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Heavy rain was blamed for delaying peak foliage season but the colors have really popped over the past several days.

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It was left to voters attending the meeting to appoint a temporary moderator and Brown, who says he might consider a career in politics, was the unanimous choice.

WEST BROOKFIELD – He may have been one of the young town meeting moderators the state has ever seen.

Eighteen-year-old Trevor Brown was selected to preside over a brief special town meeting in East Brookfield Tuesday night. A freshman majoring in political science at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, Brown was recommended for the job by a former high school civics teacher.

He dispatched the agenda of mostly non-controversial items in just 15 minutes.

The town moderator position became vacant last month following the resignation of Lynda Plante, who later died of cancer.

A permanent moderator will be selected at the next town election.

Authorities tried to piece together why the animal preserve's owner apparently released dozens of animals before committing suicide.

Associated PressMuskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz speaks to individuals from The Wilds, a wildlife conservation center in Cumberland, Ohio, and The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium about exotic animals loose in the area on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. An estimated 48 animals escaped the property of Terry Thompson in Zanesville, Ohio. Thompson was found dead outside his home.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — A mountain lion, grizzly bear and monkey were the only animals still running loose after being set free from an exotic-animal preserve, an Ohio sheriff said Wednesday, as authorities tried to piece together why the preserve's owner apparently released dozens of animals before committing suicide.

The Muskingum County Sheriff's office has received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals at the property in eastern Ohio, sheriff Matt Lutz added.

Muskingum County Animal Farm owner Terry Thompson killed himself after freeing the animals, Lutz said, following a night during which officials hunted down and shot to death nearly 30 of the 48 animals, including lions, bears and wolves.

As officials warned that more animals still were on the loose, three school districts in the region and some private and special schools canceled classes as the remaining bears, big cats and other beasts from the Muskingum County Animal Farm were hunted down.

Flashing signs along area highways told motorists, "Caution exotic animals" and "Stay in vehicle."

The animals' cages had been opened and the farm's fences had been left unsecured, police said.

The preserve in Zanesville, about 55 miles east of Columbus, had lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears.

Lutz called the animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities the animals had been fed on Monday.

Tuesday night, more than 50 law enforcement officials — including sheriff's deputies, highway patrol officers, police officers and officers from the state Division of Wildlife — patrolled the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars and trucks, often in rainy downpours. Lutz said they were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.

Live music, wine, cheese, apple pies and possibly a bonfire are planned along with the presentation of 14 of the 16 artists and his or her work.

View full sizeJulie Orfirer"Emergence" by Robert Markey is a mosaic created from mirror, marble, smalti, and gold. It is part of Art in the Orchard at Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton.

EASTHAMPTON – Art in the Orchard is closing Oct. 30 and a big blowout is planned for this weekend to celebrate the success of the exhibit, which features 22 sculptures spread over 127 acres of farmland.

Local artist Jean-Pierre Pasche, who organized the exhibit with Park Hill Orchard owners Alane Hartley and Russell Braen, described it as “the combination of a creative and eclectic mix of three dimensional art and installation with the unique setting of Park Hill Orchard.” Organizers wrote a poem for each piece and led lengthy guided tours in the rain, shine and dark.

Such a tour will be offered at Saturday’s event, which runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 82 Park Hill Road.

Mayor Michael A. Tautznik is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. Live music, wine, cheese, apple pies and possibly a bonfire are planned along with the presentation of 14 of the 16 artists and his or her work.

“They’ll be honored so people can actually put a face to the sculptures,” said Pasche, who owns Eastmont Custom Framing & Elusie Gallery on Main Street. The tour will be interactive and “more elaborate” than ever, he said.

Guests were asked for donations and voted on a statue that the orchard said it would purchase for permanent display. The winner will be announced Saturday, but the top vote-getter was too expensive.

View full sizeJuly 20, 2011 - Easthampton - Republican staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - Russell S. Braen, left, and Alane L. Hartley, right, co-owners of Park Hill Orchard and Jean-Pierre Pasche, center, owner of Eastmont Custom Framing in Easthampton. They are the organizers of Art in the Orchard, a display of 21 sculptures by 15 local artists which opens August 13 at the orchard at 82 Park Hill Rd.

“It’s a piece we can’t afford with the donations we received,” said Pasche. Instead, the top three will be announced and the orchard will buy a different one with, literally, a big bag of the cash and loose change visitors gave since the opening on August 13.

Art in the Orchard was funded by a $2,200 grant from the Easthampton Cultural Council for “art in unusual settings.” Pasche said he wants to put on another display in 2013 and is exploring funding options.

“I have yet to have negative feedback. Some people may think it’s a little light in terms of artistic quality, but ... we wanted it to appeal to everyone, from little kids to grandparents,” he said. “Everybody was able to get something out of it.”

Parking will not be a problem, he said, because there is plenty of room in the fields if necessary. He estimated that over 4,000 guests came to see Art in the Orchard, including 600 on opening day.

“They discovered a part of Easthampton they didn’t know,” he said, and appreciated the scenic locale. “It’s like liking the painting and liking the frame.”

Delinquent customers have built up nearly $500,000 in unpaid sewer bills.

Holyoke Ward 6 City Councilor Todd A. McGee

HOLYOKE – The power to shut off sewer service to customers who fail to pay bills is the leverage the city needs to seize overdue money, a city councilor said.

But Councilor Todd A. McGee said Monday he has filed an order to see if the city can acquire such leverage without doing a wholesale merger of the water and sewer departments.

At stake is nearly $500,000 in unpaid sewer bills – outstanding at the same time that a rate increase is being considered to cover rising costs.

McGee wants the city to explore whether state law allows for a combined billing for sewer and water services without having to merge the two departments, a complicated, turf-war step that has been discussed for years but never fully pursued.

Residential and business customers here get water and sewer bills in the same mailing from Holyoke Water Works.

Water Works is a municipal entity, but not a city department. It is sustained through fees paid by customers and overseen by the three-member Water Commission, which is appointed by the City Council.

Sewer use is controlled and billed by the Department of Public Works, a city department.

Customers include separate checks for water and sewer charges in the same envelope mailed to Water Works, which forwards the sewer checks to City Hall.

Under state law, the city is unable to shut off sewer service despite a long-overdue bill. That means customers can let those bills lag and know they will keep getting sewer service, officials said.

Perhaps a full merger of the departments is unnecessary, McGee said. He suggested that a water and sewer commission could be established with single billing – with shut-off leverage – while maintaining the separate departments.

The important point is to get money that is owed the city and avoid hitting rate-payers with an increase, he said.

“I just want to have a way to collect outstandings bills,” McGee said.

The delinquent sewer-bill total as of Oct. 1 was $512,000, City Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra said.

A rate increase has been discussed for more than a year because officials said extra revenue is needed to cover higher costs. The sewer fund is $8.55 million and the estimated revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year in that fund is $456,000, City Auditor Brian G. Smith said in an email.

Most of the sewerfund, $6.4 million, goes to United Water, the private firm that runs the wastewater treatment plant.

The problem continues to be that the rate at which revenue is coming in from users has failed to keep pace with the rate at which the city is contractually bound to pay United Water, officials said.

The average household’s yearly sewer bill is about $365. That’s based on the current rate of $5.40 per 1,000 metered gallons used, said William D. Fuqua, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

Councilors have said it would be unacceptable to increase customers’ rates without exhausting efforts to get delinquent bills paid.

Part of the problem in terms of billing is while most city departments are on the MUNIS accounting software system, Holyoke Water Works uses a separate system, Continental Utility Solutions Inc., officials said.

Manager David M. Conti said Water Works was willing to discuss a MUNIS switch and other issues with the Law Department and City Council.

Water Works has 7,600 accounts.

The city has 7,000 sewer customers, with 78 percent residential, 19 percent commercial and 3 percent municipal.

Jurors deliberated for six hours yesterday, after hearing four days of testimony in a case that horrified residents of the quiet Hampden neighborhood where the murder occurred last year.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanJesus Gilberto Garcia, listens as Judge Mary-Lou Rup announces his life sentence for the murder of Valerie Girouard on July 30, 2010 in Hampden. The sentence was handed down Wednesday morning in Hampden Superior Court. At right is Garcia's lawyer, Paul Rudolf.

SPRINGFIELD — Jesus Gilberto Garcia was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole Wednesday following his conviction Tuesday in the murder of his ex-girlfriend's mother, Valerie Girouard of Hampden.

Jurors deliberated for six hours on Tuesday, after hearing four days of testimony in a case that horrified residents of the quiet Hampden neighborhood where the murder occurred on July 30, 2010. Garcia crept into the house to attempt to rape 15-year-old Mariah Girouard, jurors learned from testimony, when he was confronted by her mother.

Garcia stabbed 47-year-old Girouard eight times, including twice in the heart, in front of her daughter and attacked another resident of the home, 57-year-old Kurt Haarmann.

Mariah Girouard testified at trial that she awoke groggy from sleep at about 2 in the morning to screams, and came upon Garcia in the kitchen plunging a knife into her mother. Haarmann, who also testified, escaped after Garcia stabbed him three times in the back. Mariah Girouard also managed to flee the Main Street home.

Witnesses testified that Garcia rode a borrowed BMX bike 15 miles round-trip from his home in the Forest Park section of Springfield to the house at 90 Main St. in Hampden. He initially told police he spent all evening at home drinking vodka, smoking marijuana and playing video games in a "chill spot" in his basement.

The murder and attack on Haarmann took place after Garcia admittedly broke into the house wearing a mask nine days before, holding a knife to Mariah Girouard's neck, but releasing her and revealing himself as she pleaded with him.

Garcia remained silent as guilty verdicts were announced Tuesday in his first-degree murder case in Hampden Superior Court. Garcia was found guilty of murdering Girouard at her Hampden home last year.

Garcia did it to teach his then-girlfriend that "the world was not a safe place," the girl testified on the stand.

The incident prompted her to break up with Garcia, whom made a final desperate trip back to her home, according to Assistant District Attorney James Forsyth.

"He went back to finish what he started," Forsyth told jurors during closing statements on Monday.

Garcia also was convicted of armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the attack on Haarmann, and eight other criminal counts linked to both July break-ins. He was acquitted on a single charge of attempting to rape Mariah Girouard in the first instance, but convicted of assault with intent to rape in the second.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

The victim fled after the early Tuesday shooting and was not injured.

Nelson Medinas-Rivas

SPRINGFIELD – Police arrested a 39-year-old city man after he allegedly fired gunshots at his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend when he came knocking at her door in the Old Hill neighborhood early Wednesday.

Police, alerted by the ShotSpotter audio surveillance system at about 4:30 a.m., responded to the area of Eastern Avenue and Colton Street, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

While there, officers Daniel Leon-Resto and Mike Rivera were summoned to 23 Beacon St. for a disturbance in the driveway. As they pulled up, the 31-year-old victim flagged them down and said that he had just been shot at by an unknown male.

The victim told police that when he knocked on the door of his estranged girlfriend’s home to check on her it was answered by the unknown male, Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said.

Both males got into a verbal altercation that escalated in a physical one. The man that answered the door then pulled out a gun and began shooting at the victim who fled without being hit.

When police knocked on the door of 23 Beacon, it was answered by a female who denied that a male was present. “Meanwhile, officers were spotting 9 mm shell casings at her feet,” Delaney said.

The officers then found the suspect hiding in the basement and the victim then identified him as the shooter.

Nelson Medina-Rivas, of 23 Beacon St., was charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, possession of a firearm without a permit and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

The former Greenfield Public Library librarian began working in Amherst earlier this month.

File photo by Cori UrbanSharron Sharry is seen at the Greenfield Public Library in 2009.

AMHERST – The Jones Library Board of Trustees signed a three-year contract with Sharon A. Sharry who started work as the new Jones Library director earlier this month.

Sharry's starting salary will be $73,209 for the first year as she enters Level 0, the same level as the directors of conservation and development and information technology, Jones Library Board president Sarah McKee wrote in an email.

In August, the board voted to offer Sharry the position. The director search committee in a 3-2 vote had recommended the hiring of Christopher Lindquist from the Westfield Athenaeum.


But that vote failed to produce the majority needed for the appointment. The board then voted unanimously to offer the position to Sharry, who had been the Greenfield Public Library director since February of 2008. Previously, she was director in Sunderland.

Many residents who attended the August board meeting urged trustees to hire Sharry because of her enthusiasm and her ability to inspire.

The Pittsfield native has a master's degree in library science from the State University of New York at Albany, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

McKee in the email said that Sharry will be credited with three weeks annual vacation as of her first day, the same amount of time credited to the fire chief and finance director, who were hired this year.

The contract also covers courses, seminars, conferences, and annual membership dues, with prior approval of the board.

“The Trustees are very pleased with The Jones Library's new leadership,” McKee wrote.

The Friends of the Jones Library will host a dessert reception for Sharry Nov. 1, from 7 - 8 p.m. at The Jones Library. All residents and library users are invited.

The Jones Library has a $2.19 million annual budget, according to the library budget report. Longtime library director Bonnie J. Isman retired Dec. 10 after 30 years. 
Tevis Kimball, curator of special collections, has been acting director.

Brimfield's Town Hall should be ready to be reopened after the work is completed on ceilings, walls and floors there.

File photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanBrimfield Town Hall as seen in March 2009, the month when the building was ordered closed because of structural problems.

BRIMFIELD – The Board of Selectmen is hiring a Monson contractor for the last phase of work at the Town Hall, which has been closed since March 2009 because of structural problems.

The structural repairs have been completed and the selectmen voted to hire T.N.K. Building and Remodeling of Monson for the floors, ceilings and walls for a price of $19,750.

The lowest of three bids on the work came from Building Blocks Construction of Brimfield, but the selectmen found that company is not licenses for work on a building the size of the Town Hall.

The third bid was submitted by Garland Construction Corp. of Chicopee, which offered to do the work for $24,199.

Carol M. DelNegro, the assistant to the Board of Selectmen, said the architect and engineer hired for the structural work will oversee T.N.K. during the work on the floors, ceilings and walls.

Money to cover this contract is available in the appropriation passed at the Town Meeting, which authorized spending about $140,000 for the project.

The structural work was estimated to cost $88,000 when this appropriation was being designed but that work was accomplished for about half that amount.

This work included the installation of an engineered metal support from the basement to the roof.

When T.N.K. finishes the work covered in this contract, the project architect will examine the building and report to town Building Inspector William Klansek, who will have the responsibility of determining when the building can be used again.

John M. Keough, who was building inspector in 2009, ordered the 132-year-old building shut down after he observed in March of that year that structural supports in the roof of the building were pulling apart.

By 2009, most town offices had previously been moved to the Town Hall Annex Building next door to the Town Hall.

The Police Department, which was housed in the basement of Town Hall until 2009, was moved to the Fire Station.

DelNegro said there will still be a need to replace some windows after the work on the ceilings, floors and walls is completed, but she expects people will be using the building before the windows are installed.

Mitt Romney emerged from the two-hour forum still the person to beat, but he was considerably scratched up.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidates former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry speak during a Republican presidential debate Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, in Las Vegas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates tore into each other as never before in their latest debate, mindful that voting starts within 11 weeks and many GOP voters remain up for grabs.

Mitt Romney emerged from the two-hour forum Tuesday night still the person to beat, but he was considerably scratched up on the issues of illegal immigration, health care and jobs.

The feisty faceoff in Las Vegas marked the first time the contenders treated Herman Cain as a serious threat, and they aggressively ripped his 9-9-9 tax plan, perhaps inflicting grave wounds.

And Texas Gov. Rick Perry snapped out of his sleepy debate style, criticizing Romney so vigorously that the two men seemed close to blows at times. Perry was forceful from the start, battling to end his campaign's recent slide and to re-establish himself as the most viable alternative to the former Massachusetts governor.

Cable TV viewers who watched the debate's first 60 minutes and last 10 minutes saw seven contenders make the greatest effort yet to distinguish themselves from one another and expose each other's weaknesses. That left comparatively little time to bash President Barack Obama, but that's something they all agree on anyway.

Some exchanges were personal, almost petty. Romney repeatedly chided Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum for talking over him. Perry accused Romney of making false claims, and reminded voters that Romney had employed illegal immigrants to do lawn work a few years ago.

Romney said he instructed the landscape company to get rid of illegal workers.

Perry said it was "the height of hypocrisy" for Romney to criticize the Texan's immigration record. Romney put his hand on the scowling Perry's shoulder and demanded, "Are you just going to keep talking?" Romney said Perry had suffered some poor debates, "so you're going to get testy." It was one of several moments that bordered on condescension.

When Romney said 40 percent of new jobs in Texas lately have gone to illegal immigrants, Perry said heatedly, "That is an absolute falsehood on its face, Mitt."

Rebukes of Cain's 9-9-9 plan dominated the debate's first 15 minutes. Cain, a former pizza company executive, climbed to the top of recent GOP polls by touting his proposal to scrap current income and payroll taxes and replace them with a 9 percent levy on personal and corporate income and a 9 percent national sales tax.

Virtually every rival took a shot at it.

"That's a tax plan, not a jobs plan," said Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. She said a liberal president and Congress might push the sales tax to 90 percent, and consumers would blame vendors.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas called the plan dangerous and regressive. It's good that nearly half of Americans currently pay no federal income tax, Paul said, adding that he would replace that tax "with nothing."

Several candidates cited a new report by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank, that said Cain's plan would raise taxes on 84 percent of U.S. households.

Cain, on the defensive as never before, said critics were misinterpreting his plan and mixing apples and oranges. Romney turned the phrase against him, saying Americans would be taxed on apples AND oranges because they would pay state and federal sales taxes in most states.

With Cain's 9-9-9 plan treated like road kill, the candidates turned mainly to criticizing Romney and watching him and Perry spar in ways that hinted at real animosity. Santorum, who lost his bid for a third Senate term six years ago, often played the aggressor.

Noting that Romney's Massachusetts health care program had required residents to obtain medical insurance, Santorum said, "Your plan was the basis for Obamacare," the GOP epithet for the Democrats' 2010 health care overhaul.

Romney, sometimes struggling to be heard, repeated his claim that the state plan was meant for Massachusetts alone. Perry joined Santorum in saying Romney at times had signaled that other states should adopt the Massachusetts model.

"The people of Massachusetts like it by about a 3-to-1 margin," Romney said. He added, however, "I didn't get the job done in Massachusetts, and getting the health care costs down in this country is something I think we got to do at the national level."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said it wasn't fair to equate "Romneycare" with "Obamacare." However, he said, "There's a lot of big government behind "Romneycare ... more than your campaign is admitting."

When talk turned to foreign policy, Cain was pressed to explain a CNN interview in which he said he might consider releasing all the terror suspects at the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if al-Qaida demanded it as the price of handing over a captured American.

"No, I said that I believe in the philosophy of we don't negotiate with terrorists," Cain said. "I think — I've been saying — I would never agree to letting hostages in Guantanamo Bay go. No, that wasn't the intent at all."

Near the debate's close, Santorum took a swing at Perry and Romney. "I didn't run as a Democrat in Texas when it was popular," he said, alluding to Perry's pre-Republican past. "I didn't run as a liberal in 1994," he said, referring to Romney's unsuccessful bid to oust then-Sen. Ted Kennedy. In that campaign, Romney said he would be a more forceful proponent of gay rights than would Kennedy.

Bachmann got the final word, saying: "The cake is baked. Barack Obama will be a one-term president."

The GOP crowd loved it, of course. Obama certainly faces big re-election hurdles. But Tuesday night's forum pointed to more GOP bloodletting ahead as the rivals lunge for an up-for-grabs nomination.

Romney seems certain to remain the chief target, at least for a while. Perry served notice he's back in the game. And Cain's rough treatment suggested it's possible that Bachmann, Santorum, Gingrich or Paul will have chances to rise in the polls — and then face the consequences.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Charles Babington covers politics for The Associated Press.

The improvements will include a dog park.

WILBRAHAM - In a 15-minute special Town Meeting voters Monday night approved the appropriation of $500,000 to make improvements to the Spec Pond Recreational area.

Town officials received questions such as whether the appropriation is going to be made to fund a dog park and what percent interest the town would owe on the $500,000.

“Is this appropriation for a park for dogs?” James Burke of Faculty Street asked.

Town officials said a dog park is part of a project to renovate the Spec Pond Recreational area. Other improvements include a new softball field and walking trails and playground renovations.

The town already has $281,258 appropriated for the project and has applied for the $500,000 state grant.

Town Treasurer Thomas Sullivan told voters, “If we don’t get the grant, we’re not going to borrow.”

The grant will be used to reimburse the authorized bonding, Sullivan said.

If the grant is received, the $500,000 will only be borrowed for 30 to 45 days before the state payment is received, Sullivan added.

The Friends of Recreation also has done a $700,000 fund-raising drive for improvements to the recreation area, Park & Recreation Director Bryan J. Litz said.

Even without the grant there will still be $1 million in improvements made to the area which has resulted in more town fields for recreation programs.

A new softball field, walking trails and a dog park are the primary goals of the additional improvements, Litz said.

Also included are pavilion and beach improvements, playground renovations and creation of a spray park, he said.

The town has been denied the state grant twice in the past, Litz said.

He said state Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, urged him to give the grant application “one more shot.”

“Hopefully, the third time is the charm,” Litz said.

Voters at the special Town Meeting approved the $500,000 bonding authorization by a majority show of hands.

The new assessment is a requirement for continued accreditation of Westfield High School.

WESTFIELD – Administration and staff at Westfield High School can now measure how well students meet established academic, social and civic expectations.

The new assessment, the result of continued accreditation of the high school by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, was launched during the 2010-2011 school year.

Principal Raymond K. Broderick told the School Committee this week that 90 percent of the nearly 1,600 students at Westfield High do meet the academic expectations of reading, writing, communicating and thinking.

“This is another tool that we can use to measure not only student achievement by staff achievement and where changes and new programs and services are necessary,” said Broderick.

An assessment of student social and civic expectations is included but the only data reported to parents is the academic achievement, the principal said.

“This assessment, including academic, is not a pass or fail determination,” said Broderick. “The academic achievement becomes a part of students’ final year report card but it is a measurement that helps us decide when and if any changes are needed,” he said.

“We now have our first set of data. That is being reviewed. This is the step towards reporting the results to the those concerned,” Broderick said.

Results of the first year were given to the School Committee this week. Broderick said that information will now be shared with the Westfield High School Council and staff before it is posted on the school’s website for public review.

The yearly assessment is done by teachers assigned to evaluate students the evaluation areas were created by WHS staff.

The assessment covers subject areas ranging from language arts, math, science and technology, social studies, foreign language, business, fine arts and unified life.

The assessment was established as required following the NEASC’s 2007 accreditation review of Westfield High School.

Garcia also was convicted and sentenced for assault with intent to rape Mariah Girouard, who had ended their relationship after a bizarre, feigned assault nine days earlier at the Girouard home in Hampden.

Photos by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanMariah Girouard reads a victim impact statement during the sentencing of Jesus Gilberto Garcia Wednesday on charges of murder in the death of her mother, Valerie Girouard. At left is Assistant District Attorney James Forsyth.

SPRINGFIELD - Valerie Girouard spent her adult life caring for strays - cats, dogs and dogs mostly - until she took one in who killed her.

Jesus Gilberto Garcia, 20, was on Wednesday sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally stabbing Girouard, 47, in her Hampden home on July 30, 2010 as Girouard tried to protect her teen daughter who had broken up with Garcia a week earlier.

Garcia faced a wall of grieving and incensed family members at his sentencing in Hampden Superior Court, who all noted that Girouard had treated Garcia as she had stray animals she had taken in over the years: with nurturing and love.

"He took an amazing woman who helped everyone in her path," said Girouard's sister, Gina Girouard-O'Neill, of West Springfield, who has custody of Girouard's eldest daughter, Mariah.

Mariah Girouard dated Garcia for more than a year and witnesses at trial told jurors that he regarded Valerie Girouard as a "second mom."

After four days of testimony and arguments, Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with butchering Valerie Girouard with her own kitchen knife, and seriously wounding another resident in the home, Kurt Haarmann, 57, as he tried to flee.

Jesus Gilberto Garcia

Garcia also was convicted and sentenced for assault with intent to rape Mariah Girouard, who had ended their relationship after a bizarre, feigned assault nine days earlier at the Girouard home at 90 Main Street in Hampden.

Testimony showed Garcia crept into the home on July 21, 2010, wearing a mask and holding a knife to Mariah Girouard's throat as she slept. Witnesses said he left the home after being confronted by his girlfriend and her mother, abashed and with no one injured.

He returned a second time, riding a bicycle 7.5 miles both way from his home in Springfield, intending to rape Mariah Girouard, the jury found, when Valerie Girouard awoke to a dog barking and confronted him.

He stabbed Valerie Girouard eight times, including three times in the chest, testimony showed.

"Nothing was gained. Nothing. Lives were lost for absolutely nothing. A waste," 16-year old Mariah Girouard told Judge Mary-Lou Rup during the sentencing hearing. "I'll be damned if I let him ruin the rest of my life, though. He doesn't deserve the satisfaction and my mother wouldn't have wanted it that way."

Garcia accepted the jury's verdict and his sentence - which also included an additional eight years on top of the life sentence for the attack on Haarmann - without expression.

Defense lawyer Paul Rudof told Rup that Garcia had been raised without a father and in a fairly chaotic, unstructured household, had dropped out of school and spent much of his time without supervision, smoking marijuana and playing gory video games when he met Mariah Girouard.

Although Rudof tried to defend Garcia with what essentially amounted to a self-defense theory coupled with a violent video game addiction, the attorney opened his pitch to Rup with condolences to the Girouard family and Haarmann.

"I truly recognize the enormity of your loss. I am truly sorry. It probably is very little comfort to you ... but this is not lost on me ... or Jesus Garcia," Rudof said, before arguing that Garcia had no criminal record and no apparent propensity toward cruelty or violence before July of 2010. "I don't know if he has any real understanding of what happened that night."

Haarmann declined to address the court, although he was in the courtroom on Wednesday.

He testified that he tried to stop the attacks by imploring Garcia during his stabbing rampage: "Jesus, why are you doing this? We love you."

Valerie Girouard's younger daughter, Madison, 12, also was in the courtroom during the sentencing and noted in a written statement to Rup that she loved Garcia.

"He was a big part of our family. I feel bad that his did this to my mom," her statement read.

Madison Girouard was not at home at the time of the attacks.

More details coming in The Republican.

Obituaries from The Republican

Arthur H. Goodwin

WILBRAHAM - Arthur H. Goodwin, MD, 96, passed away Monday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Born March 4, 1915 in Everett, he was the son of the late Howard and Jessie Goodwin and earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Tufts College. In October 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy serving as a medical officer during World War II with the First Naval Beach Battalion, Company C, Little Creek, Va., landing at Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and southern France. After earning the Bronze Star at Anzio for bravery behind enemy lines, he returned to the United States and completed his service as a medical officer at the Naval Rehabilitation Hospital at Springfield College. Discharged in 1946 with the rank of Lt. Commander, he settled in Wilbraham. From 1947 until his retirement in 1989 he was in private practice and performed as school physician and consultant to Wilbraham Public Schools and Wilbraham & Monson Academy.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Alexander Jr., Leonard R. "Len"
  




• 
  Bianco, Viola T. (Ianello)
  



• 
  Coffey, Ann (Wilkinson)




• 
  DeGray, Honore O. "Hondo"
  



• 
  Downie Jr., Francis
  




• Doyle, Sharon M.
  




• 
  Goodwin, Dr. Arthur H.
  



• 
  Gorecki, Shirley A. (Toomey)




• 
  Keefe, Virginia (Hitchcock)
  



• 
  Marek, Rose Marie
  




• Nugent, Susan A.
  




• 
  O'Connor, Ann M. (Martin)
  



• 
  Peters, William R. "Bill"




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  Provencher, Claire S. (Leete)
  



• 
  Rohan, Shirley A. (LaPine)
  




• Torricelli, Mark J.
  




• 
  Turgeon, Normand J.
  



• 
  Wallace, John A.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed just under 11,505 for a loss of 72 points.

File photo / Associated PressApple CEO Tim Cook introduces the Apple iPhone 4S at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., earlier this month. Apple Inc. slumped 5.6 percent Wednesday after the company announced Tuesday that its income and revenue fell short of forecasts.

NEW YORK – A rare earnings miss by Apple pulled technology stocks down Wednesday. Broad market indexes turned lower in late afternoon trading on reports of an impasse in talks to resolve Europe’s debt crisis.

The leaders of Germany, France, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank met Wednesday in preparation for a summit scheduled for this weekend. Markets sank and the price of oil fell after a report came out that France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy said Germany and France were in a deadlock over how to expand an emergency fund.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,504.62, a loss of 72.43 points, or 0.6 percent. On Tuesday the Dow closed half a point below where it started the year.

“The big theme this week is what’s going to happen in Europe over the weekend,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. “If a Greece or another country defaults, it could do real damage to Europe. If that pushes Europe into a recession, it will further clip the pace of global growth.”

The Dow had traded higher for most of the day but started to slump shortly before 2 p.m., when the report of the impasse came out. Within an hour it was down 88 points.

Citigroup and other banks turned lower. It was the latest in a series of sudden turns for the market. Shifting expectations for the Oct. 23 meeting have rattled markets every day this week.

Apple Inc. slumped 5.6 percent after the company’s income and revenue fell short of forecasts. It was a rare miss for the company, which had jumped 31 percent this year through Tuesday. Apple blamed the shortfall on a later-than-usual release of its newest iPhone.

Apple’s results helped drag down technology stocks. The Nasdaq composite slid 53.39, or 2 percent, to 2,604.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.50, or 1.3 percent, to 1,209.88.

Worries that Europe’s troubles could get worse have kept markets on edge. The Greek government is widely expected to go through some kind of default or restructuring of its debt. If that process becomes messy, European banks that hold Greek government bonds may find it difficult to raise money from other banks. That, in turn, could trigger a freeze in credit markets and deliver a blow to an already weak European economy.

Stocks slumped Monday after the German government played down hopes that Europe’s debt crisis would be resolved soon. They roared back Tuesday on a report that Germany and France had reached an agreement to expand the European rescue fund.

Investors had plenty of corporate news to digest on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories announced plans to spin off its drug business. Abbott’s stock rose 1.5 percent.

Travelers Cos., a major insurer, jumped 5.7 percent after reporting revenue that beat analysts’ expectations.

Intel Corp. rose 3.6 percent after its net income beat Wall Street’s target.

Large banks that were trading higher dropped in the late afternoon. Morgan Stanley edged up less than 1 percent. The bank said a jump in investment banking revenue helped it earn $1.15 a share, well above analyst expectations of 30 cents per share.

Citigroup Inc. slipped 1.6 percent. The bank agreed to pay $285 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled buyers of complex mortgage investments just as the housing market was starting to collapse.

BlackRock Inc. dropped 4.7 percent after the money management giant said its assets under management fell 3 percent.

Airlines fell. AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, slid 7.5 percent after reporting a loss that was worse than Wall Street analysts predicted. The company said its fuel spending jumped 40 percent, wiping out revenue gains from higher fares and fees. JetBlue Airways Corp. dropped 6.7 percent after the company said its chief financial officer has resigned.

Lt. John J. Janulewicz said Mowduk was having a dispute with his neighbors who live on the other side of the two-family and was banging on the doors and windows.

File photo

PALMER - A 53-year-old Three Rivers man was released after he denied charges including two counts of domestic assault and three counts of intimidation of a witness stemming from a weekend incident at the duplex where he lives this past weekend.

Police arrested John Mowduk, of 10 Belchertown St., Friday night after being called to the residence at 10-12 Belchertown St. twice. He also was charged with malicious destruction of property under $250 for tearing Sgt. Christopher J. Burns' uniform, as well as resisting arrest and simple assault.

Mowduk was held in lieu of $50,000 bail over the weekend until his arraignment Monday in Palmer District Court.

Lt. John J. Janulewicz said Mowduk was having a dispute with his neighbors who live on the other side of the two-family and was banging on the doors and windows. When officers returned to the property a second time, a struggle ensued between them and Mowduk, Janulewicz said.

Mowduk appeared before Judge Patricia T. Poehler and was ordered to stay away from the victims and remain drug free. He will return to court Nov. 9 for a pretrial conference.

Not only are U.S.-born Latinos adopting the Day of the Dead, but various underground and artistic non-Latino groups have begun to mark the Nov. 1-2 holidays through colorful celebrations, parades, exhibits and even bike rides and mixed martial arts fights.

Associated PressIn this Monday, Oct. 3, 2011 photo, Kiko Torres puts a Catrina Day of the Dead doll up on a shelf alongside others in his store, Masks y Mas, in Albuquerque, N.M. The shop sells Day of the Dead art and clothing year-round.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Growing up in South Texas, Kiko Torres saw the Day of the Dead as an obscure holiday celebrated in southern Mexico. Few people dared to discuss it in his small but strong Catholic, Mexican-American community.

Still, Torres said he became fascinated by Day of the Dead folk art and ceremonies he saw during his father's research trips to Mexico. Those images of dancing skeleton figurines and the event's spiritual messages of honoring the dead, he said, were misunderstood in the United States.

"People here thought it was something to be scared of or evil," said Torres.

But that's changing. In the last decade or so, this traditional Latin American holiday with indigenous roots has spread throughout the U.S. along with migration from Mexico and other countries where it is observed. Not only are U.S.-born Latinos adopting the Day of the Dead, but various underground and artistic non-Latino groups have begun to mark the Nov. 1-2 holidays through colorful celebrations, parades, exhibits and even bike rides and mixed martial arts fights.

In Houston, artists hold a "Day of the Dead Rock Stars" where they pay homage to departed singers like Joey Ramone, Johnny Cash and even "El Marvin Gaye." Community centers in Los Angeles build altars for rapper Tupac Shakur and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

"It's everywhere now," said Carlos Hernandez, 49, a Houston-based artist who launched the "Day of the Dead Rock Stars" event. "You can even get Dia de los Muertos stuff at Wal-Mart."

The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, honors departed souls of loved ones who are welcomed back for a few intimate hours. At burial sites or intricately built altars, photos of loved ones are centered on skeleton figurines, bright decorations, candles, candy and other offerings such as the favorite foods of the departed. Pre-Columbian in origin, many of the themes and rituals now are mixtures of indigenous practices and Roman Catholicism.

The holiday is celebrated in Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil and parts of Ecuador.

Leading up to the day, bakers make sugar skulls and sweet "bread of the dead," and artists create elaborate paper cut-out designs that can be hung on altars. Some families keep private night-long vigils at burial sites.

In North America, decorations often center on images of La Calavera Catrina — a skeleton of an upper-class woman whose image was made popular by the late-Mexican printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada. She is typically seen on photos or through papier-mache statues alongside other skeletal figures in everyday situations like playing soccer, dancing or getting married. La Catrina is the most popular recreated figure related to the holiday.

"She is our best-selling item," said Torres, 35, who owns the Masks y Mas in Albuquerque, a shop that sells Day of the Dead art and clothing year-round. "I have artists sending me their Catrina pieces from all over."

Albuquerque's National Hispanic Cultural Center hosts an annual "Dia de los Muertos Community Gathering," featuring many of the artists from Masks y Mas. The community "ofrenda" — the term for a Day of the Dead offering or homemade altar — features blessings, live music and poetry, Oct. 17-Nov. 8. The center also is exhibiting an altar by Mexican-American novelist Sandra Cisneros dedicated to her mother.

The city also hosts an annual parade where marchers dress in Day of the Dead gear and makeup, and it organizes a "Day of the Tread" bike and marathon race.

The exhibits and events are not limited to the Southwest. Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology has a Day of the Dead altar on permanent display and offers Day of the Dead art classes to students in second to eighth grades. And in New York City, the Brooklyn Arts Council recently initiated a year-long Day of the Dead education project to heighten public awareness "on mourning and remembrance."

The growing Latin American population in the U.S. and the increased influence of Hispanic culture here in everything from food to TV programming are obviously major factors in the growth of Day of the Dead celebrations. But the holiday's increased popularity may also coincide with evolving attitudes toward death, including a move away from private mourning to more public ways of honoring departed loved ones, whether through online tributes or sidewalk memorials.

"I think it has to do with Sept. 11," said Albuquerque, N.M.-based artist Kenny Chavez. "We're all looking at death differently, and the Day of the Dead allows us to talk about it."

For some in the U.S., the Day of the Dead remains personal as they use the occasion to remember close loved ones. But for others, it's a chance to honor late celebrities or just an opportunity to dress up as a favorite Day of the Dead character.

Chavez said those unfamiliar with the event sometimes freeze when they first see Day of the Dead images. "We have people come into the shop and ask if this about the occult or devil worshipping," said Chavez, who works at Masks y Mas. "They get all weirded out until you explain what this is."

It's also become a business outside of the holiday period. Torres said part of his business out of Masks y Mas was embroidering muerta images on the shorts and gloves of mixed martial arts fighters. "They can't get enough of it," he said.

Torres said white and Native American artists are also now creating artwork around Day of the Dead themes. "It all about understanding the meaning of the day," he said. "They can take chances with the art."

But as Day of the Dead grows in presence, some fear that the spiritual aspects of the holiday are being lost. Already in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Day of the Dead is one of the most important holidays of the year, the area is annually overrun by U.S. and European tourists who crowd cemeteries to take photos of villagers praying at burial sites. Art dealers also buy cheap crafts, then resell them at much higher prices at chic shops in the U.S.

Oscar Lozoya, 57, an Albuquerque-based photographer who shoots fine art photographs of La Catrina, said some newcomers to the holiday are merely using it as an excuse to party and dress up in skeleton costumes. He hopes that they eventually do their research.

"I know what it means and its importance," said Lozoya, who hosts an annual Day of the Dead art show. "So I think the more people look beyond the art and learn about it, the more people will understand its real significance."

Rosario entered the plea in front of several members of a state police-led drug task force, one of whose members, Paul Barkyoumb, was skewered in a decision by Hampden Superior Court Judge Cornelius Moriarty five years ago.

Jimmy Roman Rosario

SPRINGFIELD - In the five years it took the prosecution of drug-trafficker Jimmy Roman Rosario to wend its way through state and federal courts to a 10-year prison sentence, a lot has happened.

After law enforcement officials seized $1.7 million in powder cocaine from his Putnam Circle apartment in August of 2006, the case tanked in Hampden Superior Court after a judge gutted the case of its key evidence; it was revived in federal court as Rosario was about to be released; one of the case's investigator's career was ruined in very public fashion; and Rosario is managing his blood sugar behind bars after a diabetes diagnosis as the case dragged.

In a swift proceeding in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Rosario, 43, pleaded to one count of possession with intent to distribute powder cocaine under an agreement with federal prosecutors that virtually guarantees him a decade in prison. However, he will only have to serve five more since he has been in jail since his arrest five years ago.

Rosario entered the plea in front of several members of a state police-led drug task force, one of whose members was skewered in a decision by Hampden Superior Court Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty in 2008. Moriarty ruled that former Holyoke Police Detective Paul Barkyoumb and a state trooper on the task force created a phony surveillance to obtain the search warrant for Rosario's home.

Members of the team that investigated and arrested Rosario have vehemently denied they did anything improper in the case.

The drug evidence in the case was suppressed and the case imperiled until prosecutors picked it up in federal court, where U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor preserved the 17 kilos of cocaine as evidence, prompting Rosario's plea days before the case was scheduled for trial on October 17.

Barkyoumb resigned from the Holyoke police force in 2010 after pleading guilty to criminally harassing his former girlfriend. However, he was arrested for selling cocaine to a police informant in July; that case is pending. Barkyoumb is out on bail but was notably absent from the witness list filed before Rosario tendered his plea.

While in court Wednesday, Rosario calmly answered Ponsor's questions, and said he has survived well enough in prison except for having to manage his insulin levels, he told the judge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd E. Newhouse told Ponsor four police officers awoke Rosario on the night he was arrested and asked him whether there were any drugs in the house. Rosario pointed to a black bag full of blocks of cocaine in a makeshift closet and to a drawer containing hundreds of baggies filled with the drug.

At the police station, Rosario admitted the drugs were his, the prosecutor said.

"He stated all the drugs in the house were his and there wasn't really anything else to say," Newhouse said.

Rosario is scheduled for formal sentencing on Dec. 8.

Households have received anonymous letters that highlight negatives of a casino.

File photos | The Republican

HOLYOKE – Mayor Elaine A. Pluta, who supports getting a casino resort here, said Wednesday she was concerned about anonymous letters circulating that criticize and strategize against a casino plan and bear the name of election opponent Alex B. Morse.

Morse, who opposes the casino plan, said that he has seen the letters in his door-to-door campaigning but that they didn’t come from his campaign.

Also Wednesday, U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, endorsed Pluta’s re-election at a fund-raiser at Holyoke Elks Lodge, 250 Whitney Ave.

“I owe it to her,” Olver said Wednesday night. “She worked for my office for a number of years and did a wonderful job. She’s moving the city forward.”

Olver cited the jobs that will be created with the renovation of the city’s library, replacement of the senior center and proposed creation of a commuter train station – all projects supported by Pluta.

Pluta, who worked as an aide to Olver before being elected mayor in November 2009, said she values Olver’s opinion.

“With his words of support, I feel that validates my commitment and the work I’ve been doing for the city of Holyoke,” Pluta said.

Morse received his own congressional endorsement, with U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, saying Morse would make a good mayor. Morse interned in Cicilline’s office when he was mayor of Providence and Morse was attending Brown University.

“It is so important to have mayors who understand what is happening to ordinary families and who will fight every single day to improve their lives. Holyoke is facing serious challenges and I believe that Alex has the vision and determination to get this city back on the right track,” Cicilline said in an email.

Morse said he was honored to have Cicilline’s support.

“Providence has transformed throughout the past decade and it has become the creative capital of New England. I’m looking forward to doing the same for Holyoke,” Morse said.

Several letters have been distributed to households that highlight negatives of a casino coming to a community that critics have warned of, including increased crime and traffic, decreased property values and siphoning of customers from local businesses.

One letter distributed before the Sept. 20 preliminary election notes that Morse “is the ONLY mayoral candidate OPPOSED (to) building a casino in Ward 7.”

Another beneath the heading “Confidential Memorandum” discusses an anti-casino strategy meeting to be held in conjunction with the “Alex Morse for mayor” campaign.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick and state legislators are fine-tuning a bill they expect will permit three casino resorts in the state, including one in Western Massachusetts.

Pluta said the city needs the jobs and revenue of such a project and the anonymity of the anti-casino letters is dismaying. She declined to say whether she thought Morse was behind the letters.

“Who is it? I’m not saying any candidate is or is not behind it. But if a candidate is behind them, they should sign their name to the letters, just like I sign my name to everything my campaign puts out,” Pluta said.

Morse, a newcomer and former career counselor at CareerPoint, said anonymous letters fall below the standards of his campaign.

“It’s not from my campaign. It would say, ‘Paid for by the Alex Morse for mayor campaign’ at the bottom. We’re running an open and honest campaign,” Morse said.

Morse said his economic development focus would be on assets such as the $168 million high performance computing center being built on Bigelow Street at the first-level canal.

Election Day is Nov. 8.

Musante will start back part-time, but plans to attend next month's town meeting.

John P. Musante

AMHERST – Town Manager John P. Musante is expected to return to work on a part-time basis, as he eases back into his work schedule following a serious head injury in September.

Musante plans to attend the Nov. 7 Town Meeting, according to Selectwoman Stephanie J. O’Keeffe.

Musante has been out of work since being injured in a Sept. 6 fall. Musante, who was walking his dog at the time, sustained a head laceration and was hospitalized at Baystate Medical Center until Sept. 11. He has been recovering at home since he was discharged from the Springfield hospital.

Town officials have been in regular contact with Musante, and lately they have been meeting with him as well.

O’Keeffe said Musante still needs rest, but will soon begin working in the mornings on a trial basis.

In the meantime, M. David Ziomek, the town’s director of Conservation and Development, has served as acting town manager.

“I have been so impressed; he has risen to the occasion,” O’Keeffe said of Ziomek.

O'Keeffe, like Ziomek, praised other town staff for stepping up during Musante’s absence.

“When there’s good leadership, (staff) want to keep things going,” she said.

Musante became town manager on Oct. 1, 2010, replacing Laurence R. Shaffer, who retired after about four years in the position. Musante has worked for the town since 2004, when he became the finance director.