Begining in 1947, Edward W. Collins served 12 years on the committee, serving as chairman twice while playing a leading role a five-year school building campaign that culminated with the construction of Duggan Junior High School.

Christopher Collins

SPRINGFIELD – The School Commitee began a new year with the help of a 60-year-old gavel Monday, the same one vice chairman Christopher Collins’s father used to open school board meetings in the 1950s.

To mark Collins’ election as committee vice chairman for 2012, his older brother Edward W. “Bud” Collins Jr. presented him with a wooden gavel engraved with their father’s name and dates of service as committee chairman.

“I figured it was time to give this to Chris,” the elder Collins said, explaining that the gavel was passed on to him after his father’s death 29 years ago.

Begining in 1947, Edward W. Collins served 12 years on the committee, serving as chairman twice while playing a leading role a five-year school building campaign that culminated with the construction of Duggan Junior High School.

An executive at Chapman Valve Co., Edward Collins also presided over a family of seven, including Timothy T. Collins, the longtime president of the Springfield Education Association and Edward, a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

After being presented with his father’s gavel, Christopher Collins said he would try to remain faithful to “the vision my father had” during a decade-plus of public service.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who also serves as chairman, noted that “Bud” Collins cultivated a blunt, no-nonsense style, once crumpling up a report that displeased him and burning it with his cigar.

“They didn’t have shredders back then,” the mayor joked.

As his first move, Collins announced assignments for the nine subcommittee, including appointing himself, Norman Roldan and Peter M. Murphy to the budget and fiancee and legislative and contracts committees; Antonette E. Pepe, Barbara Gresham and Roldan to the student, parent concerns committee.

Denise M. Hurst, Murphy and Collins will also serve on the superintendent evaluation committee.

Collins, a former principal and conservation committee member, was elected to the committee in 2007.

Collins announced in December that all seven committee members had agreed to support him for the vice chairmanship; the 7-0 vote Monday was a formality.Collins said the coming year will be challenging, citing upcoming contract negotiations, the continued improvement of Level 4 underperformng schools and the search to replace departing Superintedent Alan J. Ingram as top priorities.

He also plans to travel to Boston with his brother Christopher later this month to lobby the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to move the spring MCAS testing dates back to a offset seven lost school days due to Hurricane Irene and the freak October blizzard.

Authorities have arrested a man in connection with dozens of suspected arson fires that have rattled Los Angeles residents since last week.

The Associated PressLos Angeles Fire Department firefighters extinguishes numerous cars on fire in a carport in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. For the fifth night in a row, a spate of arson fires has sent firefighters scrambling to extinguish car fires in the Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Studio City, and Sherman Oaks neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Fire Department confirms a person of interest has been detained and is being questioned in connection with the arson spree. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

MICHAEL R. BLOOD, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man in connection with dozens of suspected arson fires that have rattled Los Angeles residents since last week.

A sheriff's deputy stopped the driver of a van early Monday in Hollywood. The vehicle matched a description by witnesses, and the driver resembled the person in a surveillance video that police released.

Police declined to identify the suspect, but said he was arrested in connection with 53 fires, many of them started in parked cars, that have flared since Friday in Hollywood, neighboring West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.

The man was to be booked later on arson charges.

The blazes, which destroyed cars and scorched apartment buildings, caused an estimated $2 million in damage, city fire Capt. Jamie Moore said.

The suspect resembled a "person of interest" captured on videotape near a carport, Moore said.

Authorities declined to provide other details, saying they did not want to jeopardize the case.

Hundreds of investigators, police officers and firefighters raced to deal with the rash of fires over the New Year's weekend. Police were kept on overtime, and in Hollywood, the noise of helicopters and sirens continued virtually nonstop.

Investigators still were busy mapping out the sequence of the blazes, examining more than 100 clues and interviewing witnesses.

Firefighters routinely are called to put out burning cars, but this recent spate has been unusual. Crews have continued to respond to other emergencies.

The fires left a trail of smoldering debris in Hollywood, West Hollywood, North Hollywood and the Fairfax district of Los Angeles.

Police urged residents to check their cars for any signs of tampering and take simple precautions such as locking vehicles, keeping garage and carport lights on at night and reporting suspicious activity.

Despite the arrest, police continued to be vigilant.

"We're not resting, and we're not stopping" the extra patrols, police Capt. Andrew Smith said. "If you have lights in your carport area, keep them on tonight."

Simon J. Brighenti Jr., who will become the new town attorney, has practiced law in Massachusetts since 1987.

Republican file photoSimon J. Brighenti Jr.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor-elect Gregory C. Neffinger plans to replace Town Attorney James T. Donahue with Simon J. Brighenti Jr., a lawyer with a practice in the city.

Neffinger, who is slated to take office Tuesday, said he wants to work with a legal counsel to the city to whom he is closer.

“This is nothing personal against Jim. I like talking to him. He is very competent because he has been doing the work many years,” Neffinger said Thursday of Donahue.

The mayor-elect said he did not yet have the particulars about Donahue’s compensation, but that he plans on Brighenti getting similar pay. The salary budgeted for the part-town town attorney position is a retainer of about $60,000 a year with an hourly rate on top of that for special projects. The hourly pay for Brighenti is still being negotiated and Donahue’s rate was not available. The town attorney advises the mayor and department heads.

“I’m excited about it. I do have big shoe to fill. I really respect the job he did,” Brighenti said of Donahue Monday.

Brighenti, 50, practices law with the firm of O’Connell, Flaherty & Attmore, which recently moved to West Springfield from Springfield. He has specialized in land use and real estate law.

He is a 1979 graduate of West Springfield High School and holds an undergraduate degree in mass communications and minor in Latin and classical studies from the University of Massachusetts. His legal degree is from the former Western New England School of Law in Springfield.

Brighenti was admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts in 1987, in Connecticut in 1990 and in Rhode Island in 2000.

Donahue was appointed town counsel in 1983. His title was changed 11 years ago to town attorney when the community moved from the town meeting form of government to the mayoral form. At that time, the city gained the Town Council as its legislative body and the title of the town counsel was changed to avoid confusion, according to Donahue.

“The mayor has the authority to establish his own team,” Donahue said Monday of the change.

Neffinger had earlier told city department heads before the holidays that he did not anticipate making any rash personnel changes. Most city department heads serve at the pleasure of the mayor.

Recently, Department of Public Works Director Jack L. Dowd announced his intention to retire in Feb. 10.

The city must have local funding in place to help pay for a $13.4-million-plus new library by the end of the month or lose a $6.3 million state grant.

Republican file photoThese are drawings of the new $13.4 million library proposed for West Springfield.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Town Council is scheduled to take up the issue of whether to approve bonding for $7.1 million to help pay for a new $13.4-million-plus library when it convenes its first meeting of the new year on Tuesday evening.

It has until the end of the month to put local funding in place or the city will lose a $6.3 million grant for the project from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

The issue of whether to move ahead to build a new library has been a contentious one. Proponents have argued that a new building is needed because the current structure is cramped and lacks adequate parking. Opponents have argued that it is too ambitious of a project to take on at about the same time as building a new high school and that libraries will be less relevant now that people can read books over e—readers.

The nine-member board was scheduled to put the issue to a vote when it met Dec. 19. However, Town Councilor Angus M. Rushlow objected to voting at the time, stating that he did not have enough information. The council deadlocked 4-4 over taking a vote, with proponents failing to gain the five votes needed to overcome Rushlow’s objection. Town Council President Kathleen A. Bourque has recused herself from voting or taking part discussion about the library issue on the grounds that a relative owns property near Mittineague School, the proposed site for the project.

A two-thirds majority vote, or six votes of the council, is needed to approve a bonding request.

Tuesday will also mark the first council meeting of the board’s two new members, who were elected in November. They are Bruce L. Gendron and George D. Condon III.

Officials have estimated building a new library will add somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 to $35 a year to the tax bill for the average home, depending on how quickly the bond would be paid down.

The Rev. Barry Cass that the Main Street church has "good insurance. Watch video

SOMERS - Smiles and even a bit of laughter mingled with tears and mournful hugs as members of the Somers Congregational United Church of Christ met Monday in wake of an overnight fire that destroyed their sanctuary.

“It’s almost beyond comment,” said longtime parishioner and Somers resident Malcolm Chadbourne as he stared at the blackened rubble with his wife, Joanne Chadbourne ““We are just shocked and sad.”

State and local fire officials continue to probe the cause of the Sunday night blaze that leveled much of the landmark church, sent its steeple tumbling into an inferno, left congregants numb with shock.

No injuries were reported.

Long-time pastor Barry Cass mixed humor with sorrow and resolve during the impromptu noon service as he spoke of the church’s past and its plans to rise anew from the ashes.

“We have good insurance,” Cass said. “We are about to find out how good it is....We are covered for replacement.”

CTnow.comThe Somers Congregational United Church of Christ was destroyed by a fire that broke out late Sunday night.

The vote was mainly sparked by the disintegrating relationship between some of the city councilors and the mayor.

CHICOPEE – The City Council elected one of its longest-serving members as president shortly after the 13 members were sworn into office Monday.

In the reorganization meeting, the group elected George R. Moreau, who has been a council member for 24 years and served as president about 10 years ago, rejecting William M. Zaskey’s bid to retain his seat for the fifth year.

The council also elected Dino A. Brunetti as vice president over existing vice president Robert J. Zygarowski. This is the first time Brunetti will serve in the post.

The vote was mainly sparked by the disintegrating relationship between some of the city councilors and Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette.

“Hopefully it will be a two-way street now instead of a one-way street,” Moreau said after the election.

The severe break-down in the relationship between some council members and Bissonnette came during June budget hearings when the City Council voted 7-6 to cut the mayor’s chief of staff and administrative assistant after he tried to transfer most of the staff from the city clerk’s office to other positions.

That argument led to a split council, with Zaskey, Zygarowski and other members criticizing their fellow councilors’ decision to eliminate the two mayoral jobs and accusing them of playing politics.

George Moreau

But Monday’s vote for president did not run along the same 7-6 vote which has been common in the past few months. Instead Moreau received 9 ballots and Zaskey received 4. For vice president the vote was 8 for Brunetti and 5 for Zygarowski.

Councilors Brunetti, Moreau, Frank N. Laflamme, James K. Tillotson, John L. Vieau, Frederick T. Krampits, Timothy S. McLellan and Donald G. Demers voted for Moreau and Brunetti. Zaskey, Zygarowski, Jean J. Croteau and Charles M. Swider voted to keep the existing council leadership. Newcomer Gerry Roy voted for Moreau for president and Zygarowski for vice president.

Tillotson earlier said he likes and respects Zaskey, but that he believes it is time to give someone else a chance.

There was no discussion about the candidates during the short meeting. Councilors voted by paper ballot but are required by the Open Meeting Law to make the votes public.

Zaskey said he continued to run for the seat although it was clear that he did not have enough votes because he felt it was important for the city that the city council president and the mayor has a good working relationship.

“I hope that they will see a cooperative working relationship with the executive branch is important,” he said.

The White House their goal, it was a final, full-day of frenzied appeals for support in precinct caucuses that open the 2012 campaign.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign stop at the Rising Sun Cafe, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in Polk City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

By DAVID ESPO and MIKE GLOVER

DES MOINES, Iowa – The White House their goal, Republican presidential hopefuls raced across Iowa on Monday in final, full-day of frenzied appeals for support in precinct caucuses that open the 2012 campaign. "It is the race you make it," an upset-minded Rick Santorum told voters soon to pick a winner.

Santorum drew large crowds as he hustled through five events; the six-person field had 23 combined. That and the $13 million or more already spent on television commercials was evidence enough of the outsized importance Iowa holds in the race to pick a Republican opponent for President Barack Obama next fall.

Campaigning like a front-runner, Mitt Romney had one eye on his GOP rivals and another on Obama as he argued he is in the best position of all to defeat the president. "The last three years have been a detour. They're not our destiny," said the former Massachusetts governor, who is making his second try for the nomination and has been at or near the top of the Iowa polls since the campaign began.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul flew into the state accompanied by his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and urged supporters to "send a message tomorrow night that echoes not just around Iowa but ... around the world." Many in the audience of about 300 chanted "end the Fed," a reference to the Texan's pledge to abolish the nation's central bank as a first step toward repairing the economy.

Most polls in recent days have put Romney and Paul atop the field in Iowa, with Santorum in third and gaining ground. More than a third of all potential caucus-goers say they could yet change their minds.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

"Do not settle for less than what America needs to transform this country. Moderate candidates who try to appeal to moderates end up losing," Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, said in a slap at Romney.

Alone among the contenders, Newt Gingrich conceded defeat, at least in the first contest of the campaign.

After absorbing a pounding in television commercials from Romney's deep-pocketed allies, the former House speaker said he was looking ahead to next week's primary in New Hampshire, and then to one in South Carolina on Jan. 21

"I don't think I'm going to win, I think when you look at the numbers that volume of negativity has done its damage," he said of the Iowa caucuses.

Romney is viewed as the overwhelming favorite in New Hampshire, although Santorum, Paul and Gingrich have all said they intend to campaign there.

South Carolina figures to be more wide-open, the first contest in the South, and in a deeply Republican state.

If others were thinking about conceding Iowa, they did not show it.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry took swipes at Romney, Santorum and Paul in an appearance in Sioux City. "If you have my back tomorrow at the caucuses, I'll have your back for the next four years in Washington, D.C," he said.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, waves from her bus following a campaign stop, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann unveiled the first television ad in months. It hailed her as Iowa-born and the only "consistent conservative fighter" in the race and concluded, "She'll never back down."

The commercial was the last in a race in which the candidates' own ads were sometimes overshadowed by the more negative ones run by super PACs, organizations established and funded by their allies.

Perry and a super PAC supporting him spent the most, $5.5 million, according to one tally of the ad spending.

But it was the combination of Romney ($1.3 million) and his super PAC ($2.7 million) that appeared to have the most noticeable impact on the race. That was particularly so in the final few weeks, when Gingrich surged to the front of the polls.

The former speaker soon found himself under relentless attack in ads by the Romney super PAC. At the same time, the former Massachusetts governor's campaign took the high road, airing positive ads designed to show him in a favorable light.

Short on funds, Gingrich was unable to respond in kind, declaring instead he would run only a positive campaign.

It wasn't much of a contest, and before long, he faded, while Paul and then Santorum rose.

In fact, Gingrich's emergence was only one in a series of twists that seemed to produce a new front-runner every few weeks.

Bachmann earned that distinction when she won a straw poll last summer in Ames, but she was bumped off stride when Perry entered the race. His boomlet lasted until his first few debate performances were judged lacking, and then it became Herman Cain's turn. The former business executive suspended his campaign after being accused of personal indiscretions, and Gingrich began gaining ground, then Paul.

Throughout it all, Romney remained steady, advantaged by his well-funded campaign, the super PAC that supports him and the missteps of his rivals.

Yet to the end, the polls suggested the former Massachusetts governor was having trouble persuading Iowa Republicans that he was conservative enough to warrant their support.

Somehow, even an intense post-Christmas push by the candidates through Iowa's cities, small towns and smaller towns left Iowa Republicans uncertain about which contender to back.

"I'm really still undecided," said Bill Brauer, of Polk City, as he listened to Santorum speak on the campaign's final day.

"I'm going to make up my mind tonight," he said.

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt and Shannon McCaffrey in Iowa contributed to this report. Espo reported from Washington.

The "Replanting Monson" Tree Committee, formed in response to the tornado, will hold several upcoming events for residents, including a tree information seminar on Feb. 2 that will help homeowners decide what kinds of trees to plant on their properties.

The Republican/Mark MurrayBill Noel, a volunteer with Grace Baptist Church in Hudson, carries branches that the group cut up for a homeowner at 22 Bethany Road in Monson. The church group, along with other volunteers, helped tornado victims clean up on Saturday. It was the last organized clean up before winter.

MONSON - The "Replanting Monson" Tree Committee wants to help residents who lost trees to the June 1 tornado.

The committee, formed in response to the tornado, will hold several upcoming events for residents, including a tree information seminar on Feb. 2 that will help homeowners decide what kinds of trees to plant on their properties.

The committee will discuss overlooked tree varieties that might be appropriate for the home and street landscape, and will emphasize varieties available in the spring, members said.

Audra L. Staples, "Replanting Monson" Tree Committee chairwoman, said the seminar will likely be held at the high school, starting at 6 p.m.

The next seminar will be held on March 1, and will give residents an overview of everything the committee has done. Where trees will be replanted in the spring will be discussed. The committee also is interested in hearing from the public about where trees should be replanted, she said.

"We're hoping for a lot of participation from people whose property was directly impacted," Staples said.

She said the number of trees that were lost to the tornado is "just unfathomable."

The committee will host a celebration for Arbor Day weekend in April and is still planning activities. Staples said it will be a "very large, and very fun" celebration.

The group is working with nurseries to obtain trees, and hopes to be able to offer them at a low cost to property owners so they can start replanting in the spring, Staples said. The committee is seeking funding through a variety of grant opportunities, and will sell T-shirts and tote bags to raise money to support the tree purchases.

"Trees aren't cheap," she said.

Leslie A. Duthie, a committee member, said one of the problems with leaving open land is that it gives invasive species the opportunity to move in. Duthie said she hopes the workshops will help residents as they make decisions about what to plant.

“Our committee is very excited about the work we have ahead of us. We will be looking for volunteers down the road to help us to replant,” Duthie said.

The committee has received recommendations from the Urban Forest Strike Team which canvassed Monson for public replanting opportunities. These recommendations suggest not specific tree species, but either large shade trees or small ornamental trees for various locations throughout the downtown area. Staples said the committee is looking at the downtown area for replanting opportunities, but will also be surveying all affected roads for opportunities to replace trees.

A "tree care" session will be held in early April, and attendance will be required for all individuals who will be receiving trees, or for neighborhoods where street trees will be planted.

For information, email monsontreecommittee@gmail.com.

The 7th graders at The Renaissance School in Springfield , after a tour of Reebok headquarters in Canton, designed their own sneakers and pitched them to a Northampton sneaker store owner. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD - Emily Hagan, a 23-year-old UMass grad student, teaches a sneaker-oriented curriculum to Renaissance School students during a week-long program (Photo by Brian Canova)

The 7th graders at The Renaissance School in Springfield came to class for kicks last week, and following a tour of Reebok headquarters in Canton, Mass., designed their own sneakers and pitched them to a Northampton sneaker store owner.

“Sneakers 4 Success,” used the popularity of urban sneaker culture to teach students the real world applications of business and technology over four days.

"The idea is to try to understand the literal connection you have to creating something that's mass produced," Carlos McBride, a professor of urban studies at Hampshire College, told students during the first day of the program.

It was one of many week-long electives offered during the Renaissance School's semester-ending "Intensive Week." Other topics included cooking, drumming, and overnight camping on the Appalachian Trail.

The idea came to University of Massachusetts senior engineering student Samuel Del Pilar during a summer internship with Reebok. He pitched the idea to Reebok executives in August, and was asked to prove the program could be put into action.

When Del Pilar saw the middle-school students’ reactions after speaking on a panel and detailing how he had used a degree in engineering to create the prospect of a career in the sneaker industry, he moved forward with the idea.

“When Sam said that his major was morphed into sneaker engineer and sneaker design a lot of the kids were like, ‘Whoa I didn’t even know you could do that,’” said Renaissance ELA teacher Teisha Thomas.

Thomas said students began to understand how college degrees could translate into careers in industries that interested them, such as the one surrounding the sneakers that they wear to school every day.

“When I heard that Sam wanted to pilot a program like that I jumped on it,” Thomas said.

Back in Amherst Del Pilar assembled a team of nine UMass and Hampshire College students, drafted a curriculum, and with a third place finish in the UMass Innovation Challenge won funding for the project.

Urban Identity

SPRINGFIELD - UMass engineering student Samuel Del Pilar developed Sneakers 4 Success, an educational program that teaches students real-life marketing, design, and business skills through basketball sneakers (Photo by Brian Canova)

The program began on the final Tuesday before schools broke for the holiday break. Throughout the fall Thomas’ 7th grade English class had focused on the meaning of identity in books like “We Beat the Streets,” which tells the story of three childhood friends who met at a magnet school like Renaissance and made a pact to graduate college and then tackle medical school.

Day one of Sneakers 4 Success probed the urban identity and asked students to examine why they liked the sneakers. Students compared their taste to commercial advertisements and watched excerpts from “Just for Kicks,” a 2005 documentary on the sneaker industry.

“The brands are studying your actions. You are the trendsetters,” said McBride, who drew on his own childhood to connect with students and the fever of a pair of fresh kicks.

McBride shared a story of his own, when unable to afford new sneakers for the first day of school he borrowed a pair from a friend. Several sizes too big he stuffed socks in the toes of the sneakers in order to wear them.

“We can talk about the commodification and the materialism, but there’s something that happens when you have young folks that don’t have access to a number of things, that they get a pair of sneakers, a hat, or a jacket, and it kind of lets people know they exist. That this is who they are,” McBride said afterwards in an interview.

Del Pilar expressed similar sentiment. He described the communal affair of waiting in line all night with childhood friends for the coveted release of a new sneaker.

His words were echoed when on the final day of Sneakers 4 Success headlines around the country buzzed with news of thousands of eager shoppers camping overnight at malls and storefronts for the re-release of Michael Jordan’s 1990’s model Jordan Retro XI “Concord.” In Springfield shoppers lined Main Street’s sidewalk outside Urban Gear, an urban apparel store, and pitched tents outside Expression’s Boston Road location.

Thomas said that to many of her students, sneakers are one of the few remaining ways to express individuality at school since a city-wide dress code was instated in 2008.

“The one piece of individuality outside of accessories and jewelry is their shoes. That’s the only way for them to express outside of the strict uniform who they really are,” Thomas said. “It’s clear that it matters to them and connecting something that matters to a possible future in a STEM (science, mathematics, engineering and technology) environment, which is an area where minority students aren’t well represented is a big thing.”

Richard Barreiros, a 12-year-old Renaissance student said his shoes say a lot about him.

"The type of sneaker you get shows your personality. Mine show I like sports and basketball because I have a lot of basketball shoes,” he said.

When Richard and his classmates learned they would have the opportunity to tour Reebok’s world headquarters in Canton, Mass., they were thrilled.

Kickin’ it in the Real World

CANTON - Reebok community relations representative Jessica Franklin tours Renaissance students through the atrium-like spine of the company's Canton headquarters (Photo by Brian Canova)

"Almost everything you do in school is going to help you in this job. Everything from math, to history and English I've pulled skills from," Neil Slepian, Senior Manager of Footwear Development at Reebok, said to students seated around a conference-room table at Reebok.

Students listened as Reebok's product developers demonstrated how game-time conditions are recreated in the human performance engineering lab, a half basketball court overlooked by the room where the kids sat. Following presentations from a series of engineers concept artists used sketchbooks to demonstrate the process of developing new designs.

Lysandra Gonzalez, a 13-year-old Renaissance student, was especially impressed with the designers.

"Actually sitting in a conference room and seeing the shoes they'd designed but hadn't come out with yet was the most exciting part,” said Gonzalez, who admitted she was still interested in nursing despite the trip.

Returning to the classroom the next day students encountered no shortage of creativity when it came to building their own designs. With art supplies, tracing paper, and fabric samples students worked in groups to build two-dimensional prototypes of their ideal sneaker, and even produced their own commercials to incorporate into their marketing strategies.

In the culmination of a week of work, groups competed head-to-head with to see how their designs would fare with local urban footwear and clothing boutique owner, Jovan James.

SPRINGFIELD - Jovan James, owner of UNITE Footwear in Northampton, worked with Renaissance students to develop business and marketing acumen (Photo by Brian Canova)

James, owner of UNITE Footwear in Northampton, began by retracing the steps he’d taken to own a business in something he’s passionate about.

“Follow your dreams and do what interests you,” James said. “Acquire life skills along the way and be adventurous. Think outside the box and don’t let yourself get pigeon-holed into doing something that you don’t love.”

James began his career in herpetology – the study of reptiles – before attending culinary school and transitioning through an executive Sous-chef position before eventually approaching a local business owner and purchasing his storefront.

He encouraged students to learn ways to use social media to benefit themselves and their community in a positive way, and offered examples of ways his company uses Facebook to provide customers with instant notifications when new inventory arrives. Students were awarded with gear from his store following their presentation.

Thomas called the program a success and said that programs like this will continue to benefit students with the support of the community.

She said the role of college students in urban classrooms is a valuable one, where the possibility of higher education can sometimes be an elusive idea.

“I think it’s important that colleges and universities make their presence known in elementary and middle schools so its not this concept, this idea of where I’m supposed to go but it’s a reality, it’s something visual, something tangible. It’s something I understand as a student who perhaps my family has never gone there,” Thomas said.

SPRINGFIELD - Domineek Barnes and Alanna Nicholson at The Springfield Renaissance School's Graduation Ceremony at Symphony Hall in 2011. All 78 students from the 2011 graduating class went on to two- or four-year colleges. (Staff photo by Michael Beswick)

Christian Wise, a volunteer with Sneakers 4 Success who formerly attended UMass and currently studies at Medgar Evers College in New York, said he considers it his “responsibility to give back.”

“We wouldn’t be here without those who pointed us in the right direction. It’s absolutely necessary to guide these kids to where they need to be because there’s so many negative influences that are effecting them socially, economically, politically and foremost academically, that you have almost fifty percent of kids dropping out of high school,” Wise said.

However in six years The Renaissance School has seen results in stark contrast to the Springfield’s 53% city-wide graduation rate. According to the Department of Education, Springfield graduated 53% of its four-year high school students in 2010. According to data from 2009, an additional 3.7% graduated following their fifth year.

Since it opened in 2006, Renaissance, which serves grades 6-12, has seen two graduating classes. Of their graduating students, 100% have entered college, a goal established by the school from its outset.

Mahoney’s solution, “Make it smaller.”

“Every kid that walks by I know by name,” said Mahoney, before demonstrating his claim in a busy hallway of the expeditionary learning school, a model developed at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in 1987 to further urban education programming to facilitate student familiarity with the world in which they live.

“Even if you’re super-dynamic and super-committed you can’t know every kid’s name in a school with 1,200 or 2,000 kids. That’s ridiculous,” Mahoney said.

He explained that on top of having only 700 students at Renaissance, faculty and administration are with them for seven years once they enter in the sixth grade.

“You can’t put a price on growing up with kids. It’s more of a family,” he said.

“The second piece is you have to be able to have really committed adults in your building,” and of that, Mahoney says, he and the students are very lucky.

Helen Curley-Swannie, of Longmeadow, was principal for the day at Wolf Swamp Elementary School.

Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The RepublicanHelen C. Curley-Swannie, 10, a 5th grader at Wolf Swamp Road School pauses in her duties as co-principal for a day for a photo opportunity with Principal Neil G. Gile, standing.

A West Hartford woman is held at knifepoint as thieves ransack her home, bias may have fueled an attack on an NYC temple, and more morning news.

AP Photo/Saurabh DasMonkeys help themselves to fruits handed out by devout Hindus early on a foggy, Tuesday morning in New Delhi, India. Today, Jan. 3, is the day of the Hindu Monkey God Hanuman, and fruits and other foods are handed out to monkeys by devotees who are attempting to rid themselves of sin.

• Pentagon bracing for budget cuts, force reduction [nytimes.com]


• Suspect in ranger killing was an Iraq veteran [latimes.com]


• GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum steps up in Iowa [theatlantic.com]


• Destroyed Somers church may rebuild [courant.com]


• Hollywood hurting as movie attendance dips to 16-year low [latimes.com]


• Crude oil prices rise as tension with Iran mounts [reuters.com]


• West Hartford woman held at knifepoint while home is ransacked [courant.com]


• Despite brisk holiday sales, tepid consumer spending predicted in 2012 [nytimes.com]


• NYPD: Bias may have fueled attack on Hindu temple in Queens [nytimes.com]



Today in History for Jan. 3 (AP video):




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Jessica Richards, a 23-year-old Orange woman injured in Sunday's Route 202 crash, was pregnant, according to a published report.

PELHAM – The unborn twins of a woman injured in a fatal New Year's Day rollover accident in Pelham did not survive the crash, according to a published report.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Jessica L. Richards, the 23-year-old woman who was a passenger in Michael Atwell's car at the time of Sunday's crash, was pregnant. Richards was seriously injured in the Route 202 rollover incident, but her unborn children didn't survive, the Gazette reported.

Atwell, 32, of Orange, died after he was ejected from the vehicle. The crash occurred early Sunday morning and is under investigation by state police, who have not released any new information about the incident.

Atwell's sister, Becky McGinnis, told the Gazette that Richards was pregnant and engaged to her brother. The couple lived together in Orange, according to McGinnis.

Richards, who grew up in Brookfield, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with serious injuries. She was discharged from the hospital on Monday, according to the Northampton newspaper.

Additional information was not immediately available.

The eight-year Bush presidency has merited no more than a fleeting reference in televised debates and interviews.

Associated PressIn this March 24, 2006 file photo, President Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., wave on the tarmac upon Bush's arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — A funny thing happened recently in the presidential campaign in Iowa: The last Republican president's name actually surfaced.

"We've had, in the past, a couple of presidents from Texas that said they weren't interested in wars ... like George W. Bush," a voter said to Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who has been sharply critical of U.S. military entanglements overseas. "My question is: How can we trust another Texan?"

It was an odd, almost discordant moment in a GOP contest where Bush, a two-term president who left office just three years ago, has gone all but unmentioned. While the candidates routinely lionize Ronald Reagan and blame President Barack Obama for the nation's economic woes, none has been eager to embrace the Bush legacy of gaping budget deficits, two wars and record low approval ratings — or blame him for the country's troubles either.

"Republicans talk a lot about losing their way during the last decade, and when they do they're talking about the Bush years," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont-McKenna College. "For Republicans, the Bush administration has become the 'yadda yadda yadda' period of American history."

The eight-year Bush presidency has merited no more than a fleeting reference in televised debates and interviews. When it does surface it's often a point of criticism, as when former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told CNN on Sunday that he regretted voting for the No Child Left Behind education law Bush championed.

The former president himself has been all but invisible since leaving office in 2009 with a Gallup approval rating of just 34 percent. His predecessor, Democrat Bill Clinton, had a 66 percent approval rating in early 2001 when he stepped down after two terms marred by a sex scandal and impeachment.

In a presidential contest dominated by concerns over the weak economy, government spending and the $15 trillion federal debt, the Republican candidates have been loath to acknowledge the extent to which Bush administration policies contributed to those problems. Republicans also controlled Congress for six of the eight years Bush was in the White House, clearing the way for many of his policies to be enacted.

There is no question that Obama's policies, including the federal stimulus program and the auto industry bailout, have swollen the deficit and deepened the debt. And three years into his presidency, Obama often falls back on complaints about the bad situation he inherited when seeking to defend his own economic performance.

But while Obama may be overly eager to blame the Bush years for the nation's problems, GOP presidential contenders seem just as eager to pretend those years never happened.

Taking office in 2001 with a balanced federal budget and a surplus, Bush quickly pushed through sweeping tax cuts that were not offset by spending cuts. The tax cuts have cost about $1.8 trillion, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The Bush tax cuts were set to expire after 10 years, but Obama allowed them to remain in place temporarily in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks never were budgeted and have cost taxpayers about $1.4 trillion so far. Obama ordered the last troops out of Iraq in December, but the Afghanistan conflict will extend into 2014.

Bush signed legislation in 2003 enacting a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, the government health care plan for seniors — a huge entitlement program projected to cost as much as $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout program widely loathed by many conservatives, was another Bush-era program. Congress authorized nearly $700 billion for the program at the recommendation of Bush's treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs executive Henry Paulson, in response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent financial crisis in the fall of 2008. As a presidential candidate, Obama supported the TARP bailout, as did his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain.

To be sure, today's GOP candidates occasionally acknowledge that not all was perfect pre-Obama.

"The reason we find ourselves in the problem today is because we had Republicans and Democrats — you couldn't tell the difference in the way they were spending," Rick Perry told a campaign audience in Cedar Rapids.

The Texas governor has been sharply critical of Congress, insisting he would bring an outsider's perspective to tackling the nation's economic woes as president.

Others have also tried to distance themselves from Washington and, by implication, the Bush years.

Mitt Romney stresses his experience as a businessman and as Massachusetts governor. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman talks up his background as a chief executive. Newt Gingrich reminds voters that he presided over a balanced budget as speaker of the House during the Clinton years.

Santorum's surge into top-tier contention has sparked complaints from rivals about his votes on spending. Among other things, he voted in favor of the Medicare prescription drug program.

Bush still has loyal supporters who believe his legacy will be vindicated by history. But even they say the GOP field won't be embracing him anytime soon.

"Sad to say, they're looking at polling data that indicates they're better off not bringing him into the campaign," former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "I think President Bush has made America a safer nation and better nation and I'm proud of it. But politics isn't about what's fair, it's about winning."

The incentives are so generous that most film companies do not end up owing nearly enough in taxes to use the credits.

BOSTON (AP) — Nearly all of the state tax credits issued to movie companies as an enticement to shoot in Massachusetts end up being sold and benefitting financial firms, corporations and wealthy people.

The practice is drawing renewed criticism of the state program.

The Boston Globe reports that the state Revenue Department says that at least 96 percent of the $265 million in tax credits used to attract movie and television productions to Massachusetts were sold by the film companies between 2006 and 2010.

The incentives are so generous — rebates of up to 25 percent of production costs in the state — that most film companies do not end up owing nearly enough in taxes to use the credits. So they sell them at a discount to brokers, who resell them.

Piirainen was visiting her grandmother in Sturbridge with her father and two brothers when she disappeared on August 5, 1993.

A billboard featuring Holly Piirainen appeared along Interstate 93 in spring 2011.

SPRINGFIELD – Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss recent forensic findings that have provided a "new investigative lead" in the unsolved 1993 murder of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen.

FOX 25 / MYFoxBoston.com is reporting that "multiple sources" have confirmed that Mastoianni will name a 49-year-old Springfield man who died in 2003 as a potential suspect in the case.

New evidence in the case prompted today's press conference, according to David Procopio, a state police spokesman. "We wish to appeal to the public for assistance," he said in a release.

Piirainen, of Grafton, was visiting her grandmother in her cottage on South Pond in Sturbridge with her father and two brothers when she disappeared on August 5, 1993.

Members of Holly's family are expected to attend the 10 a.m. press conference. Mastroianni will be accompanied by Capt. Peter Higgins of the State Police Detective Unit, who is assigned to the Hampden District Attorney's office.

Updates will be posted to MassLive.com as they become available.

Additional information was not immediately available

The Republican | Lori Stabile01.03.2012 | WALES - A sign announcing the road closure.

WALES - State and local police, responding to a report of a man’s body found by the side of Route 19, shut the roadway down Tuesday morning.

Wales police said the body, discovered by a passing motorist, was found alongside Route 19 about one mile south of Ainsworth Hill Road.

Route 19 has been closed from Ainsworth Hill Road south to the Connecticut border.

Additional information was not immediately available.

UPDATE: Police investigating discovery of body on Route 19 in Wales

Reporter Lori Stabile contributed to this report.

The child disappeared on Aug. 5, 1993, while visiting her grandmother's cottage on South Pond in Sturbridge.

The Republican | Mark M. Murray01.03.2012 | SPRINGFIELD - Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announces new evidence that has tied David Pouliot of Springfied, who died in 2003, to the site where the body of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen was found in 1993.

SPRINGFIELD – Nearly 20 years after her body was found in a wooded area of Brimfield, law enforcement authorities say they have new forensic evidence which may help them identify who killed 10-year-old Holly Piirainen.

There is not yet a suspect in the slaying of the little girl from Grafton who disappeared during a visit to her grandmother's cottage on South Pond in Sturbridge on Aug. 5, 1993, but recent testing of evidence from the scene where her body was found is moving the case closer to being solved, Hampden district attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced today.

During a news conference at the Hampden Hall of Justice, Mastroianni said forensic tests have tied a Springfield man, David Pouliot, who died in 2003, to the scene where the child's body was discovered 2½ months after her disappearance. Mastroianni declined to identify what the evidence is which links Pouliot to the crime.

An obituary for Pouliot published by The Republican on Aug. 17, 2003, stated that he died at his mother's residence where he lived in Springfield. He was a 1972 graduate of Technical High School and had worked for the city Parks Department and as a union carpenter. He had also been employed by the state Department of Youth Services juvenile detention center in Westfield, according to the obituary. Pouliot was a Coast Guard veteran, serving during the Vietnam era, and was described in his obituary as having been an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.

The child's parents, Richard N. Piirainen and Christina M. Harrington, her two brothers, Andrew R. Piirainen and Zachary T. Piirainen, and her grandmother, Maureen E. Lemieux, were invited to join Mastroianni as he announced developments in the continuing investigation into the homicide.

Holly Piirainen, her father and brothers had been visiting her grandmother when she disappeared. Holly and then-5-year-old Zachary Piirainen went to see the neighbor’s puppies about noon. The boy returned to the grandmother’s house without Holly.

Holly’s father sent her other brother, 8-year-old Andrew Piirainen, to get her, but all he found was her shoe; she was reported missing to police at about 12:30 p.m., sparking a search by some 80 police officers and volunteers through the woods surrounding the family's cottage.

The next day more than 350 state and local police and volunteers continued the search for Piirainen in the wooded area near where she was last seen.

Her body was found by a hunter on Oct. 23, 1993, in a wooded area of Brimfield approximately five miles away.

In August, Piirainen’s picture was distributed nationally. The case was also the subject of the FOX network program “America’s Most Wanted,” which aired a segment on the disappearance. The network received more than 100 phone calls from viewers offering information.

Within weeks of her disappearance, the Guida-Siebert Dairy Co., of New Britain, Conn., distributed milk cartons with Piirainen’s picture to stores throughout the Northeast.

Over the course of the intervening years, the case has remained an open one with investigators continuing to track tips and pursue new evidence and testing procedures that might develop clues.

"I think anybody can come in first," Newt Gingrich said on CBS' "The Early Show."

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, stand together prior to their Republican debate, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. Newt Gingrich has leapfrogged Mitt Romney to become the GOP front-runner and is the expected prime target for his rivals at their latest presidential debate less than a month before the leadoff vote to determine President Barack Obama's challenger. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

KASIE HUNT and PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In the kickoff contest of the 2012 presidential race, Republican candidates argued right up to Tuesday's finish line in Iowa over which candidate the voters can trust and who they can count on to defeat President Barack Obama.

With large numbers of likely caucus goers still undecided or willing to change their minds as the Iowa race wound down, a confident-but-cautious frontrunner, Mitt Romney, said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC that he's poised to claim "the kind of send-off we need for a pretty long campaign season." Backing off earlier declarations he'd win outright, he told MSNBC he expected to be "among the top group."

Unpredictable to the end, many of Iowa's GOP voters still hadn't settled on a favorite candidate just hours before they cast the first ballots of the 2012 presidential contest.

"It might come down to the speeches at the caucuses," Phil Ubben of Sioux City said. "I want to support someone who can go all the way and defeat the Democrats in November."

The candidates pinned their final hopes on such voters.

"I think anybody can come in first," Gingrich said on CBS' "The Early Show." That was most likely wishful thinking for the former House speaker, who has lost momentum after surging to the front of the GOP pack late in 2011.

Training their sights on the pack leader, Gingrich and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum questioned Romney's conservative credentials and predicted Obama would, to use Gingrich's words, "tear him apart."

The two who appeared most likely to challenge Romney for victory in Iowa were Santorum and libertarian Rep. Ron Paul of Texas — neither of whom is likely to present as serious a challenge to Romney over the long haul as would Gingrich or Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also has fallen back.

Santorum, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," said Iowans are "looking for the candidate they can trust, and that's why we're moving up in the polls."

On Tuesday night, Republicans will gather in living rooms, high school gymnasiums and local libraries for caucuses that start the process of picking the 2012 GOP nominee. In each precinct caucus, voters will urge their friends and neighbors to support a preferred candidate. For all of the attention paid to the caucuses, they are essentially a nonbinding straw poll that awards no delegates. Republicans do that at county and district conventions later in the year.

Most polls in recent days have put Romney and Paul atop the field in Iowa, with Santorum in third and gaining ground. More than a third of all potential caucus-goers said they could yet change their minds.

Perry, Gingrich and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann all trailed. Paul has said he does not envision himself in the White House.

Romney faces the same challenge he did in 2008: winning over a conservative base that's uncomfortable with his moderate past. In 2008, socially conservative voters united behind Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, denying Romney a first-place finish and contributing to his eventual defeat.

This time, Romney's trying to win Iowa by arguing he's the most electable candidate against Obama — a pitch that's winning over conservatives who desperately want to beat the president.

"I want to make sure I vote for and caucus for someone who is a winner. We cannot have another four years of Obama," said eyeglass salesman Paul Massey, 65.

How many people turn out to vote will help drive the results. In 2008, more than 120,000 Republicans showed up, a record. Weather could be a factor in this year's attendance. Iowa hasn't had much snow this winter, and there were clear but cold forecasts across the state.

After Tuesday's vote, Romney, Gingrich and Santorum planned to depart immediately for New Hampshire. Romney holds a commanding lead in polls there, and will be in a strong position to win even if he doesn't pull out a victory in Iowa. Paul plans to join his rivals in New Hampshire later in the week. The primary is Jan. 10.

Perry and Bachmann don't plan to compete in New Hampshire, instead heading straight from Iowa to the first-in-the-South primary, set for Jan. 21 in South Carolina. Romney also plans to visit South Carolina this week, with campaign stops Thursday and Friday.

The two candidates Romney's campaign worried most about — Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — have become less of a threat in Iowa.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in Clive, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney is about to find out if his winning prediction will come true.

Romney said he'll win the Iowa precinct caucuses Tuesday night and give a boost to the campaign that he predicted will make him the Republican nominee for president.

Romney rallied hundreds of supporters Monday night in the Iowa town of Clive. He spent the day crossing eastern Iowa, stopping in cities where he performed well in 2008.

The former Massachusetts governor will start Tuesday with another rally in Des Moines ahead of an evening gathering at the Hotel Fort Des Moines to wait for the caucus results.

His chief opponents, polls show, are Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. But thousands of caucus-goers remain undecided.

Romney faces the same challenge he had in 2008: winning over conservatives skeptical of his moderate record and changes on the social issues important to the state's many evangelical voters.

The two candidates his campaign worried most about — Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — have become less of a threat in Iowa. Instead of focusing on his rivals, Romney has saved most of his criticism for Democratic President Barack Obama.

Perry is skipping next week's primary in New Hampshire to compete instead in the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina. Gingrich's standing in polls has been badly damaged by a barrage of negative ads from Romney allies.

Romney was ever more confident as he campaigned across Iowa after the Christmas holiday, buoyed by the large crowds he's drawn and the excitement they've shown.

Heather Peters is going solo in small claims court, rather than joining other owners in a class-action lawsuit.

Associated PressIn this Feb. 10, 2010 file photo, Honda Motor Co.'s vehicle is on display in front of the automaker's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) — A woman who expected her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid to be her dream car wants Honda to pay for not delivering the high mileage it promised. But rather than joining other owners in a class-action lawsuit, she is going solo in small claims court, an unusual move that could offer a bigger payout if it doesn't backfire.

A trial is set for Tuesday afternoon in Torrance, where American Honda Motor Co. has its West Coast headquarters.

Heather Peters says her car never came close to getting the promised 50 miles per gallon, and as its battery deteriorated, it was getting only 30 mpg. She wants Honda to pay for her trouble and the extra money she spent on gas.

Peters, a former lawyer who long ago gave up her bar card, has devised a unique legal vehicle to drive Honda into court — a small claims suit that could cost the company up to $10,000 in her case and every other individual case filed in the same manner.

If other claimants follow her lead, she estimates Honda could be forced to pay $2 billion in damages. No high-priced lawyers are involved and the process is streamlined.

"I would not be surprised if she won," said Richard Cupp Jr., who teaches product liability law at Pepperdine University. "The judge will have a lot of discretion and the evidentiary standards are relaxed in small claims court."

A win for Peters could encourage others to take this simplified route, he said.

"There's an old saying among lawyers," Cupp said. "If you want real justice, go to small claims court."

But he questioned whether her move, supported by publicity on the Internet and elsewhere, would start a groundswell of such suits. He suggested that few people would want to expend the time and energy that Peters has put into her suit when the potential payoff is as little as a few thousand dollars.

Peters opted out of a series of class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of similar Honda hybrid owners when she saw a proposed settlement would give owners no more than $200 cash and a rebate of $500 or $1,000 to purchase a new Honda.

The settlement would give trial lawyers $8.5 million, Peters said.

"I was shocked," she said. "I wrote to Honda and said I would take $7,500, which was then the limit on small claims in California. It is going up to $10,000 in 2012."

She said she also offered to trade her hybrid for a comparable car with a manual transmission, the only thing she trusted at that point.

"I wrote the letter and I said, 'If you don't respond, I will file a suit in small claims court.' I gave them my phone number," she said. "They never called, and I filed the suit."

She said she also sent emails to top executives at Honda with no response.

Aaron Jacoby, a Los Angeles attorney who heads the automotive industry group at the Arent Fox law firm, said Peters' strategy, while intriguing, is unlikely to change the course of class-action litigation.

"In the class-action, the potential claimants don't have to do anything," Jacoby said. "It's designed to be an efficient way for a court to handle multiple claims of the same type."

He also questioned her criticism of class-action lawyers for the fees they receive. Jacoby, who handles such cases, said lawyers who take on the multiple clients involved do extensive work — sometimes spanning years — and are not in it just for money.

"They're representing the underdog and they believe they are performing a public duty," he said. "Many of these people could not get lawyers to represent them individually."

American Honda's offices were closed for the holidays and no one could be reached for comment. Peters said the company has tried five times to delay the trial but each effort was rebuffed.

The upside of Peters' unusual move, she says, is that litigants are not allowed to have lawyers argue in small claims court in California. This means any award will not be diluted by attorney's fees. Honda would have to appoint a non-lawyer employee to argue its side in court.

"If I prevail and get $10,000, they have 200,000 of these cars out there. That's a potential payout of $2 billion," she said.

While she doubts that all other owners will take the same route, she suggests the penalty could be substantial for the company if a large percentage of the owners file individually.

A judge in San Diego County is due to rule in March on whether to approve Honda's latest class action settlement offer. Members of the class have until Feb. 11 to accept or decline the settlement.

Peters has launched a website, DontSettleWithHonda.org, urging others to take the small claims route.