Ginopoulos, a senior at Longmeadow High School, died suddenly of an unknown cause.

View full sizeThe Republican | Don TreegerWriting on the side of the new Longmeadow High School, now under construction, remembers senior George Ginopoulos, who died suddenly on Jan. 14.

LONGMEADOW – He may not have been a star athlete or the most popular boy in school, but George M. Ginopoulos will always be remembered, and his name will forever be a part of Longmeadow High School.

Ginopoulos, a senior at the high school, died suddenly on Jan.14 of an unknown cause. The only son of James and Ann Marie (Coffey) Ginopoulos, he was remembered by teachers and students as a kind and honest kid who loved business.

Those who drive by Grassy Gutter Road will see in bright orange paint the words “We’ll miss you George,” written on a wall of the new high school by Gilbane Inc., the general contractor.

“When my son told me about George’s death I remembered those old commercials at the movie theater where the Dana Farber patients would hold up signs to have their names spray painted on the construction of the Big Dig,” said Leslie Smith, a parent of a student at the high school. “I thought it would be nice if we could do something like that for him.”

Smith said Gilbane immediately agreed to post the message.

“We are building the school for people and we felt it was an appropriate tribute for this boy and his family,” said Anthony Iaccarino, the site manager for Gilbane.

A vigil was held in the school last Wednesday with about 400 students, teachers and community members attending.

“I rode the bus to school with George every day since middle school,” said Adam Schmuter, the senior class president who organized the vigil. “He was a kind, genuine, direct kid who loved business.”

Schmuter said the pair had many conversations about politics, economics and the stock market.

“He had an old soul. We were all really shocked by his death,” he said.

Matt Flanagan, a teacher and head of the business department, said the teen was a great student who would do anything to help out.

“He was a teacher’s assistant for my accounting class twice. He didn’t get any extra credit; he just liked helping other students out,” Flanagan said. “You could always count on George to do whatever you needed.”

Flanagan said Ginopoulos was applying to local colleges, including American International College and Springfield College. He planned on studying business.

Flanagan said he might not have been a standout athlete, but Ginopoulos will never be forgotten.

“He was honest and hardworking. At his age there is a lot of pressure to succeed by taking the easy way out, but George was always very straightforward. If he didn’t have an assignment done he would look you in the eye and tell you the truth. He was just a really special kid.”

Smith is accused by Bridgeport police of bashing a homeless man's head in, removing one of his eyes and some brain matter and then eating it in cemetery. His family said he had "mental issues."

AP photoTyree Smith

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly hacking to death a Connecticut man and eating the victim's eye and part of his brain, police said Wednesday.

Tyree Lincoln Smith, 35, was arrested Tuesday night on a Connecticut warrant for murder, according to police in Lynn Haven, Fla.

A property inspector discovered the body of Angel L. Gonzalez on Friday on the third floor of an abandoned home in Bridgeport, Conn., according to that city's police department. A medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt head trauma and ruled Gonzalez's death a homicide.

On Monday a cousin of Smith's in Connecticut contacted the Bridgeport police about Gonzalez's death. She told detectives that Smith had arrived at her house Dec. 15 and said he wanted to "get blood on his hands" before going to a park and then to the abandoned home, where he used to live, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The next day, Smith returned to the cousin's house with blood on his pants, hands and an axe, the affidavit said. Smith's cousin said he told her that he was sleeping on a porch at the abandoned home when we was awakened by a Hispanic man and invited inside. Then Smith described beating the man's face and head with the axe and collecting one of his eyes, a piece of his skull some of his brain matter, which he consumed in a nearby cemetery, the affidavit said.

The cousin told detectives she called Smith's mother, who notified police on Dec. 16 that they may want to check the abandoned home and that her son had "mental issues," the affidavit said.

Smith had left Connecticut for Florida on Friday on a Greyhound Bus, the cousin told detectives. Police and Smith's relatives reached Smith by telephone, and in a recorded call Smith admitted that he had been at the abandoned house and that he told a relative that he had killed the man, according to the affidavit.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers took Smith into custody at an apartment Tuesday night without incident, Lynn Haven police said.

It was not immediately clear whether Smith had an attorney.

The governor's proclamation was accompanied by his request that students wear black on Jan. 25 “as a sign of their commitment to ‘Black Out Bullying’ in schools.”

View full sizePhoto by John Suchocki / The RepublicanStudents at the Michael E. Smith Middle School in South Hadley dresse in black and signed pledges to to support "No name-calling day" to promote anti-bulllying awareness. Here, eighth graders Cayleigh Romanovicz and Nathan Zayas hold a sign for the rest of their class during lunch at the school.

The door to the cafeteria at Smith Middle School in South Hadley bore a sign that read “Black out bullying,” and when it opened, it revealed a sea of students dressed in black.

The couture ranged from a black Brad Paisley T-shirt to black hoodies to a scoop-necked black top lined with glittery pink trim.

Even Erica Faginski-Stark, principal of the school, was wearing an elegant black ensemble.

Smith Middle School was responding to Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s proclamation of Jan. 25 as “No name-calling day” in Massachusetts. The proclamation was accompanied by his request that students wear black that day “as a sign of their commitment to ‘Black Out Bullying’ in schools.”

It’s part of the state’s effort to stamp out bullying. Patrick signed an anti-bullying law in 2010, following the shocking suicides of two Western Massachusetts students who had been bullied.

In Springfield, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno observed “No name-calling day” by visiting the Milton Bradley Elementary School, where children showed him a quilt made for the occasion. It featured their signatures, pledging they would not be bullies.

Smith Principal Faginski-Stark said middle school brings a heightened awareness of differences, and an increase of name-calling and bullying. “Nationally, you see it peak statistically in the seventh and eighth grades,” said Faginski-Stark, adding, “We do lot of preventive work.”

“For us, it’s an ongoing process,” said health counselor Karen Walsh Pio, organizer of the Smith rally. “We take an anonymous ‘climate survey’ three times a year so we can get feedback from students.”

“It’s important to wear black today because we’d like to prevent bullying,” said Matthew Gelinas, a handsome 12-year-old redhead at Smith.

“I wore black so people can be aware to end bullying and build trust,” said Will Schenker, an eighth-grader at Smith, “so they feel like they can trust.”

Schenker had decked himself out in black knee socks, black basketball shorts and a black T-shirt under a fleecy black vest.

“When I see someone sitting alone, sometimes I go sit with them,” said Amanda Rivera, 13, who was also dressed in black to express her views.

Black-clad Jailene Rodriguez, 13, expressed similar sentiments. “I like to help people when they need help, because some day they’ll help me,” said Rodriguez.

“She’s always kind to everybody,” said her friend Jaimee Croteau, 13, who also wore a black outfit. “My friends call me GG, for Goody-Goody,” admitted Rodriguez.

Several children admitted that they had called their brothers and sisters names. One boy said he almost never called people names, but when he did, he did it jokingly and always tried to apologize afterwards.

This day, however, was a day for no name-calling.

The budget, which eliminates about 300 positions in the executive branch, is up 3 percent from estimated spending for this fiscal year.

Associated PressMassachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, left, takes questions from reporters as Mass. Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, right, looks on during a news conference at the Statehouse, in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Patrick sent lawmakers a proposed $32.3 billion state budget for the next fiscal year on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick submitted a $32.3 billion budget for the next fiscal year that increases the budget for the University of Massachusetts, level funds local aid for cities and towns, and calls for hiring additional public defenders to replace private lawyers for the poor.

The budget is up 3 percent from estimated spending for this fiscal year.

The budget is balanced with $400 million from the rainy day fund and $141 million in other one-time revenues, $260 million in new revenues and cost reductions. The cost reductions are achieved with cuts in programs and proposed reforms such as combining the state Probation Department with Parole under the executive branch and changes to control spending on health care.

Patrick took the wraps off his budget two days after his annual "State of the State" speech.

“As I've said before, I am asking the Legislature to make tough choices," Patrick said at a Statehouse news conference. "This budget is no different."

The budget now goes to the state House of Representatives, which will approve its own version. The state Senate will also approve a budget. A House-Senate compromise would be sent to the governor, who would sign the budget and could veto line items or offer amendments.

The governor's budget eliminates about 300 positions in the executive branch. Statewide grants to local tourist councils, including one to the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, would be cut by 66 percent to $2 million.

The budget also cuts $1.5 million, or 24 percent, from a $6.3 million program to provide free or subsidized meals to elderly people at local councils on aging, eliminating 240,000 lunches, the administration said.

Photo by the governor's officeJay Gonzalez, secretary for administration and finance

The budget also seeks to end certain support services for about 1,750 families with developmentally disabled members, saving $5.5 million. The program is funded at $41 million for the new fiscal year.

The budget also calls for an increase of 50 cents in the state's $2.51 per pack tax on cigarettes to take effect on Aug. 1, raising $62.5 million to help pay for court-mandated state subsidized health insurance for legal immigrants who are eligible. Patrick also resurrected a past idea to impose the state's 6.25 percent sales tax on candy and soda, generating $61.5 million for public health services.

The five-campus University of Massachusetts budget is $455 million, up 6 percent, with the Amherst campus receiving about half that amount. The university system's budget includes $25.5 million to pay for bargained increases in contracts with union employees.

"These funds provide a major step in achieving our goal of 50 percent of our education budget coming from the state and keeping student charges as low as possible," University of Massachusetts President Robert L. Caret said in a statement. "We thank the governor for this important step in achieving that goal."

The state currently subsidizes about 45 percent of the university system's education budget.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said the budget includes a substantial increase for services for military veterans.

The state Department of Veterans Services would receive $78.5 million, an increase of 14 percent, including more money to provide 100 percent reimbursement to communities for shelter services for homeless veterans, up from 75 percent, and additional funds for services such as job training and annuities for disabled veterans and parents of military members killed in combat.

The budget for the Holyoke Soldiers Home would increase to $20.8 million, up about 1 percent from estimated spending for this year.

Local aid fared well in the budget. General education aid rose by $145 million to $4.136 billion, the most state money ever for the program, Patrick said. "We owe it to ourselves to do everything we can to support the schools," Patrick said.

Unrestricted aid was left at $833 million with a provision to add another $65 million if there are sufficient surplus funds at the end of this fiscal year.

So-called Chapter 90 funds for local road repairs stayed the same at $200 million, as did $213 million for extraordinary costs of special education. Other aid that was level funded included $43.5 million for regional school transportation and $26.3 million for reimbursing communities for state-owned lands on which they cannot collect property taxes.

Jay Gonzalez, secretary for administration and finance, said the budget builds on an existing initiative by adding another 241 full-time public defenders to replace some work done by state-contracted private lawyers for the poor. If the Legislature agrees and public defenders are hired, indigent defense would be split 50-50 between public defenders and the private lawyers.

Public defenders currently handle about 25 percent of the cases involving people who can't afford to hire their own lawyer. The cost of defense for the indigent would be reduced by about $20 million if the additional staff public defenders are hired, according to the budget.

Patrick is also bringing back a plan to merge probation and parole, saying in the budget that it would create one coherent organization and would reduce rates of people relapsing into crime. State legislators have rejected the proposed merger the past two years.

Gonzalez said the administration is "relentlessly focused" on doing everything it can to change the way state government does business.

The administration was so driven to reduce spending that it saved $6,500 in printing costs by producing a budget document that is much thinner than in the past and putting other budget information online.

According to the budget, tax collections during the new fiscal year will grow by 4.7 percent, or $986 million, over this fiscal year. The extra tax money will quickly be gobbled up by increases in major programs, officials said.

Costs for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, are expected to grow by $518 million to $11.1 billion. Servicing state debt will increase by $178 million to $2.435 billion and pensions will jump by $74 million to $1.5 billion.

The increase in health care, safety net services and legal obligations such as debt and pensions means that many other state services will receive no increases or even reductions.

Teenage pregnancy prevention, for example, was cut to $2.284 million, down 4 percent, or $94,000, resulting in service losses for 1,000 people, the administration said. A medium-security state prison in the southeastern part of the state would be closed, saving $8.9 million.

"Some worthwhile programs will not be funded," Patrick said in his budget message. "Some have seen major reductions. But in the long run, these choices allow us to be responsible to the next generation."

Both the City Council and 3 residents filed appeals claiming that the city building commissioner overstepped his authority in granting building permits for the biomass plant.

An artist's rendering of the proposed Palmer Renewable Energy biomass plant off Page Boulevard in East Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – The Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday overturned two building permits granted for a $150 million wood-burning plant in East Springfield, siding with an appeal filed by residents.

The appeal was upheld by unanimous vote.

Residents, and a separate appeal filed by the City Council, said the granting of the first-phase building permits by Building-Code Enforcement Commissioner Steven T. Desilets was invalid and overstepped his authority.

The developer, Palmer Renewable Energy, was not immediately available for comment. The developer could file a court appeal on the board’s decision, officials said.

The Zoning Board of Appeals took up the issue during a public hearing at City Hall on Wednesday night, attended by approximately 75 people, including several city councilors.

City councilors and some residents argued that the permits are invalid because the council revoked a special permit for the project last year.

Lawyers representing Palmer Renewable Energy, the developer of the biomass plant at Page Boulevard and Cadwell Drive, argued that the building permits are valid, and that the project is allowed without need for a special permit.

A key issue raised by both sides was whether or not the biomass plant, which would burn wood to create energy, is an incinerator. Under the zoning ordinance, an incinerator needs a special permit.

Incineration “is precisely what is going to occur here” because it fits the definition of burning to ash, said Patrick J. Markey, a city resident and lawyer. People may call it “biomass” or “recycling” but it is also incineration, he said.

Michaelann Bewsee, a resident and member of Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, agreed with Markey and said the plant also does not have a final air permit from the state, due to an appeal.

Thomas Mackie, a Boston lawyer representing Palmer Renewable Energy, said the plant is not defined as an incinerator under either state or federal law. If a biomass plant is an incinerator, a wood stove is an incinerator, he said.

The air permit is granted, construction is not stopped by the appeal, and the project meets all environmental requirements, he said.

Brenda Doherty, chairwoman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, said the board’s jurisdiction is very limited, and does not take into account issues such as the impact the project would have on air quality. The board just deals with the validity of the building permits.

The permits were granted for first phase construction including the foundation for a 275-foot high smokestack, and drainage and site preparation work.

Opponents of the biomass plant have said it will worsen pollution and harm public health.

Supporters say the plant is safe, will be state-of-the-art, and will not harm public health.

The City Council voted 9-2 on Dec. 7 to file its appeal with the zoning board.

The ruling by the zoning board was on the residents appeal. The board did not need to take up the council appeal because of the victory on the residents appeal, councilors said.

The residents appeal was filed by Bewsee and residents William and Toni Keefe, of Curve Street, located near the plant site, Bewsee said.

Desilets said he based his decision to grant the building permits on a legal opinion from the city solicitor that he said supported his decision, and his own interpretation of local and state laws.

Brewer told reporters the president apparently had an issue with a passage in her recent autobiography where she described the president as not being very cordial during a 2010 White House meeting.

AP PhotoArizona Gov. Jan Brewer points at President Barack Obama after he arrived at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Wednesday in Mesa, Ariz.

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer came to greet President Barack Obama upon his arrival outside Phoenix Wednesday. What she got was a critique. Of her book.

The two leaders could be seen engaged in an intense conversation at the base of Air Force One's steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time.

Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: "He was a little disturbed about my book."

Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes.

Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. In an interview in November Brewer described two tense meetings. The first took place before his commencement address at Arizona State University. "He did blow me off at ASU," she said in the television interview in November.

She also described meeting the president at the White House in 2010 to talk about immigration. "I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least."

On the tarmac Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama an envelope with a handwritten invitation to return to Arizona to meet her for lunch and to join her for a visit to the border.

"I said to him, you know, I have always respected the office of the president and that the book is what the book is," she told reporters Wednesday. She said Obama complained that she described him as not treating her cordially.

"I said that I was sorry that he felt that way. Anyway, we're glad he's here, and we'll regroup."

A White House official said Brewer handed Obama a letter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. The official said Obama told her he would be glad to meet with her again. The official said Obama did note that after their last meeting, which the official described as a cordial discussion in the Oval Office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation between the president and the governor

With a week to go before the Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars.

Photo by Ross D. Franklin / The RepublicanPresident Obama shakes hands after speaking about manufacturing and jobs during a visit to Intel Corporation's Ocotillo facility Wednesday. In 2011 Intel announced a more than $5 billion investment to build the new chip manufacturing facility, called the Fab 42, bringing thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs to Intel's Arizona site.

By DAVID ESPO

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On a day that combined two campaigns into one, President Barack H. Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to raise taxes on the rich as GOP rivals W. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich swiped at him on the economy and criticized each other over immigration.

With a week to go before the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars. They have reported spending $14 million combined on commercials, many of them critical of Gingrich, and a total at least seven times bigger that the investment made by the former House speaker and an organization supporting him.

Obama’s political timeline was a different one, Election Day on Nov. 6. In a campaign-style appearance in Iowa, he demanded Congress approve a tax increase for anyone like Romney whose income exceeds $1 million a year.

“If you make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent. If, on the other hand, you make less than $250,000, which includes 98 percent of you, your taxes shouldn’t go up,” he said after touring a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids and in a state that he won in 2008 that was expected to be a battleground in the fall.

“This is not class warfare,” he said. “That’s common sense.”

As Obama surely knew, it was an offer Gingrich, Romney and the anti-tax Republicans in Congress are likely to find easy to refuse.

Referring to Obama’s call in the speech for Congress to end tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas, Romney said he didn’t know of any.

Instead, he said the president presides over “the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-job creator administration I’ve ever seen, and so, what I’ll do – I’ll get America to work again. I spent 25 years in business.”

Gingrich was far harsher at an appearance in Miami.

“If he actually meant what he said it would be a disaster of the first order,” Gingrich said of the president’s call for higher taxes on millionaires.

The former House speaker said the president’s proposal would double the capital gains tax and “lead to a dramatic decline in the stock market, which would affect every pension fund in the United States.”

“It would affect every person who has a 401(k). It would attack the creation of jobs and drive capital outside of the United States. It would force people to invest overseas. It would be the most anti-jobs single step he could take,” he said.

Under current law, investment income is taxed as the rate of 15 percent, a fact that has come to the fore of the campaign in recent days with the release of Romney’s income tax return.

Wages, by contrast, are taxed at rates that can exceed 30 percent.

Electability is the top concern for GOP primary voters, according to polls taken in the early primary and caucus states, so both Republicans were eager to paint a contrast with the president.

But Romney and Gingrich also focused on the Florida primary now seven days distant.

Romney has long led in the state’s polls, but Gingrich’s upset victory last Saturday in the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina revitalized his candidacy and raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor’s staying power.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is also on the ballot, as is Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

But Santorum has been sinking in the polls as Gingrich rises, and Paul has indicated he intends to bypass the state to concentrate on caucuses to be held elsewhere.

That gives Florida the feel of a two-man race, and Romney and Gingrich are treating it that way. The two men sparred heatedly Monday night in a debate that virtually relegated Santorum and Paul to supporting roles.

A second debate is set for Thursday in Jacksonville. And if their separate appearances during the day on the Spanish-language television network Univision is a guide, it will be as feisty as the first.

Gingrich referred acidly to Romney describing a policy of “self-deportation” as a way of having illegal immigrants leave the country without a massive roundup.

“You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work to have some fantasy this far from reality,” he said, referring to some of the details disclosed this week when the former Massachusetts governor released his tax returns.

“For Romney to believe that somebody’s grandmother is going to be so cut off that she is going to self-deport, I mean, this is an Obama-level fantasy.”

Romney’s campaign swiftly produced evidence that aides to Gingrich had used the term “self-deport” approvingly, and the former governor attacked.

“I recognize that it’s very tempting to come out to an audience like this and pander to the audience,” Romney said. “I think that was a mistake on his (Gingrich’s) part.”

Gingrich also ran into trouble over a radio ad his campaign was airing that called Romney “anti-immigrant.” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is neutral in the presidential race, criticized the commercial, and Romney said the term “anti-immigrant” was an epithet. The campaign took the ad off the air.

Gingrich made a stop in Cocoa, center of the state’s now-withered space industry, and he cheered his audience by envisioning construction of the first permanent base on the moon. He also promised a “robust industry” of “commercial near-earth activities” to include science, tourism and manufacturing.

He said he hopes to stimulate investment by having the government offer prizes to private companies, but he did not elaborate. For Obama, Iowa was the first of five stops in three days following a State of the Union speech in which he stressed the theme of income equality that is expected to be one of the cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He also wove in proposals to help restore the U.S. manufacturing base that has withered in the course of the recession that began in 2008.

“Our economy is getting stronger, and we’ve come too far to turn back now,” he told workers and guests at a conveyor manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. Speaking of Republicans, he said, “Their philosophy is simple: We’re better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules.”

It’s a message that may be received differently depending on the local economy.

Iowa’s unemployment was most recently measured at 5.6 percent, well below the national average. In Arizona, which has its primary in four weeks, joblessness is 8.7 percent, while Nevada’s at 12.6, the highest in the country. Its caucuses are Feb. 4.

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Florida contributed to this report.

Sonic, which features fast food and carhops on roller-skates, is planned at 1105 Boston Road, at the entrance of the Walmart plaza.

File photo | The RepublicanSteven Hurwitz, in front of the Pollo Campero restaurant that is slated to be changed into the first Sonic Drive-In Restaurant in Western Massachusetts. Hurwitz's family is a managing partner in the new restaurant.

SPRINGFIELD – All systems are go for a new Sonic Drive-In Restaurant planned on Boston Road, granted a zone change this week by the City Council.

“We are extremely pleased,” said Steven J. Hurwitz, whose family is a managing partner in the new restaurant. “It’s basically the last piece of the puzzle.”

Sonic, which features fast food and carhops on roller-skates, is planned at 1105 Boston Road, at the entrance of the Walmart plaza. It is expected to open the first week of May, Hurwitz said.

It is slated to become the first Sonic in Western Massachusetts and one of just a few in New England.

The council voted unanimously Monday to change the zoning for the Boston Road site from Business A to Business B, needed to allow a drive-in restaurant. In December, the council approved a special permit for the project.

Motorists will be able to order and receive their food at 16 drive-in stalls, or at a drive-up window with two lanes, or at indoor tables, Hurwitz said. The indoor dining was an added feature due to the colder New England weather, he said.

The property is owned by Vornado Realty, and the franchise owner is Aaron Spencer, aided by the Hurwitz family.

Sonic, which has more than 3,500 franchises nationwide, will replace the Pollo Campero restaurant. Other sites in New England include Peabody and Wallingford and Manchester, Conn.

The Hurwitz family also owns Uno’s Chicago Grill and Chicago Grill restaurants at 820 West Columbus Ave., Springfield, at the Holyoke Mall and in Worcester.

In other action, a request for a special permit for a digital electronic sign at 674 Liberty St., was referred to committee until the applicant could meet with the neighborhood.

A 1-cent per gallon gasoline tax could generate $50 million a year for transportation projects in the region, according to the executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanA person from the audience asks a question prior to the start of the state Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight hearing Wednesday at Western New England University Law School. On hand were state Sen. Gail D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, and Sen. Thomas M. McGee, D-Lynn, committee chairman, and behind them state Rep. Michael J. Finn, D-West Springfield, and state Rep. Nicholas A. Boldyga, R-Southwick.

SPRINGFIELD – A place-specific tax to fund transportation projects was among the topics raised Wednesday during an oversight hearing by the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation.

The tax was suggested as a way to pay for specific projects in the region by Timothy W. Brennan, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. It has been used successfully in such California communities as Los Angeles and San Diego, according to Brennan.

He spoke along with other regional officials like Mary L. MacInnes, administrator of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority. About 30 people came to the two-hour hearing at Western New England University School of Law to gather information about transportation in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Brennan said a place-specific tax approved by voters could be put in “a lockbox” for specific projects. He said a one cent tax on a gallon of gasoline in the Pioneer Valley could raise $50 million a year.

“They are a lot like Swiss cheese. It is hard to convince people it (the money) is in a lockbox,” state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield, said.

“The lockbox would be in the region, not in Boston,” Brennan said, explaining it would have an advisory board.

State Sen. Thomas M. McGee, chairman of the legislative committee, said officials need to look at alternative ways of funding transportation projects, such as a tax on miles traveled.

“I think everything is on the table in terms of the larger discussion,” McGee said, describing transportation as one of the top issues facing the Bay State.

If the state cannot maintain its transportation systems it will be hard to “grow” the economy, McGee added.

There is a backlog of about $1.2 billion in highway projects and about $279 million in transit projects on the drawing board dating as far back as 10 years ago in the region that need funding, according to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. That includes $65 million needed for the Springfield Union Station intermodal transportation project.

MacInnes discussed her organization’s need for funding. It has an annual budget of about $36 million and is projecting a deficit of $1.8 million for fiscal 2013.

She said the authority provides 21 percent less services that it did 10 years ago, but ridership has increased 17 percent.

“Seventy percent of our riders are transit dependent riders who have no other means of transportation,” MacInnes said.

Monday’s hearing was the third held by the state Joint Committee on Transportation, which has already gathered testimony in Worcester and Pittsfield. More hearings are planned for the Boston area.

The city has about $750,000 in unpaid sewer bills.

Republican file photo

CHICOPEE – With the amount of unpaid sewer bills increasing dramatically, city officials are researching the possibility of looking shutting off the system to prevent scofflaws.

The waste water treatment department has always had a some unpaid bills but it has never been as bad. With the bad economy it is worsening, said Thomas M. Hamel, project supervisor for the water pollution control facility.

“It has always been an issue but it has been a small issue. But in September when we do liens there was $700,000 worth of (unpaid) bills when it is usually $150,000,” he said.

In the past about 5 percent or about 750 of the department’s 15,000 accounts in the city are usually delinquent. Over the past decade the numbers have been slowly rising and now that has increased to about 2,000 delinquent accounts, Hamel said.

Because people know the water department will shut off their service if they go too long without paying a bill, Hamel said they instead opt not to pay the sewer bill because that service will not be shut off.

No one wants to shut off service. Those who are behind in their payments are sent special notices in August. If no arrangements are made to pay the bills, a lien is placed on the property but that usually does not force a payment until there is a sale, he said.

The problem is the sewer department is self-sufficient and operating expenses are funded from bill payments, he said.

“You don’t want to have a rate increase because some people are not paying,” Hamel said, adding expenses are a little lower this year so the sewer commission was proposing no increases.

The City Council recently agreed to examine the delinquent accounts and see what can be done.

“We have an issue, $750,000 is a lot of money,” Councilor James K. Tillotson said. “I want to get the law department involved. there has to be a legal way to do this.”

One of the problems with having a shut-off policy is it would be very difficult to shut off individual sewers in areas where the infrastructure because the department would have to dig underground to reach the pipes. They can be easily shut off in places where the sewer systems have been upgraded, Hamel said.

The survey suggested that South Hadley needs more walking trails and bike paths.

SOUTH HADLEY – Most people who live in this town use its open spaces and recreational facilities at least once a year, but two-thirds of them don’t realize how much more are available to them.

That’s the conclusion Town Planner Richard Harris and the Open Space Committee draw from a questionnaire on the subject, which was distributed to South Hadley residents over the past six months. One hundred eighty-three residents responded.

Residents can learn more, and can contribute their ideas, at a public forum on “Open Space and Recreation Issues,” Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

The questionnaire and the open forum will help update the town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan and set priorities for the next five to seven years, said Harris.

Among 31 choices offered on the survey, responders indicated that their favorite recreational facilities in town were Beachgrounds Park, Buttery Brook Park and the South Hadley Public Library.

Beachgrounds Park, on Main Street, includes benches, playgrounds and a spray park. Buttery Brook Park, which is open April to November, has pavilions, a log cabin, farm animals and areas for tennis, volleyball, basketball, horseshoes and more.

Other favorites chosen by responders were the Mount Holyoke Range and athletic fields in town.

The survey also suggested that South Hadley needs more walking trails and bike paths.

Asked to assigned ratings that ranged from poor to excellent, most responders chose “good” or “fair” to describe the recreation facilities in South Hadley.

Most indicated a preference for protecting and maintaining existing conservation lands and facilities, rather than acquiring more land. If more land is bought by the town, it should be for the purpose of protecting drinking water, according to the survey.

As part of the public forum, participants will be asked to break into four smaller rotating groups for discussion. Refreshments will be served.

The city is getting ready to clear the lot that was once planned to be the new home of the Celestial Praise Church of God.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanThis unfinished construction project on Boston Road in Springfield was supposed to be the new home of the Celestial Church of God/

Question: There is an unfinished construction project on Boston Road between the Pine Point Library and Bay Street. It has been there for years.

What was it supposed to be?

– J.H., Holyoke

Answer: The site you are referring to is, or was, supposed to be the new home of the Celestial Church of God at 274 Boston Road.

The church, which has been located for years at 371 Wilbraham Road planned to construct a 1,200-seat church for its growing congregation, but the project has been beset by a number of delays over the years.

At the time of its groundbreaking on Sept. 5, 2004, church leaders envisioned the new facility would be ready for occupancy within 18 months.

Four walls quickly sprouted up but all activity at the site eventually stopped. After five years the unfinished building became surrounded by weeds, and vandals spray-painted graffiti on the walls.

By July of 2009, church officials were saying the project lagged because of “vision” problems, but that the congregation had just finished a capital fund-raising campaign and the project would resume again before winter.

Instead it continued to remain dormant, much to the displeasure of the neighbors and the Pine Point Community Council.

In May, as part of a housing court agreement between the city and the property owners, the city had permission to begin razing the site within 90 days.

Lisa C. deSousa, assistant city solicitor, said the site is being prepped for demolition but she is not sure when it will happen.

“Unfortunately since the church has not taken the steps it promised to the city, (the city) will probably have to do the demolition,” she said. “The city has limited funds for demolition and we are balancing the competing needs of a number of properties at this time.

The center hopes to move services to the new building in a year.

View full sizeThis is an artist's rendering of what the new Amherst Survival Center building will look like when it opens, hopefully next year.

AMHERST – After raising more than $2 million to build a new Amherst Survival Center in a so-called quiet phase, fund-raisers are now turning to the public to contribute the remaining $500,000.

“We’ve been so gratified people have been responding,” said Center Executive Director Cheryl Zoll said. “They understand the need for the survival center.”

This is the center’s first capital campaign, she said.

Businesses, religious communities, the Amherst Rotary Club, private foundations, and money from Community Development Block Grant helped bring in the $2 million.
But now, they need donations in any amount.

The Amherst Survival Center purchased the former Rooster’s Restaurant at 138 Sunderland Road in 2010 initially planning to renovate.

But after a review, Zoll said they realized it would be less costly to tear the restaurant down and build a new center. She also said the restaurant was too close to the road.
The new 6,000 square-foot space will nearly double the center’s current size and allow it to meet the escalating need in services.

Zoll said over the last four years, the center has seen a 56 percent increase in the number of people seeking services from the food pantry, the free store, medical clinic, meals and other services the center provides.

When Zoll first became executive director in 2007 having 40 come for lunch was a good crowd, now she said serving 80 is not atypical.

With current space constraints in the basement of the town-owned North Amherst School they have to provide two seatings. The new space will be able to accommodate everyone at once. Also there will be space dedicated for the center’s free medical clinic instead of doctors and nurses having to set up shop in an office.

Staff will no longer have to hold meetings in cars and showers.

Zoll said people will enter through a reception area with all programs located in rooms off of that.

Now people have to pass through the free store to get to other programs. The new space “will raise the level of dignity” for those who use the center, she said.

The building is being designed by the Amherst-based Ford Gillen Architects Inc. “It will be a very tight building. We’ won’t be losing a lot of heat,” she said. “There will be a lot of natural lighting.”

The project has gone out to bid but a contract with a builder has not been signed, she said. She expects work to begin next month. Builders will try to recycle as much of the restaurant as they can.

They hope to be able to move the center into the new space in about a year.

More information is available at www.amherstsurvival.org. Zoll said she is happy to talk to anyone about the center’s plans.

Debris removal alone after the Oct. 29 snowstorm cost the town $863,000.

WARE – The town has qualified for a partial federal reimbursement of clean-up costs incurred after the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

Acting Town Manager and Town Accountant Tracy L. Meehan said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover some of the more than $920,000 the town spent recovering from the devastating storm that left most residents without power for a week.

Meehan said on Thursday she wasn’t sure how much FEMA would chip in, but in other disasters like the Jan. 22, 2011, snowstorm and Tropical Storm Irene the town has gotten back 75 percent.

Debris removal alone after the Oct. 29 snowstorm cost the town $863,000. They hired state vendor AshBritt, a Florida-based company used by more than a dozen other communities after the storm.

FEMA also required the town to hire a monitoring company to keep track of AshBritt’s activities. That bill hasn’t come in yet, but Meehan expects it to be about $60,000 to $70,000.

The town could also be reimbursed for response costs like police, firefighter and Department of Public Works employee overtime incurred within the first two or three days, as well as the price of opening a shelter at Ware High School.

After reimbursement, the town still has to eat the remaining bills.

“We’ve requested to do emergency borrowing and I think we’re still waiting to hear back from the state on that,” Meehan said.

A two-year loan from the state might be paid back without making a big impact on taxpayers, she said, since other debt costs will be down this year.

“There could be room in the budget to handle it,” she said.

The gas leak was reported about 6:20 a.m.

The Republican | Mark M. Murray

SPRINGFIELD – A natural gas leak prompted the evacuation of the McDonald’s restaurant on Page Boulevard early Thursday.

Fire Department spokesmen Dennis G. Leger said the gas leak at the 731 Page Boulevard eatery was reported about 6:20 a.m.

Firefighters turned off the building’s gas meter from the outside and aired out the building, he said.

Leger, speaking at about 7:30 a.m., said people have since been allowed inside the building.

If approved, the lease agreement will become effective March 1.

WESTFIELD – Details of a proposed lease of City Hall space to the local chapter of the American Red Cross will be up for scrutiny Monday by the City Council’s Legislative and Ordinance Committee.

The intent is to bring a recommendation to the full City Council at its Feb. 2 meeting.

The lease was proposed last week by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik in an effort to retain services of the local chapter in Westfield. Knapik noted a national trend toward centralization of such organizations that could eliminate the local chapter and take its immediate emergency response out of the city.

Members of the Westfield Red Cross board of directors will meet with members of the Legislative and Ordinance Committee Monday at 6:30 p.m..

Ward 2 City Councilor James E. Brown Jr., committee chairman, said this week the lease agreement represents an average rental guidelines of office rental space in the city. “We are looking at about 1,300 square feet at approximately $4.50 per square foot,” Brown said. “That is within the ball park range for Westfield and leasing space at City Hall to the emergency service agency is not an issue,” the councilor said.

Effective dates for the proposed lease are March 1, 2012 to Feb. 28, 2016.

Knapik, a former Red Cross disaster volunteer, wants to lease Room 315 to the Red Cross. The proposal includes use of two other office spaces on a part-time basis during the four year lease. Rent for the space will begin at $150 per month and increase annually by $50 per month to a maximum of $350 per month in the final year of the lease.

Brown said details of the Red Cross current and future presence in the city will be discussed at the meeting.

“Having the Red Cross stay in Westfield enhances our emergency response mission,” Brown, who serves as assistant director of Homeland Security for the New England region, said.

“This is a temporary fix. The Red Cross is looking for a permanent location at a reasonable cost in the city,” Brown said.

Richard A. Rubin, long-time executive director of Westfield’s Red Cross Chapter, was reluctant last week to discuss the lease proposal until the City Council reviews the proposal and acts on it.

But, Rubin said staff and programs have “outgrown” its facility at 48 Broad St. location. The chapter has had a presence in Westfield since 1923 and at the Broad Street location since 1945 when that building was donated to the Red Cross by Whip City Manufacturing Co., Rubin said.

He said the lease will allow the chapter to expand services and programs and services including educational programs in various nurse and other medical education programs offered annually.

President Barack Obama is announcing the sale of oil and gas drilling leases for nearly 38 million acres in the Gulf Coast and promoting the completion of a highway corridor for vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas.

The Associated PressPresident Barack Obama speaks about manufacturing and jobs during a visit to Intel Corporation's Ocotillo facility Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, in Chandler, Ariz. In 2011 Intel announced a more than $5 billion investment to build the new chip manufacturing facility, called the Fab 42, bringing thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs to Intel's Arizona site.

LAS VEGAS — President Barack Obama is announcing the sale of oil and gas drilling leases for nearly 38 million acres in the Gulf Coast and promoting the completion of a highway corridor for vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas, a response to critics who say his policies have stifled domestic energy production.

Obama was making his announcements in Nevada Thursday, just days after drawing Republican criticism for rejecting a cross-country oil pipeline that would have delivered Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Texas.

Obama was to speak at a Las Vegas UPS center to showcase a refueling station that will permit vehicles that use liquefied natural gas to travel from the Port of Long Beach to Salt Lake City. The station was built with help from Obama's 2009 economic stimulus plan.

By highlighting the natural gas refueling station and the sale of energy leases on the Gulf, Obama is drawing attention to two aspects of his energy policy — greater domestic energy production and investment in cleaner energy sources.

The nearly 38-million-acre parcel the Obama administration is putting up for lease is part of an offshore drilling plan for 2007-12 put in place by President George W. Bush. But after the massive BP oil spill led to an overhaul of the government's oversight of offshore exploration and production, some of those areas had to be re-evaluated for the environmental risks associated with drilling.

Combined with other parts of Obama's "all-of-the-above" energy pitch, the White House is portraying the president as willing to seek the middle ground on energy after Republicans and the industry criticized him for the moratorium put in place after the Gulf disaster, the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, and other policies they say have hampered production, jobs and national energy security.

The lease proposal includes Obama administration measures designed to encourage oil and gas exploration companies to develop the leases. The Interior Department has increased the minimum bid for deepwater leases to $100 an acre from $37.50. Administration officials said Wednesday that the increase was designed to give leaseholders incentives to invest in acreage they would be more likely to explore. Escalating rental rates are also designed to encourage faster exploration and development.

Later, speaking at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, Obama was expected to highlight the expanded use of clean energy by the Defense Department. The Air Force is installing a one-megawatt solar array on the base and it tested jets last year that are powered by advanced biofuels.

In choosing Nevada and Colorado, Obama is returning to two states that are important to his re-election.

Obama last visited both states in late October, using that trip to launch a phase of his campaign to jumpstart the economy. With economic indicators improving, Obama this time visits on a higher note.

Both states hold their presidential caucuses within the next two weeks — events that have grown in importance since the Republican contest for the White House continues to shift and narrow to a choice between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

On Wednesday, Obama traveled to Iowa and Arizona to push for tax incentives for manufacturers. His three-day, post-State of the Union trip concludes Friday in Michigan.

Offering a preview of his energy agenda, Obama said Wednesday he was pushing for a renewed economy. "It's an economy built on American energy, fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources that make us more secure and less dependent on foreign oil," he told workers at a Cedar Rapids manufacturing plant that specializes in conveyor screws.

Obama won both Nevada and Colorado in 2008. Nevada has had the nation's highest unemployment, in excess of the national average. But a poll in December by the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed Obama with a 6-percentage-point lead over Romney and a 12 point lead over Gingrich.

Colorado offers an example of a state with a mix of energy programs, from a booming solar-energy industry to natural gas extraction that is a result of a compromise between energy companies and environmentalists.

The search was launched Wednesday morning after a 10-year-old and 8-year-old did not show up for school.

WORCESTER — A daylong search for two missing elementary school-aged children in Worcester had a happy ending.

The search was launched Wednesday morning after the children did not show up for school as scheduled.

It ended at about 7:30 p.m. when two volunteer searchers found 10-year-old Bella Bailey and 8-year-old Landon Allen in the driveway of a city home under renovation where they had been hiding out.

Police say the children were cold but otherwise appeared unharmed. They were taken to the hospital as a precaution before going home to their parents.

Police used dogs and thermal imaging equipment to search for the children, who were seen on a city supermarket.

Higher elevations and parts of Franklin County could see freezing rain Friday morning.

Michael Gordon / The RepublicanJanuary 23, 2012 - Springfield - Geese, ducks and sea gulls flock toward the vehicle of George Ghareed of Springfield as he offers them bread in Forest Park Monday.

SPRINGFIELD – An overnight storm will bring mostly rain to the Greater Springfield area and the possibility of freezing rain to the hilltowns and parts of Franklin County.

Abc40 / Fox 6 meteorologist Dan Brown said a mix of wet snow, sleet and freezing rain will arrive in the region by 9 p.m. or so. The wintry mix will slowly change over to rain in the central and lower Pioneer Valley.

Commuters in the higher elevations and northern areas of Western Massachusetts maybe have to cope with freezing rain on the way in to work Friday morning, Brown said.

The rain may be heavy at times and will end Friday morning or mid-day, Brown said.

Highs on Friday will climb into the 40s and more seasonable weather, with a mix of sunshine and clouds, is on tap for Saturday and Sunday, Brown said.

The organization donated $100,000 to the Cam Neely Foundation For Cancer Care in Stoddard’s memory.

File photo / The RepublicanFile photo of the first Derrill's Race in Easthampton.

EASTHAMPTON – After eight years, after raising more than $125,000, the race to honor Police Sgt. Derrill F. Stoddard is over.

“There’s a beginning and end to everything,” said chiropractor Shelley Wilton, who started the race soon after opening her practice in the city to honor Stoddard who died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 53.

“It’s a huge endeavor. We start planning for it October. It’s a big commitment for a lot of people,” she said of the 5K May race and walk along the Manhan Rail Trail.

When they started, “We wanted to accomplish some things and we did,” she said.

The organization donated $100,000 to the Cam Neely Foundation For Cancer Care in Stoddard’s memory, provided $11,000 in scholarships and $14,000 to the city to help repair the sinkhole on the Manhan Rail Trail among other donations.

She said with community donating to the event in all kinds of ways, every cent of registration money was donated.

But the event grew beyond what they ever imagined and the rail trail couldn’t accommodate any more.

“The first year we hoped people would show up,” Wilton said. Last year, she said they got close to 800.

They would survey participants at the end of the race about what they could improve upon and last year, participants said, “it’s too crowded.”

Yet the race was something people in the community looked forward to, said Liz Provo who did the marketing. It was a great race for beginners because it was flat, she said.

People enjoyed running. One year bridesmaids ran in white sneakers and veils.
Wilton said they had elite runners too.

Provo agreed that with the size “everything got harder to handle.”

And she said, “It’s not the kind of race easily handed off,” to someone else to run.

But it’s not easy to let it go. “It was very close to us, something I enjoyed working on,” Wilton said. “Hopefully we did a lot of good for the community when there wasn’t any one event that tied Easthampton together.”

The success of the race has everything to do with local sponsors, citizens and those who wanted to remember Derrill. We know he will never be forgotten and hope he would be proud of the race’s accomplishments.