Brown, who is is making a mark in Washington mostly as an independent and moderate, rebounded from a lot of childhood pain, and he's made a career out of comebacks in politics. Watch video

The Republican | Mark M. MurrayU.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., gets ready to order lunch during a stop at Milano Importing Inc. at 988 Main St. in Springfield, where he made a stop in January to check up on progress of damage repair following last year's tornado.

BOSTON – U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts says his turbulent childhood made him more resilient and a stronger person.

“A lot of the stuff that you hear and see in the TV and the newspapers and all the negativity, it rolls off my back,” Brown says. “When you go through what I’ve gone through, and what people like me have gone through in their lives, you recognize what’s important.”

Brown rebounded from a lot of childhood pain, and he’s also made a career out of comebacks in politics.

In January 2010, he overcame a 31-point deficit in the polls to defeat Democrat Martha Coakley and win the special election to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Now, Brown, 52, a lawyer, is looking to pull off another surprise in his re-election bid.

As a Republican in Massachusetts, Brown calls himself the underdog in his reelection contest against Democrat Elizabeth Warren, 62. Warren is a Harvard law professor and former adviser to President Barack Obama who helped establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Brown said he is working to be a bipartisan voice in Washington. He said he is probably the most bipartisan member of the state's congressional delegation.

His approach paid off last month when Obama stopped next to Brown after the president's "State of the Union" speech and the two agreed to work together on Brown's bill to ban members and employees of Congress and the executive branch from insider trading. The bill has since been approved in the US House and Senate and the two branches are now resolving minor differences.

In his autobiography, “Against All Odds,” Brown writes about an itinerant childhood marred by violence, destitution and abandonment. He said he expected the book, published in 2011, might shatter some assumptions about him.

“I think people know me through the book more,” Brown said during an interview in late December at Mul’s Diner in South Boston. “A lot of the distortions and misrepresentations are over. That’s one of the reasons I was thankful that it came out. People have an assumption about who I am, what I am and what makes me tick and they couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ll let it speak for itself.”

In the book, which made it to the fourth spot on the New York Times’ best-seller list, Brown wrote about a dark past at a Christian camp on Cape Cod. Brown wrote that he had been molested by a male counselor who followed him into a bathroom while he was attending the camp after the fourth-grade.

Brown’s reporting on the assault inspired other people to step forward and allege they had been victims of sexual assault by staff many years ago at the camp. At least two have filed civil lawsuits against the camp, Camp Good News, located in Sandwich. Brown did not name the camp, but the camp later wrote a letter of apology to him after the book’s release.

“I felt it was important to let people know where I’ve come from and the challenges I’ve gone through,” Brown said when asked why he brought up the sexual abuse. “I wanted to write a good book. I felt if I had an opportunity to speak out, it would maybe help others speak out. As evidenced by what has happened, it’s helped quite a few people and I’m thankful for that.”

Carmen L. Durso, a lawyer in Boston for two people who filed a lawsuit against the camp alleging they were sexually abused by a counselor and for a third client with comparable allegations, and Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer, both say Brown showed a lot of courage in writing about the charges.

“Sen. Brown’s coming forward has empowered victims and made the world a better place for children,” said Garabedian, who represents eight people with similar allegations against the camp.

Brown’s parents, Judith A. Brown and C. Bruce Brown, a former city councilor in Newburyport, were married and divorced four times and three times each, respectively, the book said. His father left when he was about a year old. His mother struggled with waitress jobs, episodic bouts of binge drinking and domestic violence.

Brown writes that by the time he was 18, he had moved 17 times and lived in a dozen rental homes in communities ringing Boston, including Revere, Wakefield and Malden.

His mother was the daughter of a financially-secure, MIT-educated, electrical engineer for Boston Edison, but she got into some bad marriages.

His first step-father was a beer-drinking, oil truck driver who was so mean that he swiped Brown’s pet kitten off a couch, fatally wounding it. Brown writes that he was just 6 when he awoke one night to shouts, banging and the sight of this step-father repeatedly punching his sobbing mother in their Revere apartment.

“I dived down,” Brown wrote. “His legs were hard and strong, but I grabbed on with both arms and then I opened my mouth and I bit him. I bit him right through his pants as hard as I could. I was like a pit bull and would not let go.”

The family brawl ended when the police arrived. A few months later, the step-father vanished without ever getting to know his infant daughter, Leeann, the only other child of Brown’s mother.

Brown’s second step-father was a bartender who often was absent from their Malden home, leaving the 7-year-old Brown to hang around with older boys.

Brown escaped from a frightening jam one day when a teenage boy lured him into the woods and attempted to force him to perform a sex act at knife point. When the attacker closed his eyes, Brown smashed him in the face with a rock and fled, leaving the older boy howling in pain.

In his book, Brown also wrote about how his wife of 25 years, Gail Huff, faced her own challenges. Huff’s parents divorced and moved out of their house when she was 17, leaving Huff and her sisters behind to basically finish raising themselves, Brown wrote.

Later, Huff was hospitalized with postpartum depression after a high-risk pregnancy with their second daughter. Brown and Huff experienced some trying times and on some days, close friends were ready to take bets their marriage wouldn’t last, Brown wrote.

In an interview, Huff, 50, said the setbacks made her a stronger and better mother.

“Scott and I talked a lot about the truth and the truth of our past making us who we are today,” she said. “I wish everything was sugar and spice, but it’s not in life. That’s the reality.”

Huff, a former model who worked as a reporter for nearly 20 years for WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston, currently is a part-time general assignment reporter for WJLA-TV Channel 7 in Washington.

She said Brown decided at an early age that when he had a family, he would do everything differently from what he experienced growing up.

Huff and Brown have two daughters, Ayla, 23, a past contestant on “American Idol” and country music singer, and Arianna, 20, a student at Syracuse University.

While alcohol hurt his mother and often fueled the rage of step-fathers, Brown writes that he never liked hard liquor himself and never had more than two or three beers. He said he also had no interest in drugs.

By time he reached junior high school, Brown found salvation through basketball.

He starred at Wakefield High School and won a basketball scholarship to Tufts University in Medford, a top Division III team. As a high school senior, he averaged 23 points a game and was named co-MVP of his team’s league. He started for three years at Tufts and was co-captain as a senior.

“If it wasn’t for basketball and sports in general and the good will of a couple of good people, I wouldn’t be here talking to you,” said Brown, who stands 6 feet, 1-inch tall. “I wasn’t the greatest basketball player, but for me, it is something that saved my life.”

Brown wrote that he stayed close to home for college because he believed he needed to protect his mother and sister from a third step-father. The man lost his fingers in an industrial accident and vented his anger on Brown and his mother.

That step-father, pumped up with alcohol, threatened to break Brown’s hands and end his hoop dreams. At night, the two would wrestle and bang and slam each other, always fighting to a draw, Brown wrote.

“I started sleeping with my door locked and a heavy wooden baseball bat tucked away in my room, for protection,” he wrote.

Basketball also helped him connect with people in Washington, D.C., Brown says. Including some charity events, Brown has shot hoops with John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota who was also a high school star, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who was co-captain of Harvard’s team, and Reginald L. Love, who played at Duke University and was on the president’s team.

“I don’t have a heck of a lot of time to play, but when we do, it’s fun,”said Brown. “I can’t walk the next day but it is fun.”

Brown got a lucky break while attending Boston College Law School in 1982 after Tufts. His sister entered him into Cosmopolitan’s contest for “America’s Sexiest Man.” When publisher Helen Gurley Brown called for the first time to say he was the winner, Brown hung up the phone. He only believed it for certain when he got a ticket to New York City in the mail.

The contest led to a lucrative modeling career that helped finance law school and put him in television commercials and on a billboard in Times Square.

With no financial support from his family, Brown writes that he was constantly finding ways to make money to pay for his education.

View full sizePhoto courtesy Scott BrownScott Brown joined the Army National Guard, inspired by the Guard's work during the Blizzard of 1978 and also inspired by a pay check.

That was one reason he signed up for the state Army National Guard in 1979, launching a 32-year career, including service as a trial defense lawyer for the Judge Advocate General Corps and promotion to lieutenant colonel in 2006. Brown said he was also inspired to enlist by the Guard’s work during the blizzard of 1978 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

He served his required Guard annual training in Afghanistan last year. Brown said he supported the president’s past surge of troops into Afghanistan and also backs the president’s plan for a phased withdrawal.

“If we do it appropriately, we can leave Afghanistan in a place where they cannot re-establish terrorist camps and support terrorism around the region and the world. I’m going to continue to work with the president on that issue.”

Brown received a bachelor's degree in history from Tufts in 1981 and his law degree from Boston College in 1985. Brown started in politics in his hometown of Wrentham, where he was first elected an assessor in 1992, then a selectman. After that, he served in the state House of Representatives and then the state Senate, starting in 2004.

In Washington, Brown is making a mark mostly as an independent and moderate.

That surprised some of the conservative activists who backed his campaign two years ago, but maybe it shouldn’t have.

Brown is strong on national security and opposes tax increases, but he said he is no party ideologue. Brown said he likes to find common ground where he can on the issues.

Brown, for example, was among four Republicans in the Senate to vote for financial reform in 2010, aimed at preventing a repeat of the collapse of 2008. He was the deciding vote in enabling the bill to pass over a filibuster in the Senate.

Brown quotes Elizabeth Warren as calling the law the best financial-regulation law in three generations.

The Republican | Mark M. Murray02.01.2010 | SPRINGFIELD – Senator-elect Scott Brown gets ready to drive off in his famous pick-up truck after paying a visit to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

“I was tired of banks acting like casinos with our money,” he said. “I made a stand, got involved and worked across the aisle in a very major piece of legislation.”

He was also among four GOP Senate members to vote against a top House Republican’s plan to overhaul Medicare.

He also voted in support of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that banned openly gay military members.

Late last year, he stood behind Obama at a signing ceremony for a key part of the president’s package to create jobs. Brown had advocated for a provision in the package to repeal a law that withheld 3 percent of public contracts to ensure payment of taxes. Brown had also pushed for a part of the package that established a tax credit for businesses that hire unemployed veterans.

Last year, he also voted to continue funding for Planned Parenthood, helping defeat an effort by House Republican to cut off funding for the program.

Brown is known for his nearly around-the-clock campaign schedule. He said that won’t change this year, but at least one thing is different – he now has a U.S. Senate voting record that could become fodder for his opponent.

“I’m going to campaign the way I’ve always campaigned – just be myself,” Brown said. “But, I am also going to draw a line in the sand and push back at all the false and misleading attacks against my record. I’m the only one with a record, and it’s easy to cherry pick and distort. People deserve better.”

This time around, Brown will also be joined in a campaign for the first time by his wife. As a news reporter, she has avoided his prior election efforts.

Huff said she plans to take a leave from her television job, possibly in the early summer or fall, to participate in her husband’s re-election bid. She made her promise to him that she would help over a restaurant dinner on July 12 to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

She said her husband is desperately needed in a polarized Washington as a bipartisan leader who can get people to talk and work together.

“Now that he has won, I feel he has to win again,” Huff said. “I feel there is no other option.”

Brown said he plans to seek to serve only two full six-year terms if elected on Nov. 6.

“I’m hopeful the people will recognize that I’m doing exactly what I said,” Brown said. “I read the bills, I understand them. I see how it affects our debt and deficits, and I vote regardless of party.”

Brown is financially locked and loaded for the campaign. Brown started the year with $12.8 million in his campaign account, about twice as much as Warren.

Brown has reconciled with his parents. He said that being a U.S. senator is the “greatest honor” of his life and part of what is important in life.

“What’s important to me is the love and support of my wife and children, the fact I have my health and I have an opportunity to make a difference each and every day,” he said.

The Republican and MassLive.com present profiles of Brown and Warren, looking at their personal and professional stories.

File photos | The RepublicanRepublican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, left, and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren, right, are locked in a close campaign that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

• Read the Scott Brown profile by Dan Ring


• Read the Elizabeth Warren profile by Stephanie Barry

When Republican Scott Brown rallied from a 31-point deficit in the polls to win the election to fill out the term for the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Democrat Edward M. Kennedy for nearly five decades, many in Massachusetts were stunned by the outcome.

Now, only two years later, Brown is campaigning to hold on to the seat in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 3-to-1. His chief rival among three candidates running for the Democratic nomination: Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel on the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Early polling shows the campaign is a close one. The contest couldn't be any more important: With Democrats holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and 23 of 33 contested seats this year held by Democrats, Republicans have an opportunity to regain control of Congress' upper house. The tight Brown-Warren race has brought the national spotlight to Massachusetts, as each party feels it can win the seat.

The Republican and MassLive.com today present profiles of Brown and Warren, looking at their personal and political stories.

Veteran Statehouse and politics reporter Dan Ring writes on Brown, including these excerpts:

U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts says his turbulent childhood made him more resilient and a stronger person. ...

As a Republican in Massachusetts, Brown calls himself the underdog in his reelection contest against Democrat Elizabeth Warren. ...

Brown said he is working to be a bipartisan voice in Washington. He said he is probably the most bipartisan member of the state's congressional delegation...

Staff reporter Stephanie Barry writes on Warren, including these excerpts:

Elizabeth Warren is hardly an enigma on the national stage.

Her high-profile chairmanship of the Congressional Oversight Panel on the Troubled Assests Relief Program (TARP) brought a flood of publicity. ...

But, even having her life’s work on the plight of the middle-class emerge as a national preoccupation, Warren ... still finds herself battling a perception problem – fueled by the highest reaches of the GOP – and a visibility problem on a local level. ...

We hope these articles will provide readers with a better understanding and perspective on these candidates ahead of one of 2012's battleground elections. The Brown and Warren articles conclude our series on the four candidates running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
» Read the Marisa DeFranco profile
» Read the James Coyne King profile

Kitchen fire destroys White Street apartment in Springfield.

Springfield Fire DepartmentSpringfield firefighters look over the damage at 133 White St. unit 6 Sunday morning.

SPRINGFIELD - A kitchen fire destroyed an apartment on White Street Sunday morning, said Fire Department spokesman Dennis G. Leger.

Firefighters responded to Golden Eagle Apartments at 133 White St. at 3:30 a.m. for a fire that destroyed Unit 6 and caused $50,000 in damage, Leger said.

The resident living in the apartment was taken to Baystate Medical Center where she was treated for smoke inhalation.

Leger said the cause of the fire was unattended cooking on the stove.

"Goliath," the world's tallest inverted boomerang roller-coaster ride, will be among the new attractions this year at the Six Flags New England amusement park.

Photo by Dave Roback / The RepublicanThe newest roller coaster at Six Flags New England in Agawam called Goliath is seen under construction Friday.

AGAWAM – Six Flags New England announced it will inaugurate “Goliath,” its 11th roller-coaster ride, sometime in late spring around Memorial Day. The park opens for the season April 14.

“It is the world’s tallest inverted boomerang roller coaster,” Jennifer Mance, director of sales and marketing at the park, said Friday.

The ride, under construction now in the Crack Axle Canyon part of the park, will be about 200 feet high.

Riders will be strapped into chairs suspended from a track so they will be dangling face down out of the station and up the first tower. When riders reach the top of the tower they will be dropped into a complete vertical nearly 20-story free-fall, reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour before racing head over heels on the outside of a 102-foot-tall vertical loop followed by a 110-foot butterfly turn before rocketing up to a second, 19-story tower.

“Six Flags New England is thrilled to announce the addition of ‘Goliath’ to our already amazing arsenal of rides,” John Winkler, president of the park, stated in a press release. “This ride delivers pure adrenaline from start to finish and solidifies our commitment to adding high volume fun for the entire family.”

“Goliath” will be located next to the indoor ride “Houdini/The Great Escape.” Nearby, workers are finishing construction of JB’s Smokehouse BBQ, a new restaurant at the park. Mance said it will be the first eatery at the park to provide waitstaff who will bring people their food.

The park this season will also offer two new shows. Allusionquest will be a magic show giving performances starting May 26 and through Sept. 23. SOAR: Birds of the World, a wildlife show, will feature exotic and endangered birds. It will offer shows from June 16 through Aug. 26.

Last season, Six Flags New England added the Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum roller-coaster ride to its attractions. Guests attempt to escape from Arkham Asylum, the home of Gotham City’s criminally insane. Riders board four-passenger cars that make a five-story climb toward the sky.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world’s largest regional theme park company with 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

South End Bridge open to traffic after hour-long jam.

Springfield Fire DepartmentPolice and firefighters talk to woman on South End Bridge.

AGAWAM- Police have managed to talk a woman off the South End Bridge after more than an hour of negotiations, officials said.

The South End Bridge was closed down for over an hour as state and local police and firefighters attempted to prevent the woman from jumping into the Connecticut River.

Fire Department Spokesman Dennis G. Leger said Springfield firefighters responded to the scene around 10:28 a.m. Sunday.

Springfield Fire DepartmentSpringfield fire and police officials talk to woman who threatened to jump off the South End Bridge.

Leger said firefighters from Agawam, West Springfield and Longmeadow were also on-hand with boats under the bridge.

A negotiator was able to get the woman off the bridge and traffic is now being allowed through.

No further information was available on the woman.
[

Obituaries from The Republican.

George Gardner

George L. Gardner, 83, of Chicopee died Tuesday. Gardner, who was born in Springfield, was a member of the IBEW Local 455 of Springfield and was employed by Western Mass. Electric Company as a boiler control board operator for 38 years and retired in 1990. Gardner served with the U.S. Navy, amphibious veteran, during World War II and the Korean War, attaining the rank of Petty Officer. He received the Combat Action Ribbon, WWII Victory Medal, ROK War Service Medal, the Navy Occupation European Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with Four Battle Stars and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. George was a member and served as Senior Vice Commander for the Western Massachusetts Korean War Veterans Association 2000.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• Baruffaldi, John S.
  




• 
  Carlson, Evert Maurice
  



• 
  Coburn, Calvin Cutler "Cal"




• 
  Demers, Joan E. Longey (DeVall)
  



• 
  Edwards, David M.
  




• Egan, Paul Francis
  




• 
  Fotiathis, Stella L. "Tina"
  



• 
  Gardner, George L.




• 
  Gilman, June
  



• 
  Heywood, Andrea Grace (Cornfoot)
  




• Johnson, Louis
  




• 
  Jurkowski, Stanley
  



• 
  Lusignan, Raymond R. (Gaudet)




• 
  Shugrue, Edna M. (Fountain)
  



• 
  Singer, June C.
  




• Williams, Alma
  




• 
  Wojcik, Emily (Woszczyna)
  

Police and other public safety officers are typically high on the list of annual salaries, mostly due to overtime hours worked, officials said.

The Republican file photo

A database on salaries for 2011 with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety shows dozens of state police troopers and corrections officers at the state’s prisons earn more than $100,000 and in some cases more than $200,000 annually .

The information was gleaned through Open Checkbook, the state’s new program to promote transparency in government by making information about state finances available over the Internet.

MassLive.com has been compiling information under Open Checkbook for different state departments into searchable databases.

"The public databases are always popular with readers," said Ed Kubosiak Jr., Editor-in-chief of MassLive.com. "The data can be used to take a closer look at a number of relevant issues, including how compensation for public sector jobs compares to private sector work, relative salaries for men and women, and more."

Among the initial findings in the database on the Executive Office of Public Safety is there are 23 state police officers earning more than $200,000 per year and several dozens more making more than $100,000 and more than 20 employees with the Department of Corrections earning more than $100,000.

View full sizeA screen shot of the highest state police salaries from the Masslive.com database on the Executive Office of Public Safety. Click on the " View Full Size" link to make it appear bigger.

View full sizeA screenshot of the highest salaries in the state Department of Correction, courtesy of a Masslive.com database on the state Executive Office of Public Safety. Click on the " View Full Size" link to make it appear bigger.

Officials with the state police and the Department of Corrections said on Thursday the salary numbers by themselves typically raise eyebrows, but in most cases those salaries are the result of people working lots and lots of overtime.

“Police officers historically are at or near the top of these lists, be they statewide or municipalities. That is nothing new, and it reflects the nature of the job,” said state police spokesman David Procopio.

Among state police, there are 23 people earning more than $200,000 last year.

That includes the State Police Superintendent Marian J. McGovern, who with a salary of $203,705, ranks 20th on the list of top state police salaries.

Number one on the list is trooper James R. Talbot, who earned $233,582 in 2011. His base salary of $94,361 was less than what he made in overtime, $139,221. Overtime money equaled nearly 60 percent of his total salary.

Among employees with the Department of Corrections, the list of the top ten salaries is dominated by corrections officers, earning between $129,000 and $145,000 in 2011. The lone exception among the top 10 is Commissioner Luis Spencer, who is 4th with a salary of $137,000.

Making more than Spencer are Corrections officer Terrance Fougere of Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security facility in Shirley, and Capt. James Gentile and corrections officer Richard Palmer, both of the Massachusetts Treatment Center, a medium-security facility for sexual offenders in Bridgewater.

Palmer last year made $145,000, followed by Gentile at $141,000, and Fougere at $140,000. Palmer and Fougere each have a base salary of $76,600, while Gentile, because of his higher rank, has a base of $85,5000.

Procopio said state troopers frequently log overtime hours as part of emergency response to critical incidents, for investigations and to provide testimony in court, he said.

Troopers also earn overtime for working details are road construction projects or for crowd control and security at various events and projects, he said. In those instances, the salaries are paid by the agency in charge of the road project or the organizers of the event, and not from the state police budget.

Procopio said Talbot is assigned to the state police barracks on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Westfield. He said he was trying to get a breakdown of the number of overtime hours he worked last year.

Procopio said there are limits on the number of overtime hours troopers can work in a given day and for each week, out of concern for what he called the wellness of troopers. The union contract stipulates no trooper may work more than 16.5 hours in regular time and overtime in a 24-hour period and no more than a total of 92 hours per week.

Diane Wiffin, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said overtime comes with the territory.

The department is not understaffed, she said, but there are times when there are vacancies for illness or absence and additional people are needed.

“We are a 24/7 operation, we sometime have needs that require more staffing,” she said.

“There are a lot of times (where overtime is necessary) that we can’t plan for that we need to have proper staffing” she said.

Examples would be if an inmate requires an outside trip to a hospital for a health emergency, or if an inmate is placed under a mental health watch. In each instance, a corrections officer would be needed to keep continual watch on the inmate.

Gentile logged 865 overtime hours, Fougere 995 and Palmer an astounding 1,168 hours.

Divided by 52 weeks, that averages 16.6 hours per week for Gentile, 19.1 for Fougere, and 22.4 hours per week for Palmer, she said.

Overtime pays 1 1/2 times the base salary, and the base salary changes by rank and length of service. “These are skilled public safety professionals,” she said.

The DOC requires that corrections officers cannot work more than 16 hours in a row without an 8-hour break. There is no weekly limit on how much overtime a corrections official can work, she said.

WestMass ElderCare abides by the policy, said Executive Director Priscilla Chalmers, and the agency supports its goal of ensuring food safety.

BELCHERTOWN – The Senior Center is fighting a state rule that requires all Meals on Wheels programs to buy frozen, mass-produced meals from a company in Florida, but other elder affairs officials in the area say they don’t mind it.

Executive Director William Korzenowski said the center serves 175 seniors a day during the week and, in the past, meals that were not eaten were frozen, then delivered on the weekend. The new policy, announced by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs in 2010, is designed to prevent foodborne illness.

The state rejected their request for a waiver, but the selectmen agreed at the Feb. 13 meeting that they would ask local legislators to back the Senior Center.

All programs have to comply by October.

Korzenowski said the mandate to buy from G.A. Food Service is expected to cost an extra $6,000 to $7,000 each year. The center will lose $30,000 in federal money if it doesn’t continue to comply.

Holyoke-based WestMass ElderCare administers Belchertown’s program, along with those in Chicopee, South Hadley and other communities. They all abide by the policy, said Executive Director Priscilla Chalmers, and the agency supports its goal of ensuring food safety.

WestMass ElderCare has “been advised” that the meals are just as healthful as homemade ones, she said. Chalmers would not comment on whether WestMass ElderCare would support the request for a waiver.

To get a waiver, programs have to serve fewer than 20 people per weekend; demonstrate the policy doesn’t adhere to cultural or religious standards; or show it can’t meet dietary requirements ordered by a physician.

“All of our meals are low-sodium, low-fat, low-cholesterol, designed for these nutrition programs,” said G.A.’s Chief Operating Officer John Hale.

Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc. spokeswoman Karen Martin said meals are provided by Connecticut-based CW Resources, but the agency will switch to G.A. by the deadline without protest.

All exempted centers must have blast freezers that can cool food from 140 degrees to 70 degrees in two hours, then to 41 degrees in four more hours. The centers must also be licensed to serve, handle, prepare and transport food, and the meals must be produced at facilities that are inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Korzenowski said his freezer meets the standards, the staff is certified and the Board of Health inspects the center regularly. “You’d think they’d be giving us an award!” he said.

Franklin County Home Care Corporation serves 30 towns. Meals on Wheels Director Jane Severance said FCHCC has no problem with complying.

“It would have been more convenient to leave it the way it was,” said Severance. “(But) I don’t think we’ll look for any alternatives here.”

She said the agency has used G.A. for short periods before and the clients “seem very satisfied.” She added that meals for diabetics, people with renal problems, and other “therapeutic” meals come from a health center nearby and can still be delivered on weekends under the policy.

It will take 1,144 delegates to win the GOP presidential nomination at the August convention in Tampa, Fla.

View full sizeRepublican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum holds a piece of oil-rich shale rock from North Dakota while speaking at an Economic Club of Detroit luncheon in Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

By DAVID ESPO

WASHINGTON (AP) — A resurgent Rick Santorum hopes to spring his next big surprise in Michigan. Newt Gingrich looks for a campaign revival in the Bible Belt. Mitt Romney has his home state of Massachusetts, and the luxury of picking his spots elsewhere, if not everywhere, as the race for the Republican presidential nomination roars back to life.

After a brief midwinter lull, the Republican field faces a cross-country series of nine primaries and four caucuses between Feb. 28 and Super Tuesday on March 6. At stake are 518 delegates, more than three times the number awarded so far in the unpredictable competition to pick a GOP opponent for President Barack Obama.

A debate on Feb. 22 in Arizona, the first in three weeks and possibly the last of the GOP campaign, adds to the uncertainty.

The political considerations are daunting as Romney, Santorum, Gingrich and Ron Paul weigh the cost of competing in one state against the hope of winning in a second or perhaps merely running well but gaining delegates in a third.

"Not all states are of equal importance," said Steve Schmidt, who helped the GOP's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, navigate the campaign calendar as a senior adviser.

It will take 1,144 delegates to win the GOP presidential nomination at the August convention in Tampa, Fla.

According to numerous strategists inside and outside the campaigns, the Michigan primary on Feb. 28 shapes up as a particularly important contest as Romney tries to fend off a charging Santorum one week before a 10-state night on Super Tuesday.

Yet of the 13 states, Georgia has the biggest delegate haul at stake, 76, and Gingrich can ill afford to lose now where his political career was launched in 1978.

The pro-Romney group Restore Our Future is targeting Gingrich in television ads in the state, hoping to deny the former House speaker a sweep of the delegates and leave some on the table for Romney.

View full sizeAssociated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at his Colorado caucus night rally in Denver, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Such a maneuver is not possible in Arizona. There, all 29 delegates go to the winner, and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is heavily favored.

"If you're the front-runner, and inevitability or electability are things that are driving the ballot, it's important to do a combination of both" winning states and accumulating delegates, Schmidt said, offering a description of the situation that Romney confronts.

For Romney's rivals, first-place finishes are critical to creating or maintaining the impression of momentum, said Terry Nelson, who was a top strategist for campaign dropout Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor.

"It's going to matter more for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich because their campaigns are more reliant on cash flows and they need the victories to maintain that," he said.

All candidates share one objective, he added: "You go from win to win."

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the only of the four contenders without a victory so far, eyes four chances to break through: caucuses in Washington on March 3, and in North Dakota, Idaho and Alaska three days later. An unusual presidential campaign trip to Alaska is possible.

The candidates are not the only ones working to shape the race.

Restore Our Future, the political organization that supports Romney and has devastated Gingrich with attack ads in two states, is turning its attention to Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator.

View full sizeAssociated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Already, the group has spent $5 million on television advertisements in Arizona and Michigan combined through Feb. 28, and Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia through Super Tuesday. The group also has commercials airing in Mississippi and Alabama.

Santorum responded with a commercial in Michigan designed to blunt the attacks and tarnish Romney. It shows a Romney lookalike wielding a machine gun that sprays mud in Santorum's direction.

When the weapon jams, the gunman tries to fix it, and ends up splattering himself instead.

The Red White and Blue Fund, which supports Santorum, is advertising in Michigan, but the former senator and his allied group are being outspent roughly 3-1 by Romney and Restore Our Future.

"We know that we're going to win some and we're going to lose some, but we have the resources and the organization to go the distance even if that means a primary calendar that extends into the spring," said Gail Gitcho, communications director for Romney.

With Gingrich unable to come close to duplicating his Jan. 21 victory in South Carolina, his goals are as diminished as his campaign bank account.

"We want to aim at Washington state with 40 delegates. We want to do as best as we can in Michigan, but understanding there's a larger strategic gain for us if a consensus builds around the idea that Mitt Romney is unacceptable as the nominee," campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond said.

He said Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee are priorities.

___

A state-by-state list, with the number of delegates at stake in parentheses:

Feb. 28:

Arizona primary (29): The winner gets all the delegates, and private polling shows Romney well ahead. Candidates gather in Mesa on Feb. 22 for their first debate in three weeks.

Michigan primary (30): The relative lack of suspense about Arizona heightens the political significance of Michigan, the first of the big industrial states to vote in the Republican race. Romney, who grew up in the state, won it four years ago. Santorum's support in the polls is rising statewide as well as nationally, and he hopes for an upset that can strengthen his chances on Super Tuesday.

___

March 3:

Washington caucuses (40 delegates): Santorum hoping for a victory. Three delegates go to the winner of each of the state's 10 congressional districts, an invitation for strong competition.

___

March 6 (Super Tuesday, seven primaries, three caucuses, 419 delegates total)

View full sizeRepublican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) addresses supporters during caucus night party Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, in Golden Valley, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Alaska caucuses (24): Delegates are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote. Paul may fly there in search of an elusive victory.

Georgia primary (76): Gingrich's home state when he was in Congress, and anything other than a victory could resurrect talk of a campaign exit.

Idaho caucuses (32): A large Mormon population makes this a natural fit for Romney. Santorum campaigned there last Wednesday, Paul on Friday.

Massachusetts primary (38): Romney could win all of the delegates in his home state.

North Dakota caucuses (28): Santorum made three stops in the sparsely settled state in a single day recently, and hopes to add it to his list of earlier caucus victories in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. Paul is also hoping for success.

Oklahoma primary (40): Private polling makes this a three-way toss-up among Romney, Santorum and Gingrich, who's targeting it as part of a Southern-based revival strategy.

Ohio primary (63): A big battleground state, although the results of the Michigan primary on Feb. 28 are likely to reset the race instantly. As elsewhere, Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney SuperPAC, got the jump in television advertising.

Tennessee primary (55): One of the states Gingrich hopes will launch a comeback, and polling currently shows a competitive three-way race in a state that allocates delegates in proportion to the popular vote.

Vermont primary (17): The second New England state on the ballot, and the one with the fewest delegates of all the Super Tuesday states. Romney is favored although the delegates could be divided.

Virginia (46) : Romney figures to get all the delegates for little effort, with neither Santorum nor Gingrich on the ballot.

___

Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.

The town is proceeding to look at the project that would link the downtown at the edge of Kendrick Park with the University of Massachusetts.

Republican file photoThis is the site of the proposed Gateway project, once home to University of Massachusetts fraternities and a sorority.

AMHERST – Officials are working on the request for proposals for a marketing study for the so-called Gateway project and hope to put it out to bid soon.

Town Manager John P. Musante said recently that the town is proceeding to look at the project that would link the downtown at the edge of Kendrick Park with the University of Massachusetts. He said Planning Director Jonathan Tucker was working out the details.

Musante said the town is following the action steps outlined by the Amherst Redevelopment Authority.

Last fall, town meeting approved spending $40,000 on the study that would look at the potential market for new housing – rentals, condos and homes. This would help the town know what kinds of housing would succeed in the Gateway area.

The study would look at the characteristics of those who might move into the area as well as price ranges for those units.

Initially, the town, in partnership with UMass, was looking at private student housing. But that vision changed and now includes housing for retirees, faculty or staff or young singles and couples instead.

The town is awaiting the traffic analysis being conducted by UMass as part of its master plan. UMass officials had planned to transfer 2.1 acres to the town as part of the Gateway project for private housing, but decided last year not to proceed as the focus had shifted.

Also the university’s housing needs changed. The new Commonwealth College dormitory that is under construction will provide about 1,500 beds. The university, however, wanted to remain a partner in the project.

UMass agreed to pay the cost of assessing traffic at the intersections surrounding the project, including Massachusetts Avenue at Lincoln Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue at President's Drive as well as Fearing Street at North Pleasant Street among others.

Caprio was the 28th highest paid president of a private college in the country that year.

Anthony S. Caprio

SPRINGFIELD – Western New England University president Anthony S. Caprio earned more than $1 million in 2009, making him the 28th highest paid president of a private college in the United States that year, according to figures recently published by the Chronicle of Higher education.

The highest paid president was Constantine N. Papadakis of Drexel University in Pennsylvania, who earned $4.9 million in total compensation, with a base pay of $195,726 and $4.3 million in other earnings.

The study did not include public colleges and universities, which in Western Massachusetts are the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Westfield State University, Springfield Technical Community College, Holyoke Community College and Greenfield Community College.

The Chronicle looked at the 2009 salaries of 519 private college presidents at schools with budgets of more than $50 million.

The median compensation was $385,909 for 2009, a 2.2 percent increase over 2008, according to the Chronicle.

On another scale, Caprio was listed as the 10th leading earner when earnings were compared to the university budget, with his pay equaling 1.05 percent of the university’s $113.9 million in expenditures, according to the report.

Barbara Campanella, vice president for marketing and external affairs, explained that the numbers are misleading since Caprio, who has been at Western New England since 1996, earned a total compensation of $1,190,638 in 2009, but his base pay was $388,263.

His $622,942 in other earnings represented the retirement benefits he accrued when he became vested.

“It’s a one-year, one-time thing,” she said.

“He wasn’t eligible for the regular retirement plans,” she said, and he has had to wait before he earned those benefits.

She said his salary is “commensurate with other universities.” And she said his “leadership has been a driving force in increasing enrollment ... there have been a number of major achievements. He has done a phenomenal job .¤.¤. (and) has taken the university to a whole new level.”

Former Amherst College president Anthony W. Marx earned the next highest pay in the area with $582,457. Of that, $279,207 was his base pay with deferred compensation of $204,510. He left the college earlier this year to become president of the New York Public Library.

His pay was .27 percent of the then $213.6 million expenditures.

Springfield College president Richard B. Flynn earned $501,941 in 2009, $319,000 of which was his base pay, and his salary was .37 percent of the college’s $134.9 million in expenditures.

Vincent M. Maniaci, president of American International College in Springfield, earned the lowest total salary of area college presidents at private schools with $342,511 in total compensation, with a base pay of $320,797. Mount Holyoke College president Joanne V. Creighton earned $483,397; of that, $373,730 was her base pay. She left the college in 2010.

Carol T. Christ, Smith College president, earned $471,198, with $309,165 as her base pay, and Ralph Hexter, the former Hampshire College president, earned, $407,974. Of that, $297,112 was his base pay. He left the college in 2010.

Among public colleges in Western Massachusetts, by far the highest salary belongs to UMass President Robert L. Caret, according to the state’s Open Checkbook website, which reports the pay of all state employees. Caret’s $425,000 salary covers his services overseeing the university’s five campuses, however. Robert C. Holub, chancellor of the Amherst campus, is listed as having an annual salary of $375,000.

Evan S. Dobelle, president of Westfield State University, has a salary of $233,903.

William F. Messner of HCC is listed as having a salary of $208,452. Ira H. Rubenzahl of STCC is listed at $200,544. Robert L. Pura is listed at $172,976.

The addition will allow the college to expand its popular nursing programs.

Republican staff photo by Dave RobackThe new science building will be attached with an indoor walkway to the existing Berchman's Hall, pictured here, at Elms College.

CHICOPEE – Elms College will build a new $13.5 million science building that officials say will enhance the school’s science offerings and allow it to expand its popular nursing programs.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June and the building is expected to be ready for classes in January 2014, Elms College President Sister Mary Reap said.

The building is to measure about 22,000 square feet and will be connected to the existing Berchman’s Hall with a pass-through hallway. The project also calls for renovations to the older building, she said.

The science building will have modern laboratories and other academic rooms with high-tech equipment. Parts of it will be designed for the nursing program, which is the most popular major at Elms College, she said.

“This building will help us with career preparation and help our programs to grow,” Sister Reap said.

The building will allow the college to offer new academic programs in health care, including its first doctoral program for students who want to become nurse practitioners, she said.

All of the school’s science classes will be held in the new building, so almost all of the about 1,500 full and part-time students at Elms College will use the new building, Sister Reap said.

Construction is expected to be funded with a combination of loans, fund-raising and a federal program that will give the school tax credits. Because Elms is a non-profit organization and does not pay taxes, the school will be able to sell the credits to other businesses to raise money for construction, said Kevin M. Edwards, vice president of the office of institutional advancement.

Recently, the City Council voted unanimously to expand its Economic Opportunity Area to include the Elms campus, which will make the school eligible for the tax credit program. In the application for the designation, it said the project will create an estimated 117 construction jobs and 18 permanent jobs.

City Councilors and Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said the expansion of the college helps build the education corridor in the Springfield Street area that also includes Holyoke Catholic High School. It should also help with efforts to improve the nearby downtown Chicopee.

In his state of the city address last week, Bissonnette called Elms College the city’s “hidden jewel,” and said he was happy that the city and school are partners.

“It is going to benefit the city as well as the college,” City Councilor James K. Tillotson during the discussion about creating the economic opportunity area.

City Council President George R. Moreau agreed saying “It is a win-win situation for us.”

The Agawam Fire Department extinguished the flames, which destroyed the truck and spread to an adjacent building.

03.09.11 | Photo by Julian Feller-Cohen – The Agawam Fire Department's patch.

AGAWAM – An empty refrigerated truck that caught fire Monday afternoon in the parking lot of the H.P. Hood facility at 233 Main St. was destroyed by flames that spread to an adjacent building on the property, Agawam Fire Lt. James Lancour said.

Firefighters who responded to the 4:10 p.m. call found flames from the truck igniting the exterior siding of a repair shop building, bu they were able to stop the blaze before it harmed the building's interior, Lancour said.

The 25-foot truck was a complete loss, but the cargo area was empty and no merchandise was lost, Lancour said.

No injuries were reported.

As of Monday evening, fire inspectors were attempting to identify the cause of the fire, Lancour said.

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Authorities said Melanie Quinton of Belmont had a history of mental illness and of wandering off.

Melanie Quinton, as seen in a missing person poster from 2010.

Updates a story posted Monday at 10:52 a.m.

HENNIKER, N.H. — A Massachusetts woman who was reported missing from a New Hampshire ski area Sunday has been found walking in a neighboring town.

Henniker police say Melanie Quinton, of Belmont, Mass., was at the Pats Peak ski area with her family Sunday afternoon when she disappeared. Authorities said she had a history of mental illness and of wandering off.

After a search involving numerous agencies, Quinton was found Monday afternoon in Hillsborough, where she was spotted by a member of the town's fire and rescue department. She was taken to Concord Hospital for an evaluation.

School Committee Chairwoman Maureen Gallagher said she does not feel she should be paid a stipend as students are charged athletic and parking fees, and their parents are charged $5 entrance fees to some sports games.

Maureen Gallagher

PALMER – School Committee Chairwoman Maureen R. Gallagher said the committee will discuss whether or not to pay itself a stipend at its March 22 meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at the high school.

Gallagher said she is opposed to paying the board a $100 monthly stipend, or $1,200 a year for each of the five members.

“I don’t think it’s the right time. When I decided to run for office, this was an unpaid position. I pretty much signed on because I wanted to do something for my town and the children in our school system and to all of a sudden after all these years to ask for a stipend, I just wouldn’t feel right about accepting that. I could not with a good conscience vote a salary for myself,” Gallagher said recently.

Gallagher said she does not feel she should be paid a stipend as students are charged athletic and parking fees, and their parents are charged $5 entrance fees to some sports games.

Serving on a municipal board does take a lot of time - time that may not be apparent to residents, but she said everyone who ran for office knew what they were getting themselves into.

“I just don’t think fiscally it is the time to pay ourselves a stipend. I don’t think it’s a wise decision,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher noted that School Committee members can get reimbursed for out-of-town travel related to School Committee business.

The Town Council, in a majority vote, approved paying itself and the Planning Board a $100 monthly stipend, at its Feb. 13 meeting.

Town Council President Paul E. Burns said the School Committee also could receive the $100 stipend, but would have to vote on its own to make it happen.

Burns, who brought the issue forward, spoke about the time board members put in, and said a stipend also could make the positions more attractive come election time.

School Committee Vice-Chairman James L. St. Amand, said he supports a stipend for the three boards.

“I do feel elected officials should be compensated, even though it’s a modest amount,” St. Amand said.

St. Amand said as he is in the “twilight” of his political career, if the committee votes for the stipend, he will contribute it to his father’s scholarship fund (the Leo F. St. Amand Good Government Scholarship) and/or Palmer Athletic Fund, for students who can’t afford the athletic fees.

The news in the wake of pop singer Whitney Houston's death keeps getting sadder and sadder.

View full sizeAP file photoIn this Sept. 1, 2009 file photo, singer Whitney Houston, right, sings with her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, then 17 years old, during a performance on 'Good Morning America' in Central Park in New York. Houston died Feb. 11.

The news in the wake of pop singer Whitney Houston's death keeps getting sadder and sadder.

Several news outlets are reporting Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, disappeared right after the funeral and was found hours later in a hotel room getting high.

This announcement comes on the heels of earlier reports that Brown's father and Houston's ex-husband, singer Bobby Brown, left the funeral early after being upset with his seating arrangements and then gave a concert hours later at Foxwoods.

Each of the reports of Bobbi Kristina Brown's problems appear to link back to an article on The Daily Beast website.

It quotes two unnamed sources with close ties to the Houston family saying the family was in near panic right after the funeral when the 18-year-old Bobbi Kristina simply disappeared. She was the one who discovered her mother dead in the bathtub in a Los Angeles hotel room on Feb. 11, and she also reportedly had two emotional breakdowns during the week.

Unnamed sources told The Daily Beast that Bobbi Kristina was found at a hotel “getting high, and that members of her family were split on whether to get her to rehab immediately or wait until after the burial on Sunday.

The Daily Beast quotes one unnamed person, identified only as a family friend as saying
“It’s a horrible situation for everybody. They tried to save Whitney, and it didn’t work. Now with Bobbi Kristina, they fear the same thing is happening again and they won’t be able to stop it either. Bobbi Kristina is all Ms. Cissy (Houston) has left of Whitney. She’s so tired, but she’s ready to fight again to save her grandbaby.”

A family spokesman denied the teen was found using drugs and told the Daily Beast website she "needed some time alone."

The South Hadley Cultural Council has just launched an effort to compile a directory of visual and performing artists living or working in South Hadley.

Donna Lee Honeywell, of Ware, and Lorissa Hayden perform a holiday concert for patients at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware last year. Honeywell is one of a number of people or groups to win a South Hadley Cultural Council grant this year.

SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Cultural Council has awarded international storyteller Gail N. Herman, of South Hadley, a $250 grant to present a program of “Storytelling to Promote Kindness and Community” at Plains Elementary School.

It has also awarded $300 to singer Donna Lee Honeywell, of Ware, to perform songs of the Patsy Cline era at the South Hadley Senior Center.

Herman and Honeywell are among 18 artists and organizations that received funding from the council, which gave out $6,727 in grants this year.

Awards ranged from $150 for “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits” at the South Hadley Library to $1,000 for the Summer Concert Series produced by the South Hadley Recreation Department.

Other recipients include the South Hadley Community Chorus, the South Hadley Children’s Chorus, the Black Cat Theater, and singer-songwriter Roger Tincknell.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council awarded $5,980 to South Hadley this year, and the local council was able to add to that, said South Hadley Cultural Council Chairwoman Lucia Foley. The 18 grantees were chosen from 28 applications.

The local council is one of a network of 329 serving 351 Massachusetts cities and towns.

Programs eligible for grants include school field trips, concerts, festivals, lectures, theater, dance, music, and film in such community venues as schools, community centers, libraries, elder care facilities and town halls.

In other activity, the South Hadley Cultural Council has just launched an effort to compile a directory of visual and performing artists living or working in South Hadley, for purposes of making them known to the community and to each other.

There will be no charge for inclusion in the directory. For more information, email Walter Morse at shculturalcouncil@gmail.com.

Foley says information for the directory should include the name of the person or arts organization, a description of their art (such as writer, actor, watercolorist, graphic artist, photographer, theater troupe), and contact information such as email address, Website and – if the person is comfortable with having it published – phone number or address.

Information can be emailed to Morse or submitted to the South Hadley Public Library at 27 Bardwell Street.

Police said Valego and Montague resident Casey Aiken, hid the animal’s body in a wooded area near Third Street.

MONTAGUE – Police have charged Greenfield resident Shylo Valego with cruelty to animals after she allegedly drove from her home to Turners Falls, about four miles, with her dog’s leash stuck in the driver’s side door, Sunday morning.

Police said Valego dragged the dog to its death, then, along with Turners Falls resident Casey Aiken, hid the animal’s body in a wooded area near Third Street. Officers saw the pair coming from the woods, where they said they had left a dog they found in the road, although police said officers determined it was Valego’s dog.

In addition to animal cruelty, Valego faces charges of obstruction of justice and possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Aiken is charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

Turners Falls is located in Montague.

Students Caroline Bialas, Efrat Armon and Robert Anderson were the winners of the competition each earning $100 gift cards and an opportunity to present their design to the Select Board.

LONGMEADOW - Three Longmeadow High School students have created a website that could become the town’s official municipal page.

Since 2010 the Longmeadow town website has undergone several changes and recently the operations subcommittee made up of members of the Select Board and School Committee enlisted the help of teens to create a new, user-friendly site.

Students Caroline Bialas, Efrat Armon and Robert Anderson were the winners of the competition each earning $100 gift cards and an opportunity to present their design to the Select Board.

The teens recently met with the board to discuss their upgrades to the site which would include easier access to meeting minutes and town department contact information as well as the option to pay bills online.

Bialas said they spoke with users of the website to see what aspects they most used and what could be more accessible.

“When we decided to do this we looked at the current town site and other town sites and discovered that the main problem was with navigation,” Armon said.“There were too many drop down menus and it was too easy to get lost.”

The group reorganized the site to include five basic menus, a calendar, and several other features that highlight the cultural aspects of the town Armon said.

The teens also tried to make the site more relevant for young people. Bialas said they incorporated an option to download a pdf of the high school newspaper The Jet Jotter on the town website. There would also be a resident accomplishment page that would allow residents to see stories and highlights of people in town who are doing great things.

Anderson added a photo gallery page which shows historic homes and foliage and other highlights of the town. Anderson also added an email address where people could submit personal photos that highlight the town as well.

As for the main page the teens tried to make major departments easily accessible and added direct links to the town’s library and Parks and Recreation Department websites. They also made it easier to find meeting minutes for any board or committee and put all contact information and hours of operation on a single page.

Armon said the objective is to attract people to the site by making it very easy to navigate.

Select Board member Paul P. Santaniello commended the students for their work, but wondered how the site would be maintained.

Select Board member Robert H. Aseltine said the town’s IT Department is responsible for maintaining the site. He said there has also been discussions about having a high school intern that would help maintain the website.

Aseltine said more resources would be necessary to activate the bill pay option on the site, but would ultimately save the town money in daily transactions that are now done in the Town Clerk’s office.

Select Board Chairman Mark P. Gold thanked the students for their professional work and said the board will seriously consider their proposal.

Temperatures could reach into the upper 50s by Friday and no snow is forecast for at leas the next 10 days.

View full sizeThe Republican | Dave RobackGoalkeeper Dylan Turschman of Ludlow casts a long shadow on Monday as a group of players play street hockey at the Fred R. Krampits Skaking Area in Chicopee. Because of the warm temperatures this winter, the ice skating rink has seen a lack of ice.

SPRINGFIELD - February vacation will no doubt be restful for area school children but will not likely resemble in the slightest what a typical week in February is supposed to look like.

Temperatures on Monday reached 43 in downtown Springfield and 41 at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, and abc40 meteorologist Ed Carroll said they are poised to go even higher between Tuesday and Saturday.

Tuesday is forecast to be in the mid-40s, and temperatures could reach into the mid to upper 50s Wednesday through Friday. There is a chance for some rain rolling into the area Tuesday night and cloudy skies remaining for the rest of the week, but there is little chance of any snow, he said.

There is no snow forecast for at least the next 10 days, he said.

The weather around the Pioneer Valley is in marked contrast to parts farther South which were buried over the weekend with snow.

As much as 9 inches of snow fell Sunday in some areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The storm system veered off the coast and out into the Atlantic just south of Washington, D.C., leaving just a few flurries to fall on the national’s capital.

The storm caused dozens of car accidents and thousands of people throughout that region were left without electric power.

Carroll said that for the last few months, the weather pattern has potential storms staying south of New England. Midwest storms that would normally sweep up the East Coast are instead staying to the south he said.

That has been the pattern for most of the winter and it’s really uncharacteristic of how it usually is, he said.
“It’s the usual this year but it’s unusual for this climate,” Carroll said.