Scientists’ ability to measure and track airborne pollutants from the Midwest will be severely compromised if $24,000 is cut from a testing station in Vermont, experts say.

• Black Friday bargain hunter attacks others with pepper spray in California [Los Angeles Times]


Associated Press photoProtesters, including a man holding tear gas canisters, chant slogans and wave national flags during a rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Friday. Tens of thousands of protesters chanting, "Leave, leave!" rapidly filled up Cairo's Tahrir Square in a demonstration to force Egypt's ruling military council to yield power. Click on the link, above right, for a report from the New York Times about the White House calling for the military to relinquish power.
• White House urges military in Egypt to yield power [New York Times]


• Vermont air quality monitoring site could lose funding [Burlington Free Press]


• Soldier to face hearing in slaying of fellow soldier from Falmouth [Boston Globe]


• Warm clothing drive held in West Springfield [WWLP-TV, 22 News, Chicopee]


• Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's comment spurs debate in China [Christian Science Monitor]


• Festival of Trees opens for 11th year at Tower Square in Springfield [WSHM-TV, cbs3, Springfield]


• November may go down as one of 5 warmest on record in Boston area [WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston]


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


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“We need the good times,” said Kate Blackwell, of Monson, whose town was decimated by the June 1 tornado. Watch video

11/25/11 Springfield- Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray-Annual Parade- of Big Balloons - The Paddington Bear balloon makes its way down Main Street it was the first year this balloon has been part of the celebration.

SPRINGFIELD – Thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Springfield Friday, six deep at some points, as the Parade of the Big Balloons strutted, floated, bobbed and danced down Main Street.

The parade was led by a 75-foot balloon of the Cat in the Hat, a favorite creation of children’s author Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, who was a native of Springfield. Children and grown men alike could be spotted in the crowd wearing the Cat’s trademark red-and-white-striped stovepipe chapeau.

Kenna Rainville, 6, said her favorite balloon was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She and her family had staked out a place on the curb an hour before the parade set off. “We’ve been coming forever,” said her father, Kenny Rainville.

Vendors wove their carts through the crowd, selling balloons, souvenirs and hot chocolate.

The gigantic helium-filled balloons were dwarfed by as many as 40 “handlers” at a time to kept them on track. In between the balloons, onlookers were treated to floats, marching bands, people in costumes, schoolchildren, businesses, organizations and beautiful ladies waving from cars.

“We came to watch my husband,” said Dana Griffin of East Longmeadow, whose husband, Scott, was one of the heroes of the tornado that swept through parts of Springfield on June 1.

Scott, operations director of the MassMutual Center, was one of many first responders honored as Parade Marshals. Others included Massachusetts National Guard General Gary Keefe, Springfield Fire Chief Gary Cassanelli, Springfield Police Sergeant John Delaney and Thomas and Linda-Jo Perks of the Salvation Army.

They were met with bursts of cheers and shouts of “Thank you!”

Kate Blackwell, of Monson, watched the parade with four generations of her family, including her children and their great-grandmother. “We need the good times,” said Blackwell, whose town was decimated by the tornado.

More details coming in The Republican.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 26 points.

Associated Press photoEuropean Commissioner for the Economy Olli Rehn, left, shakes hands with Italian Premier Mario Monti as they meet at Chigi's Premier palace in Rome, Friday. Italy had to pay sharply higher borrowing rates to entice investors to part with their cash during a couple of auctions Friday, in an acute sign that Europe's crippling debt crisis is laying siege to the eurozone's third-largest economy. The auction results are another sign that the country's new technocratic government, faces a big battle to convince that it has a strategy to get a grip on the country's massive debts.

NEW YORK — The worst week for the stock market in two months ended with a whimper in thin trading Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.8 percent this week, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.7 percent. Both had their worst weeks since Sept. 23.

Major indexes wavered throughout Friday's session, which was shortened because it's the day after Thanksgiving. Worries about Europe's debt crisis flared up again after Italy had to pay 7.8 percent to borrow for two years at a debt auction. It's another sign that investors are increasingly hesitant to lend to European countries.

The euro slipped to $1.32, losing 2 percent this week against the dollar. The drop puts the euro at its lowest level since Oct. 4.

Higher interest rates on government debt of Italy, Spain and other European countries have rattled stock markets in recent weeks. When borrowing costs climb above the 7 percent threshold, it deepens investor fears about a government's ability to manage its debts. Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to seek financial lifelines when their interest rates crossed the same mark.

The Dow fell 25.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 11,231.78. Of the Dow's 30 stocks, Chevron Corp. lost 1.6 percent Friday, the biggest drop. Travelers Cos. Inc. added 1.2 percent, the largest gain.

The S&P 500 lost 3.12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,158.67. The Nasdaq composite dropped 18.57, or 0.8 percent, to close at 2,441.51.

Trading volume was 1.6 billion, less than half the daily average.

Markets were battered this week as governments in Europe and the U.S. struggle to tackle their debts. The Dow lost 248 points on Monday as a Congressional committee failed to reach a deal to cut federal budget deficits. It plunged 236 points Wednesday after investors balked at buying German government debt.

Retailers traded mixed on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season and usually the busiest day of the year for retailers. Amazon.com Inc. dropped 3.5 percent. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. inched up 0.4 percent.

A record number of people were expected to show up at stores this weekend to take advantage of deep discounts. The National Retail Federation estimates that 152 million people will go shopping over the three days starting on Friday. That would be an increase of 10 percent from last year.

AT&T's stock dipped less than 1 percent. The company said Thursday that it is budgeting to pay $4 billion in break-up fees if its attempted $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom falls apart.

Four stocks fell for every three that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office says Jade Anderson of Framingham punched 2 police officers investigating a report of a man assaulting a woman near the Occupy Boston camp.

Associated Press photoDemonstrators gather at the edge of the Occupy Boston tent village in Boston early Tuesday. Police arrested people sleeping in an expansion of their campsite on an adjacent parcel of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.

BOSTON – A judge has banned a Framingham woman from the Occupy Boston camp after she allegedly interfered with a domestic violence investigation at the site, failed to appear in court and assaulted police officers on two separate incidents.

Nineteen-year-old Jade Anderson was arraigned Friday on charges of disorderly conduct and several assault offenses. A Boston Municipal Court judge set bail at $850 and ordered Anderson to stay away from any Occupy Boston activities in the city.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office says Anderson punched two police officers investigating a report of a man assaulting a woman near the Occupy Boston camp on Nov. 19.

Anderson posted bail, failed to appear in court Tuesday and allegedly kicked an officer trying to arrest her Wednesday.

Her attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

He was one of 19 people arrested in 2010 as part of an investigation known as "Operation Slim Fast " that focused on a drug ring operating in Puerto Rico, Bridgeport and Springfield.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A 33-year-old Bridgeport, Conn. man involved in a drug-trafficking ring that had ties to Springfield, Mass. was sentenced to more than 8 years in federal prison Wednesday, the office of the U.S. Attorney announced.

Jonathan Williamson, also known as “Rue,” was sentenced to 100 months, to be followed by four years of supervised release. Williamson on Oct. 1 pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine.

He was one of 19 people arrested in 2010 on federal drug trafficking and firearm related offenses in an investigation known as “Operation Slim Fast,” officials said. Officials said the drug ring operated in Puerto Rico, Bridgeport and Springfield.

As a result of the operation, which involved federal, state and local authorities in Connecticut and Massachusetts, authorities seized four kilograms of cocaine, a kilogram of crack cocaine, a large quantity of heroin, an SKS assault rifle, five handguns and $150,000 in cash.

The co-president of the Haddam Historical Society says it should not make any difference that the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show wil be held in West Springfield just a few miles over the state line.

The East Coast Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show is taking place this weekend at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield on Saturday, August 9, 2008. STAFF PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER EVANS

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Haddam (Conn.) Historical Society will hold its Connecticut Spring Antiques Show at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds March 10-11.

Terry R. Smith, co-president of the society, said Wednesday that the group visited about 30 sites in Connecticut, but none of them met its needs as far as timing and other issues are concerned. In recent years, the show has been held at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford.

However, because it will not be available next year, the society contacted the Eastern State Exposition about using its fairgrounds here. He said it should not matter that the Connecticut show is held just over the border in Massachusetts. The show will feature American antiques made before 1840 and is expected to attract 65 to 70 antiques dealers.

“We’re called the grande dame of antiques. It is one of the best, if not the best antique show in New England,” Smith said. “We’re very much looking forward to coming to West Springfield.”

“We’ve never had an antique show like that before. We are very, very pleased,” Susan Lavoie, vice president of Eastern States Exposition, said about the prospect of hosting the show.

It is expected to take up most of the exposition’s Young Building. The event is the premiere show for American antiques made prior to 1840, according to information on the society’s Web site. It includes furniture, porcelain, pottery, silver, pewter, fine art, brass and ironware, and textiles. There will also be a Civil War exhibit at the show with military uniforms and memorabilia.

The antiques show is one of five new events planned for the fairgrounds in 2012. The others are the Motorsports Racing Expo March 2-4, La Cachucha Ranch Rodeo May 5-6, the Goodguys 21st East Coast Nationals, a car show, June 15-17 and the Region 6 Quarter Horse Championships July 19-22.

Based on the traffic at a recent four-day Equine Affaire horse show at the grounds, Lavoie said it would seem the economy is improving. More than 100,000 people attended the event.

“People were purchasing. That to me, shows the economy is picking up,” Lavoie said.

There seems to be an increased interest in coming to shows and events as opposed to making purchases on line, according to Lavoie.

“There is an interest among people to get out and do things,” she said.

The road was expected to be closed for at least a few hours while police investigate the crash and the debris is cleared away, police said.

View full sizeRepublican staff photo by Dave RobackA Westfield police officer walks through the wreckage at the scene of a car accident on Southampton Road Friday afternoon. The road was closed to all traffic the scene is cleared.

An update to this story was posted at 8:51 p.m. Friday

WESTFIELD - A Friday afternoon accident on Route 10 & 202 involving a car and two tractor-trailers forced police to close the roadway in both directions and detour traffic through the city's north side, police said.

No information was available about injuries.

The road was expected to be closed for at least a few hours while police investigate the crash and the debris is cleared away, police said.

The accident occurred on Southampton Road near St. Joseph's Cemetery.

Northbound traffic was being detoured down Appremont Way, while southbound traffic was detoured at Airport Road.

More information will be posted as it become available.

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Details of how the plots will be allotted have not been finalized, but Lombard said demand has been high.

Northampton 5/8/07. Francis H. Frenier, of the Florence section of Northampton, uses a tiller to prepare the soil of his garden plot at the Northampton Community Gardens. He says that he plans to plant a few flowers, but mostly vegetables--tomotoes, peppers cucumbers and burssle sprouts. He loves the Community Gardens and says of it "It's a nice place to escape to." CUTLINE: 5/10/07 - Francis H. Frenier, of the Florence section of Northampton, uses a tiller yesterday to prepare the soil in his garden plot at the Northampton Communtiy Gardens. Frenier plans to plant a few flowers, but will concentrate mostly on vegetables.

NORTHAMPTON – The much anticipated community gardens in Florence is already rocking to the tune of 80,000 pounds of finely ground rock dust in preparation for groundbreaking by 100 “pioneer” farmers next spring.

On Tuesday, workers spread the rock dust over 12 acres of soil on the already rich farmland by the Mill River. The application, touted as one of the first of its kind for such a project, is expected to provide a variety of benefits to the gardeners who will till the soil.

“It causes a phenomenal growth of the microorganisms in the soil and increases the nutrient intake of plants,” said Joanna Campe, the executive director of the Northampton-based Remineralize the Earth.

In addition, Campe explained in a prepared statement, the rock dust counters the effects of soil acidity, prevents erosion, increases the storage capacity of soil and has anti-fungal properties. It also repels insects, eliminating the need for pesticides.

Remineralize the Earth is working on the project with Grow Food Northampton, which is overseeing the development of the community gardens. Grow Food director Lilly Lombard said the application of the rock dust was timed in anticipation of Wednesday’s soaking rain.

“It instantly washed into the soil, so it was perfect,” she said.

The rock dust came from a quarry in Westfield and cost about $3,000. The organic food magazine Natural Vitality was so excited about the project that it donated $1,000 towards the cause, Lombard said.

Grow Food Northampton raised $670,000 to buy 120 acres of the Allard-Bean property near the Mill River in Florence, part of a larger land purchase that included the non-profit Trust for Public Land and the city of Northampton. Some of the rich agricultural land has been leased to local farmers and some set aside for a complex of playing fields. The city also awarded Grow Food Northampton $104,500 in Community Preservation Act funds to develop a 400-plot community garden.

Although the land has been touted for its prime topsoil, Lombard said some of it might have been washed away during Tropical Storm Irene, when the Mill River almost completely flooded the land. The rock dust is a good way of restoring the soil, she said.

“We want to create the best and most fertile soil,” Lombard said.

Grow Food Northampton also plans to create a 100-foot-wide buffer zone of trees along the river bank to protect against future flooding. The organization is in the process of developing an irrigation system for the garden plots and hopes to have the first 100 ready for cultivating in the spring.

“We’re looking for 100 pioneer gardeners next spring,” Lombard said. “They have to have the pioneer spirit.”

Details of how the plots will be allotted have not been finalized, but Lombard said demand has been high. Would-be gardeners could end up waiting in line on registration day. Lombard said she wouldn’t be surprised of some camp out overnight to secure a spot.

The city said it will take some time following the deadline for the collection to be completed.

The Republican | John SuchockiCleanup continues along County Road in Southampton as Mitch Bartz of Wisconsin works for Federal Disaster Recovery Corp. of Montana. Bartz said he was working the tornado recovery in Wilbraham and works 12-hour shifts cleaning up piles of storm debris along assigned routes.

SPRINGFIELD – The city's Department of Public Works has announced that Dec. 12 is the deadline for residents to place tree debris from the Oct. 29-30 snowstorm out for collection.

City-hired contractors will collect tree debris in all areas of Springfield. The city, in a statement issued by the office of Mayor Domenic Sarno, said it will take some time following the Dec. 12 deadline for the collection to be completed.

After Dec. 12, residents placing any additional tree debris out for collection will be required to follow the DPW’s yard waste collection policy:

Branches can be no wider than 3" in diameter and no longer than 4' and must be tied for pickup. Logs and Stumps are not collected by City DPW crews.

The DPW previously issued a parking advisory asking residents who park on city streets do so in a manner that does not block tree debris that has been placed on tree belts for collection. Tree debris cannot be collected where vehicles are parked in front of the debris and the truck collection equipment cannot reach it.

Tree branch debris can be placed on city tree belts and along the edge of the street on residential properties (for houses without tree belts), and it will be picked up in the coming days. Residents are being asked not to block sidewalks or the street with tree debris.

Contractors hired by residents are responsible for their own debris removal.

Residents are encouraged to contact their homeowners’ insurance company for questions about insurance coverage regarding large trees and branches on private property.

The center will do academic research, and its partners include Harvard and MIT.

The Republican | John SuchockiSteel workers set beams in place for the framework of the high performance computing center under construction in Holyoke.

HOLYOKE – Vocational students will learn about the $168 million high performance computing center from the contractors building it.

An after-school program on the project will begin in January and get a kick-off with a scheduled visit by Gov. Deval L. Patrick and other officials Tuesday, officials said this week.

“This is a great opportunity,” said William Diehl, deputy director of the Collaborative for Educational Services, of Northampton.

The collaborative is a private, nonprofit company that is managing Dean Technical High School here, from which 15 students will participate in the program. Students from vocational schools in other nearby communities also will participate, but those specifics haven’t been settled yet, officials said.

Turner Construction Co., of New York, N.Y., is building the center on Bigelow Street between Cabot and Appleton streets. It will be more than 90,000 square feet containing numerous computers working on academic research into areas such as designing drugs, understanding the formation of galaxies and climate change.

Construction began Aug. 25. A two-story complex of brick, precast concrete and glass is expected to be done by late 2012.

The program for vocational students will feature architects, electricians, heavy equipment operators, plumbers, software designers and other specialists detailing their work on the computing center.

The plan is for the two-hour sessions with vocational students to be held every other week at the construction site at 4 p.m. Eight sessions are scheduled, Diehl said.

“This is something that Turner Construction is actually taking the lead on,” said John T. Goodhue, executive director of the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, as the facility is formally known.

“It’s cool stuff. I want to make sure we get the word out,” he said.

Partners in the center are the University of Massachusetts, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Northeastern University, EMC Corp., of Hopkinton, an information storage, back-up and recovery firm, and Cisco Systems Inc., a California-based internet network equipment maker.

The $168 million consists of costs to acquire the property, build the facility and stock it with computers and other equipment, with the funds coming from the partners, officials said. Patrick committed $25 million to the project to ensure construction began this fall.

Police say a Craigslist ad that lured victims into a lethal robbery scheme.

Associated PressLaw enforcement officials work at a crime scene on Harlem Road in Akron, Ohio, where a body was found on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. The FBI is investigating whether the body found Friday in a shallow grave is a second killing connected to a phony Craigslist job ad that authorities say lured victims into a deadly robbery scheme. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Ed Suba Jr.)

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
and THOMAS J. SHEERAN

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The discoveries of two new bodies could bring to three the death toll from a Craigslist ad that police say lured victims into a lethal robbery scheme.

A body found Friday in a shallow grave near a mall in Akron may be that of a missing man who answered the ad, the FBI said. And a sheriff in a rural county said later in the day that the body of a white male without identification was found in a shallow grave about 90 miles away.

The FBI is working on the supposition that the body found near the Rolling Acres shopping mall in Akron may be that of 47-year-old Timothy Kern, who hasn't been seen in more than a week, agency spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said.

"Do we think it might be? Maybe," Anderson said. "He's missing. We haven't been able to find him. It could possibly be, but we just don't know that yet."

Anderson declined to specify how authorities discovered the body.

Kern, of Massillon, answered the same ad for a farm hand that authorities say led to the shooting death of Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, in a rural area of Nobel County 90 miles south of Akron. A South Carolina man reported answering the ad and being shot Nov. 6 but escaping.

Noble County Sheriff Steve Hannum is under a judge's gag order and can't comment on the case, but the title of his emailed announcement late Friday — "second body" — implied the discovery was connected with Pauley's death.

Neighbors where Pauley's body was found last week and the second body was found Friday said police had been in the area and a helicopter had been overhead most of the day but the scene was quiet late in the day.

Two people from the Akron area are in custody: a high school student who has been charged with attempted murder and 52-year-old Richard Beasley, who is in jail on unrelated charges.

Beasley's mother has said he has "a very caring heart" and she prays that newspaper reports he is a suspect are wrong.

FBI agents have contacted people to check on their well-being, FBI spokesman Harry Trombitas said Friday in an email.

One was Heather Tuttle, of Ravenna, who applied for the job Oct. 7 but never got a response. She had forgotten about the posting until an FBI agent called and left a message for her Monday.

When she called back, she was stunned at what the agent told her.

"It could have been me," said Tuttle, 27, who has since taken work as an assistant manager at a gas station.

"When the situation was explained to me, it just instantly made me sick and made me realize how lucky I am that I didn't get a response back," she said.

Another man who responded to the ad has said he met Beasley at a food court at a different mall in the Akron area on Oct. 10. Ron Sanson, of Stow, was told the man was looking for an older, single or divorced person to watch over a 688-acre farm in southeast Ohio — the kind of man, Sanson said, whose disappearance might not be quickly noticed.

Sanson and Kern are both divorced. So was Pauley.

Sanson, 58, said he filled out an application and talked for about 20 minutes with Beasley about a $300-a-week job overseeing a swath of land a mile from the nearest neighbor and living rent-free in a two-bedroom trailer with opportunities to hunt and fish and free access to ATVs and snowmobiles.

The farm advertised on Craigslist does not exist; the area where the bodies were found in Noble County is property owned by a coal company and often leased to hunters.

Law enforcement officials have released few details because of the gag order. Hannum, the sheriff in Noble County where Pauley and the South Carolina man were shot, previously said it was unclear how long the ad was online or whether there were other victims.

Sheeran reported from Cleveland. Associated Press writer JoAnne Viviano in Columbus contributed to this report.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation says there are still “extremely hazardous” damaged trees and branches hanging along roads, parking lots and trails in some central and western parks.

11-2-11 - Westfield - Republican staff photo by Don Treeger- A crew from Green Meadow Lumber of Westfield works on storm damage near Stanley Park on Kensington Ave.

BOSTON – Balmy temperatures are forecast this weekend, but some Massachusetts state recreation areas are still closed by debris from last month’s early snowstorm.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation says there are still “extremely hazardous” damaged trees and branches hanging along roads, parking lots and trails in some central and western parks.

Still closed to vehicles and pedestrians are Robinson State Park in Agawam, Chicopee State Park and the Nashua River Trail in Groton, Dunstable, Ayer and Pepperell. Hiking trails in the Mount Holyoke State Range Park also are closed.

People should check ahead for conditions in other state parks and forests in Douglas, Foxborough, Holyoke, Rutland, Sutton, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton and Westfield.

BAA, the airport's operator, said 12-hour delays for arriving passengers are likely because the Nov. 30 strike will hit the U.K. Border Agency's ability to support normal operations.

Associated PressAn airport worker walks across a deserted Terminal 5 arrivals hall at Heathrow Airport London when it was closed due to a cloud of volcanic ash last year.

By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD

LONDON – A public sector strike in Britain next week threatens to paralyze operations at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport.

BAA, the airport's operator, said Friday 12-hour delays for arriving passengers are likely because the Nov. 30 strike will hit the U.K. Border Agency's ability to support normal operations.

An estimated 2 million workers are expected to protest changes in public sector pensions with a 24-hour walkout — billed as potentially the biggest union action since 1979.

The lines at Heathrow's immigration counters are expected to be so long that passengers will need to be held on planes, BAA warned.

"This in turn would quickly create gridlock at the airport, with no available aircraft parking stands, mass cancellations of departing aircraft and diversions outside the U.K. for arriving aircraft," Normand Boivin, the chief operating officer for Heathrow, warned in a letter to airlines.

The letter, written Thursday and shared with The Associated Press, urged airlines to reduce the number of passengers they bring in on Nov. 30 because BAA had "reluctantly concluded that the U.K. Border Agency wouldn't be able to come up with a contingency plan to ensure business-as-usual."

Boivin said the border agency expects to be functioning at less than 50 percent of normal productivity.

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Cathay Pacific both agreed to waive fees for rebooking flights on Nov. 30 and expressed concern over the strike's impact on business.

"While we hope to operate our regular schedule, customers may experience prolonged delays awaiting immigration processing and there may even be the possibility of flight diversions," Cathay Pacific said in a statement.

The U.K. Border Agency acknowledged travelers could see longer waiting times at airports but said it has considered "all options" to make sure it's prepared for the strike and aims to minimize any disruptions.

It said the security of Britain's borders is the agency's top priority, though unions have criticized moves to draft in civil servants and contractors to cover for striking immigration officials.

"Our members take two to three months to train - the idea that people can cover after a few days' training is absurd," said Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union.

The Home Office said it has undertaken "significant work" to plan for the strike, which includes training managers, staff and contractors to the high standards it requires to carry out border checks and asking staff around the world to provide additional cover on Nov. 30.

Government ministers have warned the nationwide could cost the economy half a billion pounds and lead to job losses.

Heathrow Airport handles 180,000 passengers on a typical day, according to BAA.

Gatwick Airport also warned passengers to be prepared for "significant disruption" at immigration and said it asked carriers to give passengers the chance to change their flights.

Gatwick's chief operating officer, Scott Stanley said the airport is working with the border agency and airlines to put contingency measures in place and ensure disruptions are kept to a minimum.

"Unfortunately, airport staff cannot man the desks at the border zone but we will provide all necessary assistance to the Border Agency and we are determined to make sure that the needs and welfare of all our passengers will be met on the day," Stanley said.

The official kick-off of Westfield’s Dickens Days, which celebrate the holidays with a month of special, Victorian-inspired events, Santa’s arrival was met with foreseeable excitement.

Manon MirabelliFrom left, Kelsey L., 5, Katie M., 2, and Andrew J. Bouchard, 3 months, of Westfield, visit Friday with Santa Claus in his house behind the Amelia Park Children's Museum in Westfield after he arrived there by fire truck. The Santa meet-and-greet kicks-off month-long Dickens Days events that celebrate the holidays.

WESTFIELD – Santa Claus made a grand entrance Friday morning atop a fire truck that carried him to his house behind Amelia Park Children’s Museum where children lined up to meet him and tell him what they want for gifts this holiday season.

The official kick-off of Westfield’s Dickens Days, which celebrate the holidays with a month of special, Victorian-inspired events, Santa’s arrival was met with foreseeable excitement from the little people who were eager to share their gift-receiving expectations.

“I want Wii Draw,” said 6-year-old Katie E. Breck, of Westfield, while waiting in line.

Her mother, Staci L. Breck, said she brought Katie to see Santa to have “something to do on a day off from school.”

While Friday’s high temperature of nearly 60 and sunny skies were not reminiscent of blustery winter days, the festive presence of Santa Claus was greeted by enthusiastic visitors, many more of whom will have the opportunity to meet with Santa until the end the day on Dec. 18.

Hosted by Westfield on Weekends, Dickens Days, said organization president Robert A. Plasse, is launched annually by Santa’s arrival in what has become a tradition in the city. The event, he added, which is sponsored by the Westfield Kiwanis Club, is in keeping with Westfield on Weekends’ mission to bring all members of the community together.

“We celebrate Westfield’s richness by bringing together its diverse peoples and cultures, by collaborating with them to produce a wide array of community events throughout the year, and by helping to promote the services and cultural opportunities that exist in Westfield to the wider community,” Plasse said. “Westfield on Weekends celebrates the people of Westfield, the many businesses and nonprofits in our community, the unique history of our city and the natural beauty of our area.”

Visit the Westfield on Weekends website at www.westfieldonweekends.com for a full calendar listing of Dickens Days events that will culminate Jan. 2 with seasonal activities at Amelia Park Ice Arena, including the big-screen broadcast of the National Hockey League’s Winter Classic.

Children can visit Santa at the museum at 29 South Broad St. until Dec. 18. Hours are Fridays, 5 to 7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays (except Dec. 3), 1 to 4 p.m. There is no fee, but the cost of a photo with Santa is $5. Museum admission is discounted on the day of the visit.

The decision was made because of the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

LUDLOW – The School Committee has taken steps to alter the school calendar after the crippling Oct. 29 nor’easter that left hundreds of thousands of people without power, many for a week.

“We have canceled four days of the April vacation,” School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher said.

He said there is a Monday holiday during the week so there will still be no school on Monday, April 16, which is Patriot’s Day.

The other four days of April vacation have been canceled. The revised school calendar is available on the Ludlow public schools website.

“We are giving people enough notice so they can plan accordingly,” Kelliher said.

Due to the Oct. 29 snowstorm, school districts in the area have already used a week of snow days.

By canceling four days of April vacation, school will get out for the summer on June 15. If five additional snow days are used this winter, school will get out for the summer on June 22, Kelliher said.

Many school districts last year were going to the end of June because of the heavy snowstorms last winter.

“We experimented with having two weeks of vacation at Christmas in recent years to save on the heating oil bill,” Kelliher said.

He said the savings was not as large as projected. He said that closing the schools for two weeks at Christmas caused disruptions to school sports teams that could not practice.

“We decided to go back to a one week vacation at Christmas,” Kelliher said, which will make it easier for students to get out of school before the end of June.

The state has a requirement that students be in school for 180 days per year and will not waive the requirement, Kelliher said.

Students will be given one extra day off following the Christmas vacation – Jan. 3. Teachers will have a professional development day on that date, Kelliher said.

“The weather has sent us a curveball already,” Kelliher said. “We wanted parents and staff to have enough notice to deal with it.”

The fire department had to remove Cooper from the wreckage with Jaws of Life hydraulic equipment.

View full sizeRepublican staff photo by Dave RobackA Westfield police officer walks through the wreckage at the scene of a car accident on Southampton Road Friday afternoon. The road was closed to all traffic the scene is cleared.

This is an update of a story first posted at 4:54 p.m. Friday

WESTFIELD - A 36-year-old New York state man escaped serious injury Friday afternoon on Southampton Road when his car was struck from behind by one truck and sent skidding into the path of another truck, police said.

The accident, reported at about 3:15 p.m., closed a section of Southampton Road near St. Joseph's Cemetery for more than five hours. Southampton Road is also known as routes 10 and 202.

Traffic was diverted down Apremont Way and Airport Road. Southampton Road remained closed Friday night at 8:30 p.m. and police expected it would be closed for another few hours.

Driver David Cooper of Rock Hill, N.Y. was taken by ambulance to Noble Hospital. His injuries were described as not life-threatening.

The fire department had to remove him from the wreckage with Jaws of Life hydraulic equipment. Police said Cooper was wearing seat belts.

According to the preliminary investigation, Cooper was heading north when he stopped to make a left turn into Westfield Spirit Shop, 440 Southampton Road. His Nissan sedan was hit in the rear by a tractor-trailer, driven by Gilberto Ferreira, 39, of Springfield.

Impact sent the car into the southbound lane where it struck another tractor-trailer, driven by James H. Ruot of Broadbrook Conn. The impact ripped open the truck’s fuel tank, and spilling several gallons of diesel fuel on the road.

The state Department of Environmental Protection was called to the scene because of the fuel spill.

The accident remains under investigation.

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Lindsey F. Pelletier is charged with allowing an unlicensed person to operate her vehicle and providing alcohol to a minor.

WESTFIELD – A 24-year-old city woman faces a Dec. 30 pre-trial conference on charges resulting from an April fatal motor vehicle accident on Cross Street.

Lindsey F. Pelletier, of 55 Woodside Terrace, is charged with allowing an unlicensed person to operate her vehicle and providing alcohol to a minor. She remains free on bail pending her court date.

Vincent A. Caputo, 18, of Westfield, died April 22 from injuries suffered in the April 16 accident. Police allege that Pelletier allowed Caputo to operate her vehicle knowing his license had been suspended.

After police got a report about a guitar stolen from a patient at Holyoke Medical Center, officers at the police station on Appleton Street heard guitar sounds.

File photo | The Republican

HOLYOKE – A homeless man apparently was in a giving mood, a few days before Thanksgiving, and police were grateful.

After police Tuesday night got a report about a guitar stolen from a patient at Holyoke Medical Center, officers at the police station on Appleton Street heard guitar sounds.

“A short time later, this homeless party miraculously showed up in the police department lobby,” Lt. Michael J. Higgins said Wednesday.

Sitting on the police lobby floor was Jose Louis Perez, 46, playing the Washburn guitar described in the report, he said.

“He was serenading the walls,” Higgins said.

Perez, who is homeless, was arraigned in Holyoke District Court on a charge of larceny over $250, released on personal surety and given a Jan. 11 court date, police and court officials said.

A hospital surveillance camera recorded Perez walking off with the guitar, valued at $600, the case and other items, police said. It was unclear why Perez was at the hospital, Higgins said.

The guitar and other items were returned to their owner, he said.

Some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

Associated PressOccupy Boston protesters march through Boston's Downtown Crossing shopping district, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Occupy protesters want shoppers to occupy something besides door-buster sales and crowded mall parking lots on Black Friday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

By BETH DUFF-BROWN
and JULIET WILLIAMS

SAN FRANCISCO – Anti-Wall Street protesters took their message about corporate greed to Black Friday shoppers, staging demonstrations in commercial areas around California on one of the busiest days of the year for retailers and bargain-hunters.

In San Francisco, a few dozen people in tony and touristy Union Square used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?"

Some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

Later in the afternoon, some of the participants in what protesters called "Don't Buy Anything Day" sat down in the middle of Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare, and blocked traffic while chanting, "Stop shopping and join us!"

"I wanted us both to be here for the children," said protester Steve Hamilton, a screenwriter who traveled to the city from Winters, Calif., with his son Jacob. "I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It's not fair to this generation."

Down the street from Macy's massive store on Union Square in San Francisco, shopper Celia Collins of New Orleans said she worked hard to earn her MBA and pay off her student loans. She had every right to enjoy Black Friday, she said, and the protesters would be better off working within the system to find jobs and support the economy.

"I think they're a bunch of ... crybabies," said Collins, clutching her shopping bags as she watched the protesters march down Stockton Street. "I don't begrudge them the right to do it, but I just don't think they've really very smart."

A group of about 20 Occupy protesters in Sacramento marched from a park to a small outdoor mall where many of the storefronts are empty. A police officer on a bicycle trailed the crowd.

A few puzzled shoppers, many toting large shopping bags, stopped to stare at the crowd as they read a manifesto asking people to support local merchants.

Michele Waldinger, 57, a retired attorney who used to work for the U.S. Small Business Administration, said she joined the group to lend her voice to the Occupy effort to restore a social safety net and get corporate influence out of American politics.

"I support the movement, I support getting money out of politics and I support having people shop locally," she said.

The group paraded into a Macy's store, entering near the women's clothing department.

"We are here today to ask you to shop local and sustain our local economy," the group's leader, a man who identified himself only as Brother Carter, read into a bullhorn. "And not reward the 1 percent, large corporate stores like Macy's, whose profits enrich the 1 percent, while they pay next to nothing to their workers, the 99 percent."

The group stayed inside the store for several minutes chanting slogans such as, "They call it profit; we call it robbery." Several shoppers crowded around taking photos with their cellphones.

"I just was took back by surprise that they came into Macy's," said Beronica Jones, 39, of Reno, who was carrying a Gap bag. "I guess that it's positive for people to hear it when they're shopping for Christmas, when we're consuming."

After most of the crowd had cleared out of the store, two young women wearing Macy's badges approached one of the protesters to ask what their rally was all about. One explained that it was to call attention to workers who perform all the labor but do not share in profits.

The employees nodded their heads in agreement.

A Macy's manager threatened to arrest a reporter for The Associated Press before she could ask for the names of the employees or the manager.

Betsy Nelson, a spokeswoman for Macy's, declined to comment on the group's assertion that the chain is among the "1 percent." Nelson said Macy's usually asks the media to check in before reporting at its stores but apologized for the manager who threatened to have the reporter arrested.

"We are a place where people shop. We are not necessarily a place to protest," she said.

Along with identifying new protest targets, people with the Occupy movement energized more established awareness campaigns.

In Emeryville, a small city on San Francisco Bay that has been transformed from a manufacturing area to a shopping destination, more than 60 people attended a Native American community's 10th annual Black Friday protest of the Bay Street Mall.

Corrina Gould, a lead organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, said the goal is to educate shoppers that the mall was built in 2002 on a sacred Ohlone burial site.

About one-third of the people at Friday's protest came from neighboring Oakland's Occupy movement, and Gould said having the new voices was invigorating.

Jesse Smith, an Occupy Oakland protester, passed out fliers encouraging mall shoppers to instead support local businesses in downtown Oakland to help "keep them in the black."

Williams reported from Sacramento. Associated Press Writer Terry Collins contributed reporting from Emeryville.

Troopers said a 2004 Chevrolet Impala with Connecticut tags and heavy front-end damage may have been involved in a hit-and-run incident in Northampton. The Impala was last seen southbound on I-91, police said.

The Republican file photo

NORTHAMPTON — Massachusetts State Police in Northampton issued a 5:42 a.m. Saturday alert about a 2004 Chevrolet Impala with Connecticut license plates and heavy front-end damage that was last seen driving southbound on Interstate 91.

The car may possibly have been involved in a Northampton hit-and-run incident, according to troopers.

Anyone with information about a vehicle matching that description is asked to contact the Northampton barracks at (413) 584-3000.

Further information was not immediately available.