The president's trip to Florida marked an attempt by the White House and his campaign to steal attention from Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination.

Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari / Associated PressPresident Barack H. Obama speaks about tourism and travel Thursday along Main Street USA at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

By JULIE PACE

NEW YORK – From the Magic Kingdom to the Apollo Theater, President Barack Obama on Thursday made the case for American tourism and his own re-election bid, mingling his political and economic agendas as he tried to stay ahead of the Republicans chasing after his job.

“I hope you know that the values you cherish, what you stand for, what you believe in, are the things I cherish and I believe in and I’m willing to fight for,” Obama said at Daniel, an exclusive Manhattan restaurant, in the first of four glitzy fundraisers.

Presidential politics were not far from the surface during events on both ends of the East Coast, as Obama sought a piece of Florida’s political spotlight ahead of a Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary with a high-profile appearance at Walt Disney World. Against the backdrop of Disney’s Cinderella castle, Obama announced initiatives aimed at making it easier for citizens of China and Brazil to visit the United States.

“America is open for business,” Obama said under Florida’s picture-perfect blue skies. “We want to welcome you.”

Later, the president told top donors in New York that he had made American foreign policy stronger during his first term, vowing that U.S. support for Israel’s security is “nonnegotiable.” He also defended his administration’s approach to Iran, saying even Tehran has acknowledged that U.S. sanctions are having an impact.

The New York itinerary included a $35,800 per ticket fundraiser at the home of film director Spike Lee and an event starting at $100 per ticket at the famed Apollo Theater featuring performances by Al Green and India. Arie. Obama, who raised more than $220 million for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the end of 2011, told supporters that the 2012 campaign would be difficult.

“This is still going to be a tough race, regardless of who they nominate,” he said, but told donors at another event that he was “very confident” of winning re-election.

Obama said the election would be “as stark a choice as we have seen,” noting that he shared similar views with 2008 GOP nominee John McCain on banning torture, climate change and closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “If you’ve been listening to the Republican debates, they have moved. I’ve stayed here. They’ve gone in a different direction.”

Obama’s trip to Florida marked an attempt by the White House and his campaign to steal attention from Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination. In recent weeks Obama held a live video conference with Iowa voters during the Republican caucus, Vice President Joe Biden held a similar event with voters in New Hampshire on the night of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary and next week Obama will travel to Nevada, which follows Florida on the primary calendar.

Obama was greeted in the Orlando area by ads from GOP front-runner W. Mitt Romney blaming the president for the state’s struggling economy. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, could take a major step toward securing the Republican nomination with a win in Florida’s Jan. 31 primary contest.

“I have a simple question for you: Where are the jobs?” Romney wrote in an open letter to the president on Thursday running as an ad in the Tampa Bay Times. In a conference call with reporters, Romney said Obama was “speaking from Fantasyland.”

While Obama carried Florida in 2008, the state is a top target for Republicans in the November elections. Florida twice backed Republican George W. Bush, providing the decisive electoral votes in the cliffhanger 2000 election that was decided after a 36-day recount.

Tourism is a key component to the economy in Florida, which has been battered by 10 percent unemployment and rampant home foreclosures.

The White House said more than 1 million U.S. jobs could be created over the next decade, according to industry projections, if the U.S. increases its share of the international travel market.

The tourism initiative is part of an executive order Obama signed. Its goal is to boost nonimmigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent this year; expand a Visa Waiver Program that allows participating nationals to travel to the U.S. for stays of 90 days or less without a visa; appoint a new group of chief executives to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and direct an interagency task force to develop recommendations for a National Travel and Tourism Strategy, including promoting national parks and other sites.

The efforts to boost tourism were praised by travel and tourism groups, but one lawmaker said the decision to relax tourist visas could undermine national security. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the administration was “pushing the envelope and using their authority beyond congressional intent,” noting that only two of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 terrorist attacks were interviewed by consular offices. He said Congress moved to require visa applicants to be interviewed as a result.

The White House says the travel and tourism industry represented 2.7 percent of gross domestic product and 7.5 million jobs in 2010. But the U.S. share of spending by international travelers fell from 17 percent to 11 percent between 2000 and 2010, due to increased competition and changes in global development, as well as security measures imposed after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the White House.

The approach was welcomed by Brazilian tourists Lilian Lara and Lindbergh Souza, who shopped along the resort’s streets hours before the president’s speech. Souza said the visa process was expensive, at $500, and time-consuming for Brazilians who don’t live close to consuls in Rio de Janiero and Sao Paulo. “The whole process took me six months,” Souza said.

Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

The accident occurred at about 6 p.m.

CHICOPEE - Chicopee police are investigating a Thursday evening accident at Memorial Drive and Britton Street that resulted in a pedestrian being injured.

Capt. Lonny C. Dakin said the departments traffic accident investiation team has been sent to the scene and he is waiting for a report.

The unknown pedestrian was taken to an area hospital but Dakin did not have a report on his injuries. He said he did not believe they are life-threatening.

The accident was reported at about 6 p.m.

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The plan also calls for one or more new facilities that could house aging inmates who need significant help with daily living and can no longer be adequately served within the general prison population.

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON – The state’s already overcrowded prison system would have 12,000 fewer beds than needed to handle the inmate population by 2020 without major policy changes and expanding regional facilities to treat female, mentally ill and elderly prisoners, state officials said Thursday in releasing a new master plan for the Department of Correction.

The nearly 400-page report calls the current system “unsustainable,” saying it would require some $2 billion in capital improvements and $120 million more in annual operating costs just to meet current demands.

Mary Heffernan

“We cannot build our way out of this problem,” Secretary of Public Safety Mary Elizabeth Heffernan said. “We need to have a better common sense operating approach to who we put in our beds.”

The plan calls for strengthening partnerships between the department and the 14 sheriffs’ departments around the state that generally house inmates who are awaiting trial or serving sentences of 30 months of less.

The initial phase of the plan calls for using an existing 10-year, $550 million bond authorization to increase capacity in the system and better deal with what officials called “special custody populations.”

The plan calls for creating about 325 new beds for women inmates at three existing regional correctional facilities. Heffernan said the expansion is needed to alleviate “appalling” conditions at the state prison for women in Framingham.

The plan also calls for one or more new facilities that could house aging inmates who need significant help with daily living and can no longer be adequately served within the general prison population.

While the report said the facilities could offer “assisted living” for inmates, state officials quickly dismissed any comparison to luxurious assisted living complexes that exist for some senior citizens.

“I’ve heard some of the wisecracks that are out there and I don’t make much of them,” Gov. Deval L. Patrick told reporters.

Republican Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson criticized the proposal, telling the Boston Herald that assisted living is expensive and questions why inmates should get specialized care when it can’t be provided to the general public.

The same facilities that treat elderly inmates could also house some inmates who have mental illness, officials said.

The Correction Master Plan also calls for eventually ending the practice of housing federal inmates in Massachusetts prisons and would turn over custody of sexually dangerous people being held under civil commitments to the state Department of Mental Health.

State officials said even with these changes, success in easing chronic overcrowding also hinges on sentencing reforms including the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

Heffernan said prison beds should be reserved for “habitual offenders, bad guys and bad felons.”

Tara Viola, 39, and her husband Thomas Fusco, 47, were each charged with keeping a house of ill fame and conspiring to promote prostitution.

An photo of The Inn at Laurel Lake, taken from the inn's website.

LEE – The owners of a bed & breakfast near Laurel Lake are in trouble with police for apparently providing more than just a place for weary travelers to put up their feet and unwind.

The Berkshire Eagle is reporting Tara Viola, 39, and her husband Thomas Fusco, 47, owners of The Inn at Laurel Lake were arrested Thursday afternoon on charges related to prostitution.

Each was charged with one count of keeping a house of ill fame and conspiring to promote prostitution, and Viola faces an additional count of soliciting sexual favors for a fee.

They are scheduled to be summonsed to appear in Southern Berkshire District Court to answer to the charges.

The Berkshire Eagle quotes a member of the Lee police department who said the prostitution charges stem from a therapeutic massage service that was offered to guests.

According to its website, the inn opened for business in 1900 originally as a place for travelers along Route 20 to rest. Fusco purchased the inn in 1996.

The website bills it as "a four-season resort that offers both modern conveniences and turn-of-the-century charm."

The measure also adds funding for several other programs in the current fiscal year, including $21 million in heating oil assistance for low-income people.

The Massachusetts Senate Sergeant at Arms leaves the Senate Chamber to escort the governor back prior to the swearing in of new members at the Statehouse in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate approved a $130 million spending bill Thursday that includes a freeze on the unemployment insurance rate paid by businesses.

The measure also adds funding for several other programs in the current fiscal year, including $21 million in heating oil assistance for low-income people.

A similar version of the spending bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Differences must be worked out before it goes to Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s desk.

The unemployment insurance freeze is estimated to save businesses $220 per employee this year and marks the fourth consecutive year that the Legislature has voted to spare businesses a scheduled increase in the rate.

The incumbent, state Sen. James T. Welch, D-West Springfield, has stated he will seek re-election.

Melvin A. Edwards

SPRINGFIELD – City Councilor Melvin A. Edwards formally announced his candidacy for state Senate in the Hampden District on Thursday night, promising hard work, attention to constituent concerns and no excuses.

Edwards, 52, of 20 Dexter St., a Democrat, made the announcement during a campaign kick-off and fund-raiser at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Edwards is running for the seat now held by state Sen. James T. Welch, D-West Springfield, which has been redrawn under redistricting. The district includes West Springfield and sections of Springfield and Chicopee, and no longer includes Agawam.

“This campaign team has put together a blueprint for success,” Edwards said in prepared comments. “It is said that ‘the best candidate doesn’t always win, but the best campaign does.’ We offer you both. This election will be won through hard work, determination and because of effort.”

Welch recently confirmed that he will seek re-election. In addition, former City Councilor Jose F. Tosado said recently he is seriously considering a run for either Welch’s Senate seat or against state Rep. Sean Curran, D-Springfield.

Edwards was elected to his second two-year term on the council in November. He is retired from Monson Developmental Center in Palmer.

Edwards promised “hard work, listening, bringing common sense to work with me every day, not hiding behind excuses, and being able to explain all of my votes and positions.”

He said he will work to increase local aid, improve education, to tie job creation to planning and economic development, and to make public safety a priority.

Melvin Edwards

On another controversial issue, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he will release multiple years of tax returns sometime after the South Carolina primary.

Photo by David Goldman/ Associated PressRepublican presidential candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich participate in the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday night

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich denied that he ever asked his ex-wife for an open marriage and angrily denouncing the moderator of Thursday night's Republican debate for raising the issue.

Gingrich blasted what he called the "destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media."

The former House speaker slammed CNN moderator John King during the debate, saying that he was "appalled" that King would begin a presidential debate on such a topic. Gingrich called the question about his ex-wife's allegations, in his words, "as close to despicable as anything as I can imagine."

The former speaker's second wife, Marianne Gingrich, said in an interview with ABC News that when she discovered Gingrich was having an affair he asked her for an open marriage.

During the debate rivalst Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were asked whether Gingrich’s past infidelity is relevant to the campaign.

Romney said it’s time to get on to the real issues.

Santorum said the U.S. is a forgiving country and that no one is perfect. He added it’s up to voters in South Carolina to decide if the matter is relevant.

And Paul said he attacks on Gingrich are being generated by the media. But he added that he’s proud his wife of 54 years is with him.

In other issues, Romney defended his work at Bain Capital saying his firm's investments created thousands of jobs.

Romney also cast criticism of Bain as criticism of the free enterprise and capitalism.

Romney said Bain Capital's investments helped four businesses create about 120,000 jobs. He acknowledged that some of the companies his former firm invested in cut jobs or closed but says overall his firm has created far more jobs than its cut.

Romney said people who criticize what Bain does are criticizing free enterprise. He said there's nothing wrong with making a profit and says capitalism is what makes America strong.

Three of the Republican candidates said President Obama is wrong to cut military spending and charges that he's putting the United States at risk.

Romney said the United States needs to maintain its military at any cost so that no one would ever think of testing its might.

Rick Santorum said Obama is trying to balance the budget at the expense of those serving in uniform. And Gingrich said military spending not only protects the country but educates its veterans.

Paul, of Texas, alone said he would cut spending, an unpopular position in South Carolina, home to 413,000 veterans and eight military bases.

Santorum called such cuts "disgusting" and Romney called them "doomsday."

For his part, Rick Santorum said Romney and Gingrich aren't electable because they've both supported policies too similar to Obama's health care plan.

Santorum said the health care plan Romney helped implement when he was governor of Massachusetts was an "abject disaster." Santorum said it is the basis for Obamacare and will make it impossible for Romney to debate Obama on the issue.

Photo by David Goldman / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidates former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, take the stage before the start of the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday.

Santorum said Gingrich repeatedly supported "the core" of Obama's health care plan before disavowing it later.

Santorum said he's the only candidate who can stand up to Obama on the issue.

Gingrich and Romney both said they can stand up to the president and vow to repeal Obama's health care plan.

On another issue, Romney said he'll release multiple years of his tax returns — but not before South Carolina votes on Saturday.

The former Massachusetts governor said his 2011 taxes aren't ready to release yet.

Romney defended his decision not to release any of his previous tax returns by saying that releasing them one by one will help President Barack Obama.

Romney said he'll release his returns all at once, but isn't saying how many years' worth.

Romney rival Newt Gingrich released his tax returns midway through Thursday's debate — and he criticizing Romney's stance, saying that South Carolina voters deserve to see Romney's return before they vote.

Later on in the debate, Gingrich and Santorum are sparred over each other's roles in Congress.

Santorum said Gingrich was undisciplined as House speaker and couldn't enact legislation despite coming up with an "idea a minute."

Santorum said he exposed a scandal in the early 1990s involving members of Congress bouncing checks at the House bank. Santorum said Gingrich never spoke out about that at the time.

Gingrich said he challenged his own party to push for reforms that eventually succeeded in Republicans winning a majority in the House in 1994.

Santorum said he wasn't as flashy as Gingrich but was steady and could get things done.

One thing the four remaining contenders seeking the Republican presidential nomination agreed upon is condemning a proposed anti-online piracy law that its critics say is overly aggressive.

Romney said the law is "far too intrusive" and too broad. He said if the Stop Online Piracy Act becomes law, it could stop job creation and hurt the economy.

Gingrich says the law pre-emptively censors the Internet on behalf of corporations. He says there are patents and copyrights to protect creators' rights and that, if someone is stealing, then the owners should sue under existing laws.

Rick Santorum said he doesn't like the law but added that the Internet is not somewhere "where anyone can do anything they want." And Ron Paul said the bill threatens freedom.

More details coming in The Republican.

Accidents were reported throughout the city as Thursday's snow began to accumulate on the streets.

Staff photo by Dave RobackA PVTA bus, bound for Belmont Avenue, drives along Main Street in the snow. Belmont Avenue was closed for a time because the hill was too slippery.

SPRINGFIELD – Numerous accidents are being reported in Springfield as roads have gotten apparently very slick with the snowfall.

“It’s a mess,” said Springfield police Sgt. David Martin. “All over the place.”

Asked for an estimate on the number of accidents, Martin started counting those assigned by dispatch. When he reached 12, he said “There’re all over the place.”

Martin said people should stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

Springfield police have shut down Belmont Avenue until the city DPW can come by with a sander.

Other spots throughout the city are reportedly very slick, as well.

Staff photo by Dave RobackA pedestrian crosses Main Street during the storm.

On Page Boulevard, tractor trailers are having a difficult time making it up the hill near the U.S. Postal Service Bulk Mail Center.

Beyond Springfield, the state police have lowered the speed on the Massachusetts Turnpike to 40 mph from Chicopee through the New York state line, and are urging all motorists to use extreme caution.

Tractor trailers and trucks hauling propane are still being permitted to drive on the pike during the storm.

Volunteer Robert Livingston said every dollar worth of donations can buy $13 worth of food.

BELCHERTOWN – Local community service organization BelchertownCAN! is holding a town-wide food drive Saturday with dozens of locations for people to donate canned goods and money.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., non-perishables and financial donations will be accepted at Stop & Shop, 45 Federal St.; Dwight Station Mini Market, 1066 Federal St.; Checkers General Store, 33 State St.; and Town Hall, 2 Jabish St.

Stop & Shop also has collection bins near the cash registers year-round.

The Hamilton Street transfer station, about 25 local businesses and the Clapp Memorial Library, 19 S. Main St., will accept cash donations.

Money and food raised will benefit pantries at St. Francis Church, Belchertown United Church of Christ, Dwight Chapel and the Amherst Survival Center.

Monetary donations can also be mailed to: BelchertownCAN!, P.O. Box 481, Belchertown, MA 01007.

BelchertownCAN! (Community Aid Network) formed in 2008 and held its first annual “Community Give-In” in 2009, collecting three tons of food. The 2010 effort garnered 8,000 pounds.

The organization is especially interested in high-protein foods like canned fish, peanut butter and canned soups and stews. Personal care items and pet food are also sought.

A news release from BelchertownCAN! said the usual donation surge around the holidays has died down and the need to replenish the supply is urgent.

“Folks who haven’t needed food assistance for two or three years are coming back,” the release said. “Traditionally, families turned to the emergency food network just till they could get back on their feet. Now, however, relying on food pantries is the ‘new normal’ for a lot of people.”

“We’re seeing two to 10 new families every week,” said Tracey Levy, program director of the Amherst Survival Center, in the release.

Levy added that although unemployment is down, a person making $10 an hour is counted as working but still unable to bring enough money to meet his or her family’s needs or apply for other assistance.

Pantries can use financial donations to buy food at wholesale prices.

“BelchertownCAN! moves when there is a need,” said volunteer Robert L. Livingston. “Now until the springtime, the pantries are pretty well empty.”

Organizer Clifford A. McCarthy said the need “might be greater than people expect in a middle-class community like Belchertown.”

The cost of the debris removal from the storm was $3.5 million.

LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen has approved short-term borrowing of $3.5 million to pay for debris removal costs from the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

Selectmen approved the short-term borrowing in the event it is needed to pay for the debris removal costs. Selectmen Chairman Aaron Saunders said federal disaster reimbursement has now been approved which will reimburse the town for 75 percent of the $3.5 million.

“The federal disaster declaration from President Obama has happened,” Saunders said. The declaration assures the town the 75 percent reimbursement, he said.

Saunders added that an additional 25 percent reimbursement of the costs is possible from the state, but he said he “would not count on it” at the present time.

Saunders said that since Ludlow has some federal roads, its federal disaster reimbursement could be more than 75 percent.

Snow removal from the Oct. 29 snowstorm was about $100,000, Saunders said. He said snow removal costs are not reimbursable. The $3.5 million in debris removal costs will be reimbursable, he said.

The short-term borrowing is to cover a possible time lag in the receipt of the federal funds, Saunders said.

Some surrounding communities had higher cleanup costs. Springfield had costs of more than $20 million for debris removal alone. Wilbraham had a cleanup cost of $5 million.

The cost of the cleanup in Monson is $3 million, a figure that prompted selectmen to caution a worst-case scenario of a government shutdown for two years if no federal or state assistance came through.

The storm dumped a wet, heavy snow on the region, leaving a foot or more in some places. Leaf-laden branches and trees fell, downing power lines and blocking roads.

Across Western Massachusetts roughly 200,000 customers were left without power, some for as many as eight days.

Fire departments from throughout Franklin County responded to the scene.

Photo courtesy of Fireground360A photo of the fire in Athol Thursday night. Photo taken by Gary Beauchemin ~ K&G Photography

ATHOL – Firefighters from Athol and surrounding towns are battling a massive blaze in an old mill on Lumber Street.

Reports are that the fire started shortly before 8 p.m. at the site of the former Cass Toy Factory.

Fire departments from throughout Franklin County have responded to the scene.

Reports are that the main building is gone and firefighters are trying to stop the fire from spreading.

Canal is located off Route 2A.

Several propane tanks and transformers exploded, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported on its website. The fire is among the largest in Athol history, according to the Telegram and Gazette.

7News in Boston reported that a firefighter suffered minor injuries after slipping in the snow.

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On the same evening Republican U.S. Sen Scott Brown kicked off his campaign to much fanfare in Worcester, Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren's campaign had tallied more than $1 million in donations as part of her "money bomb" fundraiser.

01.12.2012. CHICOPEE- U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren speaks alongside Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette at the Westover Job Corps on Jan. 12. (Staff Photo by Robert Rizzuto)

BOSTON - On the same evening Republican U.S. Sen Scott Brown kicked off his campaign to much fanfare in Worcester, Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren's campaign had tallied more than $1 million in donations as part of her "money bomb" fundraiser.

Warren, who is up against fellow Democrats Marisa DeFranco and James Conye King in the race to challenge Brown in November, released a statement Thursday evening highlighting her excitement about the fundraiser's results.

“Today the message is clear: we have the grassroots momentum and enthusiasm to take the ‘People’s Seat’ back from Wall Street and other powerful interests,” said Warren. “I am grateful for this show of support and will keep working my heart out for the small businesses and middle class families who deserve someone on their side in the Senate.”

Warren's efforts were aided by several prominent Democratic senators as they sent requests for cash on the consumer advocate's behalf to everyone on their email distribution lists.

Brown's party Thursday evening was symbolic as it was two years prior that, against the odds, he pushed ahead and defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley in a special election following the death of Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, who held what became know as "the people's seat," for 46 years.

In his speech in Worcester, Brown also mentioned the late senator, likely not the last time the Kennedy name will be invoked during the election.

"After we lost Ted Kennedy, there was suddenly a vacancy in the United States Senate. And for the political establishment, it came down to a simple question: Which Democrat would move into the seat?" Brown said at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. "For years, everyone knew what the deal was in this state: You get chosen by the machine, you go along to get along, please the right people, and the rest is easy. But we had a different idea. Elections aren't supposed to be easy, and public offices do not belong to any party by right. Two years ago you sent the establishment a very powerful message, a message that still resonates today. We won two years ago because we respected voters enough to give them a choice. As I said many times in that special election, it is your choice, and it still is the people's seat."

Brown also addressed Warren directly in his speech, describing her as a polarizing figure.

"Professor Warren is a hard-working, talented and accomplished academic. And she's got the other side pretty excited," Brown said. "She talks about how she's a, 'rock thrower,' and rather than compromise she prefers to leave 'blood and teeth' on the floor. That sure doesn't sound like the kind of compromise and progress this country needs right now. I'm a bridge builder, not a rock thrower."

Following Brown's campaign kickoff party, Kevin Franck, communications director for the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, took aim at the senator, saying that his opportunity to prove himself to the voters had passed.

"Two years ago, the people of Massachusetts gave Scott Brown a chance, but he let us down," Franck said. "From putting the interests of Wall Street and big banks ahead of Massachusetts families to voting against President Obama’s jobs bill, Scott Brown has disappointed the people of Massachusetts."

Warren also stopped by Worcester on Thursday, appearing with the city's mayor Joe Petty at Nu Cafe on Chandler Street where she took shots at Brown's claims that he is an independent voter.

Despite the mutual attacks on Thursday, representatives from both Brown and Warren's campaigns are scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the terms of an agreement the two are slated to sign in opposition of third-party advertising in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts.

Brown has proposed self-inflicted financial penalties anytime a Super PAC advertises to the benefit of a candidate while Warren is calling for a clause that accounts for the possibility of an outside group launching a "sham ad" to cause the candidate they oppose to incur a financial penalty.

Other than an agreement for self-imposed penalties, there is little the two can do to stop PACs from launching ads as federal election law allows it and explicitly bans candidates from contacting PACs to coordinate advertising.

Full details on any agreement the two sides reach will be published on MassLive.com and in The Republican.

All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.

A British military official with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) adjusts his helmet, as a NATO helicopter lands at the Provincial Reconstruction Team compound in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The helicopter landed to pick up Afghan officials to take them to the Kajaki district of Helmand one day after a suicide attack. The suicide bomber blew himself at a bridge under construction in Kajaki district of Helmand province, according to Mohammad Ismail, the deputy of the Afghan security forces coordination office in the area. Ismail said NATO troops also were working at the construction site, but it was unclear whether any were injured or killed. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaleq)

HONOLULU — All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.

The helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

Sen. Scott Brown, A Massachusetts Republican and member of the National Guard who himself has spent time in Afghanistan, extended his condolences to the Marines' families following news of the crash.

"News that a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan killed six U.S. Marines underlines the unbelievable courage, service and sacrifice exhibited by our uniformed men and women each and every day," Brown said. "I extend my deepest condolences and sympathies to the Marines’ families."

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she's saddened to hear of the deaths. Her spokeswoman, Ashley Nagaoka Boylan, said the congresswoman was notified Thursday evening that all six were Hawaii-based Marines.

"All who have called Hawaii home are part of our island ohana, and every loss like this touches us deeply," Hanabusa said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word for family.

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed all six were Marines on condition of anonymity because the U.S. command in Afghanistan had not yet publicly released details.

The official says there is no indication that the helicopter was hit by enemy fire.

Chuck Little, spokesman for Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith on Oahu, said he could not provide information about the crash.

The crash, which occurred in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan was the deadliest in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province in the center of the country.

The cause of Thursday's crash is still being investigated, but a statement issued by the NATO international military coalition said there was no enemy activity in the area when it happened.

"The loss of the six U.S. Marines in yesterday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan comes as tragic news for our island community and our nation," Hawaii Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono said in a statement. "We owe them and all of our brave servicemen and women a debt of gratitude for their dedication to our country."

Ward 5 Councilor David Murphy conceded that the engineering money spent on the landfill expansion is essentially a loss for the city.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Glendale Road landfill in Northampton will reach capacity by the end of the year.

NORTHAMPTON – The process of paying off the landfill continued at the City Council meeting Thursday as the council approved the transfer of $842,486 for that purpose.

The Glendale Road facility is scheduled to reach capacity by the end of this year or early in 2013, at which time it will close. The Board of Public Works had proposed expanding the facility on an adjacent site but ultimately abandoned that plan, citing a special ballot question in which voters said they did not want the expansion.

Although the project never went forward, the city incurred costs associated with it. Some $300,000 was appropriated for engineering studies and design work. The city also spent $1.2 million to buy two properties abutting the landfill to settle suits filed by those owners over the facility’s legality. It resold one of those properties on Park Hill Road for $381,500 in 2010. The city razed the other house on Glendale Road but hopes to sell the 17-acre lot and recoup more of its expenses.

Ward 5 Councilor David A. Murphy conceded that the engineering money spent on the landfill expansion is essentially a loss for the city. Department of Public Works Director Edward S. Huntley said there are other costs related to the project going back years.

“Pretty much any money spent for acquiring land is probably money gone out the window,” said Murphy.

However, Murphy, a proponent of the project, said that money was not spent foolishly.

“It was a wise choice to prepare for the expansion,” he said. “It just didn’t happen.”

The council voted to take the $842,486 out of the undesignated balance of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.

In other business, the council heard a presentation on the proposed charter changes from David P. Stevens, the chairman of the Special Act Charter Drafting Committee. Among the recommendations are extending the term of the mayor from two to four years and having the council president, not the mayor, preside over council meetings. The City Council will discuss the proposed changes over the next month before taking a final vote.

An increase in the cigarette tax is one of a series of revenue proposals that Patrick hopes will generate $260 million in new revenue for his spending plan.

An updated version of this story is now available at MassLive.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration photoThis file combo made from images provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows two of nine new warning labels cigarette makers will have to use by the fall of 2012. Several states and U.S. territories are weighing in on a lawsuit over proposed graphic cigarette warning labels that include a sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the federal government should be allowed to require the labels for the products. In Massachusetts, meanwhile, Gov. Deval Patrick plans to include a 50 cent per pack increase on the state cigarette tax in his budget proposal next week.

By MATT MURPHY

BOSTON - Massachusetts smokers would pay more than $3 per pack in state taxes under a 50-cent hike in the state cigarette tax Gov. Deval L. Patrick plans to include in his budget next week, one of a series of revenue proposals that Patrick hopes will generate $260 million in new revenue for his spending plan.

The increase in the cigarette tax would mark the second time in his tenure that Patrick has proposed raising the cigarette tax. In 2008, the Legislature approved a $1 increase. The tax on a pack of cigarettes would rise to $3.01 and the administration will also propose applying the new, higher tax rate to all other tobacco products sold in the state, according to Patrick’s budget chief.

Under the governor’s plan, Massachusetts would have the fifth highest tobacco tax in the country, but still lower than New York and Rhode Island, said Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez.

The tax increase would generate $73 million in additional revenue, and be dedicated to the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund to cover half the cost of accepting legal immigrants into the state’s subsidized insurance program as mandated by a recent Supreme Judicial Court Decision.

As in years past, Patrick will also call for the application of the state sales tax to candy and soda, and an expansion of the bottle bill to include water bottles, juices, coffee and sports drinks. Those two proposals would generate $62.5 million and $22 million respectively, with $5 million from the bottle bill expansion dedicated to recycling programs and $10 million from the sales tax steered under an existing formula to transportation and school building.

“This is something the governor has filed at least once, probably twice before, that has good public policy benefits that discourages consumption of products that are unhealthy for people that cost the taxpayers more in public health costs,” Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez said.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who led the push to hike the sales tax in 2009, earlier this week said he would wait to see Patrick’s budget before taking a position on new fees and taxes for next year, though in the past he has ruled them out early in the budget process. The Legislature more than once has rejected Patrick’s call for taxing candy and soda and expanding the bottle bill.

“That doesn’t mean we still don’t believe they’re the right things to do, particularly the ones that have public health benefits and there’s a lot of public support for them and that’s why the governor thinks it’s important to seek them,” Gonzalez said.

House Minority Leader Brad Jones immediately criticized the plan, saying the state should find other ways to balance the budget rather than pulling money out of the economy.

“Is this part of the plan to help balance the budget in New Hampshire?” Jones said, calling the announcement “a Friday afternoon news dump” that he predicted would “go up in smoke.”

Gonzalez said the “tradeoffs” to these new revenue proposals would be cuts to programs that are “in many ways on their last legs.” He declined to estimate the extent of spending cuts that will be included in Patrick’s budget.

Among the other revenue-generating proposals that Patrick plans to include in his budget is a delay in the FAS 109 deduction which was a component of the corporate tax reform law passed in 2008 giving certain large multi-state corporations a deduction to absorb costs incurred by a new combined reporting requirement. Delaying the implementation for one more year will let the state keep $46 million in revenue, according to Gonzalez.

The administration will also recommend applying the motel/hotel excise tax to the full cost of a room, including the markup from Internet resellers, for $7 million in revenue.

Two proposed changes to corporate tax law would include a new calculation for corporate taxes on sales based on consumption rather than sale origin, allowing Massachusetts companies that sell products out of state to pay less, while outside companies selling to Bay State consumers would pay more.

Subsidiaries of insurance companies that do not perform insurance-related business would also be taxed as a general corporation rather than on investments as insurance companies are currently taxed. The two corporate tax changes would net the state $17 million.

The governor’s budget will also recommend eliminating the tax deduction on losing Lottery tickets for $500,000; technology investments to better identify and collect uncollected and underreported taxes for $22.3 million; $5.8 million in agency fee increases; and $5 million in advertising revenue on state websites and vehicles.

Administration officials were not able to immediately list the fee hikes but Gonzalez said a Department of Environmental Protection fee associated with permitting would be raised to support the agency’s budget.

Massachusetts received a grade of “F” for “severely underfunding proven tobacco prevention and cessation programs,” with the state this year spending less than 1 cent on preventing kids from smoking for every $1 it receives in tobacco-related revenue, according to an annual report released Thursday by the American Lung Association.

The report gave Massachusetts a grade of “B” for its cigarette tax, noting the loophole allowing a smaller tax on candy-flavored chewing tobacco, dissolvable tobacco tablets and mini-cigars.

Massachusetts also got an “F” for inadequate coverage of services and treatment to help smokers quit, but an “A” for its smoke-free workplace law, which was approved in 2004.

The association and Tobacco Free Mass estimate tobacco kills more than 8,000 people per year in Massachusetts and accounts for 10 percent of the state’s health care costs, or over $4.5 billion a year.

State House News Service writers Kyle Cheney and Michael Norton contributed to this report.

Kriger recently sustained extensive injuries in an automobile accident while on vacation, but is expected to fully recover.

WWLP 22News anchor Barry Kriger recently sustained extensive injuries in an automobile accident while on vacation, station manager John Baran said Friday.

2003 file photoBarry Kriger

Baran referred questions to a report published on the WWLP 22News website, which said Kriger is currently in the hospital but expected to fully recover. Baran did not say where or when the accident took place.

Kriger will be out of work for an unknown period of time, the story said.

Kriger anchors the 22News weeknight newscasts at 5:30, 6, and 11 p.m. He has worked for WWLP for more than 20 years. He returned to the Chicopee station in 1998 after three years as an anchor and reporter for WPRI-TV in Providence, R.I.

He has received four Associated Press Awards for excellence in reporting breaking news, and for continuing coverage of significant news stories, according to his WWLP News22 profile.

A proposed doubling of the tax on other types of tobacco products, including cigars, chewing tobacco and pouches of tobacco, would raise $10.4 million.

BOSTON -- Gov. Deval L. Patrick is planning to propose a 50-cent increase in the state's per pack cigarette tax to help pay for a court decision that indicated the state has to fund subsidized health care for tens of thousands of legal immigrants.

According to David E. Sullivan, general counsel for the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Patrick will propose raising the cigarette tax to $3.01 a pack, up from the current $2.51 a pack. Patrick will include the proposed 20 percent increase in his state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

"We need to pay for the somewhat late-breaking court decision," Sullivan said. "This will help pay the cost of that."

The increase would raise $62.5 million. A proposed doubling of the state tax on other types of tobacco, including cigars, chewing tobacco and pouches of tobacco, would raise $10.4 million.

"We are doubling the existing tax on all other tobacco products to put it in line with the previous and new proposed increase in the cigarette tax," Alex Zaroulis, a fiscal spokeswoman for Patrick, said in an email.

The cigarette tax was last hiked in 2008 in Massachusetts when it was raised by $1 a pack. However, the tax on all other tobacco products was not increased at that time.

According to Sullivan, the money would go toward enrolling legal immigrants in Commonwealth Care, the state's subsidized health care program. The state Supreme Judicial Court this month said it was unconstitutional to exclude noncitizen immigrants from the program. The administration estimates it will cost an additional $150 million to place the legal immigrants into the health-insurance program.

The hike in the tobacco tax is among measures in the governor's budget to increase state revenues. Patrick wants to raise $260 million in additional revenues in the state budget for fiscal 2013.

The governor, for example, also is seeking to impose the state's 6.25 percent sales tax on candy and soda sweetened with sugar. The state sales tax currently is not charged on soda and candy. The money from this tax would go to preserve public health and preventative care services, except for roughly $10 million which will be made available to school building assistance and a transportation fund.

By charging the sales tax on candy and soda, the state would raise $61.5 million.

Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, a Barre Democrat and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he did not want to judge ahead of time any measures to raise revenues or cut programs.

"Right now, everything should be on the table," Brewer said. "If we prejudge all these things we might as well write a budget this afternoon."

Obituaries from The Republican.

Gary Allen Lussier

Gary Allen Lussier, 52, of New York City and West Stockbridge, passed away Monday. He was born in Holyoke and raised in Chicopee. He graduated from Chicopee Comprehensive High School in 1977 and received a BFA in dance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1985. Lussier moved to New York City, where he danced for various companies, performed in productions at the Light Opera of Manhattan and had his own dance company. He later managed Prince Street Restaurant, worked in retail at Wolffman, Gold and Good Co., and was a sales associate at the upmarket retailer Barneys New York.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Braz, Custodia Zina
  



• 
  Gagnon, Rita A.
  




• 
  Hurley, Margaret "Peg" (Doyle)
  



• 
  Lussier, Gary Allen
  



• 
  Perreault, Gerald N. "Jerry"




• 
  Perron, Leonora M. "Nora" (Mitchell)
  



• 
  Provost, Rita
  




• Rubin, Leonard
  




• 
  Sinico, Martha A.
  



• 
  Smith, Raymond J.




• 
  Sokolowski Jr., Michael
  



• 
  Topor, Jane B. (Niziolek)
  




• Yazhbin, Abram
  




• 
  Zagura, Stella A. (Cygan)
  

Rescue workers were still looking for 21 people reported missing after the cruise ship ran aground a week ago today.

By NICOLE WINFIELD

ROME – The cruise ship grounded off Tuscany shifted again on its rocky perch Friday, forcing the suspension of diving search operations for the 21 people still missing and raising concerns about the stability of the ship’s resting place.

However, crews began combing the area above the waterline in the evening after officials determined the ship had stabilized enough, and they will evaluate the situation Saturday morning to see if the diving operation can resume, said Italy's Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro.

The diving operation focuses on an area where passengers would have sought lifeboats, Nicastro said.

“We are ready to go for the morning,” he said, as long as the partially submerged ship is not shifting.

The $450 million Costa Concordia was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew when it slammed into well-charted rocks off the island of Giglio a week ago. Eleven people have been confirmed dead.

It was not clear if the slight movements registered by sensors placed on board the Costa Concordia were just vibrations as the ship settles on the rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio or if the massive ocean liner is slowly slipping off the reef.

The sensors detected that the ship’s bow was moving about half an inch an hour and the stern about one-quarter inch an hour, said Nicola Casagli of the University of Florence, who was called in by Italian authorities to monitor the ship’s stability.

The Concordia’s movements are being watched since any significant shift could be dangerous for divers trying to locate those missing since the Concordia ran aground Jan. 13. An additional fear is that movement could damage tanks holding a half-million gallons of fuel oil and lead to leaks.

The sea floor drops off sharply a few yards from where the ship is resting, and Italy’s environment minister has warned it risks sinking.

Capt. Francesco Schettino, who was jailed after he left the ship before everyone was safely evacuated, is under house arrest, facing possible charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship.

On Friday, relatives of some of the 21 missing were at Giglio’s port getting briefings from rescue teams.

Casagli told Sky TG24 that some movement in the Concordia was only natural given the immense weight of the steel-hulled ship, which is being held in place by two huge rocks at bow and stern.

But the latest movements indicate it isn’t stable, he said. “These are small, regular movements that are being monitored because they’re going in the same direction,” he told Sky.

Late Thursday, Costa-owner Carnival Corp. announced it was conducting a comprehensive audit of all 10 of its cruise lines to review safety and emergency response procedures in the wake of the Costa disaster. The evacuation was chaotic and the alarm to abandon the ship was sounded after the Concordia had capsized too much to get many life boats down.

Associated Press writer Andrea Foa contributed to this report from Giglio, Italy.

The Palmer Department of Public Works announced that a section of High Street in the Thorndike section of town will be closed Monday for repairs.

PALMER - The Palmer Department of Public Works announced that a section of High Street in the Thorndike section of town will be closed Monday for repairs.

The road will be closed between Main and Commercial Streets, beginning at 7 a.m.

Work is expected to last the rest of the day as DPW contractor perform work on sewer pipes, officials said.

Traffic will be diverted onto Commercial Street and Main Street while this section of High Street is closed.

View Road closure in Palmer in a larger map