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Associated PressGov. Deval Patrick, center, shakes hands with Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo after signing a bill legalizing casino gambling in Massachusetts, at the Statehouse in Boston, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. Also seen are, from left, State Sen. State Senator Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, State Rep. Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee, and Rep. Brian Dempsey D-Haverhill. The law is expected to spark a race for the licenses for the three casinos and one slots parlor envisioned by the bill. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

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. 3: Gov. Deval L. Patrick on Nov. 22 signed a bill to legalize casinos in Massachusetts, clearing the way for a gambling resort to be built in Western Massachusetts sometime in the next three to five years

The law authorizes one slot parlor in the state and up to three casino resorts, including one for anywhere in the four counties of Western Massachusetts. Casino resorts must include at least $500 million in investment and a hotel, according to the law. Other casinos are authorized for zones that include southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston area.

Since the bill was signed, Ameristar Casinos has agreed to buy land on Page Boulevard in Springfield for $16 million, with the intent to apply for the casino license for Western Massachusetts. Hard Rock International is proposing a casino in Holyoke, and the Mohegan Sun of Connecticut wants to build a casino in Palmer off Exit 8 of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

On Dec. 13, Patrick appointed Stephen P. Crosby, a former leading aide for two Republican governors, as the chairman of the fledgling Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and state Treasurer Steve Grossman will appoint one member each to the new commission. Patrick, Grossman and Coakley will together select the final two members.

In what was seen as a victory for casinos, Coakley ruled Dec. 7 that the new casino law is excluded from a possible ballot question to repeal the law.

Although Sen. Scott Brown considers himself an underdog in the Senate race, he says it pushes him to try even harder as election season heats up for the 2012 election.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., speaks with reporters at Mul's Diner in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

BOSTON - Sen. Scott Brown considers himself the underdog in his bid to keep his seat in the U.S. Senate but he says that only makes him try even harder.

"I’ve always been the underdog and I will be the underdog again," Brown said to a Boston Globe reporter on Wednesday during a series of 15 minute interviews with the press.

The Wrenthem Republican, who won a 2010 special election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's term, said in November, voters will have a "very clear choice" between him and the presumed Democratic front-runner and Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren.

"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 with MassLive.com at Mul's Diner in South Boston. "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's self-styled image as an independent voice in the sea of Washington's partisanship has been central to his campaign. His recent condemnation of House Republicans for playing party politics and sponsorship of bills supported by Democrats are among the evidence cited by the incumbent senator.

In an interview with Boston-based Fox 25, Brown highlighted the bills he's supported which President Barack Obama has signed into law, going on to call himself "the most bipartisan senator in the entire delegation."

But despite Brown's verbal disapproval of political ads by outside groups, such as super political action committees Rethink Brown and Crossroads GPS, the ads continue to circulate the airwaves in Massachusetts.

While some analysts claim that Bay State voters are too intelligent to be swayed by negative ads, a recent University of Massachusetts-Lowell/Boston Herald poll found the ads have impacted the perception of both candidates.

The poll determined that the percentage of voters who said they viewed Warren unfavorably grew from 18 to 27 percent from September to December while those saying the same about Brown rose from 29 to 35 percent.

The same poll placed Warren ahead of Brown by a small margin within the poll's margin of error, basically placing the two candidates neck-and-neck.

"If I worried about polls, I never would have gotten out of bed," Brown told MassLive.com. "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."

Coakley said professional fundraisers raised more than $367 million from Massachusetts residents last year.

Martha M. Coakley

BOSTON – The attorney general’s office says just 45 cents of every dollar raised for charity by professional fundraising organizations in 2010 actually went to charity.

The office announced Thursday that professional fundraisers raised more than $367 million from Massachusetts residents last year, nearly $39 million more than in 2009. Of that, just 45 percent, or about $166 million, ended up in the hands of a charitable organization.

The 2010 numbers were actually an improvement over 2009, when 43 percent of money raised by professional fundraisers went to charity.

Some of the professional solicitors returned more than 90 percent of the money they raised to the charities that hired them. Others, however, returned just 4 or 5 percent, and in some cases, spent more than they raised.

For a copy of the report log onto http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/nonprofit/professional-solicitations-2010.pdf

Mitt Romney ignored his Republican rivals, also campaigning in the state, and focused instead on the Democratic president.

By KASIE HUNT, Associated Press

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Feeling optimistic, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney aired a new, positive TV ad in Iowa and spent Thursday touring the state and delivering an upbeat message focused on President Barack Obama.

The minute-long ad shows clips from Romney's campaign announcement speech in June. Romney talks in the spot about the "spirit of enterprise" and focuses on the opportunities America has provided its people.

With just five days until the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Romney made an early-morning stop at a diner here to make the same pitch in person. He ignored his Republican rivals, also campaigning in the state, and focused instead on the Democratic president.

"We have a choice in this coming election of what kind of America we're going to have," Romney told the crowd at J's Homestyle Cooking. "It's not just about replacing a president. It's about saving the soul of America. Are we going to change America into something we don't recognize?"

The former Massachusetts governor had two other events scheduled Thursday, including at Music Man Square in Mason City, the birthplace of playwright Meredith Willson. Willson set his play, "The Music Man," in a fictional Iowa town that he based on Mason City.

Boston police say a woman suspected of robbing a city bank was caught a short time later handing out dollar bills to children at a park.

BOSTON (AP) — Boston police say a woman suspected of robbing a city bank was caught a short time later handing out dollar bills to children at a park.

Police say workers at the Citizens Bank told them a woman walked into the branch just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, passed a teller a note demanding money and warned she had a gun. She then left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

A cab driver told police that a fare had told him that she just robbed a bank.

Police found the suspect, Jasmin Rivera, at the park handing out money.

Rivera was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation at her arraignment Thursday. A doctor told a judge she has serious mental health issues. A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf.

An organizational meeting for the new group Transition Westfield will be held next month.

Robert A. Plasse

WESTFIELD – A new group is forming in Westfield called Transition Westfield that will supplement efforts already underway but provide a different view of what the city can do as part of its rebirth.

Characterized as a ‘Think Tank’ concept, Westfield on Weekends president Robert A. Plasse said the group will look at everything from fossil fuel to projects and programs aimed at ensuring the city is successful in its revitalization efforts.

“Transition Westfield will look at what WOW, the Business Improvement District, the city and other groups have done or plan to do and provide a different perspective,” said Plasse.

“Anything we can do to move downtown and the city forward is important,” said BID director Lisa G. McMahon. “This will set up opportunities to shape things for the future,” she said.

Transition Westfield is being spearheaded by Athenaeum director Christopher J. Lindquist and local resident Sabine Prather. They will utilize the experience of Tina Clark of Amherst and ‘The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience’ by Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement.

“Transitions U.S. is a bit like the Occupy Wall Street movement,” said Prather, adding that different people have different ideas.

She said the group will seek to engage the community in home-grown, citizen-led education, action and multi-stakeholder planning to increase local self reliance and resilience.

Transition Westfield is open to everyone, said Lindquist. “It will work with WOW, BID and the city in the rethinking downtown effort. We don’t really know what the overall focus will be yet. We will go in whatever direction the group decides on,” he said.

An organizational meeting of the group is scheduled for Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Westfield Athenaeum.

The officer plans fight the charges against him, his lawyer said.

SPRINGFIELD - City police officer Rafael Nazario denied charges of rape and indecent assault and battery Thursday in Hampden Superior Court.

Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder allowed Nazario, 30, to be released on his own recognizance. Nazario had come to court with his lawyer, Michael O. Jennings, for his arraignment.

Assistant District Attorney Jane E. Mulqueen had asked for a $5,000 cash bail.

Nazario is out on paid sick leave, according to Charles Youmans, Police Department spokesman.

Both Jennings and Mulqueen told Kinder Nazario met an 18-year-old woman through the social networking site Facebook while Nazario had been activated by the Air Force Reserve and was in Iraq earlier this year.

Mulqueen said Nazario, using another name, said he wanted to meet the woman and take photographs of her. He said the woman had agreed to pose in lingerie, nude and in sensual club clothing. The woman alleges that while Nazario was photographing her he raped her, Mulqueen said.

Mulqueen said when he photographed the woman in Springfield in September he was still using the other name, but did tell her he was a city police officer and showed her his badge.

When the woman went to city police about the alleged rape, police were able to identify Nazario using the telephone number he had given the woman, she said. Then the woman picked Nazario's picture out of a photo array.

Jennings said Nazario lives in Springfield, has ties to the city through family, and is not a flight risk. He said Nazario has cooperated with city police in the investigation of the woman's allegation.

Before becoming a police officer Nazario was an aide to a local legislator and to a mayor, Jennings said.

Nazario, a police officer since 2008, had been activated as a military police officer in February with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Jennings said.

Jennings said he was taking information from a police summary of the investigation done for a yet-unscheduled disciplinary hearing by the Police Department. He said the victim went to Nazario's cousin's house voluntarily and was a willing participant in "simulated sexual poses."

He said Nazario plans to fight the charges.

The university has a number of checks to ensure the cars and trucks are used for UMass business only.

AMHERST – With 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst is a large-scale enterprise that requires thousands of workers, scores of buildings – and 737 motor vehicles.

As the vehicles move about, it’s not uncommon for officials to get calls or emails questioning the legitimacy of a state-owned vehicle parked at a mall at noon or outside a private home overnight. But improper use is rare, officials said.

The university has a number of checks to ensure the cars and trucks are used for UMass business only, but that’s not to say people might see them in a shopping mall or downtown Northampton or Amherst, said Al Byam, general manager of UMass Transit, which oversees the fleet.

The physical plant, which provides maintenance and construction services for the entire campus, has 59 cars, 158 trucks and 187 vans.

The rest of the vehicles, the “campus fleet,” includes 56 cars, 19 SUVs, 107 vans, 70 pickup trucks, 68 utility vehicles, and 13 small electric vehicles. These are distributed across campus, sometimes assigned to particular departments.

Byam said an employee might be repairing something on campus and need a few pieces of lumber or some other supplies and take a university vehicle to the hardware store. If it’s lunchtime, he or she might stop and eat at the mall.

In some cases the employee might take a vehicle home overnight because home is closer than campus to a meeting the next day, he said. “It creates an economical and efficient work day,” he said, and it’s up to the department supervisor to oversee such use.

Rowing coach Tony Cronin, who lives in Northampton, takes a van home because he lives two miles from the boathouse. Instead of driving to the university every day and picking up the van, he keeps it at home for efficiency, said UMass spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski.

Police Chief Johnny C. Whitehead and Deputy Chief Patrick Archbald have cars they take home because they might have to respond to an incident from home.

As an extreme case, Byam cited researchers who chase tornadoes. They may drive a UMass truck to the Midwest because that’s where the tornadoes are located.

“As the flagship campus of the state institution, people need to get out and about,” Blaguszewski said. “It’s a global economy ... we need to get places economically and efficiently.”

The cost of operating vehicles comes from the departmental budget that uses each vehicle, and someone in that department oversees those vehicles. Plus, there is a central level that monitors the fleet, Byam said.

“Vehicles are assigned to departments – not people,” Byam said.

Those operating cars have a fuel card that tracks the number of gallons used. If someone purchased 30 gallons of fuel for a trip to, say, the UMass farm in Deerfield, officials would know something was wrong.

The university also has contracted with Fleet Response, a private company that provides oversight and consolidates billing for all vehicle repairs at off-campus shops.

When it comes time to purchase, the vehicle review board looks at the request and determines whether a vehicle needs to be replaced or needed at all. If a new vehicle is needed, the university seeks bids from area dealers.

Renting is encouraged when that is deemed more efficient, Byam said.

The five departments with the highest number of vehicles are transit services, residential life, the police department, auxiliary services and plant, soil and insect sciences.

Auxiliary services, which provides the campus dining services as well as catering, has refrigerated trucks, eight passenger vehicles and 20 vans or trucks.

Plant, soil and insect sciences has 37 vehicles, with a mix of passenger cars and trucks or vans. “It’s high usage. Most researchers are out in the field,” Byam said. Faculty often take students out to work in the field as well.

The university is trying to reduce the fleet and has eliminated 83 vehicles since 2009.

“We’re trying to keep as many vehicles off campus as we can,” Byam said.

Meanwhile, he acknowledges that vehicles could be misused.

“Like any other system, folks could get creative. But we would catch up quickly,” he said. And with the UMass name and logo on so many cars and trucks, “We have the public out there (watching.)

“It’s not a bad check in the system. We identify it as a state car. That deters the temptation to misuse the vehicle,” Blaguszewski said.

“The grand majority (of employees) are focused on doing the right thing,” he said.

Another suspect, Angel Gonzalez, still faces a murder charge in the case.

Miguel Roman

SPRINGFIELD - A Hampden Superior Court jury has returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Miguel Roman, accused in the January 2010 Holyoke murder of Shaun M. Tiago.

Jurors reported at 11:30 a.m. Thursday that they were deadlocked, but continued deliberating after receiving further instruction from Judge Constance M. Sweeney. The guilty verdict came in just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Prosecutors argued that Roman was the gunman who shot 28-year-old Tiago, of Chicopee, three times in the head on Jan. 29, 2010. Tiago's body was found around early that morning on Newton Street in Holyoke, a few blocks from where he was seen leaving the Mambo Cafe on High Street with four men.

Roman was arrested shortly after the murder along with Angel L. Gonzalez of Holyoke; his brother, Felipe Gonzalez, of Chicopee; and Luis Alberto Soto of Springfield.

Angel Gonzalez still faces a murder charge for Tiago's death. Charges against Soto and Felipe Gonzalez were dropped, and the pair testified against Roman in the case.

Roman's sentencing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, when those present in the courtroom will hear victim impact statements. First degree murder convictions in Massachusetts carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole.

The case went to the jury Tuesday following a week of testimony.

Students said there is a call for a wider variety of Advanced Placement classes.

Republican file photoSchool officials reportedly told CBS-3 that if official charges are leveled against the teacher, he could be fired for the allegations.

CHICOPEE – In an effort to improve the schools, educators are asking high school students for suggestions.

During a recent School Committee meeting, Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. asked members of the Student Advisory Council to talk to their peers in the high schools to find out what could be added to the schools to improve education.

“How do students feel about the educational resources offered?” he asked. “What I would like to know is what students feel they are not getting enough of.”

He asked students to ask about courses they would like to add and any materials that they might need.

Committee member Donald J. Lamothe suggested students try to contact recent graduates who are now attending college and ask them if they found any deficits when they started classes.

Taylor McAndrew, a senior at Chicopee High School, said immediately she knew there are a lack of clickers in her school to operate Smartboards. She said she also knows there is a call for more Advanced Placement courses, higher-level classes in which students can earn college credits if they perform well on an end-of-the-year exam.

“The AP courses are in strong demand,” she said. “Surrounding schools have more, and students can take them at a younger grade.”

School Committee member David G. Barsalou said he would like to know if students are informed about options to attend Springfield Technical Community College at no cost under a dual enrollment program.

“I know two students who took courses at STCC. It is not very well known but it is an option,” Kara Lacoste, a senior at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, said.

Students who do choose the dual enrollment program do made a sacrifice because they attend school at the college instead of their regular high school and miss most of their senior year, she said.

Along with courses and materials, member Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello asked if there is a need for after-school programs or if more sport teams should be added. An advocate of starting a lacrosse program, she also asked if that would benefit students.

Students who are interested in a particular topic can fairly easily add an after-school club as long as a teacher agrees to serve as adviser, Lacoste said.

Students said they may be interested in adding lacrosse. The School Committee has not been able to because of a tight budget.

The advisory council promised to report back in the future with more input from students.

"Password" tops the list of the 25 worst passwords of the year compiled by Splashdata.com, an internet-based company that specializes in password security.

Photo courtesy of John Ward/ FlickrIf your password is "qwerty," like the top row of a standard keyboard, hackers should have no problem breaking into your account.

If your password is "password," chances are you've been hacked already.

"Password" tops the list of the 25 worst passwords of 2011, according to a recent study by Splashdata.com, an internet-based company that specialized in password security.

Number 2 on the list is "123456," followed by "12345678."

In the words of Dark Helmet from Mel Brook's 1987 Star Wars-inspired spoof "Space Balls," "That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard of in my life! That's the kinda thing an idiot would have on his luggage!"

Number 4 on the list is the most famous combination of lettters on a standard keyboard, "qwerty." (In the interests of full disclosure, the author admits to using this one on occasion.")

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center cited the survey this week in an advisory it sent out reminding people to need to be wary of hackers when choosing passwords, but unfortunately some people opt toward passwords that are easy to remember rather than actually secure.

"One reason for the lack of security is the amount of passwords a user is required to remember to access the many databases, applications, multiple networks, etc., used on a daily basis. Sharing passwords among users in a workplace is becoming a common theme to continue the flow of operations.," the advisory notes. "Users have prioritized convenience over security when establishing passwords."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry lost the first round Thursday in his bid to have his name added to Virginia's Republican presidential primary ballot as a judge scheduled a hearing on the challenge after the ballot is printed.

In this Nov. 28, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks in Houston. The Republican party in Virginia announced last week that Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry had failed to submit the required 10,000 signatures to appear on the March 6 ballot. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel, File)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry lost the first round Thursday in his bid to have his name added to Virginia's Republican presidential primary ballot as a judge scheduled a hearing on the challenge after the ballot is printed.

Perry, who failed last week to obtain the needed signatures to get on the March 6 ballot, sought an emergency court order to have his name added to the two-candidate March 9 primary. By law, the ballots must be printed by Jan. 9.

U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney scheduled a hearing for a preliminary injunction for Jan. 13. He said if Perry prevailed, Virginia might have to do another printing of the ballot, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported (http://bit.ly/s5gXmq ).

Perry and Newt Gingrich failed to win a place on the Virginia ballot last week. Both fell short of gathering the required 10,000 signatures of registered voters, with 400 from each of the state's 11 congressional districts.

Perry said "overly burdensome and unconstitutional requirements" prevented him from collecting enough signatures to be certified as a candidate. He submitted 6,000 signatures on the Dec. 22 deadline.

He also challenges the part of Virginia's law that says signatures must be gathered by a state resident, claiming that the requirements "restrict the number of message carriers" and even prevents him from soliciting signatures for his own campaign.

Perry had also asked the court to block the state Board of Elections from drawing names to determine placement on the ballot, but that occurred on Wednesday. He in turn sought the emergency order on Thursday.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul's name will appear above the name of Massachusetts' former governor, Mitt Romney.

At Thursday's hearing, Gibney questioned Perry's attorney on why he brought the challenge in federal instead of state court.

"It looks to me like it's asking the federal government to get involved in state affairs," Gibney said.

One of Perry's attorneys, Joseph M. Nixon, responded that the case "may have national implications."

Perry has beefed up his staff with campaign veterans and targeted his travel to key conservative regions.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Main Street Cafe in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A swaggering Rick Perry parachuted into Iowa last summer and landed at the top of the GOP presidential field. He had a job-creation message, an off-the-cuff speaking style and a fledgling campaign organization. He quickly nosedived.

But lately, a more humble Texas governor has been trying to claw his way back into contention with a different approach.

His pitch is tailored to tea party activists and religious conservatives. He is more disciplined and less free-wheeling when talking to voters. He has beefed up his staff with campaign veterans and targeted his travel to key conservative regions.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether Perry's unabashed to that segment of Iowa's electorate will help him rise high enough to finish in the top three in the caucuses on Tuesday night.

Deputy Commissioner Marcia Fowler will serve as interim head of the Department of Mental Health until a permanent replacement is found.

State Department of Mental Health commissioner Barbara Leadholm, left, is seen at a legislative breakfast for the Western Massachusetts region earlier this year with State Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield.

BOSTON – The head of the state Department of Mental Health is stepping down.

Barbara Leadholm announced Thursday that she will be leaving the post on Jan. 31 to join the Boston office of Health Management Associates, Inc., a health care research and consulting firm.

Leadholm has served as commissioner of the department since 2007 and is credited with improving access to community-based mental health services in Massachusetts.

The agency serves more than 20,000 Massachusetts residents with severe or persistent mental illness.

Deputy Commissioner Marcia Fowler will serve as interim head of the department until a permanent replacement is found.

Brown says he agrees with fishermen who believe Frank's knowledge and advocacy will be sorely missed.

File - In this Feb. 24, 2010 file photo, Art Smith, left, talks to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., during the United We Fish rally. The decision by Frank to retire after his current term ends in 2012 is being met with dismay by members of the New England fishing industry, especially in New Bedford, a city he represents and the region's biggest port. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File)

BOSTON (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic U.S. Rep. Barney Frank may disagree on many issues, but Brown says Frank's retirement from Congress will deal a blow to the Massachusetts' fishing industry.

Brown says he agrees with fishermen who believe Frank's knowledge and advocacy will be sorely missed.

During an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Brown said he has made support for fishermen one of his top priorities in Washington.

He's called for the resignation of Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, saying there's a complete lack of trust between the fishing industry and the federal agency.

A new congressional district map that removes the major fishing port of New Bedford from Frank's district was among the factors the veteran congressman cited in his decision to retire.

After the October snowstorm this year, who would have expected there would be no more snow in 2011?

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanMakai Mayfield 7, tries out his new scooter as he rides next to his uncle, Ronald Baker, on Wilbraham Road in Springfield Wednesday. A lack of snow since October, and warmer weather than usual, have made it possible for Western Massachusetts residents to continue enjoying many outdoor activities, like cycling.

The new order – summer, winter, fall.

After a devastating late October snowstorm, barely a snowflake has fallen in much of the Pioneer Valley in November and December.

Not including Thursday, temperatures since Halloween have bordered on the balmy at times. In November, they ran 2.5 degrees above normal, and in December, they are running an astonishing 5.1 degrees above the norm.

“The October storm was unprecedented. But November and December have really gone the other way,” said abc40 meteorologist Dan Brown.

“It looks like December is going to go down as one of the warmest on record and one of the most snowless on record,” he said.

With mild temperatures, a lack of snow is understandable. And in Westfield, through Dec. 28, there were nine days when temperatures reached 50 degrees (including a 61-degree reading Dec. 6) and 21 days when they reached 40.

Historically, Greater Springfield receives about 51 inches of snow from early October through early April, with 13 inches coming before Jan. 1. On average, 2 inches fall in November, and 11 inches fall in December.

Until this year, significant October snowfalls were nearly non-existent. The pre-Halloween storm dropped a foot or more of snow in Greater Springfield. For perspective, the 12.3 inches that fell at Bradley International Airport during the storm broke the previous record snow for October there of 1.7 inches, set in 1979. That’s based on records that go back more than a century.

Since then, the only recorded snowfall in November and December at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee was a trace amount that fell Dec. 8.

A nearly snowless December “is a little unusual,” Brown said. “But going forward, each day we don’t see snow, it becomes more and more of a story.”

The snow-deprived December has already been a story in much of the Northeast. If Boston finishes out the month without snow, it will mark the first time in 38 years that the city experienced a virtually snowless December. Worcester has recorded just .3 inches there this month, the first time that little has fallen since 1892.

Will the lack of snow in December lead to a lack the rest of the season? At Bradley, in Windsor Locks, where about 45 inches of snow a season are normal, nearly snowless Decembers occurred in 2006, when 24 inches of snow fell there for the entire season; in 1952, when 22.9 inches fell for the season; and in 1927, when 20.5 inches fell there.

How long Greater Springfield residents will continue to see a snowless landscape out their windows remains to be seen. The National Weather Service predicts nothing more than a possible light dusting of snow through Jan. 3 – and that is expected Friday. In its extended forecast, Accuweather predicts no significant snow through Jan. 12.

While the state's corporate tax rate will go down next year, a spike in unemployment insurance could offset potential savings.

By KYLE CHENEY

BOSTON - Massachusetts business owners will wake up on Jan. 1 to some welcome tax relief, but a looming spike in the unemployment insurance tax could offset potential savings, and state officials are offering no commitments about whether they’ll stave off the increase.

Patrick administration officials on Thursday hailed the imminent reduction in the state’s corporate tax rate from 8.25 percent to 8 percent – the last in a three-step lowering of the rate from 9.5 percent that began in 2008. Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed the reduction into law that year as part of a package of tax code changes aimed at bringing additional revenue to the state from companies with a Massachusetts presence.

Gregory Bialecki

In a telephone interview, the governor’s top economic development adviser said businesses would collectively save about $15 million in 2012 as a result of the corporate tax reduction.

“The more important part of the story is that the governor and the Legislature worked together and they stuck with it, and over three years, we reduced the rate by a point and a half,” said Gregory Bialecki, secretary of housing and economic development.

“Because we phased it in over three years … we were able to achieve in three years a significant reduction but at the same time in a financially responsible way," he said. "When we talk with some folks who are advocates of tax cuts, there is not enough attention paid to how are we going to handle the loss of revenue that that results in.”

Bialecki said the reduction to 8 percent puts the state “in the middle of the pack” compared with other states, a distinction he said could improve Massachusetts’ reputation as a business-friendly state. He noted, however, that high energy and health care costs continue to be an impediment for businesses and said that the Patrick administration intends to pursue solutions next year.

“Health care and energy costs are and continue to be a differentiating factor,” he said. “Our goal will be, again, to get out of the top 10 in costs.”

House Minority Leader Bradley Jones found irony in the administration’s celebration of the corporate tax reduction he said the governor only embraced after it became clear lawmakers wouldn’t support his effort to increase taxes on businesses in 2007.

“They’re practicing a little bit of revisionist history,” Jones said. “The only reason that they took the tax cut was because that was the only way the bill was going to get done. That won’t be the story he tells.”

Although employers welcomed the reduction in the tax rate, they’re also poised to see an increase of up to 40 percent in the taxes they pay into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, which supports benefits for unemployed workers.

Contributions from businesses are scheduled to climb hundreds of dollars per employee unless lawmakers and the governor act to prevent the spike, as they did earlier this year, citing potential harm to job growth.

In February, the governor signed a bill that limited the unemployment insurance increase to $61 per employee, rather than a $228-per-employee spike that had been slated to take effect in the first quarter of 2011. It was the third straight year that Patrick and the Legislature moved to freeze the unemployment insurance tax rate.

Bialecki offered no assurance that the governor would take the same step this year, noting that the administration hopes to rebuild an unemployment insurance trust fund that has been depleted during the economic downturn.

“We’re looking at the numbers. Our instinct would be, we’d obviously prefer a freeze in the rates,” he said. “That’s something we’re looking at whether we can do. It’s really a bit of a math question. Because of the recession, there’s been a tremendous drain on the unemployment fund in Massachusetts … Now that the economy is recovering, we do need that trust fund balance to start to grow again.”

Bialecki said that if the current unemployment insurance rate could begin to rebuild the trust fund, the administration would look closely at slowing the increase in the tax. He noted that Massachusetts’s fund fared better than funds in some states that needed to borrow “literally billions of dollars” from the federal government to continue paying benefits.

Labor officials have traditionally opposed freezing the unemployment insurance rates, describing the tax on businesses as an important lifeline for residents without jobs and warning that the trust fund’s solvency is jeopardized when businesses request annual freezes. Officials with the Massachusetts AFL-CIO were not immediately available for comment, but in February the group’s president Robert Haynes – who has since stepped down from the post – ripped businesses for seeking a rate freeze, and lawmakers for listening to them.

“If our elected leaders were acting like good parents they would let the UI rate go up and make businesses finally learn their lessons about the pitfalls of their penchant for rate freezes,” Haynes said at the time. “The business community has made this particular bed and they should be made to lie in it. The size of the scheduled rate increase is so high because business blindly and automatically whined and begged for rate freezes in good times and were handed hundreds of millions and probably billions of dollars by the elected leaders who deliver ill-advised rate freezes year after year.”

But John Regan, executive vice president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, reiterated a request Thursday for a four-year freeze in unemployment insurance rates, arguing that based on already-scheduled changes, it would bring in roughly the same level of taxes. Citing Division of Unemployment Assistance projections, Regan said the tax rate is scheduled to sharply increase next year and then gradually decrease as joblessness declines.

Allowing that initial spike in rates to occur, he said, could chill job growth.

“It definitely becomes a factor,” Regan said. “The non-wage related costs of business are a factor in deciding when to add people. When UI rates are high, that’s a headwind you have to deal with before you can add personnel.”

Regan said businesses haven’t openly clamored for an additional reduction in the corporate tax rate, but would like to see a friendlier posture from the state Department of Revenue, which he described as having “a well-earned reputation for being very aggressive, perhaps overly so.”

“There are times when DOR is exceedingly aggressive and not very customer friendly,” he said. “The rate in and of itself is irrelevant if the way you’re assessing income in Massachusetts is so aggressive that companies are turned off by that.”

A spokesman for the Department of Revenue noted that the agency’s new commissioner, Amy Pitter, has launched a discussion with stakeholders to “determine what works and what needs improvement.”

“The subject of dispute resolution is one of those areas up for discussions -- which have just begun -- so to speculate on what the end result will be at this point would be premature, but it is in the interests of both DOR and all taxpayers to reach settlements in tax cases as quickly as possible and in a way that protects both the interests of the Commonwealth and individual taxpayers and corporations,” said the spokesman, Robert Bliss.

The spokesman noted that legislation enacted earlier this year with the support of DOR and the governor reduced the interest rate on any audits that last longer than 18 months. The legislation also required DOR to post on its web site any tax policies issues under development.

Jones, the House minority leader, and his Senate counterpart, Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said they intend to address the potential unemployment insurance spike in the New Year, and Tarr said he hopes to “enact reforms so that it doesn’t become a perennial event to freeze the rate schedule.”

Jones said even with a rate freeze next year, many companies will still likely pay a higher tax because they’re assessed based on the addition or subtraction of workers.

Authorities said they were investigating motorists' accounts that they drove into thick smoke or fog that abruptly limited visibility on westbound lanes of Interstate 10 heading across eastern New Orleans.

Associated PressSeveral vehicles lie mangled in the westbound lane of I-10 between I-510 and Michoud Boulevard in eastern New Orleans, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Police said two men died and 59 people were hurt in a predawn pileup of about 40 vehicles that closed heavily trafficked Interstate 10 in eastern New Orleans through rush hour and beyond. (AP Photo/The Times-Picayune, Eliot Kamenitz)

NEW ORLEANS – Two men have been killed and 61 other people injured in a pre-dawn pileup involving about 40 cars, vans and other vehicles on a busy interstate that crosses New Orleans, closing the route for hours both ways, police said.

Authorities said they were investigating motorists' accounts that they drove into thick smoke or fog that abruptly limited visibility on westbound lanes of Interstate 10 heading across eastern New Orleans. Those who came upon the scene said they heard injured motorists pleading for assistance.

"You just hear all kinds of calls and people screaming for help," tow truck driver Wesley Ratcliff told local broadcaster WWL-TV. In 13 years responding to wrecks, "this is the worst I've ever seen it."

The highway's westbound lanes were still closed late Thursday afternoon as the investigation continued, but eastbound lanes were reopened to permit commuters to head home at rush hour.

The highway is heavily trafficked, a major corridor for thousands of commuters who enter New Orleans each day from its eastern suburbs and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Those driving the route at the time of the wrecks said they suddenly found themselves in utter darkness, unable to see the lights of cars ahead.

"I thought it was fog; my husband thought it was smoke," Stacie Williams told WWL-TV. "Cars were driving in front of us and before you know it, it seemed as if they had dropped off the face of the Earth."

Seven people were taken to south Louisiana's top trauma center where several were in critical condition, said Marvin McGraw, spokesman for the Interim LSU Public Hospital.

Police officer Gary Flot said 25 of the 61 people hurt were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical. He said they included a firefighter with a minor cut to the face while working at the scene. Flot said 37 others refused treatment for minor injuries.

The police spokesman wouldn't say whether police believe smoke or fog contributed to the wreck, noting the investigation is ongoing.

He said the dead were a pickup truck driver and a 54-year-old passenger in another pickup, both from Louisiana. He wouldn't say whether their pickup trucks were among the first vehicles to crash or part of the pileup that ensued.

Cars, tractor-trailers, vans and other vehicles collided on lanes approaching the city's business district. Eastbound lanes were closed to let emergency vehicles get in, and traffic was detoured off the highway through morning rush hour and well into the afternoon.

Interstate 10 stretches from Florida to California and is a major corridor for commercial truck traffic.

Northampton's First Night will begin at noon on Saturday

View full sizeNew Year's Eve activities in 2010 included fireworks at First Night in Northampton above and hayrides in Belchertown, bottom. Many of last year's events will be repeated Saturday night.

Residents will ring in the New Year with fireworks, parties and calmer weather than they saw throughout 2011.

“It’s going to be unseasonably mild,” said abc40/Fox6 meteorologist Mike Masco.

After a year that began with blizzards, included tornadoes, a microburst, an earthquake and ended with the worst snowstorm in recent history, revelers will be able to enjoy the party without worrying about the weather.

“There won’t be any surprises this New Year’s Eve,” Masco said.

Restaurants will be open late and cities will have end-of-the-year activities for the whole family.

Holyoke Heritage State Park will play host to the 15th annual First Night Jr. starting at 10 a.m. on Dec. 31. For an admission fee of $7, families can participate in a variety of games and entertainment spread throughout the park at the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, Children’s Museum at Holyoke, Heritage State Park Visitor’s Center and, for the first time, the Volleyball Hall of Fame. The family event will end with a New York-style, sparkling disco-like ball drop to ring in 2012 at 3:45 p.m.

Starting at noon, Northampton will host the 27th annual First Night festivities presented by the Northampton Center for the Arts and PeoplesBank. Twenty venues downtown will showcase music and family friendly events. Evening highlights include fireworks at 6:15 p.m. from the city’s parking garage and the ball-raising from the roof of the Hotel Northampton at midnight.

Cost is $16 for adults, if purchased today, or $20 on Saturday. Seniors 65 and over are $10 and children 2 through 10 are $8.

In Springfield, party goers can ring in the New Year at Mama Iguana’s restaurant on West Columbus Avenue where a huge flat screen television will broadcast the fireworks and the ball drop in New York City.

“We will have a lot of special items on the menu including lobster tamales and other higher end dishes,” said William M. Collins, chief operating officer of the Spoleto Restaurant Group. “We will stay open until 2 a.m. and will have a live DJ as well.”

Collins said Spoleto Northampton, Mama Iguana’s and Paradise City Tavern in Northampton will also stay open late. He said reservations are encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome as well.

As far as traveling John J. Wallace, director of communications at Bradley International Airport, said it is not a particularly busy weekend, but travelers should still arrive 90 minutes early to check-in for their flights.

Wallace said 2011 was a good year for travel.

“Over all the airlines have seen about a 6 percent increase in travelers this year and we hope the numbers will continue to climb,” he said. “ The addition of Jet Blue last year and added flights in many airlines has also helped increase our numbers.”

The American Automobile Association of Pioneer Valley is reminding residents to drive carefully or hire a taxi service to drive them home after a long night of drinking.

A recent analysis conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that during the last decade, the years’ highest number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities occur on New Year’s Day, said Sandra J. Marsian, the vice president of membership, marketing and public relations for AAA of Pioneer Valley

Yellow Cab in Springfield will be offering free taxi rides to residents for the 31st year in a row.

Operations Manager Kamyar Rahani-Kia said previously that the company offers the rides to give back to the city and make sure people are safe. To request a ride call (413) 739-9999.

Kevin O' Hare contributed to this report.

Massachusetts native Matthew Mullaney was last seen in Jan 2003, less than a month after traveling to Florence, Italy to study art.

Matt Mullaney has been missing since 2003, although there have been several reported sightings throughout Europe. (Family photo)

SCITUATE, Mass. - An eastern Massachusetts mother who has not seen her son since he disappeared in Italy nearly nine years ago is renewing her plea to the public for help.

Terri Mullaney last saw her son Matthew in 2003 when he moved to Florence, Italy to study art. He had previously attended Fairfield University in Connecticut.

Matt traveled overseas in January and everything seemed to be fine until she got a call in early February of that year saying that Matt never made it back to his apartment after a night out with friends.

According to his family, Matt told his roommate he was heading to the Lions Fountain Irish pub in Florence, a local spot frequented by American students.

"According to the staff, his behavior was normal and he was chatting with other students in the bar while there," the family wrote on a website featuring the disappearance. "At 2:30 a.m. he left. The staff not sure if he was alone or had connected with others outside the pub"

Within four days of his disappearance, a missing person report was filed with the Florence Police Department, Matt's family said.

According to a report by the Irish Times, police in Florence said there were no signs of foul play. And since his disappearance, there have been several reported sightings, including several in Ireland.

Although the case is listed with the FBI and several European police agencies, Matt's mother said she hasn't heard anything in a while.

“We’ve been in close contact with the FBI over the last few years trying to get samples of our DNA distributed to as many west European countries that have databases as possible," Terri told the Irish Times. "It has been another long process. The samples have finally arrived at The Hague and we are hearing they are, finally, being shared for comparison."

Matt is 30 years old and described as weighing 175 pounds. He stands 5-feet, 10-inches tall with a tattoo of a flaming shamrock on his upper back and a surgical scar on his left ankle.

Anyone with information about Matt Mullaney or who might have seen him is asked to call his mother Terri at 781-545-6995. For more information about the case, visit the family's website.