State Attorney General Martha Coakley says the cafes purport to sell Internet access or phone cards, but those sales are just a pretext to allow people to play online slots or other games.

BOSTON – A public hearing is set for a bill to ban Internet slot cafes, possibly jump-starting a proposal that has languished for months.

The legislation, submitted in July by House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Attorney General Martha M. Coakley, is scheduled to be aired by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary at 1 p.m. on March 6 at the Statehouse.

The Republican file photo by Mark M. MurrayAttorney General Martha Coakley is teaming up with House Speaker Robert DeLeo on a bill to ban cyber cafes in Massachusetts.

According to Coakley, the cafes purport to sell goods and services such as Internet access or phone cards, but those sales are just a pretext to allow people to play online slots, sweepstakes or other games.

“The proposed legislation will increase penalties for illegal cyber cafes in Massachusetts and is an important step toward protecting consumers," Brad Puffer, director of communications for the attorney general's office, said on Tuesday. "We have always maintained that these ‘cyber cafés’ are really ‘cyber scams’, with no posted odds, minimum odds, or guarantee of pay outs for patrons. This bill will help us enforce illegal gaming, ensuring that companies cannot skirt our laws.”

Gamblers win “points” in the online games which can be redeemed for cash at the cyber café, according to DeLeo.

Beverly Baker, an owner of the Boston Road Cyber Center at 1295 Boston Road in Springfield, said she is concerned about the bill. She also said she is awaiting the outcome of criminal charges pending against the owner of a closed cyber cafe in Chicopee and his business partner. Baker said the eventual resolution of those charges could possibly help determine if cyber cafes can continue to operate in Massachusetts.

A statewide grand jury indicted a Westfield man and his business partner on Nov. 10 on charges of running an illegal gambling operation at a now-closed Internet cafe in Chicopee.

Steven Sheldon, 48, of Westfield, owner of the cafe, and his business partner, Steven Megliola, 52, of Longmeadow, were indicted on charges of organizing or promoting gambling services and operating an illegal lottery, the attorney general said in a statement. Their business – Cafeno's Cyber Cafe at 76 Main St. in Chicopee – closed in March of last year after it was raided by state police.

Sheldon and Megliola denied the charges at their arraignments in Hampden Superior Court early last month.

Sheldon was also indicted for allowing lotteries in a building and the sale and advertising of lottery tickets. Their corporation, Cafeno's Inc., faces the same charges, the attorney general has said.

Baker said she has investments in her business on the line.

"This is bread and butter for your family," Baker said on Tuesday. "What can you do?"

Baker said she believes her cafe is operating legally.

"The people ... enjoy coming here," she said. "They come for relaxation. It's a family atmosphere."

Thomas Lesser, a lawyer for Sheldon and Cafeno's Inc., said after the Jan. 4 arraignment, "In our opinion Cafeno's was a legal Internet cafe, it is protected by Massachusetts law with regard to Internet cafes, with regard to sweepstakes events. There are any number of cafes which are still operating throughout the commonwealth at this point in time, and we're going to litigate this strenuously. We expect to be found not guilty at the end of the day."

"They were operating in the open, everybody knew that they were operating, the state police were advised that they were operating, at no point during all the months of operation did anyone suggest anything illegal was being done here," Lesser said. "They never received a notice from the attorney general saying, 'Wait a second, stop doing what you're doing, it's illegal.' "

Rep. Sean F. Curran, a Springfield Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee, said he believed the bill probably has a good chance of passing.

"It's good public policy to ban gambling that isn't regulated by the state," Curran said.

The legislation would ban the cafes by making it a crime to conduct or promote a sweepstakes with an electronic machine. People who violate the law could be fined up to $250,000 per machine or sentenced to as many as 15 years in state prison.

The bill exempts the state lottery and betting on horse races, bingo and charitable gambling events.

Rep. Richard Neal brushed off criticisms by Andrea Nuciforo as the data points out that both candidates have received significant contributions from Wall Street institutions over the years.

The Republican | Michael Beswick (Nuciforo) and Michael Gordon (Neal)Andrea Nuciforo Jr., left, is challenging U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, right, for the Democratic nomination for the new Massachusetts 1st Congressional District.

One day after receiving a nod of support from retiring U.S. Rep John Olver, D-Amherst, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, was targeted by Pittsfield register of Deeds Andrea Nuciforo Jr. over where his campaign money comes from.

Nuciforo, along with Neal and Berkshire County political satirist / activist Bill Shein, are working to earn the Democratic nomination to run for the newly-drawn First Congressional District in Massachusetts, which includes all of Berkshire County, most of Hampden County and parts of Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties.

Olver, who has represented the current first district since 1991, announced last fall that he would not seek reelection, setting the stage for this election cycle where there are three Democrats vying for the position but a Republican challenger is yet to step forward.

In a statement, Nuciforo, who served as a state senator for a decade, characterized Neal as a friend to Wall Street, citing political contributions he's received over the years from big banks, insurance companies and lobbyists.

Data from the Federal Election Commission states that Neal, who ended 2011 with a total of $2.4 million cash-on-hand, received $535,450 from "other committees," which includes political action committees or PACs as they are known.

A July 2011 article about campaign finance disclosures revealed that Neal's percentage of PAC contributions was higher than any of the other member of the Massachusetts House delegation.

In response to the article, William Tranghese, a spokesperson for Neal, told the AP that PAC contributions have no effect on how Neal votes in Congress, a statement which Shein and Nuciforo have contested.

FEC data shows that Nuciforo ended 2011 with $136,607 cash-on-hand, with only $500 of that coming from a category which includes PACs.

Nuciforo, however, has received a considerable amount of money from PACs and Wall Street businesses, but it was during his time in the state senate.

The nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics reports that when Nuciforo was a state senator in 2004, the top contributors to his campaign were lawyers and lobbyists, commercial banks, real estate firms and insurance companies.

Shein, who is only accepting donations from individuals of less than $100, wasn't officially in the election in time for the FEC to compile a report on his campaign financing.

Nuciforo, who formally entered the race in 2009 before the new district was created, also took issue with Neal saying that the new district was easy to travel, indicating he would be visible throughout it in the coming months.

"This is a race about accountability, not visibility. I represented 48 of these cities and towns throughout my ten years in the Senate, so I understand the problems of job loss, economic downturn, and consumer protection are not addressed, and certainly not solved by just being visible," Nuciforo said. "The district lines were redrawn to reflect changes in our area's population, not for Congressman Neal's convenience... He simply cannot write-off the added responsibility of representing the residents of western Massachusetts."

Tranghese dismissed Nuciforo's statement as "political rhetoric," going on to say that the Congressman is busy working for his constituents every day.

"Congressman Neal is not focused on politics, he is concentrating on the doing the job the people of western Massachusetts elected him to do. He is helping to bring new jobs to the region, including the 200 he announced last week with officials at Smith & Wesson," Tranghese said. "He is working hard to prevent any proposed cuts at Westover and Barnes, expressing his concerns directly to the Secretary of the Air Force. And this week he will vote to extend the payroll tax cut, bringing much needed tax relief to thousands of families in the region."

There are about 2,300 members in the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

View full sizeThe Republican | Mark M. MurrayThe Massachusetts Air National Guard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new recruiting office at 843 Worcester St. in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield on Tuesday. Master Sgt. Pete Johnson, second from left, conducts the ceremony as Col. Robert Brooks, center, and General Scott Rice, wait to do the honors of cutting the ribbon.

SPRINGFIELD – Despite the financial climate and threat of potential cuts in defense spending, the Massachusetts Air National Guard must recruit between 100 and 200 new members each year.

That is why the Guard on Tuesday opened a new ‘store-front’ style recruiting office at 843 Worcester St.

Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice, the state’s ANG commander, called the opening “significant for Massachusetts and the Air National Guard in general in meeting its manpower needs.”

He explained that despite potential defense cutbacks the guard must maintain its recruiting efforts.

“There are about 2,300 members of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and annually 10 percent of those retire or leave for other reasons,” Rice explained.

He said nationally the Air National Guard recruits 10,000 new members for the same reason.

“Despite the financial environment we need to promote our young members, train the middle members and let people retire,” Rice said.

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayGen. Scott Rice, left, and Col. Robert Brooks at the opening of the The Massachusetts Air National Guard's new recruiting office.

“We still need to recruit new members even if we are forced to downsize,” he said.

The Department of Defense has already launched plans to cut $259 billion in military spending over the next five years and nearly $500 billion within the next 10 years.

Locally, the Air Force has already announced plans to cut, by half, the number of C-5 jet cargo transports assigned to Westover Air Reserve Base by 2016. There has not been an announcement concerning potential cuts to state guard forces.

The recruitment office opened Tuesday replaces one that operated on Park Avenue in West Springfield for the past 3 years and is one of three such storefront recruiting places for the Air Guard statewide. The others are located in East Wareham and Quincy, according to recruiting superintendent Chief Master Sgt. Peter Johnson.

The new facility will be supervised by Master Sgt. Ernest E. Smith with a staff of four recruiters.

“Prospective members can explore the many career opportunities within the guard, both full and part-time, here,” Smith said of the more than 2,000 jobs offered within the guard.

The office will support recruiting efforts region-wide and specifically for the 104th Fighter Wing stationed at Barnes Air National Base in Westfield.

104th commander Col. Robert T. Brooks said the new office “allows us to go out into the community, to interact with the community in our efforts to seek out prospective members.”

Smith said the office is more convenient to the needs of the recruiting staff than the former office in West Springfield.

“This is very effective in providing professional space to meet with the public and it is easier and closer to Westover Air Reserve Base when new members are processed for induction,” he said.

The opening also served as a venue for the 104th Fighter Wing to publicly recognize Lt. Col. John G. Desarro for “outstanding service” to the unit. The newly promoted Longmeadow resident serves as communications flight commander for the fighter wing.

Some school districts use parking revenue to maintain high school parking lots.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanIt costs students at Westfield High School $20 per year to park at the school.

WESTFIELD – Several area high schools charge students a parking fee if they drive to and from school with the revenue used to maintain parking lots and grounds and to offset school busing expenses.

Those fees range from $20 at Westfield High School to a high of $220 per year at Gateway Regional High School in Huntington. Several schools give students rebates depending on near perfect attendance during the school year.

The fee has been in place in most areas for the past six of seven years and was instituted in response to declining state revenue for schools.

Gateway’s assessment is currently under review by Superintendent of Schools David B. Hopson and the high school’s Student Council. Hopson defends the charge as a way to offset some of the district’s nearly $1 million annual transportation budget. Hopson combines parking receipts with the school’s athletic user fees for a total of about $160,000 annually to offset transportation expenses. Elimination of the fee would lead to an increase in the district’s annual school assessment to member towns, he said.

But, Hopson is open to discussion with students and at least two meetings have taken place in recent weeks. “We are now looking at the parking fee for potential adjustments or alterations,” he said.

Attention to Gateway’s fee arose when students and some parents complained its was a burden.

Gateway students say driving to school is not only convenient but a necessity because of after-school activities and part-time employment.

Senior Kyleigh A. Lund, 18, a member of the Student Council, said “I need to drive because of activities both school related and my part-time job.” A Chester resident, Lund said “it has become difficult because of the high fee.

Fellow senior Daniel L. Wheeler, 17, of Middlefield, characterized himself as “just an average person who doesn’t like to pay.”

But, he said “my situation prevents me from taking the bus to school. I have a time constraint between the end of the school day and my work starting time,” he said.

“The cost of parking is difficult because my I really don’t make enough to pay it from my job. My parents paid this year. I have to reimburse them later,” said Wheeler.

Lund said the superintendent and Student Council “are working to identify alternatives. things we can do to reduce the fees like consideration for academic standing.”

Currently 16 students hold a semester parking sticker at Gateway Regional. Five of those got a 50-percent reimbursement because of perfect attendance, Hopson said. Since Jan. 27, another 31 students have purchased monthly, weekly and/or daily parking stickers, officials said. Monthly parking passes are $26.

There is an estimated 180 juniors and seniors at Gateway eligible to drive to school.

Westfield High School principal Raymond K. Broderick said parking revenues total about $1,000 annually there. The $20 fee is used for parking lot and grounds maintenance, such as striping, pothole repairs and signage. The fee has been in place for seven years and currently 278 students hold parking passes.

Broderick said he has seen a “drastic reduction” in the number of students who drive to school. “Its the economy, the price of gasoline, maintenance and registration of the vehicle,” he said.

Westfield High seniors Jordyn E. Desmond, 17 and Patrick e. McCutchen, 18, say the convenience and flexibility is the reason students purchase parking stickers.

“I prefer not to take the bus. I like the freedom,” said Desmond. She added she is confused why students in other schools pay more to park. “Ours is really not a bad deal,” she said.

McCutchen agreed saying he supports use of the parking fee for grounds maintenance. “Driving to and from school allows me to stay after for various activities or to come in late if I need to,” he said.

At Amherst Regional High School the $75 annual parking fee is used to cover parking lot expenses such as paving as well. The fee there, like at Gateway, is prorated for students who want parking privileges for just a few weeks or less.

Longmeadow High School charges commuter students $175 for a full year with a reduced price for half-year parking. That fee was as high as $200 several years ago but reduced after students complained, principal Lawrence Berte said. Currently 15-0 students have parking spots at the school.

Palmer’s School Committee last year reduced the student parking fee from $100 to $50 after students petitioned the cost. The parking revenue is used to offset annual budget shortfalls and the student petition cited the cost of vehicle upkeep along with the cost of parking.

Senior Danielle Haley, who with Connor Corsi initiated the petition, said “A group of us were kind of complaining about it, and we said there’s no use in complaining, so we wrote a letter. We included information about the parking fees at nearby schools, such as Monson, which charges $45. The School Committee recognized our efforts and divided in it half. The lower fee helps because students are paying application fees for college and saving up for college costs.”

The high school has 94 parking spaces available for students and Superintendent Thomas A. Charko said he supported lowering the fee and commended students for effort.

West Springfield High School students are charged $30 to park for a full year and $15 for half-year. Agawam High School charges $40 a year to students to park on campus.

Students attending Holyoke High, Chicopee High and Easthampton High schools park for free.

Holyoke School Committee vice chairman Devin M. Sheehan said he does not believe a parking fee will be established at the two high schools in the Paper City. “When you look at other communities, they charge fees for busing, they charge fees for athletics. In Holyoke it’s equitable for everyone,” he said.

Holyoke student drivers are required to register their vehicles with the principal’s office but the no parking fee, according to Mayor Alex B. Morse is “another hidden benefit of the Holyoke public schools.”

Holyoke parent Melissa A. Whitelock said free parking for students “reduces a parent’s burden.”

Chicopee also does not charge for student parking.

About 150 students drive to Comprehensive High School daily. “We have never had an issue. There is plenty of parking and we have never had to limit it,” said Principal Derek J. Morrison.

High school students in Springfield also park for free.

“It simply has not been an issue that the school district has a large interest in,” said Azell M. Cavaan, communications director for the School Department.

Thaddeus Tokarz, principal of Central High School, said student parking is not allowed in the Roosevelt Avenue lot during school hours due to inadequate space.

Central students do park at the adjacent, state-owned Smead Arena, with no fee charged, he said.

Cavaan said other schools also have parking space issues in Springfield that creates little room for student parking.

Staff writers Sandra Constantine, Peter Goonan, Diane Lederman, Michael Plaisance, Elizabeth Roman and Lori Stabile contributed to this report.

Arthur Sotirion, 62, the former assistant executive director of the housing agency for the poor, was scheduled for release Tuesday, more than 4 years before his 9-year sentence was set to conclude.

File photo | The RepublicanArthur Sotirion, who is serving a 9-year federal sentence on charges related to a Springfield Housing Authority scandal, was scheduled for compassionate release four years before the end of his sentence.

SPRINGFIELD – Arthur G. Sotirion, a lead defendant in the Springfield Housing Authority corruption scandal, has won the right to die at home, rather than in prison, according to court records in U.S. District Court.

Sotirion, 62, the former assistant executive director of the housing agency for the poor, was scheduled for release on Tuesday, more than four years before his nine-year sentence was set to conclude. Court records state Sotirion is stricken with end-stage lung cancer and will endure the balance of his illness at home with his wife.

“It’s called compassionate release,” Sotirion’s attorney, Vincent A. Bongiorni, said. “He’s one of the nicest men you’ll ever meet, which, I’m sure is one of the reasons why the institution felt compelled by his circumstances.”

Sotirion was the second-in-command to Raymond B. Asselin, executive director of the housing authority who was sentenced to a decade in prison shortly after Sotirion in 2007. Witnesses in the case and prosecutors portrayed the two as tyrannical and criminally opportunistic for decades; both men’s tenures dated back to the 1970s.

However, employees who testified in the case painted Sotirion, son of a prominent physician, as the more likable of the two with Asselin often playing the heavy. At their sentencings, U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor remarked on the length and breadth of the pirating of the housing authority’s taxpayer-funded resources for home improvement projects for the management team and their family members; the hijacking of its contractors in bid-rigging schemes, and the theft of thousands of dollars in quarters from coin-operated laundry machines in its housing projects.

The once-politically powerful Asselin family was essentially crippled by the scandal – with former Springfield state Rep. Christopher P. Asselin and city department head James W. Asselin among two of Raymond Asselin’s sons who served jail time in the case for joining in the corruption. A third son, Raymond Asselin Jr., also went to prison and a fourth, Joseph Asselin, ducked time behind bars by testifying against his family members in federal court.

Raymond B. Asselin is not scheduled for release until Jan. 14, 2016. The two began their sentences in the federal prison camp at Devens in Ayre, but Sotirion was ultimately transferred to a medical complex in Burner, N.C., according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The City Council approved the use of surplus funds to begin eliminating mid-fiscal year deficits.

SPRINGFIELD – City officials, while tackling some projected budget deficits mid-way through the fiscal year, have set a goal of reaching a $40 million cushion in the stabilization reserve “rainy day” fund by June 30.

At a meeting Monday night, the city’s Finance Department provided an update to the City Council on the city’s budget challenges, revealing transfers needed to offset budget deficits but also stating its goal of beefing up the stabilization fund, currently at $37.6 million.

As advised, the council voted Monday to spend nearly $1.5 million from last year’s surplus fund, known as the free cash account, including $700,000 used to partially eliminate a $1.1 million projected deficit in the Fire Department budget. Additional steps are under review to balance that budget, Budget Director LeeAnn Pasquini said.

The primary causes of the Fire Department deficit was a projection the city could save $500,000 through department attrition. That did not occur because no one left their jobs between July 1 and Dec. 31. In addition, the city expected to save $400,000 in overtime this year, but has not cut its overtime costs due to limited personnel

In addition, the council on Monday approved using $500,000 in surplus funds to help meet increased needs for veterans benefits, but will receive 75 percent state reimbursement. There were also mid-year transfers of $83,700 for property valuation consultant costs, $92,240 for parking enforcement and $81,360 for the cost of the upcoming presidential primary, with the primary costs to be partially reimbursed by the state.

On the bright side, the Finance Department set the goal of having $40 million in the stabilization fund by the end of the fiscal year, June 30. The city has approximately $2.4 million left in the free cash surplus from last year, that could be transferred to the stabilization fund if not spent, Pasquini said.

The annual budget in Springfield is $561.5 million, and a $40 million reserve fund is “wise,” Pasquini said.

Communities typically use the stabilization fund as a cushion for unforeseen needs or for capital projects, according to the state Department of Revenue. The amounts widely vary in the state including some communities that have no stabilization funds.

Springfield had millions of dollars in deficits, and no stabilization funds prior to the state imposing a five-member Finance Control Board in 2004 to oversee city spending and to help turn around the city’s finances. The board disbanded, as of July 1, 2009, handing back control to city officials.

In fiscal year 2011, the stabilization fund reached a high of $43.7 million.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the city’s finances are a major priority of his administration.

Sarno and finance officials, in providing the quarterly report to the council, stated they are closely monitoring expenditure and revenue deficits, and only refilling critical vacancies and authorizing critical expenses in the goal of a healthy reserve.

The city is seeking state and federal reimbursements for costs related to the June 1 tornado and Octtober snowstorm, but using stabilization funds may need to be considered once all reimbursements are exhausted, Pasquini said. The city has already used $809,000 from surplus funds for tornado expenses without affecting stabilization, she said.

Individual artists, civic organizations and schools were among those who applied for the grants.

File photo / The RepublicanChildren gather around a crafts table during a Harry Potter Party offered through the library's summer reading program, which the Chicopee Cultural Council helped fund last year.

CHICOPEE – A total of 27 artists and organizations have been selected to split $25,000 to fund a puppet show, a writing workshop for female inmates, a variety of concerts and school field trips.

The Chicopee Cultural Council recently released its list of grant winners for the year. The grants range from a few larger awards of $2,000 and $3,000 to a number of smaller $450 and $500 awards, said Eleanor Gay, chairwoman of the cultural council.

Every year the Massachusetts Cultural Council distributes money to each city and town in the state. Then local councils accept requests for funding for a variety of ideas for cultural programs and select the best ones.

This year the council received 36 applications and funded 27.

“You look for balance and which best fit the community,” she said. “You look at what is the population that is being served and is there someone we haven’t funded before.”

In some occasions where there are a lot of applications, the council will cut the award for those who have applied and received grants before just to ensure more projects can be funded, Gay said.

She said it is never easy to reject applications because there are so many good proposals that come before the council.

One of the new programs that will be funded this year is Richard Frota, who received a $450 grant to put on a program called “Ecology of Sound” on July 12 at the Public Library.

“He is a Brazilian who makes jungle sounds and insect sounds,” she said. “He uses natural-made instruments.”

Members were very interested in the wide range of sounds he could perform, imitating birds and other animals, Gay said.

One grant will help fund a writing workshop for women in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center, another will pay for a senior center concert, and a third will help pay for a painting workshop.

The cultural council will also help teachers at nine different city schools bring children to the symphony and museums and also bring programs to their schools, she said.

“The Massachusetts Council allows you to fund field trips to schools, and we like to do that. We pay for admittance for the child but not transportation,” Gay said.

Wieland, a member of the Raging Grannies, has been active in numerous demonstrations on local, national and international issues.

Republican file photoIn this file photo from July, 2011, Paki Wieland talks about being about a ship that was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard before it could attempt to sail into israel's blockage of Gaza. Wieland was one of six Americans detained Tuesday by officials during a demonstration in Bahrain.

NORTHAMPTON - The American Friends Service Committee announced Tuesday night that long-time Northampton activist Patricia "Paki" Wieland was one of a half-dozen Americans rounded up by government forces during protests Tuesday in Manama, Bahrain.

Wieland, 67, was in Bahriain, a small island in the Persian Gulf near Saudi Arabia, as part of a group of international observers calling themselves "Witness Bahrain." The group went to Bahrain to report and monitor on events unfolding as the Bahrain protesters demonstrate against government policies. In the days before Tuesday's protests, the government had barred foreign journalists, human-rights observers and other outsiders from entering the county.

The protests on Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of a civilian uprising that was violently put down by the government. At least 35 people, including security personnel, died during the protests last year.

Reuters is reporting that six members of Witness Bahrain were arrested, and that the government later issued a statement that all six would be deported.

Associated Press footage of protests Tuesday in Manama, Bahrain

The statement issued by American Friends Service Committee said Wieland and the others were in Manama and were marching peacefully toward the Pearl Roundabout, the scene of last year's protests, when they were taken into custody. The U.S. State Department is providing assistance to those in custody.

Wieland, a member of the "Raging Grannies," has been active in numerous demonstrations on local, national and international issues.

In June, she was among nearly 40 peace activists who boarded a ship an an attempt to sail through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

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The contract was awarded by a unanimous vote of the School Committee.

LUDLOW - The School Committee Tuesday night voted 5 to 0 to award a contract to repair the ceilings in the school business office at School Department headquarters at 63 Chestnut Street to Central Ceilings Inc. for $59,800.

Central Ceilings Inc. of South Easton was the low bidder, Darlene Cincone, assistant school business manager, said.

Cincone said the work will begin Feb. 24 and will be completed by April 16.

The second floor drop ceiling collapsed in March of last year. In May there was a second ceiling collapse and the second floor was declared unsafe, School Committee Chairman Michael J. Kelliher said.

The drop ceiling was removed and it was discovered that the original plaster ceiling needs to be replaced. Lighting also had to be removed to make the repairs.

Voters at a special Town Meeting in October approved the appropriation of up to $75,000 from the town’s stabilization fund to make the ceiling repairs.

After the repairs are complete, “the School Committee can stop wandering around town to hold its meetings,” Kelliher said. The School Committee has been meeting at the Baird Middle School auditorium and Tuesday met in the selectmen’s meeting room in the Town Hall.

“We want this work done,” Cincone said.

The work can be done within the $75,000 appropriation, Kelliher said.

“It’s possible we will have some money to give back to the town,” he added.

The Board of Selectmen recently met with town department heads and the Finance Committee and said the town needs to come up with at least $800,000 in savings in next year’s budget so taxpayers are not hit with a big tax increase.

The average taxpayer received a $250 property tax increase last year and has received property tax increases in prior years as well, Selectman William Rooney said.

Rooney said he received many calls of complaint about the tax increase.

Financial woes have flooded the authority, including its failure to pay $465,000 in employee-retirement costs.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanAuthority board Chairman Joseph T. O'Neill, left, and board member Charles F. Glidden argue during Tuesday's meeting.

HOLYOKE – The first meeting in more than two months Tuesday of the board of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority immediately dissolved into arguments and questions about two members’ eligibility to be on the board.

Board Chairman Joseph T. O’Neill refused to let City Clerk Susan M. Egan address the board, which Egan said was the first time in her 42-year municipal career a board refused to let her speak.

The authority – a nursing home at 45 Lower Westfield Road – has been beset by financial problems. That included a failure to pay employee-retirement contributions totaling $465,000 and dating back to 2008 that taxpayers were forced to pay in December.

Some board members had been seeking a meeting for weeks and O’Neill finally scheduled the session, the first since Dec. 6.

After members sniped at each other for a half hour, in the meeting at the facility, the board went into executive session for more than an hour.

Egan and City Councilor Todd A. McGee, a lawyer contested the legality of the executive session.

The state Open Meeting Law permits limited reasons for such boards to close out the public. Board lawyer Edward McDonough said the reason for the executive session was “to ensure compliance with any state and federal law.”

The roll-call vote that board members took stated not whether they agreed or disagreed to hold the closed-door session but instead, had members stating “present.”

The board also failed to say whether it would return to open session.

“It’s outrageous,” Egan said. “I mean, they’re not even nice to each other. I’ve never seen a board like this.”

Egan said she was there to declare that Helen Arnold was no longer eligible as a board member because the City Council had replaced her.

Also, McGee and other councilors have said Steven J. Kravetz, the board’s so-called seventh member, was ineligible to be on the board because his term expired.

The City Council appoints three board members, the mayor appoints three and those six choose a seventh.

But McDonough said Arnold and Kravetz remained on the board because their replacements had yet to be voted in.

The City Council did vote to replace Arnold on Jan. 17 by appointing former councilor Donald R. Welch. But Welch never actually participated in a board meeting. A state Ethics Commission opinion stated Welch, who lost a Nov. 8 reelection bid and left the City Council Jan. 3, was prohibited from being on the authority board for six months.

Egan, McGee and others said the City Council having voted a replacement for Arnold, regardless of Welch later being deemed ineligible, means Arnold was off the board. The City Council has begun seeking candidates for that board seat.

The meeting began with board member Charles F. Glidden objecting to Arnold participating in the meeting.

“On what grounds?” O’Neill said.

“On the grounds that she was replaced by Donald Welch,” Glidden said.

“I believe that was an ethics violation,” Kravetz said.

Glidden called for Egan to be allowed to speak.

“I don’t need Susan Egan,” O’Neill said, referring the question about Arnold’s eligibility to McDonough.

Board member Raymond P. Murphy Jr. said he also wanted to hear from Egan. O’Neill said he would decide who could speak just as the City Council limits speakers when authority officials attend those meetings.

Glidden asked that McGee, the council liaison to the authority, be allowed to speak.

“Not going to recognize him,” O’Neill said.

“I don’t think you have the right not to recognize him,” Glidden said. “This is too important.”

“I’m not allowing him to speak,” O’Neill said.

McGee then questioned McDonough’s interpretation of the law, prompting Kravetz to say, “You can’t speak.”

Kravetz and Glidden then argued about Glidden first saying he would vote for Kravetz as seventh member and then changing and saying he would instead vote the seat to former councilor Patricia C. Devine, who attended the meeting.

Kravetz read emails he said were from Glidden. Glidden said in the emails to Kravetz he was being pressured to change his vote from Kravetz to Devine by councilors who said they would vote him off the board if he supported Kravetz. Politics as played here and in other cities means it’s not unusual for officials to contact each other to try to persuade a vote a certain way.

Glidden praised Kravetz but said he felt Devine was a change the authority needed.

“This Geriatric Authority will not succeed unless we make major changes,” Glidden said.

“I’m sorry, I can’t believe you now,” Kravetz said.

“I don’t care if you don’t believe me,” Glidden said.

Murphy said to O’Neill, “Can you take control of the meeting?”

“Yeah, I’ll take control. You sit there and be quiet,” O’Neill said.

Also participating in the meeting were board members John P. Counter and Jacqueline Watson and authority Executive Director Sheryl Y. Quinn.

Town Clerk Nancy Lowell said it was one of the best attended meetings, as 202 registered voters out of 2,961 turned out.

WARREN – Voters at last week’s special Town Meeting approved an agreement in lieu of taxes for a new solar energy generation facility at Scottish Meadows Golf Club, but rejected an article that would have changed the highway surveyor position from elected to appointed.

Town Clerk Nancy J. Lowell said it was one of the best attended meetings, as 202 registered voters out of 2,961 turned out to weigh in on the 10 warrant articles.

“This will be a really big deal for Warren . . . I think the town realized this is really a good decision,” Selectmen Vice-Chairman Robert W. Souza Jr. said about the 18-megawatt solar facility planned for three separate parcels off Little Rest Road.

Souza said the proposal by Mass PV 3 LLC of Miami, Fla. is the largest in New England.

Voters approved the agreement with Mass PV 3 that will pay the town $42,000 a year for 20 years for each parcel in exchange for not paying taxes. In addition, Mass PV 3 will pay 10.5 percent of the town’s municipal electricity bill over the 20-year period, an amount that runs $115,000 annually, he said.

Souza said the town stands to gain $2.8 million in revenue over the 20-year time period.

A Mass PV LLC representative did not return calls for comment. Souza said the project still needs to go before the Planning Board, which is holding a hearing on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Shepard Municipal Building. The project will feature approximately 70,000 solar panels, and the power generated from the facility will be sold back to National Grid.

Souza supported changing the highway surveyor from elected to appointed, but said, “You have to respect the people and their vote.” Lowell said the article was passed by the vast majority of those in attendance.

“I applaud them for coming out and voting,” Souza said.

Highway Surveyor Thomas S. Boudreau noted that the proposal came up once before, and also was shot down. Boudreau said he wasn’t bothered that the selectmen put the article on the warrant. He has been in the position since 2010.

“I’m here for the town. It seems like the townspeople hopefully know that as well,” Boudreau said.

State Rep. Mike Kane has held the 5th Hampden District seat since 2001.

Staff Photo by John SuchockiHolyoke Councilor Aaron M. Vega announces bid for state representative at Holyoke Heritage State Park Feb. 14.

HOLYOKE – City Councilor Aaron M. Vega kicked off his campaign for state representative by touting his experience as an elected official, a businessman and board member versed in school and other issues.

“The campaign mantra for me is this: It’s not about old Holyoke and it’s not about new Holyoke, it’s about one Holyoke and I want to represent one Holyoke,” Vega, a Democrat, said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, he made official what he had said on MassLive.com Feb. 2, that he was challenging state Rep. Michael F. Kane, D-Holyoke in the fall election.

Vega, who is in his second term as a councilor at large, discussed his candidacy in a press conference at Holyoke Heritage State Park and later in a phone interview.

He was a member of the Morgan School turn-around team and sits on the City Council-School Committee subcommittee.

He is chairman of the council Redevelopment Committee and established a public comment period before City Council meetings.

He is a regular at meetings of the Holyoke Food & Fitness Policy Council, he said, so that when issues like obesity among people and funding for such programs are discussed, he knows the specifics.

Eyeing the Legislature makes sense because the city has a new mayor, in Alex B. Morse, and new City Council president, in Kevin A. Jourdain, he said.

“It all has to do with the new energy and the new momentum that’s happening here in Holyoke,” said Vega, 41.

He and wife Debra Vega own Vega Yoga and Movement Arts, 4 Open Square Way.

Vega declined to say why he thought he would be a better lawmaker for Holyoke than Kane.

“At this point, I won’t try to go, ‘Me vs. him, him vs. me.’ I think what I try to bring to the table is ... a perspective on what’s going on in Holyoke today,” Vega said.

Kane has held the 5th Hampden District seat since 2001. He said earlier this month he will announce his re-election bid in the spring.

The representative’s yearly salary is $61,133.

The primary election is Sept. 6, to narrow the field of candidates if there is more than one from a party, and the general election is Nov. 6.

A number of Massachusetts residents disputed a recent report that reviewed existing scientific evidence and found no serious health risks associated with living near wind turbines.

Associated PressWind turbines line the hillside at First Wind's project in Sheffield, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. Vermont's first commercial wind farm in Sheffield is ready to make power. Developer First Wind hosted dignitaries, state and local officials and others beneath its turbines on Sheffield Heights where they celebrated the end of the eight-year process that it took to plan and build the project. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Neil Anderson says the headaches, dizziness and palpitations began shortly after Wind One, a 400-foot high wind turbine, began operating about a quarter mile from his Falmouth home. So did sleep disruptions, ringing in his ears and elevated blood pressure.

Anderson was among a number of Massachusetts residents who on Tuesday disputed a recent report from a state-appointed panel of experts that reviewed existing scientific evidence and found no serious health risks associated with living near wind turbines.

"Despite the conclusions of this expert health panel, wind turbines that are close to residences make people sick," Anderson told the Statehouse hearing, adding that nearly all of his symptoms disappeared when the town-owned, 1.6 megawatt turbine was temporarily shut down in November amid complaints.

Environmentalists, industry officials and other wind energy advocates were equally strong in their praise of the panel's report, telling state officials who called the meeting that the findings were a resounding endorsement of wind as a safe and clean alternative to other types of energy.

"When we say no to wind in Massachusetts we are saying yes to a bunch of dirty energy sources like coal, like gas, like nuclear power" that bring health risks far greater those posed by wind power, said Emily Rochon, a Northeastern University law student who attended the meeting with other members of the group Wind Action Committee.

The report, commissioned by state environmental and public health officials and released in January, said there was no evidence noise or low-frequency vibrations from turbines trigger health problems like those described by Anderson and other neighbors, effects sometimes collectively referred to as "wind turbine syndrome."

The report did raise the possibility that sound generated by turbines could be annoying to nearby residents or cause sleep disruptions, and recommended that Massachusetts adopt noise limit guidelines similar to those in some European countries.

State officials stressed Tuesday that they had not yet formally accepted the panel's findings nor reached any conclusions about where new wind turbines should be constructed in Massachusetts. Gov. Deval Patrick has made wind energy a key tenet of his strategy to move the state away from carbon-emitting power plants.

Critics have questioned both the methods and motivations of the panel, chastising it for relying on a review of data from previous studies done around the world rather than visiting the sites and conducting interviews with state residents who have complained of wind turbine syndrome.

Eleanor Tillinghast, a Mount Washington resident and member of the statewide coalition Windwise Massachusetts, accused the panel of "passing off junk science as real science."

The group has called for a moratorium on the construction of new land-based wind turbines until all potential health risks are addressed. Projects have been proposed for several other communities in the state, including Fairhaven, Lenox and Plymouth.

Critics have also suggested that at least two members of the state-appointed panel had previous ties to the wind energy industry, a claim strongly denied by the panelists and the state officials who appointed them.

Some wind energy advocates, while acknowledging that they did not live in the shadow of a turbine, said the whooshing sound of turbine blades was not annoying but actually soothing — akin to ocean waves or a babbling brook.

But Falmouth resident Kathryn Elder dismissed any notion that health concerns were more perception rather than reality.

"It's not my perception, it's not my opinion, and it certainly isn't annoyance that wakes me up repeatedly at night, or has caused myself and members of my family to have extreme anxiety and other physical issues in response to living close to the turbine," said Elder, who urged the state to adopt "hard and fast regulations" that would require turbines to be kept a safe distance from residential areas and set strict noise limits.

Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year.

Associated PressSen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., left, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, center, talk to reporters about the payroll tax, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, on Capital Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By ANDREW TAYLOR

WASHINGTON — House-Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker yielded a tentative agreement Tuesday, with lawmakers planning to unveil the pact Wednesday and sending the measure to President Barack Obama as early as this week.

Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year, with the nearly $100 billion cost added to the deficit. Jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed would be renewed as well, with the $30 billion cost paid for in part through auctioning broadcast spectrum to wireless companies and requiring federal workers to contribute more toward their pensions.

GOP lawmakers leaving a party meeting said they were told a tentative pact had been reached but said some details could change before the compromise was finalized, probably on Wednesday. They described the session as largely positive, and several predicted the House would approve the deal.

The payroll tax cut and renewing jobless benefits were key planks in Obama's jobs program, which was announced in September. The payroll tax cut benefits 160 million Americans and delivers a tax cut of about $20 a week for a typical worker making $50,000 a year. People making a $100,000 salary would get a $2,000 tax cut.

The deal would not only be a win for Obama but would take the payroll tax fight — which put Republicans on the defensive — off the table for the fall election campaign.

"The mood is to get it off the table," freshman Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., said. "We've got to move on to another issue."

"It's a compromise," said Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., a tea party-backed freshman and one of the bargainers. "We knew we'd be making a compromise."

The agreement also would avert a huge cut in Medicare payments to doctors, financed by cuts elsewhere in the federal health care budget, GOP and Democratic aides said. The cuts include a hitting a "prevention fund" established under Obama's health care law aimed at fighting smoking and obesity.

Aides in both parties said Senate Democrats were rebuffed in an effort to renew a package of expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses, including clean energy tax credits cherished by Democrats and a tax break sought by businesses that purchase new equipment.

Negotiators agreed to reduce the number of weeks of benefits that workers would be eligible to receive if they lose their jobs. The maximum number of weeks of benefits in states with the highest jobless rates would be cut from 99 weeks to 73 weeks by the end of the year, said Josh Drobnyk, an aide to Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich.

And in a win for the Hispanic community, Republicans would drop a proposal to require that low-income workers who claim a refundable child tax credit be required to have a Social Security number. The proposal was aimed at blocking illegal immigrants from claiming the credit, but the idea created a firestorm among Hispanics who pointed out that many of the children affected by the cutoff are U.S. citizens.

Republicans also were expected to drop a proposal requiring unemployed people to enroll in GED classes to obtain benefits, and a GOP proposal allowing states to employ drug tests as a condition of receiving unemployment benefits would be scrapped as well. But Republicans won a provision requiring jobless people to be more diligent in job searches as a condition of receiving benefits.

The legislation also would extend welfare grants to states.

Tuesday's developments came just a day after GOP leaders announced that they would relent on a demand that the cost of renewing the payroll tax cut be defrayed by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. That made it significantly easier for negotiators to come up with savings to pay for the remaining items.

Obama weighed in Tuesday, urging Congress to act immediately to renew both the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for millions of workers who have been out of work for more than six months.

"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."

Democrats in the Senate warned Republicans that they would pay a political price for extending the payroll tax cut while allowing millions of jobless people lose their unemployment benefits.

Republicans acknowledged that the issue had cost them politically. The pact comes less than two months after a fight over a temporary renewal of the tax cut blew up in the faces of House Republicans.

"The plan provides temporary tax relief for American families and takes off the table a false political attack the president and congressional Democrats wanted to use all year long — that somehow Republicans were standing in the way of a middle class tax cut," a House GOP leadership aide said.

Amtrak officials say a person has died after being struck by a train in Connecticut, and that service between New Haven and western Massachusetts has been temporarily suspended.

File photo / Associated PressAn Amtrak train leaves the station in Detroit Monday, May 9, 2011. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that Michigan has been awarded almost $200 million for high-speed rail projects, including infrastructure upgrades.

MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) — Amtrak officials say a person has died after being struck by a train in Connecticut, and that service between New Haven and western Massachusetts has been temporarily suspended.

The person's identity was not immediately released Wednesday. The death remained under investigation.

Authorities say the person was struck and killed at around 11 a.m. on tracks south of Meriden.

The train was traveling between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., and none of the 46 passengers and crew members was injured.

Amtrak officials did not immediately know when service would be restored, and was providing bus service for some passengers.

The case came to light in 2010, when the victim, by then a teenager, went to police. The assaults took place between 2005 and 2010.

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A Fall River man has been convicted of raping a girl he was supposed to be caring for starting when she was 9 years old.

Damon Allemao was found guilty Tuesday in Superior Court of seven of the 10 charges he faced, including statutory rape and rape of a child with force, assault with the intent to rape a child, and incest.

The case came to light in 2010, when the victim, by then a teenager, went to police. The assaults took place between 2005 and 2010.

The 37-year-old Allemao was indicted in January 2011.

The Herald News reports that he took the stand in his own defense to deny the charges.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison at sentencing scheduled for March 20.

Gingrich has a record of resuscitating his candidacy when others have written him off.

Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich meets with voters during a campaign stop at the Tulare World Ag Expo Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, in Tulare, Calif.

TULARE, Calif. — Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has a history of near-death experiences and he insists another resurrection is on its way.

"I'm very happy to continue this campaign based on real solutions that ... are going to attract a lot of Americans," Gingrich said Monday during a fundraising swing in California. "We've done it twice and I suspect you're about to see us do it again."

The third time may not be the charm. Gingrich sustained a string of disappointing performances in several state contests last week and has watched rival Rick Santorum emerge as the leading conservative opponent to Mitt Romney.

While Romney and Santorum move toward a face-off in Michigan's primary Feb. 28 and Romney campaigns to win Arizona the same day, Gingrich has all but stepped off the trail to focus on raising money. Ahead lie the 10-state Super Tuesday contests of March 6, including a handful of Southern states where he hopes he can revive his sputtering candidacy.

"Newt has to do two things simultaneously: Drive a movement for the 60 to 75 percent of Republicans who are conservative and don't want Romney to get the nomination," said Rick Tyler, a former Gingrich aide now with Winning Our Future, a "super" political action committee backing his candidacy. "Then he has to get out the primary map and look at states that are conservative and focus on them."

Gingrich has a record of resuscitating his candidacy when others have written him off.

He surged into a lead in Iowa not long before that state's first-in-the-nation caucuses and just months after his entire team of advisers quit over disagreements about campaign strategy. That rise was halted after the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future deployed $3 million in ads casting Gingrich as a baggage-laden Washington hypocrite.

His campaign was revived again in South Carolina, where he trounced Romney despite a similar barrage of negative super PAC ads. Then his momentum was halted in Florida's primary Jan. 31, where Restore Our Future and the Romney campaign together spent $15 million on attack ads.

Since then, Gingrich has struggled.

He came in a distant second to Romney in Nevada on Feb. 4 and badly lost four straight contests last week. Santorum won in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, breathing new life into his own limping candidacy.

Gingrich also placed a disappointing third in the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll last weekend despite giving a speech that drew praise and cheers from attendees.

If it's a disheartening turn of events for Gingrich, you'd never hear him say it.

He's brought his signature bravado to a handful of public appearances in California — from a sparsely attended event at a Mexican restaurant outside Los Angeles to a tea party gathering in Pasadena to a stroll through a huge agriculture expo in Tulare, where he admired farm equipment. He delights in excoriating bureaucrats, chiding President Barack Obama as a "radical" and casting himself as the only GOP contender with bold ideas for fixing the nation's problems.

"You need somebody who understands what America needs to do to be successful, someone who's had the experience of doing it, and then you've got to have somebody who can go out and explain it to the American people. That's why I'm running," he told reporters in Tulare.

For all the big ideas, Gingrich's campaign still has something of an improvisational feel. He ventured to the San Diego Zoo on Tuesday without bringing or notifying the national reporters assigned to cover him. He visited the elephant exhibit and fed a panda, with only a handful of local press — alerted by the zoo, not his campaign — on hand to record the visit.

Gingrich says he's retooled his pitch to be more positive and solutions-oriented, a move away from his sometimes-caustic attacks on Romney's record at the investment firm Bain Capital. But he relished a chance to knock Santorum, who suggested last week that women should not serve in military combat.

"I just think Rick completely misunderstands the nature of modern warfare," Gingrich said. "The fact is if you are serving in uniform in Iraq or Afghanistan ... you're in combat, whatever your technical assignment."

Gingrich's wife, Callista, has begun speaking publicly on his behalf after months of standing silently at his side. Her willingness to step out reflects an effort to improve his standing with female voters, who polls show have been particularly skeptical of his candidacy. One reason may be Gingrich's marital history, including two divorces and acknowledged infidelities.

Gingrich's supporters dismiss Santorum's rise as rookie luck, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator has simply been the beneficiary of the air war that's been trained on Gingrich.

"Santorum is not the recipient of 13,000 false advertisements in Iowa, Florida and South Carolina," Tyler said, writing off Santorum's recent victories as "meaningless" because the states he won will not award delegates until the spring.

Gingrich and his advisers have mapped out a strategy focusing on Super Tuesday states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio and Tennessee; Alabama and Mississippi, which hold primaries March 13; and Texas, where the primary is April 3. That state's governor, Rick Perry, endorsed Gingrich after dropping out of the Republican presidential contest last month.

Campaign officials insist fundraising is going well enough for Gingrich to be competitive in a number of states. But he hasn't run any television advertising since the Florida primary at the end of January, nor has the Winning Our Future super PAC. The group's major patron, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's family, has contributed $11 million to the super PAC but hasn't announced plans for further financial help.

With so many competitive primaries and caucuses looming and attention focused on the contest between Romney and Santorum, some supporters are asking whether Gingrich's luck may have finally run out. He vehemently pushes back on that suggestion.

"I'm still here," he told tea party supporters, to loud applause.

Bob Walker, a former Pennsylvania congressman and a top adviser to Gingrich, pleaded for patience.

"People who are out there calling for him to get out don't seem to understand his whole political career," Walker said. "We always knew it would be a long campaign. This is just one more example of the campaign taking its course."

Wieland is expected to return to Northampton on Thursday.

Republican file photoIn this file photo from July, 2011, Paki Wieland talks about being about a ship that was stopped by the Greek Coast Guard before it could attempt to sail into israel's blockage of Gaza. Wieland was one of six Americans detained Tuesday by officials during a demonstration in Bahrain.

NORTHAMPTON - A half-dozen Americans detained by government forces during protests Tuesday in Manama, Bahrain, including long-time Northampton activist Patricia “Paki” Wieland, have reportedly been released and are on their way back to the United States.

“We are pretty sure that they likely left on a commercial airline and are likely in the air,” Jeffrey Napolitano, director of the American Friends Service Committee in Northampton, said early Wednesday afternoon.

Wieland is expected to return to Northampton on Thursday and intends to hold a press conference there on Friday, he said.

Napolitano said the information on the release of the protesters comes from the State Department which provided consular support to the six.

The State Department told the American Friends Service Committee that the six were detained and arrested. Charges were not filed, however, and the six agreed to depart the country, Napolitano said.

State Department personnel could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wieland, 67, was in Bahrain, a small island in the Persian Gulf near Saudi Arabia, as part of a group of international observers calling themselves “Witness Bahrain.”

The group went to Bahrain to report and monitor on events unfolding as the Bahrain protesters demonstrate against government policies.

In the days before Tuesday’s protests, the government had barred foreign journalists, human-rights observers and other outsiders from entering the county.

The protests on Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of a civilian uprising that was violently put down by the government. At least 35 people, including security personnel, died during the protests last year.

The news, Napolitano said, comes as welcome relief for those worried about the safety of Wieland and the others.

Others who were arrested and detained over the weekend reportedly suffered from tear gas being released into their cells and Napolitano said he and others had been worried that Wieland and her fellow protesters may have been similarly treated.

Last July, Wieland sailed in solidarity with some 38 other peace activists aboard a ship bent on defying the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

She was part of an international effort that employed 10 boats seeking to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since 2007 when Hamas came to power in the Arab territory.

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GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is ahead of Mitt Romney by 6 percent in Michigan, a critical state to the Romney campaign, according to an American Research Group poll.

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Mesa, Ariz., Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Two weeks ahead of the Michigan primary, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is attempting to stop the momentum his rival Rick Santorum has been gaining since his Feb. 8 wins in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota.

Michigan is an important battleground state and a loss here would damage the Romney campaign and call into question his status as the GOP frontrunner. Romney grew up in the state and his father George Romney was the governor of Michigan from 1963-69.

A poll released Monday by American Research Group shows Santorum ahead of Romney by 6 percent. Among self-identified Republicans Romney finished third at 18 percent in the poll, trailing Santorum at 42 percent and Newt Gingrich at 24 percent.

Romney's campaign and the pro-Romney super PAC Restore our Future have both bought large amounts of television advertising air time going into the Feb. 28 primary in an effort to change the campaign's negative momentum.

Restore our Future has spent $1.5 million on air time in states with primaries in February and March. The super PAC is spending $640,000 on ads in Michigan leading up to the primary, and on Tuesday alone Romney's campaign bought $1.2 million worth of air time in Michigan.

The super PAC has also bought air time in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee. It began airing an anti-Santorum ad in those states called "Votes," which focuses on Santorum's votes to raise the debt ceiling and fund earmarks.

In contrast, Santorum's campaign has spent $42,000 on ad air time in Michigan. Santorum's campaign staff said they plan to rapidly increase their ad time soon.

Romney's campaign began airing a new ad Wednesday focusing on Romney's childhood in Michigan and his support of the auto industry.

However, a new poll by Public Policy Polling revealed that 62 percent don't consider Romney to be a "Michigander." Twenty-four percent view him as a Michigander. Additionally, 39 percent of those polled had a favorable view of Romney's father.

Romney has also been attacked in Michigan for his stance on end auto industry bailouts. Romney wrote an opinion piece in The Detroit News Tuesday defending his stance and reiterating that he is "a son of Detroit." His stance has remained the same since he wrote a 2008 opinion piece in The New York Times headlined "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Michigan Democrats blasted him Tuesday, saying he's stabbing Detroit in the back during its time of need.

The website Talking Points Memo pointed out Tuesday that Romney's Michigan childhood ad is similar to the one his campaign ran in New Hampshire in which he discusses his roots in New Hampshire.

Obituaries from The Republican

Thomas Boylan

Thomas J. Boylan, 90, of Wilbraham, passed away on Monday. Born in Washington, D.C., he was a graduate of LaSalle College. He was an Air Force veteran of WWII. Boylan was employed by the Springfield Public Schools for approximately 35 years, during which he taught at Duggan Junior High School, Kiley Junior High School, Technical High School and Central High School. Before moving to the Springfield area, he taught at Bonner High School in Philadelphia. He also taught programs in the Civil Air Patrol and was a longtime communicant of St. Cecilia's Church in Wilbraham.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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  Aitken, Helen F. (Barnes)
  



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  Allen, Larry A.
  




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  Block Jr., Stephen
  



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  Boylan, Thomas J.
  



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  Bradlenski, Edward J.




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  Calabrese, Dominic J.
  



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  Campagna, Brian W.
  




• Campana, Mary A. (Gadoury)
  




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  Carbonneau, Normand
  



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  Celatka, Frances M. "Fran" (Connor)




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  Chapin, Melba R. (Goodwill)
  



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  Corley, Mary A.
  




• Cuoco, Gertrude H. (Rheome)
  




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  Field, John T.
  



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  Gaumond, Marie E.




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  Giorgini, Diano E. "Dee"
  



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  Graham, Peter L.
  




• Hardman, Edith L. (More')
  




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  Jakuboski, David E.
  



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  Jarnagan, Charles R.




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  LaPenna, Dolores M. (Fitzgerald)
  



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  Lausier, Dora M.
  




• Lavariere, Steven R.
  




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  Martinez, Wilfredo
  



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  Pepe, Theresa R. (Olejarz)




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  Piacentini, Lena M. (Kosiba)
  



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  Powalka, Amelia A.
  




• Provost, Gary J.
  




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  Schaffer, Daniel
  



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  Smola, Rosalie




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  Stoeckard, Morris L.
  



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  Wagner, Elaine S. (Tetreault)
  




• Warnock, Richard C.