Completion of Thomas Street off-street parking lot should also improve the neighborhood, officials say.

WESTFIELD – Travel will soon become a little easier on Monroe Street following City Council approval last week to make the short street one-way.

Council approval followed the recommendation of the city’s Traffic Commission which review travel flow on the downtown street at the request of Ward 3 City Councilor Peter J. Miller.

Police Chief John A. Camerota said Monday the change will take place shortly, after he received formal notification of council action and the Department of Public Works installs the necessary signage.

“The neighborhood has been asking for action for some time,” Miller said. “This should satisfy their concerns and improve the neighborhood. We can always re-visit the issue if necessary,” he said.

Monroe Street is located between Chapel and Thomas streets and the roadway was deemed too narrow to support continued two-way traffic.

Also, during the past year more vehicles were parked on the sides of Monroe Street, the result of Westfield State University students assigned to housing at Lansdown Place located on Thomas Street. There are currently 216 students living at Lansdown Place.

“That street has really become congested with more people parking on the street than ever before,” Miller said. “But, it was a problem before the university students became downtown residents,” he explained.

The city recently completed reconstruction at the Thomas Street off-street parking lot which will also provide relief to Monroe Street residents.

The traffic pattern change will be northerly from Thomas Street to Chapel Street, officials said.

Even if approved, Mohegan Sun/ Palmer wouldn't open until 2015.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanPaul Suprenant, left, director of purchasing at Mohegan Sun, answers questions from business owners following a meeting that Mohegan Sun Resorts hosted Thursday morning at the MassMutal Center in Springfield, where they spoke of ways businesses in Western Massachusetts could benefit from expanded gaming.

SPRINGFIELD – The 600-room resort casino Mohegan Sun wants to build in Palmer figures to require about $100 million a year in goods and services, much of it purchased from local vendors.

About 100 local business people gathered Thursday morning at the MassMutual Center in Springfield to find out how they can grab a piece of that business for themselves.

Mohegan Sun already spends about $500 million a year with outside vendors that supply its Connecticut and Pennsylvania casinos with everything from locally-grown produce to nuts and bolts, said Paul Surprenant, director of purchasing for Mohegan Sun.

Even if it is approved, a Mohegan Sun casino in Palmer wouldn’t open until 2015, he said.

‘We already do a lot of business with them in Connecticut,” said Dennis R. King, president of King Ward Coach Lines in Chicopee. “We are hoping to improve that relationship here.”

Especially because a Western Massachusetts casino threatens to hurt king Ward’s business bringing customers to the Connecticut casino destinations. King Ward has 65 employees.

“It’s the same thing that happened to Atlantic City when the casinos opened up in Connecticut,” King said. “Why spend hours on a bus when you can travel 20 minutes to Palmer? It will depend on us picking up other business from them: shuttle service, employee parking shuttles.”

And King said he’s also talking with developers behind other Western Massachusetts casino proposals.

After decades of political wrangling, Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed a bill last month that authorizes a slot facility and up to three casino resorts around the state, including one in the four counties of Western Massachusetts.

Mohegan’s Palmer proposal is not alone. Las Vegas-based Ameristar has a proposal for casino at the former Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard in Springfield. Hard Rock International is proposing a casino at the Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke.

Thursday’s forum was sponsored by Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce and Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce.

Jeffrey S. Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield said his chamber participated simply as a way to get information to its member businesses. Neither he nor the Chamber are endorsing a proposal and members still have concerns about what a large casino operation will mean for local mom-and-pop businesses, especially restaurants, that will have to compete with the resort.

Mohegan’s Surprenant said the tribe’s Uncasville facility has helped grow businesses off-site because Mohegan Sun brings visitors who never would have been in the area otherwise and not everyone can eat or stay at Mohegan Sun itself. Also, casino employees patronize local businesses.

Suprenant said potential vendors will have to be approved by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and undergo a background check if they do more than a certain amount of business with a casino operator. That threshold has not yet been set, but it’s typically it’s $100,000 or so.

But before casinos can be built, they must win the approval of residents in their prospective host communities, and the local fights between backers and opponents promises to be fierce.

File photo / Associated PressMassachusetts Senate President Therese Murray takes questions from reporters before going back into a session in the Senate Chamber at the Statehouse, in Boston, one day last month. (Photo by Steven Senne)

BOSTON - Asked for her prediction about how expanded gambling will be perceived in Massachusetts 10 years after its passage, Senate President Therese Murray said residents won't view it as "a big deal."

"I don’t think they’ll think it’s a big deal. I think that they’ll be going to resort-type places or people will be coming into Massachusetts to stay at these resort-type places and gamble while they’re there," she said during an interview on Marshfield-based radio station 95.9 WATD.

"It’s not going to be slot parlors. These are destination places, and I don’t think it will be a big deal."

The expanded gambling law signed by Gov. Deval L. Patrick did include a single slot parlor license to be competitively bid upon by interested developers, but the centerpiece of the bill is the legalization of up to three casinos across the state.

Casinos will be taxed at 25 percent of gross gaming revenue, while the slot parlor will be taxed at 49 percent. But before casinos can be built, they must win the approval of residents in their prospective host communities, and the local fights between backers and opponents promises to be fierce.

Critics say casinos offer a fertile environment for corruption and addiction, particularly in the areas immediately surrounding facilities. Backers say most Massachusetts residents already live within a couple hours of a casino in nearly all areas of the state and are bringing addiction problems home with them but none of the jobs or economic benefit that casinos carry.

“The money to both the towns who accept or pass a referendum to accept gaming and the revenue to the state will be significant,” Murray said. Then, alluding to efforts by Patriots owner Robert Kraft to partner with casino mogul Steve Wynn to seek a license for a Foxborough casino, Murray added, “If Kraft is successful down in Foxborough -- or Wynn, excuse me -- they’re talking 10,000 permanent jobs.”

During the interview, Murray also said changes to the state pension system adopted last month – including an increase in the minimum retirement age for most employees to 60 years old, a longer averaging period to calculate pensions, and a cost-of-living adjustment increase for state employees – would help protect the solvency of the pension system.

“In order to keep the pension system healthy we needed to make the changes so the pension system will be there when people retire in 30 to 40 years,” she said.

Murray also said the law “closed all of the loopholes we can possibly find in the system.”

Discussing a human trafficking crackdown that the governor signed last month, Murray described trafficking problems in Massachusetts and around the country as “frightening.”

“It is happening. It does happen,” she said.

Murray said that at an annual missing children's day at the Statehouse she and her colleagues “noticed that there are more and more people who have been disappeared and just taken off the street, particularly in immigrant communities and Worcester and the western part of the state -- young women, mostly, but young boys too.”

Murray noted that separate legislation to restrict parole for habitual violent offenders includes child pornography and people who prostitute children on the list of serious crimes.

“It’s not a victimless crime for someone to look at pornography, child pornography. The child’s being traumatized and prostituted on the other end,” she said.

The goal of the fund drive is to provide toys to the more than 9,000 children treated at Baystate Children's Hospital each year.

Christopher K. Bizilj

SPRINGFIELD – Baystate Children’s Hospital and its patients will be recipients of funds raised and toys collected for the 2nd annual Christopher Bizilj Memorial Fund.

The fund, started last year, is held in memory of the 8-year-old Ashford, Conn. boy killed during a Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at Westfield Sportsman’s Club Oct. 26, 2008.

Year-long activities and collections are held “in an effort to associate his memory with something positive,” organizer Lisa J. Wargo, said of her nephew.

“Baystate Children’s Hospital was so good to us at that tragic time. Everyone there is so good at their jobs. The goal of this memorial fund is to provide toys for its patients and to help continue the hospital’s bereavement box program to help parents deal with their loss,” said Wargo.

Wargo will be at Jake’s Wayback Burgers at 1375 Carew St. Saturday to complete this year’s fund raising effort.

“Christopher’s birthday is Dec. 13 and that is when I cut off the fundraising and bring the toys and money collected to the hospital,” Wargo, a Feeding Hills resident, said.

Saturday’s fund-raiser will provide 20 percent from each meal sold to the Christopher Bizilj Memorial Fund. Similar events were held during the past year in Agawam at the library and business locations, she said.

Last year’s inaugural effort raised more than $2,000 for toys for patients at Baystate Children’s Hospital.

Jake’s owner Bethany M. Smith characterized her participation in the fund-raiser as “awesome. I remember hearing about Christopher and what happened and this is something we can do for our community, especially kids.”

Smith said “20 percent of every bill Saturday, lunch or dinner, will go to this fund.”

A spokesman for Baystate Children’s Hospital said more than 9,000 children are patients each year at the hospital.

Bizilj was killed while attempting to fire a 9mm Micro UZI machine gun at a pumpkin during the annual show that was organized by Pelham Police Chief Edward B. Fleury.

The youngster was at the event with his father Charles Bizilj and his older brother Colin.

A Hampden Superior Court jury, in January, acquitted Fleury of involuntary manslaughter in Bizilj’s death.

The Sportsman’s Club settled criminal allegations in 2010, agreeing to pay a $1,000 fine and donate $10,000 to children’s’ charities.

Charges of furnishing automatic weapons during the Firearm’s Expo against two Connecticut men were dropped by the Hampden County District Attorney’s office following Fleury’s acquittal.

Officials want to bid the project now to ensure the pool will be ready to open in June.

File photo / The Republican Shaina C. Tramazzo, of Leverett, and her son Reece A. Tramazzo enjoy the War Memorial Pool one hot summer's day in 2006.

AMHERST – Town officials had hoped to know if Amherst would receive a state grant before town meeting last month, now more than a month later, there’s still no word.

Town officials will wait one week but then will have to go out for bid for the project if the War Memorial Pool is to be ready to open in June.

“We want to do some work over the winter. We’re really pushing to hear by next week so we can make some decisions,” Town Manager John P. Musante said.

Town officials applied for a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant for the work and had expected to learn in October whether it received the money.

In an email, a spokeswoman for the grant office said they expect there “will be a grant announcement in a couple of weeks.”

Voters had to consider spending $297,600 for renovations for the War Memorial Pool at Town Meeting last month.

The Select Board, Musante and the Finance Committee recommending funding for the project even without the state grant and Town Meeting agreed.

The grant would pay 70 percent of the cost or $208,320. Otherwise, the town would have to fund $252,600 from Free Cash and $45,000 from remaining in the community
services budget that Town Meeting added in the spring to reopen the pool then.

Officials, however, opened the Amherst Regional Middle School pool instead for lessons because they said War Memorial, which has been closed for several years, needed too much work.

Officials don’t want to spend any money now and then have trouble getting reimbursed, Musante said.

Musante said he has asked Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford B. Mooring to be the project manager.

The town also applied for a parkland grant for $370,000 for improvements to the Puffer's Pond beach, parking area and trails. The town, however, will not proceed with that project without the grant.

Cordray, a five-time "Jeopardy" champion, was nominated to be the agency's first director in July.

Associated PressRich Cordray, Assistant director of Enforcement for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), listens as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, not pictured, speaks to the media encouraging Congress to approve Cordray's nomination to head the CFPB, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked President Barack Obama's choice to head the new consumer protection agency that was designed to help curtail the excesses and abuses that led to the financial meltdown. Obama said he hasn't given up on the nomination.

Republicans presented a near-solid front in filibustering the nomination of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency was an essential element of legislation enacted last year to overhaul the financial system.

Only one Republican voted to advance the nomination. The 53-45 vote was short of the 60 needed to overcome GOP opposition.

Obama said after the vote that there was no reason to vote against Cordray. He didn't rule out appointing him to the job on a temporary basis when Congress is in recess, a tactic that Republicans have succeeded in stopping this year.

Republicans said they had no objections to Cordray, the agency's enforcement chief. But for months they have made clear they would vote against anyone until the administration agreed to changes in an agency they contend has too much power and too little accountability.

Democrats accused Republicans of favoring Wall Street over the consumers the agency is supposed to protect and suggested the dispute could become an issue in next year's presidential campaign.

"This is the first time in Senate history a party has blocked a qualified candidate solely because they disagree with the existence of the agency that's being created by law," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

The agency officially opened its doors in July, but under law cannot carry out its full functions until a director is in place. It can enforce existing bank regulations, but cannot issue new rules affecting nonbank entities such as payday lenders and credit card companies.

The bureau on Wednesday did introduce a simplified two-page credit card agreement it hopes will be a model for the industry.

Republicans, who fought passage of what is known as the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill last year and continue to challenge some of its provisions, say their support for the agency hinges on replacing the director with a bipartisan board of directors; subjecting the agency to the congressional appropriations process; and giving more regulatory offices power to overrule agency decisions.

They said arbitrary agency rules could hurt consumers and cause bank failures. They also said there have been no negotiations with the White House on the future structure of the agency.

"The president knew about these concerns months ago and he chose to dismiss them," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"That's all today's vote is about: it's about accountability and transparency. It's a debate about whether we think Americans need more oversight over Washington or less," he said.

"This has nothing to do with Mr. Cordray," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "It has everything to do with accountability for how money is spent in government."

Obama said this week he would veto any effort to delay, defund or dismantle the financial rules put in place last year.

"Every day we go without a consumer watchdog is another day when a student, or a senior citizen, or a member of our armed forces... could be tricked into a loan that they can't afford," he said.

Even if Republicans continue to filibuster the nomination, "we will never sign onto attempts to permanently gut this agency," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. "This is going to be a bellwether issue, not just today but throughout 2012 and into the campaign."

Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin said at a White House briefing this week that delaying confirming Cordray would mean that "millions of American people will remain vulnerable to some of the same regulatory gaps that helped to create the financial crisis."

He also disputed the argument that the agency lacks accountability, saying it must consult with other bank regulators before issuing rules, has to assess the effect of its rules on small businesses and can have its rules overturned by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Responding to GOP demands that Congress control the agency's purse strings, Wolin said no federal bank regulators have congressionally appropriated funds. "And the reason for that is we want to make sure that our bank regulators are free of political influence." The new agency is under the supervision of the Federal Reserve.

Already this year, one committee in the GOP-led House has voted to slice $200 million from the White House request for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has a major enforcement role. The full House has voted to hold the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees derivatives, to $171 million, less than two-thirds of what Obama sought.

Cordray, a five-time "Jeopardy" champion, was nominated to be the agency's first director in July, with Obama bypassing Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard University law professor and consumer advocate who was instrumental in conceiving and setting up the agency.

Warren, who drew sharp opposition from Republicans who considered her too much of an activist, is running for a Senate seat against Massachusetts incumbent Scott Brown, the only Republican to support Cordray.

33 people died in a 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Matt Gentry, FileIn this April 16, 2007 file photo, Blacksburg police officers run from Norris Hall on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., where student gunman Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting rampage that left 33 dead, including himself. More than four years after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, an administrative judge began hearing testimony Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, on whether the school should pay $55,000 in fines in connection to the shooting.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Tech said a police officer was shot Thursday and a possible second victim was reported at a parking lot near the campus, where 33 people died in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history

A campus-wide alert told students and faculty to stay inside and lock doors. Authorities were seeking a suspect. University and law enforcement officials declined any comment on the officer's condition.

A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said initial reports indicated that the shooting occurred following a traffic stop.

The suspect was described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and backpack.

A message left with the university wasn't immediately returned. Campus police referred all questions to the university.

"It's crazy that someone would go and do something like that with all the stuff that happened in 2007," said Corey Smith, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mechanicsville, Va., who was headed to a dining hall near the site of one of the shootings, but stayed inside after seeing the alerts from the school. "It's just weird to think about why someone would do something like this when the school's had so many problems."

Darik Anderson, assistant ticket manager for the athletics department, said his office in Lane Stadium is next door to the coliseum but he could not see anything from his vantage point.

We're in lockdown," he said. "All the news we're getting is what's on the school's website."

The shooting came the same day as Virginia Tech, which has an enrollment of about 30,000, was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university's response to the 2007 rampage, when a student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself.

A report of a possible gunman at Virginia Tech on Aug. 4 set off the longest, most extensive lockdown and search on campus since the 2007 bloodbath led the university to overhaul its emergency procedures. No gunman was found, and the school gave the all-clear about five hours after sirens began wailing and students and staff members started receiving warnings by phone, email and text message to lock themselves indoors. Alerts were also posted on the university's website and Twitter accounts.

That incident marked the first time the entire campus was locked down since the 2007 shooting, and the second major test of Virginia Tech's improved emergency alert system. The system was revamped to add the use of text messages and other means besides email of warning students.

The system was also put to the test in 2008, when an exploding nail gun cartridge was mistaken for gunfire. But only one dorm was locked down during that emergency, and it reopened two hours later.

Until Monson resident John Rahkonen stepped in, there wasn't enough money to buy new lights this year.

Jeremy Bedson

MONSON - It survived the tornado, despite being uprooted, and for years has been a symbol of the holidays in Monson.

So when the 25-foot pine tree next to the Civil War monument by the Monson Free Library wasn't lit after Thanksgiving, residents took notice. It turned out that there wasn't enough money to pay for new lights.

That's where longtime resident John N. Rahkonen and his wife, Trudy, stepped in, donating the $3,500 that was needed to buy new lights.

The lights will be hung on Saturday starting at 10 a.m., according to firefighter Jeremy Bedson, who is in charge of the holiday lights.

Residents are welcome to attend the event, and to help the Fire Department with the lighting.

"The Rahkonen family gave a sizable donation ... It was a great thing that (John) did, and we are very grateful to him," Bedson said.

The tree was in the tornado's path as it swept through Monson on June 1. The barren hillside near Ely Road, just up the road from the tree, is a reminder of the destruction.

Crews were able to salvage the tree by placing it upright, and securing it with cables.

A modest John Rahkonen said he didn't make the donation because he was looking for publicity - he just wanted to help the town.

"This is a wonderful town. I thought we had to bring a little Christmas cheer after going through the tornado," Rahkonen said.

This isn't the first time Rahkonen, 64, has helped Monson. He owns Northern Construction in Palmer with John Devito. His employees helped repair a water main break two years ago, but he told town officials not to bill him for the $20,000 in work, and asked them to add $5,000 to the Fire Department budget instead.

The town Christmas tree was planted by the late assistant fire chief, Andrew Piwcio, who would decorate it every year with his girlfriend Carolyn Bedard.

Karen King, leader of the Street Angels volunteer team, said the tree "shows the spirit of Monson, just like Andy had so much spirit."

King said people were very happy that the tree was saved after the tornado, but were upset when it wasn't lit and began questioning why on the Monson Tornado Watch page on Facebook.

"It's like a big smile shining down on Monson when it's lit," King said.

Also on Saturday, the Street Angels and Monson Long Term Recovery Group are holding a "home grown Monson Christmas" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Monson-Glendale United Methodist Church on Main Street.

The event is for families affected by the tornado; they will receive gift baskets and other items: 100 quilts were donated by Southampton Quilts, and toys were donated by Hasbro and Lego. Soup, sandwiches and dessert will be served.

On Friday at 7 p.m. at Granite Valley Middle School, Norman Tonelli will perform his show "Lighten Up!" - the sacred and the silly side of families. Tonelli, a musician and licensed family and child therapist in West Brookfield, said 100 percent of the show's proceeds will go toward tornado relief efforts. The cost is $10 and tickets are available at the door or by calling King at (413) 348-3948.

Tonelli said the show features everything from stand-up comedy to him playing guitar and piano, and singing.

The show is for adults, and he involves the audience in the show. He said he talks about his own family, getting older, how television has changed, and how he misses the Mr. Rogers television show.

Obama's remarks came a day after Republican presidential candidates took turns criticizing his foreign policy as weak.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.

WASHINGTON — Invoking the elimination of Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama on Thursday forcefully rejected Republican criticism of his foreign policy as what amounts to a policy of "appeasement."

"Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al-Qaida leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement. Or whoever is left out there, ask them about that," the president said during a news conference.

He also defended his efforts to block Iran from building a nuclear weapon, saying Iran is now isolated and facing tough international sanctions thanks to the work of his national security team.

His remarks came a day after Republican presidential candidates took turns criticizing Obama's foreign policy as weak during speeches before Jewish activists and donors. They especially focused on the Obama administration's Middle East policy.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania on Wednesday said Obama's policy toward radical Islamists "has been nothing but appeasement."

Obama seemed primed for the question about the critique, and his communication director, Dan Pfeiffer, promptly posted the president's response on Twitter: "Ask Osama Bin Laden."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Wednesday said Obama "emboldened Palestinian hard-liners who now are poised to form a unity government with terrorist Hamas and feel they can bypass Israel at the bargaining table." Romney also accused Obama of being "timid and weak in the face of the existential threat of a nuclear Iran."

Obama, citing "some of the political noise out there," said his administration has "systematically imposed the toughest sanctions" on Iran.

"When we came into office, the world was divided; Iran was unified and moving aggressively on its own agenda," he said. "Today Iran is isolated, and the world is unified and applying the toughest sanctions that Iran's ever experienced, and it's having an impact inside of Iran."

Last week at a New York fundraiser, Obama specifically addressed concerns from Israel supporters about his administration's approach to the Middle East.

"I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration," Obama said then.

Richard M. Brown, president of the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, said they are demonstrating because the stakes are too high not to.

In this 2006 Republican file photo, Lena Entin of Neighbor to Neighbor, a labor rights group, speaks at a Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO rally in front of the Friendly Ice Cream Corp. in Wilbraham, protesting a cut in health care benefits.

SPRINGFIELD - The Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council is planning a prayer vigil outside of Republican Sen. Scott Brown's Springfield office Thursday afternoon, as the group calls for an extension of unemployment benefits amid a struggling job market.

Richard M. Brown, president of the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, said they are demonstrating because the stakes are too high not to.

"We are extremely concerned that Congress with go into recess while 34,000 people in Massachusetts and millions across the country are cut off from unemployment benefits on Dec. 31," the union president said. "Scott Brown, and republicans as a whole, have not been supportive of unemployment extensions. He has concerns about deficit spending, which we do as well. But you have to help these people who, to no fault of their own, are unemployed and already living off of nominal weekly stipends."

Sen. Brown released a statement on Nov. 28 saying that he supports extending unemployment benefits and signed on as a co-sponsor of the Responsible Unemployment Extension Act which would extend unemployment insurance and "offset the cost with unobligated federal dollars," according to his office in Washington D.C.

"During this prolonged economic downturn, unemployment insurance is a critical lifeline for the 14 million Americans out of work," Sen Brown said in a statement. "Many of our neighbors remain trapped in a frozen labor market and need assistance to keep a roof over their heads and heat on in their homes. In the short term, unemployment insurance should be extended in a fiscally responsible, bipartisan way and I encourage the leaders of both parties to set politics aside and take up this bill. The long term solution is putting people back to work, and that is why job creation is my top legislative priority.”

The local union president said he is reviewing Sen. Brown's bill as he is fearful that the bill is unnecessary with similar bills already pending in Congress.

"It isn't the time for every senator to file their own bill. We need to build consensus and tackle the problem together," the union president said. "There is a system already in place and all we need is a simple up-or-down vote to extend the benefits through Dec. 31."

The group will be gathering at 1500 Main St., Springfield around 4 p.m. Thursday with speeches expected by local unemployed workers, clergy and community leaders.

Mass Burial Held For Over 1,600 LA County Residents, Holder Suggests 'Fast and Furious' Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for 'Years to Come', and more

• State moves to online hunting license process [Gazettenet.com]


• 93 and still bowling strong [BerkshireEagle.com]


• Red Sox outline plans for Fenway Park 100th anniversary celebration [Boston.com]


• Death row inmate gets new trial because of tweet [ProvidenceJournal.com]


• Clinton hits back over missile threat [BangkokPost.com]


• Mass Burial Held For Over 1,600 LA County Residents [LosAngeles.CBSLocal.com]


• Holder Suggests 'Fast and Furious' Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for 'Years to Come' [FoxNews.com]


• Terrorists said to be infiltrating military [WashingtonTimes.com]



Hawaii: lava pours into royal gardens subdivision

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Davies was a 17-year veteran of the department and one of his three sons is serving in the military in Afghanistan.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 8:11 this morning.

Associated Press photoWorcester firefighters spray water on the fire-damaged remains of a multi-family home, in Worcester, Thursday. One firefighter was killed and a second injured when they became trapped in the building that partially collapsed during the blaze, officials said Thursday. (Photo by Steven Senne)

WORCESTER – A veteran firefighter was killed and his partner injured early Thursday when a portion of a burning apartment building collapsed while they were searching for possible victims, the city’s fire chief said.

The firefighter who died, Jon Davies, was a 17-year veteran of the department and the father of three sons, including one who is serving in the military in Afghanistan.

The injured firefighter, Brian Carroll, was expected to recover, Fire Chief Gerard Dio said at a late morning news conference.

About a dozen people lived in the building and one resident remained unaccounted for several hours after the fire. Crews were trying to determine if the person was still in the rubble of the three-story structure and a search was expected to resume when the building is stabilized.

The deadly fire brought back anguished memories of a night 12 years ago when six Worcester firefighters perished in a massive warehouse blaze.

On Thursday, officials said firefighters were searching for the possible missing resident when part of the structure collapsed on them.

The men were trapped for about an hour, Dio said. Davies was trapped under building debris on the first floor and Carroll in the basement.

Fire crews were in contact with Carroll during rescue efforts, but not with Davies, who was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The chief said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire or whether it was suspicious, though he noted that the blaze spread quickly.

“The fire took off pretty good. It was in the back of the structure and we don’t know if there were any accelerants involved yet,” Dio said.

Davies was a member of the fire department at the time of the Dec. 3, 1999, fire at the vacant Worcester Cold Storage warehouse, but Dio was not sure if he had been involved in the firefighting efforts that night.

He declined to speak in depth about Davies at the news conference.

“I’m too emotional at this point. I would rather keep my composure,” he said.

Davies, whose age was not immediately known, has three sons. Two of them are in the military, including the one who is currently deployed in Afghanistan. He also leaves a mother, sister and fiancée.

Carroll is a 14-year veteran of the department. He was in stable condition at UMass Memorial Medical Center and the outlook for him was positive, the chief said.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, a former Worcester mayor, noted that the community only days ago had marked the 12th anniversary of the warehouse fire.

“It’s sad but at the same time you know, if you talk to the firefighters, there is pride in the work that they do,” Murray said. “There is not a moment’s hesitation when the alarm rings and there are people in need they are there.”

Gov. Deval L. Patrick, who is currently on a trade mission in South America, also called fire officials to express his condolences, officials said.

In the 1999 blaze, the six firefighters died after becoming trapped inside the large building. Investigators said the blaze was started when two homeless people knocked over a candle and left the building. The firefighters went in to make sure no one was inside.

President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were among thousands who attended a memorial service days later at a Worcester arena, while firefighters were still working to recover the remains of their colleagues from the ruins of the building.

In 2008, a new fire station with a memorial to the fallen firefighters was dedicated at the site of the blaze.

One of the victims of the 1999 fire, Jeremiah Lucey, was the cousin of actor-comedian Denis Leary, who later formed a foundation that has since raised more than $10 million for equipment and training for firefighters in Worcester, Boston, New York and New Orleans.

“Once again, the courage and bravery displayed by members of this profession under the most dire of circumstances while trying to save those in peril is brought to our attention,” Leary said in a statement issued from Los Angeles on Thursday. “They are truly heroic individuals.”

State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan said the Worcester fire department has emerged as a national leader in firefighter training and safety techniques since the Cold Storage fire.

Coan was not on the scene during the fire Thursday, “but I know they did it right,” he said of the department.

“They are a very well trained and disciplined unit,” he added.

Gingrich “is more concerned about Newt Gingrich than he is about conservative principle,” said former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu.

File photo / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidates former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov.W. Mitt Romney laugh before a Republican presidential debate last month.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Former Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney dispatched his surrogates Thursday to criticize Newt Gingrich’s leadership ability and commitment to conservative principles, the start of an aggressive effort to derail his chief rival.

“He’s not a reliable and trusted conservative leader,” former Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri, a Romney backer, said during a conference call. Talent said Gingrich “says outrageous things that come from nowhere, and he has a tendency to say them at a time when they most undermine the conservative agenda.”

Gingrich “is more concerned about Newt Gingrich than he is about conservative principle,” said former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu.

Romney allies also began a $3.1 million TV advertising campaign Thursday in Iowa with a positive spot highlighting his economic record. In the coming days, the Restore Our Future PAC campaign is likely to include spots aimed at Gingrich.

Gingrich brushed off the attacks during an appearance in South Carolina Thursday, insisting his campaign would not change its approach. “We’re focused on remaining positive,” he said.

On the Romney call, Talent and Sununu held up a comment Gingrich made about Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to balance the federal budget. The plan, popular among fiscal conservatives, would make significant changes to Medicare..

“I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” Gingrich said of Ryan’s plan during a May interview. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.”

Romney’s team pointed out Romney has offered his own plan for Medicare, instead of fully embracing Ryan’s proposal. They held up Gingrich’s comments as evidence that Gingrich isn’t committed to the conservative cause because he undermined Ryan, a rising star in the party – and they also said Gingrich doesn’t have the restraint or temperament to be commander in chief.

Gingrich’s comments on the Ryan plan represent “a reflection of the off-the-cuff thinking that he goes through to deal with issues, and that is not what you want in a commander in chief,” said Sununu, who also served as White House chief of staff to former President George H.W. Bush.

The call, and the attack, is the first of several to come, Romney communications director Gail Gitcho said.

Romney’s shift in strategy is significant: The Romney campaign has not previously criticized Gingrich head-on. It shows that with Iowa’s caucuses drawing near, Romney views Gingrich as a real threat to his chances of winning the Republican nomination.

It also acknowledges that the nomination contest has become a two-man fight between Romney and Gingrich. Gingrich has risen to the top of polls both nationally and in critical early-voting states. In Iowa, a CBS-New York Times poll out Wednesday showed 31 percent of likely caucus goers support Gingrich, while 17 percent back Romney.

It’s part of a two-pronged strategy to attack Gingrich both personally and professionally. While Talent declined to attack Gingrich’s personal life – Gingrich has been married three times and has acknowledged an extramarital affair – the Romney campaign offers Romney’s 42-year marriage to wife Ann as a contrast. A new ad highlights the marriage by showing old footage of Romney with his family and calling him “a man of steadiness and constancy.”

Christie also implied that Romney’s rivals could embarrass the country with their personal behavior. “When you look at candidates, say, ‘Is this the kind of person who’s always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I’ll never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed?’ (Romney) just won’t,” Christie said.

And during an appearance in Iowa Wednesday night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another supporter, focused on Romney’s credentials as a family man. “This is a guy who is a father and a husband and loves his wife and his kids,” Christie said.

Asked in South Carolina whether he believes Romney’s ad represented an attack on Gingrich’s family and is inappropriate, Gingrich said no. “They’re fine,” he said.

Judith Gillan, founding director of NESFI, said the institute is excited but proceeding with caution.

View full sizePhoto by Don Treeger / The RepublicanJudith Fuller Gillan is the director of the New England Small Farm Institute in Belchertown.

BELCHERTOWN – A proposed solar array at the New England Small Farm Institute is the subject of an upcoming Planning Board public hearing.

The photovoltaic array is a dual-use design that would allow farming to continue on the site. The panels would be elevated and spaced out so crops could grow and animals could graze undisturbed.

A 5.5-acre hay field at the corner of George Hannum and Hamilton streets will host the panels if the project is approved locally and by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The land is leased from the state and operated on DAR’s behalf.

It was not clear Tuesday how many panels are planned or how much energy the array would produce.

The Planning Board will take a look Dec. 13 at 7:45 p.m. in the Town Hall at 2 Jabish St.

The system is similar to a dual-use array at the University of Massachusetts Agronomy Farm in South Deerfield that is believed to be the first of its kind.

Judith F. Gillan, director of NESFI, said the institute is excited but proceeding with caution.

“We are exploring the appropriateness of this project on this particular parcel,” she said. “Every step along the way in these projects is like opening a present: sometimes it’s a good one and sometimes it’s a bad one.”

She predicts that some residents will object to the location. She drew a contrast between solar panels, the direct benefits of which are hard to notice, leading to consternation, and telephone poles, which every family can directly enjoy.

The array, like the farm itself, would be a demonstration and educational opportunity that people are already getting excited about, she said.

“We are working hard at the local level to jump through all the local hoops one has to jump through with a project like this,” she said. “There is tremendous support for the idea.”

Western Massachusetts is becoming a bastion of solar energy production, with a one-of-a-kind array on a capped landfill under construction in Easthampton and another considered in Amherst. Ludlow voters in October authorized the selectmen to lease the town’s 14-acre landfill for such a project.

Belchertown is a right-to-farm community and a state-designated Green Community.

The institute regularly turns down requests from companies hoping to install panels on their land.

“We don’t want to be in the business of trading food land for fuel land,” Gillan said. “We definitely need to have communities convene and talk about projects like this. ... I know we’re going to see a great deal more of this.”

The approximate location of the proposed NESFI dual-use solar array

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The state is to reimburse the city 80 percent of all costs for the renovation project.

Republican file photoThis is the former Chicopee High School that is due to be converted into a middle school.

CHICOPEE – Officials are hoping an architect can be selected in early January to design the work to renovate the former Chicopee High School.

The Chicopee High School Renovation Committee met this week to discuss plans to hire an architect. In the summer, the committee received approval to hire Arcadis U.S. as the project manager on the renovation of the school, which was the first step in beginning the project.

The city plans to convert the former high school and move students who currently attend the Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School to it. The Fairview school will then be used as an elementary school and a pre-school.

Preliminary cost estimates for the reconstruction are about $15 million, but those were done more than five years ago. A complete cost will not be known until an architect is hired and the design plans are finished.

The state is expected to reimburse 80 percent of all approved costs for renovating the building.

Nicholas Macy, senior project manager for Arcadis said he hopes to have legal advertisements that ask for interested architects to submit qualifications to the city to be published this week and have a deadline of Dec. 22 or 23 for the submissions.

“We have asked for a walk-through on Dec. 9 for interested firms,” said Norman R. Benjamin, also a senior project manager for the firm. He said the tour of the building is helpful so architects can get a better feel for the project and can show the committee which firms may be interested in doing the work.

After the deadline, the committee and the Massachusetts School Building Authority will review the firms. A joint committee of 12 members of the authority and three members of the local building committee is scheduled to meet on Jan. 21 in Boston and should vote to select the architect that will be hired.

Macy said he will give the renovation committee a list of the architects who applied for the position. Local members can then review them and rank them.

Although the local commission only has three votes on the 15-member selection committee, if members have strong opinions on one or more architects they like Arcadis will tell the authority about the preferences before the meeting. Macy did warn members their feelings may be ignored.

“In some situations they selected the architect the city did not want,” he said.

Architects from Mount Vernon Group did attend the meeting of the renovation committee. They said they are interested in winning the contract.

Mount Vernon Group designed the new Chicopee High School, which opened about seven years ago and the new Comprehensive High School, which opened about five years ago.

The Southwick wellfield transmission main that brings the city most of its drinking water was built in the 1930s and is undersized as well as antiquated, according to the mayor.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Town Council has authorized the city to bond for $10.6 million to build the Southwick wellfield transmission main, a project the mayor says is crucial.

Edward J. Gibson

“It is critical to our health and well-being,” Mayor Edward J. Gibson told the council Monday during the meeting in which it approved the borrowing by a 9-0 vote.

During the public hearing on the request, Frederick M. Shannon of Riverview Avenue asked Gibson to rank the priority the project should have when compared to the new high school in the works and the proposed new public library.

“This project is critical to all of us and would be number one,” Gibson said.

The council approved bonding for the water transmission main earlier this year, but voted a second time with new verbiage that makes the city eligible for a low-interest loan from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The project is needed because the 1930s-era water 3.5-mile-long distribution system that brings the city its drinking water from Southwick is old and has cost thousands of dollars in repairs as well as being undersized, according to the mayor.

City officials expect to learn in December if the loan application is approved.

There is a chance the state may forgive as much as 10 to 30 percent of the loan. In addition, Director of Public Works Jack L. Dowd has said bids on construction projects are now as much as 20 percent lower than usual because of the poor economic conditions.

The project will increase the capacity for drawing water from the Great Brook Aquifer in Southwick. The city’s 16-inch diameter pipe from the aquifer allows it to pump 5.5 million gallons of water a day. Replacing it with a 24-inch diameter pipe would allow 7 million gallons of water a day.

The city typically uses 4 million gallons of water a day, with demand rising to as much as 7 million gallons a day during peak periods in the summer.

Komisarjevsk was convicted in October of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters.

Joshua Komisarjevsky

NEW HAVEN — A Connecticut jury has ended its fourth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict on whether a man convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in a home invasion should get the death penalty or life in prison.

Jurors are weighing punishment for Joshua Komisarjevsky, who was convicted in October of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters. The girls were tied to their beds and left to die in a fire.

His accomplice, Steven Hayes, is on death row. Jurors have now been deliberating about as long as Hayes' jury did before reaching a verdict.

The Komisarjevsky jurors sent out their first note Wednesday as they sought guidance on how to weigh his role against that of Hayes. They will continue deliberations Friday in New Haven.

Habitat for Humanity would be interested in developing the site if conditions are right.

MJ Adams-Pullan

EASTHAMPTON – City officials hope the new price is right - $1.

The City Council recently voted to allow the city to seek new proposals for a .75-acre site at 154 Everett St. for $1 and now the Housing Partnership Committee will rework a request for proposals with the new specifications.

The proposal will be then sent to Mayor Michael A. Tautznik for review before seeking bids.

The city has been trying to sell the lot for more than five years after taking possession in 2004 when the previous owner failed to pay back taxes.

The city sought proposals with a price from $83,861 to $278,000 depending on the number of affordable units built there. But no developer bid on the land.

This was after the project was delayed when city officials found an underground storage tank that had to be removed.

The new proposal would require four affordable units with a minimum offer of $1.

Habitat for Humanity is interested in the site, said City Planner Stuart Beckley.

He told the housing partnership that the organization could seek a comprehensive permit that allows a developer to bypass local zoning for affordable housing if it wanted to divide the lot in two to build two units on each. Otherwise it would not need that permit.

The city council approved the new proposal 6 to 2, Beckley said, with dissenters concerned that the city was missing an opportunity for raising revenues. But the majority supported the move to see that the site would be eventually be developed.

“We think Easthampton needs affordable housing,” said Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity Executive Director MJ Adams-Pullan. “We’re definitely interested if circumstances are right.” She said the agency could not afford to build on the site at the previous offering.

The Northampton-based Habitat, meanwhile, will be seeking a comprehensive permit to build two homes on land it owns on East Street because the building of what she called zero lot line homes is not allowed in the city’s zoning. Zero lot line development means that one wall is on the lot boundary.

“We try to avoid condominiums,” she said because creating and joining a condo association adds stress to the first-time homeowner.

Rick's Perry's ad "Strong" starts with Pery saying, "I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian."

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to supporters on the U.S.S. Yorktown, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, in Charleston, S.C.

TITLE: "Strong."

LENGTH: 30 seconds

AIRING: On Iowa broadcast and cable stations.

KEY IMAGES: Rick Perry, in a brown barn jacket and dark blue shirt, speaks to the camera as he walks up a grassy hill.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian," the Texas governor says. "But you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."

He continues, "As president, I'll end Obama's war on religion. And I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again."

ANALYSIS: Struggling for traction in the Republican contest, Perry is gambling that the religious conservatives who typically dominate Iowa's kickoff caucuses will warm to his candidacy if he appeals to them with a socially conservative message.

He's also drawing a contrast with rival Mitt Romney — whose Mormon faith gives many evangelicals pause — and Newt Gingrich, who recently converted to Catholicism but has been divorced twice and has acknowledged infidelity in his first two marriages.

But this ad, which attacks President Barack Obama on gay rights and religion, is misleading and inaccurate.

Perry's suggestion that Obama has led the way in banning prayer in public school is factually wrong.

The Supreme Court prohibited school prayer in two landmark decisions in 1962 and 1963, calling it an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The court has repeatedly reaffirmed restrictions on religious expression in public schools, including a decision banning the posting of the Ten Commandments in school and another prohibiting students from using a school loudspeaker to offer a prayer before football games.

Obama signed legislation earlier this year repealing the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibited gays from serving openly in the military. The legislation was passed by both the House and Senate with the support of several Republicans, and had the backing of several high-ranking military officials including former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While many religious conservatives may not support gay rights, it's a stretch to characterize the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell as an Obama "war on religion."

The ad is Perry's second of the campaign on the theme of religious faith. Both ads refer to faith as a factor shared by the nation's past leaders, but neither recognizes that the nation's Christian founders established the country on a constitutional principle that separates church and state.

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press

ECB President Mario Draghi's remarks sent borrowing costs soaring for Italy, Spain and other countries with heavy debt burdens.

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 200 points Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank said there was no plan for large-scale purchases of European government bonds, as many in the markets had hoped.

Mario Draghi

ECB President Mario Draghi's remarks sent borrowing costs soaring for Italy, Spain and other countries with heavy debt burdens. European stock indexes fell and the euro weakened against the dollar. Draghi made his comments after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 1 percent and took other modest steps to help shore up Europe's financial system.

Bank stocks led the way lower. Citigroup Inc. plunged 7 percent; Morgan Stanley 8.4 percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co. slid 5.2 percent, the most of the 30 large companies in the Dow average.

"People are very nervous that Europe will yet again fail to adequately address the sovereign debt crisis," says David Kelly, chief market strategist for JP Morgan Funds. He says investors overlooked good news on the U.S. economy Thursday: Claims for unemployment benefits dropped, and wholesale companies increased their inventories in expectation of stronger sales.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 198.67 points, or 1.6 percent, to close at 11,997.70. The drop was the worst since Nov. 23 and ended a three-day run of modest gains. The last time the Dow closed below 12,000 was Nov. 29.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.66, or 2.1 percent, to 1,234.35. The Nasdaq lost 52.83, or 2 percent, to 2,596.38.

The dollar and U.S. Treasury prices rose as traders shifted money into assets seen as relatively safe. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dipped to 1.97 percent from 2.03 percent late Tuesday.

In France, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to muster support from other European leaders for their latest bid to save the euro currency from collapsing under the weight of huge government debts.

A summit that began late Thursday has been billed as a make-or-break moment to convince markets that Europe will take bold enough action to prevent the euro from breaking up. Reports that Germany had rejected some proposals for stemming the crisis sent the Dow lower in the last half-hour of trading.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Italian government bonds jumped half a percentage point, a huge move, to 6.47 percent as investors sold European government debt following Draghi's remarks. The yield on Spain's 10-year bonds rose one-third of a percentage point to 5.71 percent. European markets fell. Italy's main index slumped 4.3 percent; Germany's DAX index 2 percent.

Traders sent yields on Italian government bonds above 7 percent last month, a level at which weaker countries like Greece and Portugal were forced to seek relief from their lenders. When borrowing costs jump too high, it threatens a government's ability to pay off existing debts and could ultimately lead a government to default.

Markets had interpreted recent remarks by Draghi to mean that the ECB would step in to buy government bonds if nobody else would. His comments Thursday dampened those expectations. Large-scale purchases of European government bonds by the ECB would send borrowing rates for indebted European countries sharply lower and ease strains on Europe's financial system.

Optimism that European leaders would resolve the region's debt crisis has helped drive the Dow up 12.6 percent from its low of the year on Oct. 3.

Europe's crisis could still get worse and may force the U.S. and other countries to step in, said Ihab Salib, a global bond fund manager at Federated Investors. But the euro is unlikely to collapse because too much is at stake.

"Everybody has significantly more to lose if they break apart than if they stay together," Salib said. "I don't think the world is going to let the euro fall apart. They'll do whatever it takes."

Among companies making big moves:

McDonald's Corp. rose half of 1 percent, the only stock in the Dow that was higher. The world's largest fast-food chain said revenue at stores open at least 13 months jumped on stronger sales around the world.

Costco Wholesale Co. fell 2 percent after reporting earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations. The retailer said higher costs ate up much of a 12.5 percent increase in sales.

DemandTec Inc. jumped 56 percent on news that International Business Machines Corp. plans to buy the software company for $440 million in cash. DemandTec's software helps businesses set prices for products they sell.

High-end electric car company Tesla Motors Inc. plunged 9.7 percent after the company was downgraded by an analyst.