Nationwide, enrollment in online classes doubled between 2007 and 2011, driven largely by a stagnant economy, competitive job market and expanding online offerings from public and private institutions, according to a report by the Babson Survey Research Group.

File photo | The Republican

WESTFIELD – Westfield State University is one of four schools in the top tier of U.S. News & World Report’s first ranking of online education programs.

In the magazine’s inaugural review of 196 schools, Westfield State finished first in faculty credentials and training, and in the top third in two other categories: student services and technology and student engagement and assessment.

Three other schools – the University of Florida in Gainsville, Fla.; Pace University in New York City; and Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Fla. – also finished in the top third in each category, earning a place on the so-called Honor Roll.

Westfield State University President Evan S. Dobelle said the rankings reflected the school’s growing emphasis on online education programs.

“Higher education to be truly democratic must be affordable and accessible for everyone,” said Dobelle, who arrived at Westfield State in 2007.

“To be placed as number one for faculty and training throughout the country is an enormous compliment to our professors and our professional staff,” he added.

Besides ranking number one in faculty credentials and training, Westfield State ranked 16 in student services and technology and 42 student engagement and assessment.

The only local school mentioned in the survey was Western New England University, which ranked 172 in student engagement and assessment.

Nationwide, enrollment in online classes doubled between 2007 and 2011, driven largely by a stagnant economy, competitive job market and expanding online offerings from public and private institutions, according to a report by the Babson Survey Research Group.

By 2010, enrollment nationwide reached 6.1 million students, with no signs of leveling off, the survey found.

Recognizing the growing importance of online education, U.S. News compiled its first online rankings during the past year. The magazine has published college rankings since 1983; its annual surveys are among the best-known and respected in the field of high education.

For its part, Westfield State began offering online courses in 2008. Currently, 57 students are enrolled in online classes, paying $250 a credit for in-state tuition, according to the magazine, which said the average age of a Westfield State online student is 34.

“President Dobelle has prioritized online education and we are definitely ahead of the curve,” said Kimberly Tobin, dean of graduate and continuing education.

The budget is expected to rise about 2.8 percent.

John P. Musante

AMHERST – Last year at about this time, there was more sweat and drama as John P. Musante was pulling together his fiscal 2012 budget.

He was on his own – he had been finance director before becoming town manager in October and had not hired his replacement. And the town was facing its fourth year of cuts in a row.

This year he has Sanford Pooler as finance director, and whenever Musante mentions his name he smiles, and a budget that looks less bleak.

Musante will present the town’s fiscal 2013 budget to the Select Board and Finance Committee Friday at 4 p.m. in Town Hall.

The Town Government Act requires the manager to present the budget by Jan. 16. That day is Martin Luther King Day and town offices are closed.

The town budget includes police, fire and public works among other departments but excludes the school and library budgets.

Last year, Musante based his level-funded budget on an estimated 12.5 percent cut in state aid – ultimately the cut was about 7 percent.

This year the budget that he and Pooler are building is based on a 2 percent hike in state aid and is expected to be about 2.8 percent higher than the current $19 million, a rate of increase recommended by the Finance Committee.

Musante said Tuesday that Gov. Deval L. Patrick is slated to present a budget preview Jan. 20 at the Massachusetts Municipal Association meeting so they’ll know if their expectations will be met.

He said being able to hold health care costs the same helps all of the town’s budgets.

He said there is some new growth on the tax rolls, Boltwood Place is slated to come on line this spring and the Lord Jeffery Inn reopened.

Plus the town is expected to see an increase in the town’s share of the hotel –meals tax sales tax.

The Jeff and its restaurant 30Boltwood are just two businesses expected to boost that contribution to the town. Pooler is guessing the opening of the inn-closed since 2008, will bring in about $50,000. Musante expects the amount could even be higher.

Unit owners have no right to request individual abatements because the bill was sent to the co-operative that owns the park.

BELCHERTOWN – Owners of the Pine Valley Plantation mobile home park are considering appealing a supplemental real estate tax bill for over $45,000, totaling about $100 per household on average, for accessory structures that had not been taxed for decades.

View full sizeJohn G. Whelihan

Director of Assessments John G. Whelihan said the over-55 park located at 281 Chauncey Walker St., run by a co-operative of its roughly 360 homeowners, had been taxed incorrectly and state law mandates the extra bill.

Supplemental tax bills were sent to residents with carports, enclosed front porches, sheds and other accessory structures and additions. Owners would pay their bills to the co-operative, which then would pay the town.

The co-operative has until Feb. 1 to request an abatement. The application and the hearing process are private.

If Pine Valley loses, it can appeal to the state’s Appellate Tax Board. Unit owners have no right to request individual abatements because the bill was sent to the co-operative.

Pine Valley Plantation’s 2012 real estate taxes are $98,474.04 based on a valuation of $5.9 million. The accessory structures’ total valuation is $2.77 million and the supplemental bill is for $45,809.93, according to Whelihan.

The bills range from $5 to over $300. Whelihan compared the average, about $100, to a typical cable and phone bill.

Pine Valley Plantation President Edward Kumpulanian declined to discuss the issue with The Republican, saying he wants to consult with the park’s attorneys first.

Whelihan explained that state Department of Revenue guidelines and legal opinions have changed the definition of the structures in question across the state. In previous years, many were taxed as personal property, but are now considered real estate.

Belchertown has a personal property exemption of $3,500, so most people with accessory structures would never have seen a bill for them before, said Whelihan.

He said there may have been a communication breakdown with Pine Valley. He said the assessors met with management “on numerous occasions over the last year and a half” to explain the new taxation, but Kumpulanian is the third president in that time.

“We gave them a heads-up on what was going on here. ... This is not something we did with little thought,” Whelihan said.

“We’re trying to value the items and the tax rate is something we have no control over,” he said. “We’ve made some adjustments to individual unit owners, so we’re planning to give them some relief if there’s been any discrepancies.”

The 50-unit mobile home park Sports Haven also received a supplemental bill, but for far less than Pine Valley’s since there are fewer accessory structures.

Outages not the result of extreme weather continue to happen in East Longmeadow "with exceptional frequency even with the sun is shining," Selectman James Driscoll said.

EAST LONGMEADOW – A plan by National Grid to improve reliability and service to the town does not have residents or officials convinced.

The town held a public forum on Wednesday with representatives from National Grid to discuss frequent outages.

“Outages that are not due to extreme weather conditions continue to happen,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman James D. Driscoll. “These outages may last for a brief time, but happen with exceptional frequency, even when the sun is shining.”

The town shares substations and transmission lines with Hampden, Wilbraham and Monson, so if a major outage occurs in any of those towns, East Longmeadow also experiences the outages.

National Grid President Marcy L. Reed agreed that there are problems with the current service. She said the company is working to establish a new substation in Hampden that would eliminate many of the outages in East Longmeadow. The station should be operational in 2014.

Marie Jordan, the vice president of electrical systems engineering for the company, said they are working with residents to get easements to access trees interfering with service. She said the company has also invested millions to add transformers with higher voltage to improve reliability.

The town’s electrical inspector, Edward Lague, said a major problem is interruptions of service in the town’s industrial park. “That’s a major part of the town’s tax base, and they are
constantly losing power,” he said.

Reed acknowledged this was a problem and said they ware working to lessen the frequency of outages.

Lague and Driscoll said they have also spoken with the owners of Lenox Saw on Chestnut Street who are frustrated with the outages. Driscoll said the company loses production hours and money every time the power goes out.

Jordan suggested that National Grid meet directly with business owners who are having outage problems to discuss ways to resolve the issues.

Town resident Lisa Patnode said she has to call the company to let them know power is out at her home.

Reed said all utility companies struggle with the same problem.

“This is the antiquated system we work in. If the customer does not call, we don’t know there is an outage,” she said.

Driscoll said he believes the meeting did not ease residents’ frustration.

“We have been having these same complaints since 2006 and yet things have not changed significantly,” he said referring to a similar hearing held with the company in 2006 to discuss outage problems. “I don’t think they are willing to make the necessary investment to improve the service.”

Southwick completed its portion of the bike trail last year.

WESTFIELD – Construction on this city’s long-awaited Columbia Greenway rail trail project is expected to begin this spring and bring bicycle and pedestrian travel from Southwick to at least a section of the downtown.

“This is an important and exciting project for our city,” City Engineer Mark S. Cressotti told the Conservation Commission this past week when he asked the board for the necessary permission to proceed with construction.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Westfield is currently awaiting award of a state grant through the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the project.

“Our intent is to complete roughly one mile of the project this year and then proceed next year to bring the Greenway trail up to the area of the Great River Bridge,” Knapik said.

At least a dozen members of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway were in attendance before the Conservation Commission when project managers from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. of Worcester presented plans for the initial phase of trail construction.

The project will included a paved bikepath, 12-feet wide, a parking area at the Southwick line and an access road through a portion of Shaker Farms Country Club, said project manager John J. Bechard.

“This is phase one of a project that will be done in segments,” he said.

Cressotti said the first phase will be completed and available for use this summer. The city must first seek construction bids before the project can begin.

Phase one of the trail is expected to follow utility work in the same area by Westfield Gas and Electric Department.

The estimated $2.5 million utility project involves installation of a high pressure natural gas line from south of shaker road and extend it to South Meadow Road-Ponders Hollow road and beneath Little River to a location just south of South Broad Street, utility general manager Daniel Howard said.

“This project represents the final push of our plan to fully utilize and maximize the benefits of connecting with the gas transmission line in Southwick. Completion of the extension will allow us to bring additional natural gas capacity deeper into the load center of Westfield,” Howard said.

Southwick completed its $4 million, six-mile, portion of the Columbia Greenway project last year and users can now travel nearly 30 miles from the Westfield-Southwick line to Farmington, Conn..

“We like to think we are nurturing lifelong learners,” said Ryan, “but it’s also critical that students realize that their ability to earn a living wage is dependent on education.”

An updated story is now available at MassLive.

View full sizeLeft to right, Agawam High School principal Steven Lemanski, Frontier Regional and Union 38 superintendent Regina Nash and Hadley superintendent Nicholas Young are among five finalists in the South Hadley school superintendent search.

SOUTH HADLEY – As the search continues for a new School Superintendent continued Tuesday night in the South Hadley High School Library, the School Committee asked finalists to describe their leadership style.

“Besides ‘collaborative,’” they added.

“I was going to say ‘collaborative,’” joked Nicholas Young, superintendent of Hadley Schools, “but now I’ll say ‘distributive!’”

Young is among five finalists being considered for the position vacated by retiring South Hadley Superintendent Gus A. Sayer, who continues to serve the schools on a per diem basis until a replacement is found.

Agawam High School Principal Steven Lemanski had been interviewed a week earlier. Lemanski has a background in athletics and a master’s degree in education from American International College.

His achievements include serving on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges evaluation team and administering a high school peer mediation program.

Interviews are scheduled for Jan. 12 with finalists Regina Nash, superintendent of the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school district, and Ruth Miller, assistant superintendent of Narragansett Regional Schools, which serve Templeton and Phillipston.

The interviews begin at 5:15 p.m. in the high school library, and the public is welcome to sit in.

“As a parent, I’m concerned about my son’s future in the public schools,” said Patricia Canavan of South Hadley, who served on the search committee and attended the Tuesday interviews.

“I just wanted to see who the candidates really are,” said parent Todd Richards, “and get a little background.”

In the two separate interviews on Tuesday, discussion elicited by the School Committee was wide-ranging, touching on graduation rates, the Phoebe Prince tragedy, “alignment” of curricula from grade to grade, and an upcoming “supervision and evaluation model” being rolled out by the state to make sure teachers and administrators are pulling their weight.

Finalist G. Anthony (“Tony”) Ryan, assistant superintendent for Hampshire Regional School District, who was also interviewed on Tuesday, said learning should be a happy experience, but solid academic programs are essential.

“We like to think we are nurturing lifelong learners,” said Ryan, “but it’s also critical that students realize that their ability to earn a living wage is dependent on education.”

A search committee composed of parents, faculty, officials and community members chose the finalists from 20 eligible applications.

EPA will continue to accept public comment, in written form, until Jan. 24.

Republican staff photo by Don TreegerA public hearing was held at the North Middle School regarding a permit for the proposed natural gas power plant in Westfield's Servistar Way. Here, members of Westfield Concerned Citizens show their opposition to the plant outside the meeting.

WESTFIELD – Armed with surgical masks and hand-made placards drawing attention to clean air, Westfield Concerned Citizens continued their opposition to a proposed 431 megawatt natural gas fired electrical generating plant here Thursday.

The group, which formed shortly after the $400 million plant was proposed in 2008 by Pioneer Valley Energy Center, was among more than 150 people at North Middle School attending a public hearing on a federal Environment Protection Agency pending air quality permit for the plant.

“The mask makes a statement,” said registered nurse Gail S. Bean of Westfield. “The mask prevents toxins from entering the lungs,” she explained while passing out the surgical masks to anyone who indicated support for the concerned citizens group.

Mary Ann Babinski, a founding member of the group, said “We are asking EPA to deny the air quality permit based on evidence we have showing clean energy does not come from a smokestack.”

Republican staff photo by Don TreegerA public hearing was held at the North Middle School regarding a permit for the proposed natural gas power plant in Westfield's Servistar Way.

The appointment caps an exhaustive search that began when superintendent Gus Sayer announced he was retiring.

The Republican file photo | John Suchocki08.19.2009 | Nicholas Young, the superintendent of schools in Hadley, was named South Hadley schools superintendent on Thursday night to replace Gus Sayer, who is retiring.

SOUTH HADLEY –The South Hadley School Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to offer the position of school superintendent to Nicholas D. Young, who has been serving as superintendent in Hadley for 11 years.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Young from his home in South Hadley. “I’m deeply committed to this town, and I’m looking forward to working with parents, the community, students and all the stakeholders.”

The appointment caps an exhaustive search that began when superintendent Gus A. Sayer announced last August that he was retiring. Sayer has been serving the schools on a per diem basis until the new superintendent is installed.

Young was one of five finalists for the position.

School committee chair Dale Carey said he demonstrated the leadership, business sense and other qualities that South Hadley needs most.

Said committee member Kevin McAllister: “I was looking for someone who was educationally oriented, who could handle the PR (public relations) piece and has a financial background.

“The number of degrees (Young) has shows incredible energy. When he didn’t know something about something, he gets a degree in it!”

Young has a Ph.D in Educational Administration from Union University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and five Master’s degrees from American International College in Springfield.

The committee was also impressed by Young’s admission during his interview on Jan. 10 that he is “shameless” in promoting the assets of a school.

Robert L. Bolduc, owner of Prides in Western Massachusetts, is leasing a Mobile gas station at 13 North Main St.

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanRobert Bolduc , resident of Pride Stores and Stations, stands in front of one of his stores in Springfield. He now plans to lease a Mobile gas station in East Longmeadow, open a Pride store and sell Mobil gas.

EAST LONGMEADOW- The Mobil gas station at 13 North Main St. will now have a Pride convenience store attached.

Robert L. Bolduc, the owner of several Pride gas stations in Western Massachusetts including two others in East Longmeadow, recently leased the Mobil station which is across the street from an existing Pride gas station.

Bolduc said the gas station will remain Mobil, but the convenience store will become a Pride store.

Bolduc met with the Board of Selectmen Tuesday to request approval of several licenses including a tobacco license, a food service establishment permit and a milk and cream license.

Bolduc is also requesting an alcoholic beverages license to sell beer and wine, but has yet to submit the proper paperwork.

The Board also approved a change of hours for the business. The station and convenience store will now be open from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.

Selectmen Chairman James D. Driscoll said he has only heard good things about Bolduc’s current gas stations and welcomed him to the area once again.

The board also approved an alcohol license for Ichiban Restaurant, 42 North Main St., in the Stop & Shop Plaza.

Restaurant manager Hong Mei Huang has been running the establishment since March of 2011. The licenses will allow them to serve beer and wine as long as a full menu is available.

Despite the error, the bills owners got showed the correct amount of money due to the city, officials said.

HOLYOKE – The printer responsible for property tax bills that had acreage errors said the mistake perhaps was because of differences in computer formats.

Another possible factor in the mistake that Tax Collector David Guzman said affected all 10,000 bills was that time was tight to get the bills mailed by Dec. 31, Arthur P. Jones, of Arthur P. Jones and Associates Inc., of Easthampton, said Thursday.

The city paid Jones about $2,000 to get the bills out, Guzman said.

Jones said he didn’t know exactly how the error occurred. He confirmed Guzman’s comments to The Republican and MassLive.com that the mistake was misplacement of decimal points on the bills that improperly showed taxpayers had more land than was the case.

Despite the mistake on the bills, Guzman said, the acreage was correct in city computer files and the bills owners received showed the correct amount of money due to the city.

The problem might have been that the printer and the city were using different computer formats of the MUNIS accounting system, Jones said.

“I don’t know if you can call it a printing mistake or a file mistake,” Jones said.

The error occurred on property tax bills for the third quarter, which is January through March. The bills are due Feb. 3, he said.

The City Council set the tax rate later than usual with a vote held in a special meeting on Christmas Eve. That came after former Mayor Elaine A. Pluta vetoed the rate the council set initially, on Dec. 20.

Pluta said her veto was because the council’s initial rate put too much of the burden on homeowners and the burden should be shared between residential and commercial property owners.

The council in the Christmas Eve meeting set the current tax rate: $16.85 per $1,000 valuation for residential property and $38.53 per $1,000 valuation for commercial property.

Jones said he received computer files that reflected bills under the new tax rate on Dec. 28 and had to have them ready for mailing by Dec. 30.

“We were under the gun,” Jones said.

Jones said he has been in business 35 years and has 50 municipal clients.

Guzman said taxpayers with questions can contact his office at (413) 322-5530.

In the last year, the Attorney General's Office has made rulings in 78 separate cases for Open Meeting Law violations. Fines were issued in just three of them.

Photo by Roens/Flickr

BOSTON - Since the revised Massachusetts Open Meeting Law was enacted in 2010, critics have said the new law has no teeth.

A proposed revision to the law by Attorney General Martha Coakley seems an attempt to give it, if not teeth, then at least a sturdy set of dentures.

The state Open Meeting Law, is designed to promote openness and transparency in government throughout the state at all levels. It outlines steps board and public officials are to take regarding public records, advertising public meetings and for providing that information to the public. It also outlines the 10 allowable reasons for closing a meeting to the public.

The law also calls for a fine of $1,000 to the boards and public officials who violate the law.

The only problem is that since the Open Meeting Law was revised in June 2010, the ambiguity of language left enforcement of the law considerably weak, some say among the weakest in the country.

The revised law defined two kinds of violations, intentional and unintentional. It also allowed the Attorney General to levy a fine only on the intention kind.

Republican file photoAttorney General Martha Coakley

An intentional violation is defined as “an act or omission by a public body or a member thereof, in knowing violation of the open meeting law.”

In order to determine if a public board can be fined, the attorney general would first have to ask what did the board know and when did it know it. And even a first-year law student would recognize the most effective strategy in the face of a complaint would be the “how was I supposed to know” defense.

Since 2010, the Attorney General’s Office was named as the state’s central hearing officer for all open meeting complaints. That duty used to belong to the district attorney of each county.

In the last year, Coakley's office made rulings in 78 separate cases of Open Meeting Law violations. Of those 78, fines were issued in just three cases, all during October and against the Blandford, Otis and Wayland boards of selectmen.

Coakley’s proposal replaces “intentional v. unintentional” with “knowingly v. unknowingly.” and defines each as such:

“Knowingly means acting with specific intent to violate the law, acting with deliberate ignorance of the law’s requirements, or acting in violation of the law where the public body or public body member has been informed previously by receipt of a decision from a court of competent jurisdiction or advised by the Attorney General that such conduct violates the law.”

On the surface, the wording seems to indicate the “how was I supposed to know” defense is at least countered by the “you should have known better” retort. It also suggests boards no longer have an unlimited number of opportunities to plead ignorance of the law. Any previous ruling on an open meeting complaint is considered enough to swing the pendulum from unknowingly to knowingly.

If nothing else, that should be news to the various boards that are repeatedly the subject of open meeting complaints.

A public hearing on the proposed revision is scheduled for Jan. 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. at One Ashburton Place, 21st floor, in Boston. Members of the public may also submit written comments on the proposal up until 5 p.m. Jan. 19.

Written comments should be sent to Amy Nable, Director, Division of Open Government, Office of the Attorney General, One Ashburton Place, 20th Floor, Boston, MA 02108, or by sending comments by email to openmeeting@state.ma.us.

The Brimfield resort would have a hotel, entertainment venue and assorted table games and slots, but the exact design has not been created. Construction is expected to top $600 million.

This is an update of a story originally posted at 2 p.m. Thursday.

BRIMFIELD – David J. Callahan, president of Palmer Paving, stood at the top of a rural hillside in the northwest corner of Brimfield and showed a group of reporters where MGM Resorts International wants to build a $600 million plus resort casino.

The site is 150 acres of forest with little around it except for a few scattered homes near the Massachusetts Turnpike to the south.

Public access would be through a dedicated exit from the turnpike. The triangle-shaped property, which borders Palmer and Warren, is part of 1,800 acres that Callahan owns in the area. It is surrounded by the turnpike and Washington and Old Millbrook roads in Brimfield.

The working name of casino is Rolling Hills Resort, a nod to the site’s rolling woodlands.

Callahan, during a press conference earlier at Hitchcock Academy, looked pleased as he announced his partner in the casino proposal, MGM Resorts, the company behind such well-known Las Vegas resort casinos as the Bellagio, Luxor and Mirage. MGM Resorts has signed a contract with Rolling Hills Estates Realty Trust, of which Callahan is a principal, to purchase the property.

Calling it a “true New England resort in the woods,” Callahan said the project would allow the town to control its own destiny. It is expected to bring 3,000 permanent jobs.

Also at the press conference was James J. Murren, chief executive officer of MGM Resorts, who said his company has kept a close eye on the gambling debate, and once it was legalized, they began looking for the best location. He said they found it in Brimfield.

Photo by Lori Stabile / The RepublicanA sign hangs outside 1 Warren Road in Brimfield marking the new office space for the MGM Resorts casino project. This office will be staffed on weekdays for residents to ask questions about the proposed MGM casino project on 150 acres in the northwest corner of town.

The proposition joins three other casino plans for Western Massachusetts. All plans are proposals at this stage. State officials will appoint a Gaming Commission with the authority to grant three casino licenses in the state, including one dedicated to Western Massachusetts. Members of the commission have not been chosen yet. Casino proposals have to be approved by a vote of the host community.

While the Brimfield resort would have a hotel, entertainment venue and assorted table games and slots, the exact design has not been created. Murren said the project is expected to cost in excess of $600 million.

“We want to build a beautiful resort .¤.¤. in a style that’s sensitive to New England and its surroundings,” Murren said. “The economy has devastated town and municipal budgets. Jobs have been hard to come by. The tornado and other storms have caused great pain to the community and we want to be part of that effort to rebuild.”

The only access to the site would be through the turnpike, with the exception of emergency vehicles, which would be granted access through town. Callahan and Murren repeatedly said they want to protect Brimfield’s quiet, rural nature, which is why there will be a dedicated turnpike exit for the casino. Callahan said it could take years for an exit to be built.

Murren said if they receive the license to build a Western Massachusetts casino, it should take 30 to 36 months to build the resort.

Rolling Hills has set up an office at 1 Warren Road for residents to visit and learn about the project. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Murren said he likes that the site in an hour from Boston, and called it the “type of location that we could really utilize our strengths.”

Callahan said that ultimately, allowing a casino will be the town’s decision to make. It is uncertain as to when that question would go before voters, as a host community agreement would need to be in place first.

Callahan called the site “the most isolated and remote location of all those proposed in Western Massachusetts.”

Staff illustration by Bob RichA map of the proposed MGM Resorts International casino in Brimfield

“This will ensure that the people who will be driving down Main Street in Brimfield today will be the same people driving down Main Street when the proposed development is on the ground,” Callahan said. “This will maintain acres of woodlands and open space, so unless you actively seek out the resort, it will have a limited impact on your daily lives.”

He spoke of the financial benefits the project will bring not only for Brimfield, but for all of Western Massachusetts.

Murren said his goal is to compete directly with the Connecticut casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun also is competing for the lone Western Massachusetts license, and wants to build a resort casino in Palmer, across from its turnpike exit on Thorndike Street (Route 32).

MGM has a branding deal with Foxwoods that allows the Connecticut casino operator to use its name on one of its towers, Murren said. He described it as a franchise fee. Murren said he expects and hopes there will be a “very robust competition” for the casino license.

The MGM-Brimfield proposal is the latest to join the casino fray in Western Massachusetts. Besides Palmer, there are proposals in Springfield and Holyoke.

In Holyoke, however, Mayor Alex B. Morse has said he let a top executive for Hard Rock International know that he is opposed to a casino for his city. Hard Rock and a local development group want to build a gambling resort on the 100-acre Wyckoff Country Club off Interstate 91 in Holyoke. Springfield has received a proposal from Ameristar Casinos for a project off Page Boulevard.

Before the press conference, Callahan and MGM officials met with community leaders and residents in a meeting closed to the press. Police Chief Charles Kuss said he is optimistic about their commitment to minimizing the impacts on the community

During Thursday night's episode of "The Colbert Report," Colbert legally transferred his super political action committee to his friend and Comedy Central cohort.

Stephen Colbert, left, and Jon Stewart (AP file photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Colbert isn't running for president — at least not yet.

During Thursday night's episode of "The Colbert Report," Colbert legally transferred his super political action committee to his friend and Comedy Central cohort Jon Stewart. Dropping by from "The Daily Show," Stewart happily signed the documents and accepted the post, which was ceremonially observed by the two holding hands and bodily transferring the PAC powers.

The move potentially paves the way for Colbert to enter the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, his home state. Campaigning politicians are prohibited from simultaneously running super PACs.

But Colbert only hinted at such a decision, which he had grandly hyped ahead of Thursday's show. In flirting candidate style, he announced that he is forming "an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the president of the United States of South Carolina."

Patriotically colored balloons were released in the studio while a graphic screamed "I'm Doing It!"

Stewart and Colbert hashed out the peculiar legalities of their arrangement. With Colbert's lawyer (and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission) Trevor Potter on hand, they spelled out that while Colbert was legally forbidden from participating in strategy and advertising with the super PAC, he could still talk about his plans on his TV show and even volunteer for the super PAC.

Stewart declared Colbert vice president of youth outreach for the super PAC, which was renamed The Definitely Not Coordinated with Stephen Colbert Super PAC. Along with Potter, the three joined hands like a sports team and — with thick irony — cheered in unison: "Non-coordination!"

In 2007, Colbert attempted to enter the South Carolina primary but was stymied by filing fees. The super PAC could very well eliminate any such financial concerns. Colbert hasn't publically revealed the amount raised from viewer contributions by the PAC, but on Thursday he repeatedly hinted that it was a shockingly large amount.

Colbert has otherwise been very transparent about the PAC's workings, using it to parody the current system's contradictions and potential conflicts of interest. Political action committees stem from a 2010 Supreme Court decision that changed the rules of corporate political donations.

A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday found that Colbert is polling ahead of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in South Carolina. According to the survey, Colbert has 5 percent of the vote and Huntsman has 4 percent.

Upon reading those results on "The Report" on Wednesday, Colbert said: "This just got real."

Apple reacted to the outburst by postponing iPhone 4S sales in its mainland China stores to protect the safety of customers and employees.

Associated Press photoHundreds of customers queue up to purchase a new smartphone iPhone 4S at an Apple Store early Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 in Shanghai, China.

BEIJING (AP) — Angry customers and gangs of scalpers threw eggs at Apple Inc.'s flagship Beijing store Friday after its opening for the China launch of the iPhone 4S was canceled due to concerns over the size of the crowd.

Apple reacted to the outburst by postponing iPhone 4S sales in its mainland China stores to protect the safety of customers and employees. It said the phone still will be sold online and through its local carrier.

The incident highlighted Apple's huge popularity in China and the role of middlemen who buy up limited supplies of iPhones and other products or smuggle them from abroad for resale to Chinese gadget fans at a big markup.

Hundreds of customers including migrant workers hired by scalpers in teams of 20 to 30 waited overnight in freezing weather at the Apple store in a shopping mall in Beijing's east side Sanlitun district.

The crowd erupted after the store failed to open on schedule at 7 a.m. Some threw eggs and shouted at employees through the windows.

A person with a megaphone announced the sale was canceled. Police ordered the crowd to leave and sealed off the area with yellow tape. Employees posted a sign saying the iPhone 4S was out of stock.

"We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being," said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

The iPhone 4S quickly sold out at other Apple stores in China, Wu said. She said the phone still will be sold in China through Apple's online store, its local carrier China Unicom Ltd. and retailers that are authorized resellers.

Wu declined to comment on what Apple might know about scalpers buying iPhones for resale.

China is Apple's fastest-growing market and "an area of enormous opportunity," CEO Tim Cook said in October. He said quarterly sales were up nearly four times over a year earlier and accounted for one-sixth of Apple's global sales.

Apple's China stores are routinely mobbed for the release of new products.

The company has its own stores only in Beijing and Shanghai, with a handful of authorized retailers in other cities, so middlemen who buy iPhones and resell them in other areas can make big profits, said Wang Ying, who follows the mobile phone market for Analysys International, a research firm in Beijing.

"Apple is making a lot of money so it is not too concerned about the scalpers," Wang said.

Wang and other industry analysts said the size of the underground trade and price markups are unclear.

In Shanghai, stores limited iPhone 4S sales on Friday to two per customer. Several hundred people were waiting when the stores opened, bundled up against the cold. Some passed the time playing mahjong.

Buyers included 500 older people from neighboring Jiangsu province who were hired by the boss of a mobile phone market, the newspaper Oriental Morning Post said. They arrived aboard an 11-bus convoy and were paid 150 yuan ($15) each.

Online bulletin boards were filled with comments about Friday's buying frenzy, many complaining about or ridiculing the scalpers.

Referring to complaints that scalpers buy and resell scarce train tickets ahead of the busy Lunar New Year travel season, which starts next week, one wrote, "Scalpers have switched from train tickets this year and all are headed for the 4S!"

iPhones are manufactured in China by an Apple contractor but new models are released in other countries first. That has fueled a thriving "gray market" in China for phones smuggled in from Hong Kong and other markets.

Last May, the Sanlitun store was closed for several hours after a scuffle between an employee and a customer during the release of the iPhone 4, the previous model in the series.

Customers began gathering Thursday afternoon outside the Sanlitun store. People in the crowd said the number grew to as many as 2,000 overnight but many left before dawn after word spread that the store opening would be canceled. There were about 350 people left when the protest erupted after 7 a.m.

"On the one hand there is poor organization and on the other there were just too many people," said a man outside the Sanlitun store Friday, who would give only his surname, Miao. "I don't think they prepared well enough."

Another man who refused to give his name said he was a migrant laborer who was paid 100 yuan ($15) to wait in line overnight.

Others in the crowd said scalpers had organized groups of 20 to 30 migrant workers to buy phones or hold places in line. Organizers held colored balloons aloft to identify themselves to their workers.

Others said they were waiting to buy the phone for themselves.

"I just like the 4S," said Zhu Xiaodong, a Beijing resident. He said he was upgrading from the previous iPhone 4 model.

Sales in China began three months after the iPhone 4S had its global debut Oct. 14 in the United States and six other countries.

The delay between the release of Apple products in the United States and in China has yet to affect its reputation with Chinese customers, said Ted Dean, managing director of BDA China Ltd., a research firm in Beijing.

For other products, such a delay "sort of gives the impression here that you're not giving the Chinese consumer a fair shake," Dean said. "But demand and that 'cool factor' is so huge for Apple products that you don't hear that about them."

___

Associated Press videographer David Wivell and researchers Zhao Liang and Yu Bing in Beijing and AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Shanghai contributed.

The package was discovered Friday about 6 a.m.

UPDATE, 8:15 a.m.: Personnel from the state police hazardous devices unit have taken possession of the package and people are being allowed back into the store. An official at the scene said the package contained batteries that had apparently been dropped off to be recycled. The batteries had been placed in a freezer bag, inserted into a keyboard box and then wrapped in duct tape.

CHICOPEE - A suspicious package, discovered about 6 a.m., prompted emergency personnel to evacuate the Home Depot here Friday.

Police have blocked off the parking lot in front of the store and a state police bomb squad arrived on the scene about 7:30 a.m. The small package was discovered in one of the entryways to the store.

The Walmart store, which faces Home Depot, remains open. Additional information was not immediately available.

State child welfare officials were notified and the children were handed over to a relative.

WORCESTER — A Worcester woman has been arrested after police say they caught her selling crack cocaine out of a car with two young children in the back seat.

Shani Byfield was charged Thursday with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, cocaine distribution and conspiracy to violate a drug law after police they found her selling drugs in a shopping plaza parking lot.

Police said they found 13 individually packaged rocks of crack cocaine after a search.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that officers say they pulled over the 26-year-old Byfield after observing an alleged drug transaction. She had two children, ages 6 and 3, in the back seat of her vehicle.

State child welfare officials were notified and the children were handed over to a relative.

Romney is sending a message to his party: It's time to stop the bickering.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney meets supporters at Cherokee Trike and More in Greer, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Torn between reality and their political dreams, leading conservatives are defending Mitt Romney against attacks on his work in the private sector even as they search for a more palatable candidate amid a growing sense that his nomination may be certain.

Romney is marching steadily through South Carolina, a state still uncertain about him, and picking up a prominent conservative's endorsement while sending a message to his party: It's time to stop the bickering.

Not just yet, some conservative leaders say.

"Honestly, it looks like Governor Romney's nomination is inevitable," said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. "Evangelicals, come November, might have to hold their noses and vote for the lesser of two evils. But it's not November yet."

Just over a week before South Carolina's first-in-the-South vote, there are signs that conservatives are struggling with their goal of finding what some would call "the anti-Romney." They appear no more organized in their search for a credible challenger than they were before former Sen. Rick Santorum raised their hopes with his second-place finish in Iowa.

More than 100 conservative leaders, many of them evangelical in their faiths, were set to converge this weekend at the Texas ranch of former state appeals court Judge Paul Pressler to consider their options, if any. Surrogates for each campaign were expected to make presentations and take questions.

In spite of their reluctance to embrace Romney as the GOP nominee, some conservatives have been drawn into defending him against charges of "vulture" capitalism from rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. Both are potential recipients of conservative backing in the effort to oppose Romney.

Trying to tap into populist sentiment, Gingrich and Perry accused Romney of being a fat-cat venture capitalist during his days running the private equity firm Bain Capital, saying he laid off workers as he restructured companies and filled his own pockets.

That strategy boomeranged. A long list of conservative leaders who have not endorsed Romney are nonetheless sticking up for his success — former Bush adviser Karl Rove, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Club for Growth, an array of conservative talk show hosts and even Santorum. Conservative leaders say the attack amounts to an assault on capitalism and the free market system at the heart of their movement.

"It's a sad day in South Carolina and across this country if Republicans are talking against the free market, let me tell you that," said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a tea party star who has endorsed Romney.

"It's just been foolish," said Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which does not endorse presidential candidates. "They're not doing anything other than setting up the ad base for their (Democratic) opponents."

On that point, the anti-Romney conservatives agree.

"I've not talked to many conservatives that support these attacks on Romney," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Evangelicals, he pointed out, support a free market with moral restraints and generally wouldn't object to Romney's success at Bain. "I don't think they see that as the real issue. It sounds more like something the Democrats might bring up."

It's a stark turnabout from last week, when speculation crackled through conservative ranks over whether Santorum could capture support from the large chunk of Republicans who aren't behind Romney.

Post-Iowa, things went sour for this group. Romney's second-in-a-row win in New Hampshire on Tuesday solidified his standing atop the GOP field. He was followed in that race not by Santorum but Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Gingrich and Perry also drew only tepid support in the opening contests.

Now, everyone's looking to South Carolina's Jan. 21 primary as potentially the last stand for the anti-Romney crowd.

"He is not anything near conservative enough," said Rock Hill, S.C., resident Carlene Madison, 54, shaking her head and making an unpleasant face.

Polling shows Romney gaining ground in South Carolina. He won Iowa with only 25 percent of the vote and New Hampshire with a more robust 38 percent. A poll conducted Jan. 4-5 by CNN/Time/ORC International showed Romney with the support of 37 percent of the state's likely Republican primary voters, up from 20 percent a month earlier.

He also won the endorsement this week of former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, a favorite of conservatives for his consistent criticism of President Barack Obama's foreign policy.

Romney has a difficult history with South Carolina's Republican voters, who are some of the nation's most conservative. In exit polling from the state's 2008 Republican presidential contest, 60 percent of primary voters said they were born-again Christians. Romney, whose Mormon faith is not considered a Christian denomination by some, carried just 11 percent of their votes, fewer than his 15 percent tally overall. Mormons consider themselves Christians.

Conservatives looking to back someone else have a heavy workload in a compressed period of time. Romney's closest rival, Santorum, is 18 points behind in South Carolina, followed by Gingrich, Paul, Perry and Huntsman, according to the CNN/Time/ORC International poll. Six percent are undecided, the survey found.

Jeffress, the Baptist minister, who once called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a cult and doesn't consider it a Christian faith, said he is skipping the Texas conference of conservatives but might eventually recommend voting for the former Massachusetts governor.

His rationale: "It's probably better to embrace a non-Christian like Romney, who embraces biblical values like the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage, rather than a professing Christian like President Obama, who embraces unbiblical positions."

A police officer suffered a back injury when the suspect resisted arrest.

Republican file photo03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – A West Springfield Police Department cruiser.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Police were summoned to subdue a 20-year-old city man Thursday night after he allegedly caused a disturbance at Rotary Liquors on Park Street when he attempted to retrieve a fake ID that had been confiscated by employees there two weeks ago.

A police officer suffered a back injury as police attempted to subdued the suspect, Keith A. Mulvey, of 78 Northwood Ave., Capt. Daniel Spaulding said.

The incident at the 52 Park St. store began about 9:35 p.m. and the suspect’s father, along with responding officers, arrived at the scene in an attempt to calm him down.

On the way out of the store, Mulvey smashed a front window pane with both hands and, once outside, kicked a police cruiser, Spaulding said.

Police eventually subdued and arrested the suspect, Spaulding said. He was charged with resisting arrest, malicious damage and disorderly conduct

A Texas woman was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison for suffocating her 6-year-old son, Camden McCrery, in a New Hampshire motel room and leaving his body on a roadside in Maine.

FILE - In this Thursday May 19, 2011 file photo Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, arrives in District Court in Portsmouth, N.H. McCrery was charged with killing her six-year-old son. McCrery a Texas woman who suffocated her 6-year-old son in a New Hampshire motel room and left his body by a road in Maine may shed light on her motives before being sentenced to 45 years in prison. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

LYNNE TUOHY
Associated Press

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A Texas woman was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison for suffocating her 6-year-old son in a New Hampshire motel room and leaving his body along a dirt road in Maine.

Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, told prosecutors she had planned to kill herself and that she killed her son, Camden Hughes, because no one else was fit to raise him. But prosecutors say they have evidence McCrery felt the boy was an inconvenience, and that she planned to go about her own life after killing him.

McCrery spoke tearfully at her sentencing hearing, calling her son beautiful and brilliant.

"I am sorry to have caused the intense pain and suffering to my precious son Camden," she said. "He did nothing whatsoever to deserve that by my hand, and he was not an inconvenience to me."

McCrery pleaded guilty in November to kneeling atop her son as he laid face-down on their motel room floor. She told investigators she covered his mouth with her hand as he struggled to survive.

On Friday, she said it has taken a while for her grief to fully unfold, but now it is "excruciating."

The discovery of Camden's body last May set off a nationwide effort to identify him. Meanwhile, McCrery called his elementary school in Texas daily to report him absent with appendicitis.

McCrery was arrested at a Massachusetts truck stop four days after Camden's body was discovered. A motorist who happened by the remote area where Camden's body was found was able to describe a pickup truck she had seen with its doors open and a Navy insignia on its window.

When she was questioned at the truck stop, McCrery identified herself and told police she had killed her son at a Hampton motel and left his body under a green blanket by the side of the road.

McCrery's family members — including a son on leave from the Navy — attended the sentencing.

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

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