightly higher in 2010 than in 2009 and 2008, but it was lower than any year from 1987 to 2007.

Staff photo by Greg SaulmonSpringfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet responds to questions about the city's 2010 crime rate during a meeting with city councilor Thomas Ashe, who chairs the city's Public Health and Safety subcommittee. To view the full data set compiled during the reporting of this article, click here.

SPRINGFIELD – Here are two ways of looking at this city’s violent crime rate for 2010:

The rate was so high that Springfield deserves to be ranked the 12th-most-dangerous city in America.

Or, the rate was so low that 2010 was among the least violent years the city has seen since 1985.

The FBI this week released its Crime in the United States, 2010 publication, an annual compendium of statistics from the agency’s Uniform Crime Report program.

The report draws data from roughly 17,000 law-enforcement agencies across the nation; the data include totals for violent and property crimes as well as individual offenses within those two categories. Also provided are the numbers of offenses per 100,000 residents for the various crimes.

But, as the FBI’s “Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics: Their Proper Use” explains, “The FBI does not analyze, interpret, or publish crime statistics based solely on a single-dimension interagency ranking.” Moreover, the report does not present its statistics in a ranked format.

Still, despite the FBI’s standard 794-word “Caution Against Ranking,” the use of the Uniform Crime Report data to compile annual “Most Violent” or “Most Dangerous” cities lists is a favorite sport of media outlets, lifestyle websites and tourism offices, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.

Springfield found itself on just such a list earlier this year, when the FBI released its initial data for cities with populations over 100,000.

In May, the online magazine Business Insider posted an article, “The Most Dangerous Cities in America.” A follow-up post, “The New Most Dangerous Cities in America,” appeared this week in the wake of release of the complete FBI report.

Citing Springfield’s rate of 1,354 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2010 vs. a national average of 404, Business Insider cited the City of Homes as America’s 12th most dangerous – just ahead of Cleveland and just behind Buffalo, N.Y.

An analysis of Springfield’s Uniform Crime Report data from 1985 to 2010 shows, however, that changes in its violent crime rate are largely in line with national trends, which in 2010 saw the country’s estimated violent crime total fall to 13.2 percent below its 2006 level and 13.4 percent below its 2001 level.

While Springfield’s violent crime rate in 2010 was slightly higher than in 2008 and 2009, it was lower than any year from 1987 to 2007.

Springfield’s five years with the highest violent-crime rates since 1985 are, beginning with the highest rate, 1997, 1992, 1998, 1996 and 2001. The five years with the lowest rates are 1986, 1985, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The Republican | Bob Rich

Crime in Springfield: The long view

In the late 1980s, John M. Delaney was a young narcotics officer in a city where the outbreak of the crack epidemic – and an ensuing wave of addiction-fueled street crime – changed the nature of police work forever.

Back then, driving through the Old Hill neighborhood on his way to work at 6 a.m., Delaney remembers how he would routinely see two dozen people peddling crack on Quincy Street.

The drug was so addictive that people were spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to stay high – and they’d do anything to support the habit. Those on the supply-side of the equation resorted to equally desperate measures: when a customer rolled up to a hot corner, fistfights broke out among dealers, Delaney recounts.

By the mid-1990s, lucrative markets for crack and heroin flourished in the city, according to Delaney, who is now a sergeant and serves as an aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

Heroin was selling for $20 to 30 in Springfield back then, Delaney said, while the same amount sold for $5 in New York City. Eventually, the big city dealers wanted to stop being middlemen and came to Springfield to take over the drug trade; a new wave of violence followed.

“Springfield was 15 times worse than it is now,” said Delaney during a June interview. “Drugs were out of control. It was crazy with crime.”

Speaking strictly in terms of the FBI Uniform Crime Report data, crime in Springfield wasn’t exactly 15 times worse -- but the numbers during the 1990s and the late 1980s are significantly higher than today’s.

For example, Springfield’s violent crime rate in 2010 was less than half the rate for the city’s 25-year peak in 1997, when there were 3,075.5 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Despite 1997’s relatively low number for murder and non-negligent manslaughter (nine), a spike in aggravated assaults pushed the total number of violent offenses to a record level in the city’s recent history.

Property-crime rates have followed a similar trajectory, approaching levels in recent years that haven’t been reported since the mid-1980s. The 2010 rate of 4,890.7 offenses per 100,000 residents represents a slight drop from 2009 and the second-lowest rate since 1986.

Particularly dramatic is the city’s long-term drop in auto theft. According to FBI data, Springfield saw 3,770 cases of motor vehicle theft in 1993; the 2010 total was 872.

Perception vs. reality

Such numbers, of course, offer no comfort to victims of crime, and Delaney acknowledges that policing in Springfield still has its challenges.

“Do we have a crime problem? Yeah, (but) every city in the Northeast does,” he said. Lists which attempt to measure Springfield’s “dangerousness” relative to other cities don’t reflect the reality of daily life here, Delaney cautioned.

“People in business that read that – and they’re thinking of investing here – they’re not going to choose to come here,“ he said.

The true usefulness of the Uniform Crime Report is not that it allows a comparison among cities but that it provides a means for an individual city to track itself at different points in time.

“The geography of a city, the amount of urbanization, the weather, there are so many things that make comparisons between cities very difficult,” explains Christopher Kudlac, an associate professor of criminology at Westfield State University.

“But, what the (Uniform Crime Report) really is intended for – and why law enforcement and public officials should look at (it),” he said, “ is that it’s a good measure of a trend within the city.” For example, if it shows crime increasing in a city, “Well, that says something – that the police are noticing or detecting more crime,” Kudlac said.

The professor calls the Uniform Crime Report a “flawed but consistent” measure of police activity, capturing data only for those offenses actually reported to a law enforcement agency. And, offenses reported to police, he tells his students, are only one measure of the actual level of crime in a community.

Another flaw in the Business Insider list, Kudlac says, is that while the Uniform Crime Report measures violent crime rates, it doesn’t actually measure “danger.” A true ranking of America’s “most dangerous” cities, he said, would need to factor in a number of variables beyond violent crime.

“The reality is (that) there are many more things that are dangerous to us,” Kudlac said. “Driving your car. The toxins in the air. The steroids in the foods we eat. But, crime is something that draws headlines; crime is something that’s the number one focus of the media.”

Kevin Lincoln, a writer at Business Insider, noted that the “Most Dangerous Cities” feature included an introductory page to clarify the criteria used in the ranking and how its writers qualified use of the word “dangerous.”
“The FBI’s information covers a spectrum of violent crimes, and so dangerous seemed to be an applicable qualifier as well,” Lincoln wrote in an email response to an inquiry about its ranking. The presentation, made in an online slideshow format which allowed readers to click from the 25th city, Elizabeth, N.J., through to “most dangerous” city, Flint, Mich., “seemed the most efficient way to present the information in a context that made the report palatable and informative to our readers,” he wrote.

FBI spokesman Carter still takes exception to the list.

“We feel that these rankings are merely a quick choice by the data user,” Carter said, echoing the language in the "Caution Against Ranking". “They provide no insights into the causes of crime.”

Such rankings also fail to offer a window into what’s behind changes in crime rates, the FBI spokesman said, offering an example of a city that has two murders one year but records six in the next. Unless you know all of the details about those incidents, it’s difficult to say how the nature of crime has changed in the city.

“Just using the rate per 100,000, it’s too simplistic,” he said.

Despite its flaws, the Business Insider list generated a stir in the city and prompted responses from several municipal leaders.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said he wasn’t going to try to argue about the ranking or spin the numbers on his own, even though he took exception because the ranking was not compiled by the FBI.

“You’re not going to get any spin from me,” he told The Republican when the ranking emerged in May. “The city is facing a challenge, and we are continuing to conquer it.”

School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe, who at the time was a contender in the city’s 2011 mayoral race, seized on the ranking as a possible campaign issue: “We must look to new ways to stop crime in the city,“ she told The Republican. “We need a mayor that is a leader that is not going to settle for excuses, and this is inexcusable.“ She was ousted from the race in Tuesday’s preliminary vote.

Staff photo by Greg SaulmonSpringfield City Councilor Thomas Ashe, who chairs the city's Public Health and Safety Subcommittee, listens during a meeting with Springfield Police commissioner William J. Fitchet about the city's 2010 crime rate.

The list drew some interest from the City Council, too.

On July 14, Councilor Thomas Ashe sat down with the police commissioner to discuss the ranking. Ashe, who chairs the council’s Public Health & Safety Committee, wanted to discuss what the numbers mean to a lay person and what they might mean for the council’s future decisions on funding for the Police Department.

“My comment would be (that) there’s a lot of things that contribute to the crime rate, and it isn’t always just raw data,” Fitchet said as the meeting began. He cited the FBI’s “Caution Against Ranking,” reading nearly the entire statement.

“The FBI promulgates these numbers with this cautionary note so that people don’t go into a panic mode,” Fitchet said.

Ashe said he’d gained a better sense of the numbers as a result of the meeting. “I know sometimes (the figures) are misleading, as the commissioner alluded to, but, they stand for something. And, so I wanted to get my arms around what, exactly, do these numbers mean. And, again, I think a lot of it goes to truth in reporting. This is what we’re up against. We’re not hiding from it.”

Added Ashe: “More often than not perception is reality. So, if the public feels, ‘Well, that’s a dangerous city,’ then that’s difficult to change those judgments.”

New England's Tom Brady and Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick will square off when the Patriots take on the Bills at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

AP PhotoBuffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick

AP photoNew England quarterback Tom Brady

By JOHN WAWROW, AP Sports Writer

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was opening his junior year at Harvard. Receiver David Nelson was still a few months from getting his driver's license. And rookie defensive lineman Marcell Dareus was entering the eighth grade.

It was September 2003, and that's what these current Bills players were doing the last time Buffalo beat the New England Patriots.

"Ha, ha, ha. That's crazy," Dareus said, previously unaware of the Bills' dreadful past against their AFC East rival. "But now I'm with the Bills, and we're going to see if we can turn it around."

Many others have tried and miserably failed over a perennially predictable stretch in which the Patriots have been unbeatable when it comes to facing Buffalo. New England has won 15 straight since a 31-0 season-opening loss in 2003, and 20 of the past 21.

So what in the name of Sam Adams returning an interception for a touchdown in Buffalo's last victory over New England makes the Bills believe Sunday's outcome might be different?

"We have a lot of confidence," said linebacker Chris Kelsay, one of four players left on the Bills to have enjoyed a win over the Patriots. "You hear a lot about how they've had our number. That's fine and dandy to the outsiders. But we have a lot of confidence with guys in this room, and we're not going to lay down for anybody. We're preparing to win this game."

For a franchise that's not made the playoffs in 11 seasons, the Bills have newfound confidence. It stems from a surprising 2-0 start, sparked by a blistering offense that's produced 79 points and coming off a game in which it scored touchdowns on five consecutive second-half drives in rallying to a 38-35 win over Oakland.

The Patriots (2-0) have confidence, too. And more important, they also have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, a coach and quarterback tandem that's flustered and overwhelmed far more opponents than Buffalo over a decade of dominance.

And no offense, Bills fans, Brady doesn't feel your pain.

"We don't feel sorry for anybody," Brady said. "We're trying to go out there and win. That's what our job is. And over the past whatever, 10 years, we've done that."

History aside, Brady's not overlooking the Bills and neither is Belichick. The coach maintains a one-game-at-a-time focus while going out of his way to ensure to not provide opponents any bulletin-board material.

So there's no point asking what Belichick thinks of the opening betting line favoring the Patriots by 9 points.

"I can honestly tell you I never even look at it. When the game starts it's 0-0," he said. "There's no favorite. There's no underdog. The team that plays the best is the team that's going to win."

That team has usually been the Patriots.

The 15-game win streak is the NFL's third longest, and five short of matching the league-record 20-game string Miami had over Buffalo in the 1970s.

New England's beaten Buffalo in every fashion. The Patriots won coming from behind — there was a 25-24 victory to open the 2009 season in which New England scored twice in the final 2:06 to overcome an 11-point deficit. And the Patriots won blowouts, the biggest a 56-10 prime-time victory in November 2007.

Add it up and the Patriots have outscored the Bills 435-194 over that 15-game stretch.

And Brady, who's thrown 39 of his 268 career touchdown passes against Buffalo, is showing no signs of slowing. Brady's leading the league with 940 yards passing and seven touchdowns, and guiding an offense that's produced 1,126 yards.

Coming off a 35-21 win over San Diego, the Patriots have set a franchise record by scoring 30 points in 10 straight games. That's four short of matching the NFL mark set by the St. Louis Rams in 1999-2000.

The production on offense has been key in hiding the deficiencies of a young defense that's very susceptible against the pass. The Pats have allowed 762 yards passing, including 416 against Chad Henne in a season-opening 38-24 win at Miami.

That could well work in the Bills' favor.

Buffalo's longtime popgun offense is starting to click under Fitzpatrick. He's a seventh-year journeyman leading a self-described "No-Name" offense that's off to a prolific start.

Fitzpatrick's seven touchdowns are tied with Brady and Detroit's Matthew Stafford for the league lead. The offense has scored 10 touchdowns in two games, something it didn't do until Week 6 as part of an 0-8 start last year.

Beating the Kansas City Chiefs and Raiders to open the season is one thing. If the Bills intend to show they've arrived as contenders, beating the Patriots presents an indelible opportunity.

"This is the greatest opportunity we'll have," running back Fred Jackson said of the chance to finally beat New England. "They're a great team, but we feel like we're a great team. ... It will be a good test and a measuring stick for us."

The large shark, which weighed more than 300 pounds, washed up on a Nahant beach during Saturday's high tide.

New England Aquarium

NAHANT (AP) — Officials said a dead, 9-foot-long blue shark washed ashore during Saturday's high tide in this small, peninsula town jutting into Massachusetts Bay north of Boston.

New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said the adult male shark was spotted Saturday morning by beachgoers in Nahant. Workers with the state Department of Conservation & Recreation used a bucket loader to remove the 300-pound carcass from the beach, LaCasse said.

The shark had a small cut on its lower jaw, where it might have been hooked, LaCasse said. A biologist said many sharks can die after being hooked because of shock from a long fight.

Experts speculated that the shark probably died miles from the coast, but was swept ashore by the tide.

The blue shark, which isn't an endangered or threatened species, is the most common large shark off the New England coast, according to New England aquarium officials.

He said blacks need to have faith in the future -- and understand that the fight won't be won if they don't rally to his side.

View full sizePresident Barack Obama delivers his remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Phoenix Awards in Washington Saturday Sept. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By MARK S. SMITH

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a fiery summons to an important voting bloc, President Barack Obama told blacks on Saturday to quit crying and complaining and "put on your marching shoes" to follow him into battle for jobs and opportunity.

And though he didn't say it directly, for a second term, too.

Obama's speech to the annual awards dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus was his answer to increasingly vocal griping from black leaders that he's been giving away too much in talks with Republicans -- and not doing enough to fight black unemployment, which is nearly double the national average at 16.7 percent.

"It gets folks discouraged. I know. I listen to some of y'all," Obama told an audience of some 3,000 in a Washington convention center.

But he said blacks need to have faith in the future -- and understand that the fight won't be won if they don't rally to his side.

"I need your help," Obama said.

The president will need black turnout to match its historic 2008 levels if he's to have a shot at winning a second term, and Saturday's speech was a chance to speak directly to inner-city concerns.

He acknowledged blacks have suffered mightily because of the recession, and are frustrated that the downturn is taking so long to reverse. "So many people are still hurting. So many people are barely hanging on," he said, then added: "And so many people in this city are fighting us every step of the way."

But Obama said blacks know all too well from the civil rights struggle that the fight for what is right is never easy.

"Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes," he said, his voice rising as applause and cheers mounted. "Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'. We are going to press on. We have work to do."

Topping the to-do list, he said, is getting Congress to the pass jobs bill he sent to Capitol Hill two weeks ago.

Obama said the package of payroll tax cuts, business tax breaks and infrastructure spending will benefit 100,000 black-owned businesses and 20 million African-American workers. Republicans have indicated they're open to some of the tax measures -- but oppose his means of paying for it: hiking taxes on top income-earners and big business.

But at times, Obama also sounded like he was discussing his own embattled tenure.

"The future rewards those who press on," he said. "I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on."

Caucus leaders remain fiercely protective of the nation's first African-American president, but in recent weeks they've been increasingly vocal in their discontent -- especially over black joblessness.

"If Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House," the caucus chairman, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, recently told McClatchy Newspapers.

Like many Democratic lawmakers, caucus members were dismayed by Obama's concessions to the GOP during the summer's talks on raising the government's borrowing limit.

Cleaver famously called the compromise deal a "sugar-coated Satan sandwich."

But Cleaver said his members also are keeping their gripes in check because "nobody wants to do anything that would empower the people who hate the president."

Still, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., caused a stir last month by complaining that Obama's Midwest bus tour had bypassed black districts. She told a largely black audience in Detroit that the caucus is "supportive of the president, but we're getting tired."

Last year, Obama addressed the same dinner and implored blacks to get out the vote in the midterm elections because Republicans were preparing to "turn back the clock."

What followed was a Democratic rout that Obama acknowledged as a "shellacking."

Where blacks had turned out in droves to help elect him in 2008, there was a sharp drop-off two years later.

Some 65 percent of eligible blacks voted in 2008, compared with a 2010 level that polls estimate at between 37 percent and 40 percent. Final census figures for 2010 are not yet available, and it's worth noting off-year elections typically draw far fewer voters.

This year's caucus speech came as Obama began cranking up grass-roots efforts across the Democratic spectrum.

It also fell on the eve of a trip to the West Coast that will combine salesmanship for the jobs plan he sent to Congress this month and re-election fundraising.

Obama was leaving Sunday morning for Seattle, where two money receptions were planned, with two more to follow in the San Francisco area.

On Monday, Obama is holding a town meeting at the California headquarters of LinkedIn, the business networking website, before going on to fundraisers in San Diego and Los Angeles and a visit Tuesday to a Denver-area high school to highlight the school renovation component of the jobs package.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is releasing a letter to the Federal Trade Commission seeking an investigation.

By MICHAEL GORMLEY

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The OnStar automobile communication service used by 6 million Americans maintains its two-way connection with a customer even after the service is discontinued, while reserving the right to sell data from that connection.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York says that's a blatant invasion of privacy and is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. But OnStar says former customers can stop the two-way transmission, and no driving data of customers has been shared or sold.

"OnStar is attempting one of the most brazen invasions of privacy in recent memory," said Schumer, a Democrat. "I urge OnStar to abandon."

But the General Motors Corp. OnStar service says customers are thoroughly informed of the new practice. If a customer says he or she doesn't want to have data collected after service is ended, OnStar disconnects the tracking.

And although OnStar reserves the right to share or sell data on customers' speed, location, use of seat belts and other practices, a spokesman says it hasn't done so and doesn't plan to.

"We apologize for creating any confusion about our terms and conditions," said Joanne Finnor, vice president of subscriber services. "We want to make sure we are as clear with our customers as possible, but it's apparent that we have failed to do this. ... We will continue to be open to their suggestions and concerns."

A week ago, OnStar changed its policy and began continuing the connection for ex-customers unless they asked for it to be discontinued.

Finnor noted keeping the two-communication active for former customers could someday allow for emergency messages to be sent even to ex-customers about severe weather or evacuations. The open line could also allow OnStar to alert drivers about warranty information or recalls, she said.

Schumer said he isn't persuaded. He said customers shouldn't have to "opt out" of the tracking after they end service. He accuses OnStar of actively deceiving customers.

Schumer is announcing the effort Sunday by releasing a letter to the Federal Trade Commission seeking an investigation.

OnStar charges about $199 a year for basic service and $299 a year for service that includes navigation aid.

This is the third drowning at Congamond Lakes this summer and the second drowning of a Chicopee resident.

File photo by Manon MirabelliAuthorities have recovered the body of a 44-year-old man who drowned in the Middle Pond section of Congamond Lakes on Saturday afternoon.

SOUTHWICK - Police have confirmed the person who drowned in a boating accident on the Congamond Lakes is a 44-year-old Chicopee man.

Dongsoo Kim jumped into the water around noon on Saturday to rescue an 8-year-old girl who had fallen overboard.

Kim was operating the boat and two other people were passengers. He made a turn in the lake and the child accidentally fell out. He stopped immediately and dove into the water to rescue the child, Southwick Police said.

Police were uncertain if the 8-year-old was related to Kim but other reports said she was his daughter.

"The operator of the boat dove underneath the water and wasn't seen again," the police statement said.

Other nearby boaters rescued the child but could not find Kim. Later that evening divers and boat operators from the Southwick Police Department and the Massachusetts Environmental Police recovered the body of the man, police said.

The drowning remains under investigation, police said.

This is the third drowning this summer at Congamond Lakes and the second drowning of a Chicopee resident this summer.

The other recent Congamond Lakes drowning victims were 22-year-old Larry Cauley, of Suffield, Conn., who died June 19, and 19-year-old Kevin J. Major, of Westfield, who died July 11.

Also on July 11, Michael Candelario, 14, of Chicopee died after jumping into the Chicopee River. He had just finished his freshman year at Chicopee High School. The drowning was ruled an accident.

Romney won 50.1 percent of the 681 votes cast compared to 16.8 percent for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

View full sizeRepublican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney addresses the Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — Michigan native Mitt Romney rolled over Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the rest of his Republican presidential rivals in a Michigan straw poll on Sunday, reinforcing a favorite son status that could make it tough for anyone else to win the state's GOP primary.

It was the second day of bad news for Perry, who lost to businessman Herman Cain in a Florida straw poll Saturday before heading to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan. Perry's second-place finish in Florida came just days after he faltered in a debate in Orlando, Fla. Romney came in third there, although he isn't officially competing in straw polls.

More than 1,600 elected officials and party regulars attended Michigan's three-day conference, and state Republican Chairman Bobby Schostak said it's no surprise that the former Massachusetts governor did so well in Sunday's poll.

His father, George Romney, headed American Motors before becoming Michigan governor in the 1960s. And many people in the conference audience that Mitt Romney addressed Saturday night said they liked his similar mix of experience in the public and private sectors.

"His roots are here, they're strong, and he's the one to beat," Schostak said.

He thinks most of the presidential candidates will compete in Michigan, despite Romney's front-runner status. Candidates can win a share of delegates even if they don't win the primary.

Perry assured the party chairman Saturday that he'll spend lots of time in the state, among several that will hold Feb. 28 presidential contests right after the traditional early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — hold theirs.

"I think you'll see four or five candidates campaigning here," Schostak told reporters. "They'll be here often."

Michigan Republicans are holding a Nov. 9 presidential debate, but haven't announced who will be participating.

In the straw poll, Romney won 50.1 percent of the 681 votes cast compared to 16.8 percent for Perry. Both men gave separate speeches Saturday to the activists gathered for their biennial conference, with Perry winning some supporters but Romney clearly the overwhelming favorite. Michigan gave Romney his only primary win in the 2008 presidential contest before he pulled out of the race once it became clear Arizona Sen. John McCain would win the nomination.

Cain got 8.5 percent, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul got 7.7 percent. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann received 4 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won 3.5 percent and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 3.4 percent. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman got 2 percent, while Michigan Rep. Thad McCotter, who dropped out of the race Thursday, came in at under 1 percent with just five votes.

Straw poll voters also chose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as their favorite to be the party's vice presidential nominee. He got 23 percent of the 481 votes cast, while Cain received 14 percent, Gingrich got 13 percent and Bachmann received 12 percent.

The poll was sponsored by the National Journal Hotline and National Association of Home Builders.

Those who "adopted" soldiers were united with their "adoptees" at the party and fund-raiser for Wounded Warriors.

Staff Photo by David MolnarLiz Gove, left, of Danville, Vt., who adopted a soldier serving in Afghanistan, wins a raffle at a "Welcome Home" chicken barbecue celebration for the 181st Infantry Scout Sniper Platoon at the Knights of Columbus in Ware on Saturday. Gove is shown here receiving a prize from Kathy Deschamps. The platoon returned home last month.

WARE – A year-long infantry patrol in Kabul can be lonesome any way you slice it.

But, with few family or friends sending mail or care packages, homesickness can be overwhelming.

That’s why a military mom from Ware began an adopt-a-soldier program following her son’s first tour in Afghanistan in 2001, just weeks after the twin towers came down.

“They were some of the first boots on the ground .¤.¤. We’d sometimes go months without hearing from him. It was awful,” Ronnie McAvoy said of her eldest son, Greg.

When she did hear from her son, then 21, McAvoy learned that he and his light infantry outfit needed baby wipes because there was nowhere to bathe in the rugged mountains, and socks because the nights were cold.

A small town boy, family and friends rallied around Greg McAvoy, who soon received pallets of letters and goods. Others in his platoon received nothing.

“When the mail only comes every couple of weeks and there’s nothing in there for you, it can be pretty bad,” said Greg McAvoy, among two-dozen members of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 1st 181 Infantry Scout Sniper Platoon who attended a welcome-home party at the Knights of Columbus on Saturday. The unit is based in Worcester.

Included in the group was Steven Grasso, 26, of North Andover, who won a Purple Heart Award after taking a piece of shrapnel in the leg when a suicide bomber attacked the gate he was guarding against insurgents.

Grasso said it is too soon to tell whether he will sign on for another tour. He is adjusting to feeling safe on U.S. soil again.

Ronnie McAvoy connected several of her friends and military supporters to “adopt” a soldier in her son’s unit during his last tour. They arrived home about a month ago.

Carol Ducey, of Ware, said she frequently sent letters and care packages to 22-year-old Adam Flaherty, of Marshfield, a medic in McAvoy’s platoon.

“I sent a bunch of pillows, snacks .¤.¤l whatever he needed,” said Ducey. “It was like having your own child over there. I’d watch the television for news about where they were and what they were doing.”

Flaherty said Ducey provided a little bit of home when he was a world away.

“Dunkin’ Donuts coffee was always good,” said Flaherty.

The event included live music, a raffle and a small charge for dinner. All proceeds will be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Police increased its enforcement after other busy weekends.

Republican file photo

AMHERST – Police filed charges against 132 people between Friday and Saturday nights and took 61 of them into custody over the weekend.

Most of the violations were alcohol-related, with the majority being either minors in possession of alcohol or for breaking the open container law. There were also a number for violating the town noise ordinance with loud stereos and parties. Most people charged with noise violations or with more minor offenses were not taken to jail but will be summonsed to court late, police said.

Police did step up enforcement this weekend because of problems that were reported the previous few weekends mostly from student parties. Many of the arrests were made by police who spotted violations on patrol rather than actual complaints from residents, police said.

The worst problems with parties and violations happen in September and in the spring when the school year is ending, police said.

"Pakistan is terrorism itself. They have made a tremendous miscalculation," said Graham.

View full sizeSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in a Sept. 14 file photo.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said Sunday that the U.S. should consider military action against Pakistan if it continues to support terrorist attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

"The sovereign nation of Pakistan is engaging in hostile acts against the United States and our ally Afghanistan that must cease," Sen. Lindsey Graham told "Fox News Sunday."

He said if experts decided that the U.S. needs to "elevate its response," he was confident there would be strong bipartisan support in Congress for such action.

Graham did not call for military action but said "all options" should be considered. He said assistance to Pakistan should be reconfigured and that the U.S. should no longer designate an amount of aid for Pakistan but have a more "transactional relationship" with the country.

"They're killing American soldiers," he said. "If they continue to embrace terrorism as a part of their national strategy, we're going to have to put all options on the table, including defending our troops."

In testimony last week to Graham's committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency had backed extremists in planning and executing the assault on the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and a truck bomb attack that wounded 77 American soldiers. Both occurred this month.

Mullen contended that the Haqqani insurgent network "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency as it undermined U.S.-Pakistan relations, already tenuous because of the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan exports violence, Mullen said, and threatens any success in the 10-year-old war.

Graham said Pakistan does cooperate with the U.S. in actions against al-Qaida. But he said the Pakistani military feels threatened by a democracy in Afghanistan and is betting that the Taliban will come back there.

"The best solution is for Pakistan to fight all forms of terrorism, embrace working with us so that we can deal with terrorism along their border, because it is the biggest threat to stability," he said. "But Pakistan is terrorism itself. They have made a tremendous miscalculation."

The fire was limited to the kitchen and caused between $15,000 and $20,000 in damages.

SPRINGFIELD – A retired firefighter kept a kitchen fire from spreading through a 2-family home on 53 Hall St. Sunday.

A woman who lives across the street from the home had been cooking in her cousin’s first-floor apartment when the food caught fire and quickly spread. The neighbor on the second floor, who is a retired firefighter, used several small fire extinguishers to keep the blaze from spreading, Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the remaining flames when they arrived., he said.

The fire was limited to the kitchen and caused between $15,000 and $20,000 damage. The building is owned by YellowBrick Properties, Leger said.

Route 47 was named a National Scenic Byway in 2009. It has been a State Scenic Byway since 2000.

SOUTH HADLEY – About 40 residents gathered at Town Hall Wednesday to talk about the future of Route 47, a pastoral road with views of mountains and farmland that winds through South Hadley and Hadley.

Relax, no big changes are happening there.

Many of those attending the meeting echoed the sentiment of resident Stephen Carpenter, who said, “It’s one of the nicest spots we have, and I would hate to see something ruin it.”

Among the purposes of the meeting was to find out what people do and don’t want, and whether the town could benefit from promoting farms, recreation and tourism on the corridor.

A “management plan” for the route had been written in 1998, said Christopher Curtis of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, who organized the meeting with the help of the South Hadley Selectboard, and it was about time to update it.

For those who didn’t realize what a treasure they had in their back yard, the meeting was full of information.

Route 47 was named a National Scenic Byway in 2009. It has been a State Scenic Byway since 2000.

Other facts that might not be commonly known are that the Mount Holyoke Range is one of only two east-west mountain ranges in the country (the other is in Utah) and that South Hadley once had a stagecoach stop on Route 47.

Michael Lamontagne, tree warden for South Hadley, suggested that every school in town should take advantage of the corridor by arranging for kids to study its natural assets.

He mentioned rare plant species at Silver Maple Swamp, native brook trout at Elmer Brook and the impressive rock formation known as Titan’s Pier.

“It’s probably the best wildlife habitat in the area,” said resident June Carpenter.

Wayne Buckhaut, one of the few businesses on the route, said lack of parking was a problem along the road and proposed adding shoulders for joggers and bicyclists.

Buckhaut, who owns Cat’s Cradle, also cautioned that with more traffic comes more speed. He said there were not enough rangers to go around, and worried that an increase in hiking and other recreation might result in accidents for which the town would be held responsible.

Other suggestions that came up in the course of the meeting included discreet signage, holiday activities at the farms, more vegetable production, a bike path and an adopt-a-trail program.

The group planned to share the results of the meeting with the South Hadley Conservation Commission and with Hadley Selectmen. “The two towns should work together,” said State Representative John Scibak, who attended the meeting.

Here is a list of major municipal meetings for the coming week: Agawam Mon.- Agawam Small Business Assistance Center Board, 8:30 a.m., Town Hall. Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., Agawam Public Library. Tues.- School Committee, Roberta G. Doering School. Thu. - Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library. Amherst Mon.- Amherst Housing Authority, 4:30 p.m., 33 Kellogg Ave. Select...

Republican file photoSpringfield City Hall

Here is a list of major municipal meetings for the coming week:

Agawam

Mon.- Agawam Small Business Assistance Center Board, 8:30 a.m., Town Hall.

Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Tues.- School Committee, Roberta G. Doering School.

Thu. - Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Amherst

Mon.- Amherst Housing Authority, 4:30 p.m., 33 Kellogg Ave.

Select Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall.

Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall.

Amherst Cultural Council 7 p.m., Jones Library.

Tues.- Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, 12:30 p.m., Town Hall.

Amherst Regional School Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Wed.- Planning Board and Zoning Board Subcommittee, 5 p.m., Town Hall.
Chicopee

Mon. - License Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall

Public Safety, 6:45 p.m., City Hall

Wed. - Zoning Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall

Thurs. - Recreation Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall

Granby

Mon.- Planning Board, 7 p.m., High School.

Tues.- Board of Health, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Annex.

Energy Committee, 7 p.m., Public Safety Building.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Aldrich Hall.

Wed.- DuFresne Ad Hoc Committee, 6:15 p.m., Public Safety Building.

Greenfield

Mon.- Community Relations Committee, 6:30 p.m., 321 High St.

Greenfield School Policy Subcommittee, 6:30 p.m., 141 Davis St.

Tues.- Housing Authority, noon, 1 Elm Terrace.

Commission on Disability, 1 p.m., Town Hall.

School Negotiation Subcommittee, 4 p.m., 1 Lenox Ave.

School Building Committee, 6:30 p.m., Greenfield Public Library.

School Community outreach Committee, 7:15 p.m., 141 Davis St.

Wed.- Public Safety Commission, 6:30 p.m., 321 High St.

Thu.- Greenfield Retirement Board, 4 p.m., Town Hall.

Hadley

Tues.- Board of Health, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Wed.- Ambulance Committee, 6 p.m., Public Safety Complex

Thu.- Hadley Historical Commission, 7 p.m., Senior Center.

Hatfield

Mon.- Agricultural Advisory Committee, 7 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Tues.- Redevelopment Authority, 7 p.m., Smith Academy.

Housing Authority, 6:30 p.m., 2 School St.

Selectmen, 9 a.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Wed.- Assessors, 5:30 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Holyoke

Mon.- Fire Commission, 2 p.m., City Hall Annex, Room 204.

City Council, special meeting, 6 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Tues.- Holyoke Geriatric Authority, board of directors, 6 p.m., 45 Lower Westfield Road.

City Council Ordinance Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Planning Board and City Council Ordinance Committee, joint public hearing, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Wed.- School Building Advisory Committee, 10 a.m., Holyoke High School, 500 Beech St.

City Council Redevelopment Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Monson

Mon.- Monson Tornado Victims Relief Fund Committee, 6 p.m.,

Tues. - Board of Selectmen, 7 p.m., Hillside School.

Wed.- School Committee, 7 p.m., Quarry Hill Community School.

Board of Health, 6 p.m., Hillside School.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Hillside School.

Northampton

Mon.- Elm Street Historic District Commission, 3 p.m., City Hall.

Historical Commission, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers.

Tues.- Finance Committee, 5 p.m., Council Chambers.

Northampton Community Partnerships for Children, 5 p.m., Bridge Street School.

Wed.- Board of Public Works, 5:30 p.m., 125 Locust St.

DPW Building Committee, 5:30 p.m., 125 Locust St.

Cable Advisory Board, 5:30 p.m., City Hall.

Palmer

Mon. - Planning Board, 7 p.m., Town Building.

Town Council, 4 p.m., contract negotiations, Town Building.

Wed. - Superintendent Search Committee, 7 p.m., Palmer High School.

Thurs. - Town Council, 5 p.m., contract negotiations, Town Building.

South Hadley

Mon.- Board of Assessors, 9 a.m., Town Hall.

Tues.- Appointing Authority, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall 204.

Wed.- Traffic Sign Committee, 1 p.m., Town Hall.

Conservation Commission, 6:15 p.m., Town Hall.

School Committee, 6:30 p.m., High School Library.

Thu.- Fire District 1 Water Commissioners, 6:30 p.m., 438 Granby Road.

Springfield

Mon.- Board of Assessors, 10 a.m., Assessors board room, City Hall.

Tues.- Commission of Disability, 3 p.m., 70 Tapley St.

Taxi and Livery Commission, 3:15 p.m., Police Department, 130 Pearl St.

City Council, 7 p.m., council chambers, City Hall. Hearings.

Wed.- Springfield Food Policy Council, 2:30 p.m., Springfield Partners for Community Action, 721 State St.

Public Health Council, 6 p.m., Health Office, 95 State St.

Thurs.- City Council Special Committee on Elderly, 2 p.m., Greenleaf Community Center, 1188 Parker St.

Ad Hoc City Council School Committee, 3:30 p.m., City Hall.

Warren

Mon.- Board of Health, 8:30 a.m., Shepard Municipal Building.

Tues.- Assessors, 4 p.m., Shepard Municipal Building.

Wed.- Planning Board, 6 p.m., Shepard Municipal Building.

West Springfield

Mon.- Park and Recreation Commission, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Planning and Construction Committee, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Wed.- West Springfield Retirement Board, 7:30 a.m., Sullivan Paper Co. at 58 Progress Ave.

Planning Board, 7 p.m., municipal building.

A third person is in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Republican file photo03.09.11 | Republican file photo

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Two people were killed and a third is in critical condition following a head-on collision early Sunday.

Police are not releasing the name of one of the victims because family members have not been notified and they have not been able to identify the second victim, West Springfield Police Det. Brian Duffy said.

The accident happened at about 12:30 a.m. near 1840 Westfield St., which is also known as Route 20. The road was closed for hours after the accident, he said.

The two people who were killed and the third who was badly injured were traveling in a 1992 Honda Civic, which collided with a 2004 Nissan Pathfinder driven by one person with no passengers.

He did not have ages and genders of all of the victims.

The cause and circumstances of the accident are still under investigation by the West Springfield Police traffic bureau and are not being released yet, Duffy said.

The third passenger in the 1992 Honda Civic was brought to Baystate Medical Center where he is listed in critical condition.

The driver of the Pathfinder was also admitted to Baystate Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries, Duffy said.

No charges have been filed in the accident, but charges could be filed in the future depending on information learned during the investigation, Duffy said.

A report by the state Department of Public Health said 71 percent of hospital workers across the state received the flu vaccine and 20 percent turned it down.

The Republican file photoLynn Nicholas, the Massachusetts Hospital Association's President & CEO.

With this year’s flu season starting, the state Department of Public Health released a report this month that said 71 percent of hospital workers across the state during the 2010-2011 season received the flu vaccine and 20 percent turned it down. Vaccination could protect patients and reduce absenteeism among workers, the report said.

“Patient safety should not be optional and vaccination compliance shouldn't be optional either,” stated Lynn Nicholas, president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, which supports mandatory flu vaccines for all hospital employees, something that is not currently required.

Nicholas stated it is “unacceptable and a huge disservice to patients” for 20 percent of employees to refuse a vaccination.

Madeleine Biondolillo, director of the state health department’s bureau of healthcare safety and quality, said that even some health care workers are hampered by misconceptions or myths about the flu vaccines, believing, for example, that the shot can cause the flu. The vaccine can't cause the flu because the viruses in the shot -- which help develop antibodies -- are dead or inactive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During the 2010-2011 flu season, covering Aug. 1 of 2010 to March 31, Mercy Medical Center in Springfield documented that 49 percent of its workers received the flu vaccine, one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state for hospitals; Noble Hospital in Westfield, 56 percent; Holyoke Medical Center, 69 percent; Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, 74 percent, Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, 77 percent; Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers in Palmer, 70 percent, Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, 75 percent and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware, 78 percent, according to a report by the state Department of Public Health.

Hospitals also reported rates of employees who signed a form declining the shot, including 21 percent at Baystate Medical; Cooley Dickinson, 17 percent; Holyoke Medical Center, 28 percent; Noble, 21 percent; Wing Memorial, 14 percent; Baystate Franklin, 18 percent; Baystate Mary Lane, 21 percent.

Leonard Pansa, senior vice president of human resources for the Sisters of Providence Health System, the parent for Mercy Medical Center, said the hospital was disappointed in last year's vaccination rate among employees and realizes that it needs to take steps to improve. The health system will be more active in offering the vaccine to its 3,100 employees and documenting those who refuse it, according to Pansa.

Mercy reported that 4.3 percent of employees refused the vaccination, but the hospital did not account for 47 percent of its employees, the state report said.

Mercy’s goal is to achieve a 90 percent vaccination rate among employees, he said. Mercy also wants to be in “100 percent compliance” with state rules, he said.

Dr. Charles C. Cavagnaro III, president and CEO of Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers, said the state should mandate flu vaccines for hospital workers across the state, while allowing for religious and medical exceptions. He said people need to take infectious diseases more seriously.

File photoDr. Charles E. Cavagnaro III, MD, President and CEO of Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers.

“We have to encourage people to get vaccinated,” Dr. Cavagnaro said. “We have to lead by example.”

He said that more education is a key for boosting rates of immunization.

“Here’s an easy thing to do that would minimize people getting the flu because of their exposure to a hospital worker who is potentially shedding the virus,” Dr. Cavagnaro said.

Mary E. Kelleher, vice president of human resources for the Holyoke Medical Center, said the hospital is working on ideas to make it easier for employees to get a flu vaccine and to improve the hospital’s vaccination rate.

The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Boston are requiring flu vaccines as a condition of employment for personnel who have contact with patients, but Kelleher said the Holyoke Medical Center is not moving in that direction.

“We do respect people’s individual rights to make a decision about whether or not it is something they want to do,” she said.

According to state regulations, hospitals must offer free flu vaccines to all employees and document those who receive it, either inside or outside the hospital, and those who decline it. The regulations permit religious and medical exceptions. The rules cover doctors, nurses and therapists but also some employees who may not provide direct patient care.

Biondolillo, the director at the state public health department, said vaccination rates among hospital workers should be 95 to 96 percent and rejection rates should be 2 to 3 percent. The state currently is recommending that hospitals achieve greater than 90 percent vaccination rates for the flu season that just started.

Despite the reporting requirements, about 9 percent of workers in the state were not captured in the hospital counts.

Biondolillo said state officials will look at possibly mandating flu vaccines in the future, but currently believe that hospitals can achieve high vaccination rates with leadership and education. She pointed to Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, which dramatically increased its rate to 96 percent from 74 percent after hospital leaders made the issue a priority.

“Any institution can do that,” Biondolillo said.

Officials at Baystate Health declined a request for an interview and issued a prepared statement.

“Baystate Health strongly supports employee flu vaccination and makes vaccine readily available to employees, free of charge,” said Mary Ellen Scales, director of infection control for Baystate Medical Center. “Our goal is to get as close to 100 percent employee flu vaccination as possible and we are working toward that goal.”

Linda Riley, manager of infection prevention at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, said the hospital is encouraged that it saw an increase in its vaccination rate among employees from the prior year.

“We hope that our continued education efforts will lead to an even higher percentage of staff taking the initiative to get a flu shot,” Riley said in a statement.

Thanks to a powerful push for locally grown food, wheat's Renaissance is underway in the Pioneer Valley.

New England was America’s heart of wheat production in colonial days, but as infrastructure expanded in the Midwest in the 1800s, the industry flocked away from the East Coast.

Now, thanks to a powerful push for locally grown food, wheat’s Renaissance is underway in the Pioneer Valley.

The country’s principal cereal crop and the third most produced in the world behind corn and rice, wheat is milled into flour and ends up in most food staples. It’s also used as a feed for livestock and a source of fuel.

In recent years, businesses and consumers have been turning to locally grown wheat to reduce their carbon footprints by nixing long transportation routes and to support local farmers.

But flour from local wheat can carry huge price tags, which keeps businesses from putting both feet on-board the local grain train.

Some buy a small percentage of their wheat directly from Upinngil Farm in Gill, where Clifford C. Hatch has been growing for 10 years. Wheat goes for a national average of about $7.66 per 60-pound bushel, but Hatch sells his for around $60 and his customers have to mill it into flour themselves.

Hatch said more and more people are getting the tools to mill the wheat “to try things out and do things on their own.”

The higher price is the result of several factors, including the difficulty of growing wheat in a climate so moist, as well as the relatively high value of the land and low return on an investment in wheat production, keeping competition scarce. But, more simply, people are willing to pay Hatch’s price.

“It adds to their image. It makes them look like good guys,” he said.

Naturally, the products made from his wheat are more expensive than others. Hatch said he has to sell at “organic prices” and businesses pass along the cost to the consumer, charging “an arm and a leg for a loaf of bread.”

Bread Euphoria in the Haydenville section of Williamsburg uses Hatch’s wheat only for its Granary Bread, which costs $5.85 for a 1-1/2 pound loaf. It is among their most expensive breads, but co-owner Geri Pollard said it’s popular.

“We just had one woman buy eight loaves. I guess she’s going home to freeze them,” she said Wednesday.

Her customers are “really supportive” of the local food movement, she said. “There’s a lot going on. ... It’s gaining a lot of momentum.”

Hatch said he sometimes would like to raise his prices for his own purposes, but is afraid of scaring away business.

It’s too expensive for many businesses to use exclusively local wheat, so they also employ commodity flour, the wheat for which has seen price hikes of its own recently.

This year’s United Nations food price index suggests a rise in global prices can be tied to heavy flooding in Australia, making exportation difficult, and inhospitable weather in some areas of the U.S.

National prices hit $10.50 per bushel in March 2008 and have fallen 23 percent since then, but are still almost double their July 2006 price of $3.88 per bushel, according to the USDA.

Philosophy drives the consumption of local wheat, Hatch said. People want to eat healthy, natural food, instead of what he calls the “industrial waste” found in supermarkets, while limiting their impact on the environment and buttressing their neighbors’ enterprises.

“Our customers are all people who really care,” he said. Some consumers have challenged themselves not to eat anything grown outside a 50- or 100-mile radius from their homes, which means lots of business for local farms.

“It takes a certain amount of commitment and a certain amount of affluence,” he said.

Quality is not always perfect, though. One year, everything made with his wheat tasted faintly like cinnamon, he said. This was due to weeds and debris in the field rubbing off their flavors, even though they were separated out and the wheat was fit to be eaten.

Ethanol production also has driven up the price of wheat as farmers are switching to more profitable corn crops. Biofuel research and implementation has played a role in taking wheat off customer’s kitchen tables, instead trying to put it into their gas tanks.

The Institute for Massachusetts Biofuels Research has shunned edible crops, preferring to work with grass, biomass, wheat straws and other plants and plant parts not fit for human consumption.

On a laboratory scale, its 30 researchers have found ways to produce fuel for $2 a gallon without the need to replace storage and transportation infrastructure or upgrade vehicle engines.

The fuel needs to be studied further to make sure they don’t corrode engines, but the federal government has begun the push toward non-edible crops in biofuels. The energy, agriculture and defense departments have pledged a combined $510 million for research over the next three years.

Four Star Farms in Northfield, run by the L’Etoile family, sells 50-pound bags of flour for $1 to $1.60 per pound. Some bigger companies sell the same size bags for $20 to $30.

The price keeps some businesses at bay, despite free delivery and the level of support and interest from consumers, said Elizabeth M. L’Etoile.

People pay extra for the freshness and quality, she said. The family has absolute oversight of the growing, harvesting and production. A feeling of security comes with buying from a local farm, she said.

“A good deal of it comes down to knowing your farmer and their practices,” she said. “We know what we’ve grown and we know how we grew it.”

Four Star Farms lost its entire corn harvest due to heavy winds caused by Tropical Storm Irene, but its wheat harvest was already in. Heavy rains earlier in the year threatened the wheat, but the L’Etoile family’s luck held.

“We did have some slight rain damage that caused some of our wheat to lodge ... but we did not get any flooding,” she said. Lodging is the term for stalks falling over, which can decrease the yield and lead to the spread of crop diseases.

Hatch said Irene didn’t do any damage to his wheat operation, either, but rain downgraded his crop’s usual quality.

“Last year, we had a really dry year and our crop was marvelous quality,” he said. “This year, it was different.”

Regardless, the desire for local wheat is palpable and L'Etoile said, "It's been a wonderful opportunity (for) teaching the community about whole grains."

"I've got people that care about their diet that buy all their grains here," said Hatch. "It's always been my mission to produce really healthy food."

A woman's parked car was hit by gunfire around 1 a.m. Monday on Worthington Street, and police believe they have recovered the vehicle from which the gunshots were fired.

SPRINGFIELD -- City detectives were questioning a witness and poised to make an arrest Monday morning in connection with an earlier shooting on Worthington Street.

No one was injured when a car parked on Worthington Street was struck by gunfire from a moving vehicle around 1 a.m. Monday, according to police reports.

Springfield Police Lt. James Rosso did not have much information about the incident, but he confirmed that the car authorities believe was used in the shooting was recovered in the Brightwood section of the North End.

Rosso, interviewed around 3 a.m., said detectives were speaking with the owner whose car was hit by gunfire and might soon make an arrest in the case.

In the Brightwood neighborhood, a crowd of people near Plainfield and Washburn streets watched as officers guarded the vehicle allegedly used in the shooting. Multiple police cruisers waited for a tow truck to arrive and impound the car, which was expected to be processed for evidence.

It was not immediately clear how many shots were fired on Worthington Street, or if the woman whose car was targeted knows the individual, or individuals, who opened fire on her vehicle.

Additional information will be posted on MassLive.com as it becomes available.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate North End location where police recovered a car they believe was used in a Worthington Street shooting early Monday:

View Larger Map

Ann Romney is the unassuming, not-so-secret weapon in Mitt Romney's political arsenal. The former Massachusetts governor and current GOP presidential contender is using his wife's rags-to-riches story and her health issues to his benefit.

AP File PhotoIn this file photo from earlier this month, Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney serves up a pancake breakfast in Manchester, N.H., with his wife of 42 years, Ann. She wore the same white apron and the ease of a woman who spent countless mornings flipping flapjacks for five hungry sons. Mitt Romney hopes to capitalize on his wife's rags-to-riches story and her health issues in his campaign for the White House.

STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney is not used to wearing an apron.

But the Republican presidential candidate was not alone in cooking attire one recent morning as hundreds of potential supporters lined up for free pancakes.

Ann Romney, his wife of 42 years, stood with him, spatula in hand, wearing the same white apron and the comfortable smile of a woman who spent countless mornings flipping flapjacks for five hungry sons.

Her presence on that day, like so many others during the long campaign, is an acknowledged blessing for a 2012 White House contender who struggles to shake a robotic image. Friends and foes alike say she makes him seem more genuine.

"Believe it or not, I served pancakes nearly every morning before the kids went to school," she told supporters that morning. "I miss having my boys at home. But I do love seeing how wonderful they are now as husbands and fathers. ... I am grateful because they had such an extraordinary example."

Ann Romney is the unassuming, not-so-secret weapon in Mitt Romney's political arsenal. At a GOP gathering in Michigan on Saturday, she spoke briefly, prompting the crowd to tap their glasses and call for a toast.

The Romneys kissed, and then Ann Romney joked, "We're not going to do an Al Gore moment," referring to a long and public kiss that Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore shared with his then-wife, Tipper, at the party's convention in 2000.

Already she's a more active participant than she was during his 2008 presidential campaign. For example, as the Romneys headed into a meeting with Michigan lawmakers, Ann Romney took note of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's uneven debate performance a few days earlier.

"It's going to happen this time," she told Republican National Committeeman Saul Anuzis. "Perry in the debate? Shocking," she said.

The Romney campaign says there will be an enhanced role for her beginning the next month, with additional public appearances, media interviews and a willingness to discuss health problems and her family's rags-to-riches story.

The 62-year-old grandmother of 16 lends an instant folksy charm to her husband. He sometimes fights to convey authenticity in the diners and backyards where presidential contests are fought in this early voting state.

He's worked to shed the image of a stiff Wall Street executive from the upper crust of America, stepping up appearances at NASCAR events, ditching his tie, shopping at Walmart, wearing skinny jeans, eating at Subway and flying on the discount carrier, Southwest Airlines.

But those efforts haven't stopped the criticism.

At a time of economic troubles, Romney's wealth and upbringing are vulnerabilities that his chief rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is using against him. Perry, who grew up in a family of modest means in tiny Paint Creek, Texas, is chiding Romney for suggesting that he's a member of the middle class.

Others haven't looked kindly on Romney's efforts to portray himself as a regular guy.

"It's sort of contrived," says Brendan Steinhauser, a leading organizer for an ally of the tea party, FreedomWorks. "I've seen the whole flying Southwest thing. It's just not believable. Eating at Subway? Come on."

Enter Ann Romney.

Seemingly with no filter, she jokes about bathroom messes, cooking for a huge family and personal struggles with her husband's public life.

She reminds voters, in a most genuine way, that Mitt Romney is a father, a hand-holding husband, a high school sweetheart. He is noticeably more comfortable in her presence.

Having dealt with multiple sclerosis and breast cancer, Ann Romney also offers a powerful family story that helps her husband, the son of a governor and a graduate of both Harvard business and law schools, speak to the American dream.

"Sometimes it's like, 'Mom, what did you say?' But she says things he can't say about himself, really helps humanize him," said 41-year-old Tag Romney, the couple's eldest child. "She's a very good resource. She's a good weapon. ... And she's less concerned with trying to package things so we win and more about telling the truth that this is who we are."

Political observers and voters share the characterization. They describe her, and her effect on the candidate, as a tremendous asset.

Mitt Romney often reflects on how they first crossed paths at a Michigan elementary school but didn't start dating until high school. He introduces his wife as his "sweetheart" and she introduces him as a family man and business leader. After the pancake breakfast, he didn't mention his own family's success story, depending instead on hers as he spoke to voters.

Her grandfather, the son of a coal miner from Wales, couldn't afford to send all four children to college. The children were forced to pick just one who would receive an education, Mitt Romney said. They settled on Ann's father, who would earn his diploma and later open a steel company that would employ his siblings.

Ann planned to share her story in a book during the 2008 campaign, but Tag Romney says those plans were postponed.

Political assets aside, her mere presence seems to help relax her husband. They are not shy about public affection, and he regularly squeezes his wife's hand, even when the cameras are not rolling.

"He is confident, comfortable and very effective when she is by his side or with him on a trip — the value of which cannot be understated in dealing with the pressure of a national campaign," said Jamie Burnett, who led Romney's political operation in New Hampshire four years ago.

Ann Romney's growing role is not unprecedented in presidential politics.

Spouses often become political assets or liabilities.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's third wife, Callista, helped create headaches for her husband's current campaign when news of a six-figure charge account at Tiffany jewelry company surfaced.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, recently defended criticism that his family's counseling clinic offered to "cure" homosexuality.

On the other side, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's wife, Mary Kaye, is a regular attendant at political events, as is Perry's wife, Anita, who often serves as a campaign surrogate.

"Sometimes family members can really make a difference in presidential politics," said Barbara Perry, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. She's not related to the candidate.

History is full of examples:

—Michelle Obama, from working-class Chicago suburbs, offered the candidate Barack Obama a more traditional family story.

—Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson traveled throughout the South without Lyndon B. Johnson during the 1964 election to promote the Civil Rights Act.

—Robert Kennedy's mother, Rose, helped humanize her son, who was actually quite shy and didn't enjoy campaigning.

Ann Romney declined to be interviewed for this story. But expect to hear much more from her in the coming weeks.