Quantcast
Channel: News
Viewing all 62489 articles
Browse latest View live

Rev. Talbert Swan renews call for independent investigation into shooting death of Tahiem Goffe

0
0

Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastrioanni said he met with Swan on Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD - The Rev. Talbert W. Swan, Springfield branch president of the NAACP, Thursday renewed his request for an independent investigation of the shooting death of 18-year-old Tahiem Goffe.

The teenager died of injuries inflicted by a gunshot wound in the wake of a Nov. 6 confrontation with police, who said Goffe was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle when he attempted to run down an officer.

In a statement released on Thursday, Swan said, “The Springfield Branch NAACP is requesting an independent investigation into all police-involved shootings resulting in serious injury or death in order to ensure that proper police procedures were employed and that the investigation will not be compromised.”

Goffe was shot by Springfield police early on the morning of Nov. 6, after authorities said he drove at Police Officer Matthew Benoit, who was on foot, striking Benoit and sending him airborne over the front corner of the vehicle and onto the pavement.

“The officer was able to fire a round at the oncoming car to possibly save his life,” Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastrioanni said he met with Swan on Thursday following his request for an independent investigation of the shooting.

Mastrioanni said the Internal Investigations Unit of the Springfield Police Department is doing a separate investigation of the shooting with the assistance of the state police ballistics team in addition to the regular investigation done by the Detective Bureau.

“These are two parallel investigations,” he said.

He said his office may conduct a further investigation and will make all findings public.

“I will review Rev. Swan’s request for an independent investigation, and will respond,” Mastroianni said.

Mastroianni added, “I think we have a fair investigatory review process in place, but I am not closing the door to his request.”

In a letter to Mastroianni, Swan said, “While the Springfield Branch NAACP is hopeful that the District Attorney’s office, under the leadership of District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, will be more diligent in its effort to insure the integrity of investigations into police conduct than previous administrations, we cannot overlook the historical fact that the office has not been, and, in the nature of things, could not be, an effective instrument for insuring such transparency.”

Swan said that in the Tahiem Goffe case, the D.A.’s office “must consider potential testimony from the only two eyewitnesses to the police shooting of Mr. Goffe while at the same time, prosecuting the very same witnesses, who have pending charges against them.”




Springfield offers free admission to special exhibit to anyone with French passport

0
0

The exhibit – “Old Masters to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum” – runs through April.

Old Masters to MonetView full sizeThis self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh is among the paintings on display at the "Old Masters to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum," exhibit which runs now through April 29 at the Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts at the Springfield Museums.

SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Museums is offering free admission to its special exhibition of French painting to anyone with a current French passport.

The exhibit – “Old Masters to Monet: Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum” – runs through April 29 at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts at the Springfield Museums.

The free admission includes general museum admission plus the special exhibition fee to see the French show, and will apply to the passport holder and one guest, French or not.

The exhibit features 50 works of art that trace the history of French painting from the 17th through the early 20th centuries.

The D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts is on the Quadrangle at 21 Edwards St. Free onsite parking is available. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

General admission is $12.50 for adults, $9 for seniors and college students, $6.50 for children 3 to 17, and free for children under 3 and museum members. Springfield residents are free with proof of address.

There is a special exhibition fee of $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 to 17 in addition to museum admission to view the special exhibit. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by a paying adult.

Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren calls for full LGBT equality

0
0

Ending the Defense of Marriage Act was just one point the democratic senate candidate touched on as she denounced bullying and general discrimination against lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

120111 elizabeth warren.JPGDemocratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren chats with an attendee of the the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association luncheon in Boston Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren came out swinging for LGBT people on Thursday, calling for the end of a "two-tiered system" of citizenship validated by the Defense of Marriage Act.

"As other states grapple with whether to support marriage equality, I’m ready to move to the next step: end the two-tiered system created by the Defense of Marriage Act," Warren wrote on the progressive blog Blue Mass Group. "Our federal government should not be in the business of selecting which married couples it supports and which it treats with contempt."

Ending the Defense of Marriage Act was just one point the democratic senate candidate touched on as she denounced bullying and general discrimination against lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Warren said she is proud that Massachusetts was one of the first states to promote and protect LGBT people by allowing same-sex marriage and the recent passage of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill.

"No one – no one – should be discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or religion," Warren wrote. "In the workplace, people should be hired for what they can do and evaluated on their performance – period. I strongly support the fully inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act."

The Harvard professor further praised the efforts to combat bullying in Massachusetts, saying that all children should feel safe and secure in school so they have the opportunity to succeed.

Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who Warren will face off with in November if she wins the Democratic Primary, was one of the few Republicans who voted to repeal the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy they prohibited lesbians and gay people from openly serving in the military.

For his vote, he was honored by the Log Cabin Republicans, a group which supports equality for lesbians and gay people, in September.

And although Brown has been opposed to same-sex marriage, including a 2004 vote in the State Senate for a constitutional amendment banning it, he has said it is a "settled issue" in Massachusetts.

Government shutdown averted

0
0

The agreement was reached just 28 hours before a deadline that would have led to a government shutdown.

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON – Congressional negotiators signed off Thursday evening on a $1 trillion spending agreement for federal agencies, just 28 hours before a deadline that would have led to a government shutdown.

After dropping policy prescriptions restricting travel to Cuba and a minor provision related to oversight of financial trades, members of the House and Senate appropriations committees gave final approval to the plan after a four-day standoff that was linked to a separate issue: President Barack Obama’s demands to extend the payroll tax holiday for 160 million workers.

That negotiation, lawmakers and aides said, also could be headed toward an agreement, with lawmakers thinking about extending the tax break for two months to buy more time to determine how to fund it without increasing the federal deficit.

There was a broad shift in tone Thursday on Capitol Hill as leaders on both sides stopped saying the other would be to blame for a potential shutdown and began sending signs of progress.

Talks on the payroll tax began after Democrats dropped their demand that the cut be paid for with a new surtax on those who earn more than $1 million a year.

“Yeah, that’s gone,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., confirmed Thursday evening.

But it was not clear whether Republicans would drop a series of provisions added in the House intended to lure votes from conservatives who believe the tax holiday is bad economic policy.

The House “riders” included an effort to speed approval of the construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, reforms to unemployment insurance, higher Medicare premiums for upper-income seniors and a year-long extension of a two-year pay freeze for federal workers.

The package also would extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and avert a scheduled cut in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors.

Baucus, who is negotiating the tax and unemployment package for Democrats, said one consideration was to link the eligibility period of unemployment benefits to the level of joblessness in each state. That would mean that laid-off workers in Nevada – which has a 13.4 percent unemployment rate, the nation’s highest – would be eligible to receive benefits for a longer period than those in North Dakota, the state with the lowest unemployment rate.

A senior Democratic aide said talks over how to pay for the extended tax cut for the full year were ongoing, but an agreement had been secured to at least continue the tax break for two months, at a cost of $40 billion. Among the ideas being considered to pay for the cut, the aide said, were raising fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collect from lenders, selling wireless spectrum controlled by the government and ending a tax break on the sale of corporate jets.

“There’s momentum building toward a comprehensive agreement, but still there are a lot of pieces to put together,” Baucus said.

To ensure the government remains funded, the White House and Democratic leaders signaled earlier Thursday that they would release their members to move ahead with the $1 trillion spending bill that the Appropriations Committee negotiated, paving the way for final votes on the measure in the House and the Senate.

A vote could occur as early as Friday, with Congress approving a temporary stopgap measure to provide time to complete their work when the legislation that is keeping the lights on ends at midnight.

Democratic leaders had blocked the bill from moving ahead after the White House said it wanted Congress to agree to extend the tax cut first and expressed lingering concerns about some of its provisions.

They included a provision barring the District of Columbia from spending local tax money on abortion, another blocking the implementation of new standards for energy-efficient light bulbs and a third reversing an Obama administration decision to loosen rules for Americans who want to visit family members in Cuba.

The goal of linking the payroll tax issue to the spending bill was to ensure Republicans in the House could not pass the funding measure and then leave for the holidays, forcing Senate Democrats to accept a Republican proposal to extend the tax cut or let it expire.

At the White House on Thursday, Obama reiterated that the move would be unacceptable to him.

“Congress cannot and should not go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren’t seeing their taxes go up by $1,000 and those who are out there looking for work don’t see their unemployment insurance expire,” he said.

The hardball tactic of linking tax holiday negotiations as well as jobless benefits to the completion of the must-pass spending bill aggravated some Democrats who had worked with Republicans for months to hammer out the appropriations deal.

Rep. James Moran, D-Va., who sits on the key committee, said some Democrats had told the White House that “they should not be using federal employees as pawns in a larger issue.”

“I don’t blame them for trying to use every means available to them,” he said. “But I just don’t think that it’s right.”

The funding bill sets government spending for the year at $1.043 trillion, a level agreed to in the August deal that also raised the nation’s legal borrowing limit. The figure represents a 1.5 percent drop in spending from the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

That doesn’t count $115 billion for overseas military operations, a $43 billion dip since this past year as the war in Iraq winds down. It also doesn’t count $8.1 billion in emergency disaster-relief spending.

The measure outlines spending for three-fourths of the government — all but the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, State and Transportation, as well as NASA and some smaller agencies — which were settled in a November deal.

But it addresses funding for a wide swath of government programs, including Pell grants, border security and federal funding for the District of Columbia, and is designed to settle spending issues until nearly the next election, sparing the government the possibility of another shutdown. As Congress works to lower the federal deficit and reduce government spending, most domestic programs will see cuts.

The measure omits funding for the Internal Revenue Service to prepare for the 2014 implementation of the federal health-care law. But it increases funding for border agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It includes $8.4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a $233 million drop from last year. And provides $550 million for Obama’s signature Race to the Top education program, which incentivizes school reform, a cut of more than 20 percent.

But the Indian Health Service would see funding rise to $237 million. And funding would increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.



Rebuild Springfield committee hears from public on plan to restore South End following June 1 tornado

0
0

The state released $14 million in aid to communities affected by the tornado, including $8.7 for Springfield.

brownmeet2.jpegLarissa Brown, center, speaks before an audience at a Rebuild Springfield community meeting in the South End Middle School.


SPRINGFIELD
– If you rebuild it — and rebuild it right — people will come to the South End and downtown Springfield, a consultant with a firm hired by the city to coordinate the tornado recovery efforts told those in attendance Thursday night at a neighborhood meeting.

Larissa Brown of the Boston urban design firm Clancy Brown presented a sweeping proposal for rehabilitating neighborhoods in and around the Main Street corridor.

The proposal proposed a coordinated approach to repair damaged properties, enhance public and retail space, and restore, incorporating the riverfront as recreational and scenic area, and refurbish many existing buildings for market-rate housing to attract new people to live in the area.

“The purpose of the project is not just to rebuild but to rebuild better,” she said.

The meeting at the South End Middle School on Margaret Street was one of a series of community meetings organized by Rebuild Springfield, a 15-member committed created in July.

The South End and Downtown are District 1. The other areas are District 2, made up of Maple High and Six Corners, Forest Park, Old Hill and Upper Hill, an District 3 which includes East Forest Park and Sixteen Acres.

There were about 50 people at the meeting.

Brown said the trend in urban areas across the country has people moving back to the cities. These, she said, include a mix of younger people just out of college, “urban pioneers,” and older couples moving back from the suburbs once their children move out.

With a coordinated effort to create suitable apartment space in the upper floors of buildings along Main Street, and rehabilitating many of the one-, two- and three-family housing throughout the South End, people will move downtown and retail business will follow, she said.

A member of the audience, Joseph Rueli, argued that the overall plan was lacking improved public safety for the area.

“No one is going to come downtown. The people have a perception that it isn’t safe,” said Rueli, who grew up in the South End and whose mother still lives there. “This should be a fundamental part in this (plan) and I don’t see it.

Jerry Hayes, chairman of the Rebuild Springfield committee, agreed public safety should be a critical part of it “and we should be encouraging not only the police department but also the mayor.”

David Ciampi, a Forest Park resident, said he felt the proposal was good on the whole, but he felt it should focus on dual tracks of both attracting residential and commerce.

“They need to get a lot of people to step up to the plate,” he said.

The 15-member Rebuild Springfield, a 15-member advisory committee, was formed in July.

It hired Concordia LLC, a New Orleans-based firm, in September to develop a tornado-recovery plan. They helped coordinate disaster-relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and in Haiti and Japan.

Since October, the group has been staging neighborhood meetings to hear from residents in areas affected by the tornado how they would like to see the city rebuild.

People are also welcome to post comments on group’s website, RebuildSpringfield.com

A citywide meeting is planned for Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Anthony Social Center, 375 Island Pond Road.

The final presentation of the committee is Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m., also at St. Anthony Social Center.

On Thursday, state officials announced the release of $14 million in state relief funds to Springfield and several surrounding communities to assist with tornado rebuilding efforts. Springfield is due to receive $8.7 million, Monson $1.8 million and Wilbraham $1.7 million.

The bulk of the funds, $10.1 million, was part of a supplemental state budget that was approved in October by the state Legislature and Gov. Deval L. Patrick, serving as reimbursement for costs borne by the communities affected by the tornado.

An additional $3.9 million in grant funds was provided Thursday from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which will help reimburse eight communities for emergency road repairs, new sidewalks and debris removal, said Richard A. Davey, MassDOT secretary. The state will seek federal reimbursement of that grant money from the Federal Highway Administration.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said that FEMA is in the process of providing 75 percent reimbursement of eligible tornado recovery costs borne by the city, and now the state is starting to cover much of the 25 percent gap.

“That’s extremely important,” Sarno said during a press conference at City Hall, joined by several state legislators and city officials.

Patrick, in a prepared statement, said he was pleased the state was able “to expedite these funds to help individuals, families and businesses rebuild better and stronger than before.”

The $10.1 million in supplemental funds will help reimburse the communities for debris removal, leasing of temporary school space for displaced students, emergency response activities and for repair and replacement of public infrastructure.

State Sen. James Welch, D-Springfield, and state Reps. Angelo J. Puppolo Jr., D-Springfield; Michael J. Finn, D-West Springfield; and Brian M. Ashe; D-Longmeadow, joined in praising the local, state and federal collaboration in the aftermath of the June 1 tornado.

“It’s very heartening to see us all pull together,” Welch said.

The $3.9 million in MassDOT funds included: Springfield, $1,363,400; Wilbraham, $956,000; Monson, $519,000; Brimfield, $449,000; West Springfield, $200,000, and Westfield, $70,000. Sturbridge and Southbridge also received funding.

The supplemental budget included $7.3 million for Springfield and $1.2 million for Monson, along with funds for the other affected communities.

Republican reporters Peter Goonan and Dan Ring contributed to this story.

Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette's unity breakfast sparsely attended

0
0

Few people attended the meeting aimed at discussing an end to political infighting in Chicopee.

102411 michael bissonnette.JPGChicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette.

CHICOPEE – The first attempt to end frequent and sometimes nasty political infighting fell mostly on deaf ears with few people attending Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette’s unity breakfast Thursday.

Bissonnette called for the open breakfast meeting to try to bring together members of the School Committee and the City Council, state representatives and other elected officials to talk about how to build a better working relationship.

But only four of the 13 city councilors, two of the 11 School Committee members, two assessors and the tax collector attended. The nine who attended are those who rarely spar with the mayor or fellow board members.

“I’m not going to mince words, 2011 was a very difficult year,” Bissonnette said. “How did we get in this situation where the political climate has become so poisonous?”

Bissonnette talked about a few of the issues that have sparked the division between he and the council, mentioning the council’s June vote to cut his staff to save $100,000 in a $150 million budget.

He admitted he is to blame for some of the infighting and said some of the arguments have come from the election petition his campaign committee circulated which later showed to have signatures from people who testified they had never signed. The petition, which would have placed a question on the November ballot asking voters to extend the mayor’s term to four years, was rejected by the Board of Registrars of Voters.

Previously the mayor and City Council passed petitions asking legislators to put the questions on the ballot to extend both terms. When the mayor refused to sign the City Council petition, the City Council blocked the mayor’s petition.

“By not letting the four-year term for the council, I think it set some councilors on edge and created an opposition party and it was unnecessary,” Bissonnette said.

Bissonnette said he is not always right but said he is not always wrong either.

Bissonnette said he also spent two hours speaking with State Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee. Wagner confirmed the meeting but neither gave details of the discussion.

Most city officials said work made it impossible to attend the morning meeting.

Councilor Dino A. Brunetti said he already took off time from work the previous week to attend a funeral and could not take off more time.

School Committee member Adam D. Lamontagne, who has argued with Bissonnette often, said he had a final college exam Thursday morning.

“I think it is better to meet with people one-on-one,” he said. “I would be willing to meet with him. The dirty politics need to end.”

Council Vice President Robert J. Zygarowski, who did attend, asked Bissonnette is he would consider holding others in the evening in the future.

Bissonnette said he would, adding the Thursday meeting was just a start.

Toy for Joy donation honors the late Alphonse Lussier who once wore a Santa suit in July

0
0

Toy for Joy donations tally to $36,727

toycoup11.JPGView full size

SPRINGFIELD – Recent Toy for Joy donations include $100 in memory of a man who loved Christmas so much that he once donned a Santa suit in July.

That man was the late Alphonse Lussier, a Chicopee native and founder of General Saw and Lawnmower.

“How many guys dress up like Santa Claus in July?” asked Lussier’s son, Paul Lussier.

The younger Lussier still has picture of his father dressed as Santa that was published in the Springfield newspapers in 1951, about one year after he started up the family business on Dwight Street.

For whatever reason, the elder Lussier had opted to dress as Santa Claus while he was at work on that day. “He loved kids,” said Paul Lussier, when asked why his father was such a big fan of Christmas.

The elder Lussier, the man who would be Santa, died nearly 20 years ago and General Saw and Lawnmower is now on St. James Avenue.

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.

The most recent batch of contributes also includes $500 from Con-Test Analytical Lab in East Longmeadow, which is among the area businesses that have been loyal supporters of the campaign for years.

Also, $25 was given in celebration of the life of David Woodman. Woodman was the 22-year-old Southwick man whose heart stopped as Boston police took him into custody in 2008 during a celebration of the Boston Celtics’ NBA Championship; his family established a charitable foundation in his name.

Donations to Toy for Joy currently stand at $36,727, leaving $113,273 to be raised.

Hasbro 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.

By teaming 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 have been among the volunteers who have aided the Salvation Army with the registration of families and unloading and distribution of toys.

For more information, call (413) 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:
Thanks to all the servicemen and women who keep us free, Lucy and Dwight Shepard$25
In memory of Thomas and Jean Keeley, $25
From Taffy, TJ, Miss T and Toby, $50
In memory of Edie G, Margaret M and Joe R, $50
In memory of Paul. Love, Mom and Dad, $20
Anonymous, $50
Renee, $25
Don and Marcia, $50
Bonnie, $25
Michele, $25
From Dr. Frank Croke, nurse practitioner Elaine Skawski, Barbara, Melissa, Raquel, Janitsa and Leah, $300
Merry Christmas from Ted and Louise, $25
Chancha, Scot, Andrew, Sean, Kayla, Josh, Nick, Lizzy, Ashley, Jon, Eric, John, Maria, Kristie. Love, Pops and Grammy, $20
Merry Christmas Erin Finnola, Jake and Samantha, $40
From Hadliegh, Cooper, Bobby and May A, $50
Celebrating the life of David Woodman, $25
In loving memory of Garnett and Edith Stevens. Love, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and great grandchildren, $10
In memory of Wilma, $50
Happy holidays. Love, Emme, Nora and Jenny, $20
From Missy and Pebbles, in memory of Buster, Oreo and Shaina, $25
In loving memory of Catherine and John Leahy who loved Christmas from your family, $50
In memory of Brownie-Gilbert and Nat, $25
In lieu of sending Christmas cards from Helen Fournier, $50
Anonymous, $50
In memory of Francis, Josephine and Ronald Stolpinsk, i$10
In our favorite memory of Ralph, Doris, Theresa and Dean, $25
John, $100
In memory of my best friend Alice Oliverio. Miss you every day, $10
From Greta, $25
In memory of Carly, $10
In loving memory of Beverly Baldyga. Miss you and love ya, Diane$20
Memory of loved ones, $25
Merry Christmas from Ruder, Zuder and gang, $25
In memory of Raymond L. Dupre, deeply missed by his family, $20
From Jim, Kate, Marykate, Jamie and Libby Fleming, $200
Barbara, our little angel. Merry Christmas. Love, Mom and Dad, Roy and Steve, $20
In memory of Vi Robert and Ceil Krupa, $40
In memory of my mother Niobe Diamond. $25
In loving memory of Sophia and George Caroz, i$100
In memory of Victor and Laura Bleau, $100
Anonymous,$150
Love and peace, Norma and Bernie, $200
In memory of Charles$5
In loving memory of Skip Foresti, Lorraine, Rebecca and Lisa$25
In memory of my husband Leonard from Shirley and family$20
To share with others during this season of giving$50
Merry Christmas EK$20
For the children, Carl and Judy$100
In memory of a loving grandmother, James and Katie$25
In loving memory of George W. from wife and family$20
In memory of Mary E. Stephens, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother$20
In loving memory of Edward A. Pratt$100
In loving memory of grandparents Josephine Lesniak and Stanley and Dorothy Gruszcynski from Tina$15
In memory of Papa Smitty from grandchildren Ethan and Lilah$15
Happy holidays, Grady, Owen, John, Isabella and Emily$30
In memory of Thomas Dubour, love Judy, children and grandchildren$50
Mark$100
Erwin and Rita$25
In loving memory of Dad, Mom, Brenda, RJ and Jack. Love, John and Donna$25
In memory of Cosimo and Jennie Baggetta and George, Jane and Donna Carpenter. Love, Albert and Beverly$50
In memory of beloved family members, PLP$50
MIn memory of my mother and father, Francis and Marcella Moran, from Jim and Maureen Moran, $100
In loving memory of my husband Delt, Betty Ann Learned, $25
In loving memory of my husband Randolph Robinson and son-in-law Sonny Tetreault, $25
Peace on earth, good will toward men, $50
Patricia and David, $60
Accu Finish Orthodontic Lab, $25
In loving memory of our Dad, Alphonse (Santa Claus) Lussier. Love, Paul and Lorraine$, 100
Happy holidays to children from Con-Test employees, $500

RECEIVED $3,795
TOTAL TO DATE $36,727
STILL NEEDED $113,273

Western Massachusetts energy prices, at a glance

0
0

Here are the average energy prices in the Pioneer Valley for the week ending today.

energy prices 1216.JPGView full size

Phil Spector to take appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

0
0

The famed record producer is serving 19 years to life in prison for murder.

phil-spector-head.jpgPhil Spector, as seen during his trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for imprisoned music legend Phil Spector is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his murder conviction, arguing his constitutional rights were violated by the trial judge.

Attorney Dennis Riordan contends that Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler became a witness for the prosecution by offering his opinion on an expert's testimony.

The filing was expected to reach the court Friday. It cites the prosecution's use of the judge's videotaped comments and his picture during prosecution summations.

The same arguments were made to state appellate justices, who refused to consider them because of a belated filing. They upheld Spector's second-degree murder conviction in the death of actress Lana Clarkson.

The California Supreme Court declined to review the case.

Spector is serving 19 years to life in prison.

AP-GfK Poll: More than half say Barack Obama should lose 2012 election

0
0

Obama's overall poll numbers suggest he could be in jeopardy of losing even as the public's outlook on the economy appears to be improving.

Barack Obama, Joe BidenIn this March 23, 2010, file photo President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react to cheers as they arrive in the East Room of the White House in Washington for the health care bill. A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign than the president himself.

JENNIFER AGIESTA and KEN THOMAS | Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Entering 2012, President Barack Obama's re-election prospects are essentially a 50-50 proposition, with a majority saying the president deserves to be voted out of office despite concerns about the Republican alternatives, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Obama's overall poll numbers suggest he could be in jeopardy of losing even as the public's outlook on the economy appears to be improving, the AP-GfK poll found. For the first time since spring, more said the economy got better in the past month than said it got worse. The president's approval rating on unemployment shifted upward — from 40 percent in October to 45 percent in the latest poll — as the jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level since March 2009.

But Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy overall remains stagnant: 39 percent approve and 60 percent disapprove.

Heading into his re-election campaign, the president faces a conflicted public that does not support his steering of the economy, the most dominant issue for Americans, or his reforms to health care, one of his signature accomplishments, yet are grappling with whether to replace him with Republican contenders Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.

The poll found an even divide on whether Americans expect Obama to be re-elected next year.

For the first time, the poll found that a majority of adults, 52 percent, said Obama should be voted out of office while 43 percent said he deserves another term. The numbers mark a reversal since last May, when 53 percent said Obama should be re-elected while 43 percent said he didn't deserve four more years.

Obama's overall job approval stands at a new low: 44 percent approve while 54 percent disapprove. The president's standing among independents is worse: 38 percent approve while 59 percent disapprove. Among Democrats, the president holds steady with an approval rating of 78 percent while only 12 percent of Republicans approve of the job he's doing.

"I think he's doing the best he can. The problem is the Congress won't help at all," said Rosario Navarro, a Democrat and a 44-year-old truck driver from Fresno, Calif., who voted for Obama in 2008 and intends to support him again.

Robin Dein, a 54-year-old homemaker from Villanova, Pa., who is an independent, said she supported Republican John McCain in 2008 and has not been impressed with Obama's economic policies. She intends to support Romney if he wins the GOP nomination.

"(Obama) spent the first part of his presidency blaming Bush for everything, not that he was innocent, and now his way of solving anything is by spending more money," she said.

Despite the soft level of support, many are uncertain whether a Republican president would be a better choice. Asked whom they would support next November, 47 percent of adults favored Obama compared with 46 percent for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Against Gingrich, the president holds a solid advantage, receiving 51 percent compared with 42 percent for the former House speaker.

The potential matchups paint a better picture for the president among independents. Obama receives 45 percent of non-aligned adults compared with 41 percent for Romney. Against Gingrich, Obama holds a wide lead among independents, with 54 percent supporting the president and 31 percent backing the former Georgia congressman.

Another piece of good news for Obama: people generally like him personally. Obama's personal favorability rating held steady at 53 percent, with 46 percent viewing him unfavorably. About three-quarters called him likable.

The economy remains a source of pessimism, though the poll suggests the first positive movement in public opinion on the economy in months. One in five said the economy improved in the last month, double the share saying so in October. Still most expect it to stay the same or get worse.

"I suppose you could make some sort of argument that it's getting better, but I'm not sure I even see that," said independent voter John Bailey, a 61-year-old education consultant from East Jordan, Mich. "I think it's bad and it's gotten worse under (Obama's) policies. At best, it's going to stay bad."

Despite the high rate of joblessness, the poll found some optimism on the economy. Although 80 percent described the economy as "poor," respondents describing it "very poor" fell from 43 percent in October to 34 percent in the latest poll, the lowest since May. Twenty percent said the economy got better in the past month while 37 percent said they expected the economy to improve next year.

Yet plenty of warning signs remain for Obama. Only 26 percent said the United States is headed in the right direction while 70 percent said the country was moving in the wrong direction.

The president won a substantial number of women voters in 2008 yet there does not appear to be a significant tilt toward Obama among women now. The poll found 44 percent of women say Obama deserves a second term, down from 51 percent in October, while 43 percent of men say the president should be re-elected.

About two-thirds of white voters without college degrees say Obama should be a one-term president, while 33 percent of those voters say he should get another four years. Among white voters with a college degree, 57 percent said Obama should be voted out of office.

The poll found unpopularity for last year's health care reform bill, one of Obama's major accomplishments. About half of the respondents oppose the health care law and support for it dipped to 29 percent from 36 percent in June. Just 15 percent said the federal government should have the power to require all Americans to buy health insurance.

Even among Democrats, the health care law has tepid support. Fifty percent of Democrats supported the health care law, compared with 59 percent of Democrats last June. Only about a quarter of independents back the law.

The president has taken a more populist tone in his handling of the economy, arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes to help pay for the extension of a payroll tax cut that would provide about $1,000 in tax cuts to a family earning about $50,000 a year. Among those with annual household incomes of $50,000 or less, Obama's approval rating on unemployment climbed to 53 percent, from 43 percent in October.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted December 8-12 2011 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

Christopher Hitchens, militant pundit, dies at 62

0
0

Christopher Hitchens waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right.

christopher hitchensEssayist Christopher Hitchens speaks during a debate on Iraq and the foreign policies of the United States and Britain, in this Sept. 14, 2005 file photo taken in New York.

Cancer weakened, but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. He did not repent or forgive or ask for pity. As if granted diplomatic immunity, his mind's eye looked plainly upon the attack and counterattack of disease and treatments that robbed him of his hair, his stamina, his speaking voice and eventually his life.

"I love the imagery of struggle," he wrote about his illness in an August 2010 essay in Vanity Fair. "I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient."

Hitchens, a Washington, D.C.-based author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right, died Thursday night at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer, according to a statement from Vanity Fair magazine. He was 62.

"There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar," said Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. "Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

He had enjoyed his drink (enough to "to kill or stun the average mule") and cigarettes, until he announced in June 2010 that he was being treated for cancer of the esophagus.

He was a most engaged, prolific and public intellectual who wrote numerous books, was a frequent television commentator and a contributor to Vanity Fair, Slate and other publications. He became a popular author in 2007 thanks to "God is Not Great," a manifesto for atheists.

"Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious," said Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "I worked as an intern for him years ago. My job was to fact check his articles. Since he had a photographic memory and an encyclopedic mind it was the easiest job I've ever done."

Long after his diagnosis, his columns and essays appeared regularly, savaging the royal family, reveling in the death of Osama bin Laden, or pondering the letters of poet Philip Larkin. He was intolerant of nonsense, including about his own health. In a piece which appeared in the January 2012 issue of Vanity Fair, he dismissed the old saying that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

"So far, I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me, and to stay combative even while taking the measure of my inevitable decline. I repeat, this is no more than what a healthy person has to do in slower motion," he wrote. "It is our common fate. In either case, though, one can dispense with facile maxims that don't live up to their apparent billing."

Eloquent and intemperate, bawdy and urbane, Hitchens was an acknowledged contrarian and contradiction — half-Christian, half-Jewish and fully non-believing; a native of England who settled in America; a former Trotskyite who backed the Iraq war and supported George W. Bush. But his passions remained constant and targets of his youth, from Henry Kissinger to Mother Teresa, remained hated.

He was a militant humanist who believed in pluralism and racial justice and freedom of speech, big cities and fine art and the willingness to stand the consequences. He was smacked in the rear by then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and beaten up in Beirut. He once submitted to waterboarding to prove that it was indeed torture.

Hitchens was a committed sensualist who abstained from clean living as if it were just another kind of church. In 2005, he would recall a trip to Aspen, Colo., and a brief encounter after stepping off a ski lift.

"I was met by immaculate specimens of young American womanhood, holding silver trays and flashing perfect dentition," he wrote. "What would I like? I thought a gin and tonic would meet the case. 'Sir, that would be inappropriate.' In what respect? 'At this altitude gin would be very much more toxic than at ground level.' In that case, I said, make it a double."

An emphatic ally and inspired foe, he stood by friends in trouble ("Satanic Verses" novelist Salman Rushdie) and against enemies in power (Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini). His heroes included George Orwell, Thomas Paine and Gore Vidal (pre-Sept. 11). Among those on the Hitchens list of shame: Michael Moore, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Sarah Palin, Gore Vidal (post Sept. 11) and Prince Charles.

"We have known for a long time that Prince Charles' empty sails are so rigged as to be swelled by any passing waft or breeze of crankiness and cant," Hitchens wrote in Slate in 2010 after the heir to the British throne gave a speech criticizing Galileo for the scientist's focus on "the material aspect of reality."

"He fell for the fake anthropologist Laurens van der Post. He was bowled over by the charms of homeopathic medicine. He has been believably reported as saying that plants do better if you talk to them in a soothing and encouraging way. But this latest departure promotes him from an advocate of harmless nonsense to positively sinister nonsense."

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1949. His father, Eric, was a "purse-lipped" Navy veteran known as "The Commander"; his mother, Yvonne, a romantic who later killed herself during an extra-marital rendezvous in Greece. Young Christopher would have rather read a book. He was "a mere weed and weakling and kick-bag" who discovered that "words could function as weapons" and so stockpiled them.

In college, Oxford, he made such longtime friends as authors Martin Amis and Ian McEwan and claimed to be nearby when visiting Rhodes scholar Bill Clinton did or did not inhale marijuana. Radicalized by the 1960s, Hitchens was often arrested at political rallies, was kicked out of Britain's Labour Party over his opposition to the Vietnam War and became a correspondent for the radical magazine International Socialiam. His reputation broadened in the 1970s through his writings for the New Statesman.

Wavy-haired and brooding and aflame with wit and righteous anger, he was a star of the left on paper and on camera, a popular television guest and a columnist for one of the world's oldest liberal publications, The Nation. In friendlier times, Vidal was quoted as citing Hitchens as a worthy heir to his satirical throne.

But Hitchens never could simply nod his head. He feuded with fellow Nation columnist Alexander Cockburn, broke with Vidal and angered freedom of choice supporters by stating that the child's life begins at conception. An essay for Vanity Fair was titled "Why Women Aren't Funny," and Hitchens wasn't kidding.

He had long been unhappy with the left's reluctance to confront enemies or friends. He would note his strong disappointment that Arthur Miller and other leading liberals shied from making public appearances on behalf of Rushdie after the Ayatollah Khomeini called for his death. He advocated intervention in Bosnia and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Rushdie posted on his Twitter page early Friday: "Goodbye, my beloved friend. A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops."

No Democrat angered him more than Clinton, whose presidency led to the bitter end of Hitchens' friendship with White House aide Sidney Blumenthal and other Clinton backers. As Hitchens wrote in his memoir, he found Clinton "hateful in his behavior to women, pathological as a liar, and deeply suspect when it came to money in politics."

He wrote the anti-Clinton book, "No One Left to Lie To," at a time when most liberals were supporting the president as he faced impeachment over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Hitchens also loathed Hillary Rodham Clinton and switched his affiliation from independent to Democrat in 2008 just so he could vote against her in the presidential primary.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, completed his exit. He fought with Vidal, Noam Chomsky and others who either suggested that U.S. foreign policy had helped caused the tragedy or that the Bush administration had advanced knowledge. He supported the Iraq war, quit The Nation, backed Bush for re-election in 2004 and repeatedly chastised those whom he believed worried unduly about the feelings of Muslims.

"It's not enough that faith claims to be the solution to all problems," he wrote in Slate in 2009 after a Danish newspaper apologized for publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that led Muslim organizations to threaten legal action. "It is now demanded that such a preposterous claim be made immune from any inquiry, any critique, and any ridicule."

His essays were compiled in such books as "For the Sake of Argument" and "Prepared for the Worst." He also wrote short biographies/appreciations of Paine and Thomas Jefferson, a tribute to Orwell and "Letters to a Young Contrarian (Art of Mentoring)," in which he advised that "Only an open conflict of ideas and principles can produce any clarity." A collection of essays, "Arguably," came out in September 2011 and he was planning a "book-length meditation on malady and mortality." He appeared in a 2010 documentary about the topical singer Phil Ochs.

Survived by his second wife, author Carol Blue, and by his three children (Alexander, Sophia and Antonia), Hitchens had quotable ideas about posterity, clarified years ago when he saw himself referred to as "the late" Christopher Hitchens in print. For the May 2010 issue of Vanity Fair, before his illness, Hitchens submitted answers for the Proust Questionnaire, a probing and personal survey for which the famous have revealed everything from their favorite color to their greatest fear.

His vision of earthly bliss: "To be vindicated in my own lifetime."

His ideal way to die: "Fully conscious, and either fighting or reciting (or fooling around)."

Police: Man dies at Tribe hummus plant in Taunton

0
0

Taunton police describe the incident as an "industrial accident."

tribe-hummus.jpg

TAUNTON — Taunton police say a man has died in an accident at a hummus-making plant in the city.

Lt. John Joyce says officers went to Tribe Mediterranean Foods at about 2 a.m. on Friday for reports of an "industrial accident."

A male victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

No name was released and the nature of the accident was not made public.

A call to the company before business hours was not immediately returned.

Mitt Romney wins endorsement of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley

0
0

Haley said President Barack Obama seems most afraid to face Romney.

Campaign Florida_Desk.jpgRepublican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shakes hands with supporters after speaking at a campaign stop, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 in Medley, Fla.
KASIE HUNT, Associated Press

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is endorsing Mitt Romney for president.

Haley said Friday on Fox News she is throwing all of her support behind Romney in the Republican primaries. She says jobs, the economy and spending are most important and the former Massachusetts governor is the best candidate to address those issues.

Haley also says President Barack Obama seems most afraid to face Romney.

Haley is a rising star in the GOP, and her endorsement means a lot in South Carolina, the first Southern state to hold a primary election.

Romney will appear with Haley Friday afternoon in South Carolina. Haley says they will campaign together Saturday.

Eastern States Exposition president Wayne McCary announces retirement

0
0

The Eastern States Exposition hosts The Big E, the eighth largest fair in North America.

Wayne McCary's Career at the Big EThis Sept 22, 1990 photo from The Republican archives shows G. Wayne McCary when he was named president and chief executive officer of the Eastern States Exposition.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – G. Wayne E. McCary is retiring as president of the Eastern Sates Exposition. His retirement will be effective June 26, 2012.

Eugene J. Cassidy of Longmeadow, will succeed him.

McCary, who is wrapping up his 20th year as the president of the organization, announced the move Friday with a news conference at the Exposition Grounds in West Springfield.

He previously served as Executive Vice President (1989-1991), Senior Vice President (1986-1989) and was initially hired as Executive Assistant in 1973.

Cassidy was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Big E back in March. Cassidy has served as the Big E’s director of finance since 1993.A graduate of West Springfield High School, Cassidy is a native of the community. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Western New England College.

Gallery preview

Cassidy’s career started at KPMG Peat Marwick in Springfield. He has also been treasurer of Chicopee Cooperative Bank and Colonial Mortgage Co., as well as assistant vice president of Park West Bank and Trust Co., all once wholly owned subsidiaries of Westbank Corp. Cassidy is on the finance committee of the Springfield Technical Community College Foundation and is treasurer of the Western Massachusetts Legatus Society. He is a member of the budget and finance committee of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions.

The Eastern States Exposition hosts The Big E, the eighth largest fair in North America, as well as numerous other shows and events throughout the year. This year’s fair drew 1.2 million people.

The 17-day fair has a staff 1,000 people and has an annual economic impact of $225 million and annual revenue of $20 million.

Newton Democrat Herb Robinson drops out of U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts

0
0

In the wake of Elizabeth Warren's success as a candidate for U.S. Senate, fellow Democrat Herb Robinson is dropping out of the race.

2012 Massachusetts Senate Democratic candidates debate in Lowell, Oct. 4, 2011Herbert William Robinson speaks in Lowell, Mass. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 during a debate between six Massachusetts Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Scott Brown. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

NEWTON, Mass. - In the wake of Elizabeth Warren's success as a candidate for U.S. Senate, fellow Democrat Herb Robinson is dropping out of the race.

"It's obvious that Elizabeth Warren has sucked the oxygen out of the room as far as fundraising goes," Robinson told MassLive.com. "But I like her a lot as well as Marisa DeFranco, and that factored into my decision as well."

Robinson, who according to the Federal Election Commission had $1,782 left for campaigning as of Sept. 30, is planning another political move.

"My original plan was to run to be the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district, as I had a pretty good idea Barney Frank was going to retire," Robinson said. "Since he retired later than I expected, I went for the senate. So now it's as if my original plan is going back into effect."

Robinson said that following a few hours of paperwork and a formal announcement early next week, he will officially be a candidate for Rep. Frank's seat in the House of Representatives.

Reflecting on his short Senate run, Robinson, an engineer, said he is proud of what he accomplished.

"I've done more for the economy in the last five months as a candidate than Scott Brown has done in the past two years," Robinson said. "I've had two proposals to boost the economy while he has proposed budget cuts that would end with more people laid off."

Warren, DeFranco and James King remain democratic contenders in the U.S. Senate race for Massachusetts' Class 1 seat. Earlier this week, state Rep. Tom Conroy dropped out and threw his support behind Warren.


AM News Links: Year end Boston business round-up, Christopher Hitchens dead, Pittsfield bans skateboarding

0
0

Catholic Memorial quarterback A.J. Doyle commits to UMass. Doyle is the first recruit for new UMass coach Kevin Molnar, the former offensive coordinator at Notre Dame.

Boston's top local business stories of 2011 [Boston.com]

Christopher Hitchens, out-spoken author, dead at 62 [New York Times]

Massachusetts one of nine states awarded grant money for early childhood education [Berkshire Eagle]

Skateboarding ban approved in Pittsfield [Berkshire Eagle]

Two UMass students charged in failed drug heist at campus health services [Daily Hampshire Gazette]

Police have suspect in UMass assault [Daily Hampshire Gazette]

Catholic Memorial quarterback A.J. Doyle commits to UMass

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

Read more News Links »

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

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

Sen. Scott Brown pushes for Irish immigration reform

0
0

The bill, if it became law, would allow for more than 10,000 Irish citizens to receive E-3 visas to work in the U.S.

WASHINGTON D.C. – In an attempt to ease the efforts of Irish citizens seeking specialty work in the U.S., Sen. Scott Brown and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, have introduced a narrowly-focused bill.

The Irish Immigration Reform and Encouragement Act of 2011, which is an alternate version of a larger bill introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., adds the Republic of Ireland to the E-3 visa program, allowing more than 10,000 employment visas that can be renewed an unlimited number of times.

Currently, the E-3 Visa program only applies to Australian citizens who are coming to the U.S. to perform services in a specialty occupation. The legislation creating the E-3 provision was signed into law in 2005 by President George W. Bush.

"This legislation rectifies the decades-long plight by including the Irish in a special visa program that encourages their skilled workers to come to our shores," Brown said. "Legal immigration is the foundation of America, and we must continue to find ways to improve our visa and green card programs, especially when it comes to the treatment of our strongest allies and closest friends.”

According to Brown's office, the Irish Immigration Reform and Encouragement Act of 2011 would have the following effects on the current laws:



  • Recognizes the damage done to Irish immigration prospects in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and therefore adds the Republic of Ireland into the E-3 visa program.


  • The E-3 visa is an employment based program that is currently only available to Australia. It requires that applicants have a job offer for a specialty occupation in the US and have the necessary credentials for the job.
  • Visas are for two years and can be easily renewed. They also can be renewed an unlimited amount of times.
  • Makes an annual 10,500 employment visas available for the Irish.
  • Is a standalone bill that does not include controversial immigration provisions that could weaken national security and rule of law.
  • Recognizes the history between Ireland and the United States, and the importance of increased Irish immigration.

Gas leak prompts discovery of large-scale marijuana-growing operation on Longhill Street in Springfield

0
0

Police confiscated hundreds of marijuana plants from the operation at 293 Longhill Street.

Ae pot .jpg12-16-11- Springfield - A natural gas leak reported outside this home at 293 Longhill Street Thursday afternoon, led to the discovery of a large-scale and sophisticated marijuana-growing operation inside.

SPRINGFIELD – A natural gas leak reported on Longhill Street Thursday afternoon led to the discovery of a large-scale marijuana growing operation with hundreds of plants both growing and drying.

The growers at 293 Longhill St. rigged the property to get electricity for free by illegally tapping into power from the street, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

All told, police confiscated nearly 100 pounds of processed pot from the home, Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet said.

“I think this is probably one of the biggest that we have come across in recent history,” Delaney said, adding that there was enough unused growing equipment stashed in the single-family’s garage and basement to supply another half-dozen growing operations of a similar scale.

“This is just the type of the iceberg,” Delaney said.

Arrests have yet to be made but several may be pending, Delaney said.

The operation was uncovered about 4 p.m. when Police Officer Steven Barker responded to assist the Columbia Gas Company for a reported gas leak in the road that was also leaking into the home, Delaney said.

When gas company workers and Springfield firefighters knocked on the door to evacuate anybody that may be inside, a woman answered the door and refused to let them enter.

The woman closed the door and police were contacted to assist in the entry.

Meanwhile, the woman, carrying a briefcase, fled the home without speaking to anybody and fled in a white cargo van.

Delaney said investigators later determined that the woman took her computer hard drives before she left.

Once inside, police discovered the large-scale and sophisticated hydroponic marijuana growing operation, Delaney said.

Narcotic detectives, Sgts. Steve Kent and Martin Ambrose, arrived on scene and applied for a warrant.

In total the officers confiscated 40 large plants, 38 medium plants, 104 smaller plants, rows and rows of marijuana plant fragments and leaves hanging to be dried, Delaney said.

Police also confiscated 50 purple electric ballast boxes with cords, 130 orange and silver ballast boxes, eight huge exhaust vent fans, 24 hydro-light fixtures with reflective hoods, four boxes of high-intensity light bulbs, cases of fertilizer, feeding tubes, reflective foil encompassing the entire grow, heat-sealing machines, packaging material, a Ruger 9 mm handgun.

Delaney said illegal power hook-up was for the growing operation only and that power for the rest of the home was legally obtained through the meter. An operation of such size could easily go through $2,000 or $3,000 worth of power each month, Delaney said.

Detectives found pictures of a woman in various areas of the house and firefighters and gas company personnel said they are of the woman they saw flee.

Delaney said police applied for a warrant for the woman who was apparently running the operation and residing part-time at 293 Longhill.

“We know who we are going after,” Delaney said.

Police will be moving towards the confiscation of the entire house as forfeiture due to the growing operation inside.

Delaney said police applied for a warrant for the woman who was apparently running the operation and residing part-time at 293 Longhill.

“We know who we are going after,” Delaney said.

According to assessor records, the property is owned by Cathy Luong, trustee. It was purchased in 2009 for $417,000.

Stephen Morgan of Marblehead acquitted in Wesleyan University slaying by reason of insanity

0
0

A three-judge panel agreed with the defense for 32-year-old Stephen Morgan, who will be committed to Connecticut’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.

Gallery preview

MIDDLETOWN – A Massachusetts man was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday in the 2009 shooting death of a Wesleyan University student after a trial that portrayed him as anti-Semitic and mentally ill as he stalked and harassed the young woman.

A three-judge panel agreed with the defense for 32-year-old Stephen Morgan, who will be committed to Connecticut’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.

Morgan, of Marblehead, Mass., was charged with murder and other crimes in her May 2009 death of 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich. The college junior from Timnath, Colo., was shot seven times while working at a bookstore cafe near the liberal arts school in Middletown.

During the trial, Morgan sat in a chair at the defense table rocking back and forth. At times, he shook his legs up and down.

Morgan had apparently met Justin-Jinich at New York University in the summer of 2007, police said.

Police say Justin-Jinich was working at The Red and Black Cafe inside Broad Street Books on May 6, 2009, when Morgan walked in disguised in a wig and glasses and shot her seven times with a handgun before fleeing.

The shooting caused a scare on and off campus for two days as police searched for the shooter. University officials locked down the campus and a synagogue near the bookstore closed temporarily.

Before Morgan’s arrest the next day, police announced that he left a journal in the bookstore in which he had written about killing Justin-Jinich, going on a shooting spree on campus and targeting Jews.

Justin-Jinich’s family is Jewish; her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. Authorities also said they found an infamous anti-Semitic book, “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” in Morgan’s motel room.

Authorities say Morgan wrote in his journal about all the “beautiful and smart” people at Wesleyan, a liberal arts school of about 3,000 students in Middletown, about 18 miles south of Hartford.

“I think it okay to kill Jews and go on a killing spree at this school,” he wrote.

During the trial, police testified that on the night before the killing, Morgan searched the Internet on his laptop for information about the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech mass shootings.

Morgan was at a Meriden convenience store, about 10 miles from the crime scene, when he surrendered to police after seeing his photo in a newspaper. It was late in the evening on the day after the killing. He was charged with murder, intimidation due to bias and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Madelon Baranoski, a forensic psychologist and Yale University professor, testified that she evaluated Morgan and determined he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. She said Morgan has delusional thoughts that include prison guards reading his mind, video of his thoughts being shown to his family and fellow inmates monitoring him from strategic locations.

Baranoski also said Morgan’s mental illness wouldn’t be immediately apparent to others.

Police officers testified about the series of events at the bookstore, and defense lawyer Richard Brown cross-examined them about the strange behavior of Justin-Jinich’s shooter.

Police testified the shooter left behind a trail of evidence including his laptop computer, a computer bag containing his journal, the gun and the disguise. They said he fled down a conveyor belt to the basement of the bookstore and ran back up a staircase to an exit door instead of escaping through a door near where Justin-Jinich was shot.

Justin-Jinich would have graduated from Wesleyan last year. She was a 2006 graduate of the Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school outside Philadelphia. At Wesleyan, friends said she was interested in women’s health issues and hoped to study international public health in graduate school.

She apparently met Morgan when the two attended a summer class at New York University in 2007, police said. Justin-Jinich filed a harassment complaint against Morgan back then for unwanted and insulting phone calls and emails, but ended up not pursuing criminal charges.

At the trial, a police detective read aloud an email Justin-Jinich sent to Morgan in December 2008. She wrote: “I am so tired of you STALKING me. Leave me alone! ... YOU are the type of person that women take self-defense classes to protect themselves against.”

A day before Justin-Jinich’s email, Morgan wrote an email to her saying, “When you were upset about not communicating anymore, I thought it was because you needed me. But it was all stupid because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at the time.”

In her response, Justin-Jinich said she’d go to police if she ever saw him in person, and she would defend herself if necessary. She accused him of “spamming” her previous email account with “psychotic e-mails” and wrote: “I do NOT want to communicate with you, ever.”

“I don’t know what went wrong in your childhood or your adult life thus far to make you feel like you have some right to sexually harass me, to track me down on my various email accounts, to feel like you know me when you actually have no idea who I am or what I am capable of to make sure you never talk to me again,” Justin-Jinich wrote. “You don’t deserve to know me and you never will. So stop littering my life.”

GOP leaders: Canada-to-Texas pipeline stays in payroll tax bill

0
0

Pres. Obama has threatened to reject a payroll tax bill if it includes language easing work on the pipeline.

121611mcconnell.jpgSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. looks on at left as Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, to discuss the Keystone pipeline.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won't back a compromise payroll tax cut extension unless the bill includes language aimed at forcing construction of a Canada-to-Texas pipeline, his spokesman said Friday, as top congressional Republicans insisted on the controversial provision.

The GOP demands added uncertainty to efforts by McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to quickly reach a deal on a bill renewing payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

A House-passed version of the payroll tax bill would give President Barack Obama 60 days to decide whether to build the proposed, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline.

Obama, with the support of congressional Democrats, has announced he will delay that decision until after next year's elections, citing a need to study the impact the pipeline would have on sensitive lands in Nebraska. Obama has threatened to reject a payroll tax bill if it includes language easing work on the pipeline.

The postponement would let Democrats avoid having to choose between two of the party's core constituencies: environmentalists who oppose Keystone, and some unions who covet the jobs it would produce.

As negotiations on the payroll tax bill proceeded Friday, McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said the minority leader was insisting on the pipeline language.

"The leader will not support any bill without the Keystone XL language as part of the agreement," Stewart said.

House Speaker John Boehner expressed the same view earlier Friday. The Ohio Republican told reporters that if the Senate sends the House compromise payroll tax legislation without the pipeline provision, the House will vote to put it back in.

"I guarantee that the Keystone pipeline will be in there when it goes back to the United States Senate," Boehner told reporters.

The House Keystone language says if Obama does not make a decision on Keystone within 60 days, the permit for work would be automatically granted. He would not have to approve the project if he declared the work would not serve the national interest, the House bill says.

Meanwhile, the House began debating a $1 trillion spending bill that would avert a partial federal shutdown beginning Saturday. That measure, which would finance dozens of federal agencies through September, would replace a stopgap spending bill that expires at midnight Friday. House passage on Friday was certain, and the Senate was expected to approve it over the next day or two.

Top lawmakers are hoping that Congress will finish all its work for the year in the next few days.

Before McConnell's statement on Keystone, Reid said Friday that bargainers were making good progress in the talks on the payroll tax bill, a sentiment echoed by McConnell.

"The majority leader and I are making significant progress on reaching agreement on a package that will have bipartisan support, I hope," McConnell said. "I think we're going to get to that place."

With those talks under way, House leaders planned to send their members home after finishing their work Friday, with plans to return when the Senate produces a payroll tax cut measure for the House to vote on.

The way was smoother for the compromise spending bill. It would fund 10 Cabinet-level departments, such as the Pentagon and the Department of Education, and dozens of smaller agencies. It would finance everything from U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to veterans' services, and from airport security inspections to Congress' own operations.

Reid and McConnell said that even if only the House had approved the spending bill by midnight Friday, the Obama administration agreed there would be no federal shutdown.

Agreement on the spending legislation was reached after Republicans agreed to drop language that would have blocked Obama from easing rules on people who visit and send money to relatives in Cuba. But a GOP provision will stay in the bill thwarting a 2007 law, passed during the administration of President George W. Bush, on energy efficiency standards that critics argued would make it hard for people to purchase inexpensive incandescent light bulbs.

This year's 4.2 percent payroll tax rate will jump back to its normal 6.2 percent on Jan. 1 unless action is taken by Congress. Few lawmakers want to be blamed for a tax increase that would affect 160 million people.

Extended benefits for long-term jobless people will also expire Jan. 1 without congressional action.

That same day, a 27 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors would take effect unless lawmakers act, a reduction that could convince some doctors to stop treating Medicare patients.

Obama and congressional Democrats have proposed dropping next year's payroll tax rate to 3.1 percent, but an extension of this year's 4.2 percent rate seems likely to prevail. The payroll tax is the major source of financing for Social Security.

Obama also wants to leave in place the current maximum of 99 weeks of benefits for the long-term unemployed. A payroll tax cut bill approved by the House reduces that total by 20 weeks, which the administration says would cut off 3.3 million individuals. Democrats are hoping to soften if not reverse what's in the House version.

Even without the Keystone pipeline dispute, bargainers had still not reached agreement on how to extend a payroll tax cut through 2012, with major disagreements remaining over how to finance the package.

Just in case, Senate leaders have prepared a shorter, two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits to give themselves more time to reach an agreement.

The two-month payroll tax cut bill, which would also delay the Medicare cuts for two months, would cost $40 billion — almost $200 billion less than the cost of a one-year extension, which might also include a renewal of some expiring tax breaks.

While approval of the short-term measure would let lawmakers go home for the holidays, it would leave them facing the same dispute — how to pay for a longer extension of the tax cut and jobless benefits — in the political hothouse of a presidential and congressional election year.

Viewing all 62489 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images