Police arrested the suspects shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A street stop on Northampton Street Tuesday night yielded the arrests of two women and a man on heroin charges.

Wandalis Rivera, 22, 859 Main St., Apt. 4L; Estefania Yolanda Torres, 20, of 138 Sargeant St., Apt. 302; and William Guzman, 22, homeless, were charged with distribution of heroin and conspiracy to violate drug law, police documents state.

Rivera also had a default warrant.

Guzman was also charged with possession of heroin, possession of cocaine, possession of heroin with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Police arrested the three near the Walgreen’s pharmacy, 1588 Northampton St., shortly after 5 p.m. Additional information was not immediately available.

The resolution follows a comment made by City Councilor Donald L. Cykowski at a meeting earlier this month.

Photo by Dave Molnar/The Republican Joseph McCoy is seen at a recent candidate's forum at the Municipal Building. He filed a resolution Tuesday reaffirming the council's commitment to tolerance and against discrimination.

EASTHAMPTON – As his last act as City Council President Joseph P. McCoy will be filing a resolution during the council reorganization meeting Tuesday reaffirming the council’s commitment to tolerance and its stance against discrimination of any kind.

The resolution comes in the wake of a comment by City Councilor Donald L. Cykowski, his subsequent apology and then calls for the council and the mayor to either censure him or ask for his resignation.

The controversy arose at a Dec. 7 meeting, when Councilor-at-Large Ronald D. Chateauneuf left the room during a discussion about whether to appoint him to the Planning Board. A door automatically locked behind him, and when Chateauneuf struggled to open the door upon being asked to re-join the meeting, Cykowski said, "Where's a Puerto Rican when we need one?"

Cykowski never explained what he meant by that remark.

“I don’t want to go into anything political,” McCoy said with the resolution. He just wants to “restate we do not tolerate or condone” discrimination of any kind.

He said he feels like he has to do something because “it happened on my watch.”

McCoy doesn’t think the resolution will be acted on at that meeting which follows the swearing in of two new members and the mayor to another term. The council meets Wednesday night.

“It’s a sensitive time,” McCoy said.

The council through a resolution can issue disapproval, said City Councilor Justin P. Cobb, but cannot ask for a resignation and neither can the mayor.

In an email in response to that request, Mayor Michael A. Tautznik wrote that “censure is not within the scope of authority of my office and any effort to remove an elected official from office must be initiated through the formal recall process in our city.”

According to the charter, 400 or more voters “may file with the board of registrars of voters an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall.”

The Rev. Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Springfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among others have called for censure and suggested that Cykowski "consider resigning from public office.”

Cykowski has said he will not resign. "I thought my apology was enough," he has said.

At the Dec. 21 City Council meeting, he said, "I made a statement (Dec. 7.) If I offended anyone, I apologize."

Cobb, who could become the next council president Tuesday, said he is “supportive of his (McCoy’s) resolution.” He said it’s basically “the limit of what we can do.”

He said those that know Cykowski felt his apology was sincere.

Easthampton City Council Resolution

When John Sielski and L. James Dozmati moved to Northampton and opened the café 20 years ago, Smith was its best customer.

The Republican file photo | Don TreegerL. James Dozmati and John A. Sielski sit in front of "The Last Supper" mural at Green Street Café.

NORTHAMPTON – With a final flurry of garden vegetables and escargot in parchment, the Green Street Café is about to close its doors once and for all.

The beleaguered restaurant at 64-66 Green St. is set to give up the ghost with a “Last Supper” on Jan. 21, as owners John A. Sielski and L. James Dozmati tire of fighting their landlord, Smith College.

The restaurant has been at odds with Smith since 2004, when the college announced it would demolish some buildings it owned in the area to build a science center next door to the café. In the ensuing months, Green Street served as the unofficial headquarters for the neighborhood, which mobilized unsuccessfully against the project.

In 2007, the café closed for eight months after the License Commission pulled its liquor license for some fire code violations. Sielski and Dozmati trace that problem back to Smith as well, saying the college failed to finance the mandated improvements. The two sides negotiated a new lease later that year that extends to the end of 2012, but Sielski and Dozmati say they need a longer lease to make a go of it.

“We can’t even lease a dishwasher,” Sielski said on Wednesday.

According to Sielski, their feud with Smith has scared away some customers and cut into business. The deciding blow, he said, came recently when a non-profit organization he declined to name cancelled a dinner for 20, saying Green Street was “too controversial.”

“It was a wake-up moment,” Sielski said.

Nonetheless, the owners are going out on a high note after what Sielski called their best year ever.

“When Smith wanted us to go, we would have gone out beaten,” he said.

Kristen A. Cole, Smith’s Director of Media Relations, said the college has no comment on the situation with Green Street. The two sides know each other well from court. The café has sued Smith over lost parking spaces, eventually winning several of them back.

Most recently, Smith took Sielski and Dozmati to court for non-payment of rent. The college ultimately forgave that debt, Sielski said. He plans to give Smtih his “classic car” collection—some junk cars he uses as planters—in lieu of rent for January.

When Sielski and Dozmati moved to Northampton and opened the café 20 years ago, Smith was its best customer. In fact, Sielski said they molded the business to suit the needs of the college community.

The relationship soured over the years, however, perhaps hitting a low point some five years ago when Smith President Carol Christ came in for lunch to find a mural titled “The Last Supper” depicting a row of people horrified by the construction of the science center in the background. Christ hasn’t been back since.

“I keep hoping Carol Christ will come to her senses and apologize,” Sielski said.

Sielski, 62, and Dozmati, 61, have been together for 35 years. They were legally married soon after same-sex marriage became legal in 2004. As the debts piled up at the restaurant, the couple has had to take a second mortgage on their Northampton home and sell two of their five acres of land. They still have enough, however, for the garden that supplied most of the restaurants herbs and vegetables and some of its fruit. In fact, they hope to make their living through it by selling shares after the restaurant closes.

“I’m already excited about the next phase,” Sielski said.

The plan is to sell as many as 20 shares at $675 apiece, giving shareholders access to the currant, cherries, beans, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables they grow.

Sielski hopes to have live music at their last supper, courtesy of the jazz musicians who have been playing at the café on Tuesday nights. The fireplace where they roast their ducks will be ablaze one more time before going cold.

“I tried to initiate discussion with Smith for 10 years,” Sielski said. “This is our last breath doing it. I’m so proud of bringing back our restaurant to what it was before.”

Duda will begin her new job next month.

Republican file photoThis is Easthampton's municipal office building at 50 Payson Ave.

EASTHAMPTON – Long-time Health Inspector Dennis Lacourse is leaving the post mid-January and is being replaced by the current health agent of the Foothills Health District.

The Board of Health hired Jacqueline Duda of Northampton to replace Lacourse who is retiring after 12 years in the position.

LaCourse said at 65 it’s retirement time. “I think it’s time for a change for me. I have grandchildren and a house in Maine.” He runs a bed and breakfast in town, which he will continue to do, but hopes to travel as well.

He said he will miss the work. “It’s really been a pleasure.

“The majority of people were very committed to the community and wanted to see the community move forward in great ways.” His last day of work is Jan. 19.
Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said, LaCourse “served for a long time. He did a good job.”

And of Duda, “We’re happy to have an experienced person doing it.”

He said, “There were many good candidates.” He did not know the exact number. The Board of Health is responsible for interviewing and hiring the inspector, he said.

Duda, who has been working as a health inspector for about a decade, said the new job “gives me an opportunity to work with a larger community.”

She said she has enjoyed working in the Hilltown district, which consists of the towns of Goshen, Williamsburg and Whately, but when Ashfield dropped from the district about 18 months ago, “it left a financial gap.”

She said, “Small towns have financial limitations.”

Plus she said, “I have for some time been imagining myself working in a larger city where there are some interesting problems to solve.” She said, “I hope I can make a impact.”

Duda, who will earn $44, 445 a year, will begin working Jan. 17. “I’m looking forward to working with the community of Easthampton.”

Before the Foothills District, she worked in Westhampton.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fire Administration said the firefighters who were sent to the blaze likely will take it personally that they were unable to save the five family members.

STAMFORD, Conn. – A Christmas morning fire that killed a couple and three of their grandchildren was devastating to firefighters who rushed into the engulfed home twice frantically looking for the victims before they were beaten back by the flames.

Stamford officials were offering counseling to the firefighters.

“After 37 and a half years, 38 years, on the job, you’re never prepared for anything like this,” acting fire Chief Antonio Conte said Tuesday. “It’s heart-breaking. I had to re-call 70 firefighters today for debriefing, and most of them broke down.”

Authorities on Tuesday described frantic, futile attempts to save the three girls and their grandparents after embers in a bag of discarded fireplace ashes started the accidental fire at the grand waterfront house, which was being renovated.

Of the seven people in the home, only two survived: the girls’ mother, a New York City fashion advertising executive; and a family friend who had worked on the home as a contractor and is believed to have placed the ashes in or outside an entryway, near the trash.

Flames quickly entered the house, spread throughout the first floor and licked upstairs, trapping the girls, the grandparents, the mother and the contractor, the city fire marshal said.

That’s when screams began to wake neighborhood residents, soon followed by the whine of fire engines.

As flames shot from the home, owner Madonna Badger climbed out a window onto scaffolding, screaming for her children and pointing to the third floor.

Firefighters used a ladder and construction scaffolding outside the house to reach the third floor, but heat and poor visibility in a hallway turned them back, said Brendan Keatley, a Stamford firefighter who was at the scene.

The family friend, Michael Borcina, told firefighters on the ground that he had taken two girls to the second floor, but that they got separated because of the heat. Firefighters then went to the second floor but again were forced out by the blaze’s intensity.

“Not for (not) trying, that’s for sure,” Conte said.

There was somebody else trying to save the girls, too – their grandfather, Lomer Johnson. One of the girls, found dead just inside a window, had been placed on a pile of books, apparently so he could reach in and grab her after he jumped out.

Instead, authorities say, Johnson fell through the roof outside the window and was found dead in the rear of the house.

He and his wife, Pauline, both of Southbury, had been visiting their daughter for the holidays. The grandmother also died in the fire along with 10-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah.

One girl was found dead on the third floor, and the body of another was found with the grandmother’s at the bottom of the stairs leading to the third floor.

The Connecticut medical examiner said the five died of smoke inhalation, although Lomer Johnson also suffered head and neck trauma that could have resulted from a fall or being hit by an object.

Thomas Olshanski, a spokesman for the U.S. Fire Administration, the lead federal agency for fire data collection and public fire education, said the firefighters who were sent to the blaze in Stamford likely will take it personally that they were unable to save the five family members.

“Their desire was to get that family out and they were unable to. Totally understandable – raging fire, people trapped inside. Sometimes the challenges are too big and it becomes personal at that point,” he said.

“They feel this, they’re going to feel this,” he added. “It is our belief that every fire can be prevented and that no one should lose their life to fire. When that happens, we try to figure out why.”

Olshanski said the firefighters probably will feel a wide range of emotion. “There will be sadness, there will be grief,” he said, adding how some might wonder if they could have done something more, or something different, to save the family.

It is common for firefighters in these situations, Olshanski said, to go through a critical incident stress debriefing. He said it’s important because they’re going to have to go on similar calls in the future.

Four firefighters were injured, including a captain who suffered second-degree burns on his face, Keatley said.

Lomer Johnson had worked as a department store Santa Claus this season after a long career as a safety chief at Louisville, Ky.-based liquor maker Brown-Forman Corp., from which he retired several years ago.

Badger is the founder of New York-based Badger & Winters Group. She was treated at a hospital and was discharged by Sunday evening, a hospital supervisor said. Her whereabouts Tuesday were unknown.

Borcina, 52, was released from Stamford Hospital on Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman said.

He owns Tiberias Construction Inc., which renovates expensive homes and businesses. The company’s projects have included a Donna Karan store and artist Alex Beard’s studio, both in New York City, and the White House Christmas wishing tree, according to the construction firm’s website.

According to the Department of Consumer Protection, Borcina was registered for a brief time more than 10 years ago, but neither Borcina nor his company are currently registered to perform home improvement work in Connecticut.

Property records show Badger bought the five-bedroom Victorian home for $1.7 million last year. The house was situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.

Most of the second floor was being renovated, and Badger was awaiting a final inspection, said Ernie Ogera, director of operations for the city of Stamford.

According to the city’s zoning ordinances, he said, the family should have been living only in the unrenovated sections of the house. Investigators do not yet know whether anyone was staying in renovated sections that had not been approved.

City building inspectors last examined the work in July and did not find any problems, he said.

There were plans for hard-wired smoke alarms, but they had not been hooked up, Ogera said. Officials did not know whether battery-operated ones were being used.

Badger previously spent time on Shelter Island, a small, exclusive community at the eastern end of New York’s Long Island. Town Supervisor James Dougherty said Tuesday that she served a few years ago on the town’s deer and tick committee, which oversees the town’s program to maintain healthy deer while eliminating tick-borne diseases.

A person answering the phone Tuesday at the Badger & Winters Group said it had no statement or comment.

A lawyer for Capt. McCarthy entered a guilty plea to marked lanes violations and failure to stop, but the judge did not accept it after learning of the possible new charges.

LYNN – A judge has rejected a state police trooper’s attempt to plead guilty to driving violations after prosecutors said they were seeking a drunken driving charge.

A lawyer for Capt. Thomas McCarthy entered a guilty plea to marked lanes violations and failure to stop in Lynn District Court on Wednesday, but the judge did not accept it after learning of the possible new charges.

McCarthy of Stoneham, who was evening shift commander for Troop C in Holden, was arrested last month in Saugus. Authorities say McCarthy, who was off-duty, was pulled over for a marked lanes violation. McCarthy then allegedly drove away before stopping again later.

Saugus police say they smelled alcohol on the trooper’s breath and saw an empty beer bottle in his back seat.

McCarthy has been suspended.

Iowa remains a general election swing state, and no one assumes Obama’s 9-point win over John McCain in 2008 will give him a cushion next November.

File photo / Associated PressPresident Obama speaks at a campaign fundraiser event in New York last month. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster)

DES MOINES, Iowa – One presidential campaign claims an impressive effort in Iowa this year: eight offices opened, 350,000 phone calls to potential supporters and 1,280 events to recruit and train volunteers.

It’s not W. Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul. It’s Obama for America, the president’s re-election campaign, which badly wants to win this battleground state in November, as it did in 2008.

Next Tuesday’s Republican caucus has dominated political conversations. Largely overlooked is that Obama is running unopposed in the Democratic caucus the same night.

It’s a dramatically different scene from four years ago, when Obama set his course for the White House by beating John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton after months of intense campaigning in Iowa.

Obama can coast as far as this year’s nomination is concerned. But Iowa remains a general election swing state, and no one assumes his 9-point win here over John McCain in 2008 will give him a cushion next November.

Obama’s campaign never entirely left Iowa or several other competitive states, where he hopes relentless organizing can overcome a weak economy and his mixed record of fulfilling campaign pledges in the face of strong GOP opposition in Congress. If thousands of volunteers flocked to Obama’s 2008 campaign, this time he’s having to work a bit harder to recruit and energize them.

“People say, ‘The mood is different this time, it’s not the same,’” said Peggy Whitworth, an Obama volunteer in Cedar Rapids. “Well of course it’s not the same. But it’s not about mood or feeling. It’s about the future of the country.”

Whitworth, 69, said she joins other Obama volunteers four hours every Tuesday night, and sometimes on other evenings as well, to telephone potential supporters. Many say they will vote for Obama again, she said, and some volunteer to help the campaign. But some are disappointed or angry that the president fell short on campaign promises such as ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, and bringing a greater spirit of bipartisanship to Washington.

“Sometimes they simply want to have someone listen to them,” Whitworth said. Most say they will stick with Obama after they’ve had a chance to vent their frustrations, she said.

Obama lacks some key advantages he enjoyed in 2008. They include a deeply unpopular GOP president who was largely blamed for a faltering economy, and a widespread excitement about Obama’s precedent-breaking campaign built on “hope and change.”

In exchange, of course, he has the power of the presidency and a well-oiled political organization that has been refining its practices for five years. Obama will raise many millions of dollars, although his eventual Republican opponent may do nearly as well.

Nowhere does Obama have a bigger base to build on than in Iowa, where he campaigned for months in 2007. Romney, Gingrich and other GOP contenders have not made comparable efforts, although they say the economy and other issues will make Obama’s task much harder next year.

In activities that rarely compete with the hoopla of the GOP nominating contest, Obama’s campaign has placed a handful of paid staffers in each of several key states. They try to leverage their clout by recruiting and training scores of volunteers. The volunteers, in turn, knock on doors, organize house parties and, above all, place phone calls to voters in hopes of identifying likely Obama supporters and tracking them through Election Day.

In a tortoise-versus-hare strategy, Obama supporters hope their steady chugging will build support precinct by precinct, town by town, while Republicans spend resources chasing the nomination for a few more weeks or months. The Republican candidates and their broadcast ads are flooding Iowa this week, but they will abruptly shift to New Hampshire on Jan. 4, the day after the caucuses.

“The Republicans are here today, gone tomorrow,” said Obama volunteer Pat Walters, of Johnston, a suburb of Des Moines. “We’ve been doing this since 2009.”

Walters, a 60-year-old insurance executive, said he is a “neighborhood team leader” who helps organize house parties, phone banks and other activities. His chief recruiting tools, he said, involve reminding Iowans of Obama’s accomplishments that include expanding medical benefits in the hard-won 2010 overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Walters said he hopes the week-by-week, month-by-month effort will build a strong ground operation to turn out Obama’s voters next November. The Republican nominee will have to play catch up, he said.

Obama’s ground game “is already in place,” Walters said. “It’s just a matter of growing it.”

Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the caucus provides another opportunity to tell Iowans about Obama’s accomplishments, including ending the Iraq war.

“On Jan. 4, we’ll have the strongest grass-roots organization and campaign finance infrastructure in place of any candidate going forward,” she said.

The woman was not struck by a vehicle and her death is not considered suspicious.

Republican file photo

STURBRIDGE – A 44-year-old Sturbridge woman whose body was found in the median of Interstate 84 early Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Glynis Shields-Sacca, of 63 Breakneck Road.

Paul Jarvey, a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early, said Shields-Sacca had not been struck by a vehicle and her death is not considered suspicious.

A state police K-9 unit discovered the body about 12:45 p.m.

Troopers from the Worcester County State Police Detective Unit and State Police Crime Scene Services Section were at the scene a short time later and the high-speed lane was closed for a time while they investigated.

State police, in an advisory issued earlier in the day, were told to be on the lookout for Shields-Sacca, The woman was last seen about 12:30 a.m. and her abandoned vehicle was found in a wooded area of Route 15 in Sturbridge.

Emergency repairs to City Hall started earlier this month.

Daniel M. Knapik

WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik is considering creation of a new municipal department that will be charged with responsibility of building and grounds maintenance for municipal and school buildings.

“Some time in 2012 a formal proposal will be presented to the City Council for creation of a department whose sole responsibility will be maintenance of all city owned buildings,” Knapik said.

Knapik’s thinking is to utilize the School Department maintenance director position for that purpose, moving the office from the School Department to a municipal position. It will be similar to legislation approved a year ago creating a technology director and department that oversees technology needs and maintenance for both schools and municipal offices.

The plan is the result of a recent building survey that lists millions of dollars necessary to address lack of maintenance issues at many city buildings.

“Our buildings would not be in the shape they are today if the city had such a department in place,” the mayor said. The School Department has craftsmen that cuts down on costs and allows in-house repairs for such things as carpentry and electrical.

The department could also serve as an internship for Westfield Vocational-Technical High School students.

“Currently there is no direct responsibility for municipal building and grounds maintenance,” Knapik said.

The mayor is still assessing the proposal and said any cost estimate, concerning staff, would be minimal. “We could utilize the custodial staffing we already have in place,” he said.

Emergency repairs at City Hall, $193,000 worth, were started in early December to address roof and facade leaks into the building. Overall, the city has an estimate of more than $7 million to correct all needed repairs.

About $3 million has already been approved for City Hall to replace its slate roof, windows and other things. Design for that project is underway and work is expected to begin next spring.

Brown took questions about Democrat Elizabeth Warren and his record in Washington, as he looked ahead to a re-election fight that will capture national attention and dominate state politics.

File photo / Associated PressU.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown is seen during an interviewed in his office in Boston earlier this year. (Photo by Josh Reynolds)

BOSTON - U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown said Wednesday that people will have "a very, very clear choice" in the Nov. 6 election, saying that his probable Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, is "an extreme liberal" and that he is an independent voice who is finding solutions in Washington.

"The bottom line is people are going to have a very, very clear choice this upcoming November," Brown said in an interview. "Professor Warren is an extreme liberal. She wants to basically have more interference in your lives, more regulation and take more money out of your pocketbooks and wallets and give it to Washington."

Brown, a Republican from Wrentham, accomplished one of the greatest political comebacks in modern state political history early last year when he defeated Democrat Martha M. Coakley in a special election to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Brown spoke about a list of his accomplishments that he said demonstrates he is working with leaders in both parties, including joining with President Barack H. Obama for the signing of a bill that establishes tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed veterans. The same bill included Brown's measure that allows certain businesses to keep more money for hiring people by abolishing a 2006 law that would have required the federal, state and local governments to withhold 3 percent of their payments to contractors.

"I'm not going to be, as professor Warren would say, leaving blood and teeth in the streets and not compromising," Brown said during an interview at Mul's Diner in South Boston, a section of the city where he campaigned before his election last year. "I'm going to look to find solutions. That's what I've done and that's what I'm going to do next year."

Brown took questions about Warren and his record in Washington, as he looked ahead to a re-election fight that is going to dominate state politics next year and capture national attention.

Brown said he is not worried about polls that show him running even with Warren, a Harvard law professor and consumer advocate.

Brown said he was down 41 points to Coakley at one point.

"If I worried about polls, I never would have gotten out of bed," Brown said. "You are going to probably have another 50 or 60 polls done ... The election is not tomorrow and I haven't even started campaigning yet .. and pushing back against all the false and misleading super PAC advertising and the millions of dollars that have been spent against me."

From the storms that marched through western Mass to the parade that marched through Holyoke, browse the top photo galleries of 2011.

2011 was a year made for photographs. Frankly, if we didn’t have the photographic evidence for some of these events, who would have believed that New England experienced a hurricane that caused widespread flooding, an unusually big autumn snowstorm and a tornado that ripped a 39 mile-long ‘Path of Fury’ through nine towns -- all within a span of a few months.

Not surprisingly, The Republican's photographs of these natural disasters dominate the list of the Top 10 photo galleries of the year. Readers also found time to check out the entertaining side of the Pioneer Valley: from the annual Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade to Southwick's Rugged Maniac Race, the photos show that Western Massachusetts knows how to play hard!

Without further ado, here are the top 10 photo galleries from 2011:

10: 2011 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun fashion show - With a glimpse of fall fashion trends and some beautiful local models, the 2011 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun fashion show was a huge hit both on the runway and in our photo gallery.

9: Massachusetts tornado: 3 months later - Following up on the horrible destruction of the June 1, 2011 Western Massachusetts tornadoes, The Republican revisited some of the hardest hit areas 3 months later to provide a look at the changed landscape.

8: Western Massachusetts digs out from massive October snowstorm - The weather-related photo galleries continued as all of western Massachusetts manned the snow shovels and chainsaws in an effort to dig out from the Halloween blizzard that left thousands in the dark for over a week. As residents went to work digging and cutting and cutting and digging, The Republican went to work photographing the storm damage and cleanup efforts.

7: 2011 Prom contest winner: Getting ready for prom - The 2011 prom galleries once again proved incredibly popular with local high schools in Agawam, Longmeadow, Westfield and Chicopee all taking top spots in the popularity parade! The top gallery on the prom front went to our 2011 Ultimate Prom Contest winner, Dominick Whitley. Photographed by Seth Kaye of Seth Kaye Photography, Dominick and his date made a stunning couple as they celebrated at Central High School's prom.

6: The Springfield Mafia: Rise and fall of the mob - From Salvatore L. "Big Nose Sam" Cufari, reputed "capo" of organized crime in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut to Gaetano J. Milano, alleged trigger man in the killing of Billy Grasso, the black and white photos of the players in the Springfield mob captivated readers. A second gallery from the Big Al Bruno murder case also proved popular.

5. Rugged Maniac Race in Southwick - Take 1,700 racers, add mud, swinging tires, 7-foot barricades and then throw The Republican’s assistant online editor, Greg Saulmon with his camera, and you’ve got a photo gallery that just keeps getting better with every click of the mouse. From the first mouthful of dirty water to the exhausted smiles of those that finished, this gallery is quite a ride.

4. 2011 Fall photo contest - The leaves this fall took longer than usual to change to those beautiful reds and yellows we all love, but our Fall Photo Contest was on time with no shortage of lovely fall scenes photographed by you, our readers. If we ever get some snow around here, this will be a terrific place to visit to get a lot of color back in our lives.

3. Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade 2011 - We all love a parade and those of us that didn’t brave the cold but clear weather that accompanied this year’s Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade could still enjoy the view from the The Republican’s photo gallery of this most auspicious event. This parade always give a new meaning to the term ‘going green!’

2. Hurricane Irene hits Massachusetts - Raging rivers, flooded streets, bridges swept away and damaged trees were the order of the day when Hurricane Irene marched through Massachusetts and Vermont leaving parts of both states devastated.

1. Aerials of tornado destruction - We all knew the destruction from the tornadoes that struck several towns in western Massachusetts on June 1st was severe, but nothing brought it to light like The Republican’s photographer, John Suchocki’s aerial photos of the path of the twisters. Shot from a plane, the extent of the damage was horrible and fascinating at the same time. Additionally, the photo gallery of the tornado destruction in the city of Springfield was almost unbelievable as we all looked at the photos of over-turned vehicles and damaged schools and businesses.

As we close out 2011 with its hurricane, earthquake, micro-burst, flooding, blizzard and tornadoes we hope that the scars that were left on our beautiful western Massachusetts landscape will begin to heal and that, as time passes, our memories will begin to fade. May these photographs stand as testament to the power of nature and the wonderful strength and fortitude of those of us that live here in western Massachusetts.

In the Iowa caucus, one of the largest events of the Republican primary campaign, that takes place next week, one thing may be on the minds of voters less than other voters around the nation: unemployment.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate W. Mitt Romney signs autographs after taping an episode of the "Late Show with David Letterman," in New York Dec. 19. Click on the link, above right, to read why the Boston Herald has endorsed the former Massachusetts governor as the Republican most likely to beat President Obama.

• Boston Herald endorses Romney [Boston Herald]


• Poll reveals Iowans less worried about unemployment than rest of country [Huffington Post]


• 2011 carries technology to new heights [Washington Post]


• Northeastern University opens satellite campus in North Carolina; Seattle next [New York Times]


• Survey says teens more likely to drive under the influence on New Year's Eve than any other night [Hartford Courant]



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.

President Jim Gordon made the statement shortly after the court rejected an effort to reopen a decision by state regulators to permit National Grid to purchase half of Cape Wind’s power.

File photo / Associated PressCape Wind President Jim Gordon listens to a reporter's question during a news conference in Boston in 2008. (Photo by Stephan Savoia)

By KYLE CHENEY

BOSTON - Cape Wind president Jim Gordon, praising a Supreme Judicial Court ruling that upheld a key component of the project, said Wednesday he’s hopeful that the long-delayed offshore wind facility will be generating energy within a year.

“We’re hoping that within about a year we’ll be able to be producing clean, homegrown energy,” Gordon said in a conference call, adding a note of caution. “We’ve made predictions in the past. This project has been under development for over 10 years.”

The project “is taking far too long,” Gordon continued, noting Europe and Asia are “installing thousands of wind turbines off their coastlines as a way of meeting their environmental and economic challenges.”

Gordon convened the call shortly after the Supreme Judicial Court rejected an effort, led in part by Cape Wind opponents, to reopen a decision by state regulators to permit National Grid to purchase half of Cape Wind’s power. Cape Wind officials are still seeking a buyer for the remainder of the project’s power.

Cape Wind backers say the 130-turbine project, slated to be built in Nantucket Sound, could support up to 1,000 jobs and generate 420 megawatts of electricity, enough to power three-quarters of Cape Cod. But critics have ripped the project as an overly expensive eyesore that presents hazards for boaters, aircraft and wildlife.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which has raised and spent millions of dollars to oppose Cape Wind, decried the SJC ruling as “a blow to ratepayers, businesses and municipalities” but took heart in the project’s continued delay.

“The good news is the increasingly clear reality that Cape Wind will never be built. Cape Wind has been denied (Federal Aviation Administration) approval, has been denied critical federal loan guarantees, has no utility willing to buy half its power, and cannot find investors,” said Audra Parker, president of the Alliance. “Those facts alone render this decision moot.”

Associated Industries of Massachusetts and some lawmakers have argued that Cape Wind would dump billions of dollars in new energy costs on Massachusetts ratepayers.

Gordon rejected the assertions and spoke optimistically about the project’s chances for success.

“Certainly the alliance has been a dogged opposition group for the last eight years. But they filed this suit at the Supreme Court and they were rejected on all of their claims. This is another example of the alliance making claims that just aren’t true,” he said. “We fully expect to sell the balance of Cape Wind’s power. We have people in investment communities that are very interested in this project.”

Gordon declined to characterize talks with other utilities to purchase the remaining Cape Wind power.

“We signed confidentiality agreements revolving around the negotiations that we do with the utilities. It’s a two-way agreement. I’m not going to comment on specific negotiations with any utilities,” he said. “It’s Cape Wind’s intention and plan to move forward and build this project so we can produce the most amount of green power, the most significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

In its ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court rejected claims that a state Department of Public Utilities decision approving the National Grid contract violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by restricting out-of-state bidders from the project. The alliance had sought to reopen the process and introduce new evidence showing other renewable energy projects produced energy at lower costs.

The court upheld the DPU’s ruling, saying the agency has wide latitude in its decision-making and made a reasonable determination that it would have supported the National Grid contract whether or not new evidence was admitted in the record. In addition, justices noted that National Grid had determined the potential benefits of buying Cape Wind power would provide benefits to all National Grid customers, and therefore it is reasonable to ask all ratepayers to share in the costs.

“Nothing about the reasons cited by the department constitute an abuse of discretion,” wrote Justice Margot Botsford in the court’s unanimous ruling.

When the Department of Public Utilities backed the Cape Wind-National Grid deal last year, agency officials noted that the contract would be expensive.

“The power from this contract is expensive in light of today's energy prices,” DPU commissioners wrote in a November 2010 ruling. “It may also be expensive in light of forecast energy prices – although less so than its critics suggest. There are opportunities to purchase renewable energy less expensively. However, it is abundantly clear that the Cape Wind facility offers significant benefits that are not currently available from any other renewable resource. We find that these benefits outweigh the costs of the project.”

National Grid sought Cape Wind’s power in part to satisfy a legal requirement that Massachusetts utilities obtain 3 percent of their power from alternative energy sources, a provision in a 2008 law called the Green Communities Act.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts President Richard Lord said the court erred in its ruling and noted that Massachusetts businesses pay “among the highest electricity rates in the nation.”

“We continue to maintain that state regulators fell short of their responsibilities to consumers by approving this agreement at a time when other utilities were finding plentiful renewable electricity at less than half the cost of Cape Wind,” he said in a statement.

Senate lawmakers have cited high electricity costs as a major agenda item for 2012.

Environmental advocates lauded the SJC ruling.

“Cape Wind's ability to generate substantial quantities of clean energy close to areas of high demand –making it more advantageous than distant energy projects being proposed – is just one of the many benefits contributing to the Court's findings that the project's costs are reasonable,” said Sue Reid, director of the Conservation Law Foundation, in a statement. “In validating the DPU's decision, the SJC has provided objective validation of the facts making the case for Cape Wind, and has cleared one of the last remaining hurdles for the nation's first major offshore wind project to move forward.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 140 points and the S&P 500 index fell after five days of gains.

File photo / Associated PressA euro sculpture is pictured in front of the European Central Bank building in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2007. (Photo by Bernd Kammerer)

NEW YORK – Stocks closed lower Wednesday after Europe’s central bank disclosed figures suggesting that banks in the region were becoming increasingly reluctant to lend to each other.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 140 points and the S&P 500 index fell after five days of gains. The S&P is now negative for the year again, after barely turning positive on Friday.

The European Central Bank said the continent’s banks parked $590.72 billion with it overnight, surpassing the record set only Monday. That means those banks were less willing to take the risk of making short-term loans to each other, opting instead to earn low interest rates from the central bank. The disclosure also hurt the euro, which fell to $1.291, its lowest level against the dollar since January.

The worrying news from the European Central Bank overshadowed two successful auctions of Italian government debt. Italy was able to pay much lower borrowing rates than last month. The strong demand from investors raised hopes that Italy would be able to avoid sinking into a financial crisis, as smaller countries like Greece and Portugal have.

John Merrill, chief investment officer at Tanglewood Wealth Management, said markets would remain vulnerable to flare-ups in Europe’s long-running financial crisis until leaders there come up with more convincing solutions for paying down their enormous debt loads and keeping the 17-nation currency union intact.

“We live in a Band-Aid world,” Merrill said. “Nobody really is addressing underlying issues.”

European leaders agreed at a summit Dec. 9 to forge closer fiscal ties over the long term, but investors are still worried that Greece might default on its debt or be forced to leave the euro bloc. A Greek exit from the currency union would likely cause huge disruptions for the country’s economy and losses for European banks that hold Greek government debt. Investors fear that could cascade into another global financial panic, as happened in 2008 following the collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 139.94 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,151.41. Materials and energy companies led the declines. Alcoa Inc. fell 3 percent and Caterpillar Inc. fell 2.4 percent.

Trading was very thin in a holiday-shortened week. Shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 2.3 billion, less than half of the usual volume.

The S&P 500 fell 15.79 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,249.64. The Nasdaq composite declined 35.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,589.98.

The Bank of Italy raised $11.8 billion in two bond auctions, reflecting investor approval of the country’s recently passed austerity measures. The yield on Italy’s six-month bill offering was half the interest rate the country paid in a similar auction last month. The yield on the country’s 10-year bond remained dangerously high, however, at 6.93 percent. It had risen to 7 percent Tuesday, a level that is considered unsustainable.

Italy is the euro zone’s third-largest economy and is considered too big to save under the euro zone’s current bailout funds. Investors have grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around $2.5 trillion.

The worries were reflected in U.S. bank stocks. Bank of America Corp. fell 3.5 percent, while Regions Financial Corp. fell 2.7 percent.

In other corporate news:

Sandridge Energy Inc. stock declined 4.4 percent on news that it is selling drilling rights in two states to a Spanish energy company, Repsol YPF.

Cavium Inc. fell over 1 percent, a day after the chipmaker said its fourth-quarter results will fall below its previous forecast.

Horrigan, 54, had been subject of a search since he was reported missing Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Republican file photo

This is an update of a story originally posted at 4:22 p.m. Wednesday

OTIS - A missing man who had been subject of an intensive search by a state police search and rescue team was found dead Wednesday morning, officials said.

The body of Donald Horrigan, 54, of 10 Drive B, Otis, was found near his home shortly before noon, according to the state police.

Horrigan was the subject of a search by the state police Special Emergency Response Team, which is trained in search and rescue operations. The area of the search, near the Otis Reservoir, was described as heavily wooded and hilly, police said.

Horrigan had been reported missing on Tuesday. He apparently walked away from his home, leaving behind his cellphone, license, other personal items and his pickup.

No cause of death was disclosed but it is not believed to be suspicious. officials said.

State police said the investigation has been assigned to the office of the Berkshire District Attorney.

Longmeadow's tax rate is $0.93 cents higher than the 2011 rate.

LONGMEADOW – The state Department of Revenue has approved Longmeadow’s new single tax rate for fiscal 2012, said Robert P. Leclair, the principal assessor in Longmeadow.

On Dec. 5 the Select Board voted to keep a single tax rate for all classes of property.

The new tax rate has been set at $19.68 per thousand of assessed valued, which is $0.93 cents higher than the 2011 rate, Leclair said.

Approximately half of the increase is attributable to the Longmeadow High School project, he said.

The high school renovation project is expected to cost the town about $78. 4 million. It is on track to be completed by summer 2013, officials said.

In June 2010, voters approved a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override that will require the town to pay $44 million of the construction project costs. The state School Building Authority will provide $34 million to complete the project.

Third quarter real estate and personal property tax bills will go out at the end of December.

The annual impact of the increase will be split between the remaining two bills which are due Feb. 1 and May 1.

Leclair said Feb. 1 is also the deadline for filing abatement applications if a property owner believes the value to be excessive.

Questions about the assessed value should be addressed to the Assessors’ Office at (413) 565-4115. Questions about payments should be handled by the Collector’s Office at (413) 567-1066.

Hard copies of assessed values are available at the following locations: The Assessors’ Office in Town Hall, the Council on Aging and Storrs Library.

For information on the new tax rate or the progress of the high school building visit the town’s website at www.longmeadow.org.

Iran threatened to choke off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude exports.

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI and TAREK EL-TABLAWY

Associated PressIranian navy members take positions during a drill in the Sea of Oman, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. Iran's navy chief warned Wednesday that his country can easily close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the passageway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows. The navy is in the midst of a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic oil route. (AP Photo/IIPA,Ali Mohammadi)

TEHRAN, Iran – The U.S. strongly warned Iran on Wednesday against closing a vital Persian Gulf waterway that carries one-sixth of the world's oil supply, after Iran threatened to choke off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude exports.

The increasingly heated exchange raises new tensions in a standoff that has the potential to spark military reprisals and spike oil prices to levels that could batter an already fragile global economy.

Iran's navy chief said Wednesday that it would be "very easy" for his country's forces to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about 15 million barrels of oil pass daily. It was the second such warning by Iran in two days, reflecting Tehran's concern that the West is about to impose new sanctions that could hit the country's biggest source of revenue, oil.

"Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway," Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state-run Press TV, as the country was in the midst of a 10-day military drill near the strategic waterway.

The comments drew a quick response from the U.S.

"This is not just an important issue for security and stability in the region, but is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, to include Iran," Pentagon press secretary George Little said. "Interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated."

Separately, Bahrain-based U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Rebarich said the Navy is "always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."

Rebarich declined to say whether the U.S. force had adjusted its presence or readiness in the Gulf in response to Iran's comments, but said the Navy "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities, while safeguarding the region's vital links to the international community."

Iran's threat to seal off the Gulf, surrounded by oil-rich Gulf states, reflect its concerns over the prospect that the Obama administration will impose sanctions over its nuclear program that would severely hit its biggest revenue source. Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, pumping about 4 million barrels a day.

Gulf Arab nations appeared ready to at least ease market tensions. A senior Saudi Arabian oil official told The Associated Press that Gulf Arab nations are ready to step in to offset any potential loss of exports from Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the issue.

Saudi Arabia, which has been producing about 10 million barrels per day, has an overall production capacity of over 12 million barrels per day and is widely seen as the only OPEC member with sufficient spare capacity to offset major shortages.

What remains unclear is what routes the Gulf nations could take to move the oil to markets if Iran goes through with its threat.

About 15 million barrels per day pass through the Hormuz Strait, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

There are some pipelines that could be tapped, but Gulf oil leaders, who met in Cairo on Dec. 24, declined to say whether they had discussed alternate routes or what they may be.

The Saudi official's comment, however, appeared to allay some concerns. The U.S. benchmark crude futures contract fell $1.98 by the close of trading Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but still hovered just below $100 per barrel.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner played down the Iranian threats as "rhetoric," saying, "we've seen these kinds of comments before."

While many analysts believe that Iran's warnings are little more than posturing, they still highlight both the delicate nature of the oil market, which moves as much on rhetoric as supply and demand fundamentals.

Iran relies on crude sales for about 80 percent of its public revenues, and sanctions or even a pre-emptive measure by Tehran to withhold its crude from the market would already batter its flailing economy.

IHS Global Insight analyst Richard Cochrane said in a report Wednesday that markets are "jittery over the possibility" of Iran's blockading the strait. But "such action would also damage Iran's economy, and risk retaliation from the U.S. and allies that could further escalate instability in the region."

"Accordingly, it is not likely to be a decision that the Iranian leadership will take lightly," he said.

Earlier sanctions targeting the oil and financial sector added new pressures to the country's already struggling economy. Government cuts in subsidies on key goods like food and energy have angered Iranians, stoking inflation while the country's currency steadily depreciates.

The impetus behind the subsidies cut plan, pushed through parliament by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was to reduce budget costs and would pass money directly to the poor. But critics have pointed to it as another in a series of bad policy moves by the hardline president.

So far, Western nations have been unable to agree on sanctions targeting oil exports, even as they argue that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran maintains its nuclear program — already the subject of several rounds of sanctions — is purely peaceful.

The U.S. Congress has passed a bill that penalizes foreign firms that do business with the Iran Central Bank, a move that would heavily hurt Iran's ability to export crude. European and Asian nations use the bank for transactions to import Iranian oil.

President Barack Obama has said he will sign the bill despite his misgivings. China and Russia have opposed such measures.

Sanctions specifically targeting Iran's oil exports would likely temporarily spike oil prices to levels that could weigh heavily on the world economy.

Closing the Strait of Hormuz would hit even harder. Energy consultant and trader The Schork Group estimated crude would jump to above $140 per barrel. Conservatives in Iran claim global oil prices will jump to $250 a barrel should the waterway be closed.

By closing the strait, Iran may aim to send the message that its pain from sanctions will also be felt by others. But it has equally compelling reasons not to try.

The move would put the country's hardline regime straight in the cross-hairs of the world, including nations that have so far been relative allies. Much of Iran's crude goes to Europe and to Asia.

"Shutting down the strait ... is the last bullet that Iran has and therefore we have to express some doubt that they would do this and at the same time lose their support from China and Russia," said analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.

Iran has adopted an aggressive military posture in recent months in response to increasing threats from the U.S. and Israel of possible military action to stop Iran's nuclear program.

The Iranian navy's exercises, which began on Saturday, involve submarines, missile drills, torpedoes and drones. A senior Iranian commander said Wednesday that the country's navy is also planning to test advanced missiles and "smart" torpedoes during the maneuvers.

The war games cover a 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) stretch off the Strait of Hormuz, northern parts of the Indian Ocean and into the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea and could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels in the area.

The moderate news website, irdiplomacy.ir, says the show of strength is intended to send a message to the West that Iran is capable of sealing off the waterway.

"The war games ... are a warning to the West that should oil and central bank sanctions be stepped up, (Iran) is able to cut the lifeblood of the West and Arabs," it said, adding that the West "should regard the maneuvers as a direct message."

El-Tablawy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Dubai and Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contributed.

Paul's anti-government appeal appears to tap into the desire of a frustrated electorate for profound change in an era of high unemployment and an economy that has only slowly recovered from the recession.

By DAVID ESPO | AP Special Correspondent

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

NEWTON, Iowa – Texas Rep. Ron Paul received a welcome befitting a man with a suddenly serious chance to win next week's Iowa Republican presidential caucuses as he arrived in the state Wednesday for a final burst of campaigning.

His rivals attacked him, one by one.

If the 76-year-old libertarian-leaning conservative was bothered, he didn't let it show. He unleashed a television commercial that hit Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. In his remarks, lumped all of his rivals into one unappealing category.

"There's a lot of status quo politicians out there," he told a crowd of a few dozen potential caucus-goers who turned out to hear him on the grounds of the Iowa Speedway. "If you pick another status quo politician nothing's going to change."

The audience applauded, but by day's end, it appeared that yet another contender might be rising.

According to public and private polls, Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is gaining ground in the final days of the race, yet another unpredictable turn in a fast-changing caucus campaign. "We have the momentum," he proclaimed.

The politicking was unending.

Two politically active pastors in Iowa's robust evangelical conservative movement disclosed an effort to persuade either Santorum or Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota to quit the race and endorse the other.

"Otherwise, like-minded people will be divided and water down their impact," said Rev. Cary Gordon, a Sioux City minister and a leader among Iowa's social conservatives.

There was no sign either contender was interested.

For months, Romney has remained near or at the top of public opinion surveys in Iowa, as Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman Herman Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich rose briefly to challenge him.

Romney has bent without breaking in the face of each challenge, benefitting from his own well-funded campaign, attack advertisements funded by deep-pocketed allies and the missteps of his challengers.

Paul's surge represents the latest threat, and in some respects, the unlikeliest, coming from a man whose views on abortion, the war in Iraq, Iran and other issues are at odds with those of most Republicans.

At the same time, his anti-government appeal appears to tap into the desire of a frustrated electorate for profound change in an era of high unemployment and an economy that has only slowly recovered from the recession.

"In the last couple of weeks I fell into Ron Paul's camp," said Bob Colby, of Newton, who spent 21 years in the military and is a former employee at a now-shuttered Maytag plant in town.

"I threw my hands up" in frustration, said Colby, who added that he supported Romney in the 2008 caucuses and chose Sen. John McCain over Obama that fall.

In his remarks, Paul drew applause when he said, "I want to cut $1 trillion out of the budget the first year," and eliminate deficits in three.

"The debt is unsustainable once it reaches a certain point," he said. "...My whole effort is to face up to it."

He strongly suggested the United States withdraw its troops from Asia, and drew laughter from the audience when he noted Obama's recent announcement that Marines would be deployed to Australia.

"How long do we have to stay in Korea? We've been there since I was in high school," he said, making no mention of the recent death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and the resulting uncertainty about the nuclear-armed nation.

Nor did Paul refer in his remarks to his recent statement in a campaign debate that he would not consider pre-emptive military action to block Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

His rivals weren't nearly as reticent.

"You don't have to vote for a candidate who will allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Because America will be next. I mean, I'm here to say: You have a choice," Perry told an early morning audience near Des Moines.

"I'm very uncomfortable with the idea that the commander in chief would think it was irrelevant to have an Iranian nuclear weapon," said Gingrich.

Romney also took a poke at Paul. "One of the people running for president thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don't," he said in response to a question from a potential caucus-goer in Muscatine.

Santorum of Pennsylvania attacked from a different angle.

Acknowledging widespread voter anger in an age of high unemployment, he said, "If you want to stick it to the man, don't vote for Ron Paul. That's not sticking it to anybody but the Republican Party."

In a campaign that began months ago, Santorum stands out as the only contender who has not experienced a surge in the statewide public opinion polls. There was a hint during the day in a CNN survey as well as private polls that he might be peaking at exactly the right moment.

"We're very, very happy with the new numbers," he told reporters in Dubuque. "We're seeing our numbers go up in a lot of polls."

He's told his recent audiences that he faces the challenge of persuading Iowa Republicans that he has a chance to win.

Santorum has campaigned extensively in the state, spending parts of more than 250 days and stopping in each of Iowa's 99 counties.

Yet he has been low on funds, and while Romney, Perry and Paul have been advertising on television for weeks, Santorum began only recently.

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont, Brian Bakst, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

F. Michael Hruby, president of New Jobs for Massachusetts, said state laws governing who is considered an independent contractor should be eliminated.

The Republican file photo | Mark M. MurrayThe Friendly's Restaurant at 1946 Wilbraham Road, in the Sixteen Acres section of Springfield, was one of five area stores closed after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.

Massachusetts lost 4,577 jobs in 2011 in 10 corporate relocations and bankruptcies, according to a report issued Wednesday by New Jobs for Massachusetts, a Boxborough-based business advocacy group that laid much of the blame on state government.

In Western Massachusetts, Hasbro announced in April it was reallocating about 150 jobs in marketing and game development from its East Longmeadow facility to the corporation’s Rhode Island headquarters. Friendly Ice Cream Corp. also cut about 50 jobs locally in October after closing five Western Massachusetts stores as part of a bankruptcy restructuring.

In the rest of the state, Fidelity redeployed 1,100 jobs out of Massachusetts to Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and TJX Companies Inc. cut 1,400 jobs in 2011 after closing all 91 of its AJ Wright stores, including 10 in the state and one in Springfield. TJX also cut jobs at its Framingham headquarters and its Fall River distribution site.

Other job cuts occurred at Marlborough-based Evergreen Solar, Boston Power, Genzyme in Westborough, State Street Bank in Boston and Cookson Precious Metals Division in Attleboro.

Among the job losses tabulated were 100 with Comcast that never existed in the state. Comcast added 100 workers to its customer-service call center in nearby Enfield.

Hasbro and Friendly's spokespeople didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

F. Michael Hruby, president of New Jobs for Massachusetts, blamed much of the job losses on state government.

“In most cases it is actions the state has taken through laws, regulations and taxes that dent hiring,” Hruby said.

The solution Hruby said, is to eliminate the state’s laws governing who is considered an independent contractor. “Those are people companies bring in so they can be more flexible,” Hruby said.

He also calls for the state to eliminate a triple damages rule for unintentional payroll mistakes, remove the state inventory tax and the minimum wage for teens. He also wants the state to guarantee companies they will get answers on local reviews of their proposed building projects within 90 days and a five-year moratorium on new environmental regulations among other changes.

Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory P. Bialecki said there are always things the state could do better. But Hruby’s thesis ignores the fact that Massachusetts added more than 50,000 jobs in the last 12 months, a pace of job growth that exceeded that of many other states, Bialecki said.

“Let’s have an honest discussion about where we are today,” Bialecki said by phone.

Bialecki said he has been working with business and government leaders on a job action plan that focuses on making it easier to do business in the state, but also on worker training and focusing on innovation of new products.

Bialecki said no one can judge an economy by just 10 examples. Massachusetts has about 100,000 private employers.

“It has been a very difficult recession for everyone in the country,” Bialecki said. “Obviously we live in a free market society. Companies grow, companies shrink, companies die.”

Hruby said he doesn’t have any direct proof that the reforms he espouses would have made a difference in any of the 10 cases of job losses.

“Companies are very reluctant to talk about the reasons behind their decision-making ,” he said. “In many cases they like their local state representatives. They also continue to have operations here and they don’t want to set themselves up as targets for retribution.”

He admits that Friendly's is a different situation. He said Friendly's was burdened with too much debt at a time when restaurant sales are falling. “There are a lot of things at work in the Friendly’s shrinkage,” Hruby said.

Most recently on the job front, Springfield’s unemployment rate fell to 10.4 percent in November from 10.9 percent in October. Massachusetts’ statewide unemployment, adjusted for seasonal changes, was 7 percent in November.

Vote in our poll – what were your top Western Massachusetts stories of 2011?

As 2011 winds down, The Republican and MassLive.com recap some of the Top 10 news stories each day this week leading up to Jan. 1 when the complete list will appear with photos in The Sunday Republican.

No. 5: Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed a congressional redistricting bill on Nov. 21 that abolishes one of the districts headquartered in Western Massachusetts

The new map includes nine congressional seats, down from the current 10. The state lost one of its seats because of faster population growth in the South and West documented in the 2010 census.

The map was drawn after U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, said on Oct. 26 that he would retire when his term ends next year.

Olver decided against running for re-election because his wife, Rose, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. “This was just the right time for us,” he said.

Olver also noted that at 75, he is the oldest member of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation. He also said that he has had “little quirks” with his own health over the years, including being hospitalized in 2006 with a brain infection.

Legislators divided nearly all of Olver’s 107 communities between districts held by U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, a Worcester Democract. Both plan to run for re-election.

Former state Sen. Andrea F. Nuciforo, of Pittsfield, the register of deeds in the Berkshire Middle District, said he will run against Neal in next year’s Democratic primary.