Four University of Massachusetts students are accused of assault and robbery in connection with a break-in at John Adams Hall, a residential dormitory on the Amherst campus.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – A University of Massachusetts-Amherst Police cruiser.

AMHERST — Four students from the University of Massachusetts have been banned from the Amherst campus following their arrests in connection with an alleged predawn home invasion and robbery at a campus dormitory on Dec. 3.

The incident, reported at 3:34 a.m., took place at Apt. 418 inside John Adams Hall, 161 Fearing St., according to UMass Amherst Police Department records.

UMass Deputy Police Chief Patrick Archbald told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that an investigation led to charges of assault and battery, unarmed robbery and home invasion.

The students and one non-student are accused of illegally entering the apartment, where they allegedly assaulted the occupants and stole a wallet containing $200. The incident initially was reported as a B&E/burglary case, according to UMass police records.

The UMass students charged in connection with the incident are Christopher C. Akins, 20, Sean McKenzie, 20, Patrick Garrigan, 18, and Phillip Garrigan, 20. Also charged was Robert J. Healy, 20, who does not attend UMass, according to Archbald.

The defendants, all of whom hail from Middlesex County, denied the charges when they were arraigned Wednesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown. Atkins is from Tyngsborough; the other defendants are from Lowell.

John Adams Hall is a highrise dormitory located in the southwest corner of the sprawling UMass campus.

Archbald told the Gazette that Apt. 418 was specifically targeted and that "no other people were at risk."

The occupants of the dorm room were asleep at the time of the incident, according to police, who did not identify the individuals. After the assailants gained entry, one of the occupants was punched in the face, police said.

Archbald told the Gazette that a "very strong investigation" led police to the five suspects, all of whom were charged accordingly.

Police issued no-trespassing orders barring the defendants from the campus for a two-year period. Of the four students involved in the alleged dorm invasion, three had been living in campus accommodations.

University officials are aware of the alleged crimes committed by the students and disciplinary action is pending, according to Archbald.

Officials in the Dean of Student Affairs Office could not immediately be reached for comment, but the UMass Code of Student Conduct enumerates the various offenses that can lead to sanctions, including suspension and expulsion.

The website for the Dean of Students Office also includes guidelines for students who are arrested.

Francesco "Skyball" Scibelli became boss of the powerful Genovese family faction in Greater Springfield after his predecessor, Salvatore "Big Nose Sam" Cufari, died.

Republican file photo

Republican file photoThis Republican file photo from 1993 shows Francesco 'Skyball" Scibelli in downtown Springfield.

When a Roman Catholic nun dropped a dime on the late Francesco “Skyball” Scibelli for running an illegal gambling ring from the telephone booths at Providence Hospital in 1961, divine intervention and the related jail time weren’t enough to dissuade him from running the rackets.

Nor was the tongue-lashing that he and co-defendant Paul “The Penman” Cardaropoli received at their Holyoke District Court sentencing a half-century ago.

Scibelli’s criminal record dated back to 1932 and included arrests for extortion, keeping liquor for sale and “gaming on the Lord’s Day,” according to historical accounts.

“We don’t want bookies. We don’t want cheap ones or prosperous ones here, and we aren’t going to have them,” Judge William E. Nolen snapped to Scibelli and Cardaropoli before sentencing each of them to 19 months in jail – a stiff penalty for the time.

Scibelli, who grew up in Springfield’s South End neighborhood, ignored the judge’s admonition and evolved into a powerful and irreverent regional boss for the New York-based Genovese crime family. His reign as a mob lieutenant spanned at least from the early 1980s until about two years before he died in 2000 of natural causes at age 87.

Scibelli became boss of the powerful Genovese family faction in Greater Springfield after his predecessor, Salvatore “Big Nose Sam” Cufari, died in 1983, also of natural causes.

Mob investigators and associates say Scibelli and Cufari were among a handful of standouts in flush times for gangsters during the 1970s and ‘80s, a period marked by huge profits and spikes of unchecked violence.

Veteran organized-crime investigators say the evolution of the Mafia in Western Massachusetts mirrors that of the underworld everywhere and forever: driven by death and money.

“If the money’s flowing and the right people are happy, you find more peaceful periods,” explains Massachusetts State Police Lt. Thomas J. Murphy. “When money gets tight, you’re liable to see a more aggressive landscape.”

Murphy, an organized-crime detective for nearly two decades, leads a special investigative unit that helped win a series of indictments that culminated this year with life sentences and plea deals in connection with the 2003 contract hit on Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno. Bruno was the region’s last Mafia boss in the truest sense of the word, many say.

In terms of being crafted around finance, La Cosa Nostra in Greater Springfield began growing and developing its own complexion, so to speak, during Prohibition, as was the case in most U.S. cities.

When booze became illegal in 1919, Springfield’s Carlo Sinischalchi was labeled “King of the Bootleggers” and moved from a cold-water flat in the city’s South End to a bigger house and a lifestyle in which he was shuttled to work and outings in a chauffeur-driven limousine, historians say.

However, his kingdom was less than a year old when he was shot and killed in that very Lincoln limousine, while waiting for his driver to bring him a cigar. His widow, Pasquelina Sinischalchi, inherited the business and married Antonio Miranda, a close ally of New York crime bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese.

By all accounts, this marked the region’s enduring allegiance and links with the Genovese clan, reputed to be the largest, most feared and tight-lipped of New York’s five prevailing crime families.

Miranda and his new wife ran the business until 1930, when he died of blood poisoning after the couple moved to an even more lavish home. Miranda’s funeral procession included 22 flower cars, 147 limousines and a shower of rose petals dropped overhead by airplane, according to news accounts from the time.

The two-time widow then chose Joseph Fiore, 34, an Italian immigrant, to help run her flourishing enterprise. His business resume included an attempted murder in Connecticut and the knifing of a police officer in Springfield, news reports state.

However, Sinischalchi was killed and Fiore wounded by a spray of bullets from two automatic weapons and a sawed-off shotgun in a drive-by shooting on Nov. 12, 1932. Fiore’s close call became a moot point when he was shot to death in a South End barbershop the next year.

The bootlegging business also was rendered moot the next year when, on Dec. 5, 1933, Prohibition was repealed. The field opened to legitimate purveyors and alcohol ceased to be exclusively the professional lifeblood of the unsavory.

Fast-forward to the 1960s and ‘70s. Organized crime figures in Springfield had a foothold in more contemporary, traditional rackets: street lotteries, truck heists, illegal sports-betting and casino junkets, among others.

The so-called Scibelli faction was in full swing. They included Skyball Scibelli, sometimes also called “Ski” or “Skee,” and his younger brothers Anthony “Turk” Scibelli and Albert “Baba” Scibelli.

Cufari was the boss of the Western Massachusetts operations at the time and had logged more than a dozen arrests dating back to the 1920s, when he was shot by police while trying to run a bootlegging road block in Granby, Conn.

In 1924, Cufari was arrested on Christmas Eve for stabbing an Enfield, Conn., service station attendant, who later refused to identify Cufari as his assailant. No charges were brought, and that seemed to mark a pattern for “Big Nose Sam.” He was arrested and charged with myriad Mafia-related crimes over the course of six decades, but averted a prison sentence in all cases.

His underlings over the years included the Scibellis, Adolfo (who would ultimately earn the nickname “Big Al”) Bruno, Felix Tranghese and a collection of lesser-known soldiers and associates.

Cufari was known for being on the stoic side as gangsters go. He didn’t exhibit either the flair of Skyball Scibelli or Bruno or the near-elegance of Baba Scibelli, but he wielded unchallenged power nonetheless.

A native of Calabria, Italy, Cufari fought being stripped of his American citizenship in the 1950s, attended the famed “Little Apalachin” summit of leading U.S. Mafia figures in New York state in 1957 and rebuffed a summons in 1972 from a U.S. Senate Committee that was probing an organized crime monopoly of cleaning products purchased by labor groups in Boston and New Jersey. Cufari and other gangsters were purportedly pushing the widespread sale of the locally manufactured “Poly-Clean” on unions to promote “labor peace,” according to witnesses.

Cufari suffered a stroke in the 1970s, but still lorded over his subordinates at Ciro’s, a well-known restaurant he ran on Main Street in the South End of Springfield, until his health plummeted.

At his funeral, a family member told mourners how Cufari had helped build a convent in Holyoke for Italian nuns – doubtful that it was to atone for Scibelli’s misstep with the nun at the nearby hospital 20 years earlier.

Skyball Scibelli, with his brothers and Bruno close at his hip, was anointed as the regional boss soon after Cufari’s “retirement.” The group ran reportedly wildly successful casino junkets from an office on Locust Street until they were federally indicted and convicted for illegal gaming in the late 1980s.

Unlike his predecessor, Skyball Scibelli spent several stints in prison as prosecutors became more aggressive with organized crime. According to published accounts, he seemed a throwback in that he would grow wide-eyed at talk of "the syndicate" or the Mafia and continually groused about his sentences and the media attention surrounding them.

Victor Bruno, 40, one of Adolfo Bruno’s five sons, remembers being told to wait at the junket office after attending grammar school each day at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a now-defunct Catholic school across the street from where his father was ultimately gunned down on Nov. 23, 2003.

“I’ve heard someone say organized crime is better than disorganized crime,” the younger Bruno said with a grin during a recent interview at the Worthington Street restaurant, Adolfo’s, that he opened last year. “There was more of a sense of respect and honor back then. When (gangsters) greeted you with kisses on the cheek, they meant it.”

Perhaps, but there were a few wise guys in the volatile 1970s and ‘80s who were not met with kisses.

Skyball Scibelli’s son-in-law, Victor C. DeCaro, disappeared from the Agawam lounge he managed in 1972. On July 3 of that year, his bound and bullet-riddled body was found wrapped in a tarp after it was pulled from the Connecticut River. The murder remains unsolved, but organized crime figures speaking on condition of anonymity said DeCaro had been warned about a nefarious relationship with another gangster’s wife. No one was ever charged with the murder.

In 1979, Antonio Facente’s shot and similarly bound corpse was found in the trunk of a car. Facente had two years earlier had been acquitted of murdering a Springfield package store owner in a spectacular trial that had attracted national interest; his original conviction was overturned on appeal. When his body was recovered, he was wearing a diaper and had another stuffed in his head cavity, according to old state police records.

Mafia informants told police that Bruno had bragged to his colleagues that he had killed Facente to allegedly cozy up to then-Hampden District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan.

Facente and Ryan, who died in 2009, had been at odds since the William Griffin murder trial. Facente’s 1973 conviction was later overturned, partly because of ethnic slurs made by the district attorney at trial. The two had also tangled over more personal issues, according to law enforcement sources.

Bruno was never charged in connection with Facente’s death. Reports detailing informant testimony on the matter have long been sealed in Hampden Superior Court.

The run of violence in that era continued with a botched attempt at killing a New York mobster in 1981. Joseph N. Maruca was shot five times in a barn in Agawam owned by Bruno’s brother. Maruca survived, and Bruno and John “Jake” Nettis were tried twice for the shooting a decade later; the first ended in a mistrial. Bruno was acquitted after a second trial in 1992, but Nettis was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Nettis was paroled after serving three years.

At around the same time as Bruno and Nettis were being tried, East Longmeadow restaurateur Gaetano Milano was facing charges for the killing of William “Wild Guy” Grasso, of East Haven, Conn., on June 13, 1989, as they traveled in a van on Interstate 91. Grasso believed he was en route to a meeting with Worcester organized crime figure Carlo Mastrototaro to resolve a dispute about vending machine sites in Springfield, but federal court testimony in the case revealed it was a Mafia-orchestrated execution.

Grasso was the notoriously ruthless second-in-command of the Rhode Island-based Patriarca crime family. Milano, then 40, was a recently made member; in a federal court proceeding in Hartford in 1991, he wept as he renounced his life in the Mafia, admitted to Grasso’s killing and explained that the hit had come amid a power struggle in the family during which the message was: “kill or be killed.”

In a plea deal, Milano was sentenced to 33 years, but had seven years shaved off his sentence in 2008 after a series of appeals. His lawyer argued FBI informants and corrupt investigators had muddied the relationship between Grasso and Milano, among other gangsters. Milano, who has said he has been rehabilitated in prison, is expected to enter a pre-release program this spring.

Milano was convicted in a racketeering conspiracy linked to the murder along with brothers Frank Pugliano and Louis Pugliano, of West Springfield, both of whom are now in their 80s, and one of his childhood friends, Frank Colantoni Jr., 57. The Puglianos and Colantoni all played lesser roles in the murder and served less time.

During an interview, Milano said he resisted enormous pressure to cooperate against other organized crime figures because of a sense of fading values in the underworld. “There’s a special place in heaven for those people,” he said of witnesses who testified against him, without a trace of irony.

The decade of the 1990s was a largely quiet time for the mob in Western Massachusetts. Rackets were steady. Bosses were satisfied. Baba Scibelli, who had succeeded his brother, is said to have quietly made millions with illegal poker machines until he was caught up in a broad federal racketeering indictment in 2000 along with a dozen other mobsters and associates.

Those indicted included two other significant figures: Anthony J. Delevo, a Bruno rival who died in prison in 2005, and Emilio Fusco, an Italian immigrant and made member of the Genovese family.

Fusco is the last defendant scheduled to be tried in April in federal court in New York in connection with the plot to murder Bruno.

Both Delevo and Fusco pleaded guilty in June 2003 to racketeering charges, netting three-year sentences.

At the time, Baba Scibelli was ailing and shocked law enforcement and the underworld by conceding his membership in the Genovese family under his plea deal. Due to age and frail health, the only surviving brother of the “Scibelli faction” escaped prison and slipped quietly into retirement.

The federal indictments in 2000 and other factors paved the way for Bruno to officially assume power of the “Springfield Crew” of the Genovese family in 2002, according to court testimony. His official sanctioning as regional boss was celebrated by a group of New York mobsters at Bruno’s old restaurant on East Columbus Avenue, the Cara Mia.

His dinner guests included a group who ultimately plotted to kill him.

Bruno was a fusion of old-school gangster with a sparkly attitude. He routinely wore large-rimmed glasses, Hawaiian shirts and chewed big cigars – almost as an accessory. But, witnesses at the trial involving the plot to murder him testified Bruno’s relationship with New York acting boss, Arthur “Artie” Nigro, grew prickly and even worse.

Nigro began demanding that greater proceeds be kicked “upstairs” to mobsters in Manhattan, and Bruno attempted to fall in line. At Nigro’s behest and under the close supervision of Nigro ally John “Big John” Bologna, Bruno introduced or upped demands for “tribute” to be paid by owners of Springfield restaurants and strip joints.

The financial tensions created fissures in the Mafia hierarchy in Western Massachusetts and made room for an ambitious trio of upstarts: Anthony J. Arillotta, of Springfield; Fotios Geas, of West Springfield; and his younger brother Ty Geas, of Westfield.

The 42-year-old Arillotta, who turned prosecution witness in 2010, saw the anti-Bruno sentiment as an opportunity, he told jurors in a federal court in Manhattan last year. The Geases and Nigro were tried, convicted of murder, racketeering, extortion and other charges and received life sentences in April.

After being “made” by Nigro in a ceremony at an apartment in the Bronx, N.Y., in the summer of 2003, Arillotta began whispering to his allies that “he was with Artie” and no longer answered to Bruno, according to his trial testimony.

It marked an unprecedented power shift in the chronicles of the Mafia in Greater Springfield, according to Murphy.

“We had never seen this before,” Murphy said. “Arillotta got picked up on wiretaps telling people that he was no longer with Bruno, that he had a better out, but we had Bruno operating on a parallel track.”

Then violence erupted with bar brawls, attempted shootings, the disappearance of a lower-level associate, Gary D. Westerman, and, ultimately, with the startling execution of Bruno. Paid gunman Frankie A. Roche admitted firing six shots into Bruno as the mobster left his regular Sunday-night card game in the South End. Bruno’s familiar cigar was still smoldering near his body in a parking lot when police arrived.

Seven arrests and a series of plea deals were made and struck in connection with Bruno’s murder. Joining the ranks of witness protection would be Arillotta, Bruno’s protégé, and Tranghese, who came up with Bruno in the heady regimes of old.

What is left is a genuine power vacuum where, unlike any other time in the region’s rackets, there is no leader awaiting to fill the shoes of Cufari, the Scibellis and Bruno before them.

Murphy predicts that the irresistible lure of illegal money and the cachet that comes with leading a gang of guys will somehow resurface, though.

“It’s still a multimillion-dollar business. Someone will come along with the stomach and smarts to take a shot,” he said. “And, we’ll be watching.”

The marks Toy for Joy's 89th year.

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SPRINGFIELD – McNeill Heating and Air Conditioning of West Springfield did a cool thing and once again gave some heat to the Toy for Joy campaign with a generous donation.

Sue Horton, secretary to the company, said Toy for Joy has figured prominently in its holiday giving.

Owner Jim McNeill “wants to give to those in need,” she said. “Especially this time of year.”

McNeill gave $125 to the Toy for Joy campaign.

The largest donation for this particular batch, $500, is accompanied today with the message “Go Holyoke!”

This marks the 89th annual Toy for Joy campaign; jointly sponsored by the Salvation Army and The Republican, the campaign is working to raise $150,000 by Dec. 23 to bring toys and gifts to children in need this holiday season.

Hasbro, Inc. is joining Toy for Joy as a partner, providing some of the toys which will be distributed. Hasbro has a long history of helping families in Western Massachusetts during the holidays and this year is no different.

In teaming up with the Toy for Joy campaign, Hasbro, The Republican and the Salvation Army bring over 100 combined years of experience managing programs that help families in need give their children a toy or game to unwrap on their holiday. Hasbro employees are also among the volunteers who aid the Salvation Army with registration of families and with distribution of the toys and gifts.

Toy for Joy donations tally to date to $22,017, leaving $127,983 to be raised.

For more information, call 733-1518. To make a contribution to the Toy for Joy fund, write: Toy for Joy, P.O. Box 3007, Springfield 01102. Contributions may also be dropped off with the coupon to The Republican, 1860 Main St., Springfield, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through Dec. 23.

Here’s a list of the latest contributors:
Merry Christmas from Alistair, $25
In honor of my Mother and Father from Janet, $25
In memory of Larry Cavanaugh, $25
Merry Christmas Riley and Delaney, love Grandpa and Grandmere, $75
In memory of Grandpa and Grandma Malanson and Alice Driscoll from the Malanson family, $5
In memory of Annette Lortie and Christine Beshaw, $100
Happy Holidays from Mary, $25
Go Holyoke, $500
In loving memory of Enis MacLeod, Hank and Ann Pounckun, Dick Blanchette and Carol MacLeod, $55
In memory of my Mom, Janet Lempart, love Linda, $20
For the children instead of sending Holiday cards, Linda and Rene, $20
In appreciation to Larry Habernch from the Movie Group, $100
In honor of anyone spending Christmas alone, $10
In memory of Stanley and Jessica Ciak, $20
Merry Christmas to all, Ethan, William, Clara and Owen, $100
In loving memory of Debra Buchanan from her Mom, $100
In memory of Joseph R. Paquette, $25
In memory of Scott, $10
Anonymous, $25
In memory of Lee Pilon, $10
In loving memory of Grandpa Nante, Mashea, Auntie Carol and Ma, JS, $100
In memory of Donald and Ann Beaudry, $150
From Fontaine Bros, $100
Happy Holidays from M and C, $50
From Chloe and “The Munch”, $25
Anonymous, $25
In memory of Armand, Alice, Darlene Corbeil, Albert Santaniello from Peggy and Roland Corbeil, $50
In memory of my parents Sid and Jean Crossland, $25
Audrey, $20
In memory of Alice Rodriques, Carmen Adams, Amelia Braica and Alice and Kathy Girard, $20
Happy Holidays to all, $30
Thank you Katie Girard, Merry Christmas, Sam Cox, $10
In memory of Henry Tetreault by his wife Marie, $10
In loving memory of Edwin W. Allen, $10
In loving memory of my parents Stanley and Angela Skorka, $100
Loving memory of Charles Cleary, Merry Christmas to all, $15
God bless you and Merry Christmas, $25
In memory of Bill Jekot, love Mom, $100
In loving memory of Chip Grimaldi from family, $50
In memory of Mom and Dad who always made Christmas special, $50
Merry Christmas in heaven to Vo-Vo Joe and Vo-Vo Lilly with love from Cole and Ava, $20
Anonymous, $200
Your sadly missed Emery, Jeanne and Bob, $20
In loving memory of Richard and Mary Bourque and Maureen, $25
Christmas blessings to all from Fiona-Lily, $25
In memory of Shirley, $50
In memory of Genevieve Vaz, $20
Anyone can be Santa, $100
In memory of our grandparents Gertrude and Edward, $50
In memory of our beloved daughters Kristen and Kimberly, love Mom and Dad, $25
In memory of all our deceased relatives, love Rich and Maureen, $25
In memory of Judy Savas and Sandra Rogers from Pat and Gloria, $50
In memory of Ruth and Stella Welcome and thanks for Johnathan, $15
Memory of Guy Wentworth from friend Walter Cotton, $20
Cheryl, $15
WSO, $20
Happy Holidays to Mrs. Mengwassen at BHS, love Rachel Freedman, $10
Merry Christmas Moma and Poppy, love Jacob, Sam and Rachel, $50
Jeff, $10
In memory of Ginny and Charlie Hebda, Nick Rusellie and Joan Sharpe, $1
From Duke and Pudge, $20
In memory of Dorothy L. Kleczek, $20
In memory of Agatha and Stanley Kleczek, $20
In memory of Grandma B, Muriel Burns, you are missed, $20
In memory of Bill Buzzee from Dave, $20
In memory of the Troll and Chide, $100
David, $70
In memory of Paul from Uncle Bruno and Aunt Ann, $100
McNeill Heating and Air Conditioning Co., $125

RECEIVED, $3,486
TOTAL TO DATE, $22,017
STILL NEEDED, $127,983

Tyler Brehm's recent breakup with his girlfriend may have inspired a shooting rampage that injured three people, one critically. The Pennsylvania native was killed in a confrontation with Los Angeles police.

AP Photo/Gregory BojorquezThis image provided by Gregory Bojorquez to the Associated Press shows Los Angeles Police officers advancing on Tyler Brehm, as he lies wounded on Sunset Boulevard on Friday morning. The 26-year-old walked down the middle of the famous Hollywood street, firing on passing cars with no clear target until police shot and killed him.

LOS ANGELES — A broken heart may have fueled a Friday morning shooting rampage that ended after police shot and killed a man who randomly opened fire on passersby in the heart of Hollywood, injuring at least three people, one critically.

The chaos began shortly after 10 a.m. when 26-year-old Tyler Brehm forced people to duck for cover as he apparently indiscriminately fired a handgun into the air and at passing motorists on Sunset Boulevard, the famous Hollywood thoroughfare (Click HERE to watch raw video of the shooting).

Multiple news reports have cited Brehm's recent breakup with his girlfriend as a possible contributing factor to the shooting, though police have not publicly released a motive for the violent incident.

Brehm managed to fire roughly 20 rounds, reloading his gun once, before police confronted him and ordered him to drop his weapon. Authorities said officers fired on Brehm after he kept shooting and failed to comply with their orders.

Police said Brehm injured three people, one critically. John Atterberry, a 40-year-old music industry executive, was driving his Mercedes-Benz through an intersection when he was hit by multiple rounds of gunfire from Brehm's weapon. Atterberry remained in critical condition Saturday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

FacebookTyler Brehm

Police said a bullet grazed a man's thigh, while another victim sustained cuts when a bullet shattered a window in his car.

Friends and neighbors of Brehm said the Pennsylvania native was distraught over his breakup with 24-year-old Alicia Alligood. The ex-girlfriend told KTLA-TV that she and Brehm had dated for about four years before ending their relationship recently.

Alligood described Brehm as "really stressed out lately" and said he'd recently started taking pharmaceutical drugs, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Times, citing Los Angeles police sources, said Brehm began firing the .40-caliber handgun in the air and menacing motorists in a McDonald's parking lot before walking toward Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street, where he continued to fire the gun.

Law enforcement officials said Brehm was unemployed and had only recently moved to Los Angeles.

His Facebook page indicates he changed his relationship status to "single" on Dec. 6, a revelation that elicited sympathy from some posters to his page.

Authorities verified that Brehm had recently broken up with his girlfriend, but they didn't indicate if they believe the breakup may have played a role in the shooting.

"He wasn't a bad guy, he just got fed up," Christina Mesropian, a freind and neighbor, told NBC4 Los Angeles.

Mesropian said Brehm was struggling to overcome his breakup with Alligood, saying should could tell "he wasn't over it."

Police said Brehm fired at drivers as he walked down the middle of Sunset Boulevard. An amateur video taken at the shooting scene shows the gunman had short hair and was wearing jeans and a white tank top at the time of his death.

The video shows him pacing back and forth near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street.

Because of the frequency of films being shot in the area, some people initially thought the sound of gunfire was coming from a movie set. But as projectiles began breaking vehicle windows, people quickly realized the gunfire was real.

Pennsylvania media outlets report that Brehm graduated from Carlisle High School and Shippensburg University.

Material from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV and KNBC-TV was used in this report.

VIDEO from WPMT FOX43 in Pennsylvania:

Deep cuts in federal home heating assistance benefits means that some New Englanders might not be able to afford enough heating oil to stay warm this winter.

AP file photoFederal fuel assistance cuts could make it difficult for New Englanders who are unable to afford heating oil to stay warm during the region's long, cold winter season.

ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Mary Power is 92 and worried about surviving another frigid New England winter. Deep cuts in federal home heating assistance benefits mean she probably can't afford enough heating oil to stay warm.

She lives in a drafty trailer in Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood and gets by on $11,148 a year in pension and Social Security benefits. Her heating aid help this year will drop from $1,035 to $685. With rising heating oil prices, it probably will cost her more than $3,000 for enough oil to keep warm unless she turns her thermostat down to 60 degrees, as she plans.

"I will just have to crawl into bed with the covers over me and stay there," said Power, a widow who worked as a cashier and waitress until she was 80. "I will do what I have to do."

Thousands of poor people across the Northeast are bracing for a difficult winter with substantially less home heating aid coming from the federal government.

"They're playing Russian roulette with people's lives," said John Drew, who heads Action for Boston Community Development, Inc., which provides aid to low-income residents in Massachusetts.

The issue could flare just as New Hampshire votes in the Republican presidential primary.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said she hopes the candidates will take up the region's heating aid crunch because it underscores how badly the country needs a comprehensive energy policy.

Several Northeast states already have reduced heating aid benefits to families as Congress considers cutting more than $1 billion from last year's $4.7 billion Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that served nearly 9 million households.

Families in New England, where the winters are long and cold and people rely heavily on costly oil heat, are expected to be especially hard hit. Many poor and elderly people on fixed incomes struggle with rising heating bills that can run into thousands of dollars. That can force them to cut back on other necessities like food or medicine.

The Boston Globe identifies the three Cambridge people killed by a former cop, the dos and don'ts of Googling people, and more morning news.

AP/Worcester Telegram & Gazette photo by Paul KapteynA full moon rises behind a flag flying at half mast atop one of the Union Station towers in Worcester on Saturday. Throughout the city, flags are flying at half mast as the city mourns the loss of Worcester firefighter Jon Davies, who died while fighting an Arlington Street house fire on Thursday.

• An orderly end to Occupy Boston saga [boston.com]


• The dos and don'ts of Googling people [cnn.com]


• 2 Connecticut firemen hurt while battling blaze at Avon home [courant.com]


• Gingrich fends off attack in GOP presidential debate [washingtonpost.com]


• Lindsay Lohan says posing nude gave her confidence [msnbc.com]


• Identities of victims revealed in Cambridge murder-suicide case [boston.com]


• The Washington Post takes a look at some of 2011's defining moments [washingtonpost.com]


• Highlights (and lowlights) from the Boston Santa Speedo Run [boston.com]


• 4 injured in 2-car crash in Farmington [courant.com]


• Springfield fundraiser held for gun-club shooting victim Christopher Bizilj [wggb.com]




VIDEO of Alec Baldwin spoofing the American Airlines brouhaha on "Saturday Night Live":




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


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Many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody in the streets to pay his debt at home.

View full sizeFILE - In this Nov. 8, 1989 file photo Panamanian military strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega talks to reporters in Panama City. A Paris appeals court rules Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011, whether to grant an extradition request from Panama, which plans to try the elderly ex-military strongman in the latest phase of his complex legal odyssey. (AP Photo, file)

By JUAN ZAMORANO and THIBAULT CAMUS

PARIS (AP) — Former military strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega was flown home to Panama on Sunday to be punished once again for crimes he committed during a career that saw him transformed from a close Cold War ally of Washington to the vilified target of a U.S. invasion.

Noriega left Orly airport, south of Paris, on a flight of Spain's Iberia airlines, delivered directly to the aircraft by a four-car convoy and motorcycles that escorted him from the French capital's walked La Sante prison.

The French Justice Ministry, in a one-line statement, said France turned Noriega over to Panamanian officials on Sunday in accordance with extradition proceedings. It was the only official remark.

Noriega's return comes after more than 20 years in U.S. and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the slayings of two political opponents in the 1980s.

He was sentenced to 20 years in each case, and Panamanian officials say he will be sent straight to a jail cell when he lands. The ex-general, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname "Pineapple Face," could eventually leave prison under a law allowing prisoners over 70 to serve out their time under house arrest.

A doctor was reported to be among the team of Panamanian officials escorting the 77-year-old ex-dictator back to Panama.

"He was very impatient, very happy. He's going home," one of his French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by telephone Saturday night, a day after his last visit with Noriega.

But many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody in the streets to pay his debt at home.

"Noriega was responsible for the invasion and those who died in the operation. He dishonored his uniform, there was barely a shot and he went off to hide. He must pay," said Hatuey Castro, 82, a member of the anti-Noriega opposition who was detained and beaten by the strongman's thugs in 1989.

Though other U.S. conflicts have long since pushed him from the spotlight, the 1989 invasion that ousted Noriega was one of the most bitterly debated events of the Cold War's waning years.

Noriega began working with U.S. intelligence when he was a student at a military academy in Peru, said Everett Ellis Briggs, the United States ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986.

As he rose in the Panamanian military during the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega cooperated closely with the CIA, helping the U.S. combat leftist movements in Latin America by providing information and logistical help. He also acted as a back channel for U.S. communications with unfriendly governments such as Cuba's.

But Noriega was playing a double game. He also began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, and made millions moving cocaine to the United States.

"He was for rent to a lot of people," Briggs said. The U.S. avoided taking action because of concerns about the security of the Panama Canal and overall stability in Central America, he added.

"There was just a feeling that now is not the time to take the lid off this particular mess," Briggs said.

As the Cold War waned, and the U.S. war on drugs gained prominence, Noriega's drug ties became a source of increasing tension. After a U.S. grand jury indicted him on drug charges in 1988, tensions escalated between his forces and U.S. troops stationed around the Panama Canal. A U.S. Marine was killed in one clash. President George H.W. Bush also accused Noriega's men of abusing a U.S. Navy serviceman and his wife.

On Dec. 20, 1989, more than 26,000 U.S. troops began moving into Panama City, clashing with Noriega loyalists in fighting that left sections of the city devastated.

Twenty-three U.S. troops, 314 Panamanian soldiers, and some 200 civilians died in the operation.

Noriega hid in bombed and burned-out neighborhoods before he sought refuge in the Vatican Embassy, which was besieged by U.S. troops playing loud rock music.

He gave up on Jan. 3, 1990, and was flown to Miami for trial on drug-related charges.

Bush was praised for a precise and limited strike, and pundits said the president, with soaring approval ratings, had shed the wimpy image that had plagued him during the 1988 presidential campaign.

Noriega's return to the U.S. as a prisoner of war was "a triumph for diplomacy and a triumph for justice," said the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, normally a harsh critic of Bush.

Critics, however, saw a dangerous precedent in Bush's willingness to send troops into harm's way to topple a foreign leader, particularly one who had been supported for years by the U.S. The United Nations General Assembly called the invasion "a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states."

Noriega was convicted two years after the invasion and served 17 years at a minimum-security prison outside Miami, where he received special treatment as a prisoner of war and lived in his own bungalow with a TV and exercise equipment.

When his sentence ended, he was extradited to France, which convicted him for laundering millions of dollars in drug profits through three major French banks and investing drug cash in three luxury Paris apartments.

Noriega suffers from high blood pressure and partial paralysis as the result of a stroke several years ago, according to his lawyers in France.

He returns to a nation that has seen a sustained economic boom, fueled largely by the return of the Panama Canal and surrounding land and military bases to Panamanian control in 2000. Dozens of new skyscrapers have risen around the war-scarred capital, and tourism is flourishing.

The ex-dictator's return "should finally close a chapter of history that we do not ever want to happen again," said former Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis, whose family was forced out of the country in retaliation for opposing Noriega.

"Hopefully, we can put this sad chapter of history in the past and focus on the future," Lewis said.

Panama remains a base for international drug trafficking and money laundering, however, and it also suffers from street crime and income inequality. In many parts of society, there is nostalgia for the Noriega years.

Julio Rangel, a 63-year-old painter who sells his works in a park in the capital, said Noriega "doesn't represent any sort of danger to the people here" and never deserved to become the target of a U.S. invasion.

"What the North Americans wanted to do was destroy our defense forces," he said.

Omar Rodriguez, who was selling soft drinks nearby, said that in Noriega's time, "there was more work, and there wasn't criminality like today."

"I can't speak ill of him," Rodriguez said.

Noriega faces immediate punishment for the murders of military commander Moises Giroldi, slain after leading a failed rebellion on Oct. 3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, a political opponent found decapitated on the border with Costa Rica in 1985.

He also could be tried in the deaths of other opponents during the same period.

"He's coming to serve his sentences, and that's important for the families of the victims," said former Panamanian Attorney General Rogelio Cruz. "His presence here is important because he'll satisfy the demands of justice for his criminal convictions and the trials that he still has to face."

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Zamorano reported from Panama City. Oleg Cetinic in Paris, Harold Heckle in Madrid and Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Newt Gingrich Gingrich faced tough questions about his three marriages — including to wife, Callista, with whom he carried on an extramarital affair while still wed to wife No. 2.

View full sizeAssociated PressPresidential candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, right, take part in the Republican debate, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Key moments in Saturday night's Republican presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa:

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BIG MOMENT:

What's $10,000 among friends?

Mitt Romney challenged Texas Gov. Rick Perry's claims that the former Massachusetts governor backed a requirement that individuals purchase health care coverage.

"I'm just saying, you're for individual mandates, my friend," Perry told Romney during Saturday evening's debate, returning to a criticism that has dogged Romney's campaign.

"You've raised that before, Rick, and you're simply wrong," Romney responded, extending his hand toward Perry. "Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks?"

It was a rich bet that perhaps reminded some voters that Romney has a fat enough bank account to make such wagers. But Perry wasn't playing.

"I'm not in the betting business," he said.

Romney's rivals seized on it. Democrats were giddy about the moment, which they planned to use to cast Romney as an elitist who could afford such lavish bets.

And aides to GOP hopeful Jon Huntsman — himself, the son of a famously wealthy family — announced they planned to criticize Romney on a website: www.10KBet.com.

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ROMNEY: FOOTBALL DREAMS DASHED

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also took on Romney, saying the only reason he wasn't a lifelong politician is because he came up short in his first campaign.

"Let's be candid: The only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994," Gingrich said to Romney.

"Now wait a second," Romney said.

"I'm just saying," Gingrich replied.

"It's a bit much: You'd have been a 17-year career politician by now if you'd won. That's all I'm saying on that one," Gingrich continued.

Romney lost his first campaign and returned to the private sector, where he made millions as a venture capitalist, and rescued 2002's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Romney, however, conceded Gingrich's suggestion — to a point.

"That's probably true," Romney said. "If I'd have been able to get in the NFL as I had hoped I could as a kid, why, I would've been a football star all my life, too."

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GINGRICH ON MARITAL FIDELITY: I'M A GRANDFATHER NOW

Gingrich also faced tough questions, including about his three marriages — including to wife, Callista, with whom he carried on an extramarital affair while still wed to wife No. 2.

"I think it is a real issue. I think people have to look at the person to whom they are going to loan the presidency," Gingrich said, while Callista Gingrich sat in the audience. "And they have the right to ask every single question."

Gingrich has previously acknowledged infidelity.

"I've made mistakes at times. I've had to go to God for forgiveness. I've had to seek reconciliation," he said Saturday evening. "But I'm also a 68-year-old grandfather and I think people have to measure who I am now and whether I'm a person they can trust."

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BACHMANN KEEPS 9-9-9 ALIVE

Rep. Michele Bachmann was the first — and last candidate — on stage to bring up Herman Cain, who recently left the presidential race amid repeated accusations of sexual harassment and an extramarital affair.

It was likely part of a plan to lure some of Cain's supporters her way.

"One of our former competitors was Herman Cain, and he was always reminding us of the 9-9-9 plan," Bachmann said early on. "And what I'd like to do is the win, win, win plan."

She later praised Cain's contribution to the presidential race while answering her final question of the night.

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GINGRICH DEFENDS 'INVENTED' PALESTINIANS

Gingrich insisted that an interview where he called Palestinians "invented" was not a mistake. Romney said Gingrich was undermining Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gingrich insisted he was factually accurate when he said Palestinians were part of anti-Israel propaganda and that they were historically Arabs.

"Is what I said factually true? Yes," Gingrich said.

"I spoke as a historian," he said later.

"That was a mistake, on the speaker's part," Romney said of the interview with The Jewish Channel.

"The United States should not jump ahead of Bibi Netanyahu and say something that makes it more difficult for him to do his job," he added.

View full sizePresidential candidates Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, at the Republican debate, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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OTHER KEY MOMENTS:

— Bachmann tried to link Romney with Gingrich — and paint both as unacceptable to conservatives on issues such as climate change and health care mandates. During one exchange, she branded the pair as "Newt Romney."

— Sen. Rick Santorum compared his record with Bachmann's — noting that he, too, fought as a member of the then-minority Republican caucus. His difference: He was able to win political fights, while Bachmann has come up short on her signature issues such as stopping Democrats' health care overhaul.

— Rep. Ron Paul took pride in often being the lone voice in Congress against legislation. "I end up sometimes, believe it or not, voting all by myself, thinking why aren't there people paying attention?" the Texan said.

— Huntsman was the evening's missing man. He did not meet the polling threshold to participate and instead campaigned in New Hampshire, a state he is making central to his strategy.

Politically, Obama's approval rating, as measured by Gallup, has been in the low 40s during the fall and hasn't topped 50 percent since last May.

View full sizeAssociated PressPresident Barack Obama gestures during his joint news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By KEN THOMAS

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a dreary summer marred by the fight over government borrowing, rank-and-file Democrats say they are growing more optimistic about President Barack Obama's political prospects in 2012. They cite his tougher, more populist tone and what they view as a chaotic primary fight among Republicans.

Many Democrats acknowledged that high unemployment and economic uncertainty create formidable obstacles for the incumbent. But interviews with more than a dozen Democratic activists across the nation found support for Obama's more forceful message against GOP lawmakers and interest in rebutting the presidential candidates.

Several pointed to Obama's speech last week in Kansas, where he argued that the middle class had been under duress for the past decade and economic policies must give everyone a "fair shot and a fair share."

"He didn't have his voice and we didn't have our voice," said David Leland, an attorney in Columbus, Ohio, and former state party chairman. "But now he has successfully turned that particular corner and most people are much more enthusiastic and much more fired up about it."

Entering 2012, Obama faces a set of economic numbers that have improved but that no incumbent would relish: unemployment of 8.6 percent in November, down from 9 percent in October; consumer confidence of 56, well below the level where a president typically gets re-elected; and an economy that has created 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row — the first time that has happened since April 2006.

Politically, Obama's approval rating, as measured by Gallup, has been in the low 40s during the fall and hasn't topped 50 percent since last May. Polls typically show about three-quarters of voters view the nation on the wrong track. Republicans have blamed Obama for high unemployment and rising debt, contending that his policies have failed to lift America from recession.

Nonetheless, a month before the first vote in the GOP nominating race, many Democrats said they were encouraged by the topsy-turvy contest. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have been battling for the lead while businessman Herman Cain, who's now dropped out, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry stumbled after rising in polls.

"Obama has not been everything I've wanted him to be but he's sure a heck of a lot better than any of the Republicans who have raised their hands," said Tom Bordeaux, a former Georgia legislator who was recently elected to an alderman seat in Savannah, Ga.

Mary Gail Gwaltney, a member of the Democratic National Committee from Las Cruces, N.M., said she felt stronger about Obama now "because I'm looking at the other party's field and they don't have a strong candidate."

Obama's tone and message are pivotal, they said.

Many activists said they were unhappy with Obama's attempt to reach concessions with Republicans last summer during negotiations over the government's borrowing limit. But they said they were reassured when he proposed a jobs bill in September and hit the road trying to sell the package.

Only one provision has been enacted, tax incentives to encourage companies to hire unemployed veterans. Still, many party organizers said Obama's fight with congressional Republicans over payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and efforts to force the wealthy to pay more in taxes would help their cause.

"He has to be seen as a champion for the average person," said George Nee, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. "I think that's where his heart is — that's what he believes — but he's been too tentative in showing it. I guess in the labor movement, we come from the perspective that we've got to know where you are."

Rob Tully, a former Iowa Democratic party chairman who supported John Edwards in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, said that last summer many of his party allies shared his sense of frustration that Obama "was not engaging in the fight" with Republicans. But he said Obama's more populist tone and attention to bread-and-butter issues for middle-class voters has resonated with him.

"I was frustrated with him but I have come full circle, back to the fold," Tully said.

Beyond the message, many activists said Obama's organizational efforts should help their cause. The campaign has been recruiting tens of thousands of volunteers to help with the re-election campaign. Democrats contend Obama will have a yearlong head start over the Republican nominee and his organization should outpace that of his eventual rival.

"He understands clearly that there's a race and some of the things that worked for him in the (2008) election aren't going to work this time," said Judy Kennedy, a DNC member from Phoenix.

Kennedy said she was deeply concerned about Obama's chances over the summer but came away reassured after meeting with campaign officials in Chicago last September. "My feelings about it have improved dramatically over the last few months."

Debbie Dingell, a DNC member and the wife of Michigan Rep. John Dingell, said many Democrats long have recognized the headwinds facing them next year and are working to organize voters in the most effective way.

"It's going to be a tough year and because of that, they're not kidding themselves that this isn't going to be challenging and they're prepared for a tough fight," she said.

He said austerity measures were needed to start reducing the deficit but that no new taxes will be imposed. He did not elaborate on exact steps.

By MAGGIE MICHAEL

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's new interim prime minister broke into tears in front of journalists on Sunday as he spoke about the state of the country's economy, saying it was "worse than anyone imagines."

Egypt's transition in the months since Hosni Mubarak's ouster has been rocky, with protests against the military council leading the process, an increase in crime and the battering of the tourism industry that was once a pillar of the economy.

Kamal el-Ganzouri, the third temporary prime minister since Mubarak's ouster in February, said his priorities were the restoration of security and economic progress.

At one point in his news conference, el-Ganzouri became teary eyed as he recalled seeing "an Egyptian man on TV saying I want security, not bread."

He said austerity measures were needed to start reducing the deficit but that no new taxes will be imposed. He did not elaborate on exact steps.

El-Ganzouri said his government will not consider loans from the International Monetary Fund until the outlook of the Egyptian budget becomes clear. In the summer, the IMF offered a $3 billion loan, but Egyptian officials turned it down.

The IMF is projecting Egypt's economic growth to be just 1.2 percent this year, compared with about 5 percent in 2010.

"Solidarity is needed to face the economic crisis and security problem for citizens to be pleased with the revolution," he said.

Urban consumer inflation in Egypt rose to an annual 9.1 percent in November from 7.1 percent in October. The unemployment rate in the third quarter climbed to 12 percent from just under 9 percent a year earlier. Net international reserves dropped by roughly 40 percent by the end of October, compared with the end of 2010.

The military council, which stepped in to rule when Mubarak was pushed out, appointed el-Ganzouri and his government at the end of November after a violent crackdown on protesters demanding an end to military rule.

In response to the protests, the previous prime minister, Essam Sharaf, resigned and the head of the military council pledged to transfer power to a civilian administration by July 2012. The council also transferred wide powers to el-Ganzouri's government in an attempt to show it had independence and that the military council would leave power — though gradually.

El-Ganzouri blamed the last decade of Mubarak's 30-year rule and the corruption that took place then for the ballooning deficit.

El-Ganzouri is himself a Mubarak-era prime minister who served from 1996 to 1999 but he has not been tainted by corruption.

Still, protesters who dislike him for his part in the old regime have been camped in front of el-Ganzouri's office in downtown Cairo, forcing him to hold meetings at the Ministry of Planning in a Cairo suburb.

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan says it's too early to say when they will publicly announce their conclusions about last week's fire, which killed 43-year-old Worcester firefighter Jon Davies.

View full sizeJohn Davies

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts fire officials say they plan to meet with a district attorney to share their findings about a fire that killed a Worcester firefighter and injured his partner.

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan says it's too early to say when they will publicly announce their conclusions about last week's fire, which killed 43-year-old Worcester firefighter Jon Davies.

Coan says they plan to meet Monday with Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early to discuss what they have learned so far.

Davies' death last Thursday came days after the anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage building fire that killed six firefighters on Dec. 3, 1999.

Internal affairs detectives are interviewing officers under oath and getting subpoenas for computer records.

View full sizeIn this Sept. 26, 2010 photo, police stand along the route of the West Indian-American Day Parade as parade participants make their way along Eastern Parkway in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The New York Police Department is investigating a Facebook group purported to be created by police officers entitled "No More West Indian Day Detail," rife with nasty, often racist comments about the annual parade in Brooklyn that has been marred by violence, including this year when two people were fatally shot. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

By COLLEEN LONG

NEW YORK (AP) — The Facebook group was titled "No More West Indian Day Detail," referring to police patrol for a raucous annual Brooklyn parade.

Sprinkled among the frustrations aired about regulating the crowded, loud, often-violent event were comments that were more offensive. Some called the parade, held in a predominantly black neighborhood, "ghetto training," and a "scheduled riot." Others referred to participants as savages.

The West Indian Day Parade celebrates the culture of the Caribbean islands and is one of the city's largest outdoors events. Food carts with spicy dishes and fresh fruit crowd a stately parkway and dancers shimmy wearing revealing feathered costumes.

But it's often surrounded by violence. Following the parade this year, a woman was shot to death while sitting on her stoop with her daughter, as police exchanged gunfire nearby with an armed man who'd opened fire on another person moments before. And others were shot to death during celebrations in 2003 and 2005.

"Maybe next year they should hold it on Riker's Island," one of the Facebook posts read, referring to the city's main jail.

At least 20 such comments made on the page may have come from police officers, New York Police Department officials said this week. Internal affairs detectives are interviewing officers under oath and getting subpoenas for computer records. Departmental charges could be brought, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

He said the department can discipline behavior determined to be unbecoming of a police officer or detrimental to the service — and that includes online outbursts.

"It is disturbing when anyone denigrates a community with hateful speech. It is unacceptable when police officers do it," Kelly said in a statement.

But the posts, however embarrassing or outrageous, also raise a First Amendment issue about whether officers should watch what they say, online and off.

Government employees must be able to express their opinions, said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Unlike private employees, governmental employees like police officers and firefighters are protected under the First Amendment that says the government can't restrict free speech.

"That comes into play not only when we like what they have to say, but also when they say obnoxious, disgusting and hateful things," she said.

Police officers are naturally guarded, and don't often talk about the job, at least not publicly. Thee Rant, an online forum where writers air angry and occasionally bigoted grievances about the nation's largest department and the city it serves, is anonymous.

But in the Facebook group, comments with names and photos were posted in arguably the most public of online forums. Some used the NYPD shield as their profile image. Even some of those who wrote in cautioned about being too explicit, and warned that the department was watching. None of the people whose names were associated with the posts replied to attempts to contact them for comment.

The city's largest police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, has long urged members to avoid social networks. In a union magazine column called "Tweeting all cops: Stay off those social networking sites," treasurer Joseph Alejandro said technology simply presents problems for police that it doesn't for civilians.

"Using these technologies can present a real risk to police officers' careers because information posted on them can easily be misrepresented and used against an officer," he wrote.

Police departments around the country prohibit officers to make any statements that have anything to do with work, said Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. The officers know this when they join, and, like the military, they should abide by the rules, she said. If the posts were from officers, then they violated the rules.

"It's a very political profession," she said. "It's a public profession. It's not just seen as one officer doing it; it's seen as coming from the department."

The Facebook group, which had more than a thousand supporters, has been taken offline, but copies of the posts were made public by lawyers who used the remarks in the trial of a Brooklyn man who was arrested before last year's parade. The majority of the posts centered on concern about violence at the parade, frustration about what they said was unchecked lawlessness while other city parades staged in more notable locales, like Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, were policed more fervently.

"Why doesn't NYPD brass utilize crowd control techniques like they do at Times Square on New Year's? I know it won't stop the guns, but it can control the crowds," one writer suggested.

The police department has not specifically addressed concerns made in the post other than the statement issued by Kelly noting the entire matter was under investigation.

Even within the group's posts were messages urging caution: "Please keep it focused. This is not a racist rant. This is about us, the cops," one post read.

Lawyers with the Brooklyn Defender Services, a nonprofit public defender service, used the posts to argue the officer who arrested Tyronne Johnson in 2010 in the early morning hours before the rowdy parade may have been biased. The officer was a member of the Facebook group, but didn't post anything. That link was first reported by The New York Times.

Johnson was acquitted last month.

The crossing, which would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico, has sparked opposition from some who see it as counterintuitive in these days of heightened border security.

View full sizeIn this Oct. 31, 2011 photo, Guillermo Gonzalez Diaz, resident of Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico, wades into the Rio Grande across from Big Bend National Park, Texas. In this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade. If approved, the crossing would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico. (AP Photo/Christopher Sherman)

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) — The bloody drug war in Mexico shows no sign of relenting. Neither do calls for tighter border security amid rising fears of spillover violence.

This hardly seems a time the U.S. would be willing to allow people to cross the border legally from Mexico without a customs officer in sight. But in this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade.

By the spring, kiosks could open up in Big Bend National Park allowing people from the tiny Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen to scan their identity documents and talk to a customs officer in another location, at least 100 miles away.

The crossing, which would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico, has sparked opposition from some who see it as counterintuitive in these days of heightened border security. Supporters say the crossing would give the isolated Mexican town long-awaited access to U.S. commerce, improve conservation efforts and be an unlikely target for criminal operations.

"People that want to be engaged in illegal activities along the border, ones that are engaged in those activities now, they're still going to do it," said William Wellman, Big Bend National Park's superintendent. "But you'd have to be a real idiot to pick the only place with security in 300 miles of the border to try to sneak across."

The proposed crossing from Boquillas del Carmen leads to a vast expanse of rolling scrub, cut by sandy-floored canyons and violent volcanic rock outcroppings. The Chihuahuan desert wilderness is home to mountain lions, black bears and roadrunners, sparsely populated by an occasional camper and others visiting the 800,000-acre national park.

Customs and Border Protection, which would run the port of entry, says the proposal is a safe way to allow access to the town's residents, who currently must travel 240 road miles to the nearest legal entry point. It also would allow park visitors to visit the town.

If the crossing is approved, Border Patrol would have eight agents living in the park in addition to the park's 23 law enforcement rangers.

"I think it's actually going to end up making security better," CBP spokesman William Brooks said.

"Once you've crossed you're still not anywhere. You've got a long ways to go and we've got agents who are in the area. We have agents who patrol. We have checkpoints on the paved roads leading away from the park."

A public comment period runs through Dec. 27 on the estimated $2.3 million project, which has support at the highest levels of government from both countries.

But U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican member of the House Homeland Security committee, questioned the wisdom of using resources to make it easier to cross the border.

"We need to use our resources to secure the border rather than making it easier to enter in locations where we already have problems with illegal crossings," McCaul said in an email. "There is more to the oversight of legal entry than checking documents. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) needs to be physically present at every point of entry in order to inspect for contraband, detect suspicious behavior and, if necessary, act on what they encounter."

While CBP will run the port of entry, the National Park Service is the driver behind the project, which it hopes will help conservation efforts on both sides of the border. Even as the National Park Service has increased cooperation with its Mexican counterpart, joint conservation has been limited by the inability of personnel to cross the border without making a circuitous 16-hour drive, Wellman said.

So the National Park Service is building the contact station just above the Rio Grande. It will house CBP kiosks where crossers will scan in their documents and talk to a customs officer in Presidio, the nearest port of entry, or another remote location. Park service employees will staff the station, offering information about the park and guiding people through the process.

Similar ports of entry are already in operation on remote parts of the border with Canada.

"We think we can do this without doing any damage to national security and possibly enhance security along the border by having better intelligence, better communication with people in Mexico," Wellman said.

The crossing would also restore a long-running relationship between the park, its visitors and the residents of Boquillas del Carmen, the town of adobe dwellings set a short distance from the river in Mexico.

For years, U.S. tourists added an international dimension to their park visit by wading or ferrying in a rowboat across the shallow Rio Grande to the town. There they bought handicrafts and tacos, providing much-needed cash in the isolated community.

But US officials discouraged such informal crossings in 2002 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted calls for tighter border security. Without access to tourists or supplies on the U.S. side, the town of just more than 100 people has seen a 42 percent drop in population from 2000 to 2010.

Gary Martin, who manages the Rio Grande Village store at a nearby park campground, recalls many Mexican residents crossing the river to pick up groceries and other necessities.

"We're their supply," Martin said. "They don't have any electricity over there. So they would come here and buy frozen chicken, cake mixes and things that they couldn't get over there."

Martin tried to stock food items Boquillas del Carmen residents wanted, such as eggs and big sacks of beans.

"After the border closed, well, I got rid of most of my food and went back to gifts because I wasn't making any money," Martin said. He estimated about 40 percent of the store's revenue came from Boquillas residents.

Few have risked crossing to the store since. "If they get caught over here they get shipped off," he said. "They get deported all the way to Ojinaga and then they've got to find their way home. It's not really worth it."

Still, most days some Boquillas del Carmen residents wade across the river a short distance downstream of the old crossing and scramble up to a paved overlook perched high above the river.

View full sizeIn this Oct. 31, 2011 photo, handicrafts made in Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico across the Rio Grande await tourists at an overlook in Big Bend National Park, Texas. In this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade. If approved, the crossing would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico. (AP Photo/Christopher Sherman)

On boulders near the parking spots they lay out painted walking sticks, scorpions and roadrunners crafted from copper wire and colorful beads. Each craftsman's work occupies a different rock and operates on the honor system with the hope tourists will drop four or five dollars in their jar.

"Sometimes we don't sell anything," said Boquillas del Carmen resident Guillermo Gonzalez Diaz. "Sometimes we sell one." And other times authorities confiscate everything.

Gonzalez, a 34-year-old father of three, described his town as "very sad, very hard" and said there was no work. Without access to the Rio Grande Village store, residents depend on a bus that runs once a week to Melchor Muzquiz, a larger town about 150 miles away, for supplies.

A small military presence protects the town from the drug-related violence that has engulfed other Mexican border towns. Now with news of the port of entry, residents are already making plans for restaurants and shops, he said.

"When it closed nobody crossed and everything went downhill. People began to leave," he said. "Now people are going to return."

There are five main goals: promoting manufacturing as a growing industry and an attractive career path, work force training, technical assistance and innovation, addressing the cost of doing business in Massachusetts and improving manufacturers’ access to capital.

The Republican / John SuchockiAgawam, 12/7/11, - Ben Franklin Design and Manufacturing President Edward T Leyden is Chairman of the new State Commission to charged with fostering precision manufacturing in the state. Lyden is shown with parts his company makes for the nuclear power industry.

AGAWAM – Edward T. Leyden, president of Ben Franklin Design and Manufacturing in Agawam, likes a lot of things about being the co-chairman of the Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.

But what he likes best is that the collaborative has a set of goals and deadlines, but just a fancy title and a list of ideas not easily achieved or measured.

“It’s so refreshing,” Leyden said this week after participating on a teleconference for the new collaborative. “I believe the state is serious about this industry. If you expect industry leaders to participate there has to be value. Busy company owners will bail if they think this isn’t going anywhere.”

Gov. Deval L. Patrick announced the collaborative and named Leyden as its co-chairman last month in an event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a public-private collaborative focused on accelerating the growth of manufacturing in Massachusetts. The first meeting, conducted in Clinton, came one day after the announcement and members have been in touch ever since, Leyden said.

He said they have five main goals: promoting manufacturing as a growing industry and an attractive career path, work force training, technical assistance and innovation, addressing the cost of doing business in Massachusetts and improving manufacturers’ access to capital.

“Obviously we are going after the low-hanging fruit,” Leyden said. “We know that the cost of electricity is high in Massachusetts. But there isn’t much we can do about that right away.”

But the collaborative can get more elementary school children touring precision shop floors where they will see robots machining parts to tolerances thinner than a human hair for medical implants, aircraft or the defense industry.

“There are so many people who consider precision manufacturing a dirty, dying smokestack business,” he said.

The manufacturing industry employs 260,000 people in Massachusetts, an increase of 4,400 employees from a year ago.

In the Pioneer Valley, precision manufacturing alone employs 7,800 workers. “Without a doubt – and you know this goes back centuries to the beginnings of the Springfield Armory – the Pioneer Valley is a world-class center,” said Eric T. Nakajima, the senior innovation adviser within the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

Nakajima is one of the officials working on the collaborative project.

“The area has the infrastructure in place,” Nakajima said in a phone interview this week. “Instead of spending time and money trying to attract new business, let’s try and enhance the business structure we have here.”

Nakajima said he wants to take worker-training programs from the Pioneer Valley, including the efforts of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County and Springfield Technical Community College, and replicate them across the state.

Leyden said he wants to exploit the technical advances being accomplished at the state’s universities.

“We are seeing people working on things that will hit the market in the next five or 10 years,” he said. “But they are leaving the state to be manufactured elsewhere.”

Louis & Clark has 95 employees and will have 75 after the stores officially change hands.

Mark M. Murray/ The RepublicanDec. 9,2011 Springfield-The Louis and Clark Drug Store at 471 Breckwood Blvd, in the Breckwood Shops, in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – Louis & Clark Drug Stores has sold its two pharmacies at 471 Breckwood Drive in Springfield and 459 Main St., Wilbraham to Big Y Foods Inc. so the pharmacy can concentrate on its medical equipment, custom compounding and specialty pharmacy businesses.

“It’s getting extremely difficult to compete in the retail pharmacy business with mandatory mail-order policies at many health-care plans and the big chains,” said Clark E. “Skip” Matthews Jr., president of Louis & Clark.

Big Y will continue to operate the Breckwood Drive and Wilbraham stores as retail drug stores under the name Big Y’s Louis & Clark Pharmacies, Clark said.

“It will be business as usual for those customers,” he said.

Big Y said in a news release that the two stores will close for the day at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 for inventories, prescription file transfers and new products additions. For current customers, their prescriptions will be automatically transferred.

Big Y operates a stand-alone drug store in New Milford, Conn., according to a news release.

Louis Demosthenous and Clark E. Matthews Sr. founded Louis & Clark in 1965.

Louis & Clark will continue to operate its remaining locations: its medical equipment business at 309 East St. and pharmacies at 409 Page Boulevard in Springfield; in the Valley Medical Group building at 238 Northampton St., Easthampton; in the lobby of 300 Birnie Ave. in Springfield.

Matthews said Thursday that Louis & Clark will concentrate on providing prescriptions for nursing homes and group homes and other congregate-care organizations. The pharmacy will focus on providing medications in “blister packs”. That is the preferred format for social-service agencies that acquire medications whether the patient lives in a facility or in the community.

“Then the end user can pop out the dosage for that particular day,” he said.

Louis & Clark has 95 employees and will have 75 after the stores officially change hands Dec. 19. The 20 workers at the two stores being sold are applying for jobs with Big Y, Matthews said.

Big Y has 64 stores throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts with more than 10,000 employees.

The reduction is scheduled to be so minuscule that the savings might be only $9 to $39 a year for typical taxpayers, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Filling out the 2011 Massachusetts Income Tax Form 1 won't necessarily result in lower taxes, but the state income tax rate is set to be reduced starting on Jan. 1, 2012.

BOSTON – For the first time in 10 years, the state income tax in Massachusetts is set to be cut on Jan. 1.

But don't get too excited about the extra money that will stay in your pocket next year. The reduction is scheduled to be so minuscule that the savings might be only $9 to $39 a year for typical taxpayers, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Under a state law, the state's 5.3-percent personal income tax is set to drop to 5.25 percent on Jan. 1. It would be the first cut in the income tax since January 2002, when it fell to its current level under a ballot question approved by voters in 2000.

While an official announcement is expected Thursday, the reduction of 0.05 percentage points appears assured because it has already cleared several economic thresholds in the law for triggering the cut. In order to go into effect on Jan. 1, the reduction needs to pass one more modest test for measuring economic growth, according to a top legislator.

"I'm very confident it will happen," said Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, a Barre Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "That's good news for the taxpayer."

Stephen Brewer

The tax cut would cost state government $114 million for a full fiscal year, or $54 million for the last six months of this fiscal year, according to the revenue department.

Brewer said state government could use the money, but "it's important to keep our word to taxpayers."

The cut stems from 2002, when legislators approved a law to freeze the state income tax at 5.3 percent to help deal with a recession and a gap in the state budget. At the same time, legislators established a schedule for the income tax to gradually be lowered to 5 percent in increments of 0.05 percentage points.

The reduction is determined by a calculation for determining if the economy is in good health. Under the law, the phased reduction could have started as early as 2009, but the recession killed that possibility – until this year.

Robert R. Bliss, a spokesman for the state Department of Revenue, said that the law requires a cut in the income tax if inflation-adjusted growth in tax revenues exceeds 2.5 percent for the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The commissioner of the revenue department on Aug. 30 determined that growth exploded to 7.2 percent over the prior year, well above the 2.5 percent.

Also, under the law, the inflation-adjusted growth in tax revenues must be more than zero for each consecutive three-month period between August and December of this year compared to the same period in the prior year, according to Bliss.

The cut cleared those hurdles in September, October and last month. Now, all that remains is for the revenue commissioner to certify Thursday that revenue growth was greater than zero for the past three months. If that happens, the cut will automatically occur for the new tax year.

Alexandra Zaroulis, a fiscal spokeswoman for Gov. Deval L. Patrick, said the cut in the income tax "does appear more likely than not" to take effect on Jan. 1.

The cut won't exactly be a windfall for workers.

According to the revenue department, the cut would save $39 for a married couple filing jointly who own a home, have two children less than 12 years old and $100,000 in income.

The savings would be $24 for a married couple filing jointly who own a home, have no children, and $60,000 income.

The savings is only $9 for a single person with two children who rents and makes $40,000.

When state legislators approved the 2002 law, it negated a voter-approved ballot law in 2000 that set a phased cut in the then-5.85 percent income tax to 5 percent by January 2003. The phased cut was stopped dead in its tracks in the 2002 law.

Barbara Anderson

Barbara C. Anderson , executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, said she welcomed the tiny cut in the income tax – on principle. The cut shows the income tax is moving in the right direction and that legislators are showing some respect to voters, she said.

"I don't care if it's 5 cents," Anderson said. "I want it."

Anderson's group sponsored the 2000 ballot question, which was approved by 59 percent of voters.

Alex Sherman, chairman of the Springfield Republican City Committee, said that the reduction to 5.25 percent is a step in the right direction but not enough considering approval of the 2000 ballot question. "Eleven years and still the people's voice continues to fall deaf on the ears of our state government," Sherman said in an e-mail.

Before the income tax was eligible to start falling, the 2002 law first called for restoring personal exemptions, or the amount of income not subject to taxation.

In the 2002 tax-increase law, legislators also raised revenues by lowering personal exemptions by 25 percent.

The 2002 law also contained triggers to lift the personal exemptions in annual stages if the economy grew enough. The exemptions were fully restored in 2008.

The "Old Masters to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum" will be at the Springfield Museum through April 29.

SPRINGFIELD – A traveling exhibit of 50 French master painters opened Sunday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, celebrating the first time the nearby Wadsworth Atheneum has ever sent its paintings on the road.

The celebration almost didn’t happen because officials at the Hartford museum did not consider offering their exhibit to neighboring Springfield, figuring it was too close.

But officials at the Springfield museum heard about the exhibit and contacted the Hartford museum asking if they could join in the tour.

In three months, supporters and employees of the D’Amour Museum were able to raise money and put together the exhibit space to become the first to receive “Old Masters to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum,” said Heather Haskell, director of the D’Amour Museum.

The exhibit was opened with a party for museum donors and other supporters.

“It is great. It takes you across the European painters,” said Deborah Simpson, of Longmeadow, who was admiring the paintings.

Simpson said she has never been to the Wadsworth Atheneum and now wants to make the trip.

“I hope this is the tip of the iceberg of our own collaboration,” said Susan Talbott, Wadsworth Atheneum director.

Springfield has some of its own paintings by French artists, including works from the artists who are featured in the traveling collection. This will allow people to compare different paintings by the same artist, Haskell said.

The exhibit shows artists’ work stretching from the 17th century through the early 20th century. During the opening, Eric Zafran, curator of European art for the Wadsworth Atheneum and exhibit designer, explained how artists’ styles evolved over 300 years.

In the 17th century a lot of paintings followed a religious theme and many masters studied in Italy and followed those ideas of beauty and landscape.

Then in the 18th century, paintings evolved to romantic images and historical images of the French Revolution, he said.

“The shock of the French Revolution was felt in all areas,” Zafran said.

One 18th century painting by Hubert Robert was done while he was jailed. During the time, prisoners were locked in quarters where they could continue to work. His painting of poet Jean-Antoine Roucher shows him preparing for his prison transfer. Roucher was eventually executed but Robert was freed, he said.

In the 19th century French painters embraced a variety of styles, including Romanticism, pastoral and realistic landscapes, the academic style and the well-known Impressionist paintings.

One painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir shows artist Claude Monet painting a garden scene. The two artists were sharing a home in 1873 when the painting was done, Zafran said.

At the time many artists were poor and painted over original canvases. An X-ray of that painting showed that Renoir had painted over a portrait of his wife to create the garden scene, Zafran said.

The exhibit will be in Springfield through April 29. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. through 5 p.m. Sunday in the museum at 21 Edwards St.

The fee is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 to 17. Children under 12 are free.

Here is a list of major municipal meetings for the coming week: Agawam Mon.- Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library. Tues.- Agawam Cultural Council, 7 p.m., Agawam Public Library. School Committee 7 p.m., Roberta G. Doering School. Amherst Mon.- Select Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall. Tues.- Public Shade Tree Committee, 4 p.m., Town Hall. Agricultural Commission, 7...

File photo | The RepublicanHolyoke City Hall.

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

Agawam

Mon.- Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

Tues.- Agawam Cultural Council, 7 p.m., Agawam Public Library.

School Committee 7 p.m., Roberta G. Doering School.

Amherst

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

Tues.- Public Shade Tree Committee, 4 p.m., Town Hall.

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

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

Thu.- Board of Health, 7 p.m., Bangs Community Center.

Chicopee

Mon.- Finance Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall.

Easthampton

Thu.- Development and Industrial Committee, 5 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Community Preservation Act Committee, 6:30 p.m., 50 Payson Ave.

Granby

Tues.- School Council, 6 p.m., High School Media Center.

Charter Day Committee, 7 p.m., Public Safety Building.

Wed.- School Council, 3:15 p.m., West Street School.

Greenfield

Mon.- Human Rights Commission, 6 p.m., 14 Court Square.

Appointments and Ordinance Committee, 6:30 p.m., Police Station.

Four Rivers School Board of Trustees, 7 p.m., 248 Colrain Road.

Tues.- Board of Assessors, 8:30 a.m., 14 Court Square.

Franklin Conservation Commission, 10 a.m., 8 Conway St., South Deerfield.

Greenfield Redevelopment Authority, 4:30, 114 main St.

Franklin County Technical School Superintendent Search Committee, 5:30 p.m., Library Conference Room.

Greenfield Public Library Board of Trustees, 5:30 p.m., Library.

School Building Committee, 6:30, Greenfield Library.

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., 114 Main St.

Wed.- Ways and Means Committee, 6 p.m., Police Station.

Board of Health, 6:45 p.m., Town Hall.

Town Council, 7 p.m., 393 Main St.

Thu.- Council on Aging, 2 p.m., Senior Center.

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

Planning Board, 7 p.m., 321 High St.

Hadley

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

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., Senior Center.

Wed.- Long Range Planning Implementation Committee, 7 p.m., Senior Center.

Hadley Housing Authority, 7 p.m., Golden Court.

Hatfield

Mon.- Planning Board, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Tues.- School Committee, 6:30 p.m., Smith Academy.

Wed.- Board of Health, 5:30 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Capital Improvement Planning Committee, 3 p.m., Memorial Town Hall.

Thu.- School Council, 6:45 a.m., Smith Academy.

Holyoke

Mon.- Board of Health, noon, City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Subcommittee of School Committee and City Council, 5:30 p.m., Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St., Fifield Community Room.

Water Commission, 6:30 p.m., 20 Commercial St.

Board of Assessors, tax classification hearing, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, City Council Chambers.

Tues.- Fire Commission, 3:30 p.m., Fire Department headquarters, 600 High St.

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

Thu.- Council on Aging, board of directors, 10 a.m., War Memorial, 310 Appleton St.

Donahue School Improvement Council, 5:30 p.m., 210 Whiting Farms Road.

Monson

Mon.- Assessors, 4:15 p.m., Hillside School.

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

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

Thu.- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7:30 p.m., Hillside School.

Northampton

Mon.- Committee on Appointments and Evaluations, 11:15 a.m., Council Chambers.

Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs, 5 p.m., Council Chambers.

Committee on Elections, Rules, Ordinances, Orders and Claims, 6 p.m., Council Chambers.

Leeds School Council, 5:30 p.m., Leeds Elementary School.

Lilly Library Board of Trustees, 6:30 p.m., Lilly Library.

Northampton Housing Authority, 7:30 p.m., 49 Old South St.

Tues.- Central Hampshire Veterans Services, 2 p.m., City Hall.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee, 7:30 a.m., City Hall.

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

Charter Drafting Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall.

Comcast and NCTV Annual Performance Review, 7 p.m., Council Chambers.

Bridge Street School Council, 4:30 p.m., Bridge Street School.

Thu.- City Council, 7:15 p.m., Council Chambers.

Board of Health, 5 p.m., City Hall.

Palmer

Mon.- Town Council, 7 p.m., Town Building.

Tues.- Board of Health, 6 p.m., Town Building.

Wed.- School Committee, 6 p.m., Palmer High School.

South Hadley

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

Superintendent Search Screening Committee, 4 p.m., High School Library.

Council on Aging, 4 p.m. 45 Dayton St.

Fire District 1 Prudential Committee, 6:15 p.m., 144 Newton St.

Library Building Committee, 6:15 p.m., Public Library.

Planning Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall 204.

Selectboard and Fire District 2 Officers, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Tues.- Ledges Review Ad Hoc Committee, 6:30 p.m., Police Station School Committee, 6:30 p.m., High School Library.

Wed.- Smith Middle School Council, 5 p.m., Middle School Conference Room.

Superintendent Search Screening Committee, 5:30 p.m., High School Library.

Thu.- Memorial Day Planning Advisory Committee, 4 p.m., Town Hall, second floor.

Fire District Prudential Committee, 6 p.m., 144 Newton St.

Southwick

Mon.- Board of Selectmen, 6 p.m., Town Hall.

Tues.- Sewer Committee, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

Wed.- Emergency Management Agency, 7 p.m., Town Hall.

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

Warren

Mon.- Housing Authority, 7 p.m., community room.

Tues.- Board of Selectmen, 7 p.m., Shepard Municipal Building.

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

Thu.- Capital Planning Committee, 7 p.m., Shepard Municipal Building.

West Springfield

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

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

Town Council, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Tues.- Community Preservation Committee, 5 p.m., municipal building.

School Committee, 7 p.m., municipal building.

Board of Library Trustees, 6 p.m., West Springfield Public Library.

Wed.- Town Council study session regarding library project, 4 p.m., municipal building.

Public Safety Commission, 5:15 p.m., municipal building.

Westfield

Mon.- School Building Committee, 6 p.m., School Department, 22 Ashley St.

Police Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall.

Tues.- Board of Public Works, 7 p.m., City Hall.

Wed.- Board of Health, 7 p.m., City Hall.

Thu.- City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall.

The retailer stopped advertising on the show after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was "propaganda."

Associated PressIn this undated image provided by Discovery, Nawal Aoude, a pediatric respiratory therapist, left, and her husband Nader go for a walk in a scene from the TLC series, "All-American Muslim." The series features five families from Dearborn, Mich., a city near Detroit with one of the highest concentrations of Arab descendants in the country. A state senator from Southern California was considering calling for a boycott of Lowe's stores after the home improvement chain pulled its advertising from the reality show. Calling the retail giant's decision "un-American" and "naked religious bigotry," Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, that he would also consider legislative action if Lowe's doesn't apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe's Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock. (AP Photo/Discovery, Adam Rose)

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER

LOS ANGELES – A decision by retail giant Lowe's Home Improvement to pull ads from a reality show about American Muslims following protests from an evangelical Christian group has sparked criticism and calls for a boycott against the chain.

The retailer stopped advertising on TLC's "All-American Muslim" after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."

The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of five families from Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population.

A state senator from Southern California said he was considering calling for a boycott.

Calling the Lowe's decision "un-American" and "naked religious bigotry," Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would also consider legislative action if Lowe's doesn't apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe's Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock.

"The show is about what it's like to be a Muslim in America, and it touches on the discrimination they sometimes face. And that kind of discrimination is exactly what's happening here with Lowe's," Lieu said.

The Florida group sent three emails to its members, asking them to petition Lowe's to pull its advertising. Its website was updated to say that "supporters' emails to advertisers make a difference."

Suehaila Amen, whose family is featured on "All-American Muslim," said she was disappointed by the Lowe's decision.

"I'm saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their negative views on an entire community," Amen, 32, told The Detroit News on Sunday.

Lowe's issued a statement Sunday apologizing for having "managed to make some people very unhappy."

"Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lightning rod for many of those views," the statement said. "As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance."

The North Carolina-based company did not say whether it would reinstate advertising on the show.

The apology doesn't go far enough, Lieu said. The senator vowed to look into whether Lowe's violated any California laws and said he would also consider drafting a senate resolution condemning the company's actions.

"We want to raise awareness so that consumers will know during this holiday shopping season that Lowe's is engaging in religious discrimination," Lieu said.

Besides an apology and reinstatement of the ads, Lieu said he hoped Lowe's would make an outreach to the community about bias and bigotry.

Lieu's office said a decision was expected Wednesday or Thursday on whether to proceed with the boycott.

Lowe's issued another statement later Sunday, saying company officials are seeking to talk to Lieu about his concerns and clarify the company's position.

"We are aware of the senator's comments and have reached out to his office to arrange an opportunity for us to speak with him directly to hear his thoughts," the statement read.

Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group felt "extreme disappointment" at Lowe's "capitulation to bigotry."

Walid said he has heard expressions of anger and calls for a boycott by Muslims but said a key to resolving the Lowe's advertising controversy will be how non-Muslim religious leaders and others react to Lowe's decision.

"I will be picking up the phone tomorrow to some of our friends and allies to explain the situation to them," Walid said Sunday.

Associated Press Writer David N. Goodman in Detroit contributed to this story.

The president said bluntly that if voters believe in the Republican agenda of lower taxes, including for the wealthy, and weaker regulations then he will lose.

Associated PressSasha Obama, left, first lady Michelle Obama, Malia Obama, and President Barack Obama, are seen on stage at the annual Christmas in Washington taping at the National Building Museum in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By JIM KUHNHENN

WASHINGTON – In making the case for his re-election, President Barack Obama is arguing that it doesn't matter who the Republicans nominate to run against him because the core philosophy of the GOP candidates is the same and will stand in sharp relief with his own.

The president laid out an argument for a second term in a wide ranging interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, bluntly saying that if voters believe in the Republican agenda of lower taxes, including for the wealthy, and weaker regulations then he will lose.

"I don't think that's where the American people are going to go," he added, "because I don't think the American people believe that based on what they've seen before, that's going to work."

For some time, Democrats and Obama allies have been anticipating that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will ultimately win the Republican nomination. But with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich atop many polls now, Democrats have begun to train their fire on him.

Obama argued that the two Republicans represent the same fundamental set of beliefs.

"The contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and what ... where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark," he said. "And the American people are going to have a good choice and it's going to be a good debate."

He rejected questioner Steve Kroft's suggestion that the public was judging him on his performance as president. "I'm being judged against the ideal," he said. "Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, 'Don't judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.'"

Obama predicted the fight to the Republican nomination won't be resolved quickly. "I think that they will be going at it for a while," he said.

He described both of the top GOP candidates, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, as political fixtures.

Of Gingrich he said: "He's somebody who's been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates."

"But Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who's ... who's good at politics, as well," he said. "He's had a lot of practice at it."

Obama is counting on voters giving him credit for avoiding a second Great Depression, bailing out the auto industry and passing a signature health care law even while acknowledging that the public is hardly satisfied with the direction of the country.

He also listed such achievements as ending the Pentagon's policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for gay service members and the elimination of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaida leaders.

"But when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do," he conceded.

He rejected Republican criticism that his economic policies amount to class warfare, saying he is simply trying to restore an "American deal" that focuses on building a strong middle class.

In a major speech in Osawatomie, Kan., this week, Obama argued that even before the recent recession hit, Americans at the top of the income scale grew wealthier while others struggled and racked up debt. He also has called for spending on jobs initiatives and for an extension of a payroll tax cut that would be paid for by increasing taxes on taxpayers who make $1 million or more.

"There are going to be people who say, 'This is the socialist Obama and he's come out of the closet,'" Obama said.

But he added: "The problem is that our politics has gotten to the point, where we can't have an honest conversation about the greatest income inequality since the 1920s. And we can't have an honest conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying that somehow we're being divisive."