The Town Council also is sending a resolution proposed by Councilor Hebert to the town attorney for review. Its purpose is "to ensure elected officials objectively represent the town of Palmer without any personal or monetary gains."

File photosPalmer town councilors Paul Burns, left, and Blake LaMothe, right.

PALMER — The Town Council, Planning Board, and potentially the School Committee, all got a little richer thanks to a majority vote at the Town Council meeting on Monday night.

Town Council President Paul E. Burns noted that historically, salaries for elected officials have been set at zero, but he said he felt that they should be compensated considering the amount of extra time the positions entail. He recommended setting salaries of $100 a month, starting the next fiscal year which begins July 1.

In the end, the vote for the $100 monthly salary for the 17 elected officials was approved, with Burns and Councilors Donald Blais, Blake E. Lamothe and Karl S. Williams voting for it, and Philip J. Hebert and Barbara A. Barry voting against it. Councilor Mary A. Salzmann abstained.

Salzmann asked if the salaries would be paid if employees were laid off during the next budget cycle.

Burns said he feels for people who are laid off, but said the elected officials will still be doing the work.

Hebert suggested putting the question on a ballot, so voters could weigh in.

"There's no way I'm going to vote to pay myself," Hebert said.

"It's very hard for me to give myself money, even though I need it. It just is," Salzmann said.

Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard said the council has the authority to set salaries for itself and other elected officials. Barry asked why this was coming up now, and suggested that the discussion be revisited when the council receives next year's budget.

"My feeling ultimately is ... We're doing the work and entitled to compensation for it," Burns said.

Burns said he, and other councilors, routinely take time out of work for town business. He added that tying a salary to the position might attract more candidates come election time.

The cost to pay the seven councilors $100 monthly salaries for a full year is $8,400. There are five Planning Board members and five School Committee members.

Burns said the School Committee members would have to vote to give themselves a salary. He added that the council could always rescind the vote in June, if it is not financially possible.

In other business, the council opted to send a resolution proposed by Hebert to the town attorney for review. Its purpose is "to ensure elected officials objectively represent the town of Palmer without any personal or monetary gains".

Hebert is proposing that no councilor take employment with any Massachusetts casino within eight years from the date of legislation approving legalization of casino gaming in Massachusetts, and that councilors must be off of the council for four years. However, some councilors felt eight years was too long, and suggested three years instead. Hebert agreed to the change.

Philip Hebert

The resolution also asks that the Town Council "adopt a council rule to not accept, or make any deal for employment, in exchange to promote any type of business that wishes to locate in Palmer."

Hebert said he was inspired to create the resolution "due to everything that has been transpiring with the casino." Mohegan Sun wants to build a resort casino off Thorndike Street (Route 32); it is one of four casino proposals competing for the Western Massachusetts casino license. He also suggested possibly adding a monetary penalty if anyone were to violate the resolution.

Blanchard noted that the state Ethics Law also addresses the issues Hebert is bringing up.

Lamothe criticized Hebert's sentence about business, saying it didn't "make any sense at all."

"Does that sound anti-business or what?" Lamothe asked.

"No," Hebert said.

"Of course it does," Lamothe said. "You might as well take the line out. It's anti-business totally."

Hebert told him to read it again.

Burns said he does not see the line as an anti-business sentiment, and explained that its intent is to prevent councilors from lining their own pockets. Burns said this is why it's being sent to the town attorney, to clarify the language.

"That would be very wise," Lamothe said.

Hebert reiterated that the idea behind the resolution is to ease people's minds, as "there's a lot of stuff going around town."

"I don't need a job from the casino. I got enough to do," Lamothe said.

Through his “Hour for Education” promotion, people can donate an hour’s salary from their jobs by going on the organization’s Web site, www.ampedforeducation.org.

Smith Academy teacher and founder of the charity AMPED for Education Jeffrey Pluta, left, poses for a photo with Donald Alonzo from the Nicaraguan volunteer group La Esperanza Granada that focuses on education. They are at the site of a new school being built by AMPED for Education in Nicaragua.

HATFIELD – The new year in Nicaragua begins on January 1, just as it does in the United States, but a group of people both here and in the Central American country have circled February 27 as a special beginning.

That’s the date that AMPED for Education is scheduled to open its new high school in the tiny village of San Ignacio. For the students there, it represents a shot at a real education. For Jeffrey Pluta, it will mark the realization of a long-time dream.

Pluta, a teacher at Smith Academy, has been aiming to start a school in an underdeveloped country since he graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Master’s Degree in education a few years ago. He just didn’t know where.

“I had this idea I wanted to go somewhere where the exchange rate would be reasonable,” he said. “I read up on Nicaragua.”

The Hadley resident wasn’t very well traveled, so it was a culture shock when he finally made it to Nicaragua for the first time in 2009.

“I got down there and I was pretty much blown away,” he said.

Pluta, 25, had never seen such abject poverty. Students, he learned, are not required to go to school beyond sixth grade in Nicaragua, and many can’t afford simple necessities like the mandatory school uniforms or eye exams. I the time he was down there, Pluta managed to meet with the country’s Ministry of Education and secure a piece of land in the tiny town of San Ignacio with the help of a non-profit group.

From then it was game on. Because he couldn’t apply for grants without an organization, Pluta formed Amped for Education with some friends and appointed a board with five members. He was in his first teaching job in San Diego at the time and didn’t have much money of his own, so he became a fundraiser as well.

Two years later, Pluta is back teaching in his home state and, in partnership with some other non-profits, has raised enough money to open three classrooms in the new building in San Ignacio (although Amped for Education is still working on getting electricity to the school). Among his coups, he has secured several sponsors who, for $185, can put a Nicaraguan student through the school for an entire year. The sponsorship pays for the school uniform, the eye exam (and glasses, if needed), a dental exam, books and a backpack to carry them in. Students who benefit from sponsorships agree to attend school for an extra eight hours a week.

Pluta has set up other fundraising programs as well, including a trip to Nicargua in which volunteers can spend some time working on the school project, then go off to the beach to relax. Through his “Hour for Education” promotion, people can donate an hour’s salary from their jobs by going on the organization’s Web site, www.ampedforeducation.org.

Pluta also hopes to take some of his Smith Academy students to San Ignacio and perhaps form some sort of collaboration between the students here and in Nicaragua.

“I’m just kind of seeing where it’s going right now,” he said.

Once the three classrooms are up and running, Pluta hopes to add a vocational component to the school. Soon, he hopes, he’ll be looking for donations of power tools and other vocational equipment.

A resident of Robinson Gardens, a public housing complex in Pine Point, was shot in the abdomen during an attempted robbery.

Staff photo by Patrick JohnsonThe Robinson Garden apartments, a public housing complex in the Pine Point neighborhood, was the scene of an early Sunday morning shooting that left a resident seriously injured. Police have not made any arrests in the case, nor have they released a description of the gunman. The shooting victim said he did not recognize his attacker. In this 2010 Republican file photo, a Springfield police officer stands in the doorway of 73 Robert Dyer Circle, where a 35-year-old man was stabbed to death. Sunday's shooting occurred at 63 Robert Dyer Circle, just a few units away.

SPRINGFIELD – Police are still looking for a gunman who shot and injured a Pine Point resident early Sunday morning.

Police have not released a description of the suspect, but anyone with information is asked to call the Springfield Police Department at (413) 787-6355 or 787-6302. The victim told police he did not recognize the armed assailant.

The incident, reported at about 2:10 a.m. Sunday, occurred as the victim was attempting to enter his apartment at Robinson Gardens, a public housing project on Robert Dyer Circle.

Police said the gunman accosted the resident, tried to rob him, then shot him once in the abdomen after the resident entered his home at 63 Robert Dyer Circle.

Detective Sgt. Mark Rolland said the resident managed to close the door after getting inside the unit, but the suspect fired the weapon through the door.

The case remains under investigation.

The housing complex is administered by the Springfield Housing Authority.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a Sunday morning shooting that injured a resident of the Robert Dyer Circle apartments in Springfield's Pine Point neighborhood:

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The car, which came to a halt in the middle of North Branch Parkway, erupted in flames right around the time students and teachers were arriving at the school.

The Republican | Mark M. Murray

SPRINGFIELD – Fire and police officials were at the scene of a car fire reported at 7:56 a.m. Tuesday near Mary M. Lynch Elementary School, 315 North Branch Parkway, in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but the car came to a halt in the middle of North Branch Parkway, a Springfield police officer said. The vehicle was not involved in a crash and there were no apparent injuries, according to initial reports from the scene.

As Springfield firefighters raced to the scene, police officers kept people away from the vehicle.

The car burst into flames right around the time students and teachers were arriving at the school.

"Everybody's out of the car," an emergency dispatch official said, urging police to keep kids away from the burning vehicle.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a Tuesday morning car fire on North Branch Parkway near Mary Lane Elementary School in Springfield's Sixteen Acres neighborhood:

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"I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett ..." So begins the first love letter to 19th century poet Elizabeth Barrett from her future husband, fellow poet Robert Browning.

The Associated PressIn this Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 photo, a 19th century painting of poet Robert Browning is on display at the Margaret Clapp Library on the campus of Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Mass. Beginning Valentine's Day Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, the famous love letters of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning will be available on line as part of a digitization collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Texas.

WELLESLEY, Mass. — "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett ..."

So begins the first love letter to 19th century poet Elizabeth Barrett from her future husband, fellow poet Robert Browning.

Their 573 love letters, which capture their courtship, their blossoming love and their forbidden marriage, have long fascinated scholars and poetry fans. Though transcriptions of their correspondence have been published in the past, the handwritten letters could only be seen at Wellesley College, where the collection has been kept since 1930.

But starting Tuesday, Valentine's Day, their famous love letters will become available online where readers can see them — just as they were written — with creased paper, fading ink, quill pen cross outs, and even the envelopes the two poets used.

The digitization project is a collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which houses the world's largest collection of books, letters and other items related to the Brownings.

Wellesley administrators hope the project will expose students, romantics, poetry fans and others to their love story.

Barrett, one of the most well-known poets of the Victorian era, suffered from chronic illness and was in her late 30s when Browning first wrote her in 1845 to tell her he admired her work.

In their fifth month of corresponding, they met for the first time, introduced by Barrett's cousin.

After more than a year of almost daily letters between them, the couple married in secret in September 1846, defying her father's prohibition against her ever marrying. They fled from London to Italy, where doctors had told Barrett her health might improve. Her father disinherited her and never spoke to her again.

"It's the fact that she defied her father, she was in ill health, they fell in love through letters, she left with hardly anything," said Ruth Rogers, Wellesley's curator of special collections.

"If you want a perfect romance, just read the letters," she said.

The Associated PressThis Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 photo shows a detail of the first love letter sent by poet Robert Browning to poet Elizabeth Barrett in January of 1845, on display at the Margaret Clapp Library on the campus of Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Mass. The letter begins: "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett." Beginning Valentine's Day Feb. 14, 2012 the famous love letters of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning will be available on line as part of a digitization collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Texas.

The website set up for readers to see the correspondence includes both the handwritten letters and transcriptions, as well as a zoom function for readers to try to decipher faded or illegible words. The body of letters will also be searchable by keywords.

Readers can see for themselves how they fall in love, while corresponding about other writers, philosophy and their own work. Barrett first wrote the lines of what would become her most famous poem after she met Browning, "How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways."

Consider this, from Barrett's letter to Browning on June 4, 1846: "You are too perfect, too overcomingly good & tender — dearest you are, & I have no words with which to answer you."

Or this, from Browning to Barrett, Sept. 18, 1846, shortly before their marriage: "God bless and strengthen you, my ever dearest dearest ... Write to me one word more — depend on me ... "

"She met someone who she could share a seriously important part of her life with," said Sandra Donaldson, an English professor at the University of North Dakota and a recognized scholar of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

"Seeing these things that they touched — even though we are seeing it on the screen — has much the same effect as being able to see and touch the manuscripts," she said.

"When you look at the transcriptions, it's cold, black and white. It's nothing like these letters," she said of the handwritten online manuscripts.

Rogers said one of the most interesting things about the love letters is that Barrett almost left them behind when she and Browning left for Italy.

In her last letter to Browning, dated Sept. 18, 1846, she says she had to take them with her.

"I tried to leave them, & I could not — That is, they would not be left: it was not my fault — I will not be scolded," she wrote.

Henry Durant, who founded Wellesley College in 1870, admired the Brownings and considered Elizabeth Barrett Browning to be an example of a strong, educated woman who would be a good role model for the young women of Wellesley. Durant gave his large personal library to the college, including many first editions by both poets.

Because the college was already known for its Browning room and collection, Robert Browning donated Elizabeth's handwritten poem, "Little Mattie" to the college in 1882.

Former Wellesley President Caroline Hazard purchased the collection of Browning letters, and in 1930, donated them to Wellesley, where they have remained.

The library even has the actual mahogany door to the Barrett house in London, where Browning's letters to Elizabeth passed through a brass letter slot. The slot was screwed shut by a Wellesley librarian more than 40 years ago because students slipped through letters of their own to pay homage to the Brownings. Rogers said she is considering re-opening the slot.

The digitized letters will be made available free online through Baylor's digital collections.

Baylor transformed 1,723 raw digital images from Wellesley into more than 4,200 edited page and envelope images, said Darryl Stuhr, manager of digitization projects for Baylor's electronic library. Baylor also digitized more than 800 other letters written by or to the couple by friends, family and other literary greats of the era.

Stuhr said Baylor needed 107 gigabytes for the love letters alone.

"It is giving worldwide access to the collection, where somebody can actually see what the letters look like without having to travel, from the comfort of their own homes," Stuhr said.

Rosemary Reyes, 29, of 1150 Riverdale Road, Apt. 401, West Springfield, was charged with operating with a suspended license and driving with a child who wasn't strapped into a legally required car or booster seat.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – A West Springfield woman was arrested Monday for allegedly driving illegally and failing to properly restrain a young passenger in her car, according to Holyoke Police Department records.

State law requires children between the ages of five and seven who haven't yet reached a height of 4 feet, 9 inches to be placed in a booster seat — a requirement for all kids who have outgrown a forward-facing child safety seat.

Rosemarie Reyes, 29, of 1150 Riverdale Road, Apt. 401, was charged with driving with a suspended license and operating a vehicle "with a child under 6 without (a) car seat," according to police, who stopped her just after 3 p.m. Monday near 71 Berkshire St.

In addition, police said, Reyes and her passenger, Shane A. Morin, 24, of 50 Ridgewood Terrace, Easthampton, were each charged with having two outstanding default warrants. Police did not indicate the nature of the warrants.

Additional information was not immediately available.

The child-restraint law applies to children riding in all types of privately owned vehicles and vehicles for hire, including taxi cabs and so-called 7D vehicles, which include light-duty passenger vans or cars used to transport school students.

The accident occurred Monday night at North King Street and Bridge Road.

The Republican / File photo

Their attorney told the judge the children are being marginalized and discriminated against.

Mark M.Murray/The Republican Photo

ACTON — An atheist family from Acton has sued the local school district, saying their children are being discriminated against because the Pledge of Allegiance contains the words "under God."

The family's lawyer asked a judge in Middlesex Superior Court on Monday to have the words taken out.

The parents are identified only as John and Jane Doe, with three children, one in high school and two in middle school.

Their attorney told the judge the children are being marginalized and discriminated against, and that reciting the pledge "defines patriotism according to a particular religious belief."

The school district's attorney said the pledge is constitutional and voluntary.

Superintendent Stephen Mills says the there are no negative consequences for students who choose not to say the pledge.

The judge did not immediately rule.

The blaze broke out early Thursday afternoon.

Dennis Leger / Springfield Fire Dept.2-9-12 - Springfield Fire Lt Ty Alexander and Firefighter Gordon Fettes work to ventilate the roof of 45 Georgetown St. The fire caused an estimated $75,000. in damage and left four people homeless.

SPRINGFIELD – An electrical device left on top of a bed was the cause of a blaze that displaced three adults and a child from their East Springfield neighborhood home Thursday afternoon.

The fire at 45 Georgetown St. broke out shortly before 12:45 p.m. and the occupants of the home escaped injury. The blaze caused an estimated $7,500 in damage.

Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger said the Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad was unable to determine the type of device that started the blaze.

The owner of the property, Moses Matos, told investigators that he had been cooking in the kitchen when he heard popping sounds and went down to his breaker panel in the basement to investigate.

When Matos came back upstairs he saw that a bed in one of the bedrooms was in flames and he attempted to put it out with a garden hose, Leger said. That attempt proved unsuccessful and Matos then called the fire department.

“There was a big delay in reporting the fire,” Leger said. “That’s what caused the severity of the damage.”

The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting those displaced.

A Manchester, N.H., 24-year-old mom was convicted of manslaughter in the death of her 1-year-old who was left in a tub while she spent 40 minutes online.

Associated PressYang Guang the panda attempts to lick a Valentines Day cake which was donated to Edinburgh Zoo's animal keepers by a local cakemaker Tuesday Feb. 14, 2012. The four-tiered vanilla sponge is decorated in honour of Pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang. It features the black and white animals nestling together among bamboo and red hearts. (AP Photo/ Andrew Milligan, PA)

• New Hampshire mom who left baby in tub convicted of manslaughter [UnionLeader.com]


• One of the Boston’s most prolific builders takes on blighted Filene’s site [Boston.com]


• Pittsfield man charged with child porn possession [BekrshireEagle.com]


• Lee cafe owner broaches outdoor dining, stage [BerkshireEagle.com]


• Report: Voter rolls rife with inaccuracies [NYTimes.com]


• Federal budget cuts jeopardize Asian long-horned beetle war [Telegram.com]


• State to unveil plans for next Northampton roundabout [GazetteNet.com]


• Feds seek assets from 5 Connecticut car companies In terrorism probe [Courant.com]


• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


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Whitney Houston's funeral service will be held Saturday in the church where she first showcased her singing talents as a child.

The Associated PressWhitney Houston fans, Lawanda Howkins, left, and Melanie Braggs honor her memory at a candlelight vigil in Leimert Park in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday, Feb. 11. She was 48.

NEWARK, N.J. — Whitney Houston's funeral service will be held Saturday in the church where she first showcased her singing talents as a child.

The owner of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark said Tuesday that Houston's funeral will be held at noon at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. The funeral home said that no wake would be held and that there would be no public memorial at Newark's Prudential Center, the sports arena that the family had discussed as a possible venue.

The 48-year-old Houston died Feb. 11 at a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., just hours before she was set to perform at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards bash. Officials say she was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a bathtub.

After an autopsy Sunday, authorities said there were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner's office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.

Los Angeles County coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter said there were bottles of prescription medicine in the room. He would not give details except to say: "There weren't a lot of prescription bottles. You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet."

Her body was returned to New Jersey late Monday.

Houston was born in Newark and was raised in nearby East Orange. She began singing as a child at New Hope Baptist Church, where her mother, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston, led the music program for many years. Her cousin singer Dionne Warwick also sang in its choir.

An impromptu memorial for Houston was held Sunday during a sadness-tinged Grammys, with Jennifer Hudson saluting her memory with a performance of "I Will Always Love You." Viewership for the awards show soared over last year by 50 percent, with about 40 million viewers tuning in to the program on CBS.

On Monday, mourners left flowers, balloons and candles for Houston at the wrought-iron fence around the tall brick church, which sits near the edge of an abandoned housing project near the train line leading to New York City.

"She was an inspiration to everybody," said Gregory Hanks, an actor who grew up in the neighborhood and who dropped off a bouquet. He saw Houston perform in New Jersey years ago.

"I grew up listening to her as a little boy, and to hear her sing, you knew she was special," he said.

A sensation from her first album, Houston was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," ''How Will I Know," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You." But as she struggled with drugs, her majestic voice became raspy, and she couldn't hit the high notes.

Houston left behind one child, daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, from her marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Bonnie Stuart

Bonnie Nason Stuart (Sticca), 40, of Springfield, passed away on Saturday. A graduate of West Springfield High School, she attended Springfield Technical Community College. Stuart retired from Macy's after a long career; her most recent position was personal shopper at Macy's at Holyoke Mall. She was an active member of St. Catherine of Siena Parish. Her interests included gardening, cooking, decorating, fashion, reading and traveling. Stuart was a dog-lover and has been Honorary Chair for the American Cancer Society Bark for Life events.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Aitken, Helen F. (Barnes)
  



• 
  Beck, John J.
  




• 
  Campagna, Brian W.
  



• 
  Celatka, Frances M. "Fran" (Connor)
  



• 
  Cowen, Pearl (Glushien)




• 
  DeLuca, Antonia L.
  



• 
  Field, John T.
  




• Glynn, Mary E. "Betty" (Graham)
  




• 
  Gulluni, Mary A. (Bertelli)
  



• 
  Lausier, Dora M.




• 
  Leavy, Edward C.
  



• 
  Lovell Sr., Paul B.
  




• Pepe, Theresa R. (Olejarz)
  




• 
  Racine, Lawrence
  



• 
  Stoeckard, Morris L.




• 
  Stuart, Bonnie Nason
  



• 
  Vermette, Lionel G. "Lee"
  

The GOP turnabout could rile fiscal conservatives but party leaders want to make doubly sure they don't get the political blame in case the tax cut is terminated.

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama speaks to continue to push Congress to act to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance through the end of the year, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, in the Old Executive Office building on the White House complex in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Tuesday he's hopeful Congress will renew a 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax before it lapses at the end of the month, but said it's important to also renew jobless benefits for millions of the long-term unemployed as well.

"Just pass this middle-class tax cut. Pass the extension of unemployment insurance," Obama said at a White House appearance. "Do it before it's too late and I will sign it right away."

Obama made his remarks a day after House GOP leaders dropped plans to require spending cuts to cover the nearly $100 billion cost of extending the payroll tax cut through the end of the year. The Republicans decided instead add it to the nation's $15 trillion-plus debt.

The GOP turnabout could rile fiscal conservatives but party leaders want to make doubly sure they don't get the political blame in case the tax cut — which delivers $20 a week to a typical worker making a $50,000 salary — is terminated.

"Washington shouldn't hike taxes on working Americans right now," Obama said. "But that's exactly what's going to happen at the end of this month, in a couple of weeks, if Congress doesn't do something about it."

In the Democratic-majority Senate, a top leader said the proposal was "a major step forward" even as other Democrats worried it could jeopardize efforts to renew unemployment benefits for millions of the long-term jobless and efforts to forestall a scheduled cut in fees to doctors who treat Medicare patients. Those proposals would remain in the hands of a House-Senate negotiating panel that's looking for spending cuts to defray the deficit impact.

The idea is sure to be a topic of conversation Tuesday at the weekly closed-door conferences of Senate Democrats and Republicans, and House Republicans will gather Tuesday evening to discuss it as well.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy of California said Monday the House could vote on the payroll tax measure this week but the renewal of jobless benefits and the Medicare "docs' fix" still would have to be paid for with spending cuts elsewhere.

The GOP statement came after intense talks over the weekend failed to produce an agreement. Republicans were pressing for pay cuts for federal workers and requiring them to contribute more to their pensions. They recoiled at a Democratic proposal to raise Transportation Security Administration per-ticket airline security fees.

"Democrats' refusal to agree to any spending cuts in the conference committee has made it necessary for us to prepare this fallback option to protect small business job creators and ensure taxes don't go up on middle-class workers," the GOP leadership statement said.

Without action by Congress by the end of the month, payroll taxes will rise for 160 million Americans. The 2-percentage-point tax cut would deliver a tax cut totaling $2,000 this year for someone making a $100,000 salary.

Democrats were encouraged and said the development could break an impasse over the payroll tax proposal and the other expiring provisions.

"This is a major step forward in these negotiations," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

"We've been making the point that when (it comes to) tax cuts for folks at the very top, the House Republicans went to great lengths to change their rules to say you don't have to pay for those," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "And yet they've been saying that when it comes to a short-term, 10-month payroll tax cut for middle-income people, all of a sudden you have to pay for it."

But Democrats warned that decoupling the payroll tax from the larger legislation could jeopardize efforts to renew the jobless benefits and the fix to the Medicare payment formula.

"It's completely irresponsible to leave behind nearly 5 million unemployed Americans whose benefits will expire and 47 million seniors and disabled Americans whose access to health care would be jeopardized," said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., a member of the 20-lawmaker House-Senate negotiating panel.

"There is no reason all three of these priorities cannot proceed at the same time," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

The GOP move reflects a desire by party leaders to avoid a political hit if the payroll tax expires at the end of the month. And it would avoid burdening businesses with uncertainties regarding their payroll systems. On the other hand, jobless benefits lapsed four separate times — including a seven-week interruption — in 2010, and delays in adopting the Medicare fix can be dealt with by delaying the processing of Medicare claims.

"It is prudent for our leadership to take whatever action is necessary to ensure American workers are not hit with a tax increase on March 1," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the lead GOP negotiator.

The White House did not embrace the House leadership idea.

"We are willing to work with them to offset it in a responsible way," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. "And we expect Congress to get its work done and to extend it — the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and the doc fix." But Carney added, "Let's just see how this process plays out."

The move by the GOP leadership still would leave it to negotiators to come up with $30 billion or $40 billion in deficit savings to extend jobless benefits averaging about $300 a week to people who have been out of work for more than six months. Republicans have pressed to cut the number of weeks from the maximum 99 permitted under current policies and economic conditions down to as few as 59 weeks. They also are pressing to require people receiving unemployment to enroll in GED classes and allow states to condition benefits on the passage of drug tests.

Justin Mustafa pleaded guilty in Falmouth District Court to one count of photographing an unsuspecting nude person.

MassLive.comJury selection remains a controversial process.

FALMOUTH — A Falmouth man has been sentenced to a year in jail for secretly video recording a sexual encounter.

Justin Mustafa pleaded guilty in Falmouth District Court on Monday to one count of photographing an unsuspecting nude person.

He was sentenced to two years in the Barnstable County jail, with one year suspended. After his release he will remain on probation until 2014 when he must remain drug and alcohol free and is to have no contact with the victim.

Authorities say the 23-year-old Mustafa set up a video camera in his closet and filmed an encounter he had with the 24-year-old woman he was dating at the time, without her consent.

The Cape Cod Times reports that he later sent a copy to the woman and her new boyfriend.

Taunton Mayor Tom Hoye Jr. says he has had preliminary talks with the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council.

TAUNTON — Add Taunton to the list of possible sites for a Massachusetts casino.

Mayor Tom Hoye Jr. says he has had preliminary talks with the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council and the tribe's lobbyist, former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, about building a Taunton casino.

Hoye tells the Taunton Daily Gazette that parcels at Liberty and Union Industrial Park, owned by the nonprofit Taunton Development Corp., have been considered as a resort casino site. The parcel is near the Silver City Galleria mall.

Hoye says a casino in Taunton could create as many as 4,000 jobs.

Gov. Deval Patrick signed a law in November authorizing up to three resort casinos and one slots parlor in different geographical areas of the state.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is at 46 percent while incumbent Sen. Scott Brown is at 43 percent in a new WBUR-MassINC poll.

U. S. Senator Scott P. Brown is seen with Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren is ahead of Massachusetts Republican incumbent Sen. Scott Brown by three points, according to a new poll released by WBUR on Tuesday, results that indicate a virtual statistical dead heat.

The WBUR-MassINC poll showed Warren at 46 percent and Brown at 43 percent, with a 4.4 percent margin of error. Eleven percent said they don't know which candidate they will vote for, or remain undecided.

Warren is ahead of Brown by 28 points among 18-to 29-year-olds and is ahead by 23 points among the older-than-60 group.

Brown leads by 24 points among 30-to 44-year-olds and by two points among voters between the ages of 45 and 55.

Warren and Brown are virtually tied on the statements "will stand up for regular people," "understands the needs of the middle class" and "agrees with you on issues that matter to you."

Brown leads by 9 points on the statement "knows how to get the economy moving again."

Sixty-two percent said they might change their minds based on debates. Complete poll results are available on the MassINC Polling Group website.

In two polls in December, Warren was ahead of Brown by seven percent and four percent.

A former law partner called said Ferrara's nickname was "the hardest-working man in show business."

The Republican/Don TreegerSuperior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse at induction ceremony for new Judge John S. Ferrara

SPRINGFIELD – Brand new Superior Court Associate Justice John S. Ferrara got to enjoy the fruits of years of his labor when a solemn yet festive judicial induction ceremony was held here Monday.

There was a jury box full of active and retired judges from several courts, both federal and state. There was a large group of family members front and center, and more family in the benches in the large courtroom at the Hall of Justice.

And the rest of the standing room only crowd were colleagues and friends.

Ferrara, a longtime criminal and civil lawyer, grew up in Springfield and earned an associate’s degree from Holyoke Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and a law degree from Western New England University School of Law.

He was selected by Gov. Deval Patrick for a vacant Superior Court judicial position and approved by the Governor’s Council.

Ferrara gave special thanks to Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis “who encouraged my application, and advised me and assisted me throughout the process.”

Barbara J. Rouse, chief justice of the Superior Court for the state, officiated the formal induction, saying the judicial seat being filled was created in 1859.

Ferrara thanked his wife Shirleen Ferrara, “who is sweet and supportive, a kind person who allowed me to for many years simply focus on my career” while she managed the household.

He thanked “our two fine boys (Brett and Jake) of whom we’re very proud.”

Mark J. Albano, a law partner of Ferrara until this appointment, said Ferrara’s nickname was “the hardest-working man in show business” around the office.

Ferrara said he’s been fortunate to have “a very satisfying 28-year career.”

He said the nickname referred to by Albano “simply meant that I had a tendency to work long hours, and sometimes six to seven days a week, and so they sometimes referred to me as a workaholic.”

“But when you’re doing a job you love with people you love, it’s really not work,” Ferrara said.

He said many times he sat in courtrooms and “watched Superior Court judges handle someone who was before them – either a litigant or an attorney – who is anxious, sometimes a party who was contentious, or simply confused.”

“And often I’ve just admired the way judges handle those kinds of situations ... I’m certainly honored to be joining their ranks,” he said.

Albano said few lawyers “could move between the civil and criminal dockets with the dexterity that John exhibited.”

“In his nearly 30-year career as a trial lawyer he has represented the injured and the injurers, the accused and the accuser. They were people from every background and walk of life,” Albano said.

“It’s also a great day for the Commonwealth. John Ferrara is a reaffirmation of the wisdom of our judicial selection process and the vision of Gov. Patrick,” Albano said.

Sen. Scott Brown is joining fellow Republicans in supporting legislation that would allow any business to object to healthcare coverage citing religious or moral beliefs.

LEOMINSTER - Sen. Scott Brown leaves the the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Massachusetts in a Chevy Silverado on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. (Staff Photo by Robert Rizzuto)

In the continuing controversy surrounding the debate between women's health and religious liberty, Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., is taking a stand against the president's revised healthcare mandate in relation to birth control and religious institutions.

Last week, under heavy pressure from religious institutions and evangelicals, President Barack Obama announced a revision to his health care policy to shift the burden of paying for birth control and certain female preventative care procedures from institutions, including religious hospitals and universities, to the insurance companies. The move was an attempt to avoid having a government mandate directly conflict with religious faith, although not everyone is satisfied with the conclusion.

One problem with the revised policy, as some critics charge, is that many Catholic institutions are self-insured. So by shifting the burden of coverage for birth control and procedures the church sees as morally wrong to insurance companies, the institutions may still have a conflict between their faith and the law.

Brown, who is in a heated campaign to retain his U.S. Senate seat in the Bay State, is supporting a Republican "conscience exemption" to the health care law as proposed by Rep. Roy Blunt, R-MO.

The legislation would allow any business, not just faith-based institutions, to decline participation in certain aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that they deem to be in conflict with their moral or religious beliefs.

“Senator Brown appreciates President Obama’s willingness to revisit this issue, but believes it needs to be clarified through legislation," said John Donnelly, a spokesman in Brown's Washington D.C. office. "The senator signed onto bipartisan legislation that writes a conscience exemption into law, which is an important step toward ensuring that religious liberties are always protected.”

Although Brown's office described the legislation as "bipartisan," out of the 36 cosponsors, only one is a Democrat, which is Sen. Benjamin Nelson of Nebraska.

As a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2002, Brown supported legislation requiring contraception coverage by health care providers that also included a narrow exclusion for churches or "qualified church-controlled organizations."

Critics of the federal GOP legislation, including the President, have called it "dangerous," saying that certain preventative care measures could be excluded by any business for any reason, as long as it was said to be based in belief.

Some Republican legislators, including two female senators from Maine, believe the balance between women's health and religious liberty has been met without the need for further legislation.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins opposed the initial mandate but are supporting Obama's revised policy.

Snowe said that the revision addresses the issues that needed to be fixed and Collins called the revision a step in the right direction to avoid a threat to religious liberty.

Snowe and Collins also previously supported the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act which was lauded by Planned Parenthood and included no conscience exclusion for religious institutions. The bill would have required health care plans which cover prescription drugs to include any FDA approved contraceptives, similar to the President's revised policy.

Stocks in the U.S. were also hurt by a discouraging report on retail sales.

By CHRISTINA REXRODE | AP Business Writer

Associated PressA worker cleans the sign of the Bank of Greece from red and black paint, after Sunday's riots, in Athens, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. Firefighters doused smoldering buildings and cleanup crews swept rubble from the streets of central Athens following a night of rioting during which lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the nation from bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

NEW YORK — The stock market rallied in the last half-hour Tuesday, seizing on reports that suggested the unraveling Greek debt talks might be saved after all. Stocks finished flat after languishing in the red for most of the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.24 points to close at 12,878.28, about 12 points shy of its best finish this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 1.27 points to close at 1,350.50. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.44 point to 2,931.83.

As usual, it was about Greece. U.S. stocks were weighed down as European finance chiefs canceled a meeting planned for Wednesday to discuss a second international bailout for the country.

The meeting was called off after Athens failed to deliver on several demands made by its partners in the euro currency union. Greece needs a €130 billion bailout by March 20 to avoid a default that could rattle the world financial system.

Stocks in the U.S. were also hurt by a discouraging report on retail sales. Bank of America led the Dow lower, dropping 3.3 percent.

The Dow was down as much as 87 points at its low for the day. But the market found hope in reports quoting Greek government officials as saying party leaders would promise by Wednesday to implement deep spending cuts and other reforms.

Declining stocks still outnumbered advancing stocks by about 2-to-1. Volume was light at about 3.8 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

The stock market has been rising slowly but steadily most of this year, despite the unresolved debt crisis in Europe and a stalemate over U.S. tax policy and benefits for the long-term unemployed.

For most of Tuesday, investors appeared to be waiting for more clarity on all those issues before sinking more money into stocks, said Colleen Supran, a principal at the investment adviser Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough.

"Everyone wants to know the rules of the game before making these decisions," Supran said.

The late-day rally was a sign that investors expect the coming round of Greek debt talks to resolve some of those outstanding questions. The talks have brought incremental and sometimes contradictory developments that have confused some investors.

The country has already passed some of the deep spending cuts its lenders were demanding but hasn't really satisfied anyone. Greeks have rioted, saying the cuts are too harsh, and Greece's neighbors have expressed concern that the cuts are not enough.

"Every week it's, 'The sky is falling,' then, 'No, it's not.' 'There's rioting in the street,' then it's over. 'There's going to be a deal Friday,' then, 'No, it's not Friday, it's Wednesday,'" said Ben Schwartz, chief market strategist at Lightspeed Financial in Chicago. "We really don't know what's underneath the covers over there."

He thinks U.S. stocks will continue to inch forward — not because investors are particularly optimistic about U.S. companies but because they have even less faith in European governments.

"We're the best house in a bad neighborhood," he said.

Downbeat economic news from Europe reinforced the danger. Greece said its economy shrank drastically at the end of last year, and Europe is expected to report Wednesday that the economies of the 17 countries that use the euro shrank 0.4 percent after growing 0.1 percent the quarter before.

Late Monday, Moody's also downgraded its debt ratings on six European countries, including Italy, Portugal and Spain. Moody's also said it might cut France, Austria and the U.K. as well.

News out of the U.S. was also disappointing. The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.4 percent last month, but analysts were expecting 0.7 percent, and spending on auto sales was down. Automakers had reported higher sales, so Tuesday's numbers could mean they have had to offer more discounts to persuade customers to spend.

• Yahoo fell 5 percent after reports that its plans to sell its Asian assets, a key strategy for turning around the troubled company, fell apart.

• Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. fell 5 percent after its fourth-quarter profits missed analysts' expectations.

• Bank of America fell 3.3 percent after Citi analyst Keith Horowitz downgraded his rating to neutral, saying the bank's "legacy issues," notably its 2008 purchase of mortgage lender Countrywide, "will take a while to play out."

• Luxury retailer Michael Kors Holdings Limited was a bright spot, shooting up 28 percent after revenue skyrocketed 69 percent in the latest quarter. The company, which peddles $300 sequined jumpsuits and wristwatches at stores in cities like Milan and Paris, was helped by strong holiday sales as well as new stores. Its results are also a sign that wealthy customers are continuing to shop even as the rest of the economy struggles.

East Longmeadow Public Schools are requesting a $26 million fiscal year 2013 budget.

EAST LONGMEADOW – During the annual Town Meeting in May the School Department will ask the town for about $26 million to fund a level service budget for fiscal year 2013.

The budget includes a new special education teacher for Mapleshade Elementary School and an information and data specialist for the department.

Superintendent of Schools Gordon C. Smith said the specialist would work on compiling the data collected from students into user-friendly material that can be used by teachers to gauge student successes and where they need help.

The proposed budget is a 3 percent increase from last year’s budget.

Smith said the budget is funded in part by educational grants, federal entitlement grants and circuit breaker funds.

He said they are expecting $342,074 from Chapter 70 funds from the state, an increase from last year. The department will also receive an estimated $634,260 in reimbursement for special education costs, which is about $115,000 less than last year.

However, the department still has $175,000 in special education funds which will roll over from fiscal year 2012 to 2013.

Smith said over the past year, costs have increased for special education contracted services and transportation.

Smith said over the past year the department has added new instructional technology and an English Language Learner teacher through grants and donations as well as academic coaches, which are impacting students and staff.

He also presented a needs budget, which includes all of the things each school principal said they need for fiscal 2013.

Some of the requests include a literacy coach for Meadow Brook Elementary School and turning a current part-time literacy coach post into full-time for the Mapleshade and Mountain View Elementary Schools.

Birchland Park Middle School is looking for two full-time reading teachers and a half-time guidance secretary and East Longmeadow High School needs a new assistant principal.