Police say vandals caused an estimated $3,000 worth of damage.

HINSDALE — A western Massachusetts Little League coach arrived at practice over the weekend to find a still smoldering pile of uniforms that he intended to distribute to his players.

Police say vandals caused an estimated $3,000 worth of damage probably late Friday night, not only torching the jerseys, pants and hats, but also damaging the equipment shed, concession stand and announcer's booth at the secluded field in the rural town of Hinsdale. The vandalism was discovered Saturday morning.

Hinsdale, with a population of less than 2,000 people, has just two Little League teams.

Mick Lavinio, president of the Dalton-Hinsdale Little League, tells The Berkshire Eagle the 12 uniforms alone were worth $1,500.

He says the league is hoping to borrow uniforms in time for opening day in three weeks.

The special Town Meeting will focus primarily on several purchases related to the East Longmeadow High School synthetic field turf project.

File photo | The RepublicanEast Longmeadow Town Hall.

EAST LONGMEADOW – This year’s annual Town Meeting will have a minor interruption from a special Town Meeting.

The Board of Selectmen voted to hold a special Town Meeting on May 16, which is the date of the annual Town Meeting, to discuss several projects that will need to be bonded.

“We did not want to continue tapping into our free cash so the Appropriations Committee decided to ask for a debt exclusion so they can bond the projects,” said Board of Selectmen member James D. Driscoll. A debt exclusion allows the municipality to raise property taxes long enough to pay off a project.

The special Town Meeting will focus primarily on several purchases related to the East Longmeadow High School synthetic field turf project. The town approved $1.5 million for construction of the field during the 2010 annual Town Meeting. Some of the money will go towards new bleacher seats.

The regular meeting will ask voters to approve the fiscal 2012 budget of more than $50 million.

One article will ask voters to consider merging the positions of fire chief and police chief to save the town money.

Fire Chief Richard J. Brady will retire next year. The vote would allow current Police Chief Douglas Mellis to become the public safety commissioner or administrator for the town.

“Instead of having to hire a new fire chief we could alter Chief Mellis’ position, so that he could run both departments. We want to know whether this is something the town is interested in doing,” Driscoll said.

Although the warrant for the annual Town Meeting is already closed, articles for the special Town Meeting are still being accepted. The deadline to submit warrant articles for consideration at this meeting is Thursday at 4 p.m. Petitioned warrant articles must include the signatures of at least 100 registered voters. Petition forms are available in the town clerk’s office.

Both meetings will be held May 16 at 7 p.m. in the East Longmeadow High School auditorium.

File photo | The RepublicanEast Longmeadow Town Hall.

The fire was traced to a ceiling fan and light in the second floor bathroom.

Submitted photoA Westfield firefighter walks into the unit at Edgwood Apartments during Monday's fire. A problem with a ceiling fan and light started a fire that caused $10,000 damage

WESTFIELD - A malfunctioning ceiling fan is being blamed as the cause of a ceiling fire in a second-floor bathroom in a Union Street apartment Monday night, a fire official said.

Deputy Mark Devine said no one was injured in the 9 p.m. fire, but three residents were in need of a place to stay. They opted to stay with family, he said.

The fire was confined to unit 73 of Edgewood Apartments, 173 Union Street.

The fire caused about $10,000 damage, much of it from smoke and water, he said.
A sprinkler system in the apartment unit activated and put contained much of the fire until firefighters arrived on scene to extinguish it.

Devine said investigators determined the fire started from a problem with the ceiling light and ventilation fan in the bathroom.

View Larger Map

From its source in Goshen to its confluence with the Connecticut River at the Oxbow, the Mill River is an often beautiful, sometimes turbulent waterway that has powered mills and destroyed villages.

The Republican | File photoSpring rains caused the Mill River to overflow its banks in 2007.

NORTHAMPTON – It lacks the grandeur of the nearby Connecticut, but the Mill River has a special place in the history and ecology of Northampton, and a newly formed group of volunteers has dedicated itself to making sure as many people as possible can appreciate it.

The Mill River Greenway, some three dozen members strong, has already organized field trips and mitigation projects around the river, but that’s just a start, according to John Sinton, one of its founders.

“Our ultimate goal is to have as much of the river as accessible as possible for walking and biking,” he said.

The Greenway group had its genesis in the discussions surrounding a proposed hotel in the Armory parking lot behind Pulaski Park a few years ago. The project was designed to abut an area at the back of the lot where the Mill River flowed before it was diverted by the Army Corp of Engineers after it flooded downtown Northampton in 1936. All that’s left of the former channel is a muddy trickle, but Sinton and others wanted to ensure that the piece of the city’s history was not lost amid the construction. The hotel project ultimately fell through, but the desire to protect and promote the Mill River never abated.

“We said, ‘The Mill River is the heart of Northampton and Williamsburg. Why not talk about the whole thing?’” Sinton said. “It’s a really important part of our lives.”

From its source in Goshen to its confluence with the Connecticut River at the Oxbow, the Mill River is an often beautiful, sometimes turbulent waterway that has powered mills and destroyed villages. The flood of 1936 was puny compared to the 1874 disaster that sent millions of gallons of water downstream from a broken dam, wiping out the village of Skinnerville where Haydenville now stands and claiming 145 lives. In kinder times, the river provided a source of energy for the silk mills along its course in Williamsburg, Florence and Leeds.

Since the Greenway formed, various communities have been working on plans to highlight the river’s particular importance to them. The people in the Bay State neighborhood are pushing for a river walk. Florence wants to educate the public about the river’s role in its industries. Leeds wants to improve its riverfront. In Williamsburg, the Greenway partnered with Meekins Library to create a small riverside park.

The group’s website– millrivergreenway.org – went online earlier this month. On it, viewers can find a photo gallery with Mill River scenes and notices of events such as a May 6 field trip on the Smith College campus.

Sinton, a retired professor of environmental studies who taught at the University of Massachusetts, said Greenway envisions a trail with continuous public access from Route 66 to the Clement Street bridge. It would also like to create a river walk along the river’s old bed, pieces of which still exist downtown.

To celebrate its formations and its accomplishments to date, Mill River Greenway is holding an party on Friday at Pedal to Properties on 14 Strong Avenue. The 5-7 p.m. event is free and open to the public.

Paper City Development is looking to build a resort casino at Holyoke's Wyckoff County Club.

The Republican / Michael S. GordonWyckoff Country Club, located along Interstate 91 in Holyoke, would be home to a casino under a plan a new company called Paper City Development is pitching.

HOLYOKE - A group that wants to develop a resort casino at Wyckoff Country Club is proposing a revenue-sharing agreement that would guarantee Holyoke and eight adjoining communities would each receive a piece of the action should the resort be given the go-ahead, officials said.

Paper City Development Company, LLC, in a statement issued Monday but embargoed until midnight, proposed voluntary revenue sharing agreement that would have the casino giving back 2.5 percent of its net revenue.

Holyoke, the host community, would receive 1.25 percent, while the neighboring communities of Chicopee, Westfield, Northampton, West Springfield, Easthampton, Southampton, South Hadley and Hadley would split another 1.25 percent, based on population.

According to projected net revenues, that could mean Holyoke could receive $5 million, while Chicopee and Westfield, the two largest neighboring communities would receive $1.4 million and $1.05 million, respectively.

Hadley, the smallest neighbor which shares a few hundred yards of common border with Holyoke from opposite sides of the Connecticut River, would be eligible for $118,000.

Managing Partner Joseph Lashinger said in a prepared statement “We want to truly partner with our host community, Holyoke, and its neighboring cities and towns.”

Signing a revenue sharing agreement with communities, he said, is “the most concrete way we know of making these communities a genuine economic partner in a resort casino built in Holyoke.”

Paper City Development first floated the idea for a resort casino at the country club in June with meetings with Holyoke officials.

The town has not received any funding from the state Department of Housing and Community Development for the past two years.

PALMER – Community Development Director Alice L. Davey is hoping that this year proves to be different when it comes to community development block grant funding in Palmer.

The town has not received any funding from the state Department of Housing and Community Development for the past two years. The state administered funds come from the federal government.

After the news came down last summer that again the town would not receive any money, Davey let her two coworkers go, and initially thought the entire department would have to shut down.

Davey was able to keep it going through leftover funds, but said there are not enough of them to sustain the department for another year, which is why this year’s grant award is so important.

She applied for $1 million back in December, and should know by late spring or early summer if Palmer receives it. The department is entirely grant funded, and receives no extra money from the town, she said.

The $1 million includes $247,000 for income eligible housing rehabilitation projects, $485,000 for infrastructure improvements on Crest and Hill streets, $33,000 for the design of Endelson playground in Bondsville, and $45,000 for the domestic violence task force. The remaining money is used for administration costs, she said.

Davey recently formed a community development advisory committee, and needs more members. She can be reached at (413) 283-2614.

When hearings are held about proposed projects, the state takes into account how many people show up, and that factors into whether they are funded. Davey said the advisory committee will help determine what the needs are in the community, and also will help with the public participation funding piece.

“They will be providing the voice from the residents saying, ‘Yes this program is important and this is where we’d like the money to be spent,” Davey said.

Julie A. Manning, a member of the new advisory committee, said she was amazed at the projects that have been accomplished over the years through community development block grant funds, projects one “would normally expect the town to pay for.”

“If there weren’t grants, these things would still have to be done,” Manning said. “If there’s no funding, then I feel bad for our taxes.”

Over the last 20 years, community development block grants funded the following projects: $1 million to renovate Memorial Hall, home to the Senior Center; $1.3 million to replace water mains; $1 million for sidewalk reconstruction in Depot Village; $151,000 to create the Depot Village Park; $97,000 to replace storm drains; $95,000 to upgrade the pedestrian crossing system at Thorndike, Park and Main streets; $72,000 for the parking lot at Walnut and Main streets; $50,000 for Chase Memorial Park, and $40,000 for sidewalks in Thorndike, among others.

The Bartlett Brothers of Whately built the present Richardsonian Romanesque building at a cost of $68,000, according to Ford.

File photo | The RepublicanThe old Hampshire County Courthouse on Main Street in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON – The Hampshire Council of Governments is planning to spruce up the historic Hampshire County Courthouse by renovating the 124-year-old building from top to bottom.

The council recently awarded a $30,000 contract to Boston Bay Architects and Monaco Restoration to assess and prioritize the building’s needs. Dedicated in 1887, the building needs work inside and out, according to Todd D. Ford, the executive director of the Hampshire Council of Governments.

“You walk up the steps and you can see it needs to be renovated,” he said.

Among other problems, the roof leaks and the facade needs to be repointed, Ford said. Boston Bay Architects will come up with a prioritized list of improvements, he said. The assessment will begin on Monday when workers, using a crane, will inspect the roof. Ford said he expects to have a report on the building’s needs by the end of June.

According to Ford, the courthouse site was the scene of an early incident in Shays' Rebellion, an 18th century uprising in which Massachusetts farmers marched against the government to protest foreclosures and economic conditions. A meeting house was built on the same site, but it burned in 1866. The Paul Revere bell from that building is on display in the current courthouse.

Mel Gibson walks down the steps of the Hampshire County Courthouse in the 2008 movie "Edge of Darkness."

The Bartlett Brothers of Whately built the present Richardsonian Romanesque building at a cost of $68,000, according to Ford. It is part of Northampton’s Downtown Historic District. The Hampshire Council of Governments owns the building and the land surrounding it. Since the state abolished county government in 1999, the Council of Governments has reinvented itself. It now acts mainly as a group-purchasing agent, selling energy and insurance to area communities.

Some of the renovation cost is being paid by the Grousbeck Fund, which was established in memory of Irving Harold Grousbeck, the Northampton City Solicitor from 1928 to 1932 and District Attorney from 1944 to 1946. A grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission will also go towards the project. Ford said the council will undertake a fund-raising campaign to finance the balance of the cost.

In addition to the Hampshire Council of Governments offices, the old courthouse is home to the Hampshire Law Library, the Trial Court and the Housing Court Mediation Service. The state leases the big courtroom on the top floor, but it has been used mostly for ceremonial purposes since a new adjacent courthouse was constructed in 1976.

The "Raise the Roof" campaign has raised over $1.1 million toward the $2.4 project that will allow expansion of programs and services at the club.

View full sizeThis is an artist's rendering depicting the planned "Raise the Roof" renovation of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield; the club has surpassed the half-way mark in raising $2.4 million for the project.

WESTFIELD – The Boys and Girls Club is prepared to begin construction on a $2.4 million upwards-type addition at its West Silver Street facility by June with completion in time to launch fall programs by late August or early September.

The Planning Board last week approved the necessary permits that include height limitations and shared parking with nearby South Middle School.

The expansion plan, announced last year, calls for construction of a second story on the existing building, relocating gymnasium and other facilities to the new second floor.

Club Director William R. Parks said “our intent is to begin construction in June and complete it by the end of August. We need this expansion available for use for September.”

The club's Board of Directors approved the project last year and launched a “Raise the Roof” campaign under the stewardship of Holly Amanti, Patti A. Andrus, Tricia Knapik and Lisa Sullivan to finance the endeavor.

To date, the campaign has raised at least $1.1 million, Parks has said.

The existing club was opened in 1991 and Parks said the facility is now too small to meet the needs of its 1,600 members.

The project includes renovation of the front entrance, updating the kitchen, the new gymnasium, storage and office space. It will allow the club to expand current programs and services and create additional ones, Parks said.

The 30-foot height limitation by zoning was amended by city officials to allow the building to extend to 56-feet in height.

In other action, the Planning Board continued consideration to May plans for anew restaurant to be located at Little River Plaza off East Main Street.

The plaza owners have filed a request to convert property of the former Andrew Grant Diamond Jewelers into a 2,700 square-foot restaurant featuring Five Guys Burgers & Fries.

The request includes changes in the entrance to the plaza at the building site which must be approved by the state Department of Transportation.

The Planning Board referred the matter to its May 3 meeting to allow time for the DOT review.

A community clean-up, a fair and free forums at the West Springfield Public Library are planned as part of observing April as Earth Month.

Republican flie photo

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Checking out a Greasecar, a community cleanup, an Earth Day fair and free forums at the West Springfield Public Library are the offerings of a coalition of community groups to observe April as Earth Month.

The West Springfield Environmental Committee, the Earth Day Committee, the city, the West Springfield Rotary Club and the West Springfield Lions Club are working together to put on more activities this year than ever, according to Diane Crowell, the Earth Day Committee member who is coordinating the events.

"It has been a very good joint event," she said Friday.

People can get documents shredded and soil tested when the Department of Public Works, the Park and Recreation Department, the West Springfield Rotary Club and the Lions Club sponsor the second annual Earth Day Fair April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Town Common. The event will feature a Pro Shredder as well as master gardeners who will test the pH in yard and garden soil.

Colorado Bike Shop will do free safety checks, Home Depot will display energy saving devices and the Department of Public Works will host a free raffle for a rain barrel, a composting bin and a food scrap bucket.

Among the other exhibitors will be Western Massachusetts Electric Company, the Center for Ecological Technologies and Another Chance for Homeless Cats.

Other programs will include the Water Department giving out free, water-saving kits and a demonstration by the West Springfield Garden Club of how to make a rain barrel from a 55-gallon Coca Cola syrup barrel.

The Park and Recreation Department, the West Springfield Rotary Club, the Department of Public Works and the West Springfield Lions Club will sponsor Clean Up West Springfield Day Saturday at 9 a.m. Volunteers will meet at the Rotary Pavilion in Mittineague Park for coffee, donuts and juice and to register.

Other free programs offered this month are the following:

• A forum titled The Forest We Live In with arborist Alan Snow Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the West Springfield Public Library. It will focus on the benefits of and ways to maintain a healthy tree canopy.

• A representative from Greasecar will bring a vehicle that runs on vegetable oil and smells like French fries to a forum at the West Springfield Public Library set for 6 p.m. April 21.

• Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society will present a program featuring some of its animals and information about its services April 28 at 7 p.m. at West Springfield Public Library.

Today's poll: Is a casino revenue-sharing plan a good deal for Holyoke and its neighbors?

Greg Saulmon / The Republican04.11.2011 | AMHERST - Boaters enjoy warm weather Monday evening on Puffer's Pond.

The Forecast

We didn't quite hit 80, but Monday was warm enough to invite a nap in a park or a cruise in a convertible or, if you're a dog, a game of fetch in a pond. NOAA records show a high of 71 degrees yesterday in Chicopee.

Temperatures stay above 60 today -- even approaching 66 -- but the clouds are growing stubborn. There's a slight chance of rain after 1 p.m. today, a good chance of rain after 11 p.m. tonight, and Wednesday's forecast begins with a one-word sentence: "Rain."

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

Paper City Development Company, LLC -- a group that wants to develop a resort casino at Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke -- has announced a proposal for a "revenue sharing agreement" that would send 2.5 percent of the casino's net revenue to Holyoke and several surrounding communities.

Under the plan, Holyoke would receive 1.25 percent of the net revenue, while Chicopee, Westfield, Northampton, West Springfield, Easthampton, Southampton, South Hadley and Hadley would split another 1.25 percent, based on population.

Projections show the deal could mean $5 million for Holyoke, $1.4 million for Chicopee and and $1.05 million for Westfield.

What do you think -- is a casino revenue-sharing plan a good deal for Holyoke and its neighbors? Vote in our poll, and check back tomorrow for the results.

Monday's results: Yesterday, we asked, "Do you plan on reading Deval Patrick's memoir? " 12 people voted. 91.67% said "no"; 8.33% said "yes."

Monday's Top 5

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on April 11 were:

1. Vincent S. D'Addario, 1930-2011: Remembering the Springfield newspapers photographer through his photos [photo gallery]


2. Springfield police exchange gunfire with assailants in downtown


3. Granby motorcycle crash takes life of 28-year-old Abimael Mestre of Ludlow


4. Accident takes life of male motorcyclist on New Ludlow Road in Granby


5. Developing: Motorcycle accident closes Route 10 in Easthampton

Quote of the Day

“We make no apology for strong law enforcement when investigating crimes like a hateful church burning.”

— Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Regan, at the trial of Michael F. Jacques, accused in the arson of Springfield's Macedonia Church of God in Christ. Read Jack Flynn's article here.

Portions of the Connecticut River could see minor flooding over the next 36 hours,

04/11/11-Chicopee-Staff Photo by Dave Roback-Ryan Desroches of Ware takes advantage of the warm weather on Monday to hit a bucket of balls at Annie's Driving Range in Chicopee. It was his first time out this year swinging a golf club.

SPRINGFIELD - Rain, heavy at times, will likely slow commuters as they head to work Wednesday morning, abc40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Mike Masco said.

Another band of rain will hit Western Massachusetts later in the day, he said.

“We will get a half-inch to an inch, more to the east,” Masco said of the Wednesday rains.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile, citing recent runoff from melting snow across northern New England, has issued a flood watch for Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Portions of the Connecticut River could see minor flooding over the next 36 hours, Masco said. “We are just expecting minor flooding along the banks,” he said.

Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 50s to 60, Masco said.

Police stopped the vehicle in back of 580 South Summer St. shortly before 5:15 p.m.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A motor vehicle stop by police Monday night on South Summer Street yielded the arrest of two city men on drug charges.

Steven Alberto Calderon, 31, of 191 Beech St., was charged with driving with a suspended license, possession of heroin, possession of cocaine, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate drug law and violation of a drug-free zone, police documents state.

Luis Alvarado, 19, of 582 South Summer St., Apt. 1311, was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate drug law and violation of a drug-free zone, documents state.

Police stopped the vehicle in the rear of 580 South Summer St. shortly before 5:15 p.m.

More than 11,000 cases of cheese, blueberries, frozen chicken, and other foods were offered free of charge to kitchens that serve inmates.

• Expired food given to Massachusetts prisons [Boston Globe]


• Belchertown Police Chief signs contract [WWLP]


• Northampton Closes on Whately Watershed Land [Northampton Media]


• 
  Japan raises nuclear crisis rating to highest level [LA Times]


• Vt. bill would make citizens environmental cops [Brattleboro Reformer]


• Behind the scenes of a winning front page [WickedLocal.com / 207 Pocasset]


• Whately fire guts RV, truck [Recorder.com]



RIVER RD FIRE - WHATELY, MA from FIREGROUND360° on Vimeo.

• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


• Do you have News Links? Send them our way or tweet them to @masslivenews

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.

The details of the agreement reveal a lot of one-time savings that often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.

Associated PressIn this April 8, 2011 file photo, President Obama is seen in the Blue Room at the White House in Washington after he spoke regarding the budget and averted government shutdown.

WASHINGTON — The historic $38 billion in budget cuts resulting from at-times hostile bargaining between Congress and the Obama White House were accomplished in large part by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway.

Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for poor college students, health research and "Race to the Top" aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives, according to new details of the legislation released Tuesday morning.

And big holes in foreign aid and Environmental Protection Agency accounts were patched in large part. Republicans also gave up politically treacherous cuts to the Agriculture Department's food inspection program.

The details of the agreement reached late Friday night just ahead of a deadline for a partial government shutdown reveal a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially "score" as cuts to pay for spending elsewhere, but often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.

As a result of the legerdemain, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber approved a bill slashing this year's budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning program, while maintaining the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools.

Instead, the cuts that actually will make it into law are far tamer, including cuts to earmarks, unspent census money, leftover federal construction funding, and $2.5 billion from the most recent renewal of highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation. Another $3.5 billion comes from unused spending authority from a program providing health care to children of lower-income families.

Still, Obama and his Democratic allies accepted $600 million in cuts to a community health centers programs, $414 million in cuts to grants for state and local police departments, and a $1.6 billion reduction in the Environmental Protection Agency budget, almost $1 billion of which would come from grants for clean water and other projects by local governments and Indian tribes.

The National Institutes of Health, which funds critical medical research, would absorb a $260 million cut, less than 1 percent of its budget, instead of the $1.6 billion cut sought by House Republicans. Family planning programs would bear a 5 percent cut rather than being completely eliminated.

Homeland security programs would have to take their first-ever cut, though much of the 2 percent decrease comes from a $786 million cut to first responder grants to state and local governments. The IRS would see its budget frozen but be spared the 5 percent cut sought by House Republicans.

About $10 billion of the cuts already have been enacted as the price for keeping the government open as negotiations progressed; lawmakers tipped their hand regarding another $10 billion or so when the House passed a spending bill last week that ran aground in the Senate.

For instance, the spending measure reaps $350 million by cutting a one-year program enacted in 2009 for dairy farmers then suffering from low milk prices. Another $650 million comes by not repeating a one-time infusion into highway programs passed that same year. And just last Friday, Congress approved Obama's $1 billion request for high-speed rail grants — crediting itself with $1.5 billion in savings relative to last year.

The underlying issue is long overdue legislation to finance the day-to-day budget of every Cabinet department, including the Pentagon, for the already half-completed 2011 fiscal year. The measure caps 2011 funding for such operating budgets at about $1.2 trillion.

About $10 billion of the cuts comes from targeting appropriations accounts previously used by lawmakers for so-called earmarks, those pet projects like highways, water projects, community development grants and new equipment for police and fire departments. Republicans had already engineered a ban on earmarks when taking back the House this year.

Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule — used for years by appropriators — placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as budget savings. The savings are awarded year after year.

Even before details of the bill came out, some conservative Republicans were assailing it. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said he probably won't vote for the measure, and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is a "nay" as well.

The $38 billion in cuts, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., wrote on his Facebook page, "barely make a dent" in the country's budget woes.

Huelskamp and other conservatives are also upset that most conservative policy "riders" added by Republicans were dropped from the legislation in the course of the talks.

The White House rejected GOP attempts to block the EPA's ability to issue global warming rules and other reversals of environmental regulations. Obama also forced Republicans to drop an effort to cut off Planned Parenthood from federal funding, as well as GOP moves to stop implementation of Obama's overhauls of health care and Wall Street regulation.

The administration also thwarted a GOP attempt to block new rules governing the Internet, as well as a National Rifle Association-backed attempt to neuter a little-noticed initiative aimed at catching people running guns to Mexican drug lords by having regulators gather information on batch purchases of rifles and shotguns.

Anti-abortion lawmakers did, however, succeed in winning a provision to block taxpayer-funded abortions in the District of Columbia. And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, won funding for a personal initiative to provide federally funded vouchers for District of Columbia students to attend private schools.

Instead of sharply cutting the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, both agencies would get increases under the legislation as they gear up to implement last year's overhaul of financial regulation. And renewable energy programs are cut $407 million below last year, almost 20 percent. The Army Corps of Engineers , which funds flood control and inland waterway projects, will absorb a $578 million cut, representing about 10 percent of its budget.

Facing tough competition from rivals, including the iPhone, Cisco will realign focus to its key priorities.

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo, a Cisco Systems' Flip Video camera is displayed at Best Buy in Mountain View, Calif. Cisco Systems Inc. is exiting parts of its consumer businesses, with plans to shut its Flip video camera business Tuesday, April 12, 2011.(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Cisco Systems Inc. is exiting parts of its consumer businesses, with plans to shut its Flip video camera business.

The announcement by the world's biggest maker of computer-networking gear on Tuesday comes just a week after CEO John Chambers sent a memo to employees vowing to take "bold steps" to narrow the company's focus.

Cisco, which is facing stronger competition from rivals in its core business, said it will realign its remaining consumer business to support four of its five key priorities — core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures and video.

The San Jose, Calif., company anticipates its consumer business shakeup will result in the loss of 550 jobs and restructuring charges of no more than $300 million in its fiscal third and fourth quarters.

a 15-month old boy was served a mixed drink mislabeled as apple juice.

File photo by The Republican

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. — The Applebee's restaurant chain says it's changing the way it serves juice after a toddler was mistakenly given a small amount of alcohol at a Detroit-area location.

The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News report Tuesday that Applebee's will pour juice for children from single-serve containers at the table starting this week. Applebee's also plans to retrain workers.

Madison Heights police say the drink mislabeled as apple juice was actually a leftover mixed drink combination.

Fifteen-month-old Dominic Dill-Reese's mother ordered her son a kid's meal and asked for apple juice as the beverage Friday afternoon. Dominic was checked out by doctors, and the family was told the child's blood alcohol level was .10 percent. That's over the legal limit for an adult driver.

Dominic is expected to be OK.

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and housing and planning representatives from Easthampton, Belchertown, Northampton Hadley and Greenfield will be participating.

AMHERST – On Thursday Amherst officials are hoping there’s inspiration in numbers.

The Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee is sponsoring a summit for regional housing experts to talk about what’s happening in the Pioneer Valley when it comes to addressing housing needs of all kinds.

Planner Nathaniel Malloy said the committee had a summit two years ago, but not of this scope.

Nancy L. Gregg, chairwoman of the partnership, said that meeting was much more informal. But this time, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and housing and planning representatives from Easthampton, Belchertown, Northampton Hadley and Greenfield will be participating.

Gregg said providing housing is "a regional challenge. We should be acting more regionally.”

She said members of housing partnerships in other communities don’t know each other, and this program is a way to open the conversation. “New things are happening. It’s a great way to find out what other communities are doing,” she said.

She said two years ago she didn’t even think the topic of homelessness came up. But, she said, “homelessness, it’s all part of homes and housing.”

The summit will include several speakers, including Joanne Campbell, executive director of the Northampton-based Valley Community Development Corporation; Anne Perkins, former director of home ownership programs for Rural Development in Franklin County; and a representative from the Northampton Housing Partnership.

There will also be a chance for agencies to share brochures and information.

Malloy said that April is Affordable Housing Month and there are some programs looking at the issue in the eastern part of the state. “Let’s get people talking out here. Housing is a regional need. We can’t just look at Amherst,” he said.

And he said, “there may be one organization who has a good idea,” that can be used in another community.

The summit be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Jones Library and is free and open to the public.

Anyone with questions can contact Malloy at (413) 259-3040 or malloyn@amherstma.gov.

Voters who cast ballots in the annual town election also decided to eliminate taxes on farm animals and equipment.

HARDWICK – Voters elected Kenan Young of 1163 Petersham Road to the Board of Selectmen at Monday’s election.

Young beat out Adam Welsh of 1180 Petersham Road for the one-year position, 209 to 129. He replaces Robert Roy, who resigned two months ago, according to Town Clerk Paula L. Roberts.

She said voters also faced four ballot questions, and the only one that passed eliminates personal property taxes on farm animals and equipment. That vote was 229 to 111.

Three debt exclusion questions failed – to pay for upgrades to the Hardwick center water system reconstruction project, to pay for bonds for the Quabbin Regional School District Educational Support Center, and to repair the atrium roof at Quabbin Regional High School.

The projects already have been approved at town meetings, and are being funded through the general operating budget. If the questions had passed, the town would have had more room its operating budget for other expenses, as the projects would be excluded. The debt on the three projects totals between $80,000 and $90,000 each year, she said.

Roberts said 357 of the town's 1,800 registered voters cast ballots.

Plassmann announced last Friday that she was stepping down from the council immediately because of what she called “politically motivated” harassment by an unidentified department head.

Angela D. Plassmann

NORTHAMPTON – Even as the city schedules a special election to fill the seat vacated by Ward 3 City Councilor Angela D. Plassmann, Plassmann’s lawyer is searching for answers about the complaints that led to her resignation.

Plassmann announced last Friday that she was stepping down from the council immediately because of what she called “politically motivated” harassment by an unidentified department head. On her website, Plassmann also said she might seek a criminal complaint or file a civil suit concerning the matter. She has since declined to return telephone calls from reporters.

Although Plassmann has not given any details about the supposed harassment, her lawyer, Patrick J. Melnick, has written to Building Commissioner Louis Hasbrouck seeking information about reported complaints concerning a trailer on Plassmann’s 180 Fair Street Extension property. The city’s Planning Department has asked Hasbrouck to determine if the trailer is being used as a residence and if improvements have been made to the structure without the proper permits. The city has no record of any permits for the trailer, according to Planning Director Wayne M. Feiden. Feiden said he initiated the inquiry in response to complaints about the trailer.

Because Plassmann’s property is in a floodplain, zoning requirements are strict. In 2005, the city adopted a special plan for the low-lying Meadows that prohibits virtually all new construction there. The plan was developed by Ward 3 residents, who met over the course of a year to discuss issues affecting the Meadows.

Melnick has asked the city to identify the person or persons who complained about the trailer, state the times and dates of the observations, and cite in detail the alleged illegal activity.

“All that I have been able to determine thus far is that there is apparently some innuendo made by some anonymous informant,” Melnick wrote.

Hasbrouck said Tuesday that he does not know the names of the informants but is simply following up on the Planning Department request. Feiden said the caller or callers are anonymous, as far as he knows.

“We never received written complaints,” he said. “It could have been some person who called multiple times or different callers.”

Feiden, who did not personally field any of the calls, said the Planning Department does not require such informants to identify themselves because anonymity has encouraged people to speak up about perceived violations.

“We don’t care what the motivation is,” he said. “We care whether they’re right or not right.”

Conservation Commission chairman Kevin Lake said Tuesday that Feiden approached him about the matter several weeks ago, telling Lake it was a sensitive issue because Plassmann was a city councilor. Lake said that didn’t matter.

“You’ve got to look into it,” Lake said. “We always pursue these complaints.”

Hasbrouck said he is familiarizing himself with the zoning codes for the area and expects to have an analysis of the situation in a few days. Meanwhile, City Clerk Wendy A. Mazza has scheduled a special election for Aug. 2 to fill Plassmann’s seat. Nomination papers for the post are available in the clerk’s office starting April 13. A preliminary election would be held on June 28 if there are more than two candidates. Mazza has asked the city for $10,000 to cover potential expenses.

Ward 3 residents, who will lack a representative for the next four months, had differing reactions to Plassmann’s resignation. Gerald Budgar of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association said he is withholding judgment until the matter plays out. In the interim, he said he has asked the two at-large councilors to field calls from Ward 3 residents.

Adam Cohen of the North Street Neighborhood Association is among those who believe Plassmann has been treated unfairly.

“She’s been singled out and held to a different standard,” he said.

Ward 6 City Councilor Eugene Tacy, who voted with Plassmann in the minority on many issues, said the other councilors failed to show Plassmann proper respect.

“I knew she was taking a lot of heat from the day she got elected,” Tacy said, “and it just never ended. She got tired of it, I guess.”

State officials did not tell Gov. Deval Patrick on the public for nearly six weeks after the light fixture fell.

Jeffrey Mullan

BOSTON – State Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan said investigators are close to determining what caused a corroded 110-pound light fixture to fall from the ceiling of a Big Dig tunnel in February.

Mullan told a legislative committee Tuesday the corrosion may have been started by contact between two different kinds of metal in the light fixture, and made worse by salt from snow and ice removal efforts.

No one was hurt when the fixture crashed to the roadway but it prompted a review of about 25,000 in Big Dig tunnels. Mullan said fewer than 2 percent were found to have similar problems.

Mullan said it has not yet been determined if the corrosion resulted from a design or installation flaw. But he said the state could go after contractors for the cost of replacing the defective fixtures.