Repairs to the main runway at the Augusta State Airport could mean there will be no commercial flights to or from the Maine capital for up to two months.

The Augusta State Airport, while owned by the State of Maine, is managed and operated by the City of Augusta.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Repairs to the main runway at the Augusta State Airport could mean there will be no commercial flights to or from the Maine capital for up to two months.

Construction is set to begin on a $7.5 million project to renovate the runway and other improvements.

The current plan is to close the 5,100-foot main runway for 45 to 60 days. The project is set to begin May 13.

During that period no planes that need more than 2,700-feet of runway space will be allowed to use the airport. That will include commercial Cape Air flights.

Airport Manager John Guimond tells the Kennebec Journal the runway is being reconstructed for the first time in 40 to 50 years.

Guimond says it's the perfect time for the improvements.

The controversy swirling around whether a Chevy Volt sparked a blaze at a Connecticut home last Thursday has become more of an issue than the fire itself with political agendas on both sides of the environmental issue working the story.

Photo Courtesy of Storm Connors' blogAlong with a new Chevy Volt, this 1987 Suzuki Samurai which Conn. resident Storm Connors reportedly converted to run on electricity were destroyed in a garage fire last Thursday. Investigators and engineers from General Motors are working to determine if the Volt played any part in the blaze.

Barkhamsted, Conn. - Insurance company investigators and engineers from General Motors are looking into whether a Chevy Volt or its charging station are to blame for a fire that destroyed a garage in Connecticut last week, according to a report published in the Hartford Courant.

The issue would be a little less complicated if firefighters weren't called back to the same Barkhamsted home Monday to find the electric-hybrid Chevy Volt's battery on fire, even though the car was unplugged and had not been moved since the initial fire that destroyed the garage it was in and another vehicle.

Around 4 a.m. last Thursday, Storm and Dee Connors awoke at about 4 a.m. to find their adjoined garage burning.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and credited a firewall for saving their home. The fire did destroy the Connors' Chevy Volt and a 1987 Suzuki Samurai which Storm had converted to run on electricity.

Both vehicles were plugged in and charging at the time of the fire, according to published media reports. Then around 6 a.m. Monday, fire crews were called back to the Connors' home to find the Volt's battery smoldering even though the vehicle was unplugged.

"Our engineering experts have inspected the Chevrolet Volt severely damaged in a garage fire in Barkhamsted," said Doug Parks, GM's global electric vehicle executive in a statement Monday. "We believe the findings indicate the Volt was damaged by the fire, not the cause. While the Volt's battery pack sustained damage, it was not extensive enough or of the type that would suggest that it caused the fire. In addition, there is clear evidence based on moderate damage to the cordset and charging system that neither component caused the fire."

Storm Connors maintains an online blog where he has detailed electric modifications he has made to his home and his vehicles. On the blog, he discusses changing out parts and installing a battery cooling system for the converted Suzuki which he admits were made out of household parts including a "pasta cooker" from Ocean State Job Lot which he reportedly bought for $.88 cents.

The issue of whether a car designed to minimize a carbon footprint could start such a fire has been polarizing, at least politically.

(Photo courtesy of GM)With a fully charged battery, Volt offers an initial electric range of 35 miles without any gas or tailpipe emissions. After that, it can travel for a total range of up to 375 miles with the extended range mode until you can plug it in or fill it up again, according to General Motors.

Fox News posted a short summary of the incident online with the headline "Two Chevy Volts Catch Fire in One Week!" when indeed only one Chevy Volt was involved with GM reporting no similar incidents in the model's young lifetime.

"When his garage burned down last week, Storm Connors defended his beloved hybrid cars charging inside and said they couldn't have caused the fire," the online Fox News report said. "But the environmentally-friendly credentials of his Chevy Volt - and the green driver's carbon footprint - took another hit today when its battery caught fire again, even though the car was unplugged."

Electric car enthusiasts have been quick to defend the vehicle and its reputation, striking back at bloggers and news outlets who have seemingly used the incident as political fodder about environmental issues when there has been no definitive conclusion to the fire investigation.

GM has reportedly cooperated and aided the investigation, all the while asking people to be patient as their engineers and the Connecticut State Fire Marshal's Office work to determine the cause of the fire.

“Everybody seems to be leaping to this conclusion, that it is somehow related to the Volt,” said GM spokesman Rob Peterson in a interview with the Detroit Free Press. “Let’s let the experts do their jobs. Let’s let the fire marshal determine this. There’s a lot of circumstances that go into this. And there’s a lot of engineering that went in the Chevrolet Volt.”

GM's Parks said the company takes "customers' safety extremely seriously," and he also asked for the public to wait for the investigation to conclude before making judgments.

"Fire marshals haven't named any 'suspect' for the cause, so it's wrong to suggest they have," he said online Monday. "Of course, one tweet is another's truth, right?"

Key GOP insiders as well as Gary Busey support Donald Trump for president, South Hadley Native finishes 16th in Boston Marathon and more of the morning's headlines.

(AP Photo/Palm Beach Post, Gary Coronado) Donald Trump attends the South Florida Tea Party's third annual tax day rally Saturday, April 16, 2011 at Sanborn Square in Boca Raton, Fla. Sounding increasingly like a candidate, Donald Trump repeatedly told a raucous tea party crowd Saturday he has the qualities needed in the White House and the conservative ideals necessary to seal the Republican nomination should he decide to run.

• GOP insiders embrace Trump's presidential bid [AP Report.com]


• South Hadley native Zach Hine places 16th in Boston, his marathon debut [GazetteNet.com]


• Red Bull And Vodka May Not Really Be Keeping You Awake At Parties [MedicalNewstoday.com]


• Radioactive water pumped from reactor at crippled Japanese plant [BBC.com]


• Amid rioting, Nigeria’s president declared election winner [Boston.com]


• McDonald's to hire 2,200 in Mass. [BostonHerald.com]


• Toyota to make low-emission cars in China [Reuters.com]


• US ready to sell GM shares [TheStreet.com]


• 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

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Today's poll: Should MCAS scores be used to evaluate teacher performance?

John Suchocki / The Republican04.18.2011 | Chicopee resident Richard M. Hreschuk fishes at Haviland Pond Monday. MassWildlife posts its trout stocking schedule online. You can find it here.

The Forecast

The Connecticut River has fallen back below flood stage in Northampton, but the water is still thundering over the dam in Holyoke and making it seem kind of amazing the old Texon Mill has withstood so many springs.

Today's National Weather Service forecast calls for a high around 52, with more rain likely this afternoon. There's a chance of a thunderstorm before 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Find the full forecast here.

Today's Poll

Under a new plan set forth by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester, all teachers and administrators in the state would be subject to a universal evaluation process -- with MCAS scores as one criteria.

The Republican's Jeanette Deforge writes:

Chester’s recommendations call for teachers to be evaluated using results from two types of student assessment, one of which must be the growth data from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systems exam where it applies, the memo said.

Principals can also use a wide variety of other local, district, state or commercially-available standardized exams and student work samples, Chester said.

They will also be judged during classroom observations on elements such as instruction, student assessment and curriculum use, he said.

Some educators, including Springfield Education Association President Timothy T. Collins, have questioned the idea of using MCAS scores as a "growth model."

What do you think -- should MCAS scores be used to evaluate teacher performance? Vote in our poll, and check back tomorrow for the results.

Monday's results: Yesterday, we asked, "If Springfield's mayoral election were held today, who would you vote for?" 22 people voted. Incumbent mayor Domenic J. Sarno pulled 50% of that vote; Jose F. Tosado and Antonette E. Pepe were even at 22.73% each; Michael Jones grabbed one vote for 4.55%; Jeffery P. Donnelly had 0%.

Monday's Top 5

The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on April 17 were:

1. Fire tears through historic Brooks House in downtown Brattleboro Vermont


2. Charlie Sheen Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour slams into MGM Grand at Foxwoods


3. Extravaganja marijuana-freedom festival 4/17/11 [photo gallery]


4. On day 2, pro-pot Extravaganja festival called "a Renaissance of freedom"


5. Redesigned 2012 Volkswagen Beetle debuts [photo gallery]

Quote of the Day

“You can’t walk down the hall without getting a round of applause.”

— Eighth-grader Kayleen Welch, of Westfield, on the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School victory in the statewide 2011 Mock Trial Championship. Read Patricia Cahill's article here.

The woman surreptitiously removed her wallet from the purse before handing it over.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A quick-thinking woman, robbed of her purse at gunpoint while sitting in a car parked in back of Elizur’s Pub early Monday, surreptitiously removed her wallet before handing it over to the suspect, police said.

The armed robbery outside the pub at 874 Hampden St. was reported shortly after 12:30 a.m., Lt. Michael J. Higgins said.

The suspect, who told the woman “Don’t tell anybody I was here,” fled with the cashless purse and remains at large, Higgins said.

The woman told police she had been sitting in the passenger seat of a car parked in the pub’s rear parking lot when the suspect , wearing an over-sized, black hooded sweatshirt that partially obscured his face, approached and asked for a cigarette.

The suspect, after receiving a cigarette from the woman, stuck a small- to medium-sized pistol through the window and demanded her possessions.

“She carefully removed the wallet from her purse without him seeing,” Higgins said. When the suspect asked the woman if the purse contained any money, she replied in the negative, he said.

The suspect is described as an Hispanic male, about 6 feet tall, skinny build and a scruffy mustache, Higgins said.

Coakley says the state's wiretapping laws are outdated and need to be revised to make fighting street gangs easier.

File photo | The RepublicanMassachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley

BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley says the state's wiretapping laws are outdated and need to be revised to make fighting street gangs easier.

Coakley's comments Monday were in response to statements from two Supreme Judicial Court justices who said the state's wiretapping laws that date the 1960s limit the reach of law enforcement.

Justice Ralph Gants says the current law limits wiretapping to investigating organized crime," meaning electronic surveillance in unavailable to investigate violent street gangs.

Coakley tells The Boston Globe that the current law was written mainly to battle the Mafia, which had a corporate structure. She says modern gangs that also deal in human trafficking and shoplifting are often loose alliances in place for a short time.

She says her proposal addresses concerns over excessive government intrusion.

According to a new Yale University study, patients with DNR orders are more than twice as likely to die within 30 days of surgery as those without the orders.

Associated PressU.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar gestures during a news conference in Boston, Tuesday, April 19, 2011. A federal agency approved a construction and operations plan for the Cape Wind project off the Massachusetts coast, clearing the way for work to begin on America's first offshore wind farm as early as this fall, which was announced by the secretary. At left is Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan, and at right is Cape Wind Associates Vice President Dennis Duffy. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

• Feds OK building plan for Mass. ocean wind farm [Boston.com]


• Brown: Those urging me to name abuser 'have no clue' [Boston.com]


• Howie Carr: Fat cats Donald Trump, Mitt Romney sure show some fire [BostonHerald.com]


• Great Barrington to vote on home-rule petition that would take health care plan out of the collective bargaining process with municipal employee unions [BerkshireEagle.com]


• Patients With 'Do Not Resuscitate' Orders More Likely To Die Following Surgery [Courant.com]


• Merrimac's Jim Young, minus both arms, on rebound from accident [EagleTribune.com]


• Lowell tea-partiers beat drum for fiscal reform [LowellSun.com]




Watch this at WEEI
• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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

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"... we in the Commonwealth give people second chances," Judge Peter Velis told Michaelle Santa Cruz and Alejandra Ortiz after he suspended 8 months of their 1-year jail sentence.

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD – Two men from New Jersey and two women from New York pleaded guilty Tuesday to passing counterfeit $100 bills at numerous businesses and restaurants in Southwick and Westfield on April 12, 2010.

The four, sometimes together and sometimes alone, used $100 bills to buy small items such as a cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts and got lots of cash back in change, Assistant District Attorney James M. Forsyth said.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis sentenced Victor Ocampo, 35, of Guttenberg, N.J.; and Rafael Villanueva, 34, of Paterson, N.J., to 364 days in jail. They have already served that many days awaiting trial so are being released from the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.

Forsyth asked Velis to sentence Michaelle Santa Cruz, 25, and Alejandra Ortiz, 20, both of East Elmhurst, N.Y., to 18 months in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, saying each had a small out of state record while the two men did not.

Velis sentenced the two women to one year in the jail, but said they only had to serve four months, with the rest suspended, plus two years probation. The women each spent four months in jail before they were released on bail, so they have served the sentence given Tuesday and do not have to return to jail.

Velis said he was convinced by defense lawyer Nancy C. Flahive the two women learned their lesson by spending the four months in jail and are “two contrite young ladies.”

“Just so you know, we in the Commonwealth give people second chances,” Velis said.

Police at the time of their arrest said investigators believed the suspects may have sprayed the bogus bills with a substance that enabled them to foil the marking pens that store clerks use to detect them.

All four had been charged with 31 counts of either uttering counterfeit notes, larceny under $250, or larceny over $250.

But under the plea agreements each pleaded to fewer counts, with each pleading to passing counterfeit bills at certain businesses.

Forsyth said a store owner gave Southwick police the license plate number, neighboring communities were alerted and the car was stopped in Westfield with the small items purchased and the cash they got in change.

Among separate purchases in different stores were ice cream, cigarettes, an air freshener, a bicycle tube, a makeup applicator and coffee, Forsyth said.

Goldman Sachs and other companies reported weak earnings, and worries lingered over a warning from Standard & Poor's about U.S. government debt.

Associated PressTraders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Markets edged higher after earnings reports from Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs; and an increase in March housing starts each beat expectations.(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

By FRANCESCA LEVY
and MATTHEW CRAFT
AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — Strong earnings from Johnson & Johnson helped stocks rebound Tuesday, a day after suffering their worst one-day drop in more than a month.

Johnson & Johnson rose 3.7 percent, leading the 30 companies in the Dow Jones industrial average, with earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations. The health care heavyweight also raised its full-year profit forecast.

Stocks traded in a narrow range throughout the day. Goldman Sachs and other companies reported weak earnings, and worries lingered over a warning from Standard & Poor's about U.S. government debt.

Zions Bancorporation rose 3.9 percent, the most of any company in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The Utah bank reported a first-quarter profit after posting a loss a year ago. It also said customers were getting better at paying back loans, allowing the bank to set aside less money to cover defaults.

The Commerce Department reported that builders broke ground in March on more new homes than analysts expected. Home construction rose 7.2 percent from February.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 65.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 12,266.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.48, or 0.6 percent, to 1,312.62. The Nasdaq composite rose 9.59, or 0.4 percent, to 2,744.97.

Major stock indexes posted their largest one-day drop in over a month Monday after S&P said it might lower its rating on U.S. government bonds if Washington failed to tackle its mounting debts. While the rating agency kept its U.S. debt rating at AAA, the highest possible, it warned that there was a one-in-three chance it would downgrade U.S. debt within two years.

U.S. government bonds fared well despite the S&P warning. Bond prices moved higher Monday and again on Tuesday, lowering their yields. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 3.37 percent from 3.38 percent.

Economists and bond traders offered a handful of explanations. If S&P's warning prods Congress and the Obama administration to cut budget deficits sooner, it would likely lead to lower economic growth, leading traders to buy bonds.

"If it serves as a catalyst (for long-term debt reduction) then that's a good thing for Treasurys," said George Goncalves, head of U.S. rates strategy at Nomura Securities.

A slower economy would also lead the Federal Reserve to postpone any increases in interest rates, Goldman Sachs economists said in a note to clients. That would be another positive for bonds.

Goncalves said bond traders were more likely to worry about more immediate problems such as the looming fight in Congress over raising the federal debt limit, not the threat of a downgrade from S&P in 2013. "That's so far down the road," he said. "In this market, two years is an eternity."

Among other companies reporting earnings Tuesday, Goldman Sachs said first-quarter income fell 72 percent after it paid $1.64 billion in dividends to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Goldman's stock slipped 1.9 percent.

Trucking company Paccar Inc. rose 4 percent after its income and revenues beat analysts' expectations.

Harley-Davidson Inc. reported that its income more than tripled but missed Wall Street estimates. The motorcycle maker's stock fell 5.3 percent.

United States Steel Corp. rose 4.5 percent after announcing the sale of its 841-foot U.S. Steel Tower, Pittsburgh's tallest building, to a New york-based investment group.

Texas Instruments Inc. fell less than 1 percent. The chip-maker said late Monday that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami set its production back, reducing first-quarter income and likely cutting into second-quarter growth.

After the market closed, Intel Corp. said earnings jumped 29 percent, surpassing estimates. Business spending on new computers offset a design error in one of its chips. Intel rose 6.2 percent in extended trading.

Two shares rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was 3.9 billion shares.

Police said two 19-year-old men were shot in the parking lot of Express Gas & Food Mart around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Staff Photo by DON TREEGERSpringfield Police Detective James McCoy photographs blood stains in the parking lot of Express Gas & Food Mart at 1107 State Street. The store was the site of a possible double shooting reported shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD -- Two teenage city residents were shot shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of Express Gas & Food Mart, a convenience store at 1107 State St.

The victims, both 19, were not identified by Springfield police, who continued to hunt for the shooter after dark Tuesday.

One teen was shot in the abdomen, the other in the leg. Both were being treated at Baystate Medical Center Tuesday evening.

Police were unable to immediately provide a motive for the shooting, or a description of the gunman.

The victim with the abdominal wound was still undergoing emergency surgery around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"He's in serious but stable condition," Lt. John M. Bobianski said.

The shooting was reported at 4:55 p.m., just as the evening rush hour was getting underway, by an employee of Express Gas & Food Mart. The State Street store is located between Cortland and Dresden streets.

A man who answered the phone at the convenience store shortly after the shooting confirmed that he reported the incident to the authorities.

"I saw two men rolling on the floor" in the parking lot, said the man, who claimed to be the store's manager but withheld his name.

He said the store remained open after the shooting, even though police had cordoned off part of the parking lot with yellow crime-scene tape.

Investigators could be seen collecting evidence in the parking lot, where a gray, four-door sedan was parked near a row of gas pumps. The sedan's heavily dented driver-side door was open, and there was blood on the ground near the car.

Bobianski said witnesses reported hearing three to five gunshots, and shell casings were recovered on the ground near the shooting site.

Detective James McCoy took digital photographs of the blood-stained pavement, while other investigators interviewed witnesses and scoured the neighborhood for the gunman.

Police were unable to confirm earlier reports that the assailant was last seen running south on Dresden Street toward Wilbraham Road.

"I have no suspect information at this time," Bobianski said.

View Larger Map

Anyone with information about the theft can call the Northampton Police Department at 413-587-1100.

Here is the video from surveillance cameras showing two men in masks and black clothing breaking into Yes Computers in Northampton. The video shows the men entering the store. One has a pry bar and trash bags, the other a dent-puller commonly used to force open locked doors.

One of the men also appears to talk into a portable radio hanging from his neck, indicating that he was communicating with another person perhaps watching outside for police, Northampton police said:

Connecticut State Police said Verrell was "acting tumultuously, swearing at the crew and refusing to put away his electronic devices."

File photo courtesy of The Associated PressA Southwest Airlines flight bound for Fort Worth, Texas, was found to have a gruesome package aboard.

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. – Paul Isaiah Verrell, of Tucson, Ariz., was arrested by Connecticut State Police early Tuesday morning on charges associated with a disturbance on and following Southwest Airlines Flight 292 from Chicago to Bradley International Airport, police said.

Verrell, 20, was "acting tumultuously, swearing at the crew and refusing to put away his electronic devices while the plane was taxiing," according to a state police report. Police said when the plane landed at Bradley, Verrell continued to swear at the crew and began to berate customer service personnel.

According to the state police report, trooper Henry Arroyo observed Verrell arguing with the customer service agent. Police said Verrell used "abusive/foul language in the public's presence, causing alarm to commuting public and Southwest crew."

Police said Verrell refused to comply with police orders and was subsequently arrested.

Verrell was charged with breach of peace in the second degree and interfering with an officer. He was held on $1,000 bond.

"We never made any kind of agreement that said police weren't going to enforce the laws," Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone said.

AMHERST – Organizers of the 20th annual Extravaganja on the Town Common admitted Tuesday that they were wrong when they told the public police had agreed not to cite anyone caught smoking marijuana.

Emily Butler, a spokesperson for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Cannabis Reform Coalition, said there had been “a simple miscommunication with the police” and “we didn’t mean to mislead anybody.”

“We should not have led them to believe that smoking would be tolerated,” Butler said in an email. “The current (coalition) officers will make sure that this miscommunication does not occur in future years.”

In the days leading up to the event, area publications reported statements from coalition officers saying participants could smoke without consequences, as long as they stayed on the common. The group’s Facebook page, website and newsletter reported the same.

Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone said that was not true.

“We never made any kind of agreement that said police weren’t going to enforce the laws,” Livingstone said Tuesday.

When asked why the police hadn’t corrected the group’s statements before the event, he said, “I don’t know.”

Livingstone said he believed the number of attendees over the weekend was 7,000. Sgt. Jesus Arrocho said a total of 17 citations had been issued and no arrests had been made.

“Violations that officers saw, they took action on,” said Livingstone. “The police presence that was there this year was the same that has been there for the past 19 years."

There were officers patrolling the area around the common and plainclothes officers in the crowd, he said.

Coalition treasurer Adam Freed said the confusion came from the fact that it was difficult to monitor every statement made by every member of the group, most of whom are new and unfamiliar with the CRC’s messages and policies.

“We are working kind of like with a blank slate,” he said. “We don’t know what’s going on and that’s why the wrong things were said.”

“The only thing that’s tolerated is us holding the event in the first place,” said Freed. “Our message is (marijuana) ... is still decriminalized.”

He said he heard a few stories that citations were issued after police entered the common to confiscate drug paraphernalia, then asked suspects to step off the common and receive a ticket. The coalition had repeatedly said smoking was allowed on the common.

Three of the 17 people who received citations have come to the group to seek a solution to their legal problem, he said.

“We’d be happy to have more come forward to us and have a discussion about it,” he said. “We feel bad for the misinformation they received from the group.”

“We as a group are going to try to do whatever we can to help those who were issued citations,” said Butler in an email.

Livingstone said he plans to meet with the coalition members to discuss plans to hold a 21st annual Extravaganja next year.

UMass Amherst CRC's "Smoke Signals," April 2011

Police will hold the weapon to see if reports reveal it was involved in crimes in Holyoke or another community.

AK-47 rifle, similar to one police said a man found in a bag in his backyard Monday.

HOLYOKE – Raul Robles was cleaning his car Monday when he saw something in his backyard on Allyn Street that scared him enough to call the police.

On the ground was a green canvas bag containing a Chinese-made AK-47 rifle, police said.

“When he opened it, he was surprised and scared at the same time, so he called the police,” said Marisa Robles, 33, who translated for her father, Raul Robles, who speaks little English.

“I think that somebody must have thrown it (into the yard),” she said.

The family has lived at 22 Allyn St., near Pleasant Street, since 1998. Nothing like finding a gun has ever happened before, she said.

Raul Robles, 63, said, through his daughter, “To find something like that, I don’t know who threw something like that in my yard, so I said, ‘I’m going to call the cops.’”

Lt. Michael J. Higgins said police will hold the rifle for a while to see if they get reports, such as if the weapon was involved in a crime here or in another community. It was unclear if the weapon was loaded, he said.

“No suspects, nobody saw the bag being thrown, just a recovered weapon,” Higgins said.

The AK-47 was designed by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov and became the standard rifle for the Soviet Army in 1949. It remains the most widely used rifle in the world, though it is unavailable to the general public in the United States, according to the website ak-47.net

East Longmeadow is considering eliminating the fire chief position and replacing it with a public safety administrator.

File photo | The RepublicanEast Longmeadow Town Hall

EAST LONGMEADOW – In an attempt to save money, the Board of Selectmen is proposing an article that would eliminate the position of fire chief once the current chief retires next year.

A public forum will be held Wednesday to discuss the elimination of the fire chief position and the creation of a public safety administrator position instead.

“This is something we have been researching for a long time and it has been very effective in many cities and towns,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman James D. Driscoll. “It would be a way for us to improve the service to the town while saving on costs.”

The forum will be held in the Town Hall hearing room at 6:30 p.m. and it is open to the public.

“This will be an opportunity to explain the reasons for consolidation, and how it will be implemented. The idea is to address any misconceptions that people may have, and show how this will benefit the town,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll said the current the administrative duties of the fire department are handled on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He said far more complex fire and police departments have switched to a single administrator and have been successful.

Current Fire Chief Richard J. Brady will be retiring next year. The public safety administrator position would be given to current Police Chief Douglas Mellis.

“Both of these men are great leaders and they already work together regularly, so this would be a pretty smooth transition,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll said Mellis would be in charge of the administrative side while a deputy fire chief would take on the responsibilities of safety command at the fire department.

“We would not propose this if we felt it would lessen the quality of service we offer, but that just won’t be the case. People will not even notice that there has been a change only in the savings it brings to the town,” he said.

Brady makes an annual salary of $63,547 per year while Mellis makes $94,176 with an additional $28,00 from the Quinn Bill educational incentive program. The new position would be in the $100,000 range, which could save the town more than $50,000.

Driscoll said even if voters approve the change during the May 19 annual Town Meeting it is always reversible.

“If for whatever reason it doesn’t work out we can go back to the old system, but I don’t see any reason not to give this a try,” he said.

File photo | The RepublicanEast Longmeadow Town Hall

Former Agawam state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin announced Tuesday she will be a candidate for mayor in the city's fall election.

The Republican | Don TreegerFormer state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin has announced her candidacy for mayor of Agawam.

AGAWAM – Former state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin Tuesday announced that she will run for mayor in this fall’s election, saying the city is ready for a change.

“I think he is doing the job” she said Tuesday of the incumbent, Richard A. Cohen. “I think I can do an even better job. I think we need a change. I think I am that person.”

The 64-year-old Sandlin is the second resident to announce an intention to seek the mayoralty this fall. The other declared candidate is Walter A. Meissner III. Cohen, now in his 10th year as mayor, has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election.

A native of Agawam, Sandlin served on the School Committee for 22 years and was the city’s state representative for two terms. She lost a reelection bid to her Statehouse seat to Southwick Republican Nicholas A. Boldyga last fall.

Sandlin said she wants to look at each department in the city with an eye “toward functionality.”

One of the changes Sandlin said she would like to see is more programming in the evening hours at the Senior Center for senior citizens who are still employed.

However, Cohen said he is already looking into that. And as for looking at every department, the mayor said that is how he has produced 10 balanced city budgets.

“I do that on a daily basis. That is part of the job,” Cohen said.

As for whether he will seek reelection, Cohen, 52, said, “It is my understanding that the political calendar for the upcoming election has been set by the town clerk. However, at this time I am concentrating on the budget for the next fiscal year. There will be plenty of time for standing on street corners and waving, but this year’s fiscal budget is more important that politics.”

Town Clerk Richard M. Theroux said nomination papers to run for office in the fall will be available in his office starting May 2. Residents who want their names on the ballot must return nomination papers with the signatures of 100 people registered to vote in Agawam to his office by Aug. 23.

Sandlin said she will run a progressive campaign that is both issues-oriented and grassroots.

Springfield's unemployment rate fell to 12.9%, but the city still had the 16th-highest unemployment rate in Massachusetts.

SPRINGFIELD – Springfield’s unemployment fell in March to 12.9 percent, down from 13.7 percent in February and 14.4 percent in January.

Springfield had the 16th-highest unemployment rate in Massachusetts behind a number of seaside towns that typically have very high unemployment rates in the winter months, according to statistics released Tuesday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down in 21 labor markets across the state and up only in Fall River, which had an unemployment rate of 18.2 percent, up from 18 percent in February.

After Springfield, Holyoke had the next highest unemployment of any Pioneer Valley community at 36th in the state with 11.3 percent unemployment. Holyoke's rate was also 11.3 percent in February, but down from 11.8 percent a year ago.

In Greenfield, unemployment fell to 7.6 percent from 8.1 percent in February and 9.4 percent a year ago. Amherst’s unemployment fell to 3.4 percent, down from 4.3 percent in February and virtually unchanged from the 3.3 percent recorded in March 2010.

Local unemployment numbers are not adjusted for seasonal changes in the economy and might reflect the spike of hiring headed into summer.

Statewide, the March seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, a decrease of 0.4 of a percentage point from the revised February rate of 8.6 percent. The unadjusted rate was 8.2 percent statewide, down from 8.6 in February and 9.1 percent a year ago.

The state unadjusted unemployment rate was down 0.9 of a percentage point from the 9.1 percent rate in March 2010.

“By any standard, these are not big improvements,” said Robert A. Nakosteen, a professor of economics and statistics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management.

Nakosteen said the national economy is creating jobs, but spiking oil prices and major disruptions to Japan, a large trading partner, will hurt businesses.

“Everybody is throttling back their estimates of economic growth,” Nakosteen said. “It seems like just when we are about to prosper a bit events beyond our control have intervened.”

David C. Gadaire, executive director of CareerPoint, a one-stop job center in Holyoke, pointed to the employment, rather than the unemployment, numbers as a stronger indicator of a recovery. Springfield and its surrounding communities added 1,100 jobs in March, a growth rate of 0.4 percent, according to statistics from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The region has added 2,100 jobs in the last year, a 0.7 percent rate of growth.

That growth trails statewide statistics showing 0.6 percent job growth in the last month and 1 percent job growth over the past year.

McDonald’s restaurants planned to hire 175 to 200 people just in the Pioneer Valley as part of the company’s nationwide national Hiring Day. Many of those are crew jobs paying the $8-an-hour minimum wage, said Wayne A. LeBrun of Belchertown, owner and operator of McDonald’s in Westfield, Easthampton, Northampton, the Holyoke Mall, Hadley and two in Greenfield. But he was looking for managers, too. Those managers are full-time and earn from $30,000 to $50,000 a year.

“Our sales are up and our number of customer visits is up,” LeBrun said, adding that McDonald’s are now open overnight and have added expanded beverage menus that require greater staffing. “We need more crew to serve our customers.”

Kevin E. Lynn, manager of business services and IT at FutureWorks, in Springfield, said other jobs are also opening up in a range of industries. Manufacturers hired more FutureWorks customers in March, he said.

Associated PressSpelman College student Alicia Scott, 23, of Riverdale, Ga., fills out a job application at an Atlanta McDonald's restaurant Tuesday, April 19, 2011. McDonald's hopes to hire 50,000 new workers nationwide on April 19, 2011. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Without concessions, basic services will be cut and as many as 120 employees laid off, Mayor Domenic Sarno said.

File photo | The RepublicanSpringfield Mayor Domenic Sarno announced Tuesday that he is asking Springfield city employees to accept a wage free and 12 furlough days in order to balance the fiscal 2012 city budget.

SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Domenic J. Sarno is asking 1,500 city employees to accept a wage freeze and take a dozen furlough days to offset a $5.4 million budget gap beginning July 1.

Without concessions from public employees, basic services will be reduced and as many as 120 employees laid off, Sarno announced at a press conference Tuesday at City Hall.

“It’s not raining anymore, it’s pouring,” the mayor said, referring to the city’s financial plight. “I’m looking for concessions from every employee, top to bottom,” he added.

The proposed wage freeze comes less than a week after the state Senate voted 36-0 to approve reduced local aid amounts for next year proposed by Gov. Deval L. Patrick and the House Ways and Means Committee.

The vote guarantees that state aid for cities and towns will be slashed for the fourth straight year.

In announcing his budget-balancing plan Tuesday, Sarno said other communities will be facing the same choices as Springfield in the coming weeks. Given the shortage of time, Sarno said he hopes for an agreement in several weeks.

Meetings with unions representing most of the city’s 1,500 employees will begin Wednesday, city officials said.

“Is this pleasant? No. Is it necessary? Yes,” the mayor said. “We’ve been through this, and then this before, and we’ll get through it again,” he added.

Timothy J. Plante, the municipal and school finance director, said school officials are facing an $18 million deficit for next year, and will announce cost-cutting measures next week.

Referring to the city’s $550-million budget, Sarno said 79 percent is allocated for fixed costs, such as debt service, medical insurance and pension costs, leaving only 21 percent for discretionary spending.

At the same time, state aid has been cut 34 percent since 2008 while the city has faced rising costs, including absorbing $4 million in annual costs for police pay under the Quinn Bill, the mayor said.

To reduce the projected budget gap for 2012, the city will use $10.5 million from its surplus, or stabilization, account. The combination of surplus funds, plus $5.4 million in concessions, will balance the budget for next year.

At the press conference, Sarno did not rule out seeking more concessions in fiscal 2013 if the local and state economic climate does not improve. “It’s a fluid situation,” the mayor said.

City Councilor Amaad S. Rivera, one of three councilors attending the session, declined to speculate on how city unions would react to the mayor’s proposal. “I think they (city unions) will be looking for an open and transparent process,” Rivera said.

City Councilor Michael A. Fenton noted that he and Councilor Timothy C. Allen, who also attended the session, had proposed furloughs last year as a way to avoid a tax increase.

Police can no longer rely on their sense of smell as a reason to order people out of their cars.

Associated PressA marijuana plant is grown under lights at the Boulder County Caregivers in Boulder, Colo. on Friday, July 24, 2009.

Updates a story posted Tuesday at 1:31 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - In a move that could further weaken the state’s marijuana regulations, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has made it tougher for investigators to sniff out possible pot crimes.

The SJC ruled Wednesday that the odor of marijuana wafting from a car is no longer sufficient reason for police to order people from their vehicles, citing the commonwealth’s partial decriminalization of pot as the linchpin of its argument.

“Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order,” the court ruled in a decision written by Chief Justice Roderick Ireland.

“It is unreasonable for the police to spend time conducting warrantless searches for contraband when no specific facts suggest criminality,” he said.

Ireland said the high court’s conclusion was based on the “principle of proportionality,” citing case law requiring the degree of police intrusion to be “proportional to the degree of suspicion that prompted the intrusion” in the first place. The SJC also made it clear that it was mindful of the will of the people, who overwhelmingly supported partial decriminalization in a November 2008 ballot initiative that made possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil infraction, rather than a misdemeanor crime.

Individuals caught with less than an ounce of pot must forfeit the drug and pay a $100 fine, which is roughly the price of a speeding ticket. The measure, known as Question 2, was supported by 65 percent of Massachusetts voters.

“Possession of one ounce or less of marijuana should not be considered a serious infraction worthy of criminal sanction. ... Ferreting out decriminalized conduct with the same fervor associated with the pursuit of serious criminal conduct is neither desired by the public, nor in accord with the plain language of the statute,” according to the SJC decision.

Ireland went on to write, “Without probable cause that a crime is being committed, we cannot condone such an intrusive measure as a warrantless search.”

Reaction throughout the Western Massachusetts law enforcement community was muted on Tuesday, with most officials failing to respond to messages left by The Republican. Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni did not return a phone call seeking comment, while Mary Carey, the communications director for Northwest District Attorney David E. Sullivan, said her boss likely would not be able to respond immediately to the ruling.

It remains unclear how Tuesday’s decision might impact police investigations, particularly the work of drug investigators. It’s also unknown how the ruling might influence current cases, in which police officers used the odor of burnt marijuana as probable cause for a criminal investigation.

Some members of the region’s legal community believe the court’s decision makes perfect sense.

“As a criminal defense attorney, I think it’s a good move,” said public defender Andrew M. Klyman, the attorney in charge of the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Hampden Superior Court.

“I definitely think this is a logical step,” he said, adding that decision supplements the 2008 ballot initiative. Officer Richard Rodrigues, a spokesman for Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said the Springfield Police Department will adhere to the court’s decision.

“We will always comply with the rulings of the highest court in the (state),” Rodrigues said.

In Springfield, police often use the detection of marijuana as probable cause to search vehicles for other drugs. Early Sunday morning, for example, Springfield police pulled over a man for speeding in the North End. After stopping the vehicle at Main and Portland streets, police said they smelled burnt marijuana and asked the driver and his passenger to exit the car so they could search for drugs.

The driver, Edwin Martinez, 31, of 70 Temple St., then told police he had marijuana in his pocket, which the officers confiscated. A more detailed search, however, yielded cocaine and nearly $4,000 in cash, police said. Martinez was charged with cocaine possession and issued a ticket for possession of less than an ounce of pot. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Springfield District Court on April 21.

Approval of two-thirds of the City Council was needed to pursue removal of the fire chief from Civil Service.

Holyoke City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain said Civil Service as it applies to the fire chief is an anachronism.

HOLYOKE – The fire chief will continue to be a position the city fills by using the state Civil Service system, the City Council decided Tuesday.

The council voted 9-5 against asking the Legislature to repeal the act that established Civil Service as the method used to fill the job of fire chief.

Under Civil Service, individuals are employed based on how they score on competitive examinations.

Supporters of stripping Civil Service said it is an outdated process that restricts the city to only in-house candidates for an important position that instead should be filled by seeking as a wide a net as possible.

Also, they said, the city is handcuffed by being virtually unable to fire a fire chief if such a step is needed because just cause is a difficult-to-meet threshold for removal under Civil Service.

“It’s very hard to substantiate a ‘just-cause’ standard....This is an anachronsim,” Councilor at Large Kevin A. Jourdain said.

But those who voted to keep it said Civil Service has been effective. The system protects a fire chief from being removed because of political whim, they said.

Also, said Ward 1 Councilor Donald R. Welch, “I believe that it gives an incentive to someone in the department to rise through the ranks and become chief.”

A two-thirds majority of the 15-member council – or 10 voters – was needed to seek repeal of a special legislative act, City Clerk Susan M. Egan said.

Voting against the proposal to remove the fire chief from Civil Service were councilors Aaron M. Vega, Patricia C. Devine, Rebecca Lisi, Todd A. McGee, Brenna E. Murphy, John P. O’Neill, Peter R. Tallman, McGiverin and Welch.

“Civil Service is there for a reason,” Devine said. “It prevents politics from playing a role in appointments.”

Voting in favor of the proposal were councilors Diosdado Lopez, Anthony M. Keane, Timothy W. Purington, Linda L. Vacon and Jourdain. Councilor James L. Leahy was absent.

The police chief is hired outside the restrictions of Civil Service and that process has worked well, Lopez said.

“I think this would be good down the road,” he said.

Jourdain said the argument about Civil Service guarding against politics sounds good, but is naive, because politics can affect any government decision.

“There is no taking of the politics out by having Civil Service,” Jourdain said.

The fire chief here is chosen by the three-member Fire Commission, which is appointed by the mayor, from a list of Civil Service-test-ranked employees of the Fire Department.

The Fire Commission is in the process of hiring a permanent chief. William P. Moran, deputy chief, has been provisional chief since September.

Commission Chairwoman Priscilla F. Chesky told The Republican last week the commission had halted its chief appointment process to see what the City Council would do regarding the Civil Service issue.

The yearly salary for fire chief will be $100,000 to $110,000, Chesky said.

The commission will use the process known as an assessment center, in which a private company is hired to put candidates through role-playing and other tests, to choose a chief. The goal is to have a permanent chief by July 1, she said.

The commission is using the assessment center, which is permitted under the Civil Service system, because commissioners believe it will reveal more about candidates’ qualifications than the traditional Civil Service written test, Chesky said.