Tarczynski pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in June 2011.

File photo | The RepublicanThe U.S. federal courthouse in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD - A former South Hadley man was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison on Wednesday for defrauding multiple lending institutions in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.

David Tarczynski, 40, now a resident of Pompao Beach, Fla., was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to serve 3 years of supervised release once he completes his prison sentence, and to make $923,000 in restitution.

Tarczynski pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in June 2011.

Tarczynski was charged as part of a mortgage and bank fraud conspiracy involving two properties in Florida, one property in South Hadley, and a $100,000 line of credit originating out of a West Springfield branch bank. The scheme involved loans in excess of one million dollars and losses close to the million dollar mark.

Tarczynski's co-defendant, James June, is scheduled for trial on May 23, 2012.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Goodwin and Alex Grant of Ortiz's Springfield Branch

Scott Coen the media personality may become a memory, but Scott Coen the Western Massachusetts media presence will persevere.

Courtesy of abc40Scott Coen, scene here in an abc40 publicity photo, is walking away from local television news for a new career.

SPRINGFIELD - Scott Coen, the longtime local television personality, will cheerfully cross that threshold that many people in television dread, the one where someone who is on TV becomes known as someone who used to be on TV.

Coen, the longtime sports director turned feature reporter with abc40 and FOX 6, is stepping down on Friday to pursue what he calls “a new adventure.”

Specifically, he will start a full-time job as an account executive with Saga Communications, the company that owns Northampton radio stations WRSI 93.9 FM and WHMP AM.

He starts on March 8.

The joke for someone with a television career as long as Coen’s is that in an instant, the present tense can become the past tense, as in strangers on the street no longer asking if you are who you are but if you are who you used to be.

As in, he said, “Didn’t you used to be Scott Coen?”

Coen, 53, of Springfield, insists he will remain who he is; it’s just the job that will be different.

Scott Coen, the television personality, may become a memory, but Scott Coen the Western Massachusetts media presence will persevere. For the past few years, Coen has done a morning sports report on the two stations and regular chitchats with WRSI morning host Monte Belmonte.

Those will continue, he said.

He will also continue with his regular contributions on MassLive.com with his “My Wide World” blog, as well as his regular work with ESPN 1450 AM.

Coen had two go-rounds at abc40, first from 1987 to 1989 and then again since 1998. For 10 years between 1989 and 1998, he worked as a freelance reporter.

His departure from local television news comes with no bitterness, no animosity, no regrets, he said. No bridges were burned in the making of this career change.

“I feel I’m going out on my own terms,” he said. “I’m not bitter. I knew what I was doing was a luxury.”

His departure is in part a reflection of the state of news in general.

Across the country, television stations, like newspapers, are seeing declines both in advertising revenue and eyeballs. Television viewers, like newspaper readers, in many respects have drifted onto the Internet for news coverage.

A year ago, the station told him that it could no longer afford to have a full-time local sports director position, he said. He said he knew it was coming because the writing on the wall was fairly obvious. The sports department that used to have 4 people had been reduced to 1.5 positions, he said.

The station management took a chance and made Coen a features reporter, allowing him to file human interest segments on people and issues throughout the Pioneer Valley.

Coen said almost instantly he fell in love with the idea.

“This is what I should have been doing all along,” he said. The segments allowed him to basically go up and down the Valley, interviewing interesting people on topics from sports to politics to local authors to the local wine experts. Anything and everything.

“I had just an affinity for this,” he said. But in the last couple of months, the station management again approached him. They said they could no longer afford to keep a features reporter on staff. They wanted to make him a regular news reporter, covering the gamut of hard news assignments from chasing ambulances to doing live remotes from in front of city hall.

“Half the time I was into it, and half the time I was like ‘why am I doing this?’” he said. “I didn’t have a passion for it.”

It was not too much after the new assignment that the management from WRSI approached him about an account representative job.

He’s not a total novice when it comes to going out and selling ads. For his sports segments on the radio over the years, he was the one responsible for going out and finding sponsors.

You get to go out and meet people, which is something he enjoys. “And when you make a sale, it’s exciting,” he said.

He said he is grateful to the radio station management to have enough faith in who he is and what he has done during his career in Western Massachusetts to give him the chance.

“I’m hoping my 25 years in the market will be an asset,” he said. “You never know when an opportunity is around the corner.”

The $1.7 billion in earnings for 2011 supports an estimated $1.33 billion dividend payout for 2012, an 8.6 percent increase over the prior year's dividend to policyholders.

SPRINGFIELD – MassMutual Financial Group’s earnings were $1.7 billion last year.

That’s down from $1.9 billion in net gain from operations, the company’s primary earnings measure as a mutual company, in 2010 and $1.8 billion in 2009.

That $1.7 billion in earnings for 2011 supports an estimated $1.33 billion dividend payout for 2012, an 8.6 percent increase over the prior year’s dividend to policy holders. This approved dividend reflects a dividend interest rate of 7 percent on eligible participating life insurance policies. MassMutual is a mutually-held company, owned holders of its whole-life policies.

Michael T. Rollings, executive vice president and chief financial officer for MassMutual, said low interest rates make it hard for MassMutual to make money. An up-and-down stock market also makes it hard for MassMutual to get a return on its invested funds. It needs returns on invested funds.

“You don’t have to look much further than the paper day in and day out,” Rollings said. “There is still a lot of volatility in the markets day in and day out.”

But sales of MassMutual’s core products, retirement plans and whole-life insurance policies, remained strong, according to a company news release. For the year ended 2011, sales for whole-life insurance were $241 million, up 2 percent from $237 million in 2010, and retirement plan sales from its Retirement Services business totaled $6 billion, up 13 percent from $5.3 billion in 2010. Both were record levels for the company.

Rollings said MassMutual’s reputation for financial stability helps it sell to customers looking for safe places to invest in a down economy. But the recession also hurts by sapping consumers' ability to invest and save.

“Those are discretionary expenses in many ways,” Rollings said. “If you have to choose between paying the mortgage and buying a product we sell ...”

Still, the company’s surplus grew 10 percent to $11.4 billion and total adjusted capital was $13.2 billion.

Assets under management were $443 billion as of Dec. 31, 2011, a decrease of 1 percent from $448 billion at the end of 2010, according to a news release.

MassMutual employs approximately 6,000 people locally, including both MassMutual and Babson Capital, a subsidiary based in Tower Square in downtown Springfield. Approximately 3,800 of MassMutal employees work in the company’s headquarters on State Street.

Firefighters had to cut out the car's windshield to remove the woman, who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Holyoke Fire Lt. Thomas G. Paquin.

HOLYOKE – A woman was taken to Holyoke Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries after rolling her vehicle on Old Jarvis Avenue on Wednesday, said Lt. Thomas G. Paquin, public information officer for the Holyoke Fire Department.

It was unknown if weather played a role in the 3:04 p.m. crash near 25 Old Jarvis Ave., which is west of Easthampton Road and Interstate 91.

Paquin said responding firefighters found the car on its side and had to cut out the windshield to gain access to the woman, who was removed by two firefighters. The car had to be secured to a tree so it wouldn't move, he said.

Officials did not identify the woman, who is expected to make a recovery.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a Holyoke rollover crash that sent a woman to the hospital with injuries:

View Larger Map

Kervick, who lost all her personal possessions in the fire, has been credited by firefighters with helping to save the life of an elderly woman.

Submitted PhotoSister Maureen Kervick

Sister Maureen Kervick, formerly Elms College campus minister, escaped unharmed in a major fire on Saturday which destroyed a school where she worked in Jamaica.

Kervick, who lost all her personal possessions in the fire at the Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School in Andeville, Manchester, has been credited by firefighters with helping to save the life of an elderly woman, according to representatives of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, where she is a member.

A dozen students from Elms are due to travel next week to Jamaica, a trip that was scheduled months ago and will continue despite the fire.

Sister Carol Allan, current campus minister at Elms College, said she spoke with Kervick on Wednesday. "She's got a great sense of humor. She's got a great perspective. They are looking forward to our students coming," Allan said.

Wendy Hammerle, public relations director for the Sisters of St. Joseph, said Kervick escaped from her apartment on an upper floor of the school building with only the clothes on her back. "All her belongings, clothes, books, family photos, etc., are gone," Hammerle said.

Attempts to reach Kervick by The Republican and MassLive.com were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

Kervick is the Jamaica site supervisor for the Passionist Volunteers International and an administrator for a retreat center there. She has been ministering in Jamaica since July 2010. As campus minister at Elms from 2002 to 2009 she led many student service trips to Jamaica.

Submitted photoFire at Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School

The Jamaica Observer newspaper reported that a large section of the school was destroyed by the fire on Saturday night. The school serves about 500 students.

The Observer reported that Rohan Powell, assistant superintendent at the Mandeville Fire Station, estimated the loss to be in the region of $50 million.

Powell said the Fire Department was called at 5:10 p.m. and five units from four fire stations responded, along with seven private water trucks. It took more than five hours to extinguish the fire, and the cause is being investigated, according to the Observer.

Allan said the fire will not change plans for the student trip to Jamaica. Kervick arranges housing for the students with the Passionist Volunteers, according to Allan.

The students do home visits and education at a variety of sites. This year they are doing community gardens with schools, Allan said.

Kervick, formerly known as Sister James Marie, was born in Springfield. Along with her work at Elms where she also served as dean of students, she was a teacher at Sacred Heart School in Holyoke, and also in Pawtucket, R.I.

A registered nurse, she also served as administrator of Mont Marie Infirmary and worked for Health Care for the Homeless in Springfield.

She was also associate retreat director of the Mother of Sorrows Retreat House in West Springfield, director of St. Gabriel Spiritual Center of Youth in Shelter Island, N.Y., and director of Seton Manor in Brighton.

Holyoke seniors can get a $750 tax break in return for volunteering in a city office.

HOLYOKE – This year’s deadline for senior citizens to try to participate in a program to get a $750 tax break in return for volunteering in a city office is March 23.

“It’s a win-win for the city because, number one, we’re able to provide tax relief to seniors, and we’re able to get back extra participation” in city work and projects, Mayor Alex B. Morse said last week.

Morse discussed this year’s version of the Senior Tax Work-off Program in which seniors will get a larger tax break thanks to a City Council vote in May that increased it from $500.

Up to 30 seniors will be chosen for the program. Participants will be selected in a lottery probably in April, said Kathleen A. Bowler, executive director of the Council on Aging.

Applicants must be over 60, live on the property on which the tax break would be provided, pass muster in a criminal background check and be up to date on taxes and fees to the city, she said.

Information is available at the Council on Aging office at the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St., and by calling (413) 322-5625 or (413) 322-5510.

The seniors volunteer in the mayor’s office and in the Parks and Recreation, Library, Conservation, Tax Collector and other departments.

They answer phones, file documents, shelve books, paint and fix things at Wistariahurst Museum and maintain gardens, officials said.

Among the fans of the program is Teresa M. Shepard, director of the Parks and Recreation Department. Senior volunteers have helped with the hundreds of phone calls her office gets daily, with gardening and maintaining parks, and with planning the dog show that kicked off the winter carnival last month, she said.

“The older people are fabulous. They show up. They like to work, they go above and beyond the call of duty and they do everything without attitude,” Shepard said.

Also popular: A liquor license suspension for a popular Springfield establishment, and a rare Leap Day snowstorm.

Here are the five most-viewed stories that appeared on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now:

1) Reported jailhouse confession leads to child rape charges against South Hadley man, by Conor Berry. Jeffrey D. Lynes, 40, was arraigned Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court on two counts of forcible child rape in connection with an alleged incident involving a young girl in the mid-1980s. Judge Mary-Lou Rup set bail at $100 and ordered Lynes to return for a May 24 court hearing.

2) Hampden DA Mark Mastroianni applauds Jeffrey Asher guilty verdict; defense lawyer plans appeal, by Buffy Spencer. After a Chicopee District Court jury found former Springfield patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher guilty of a violent assault on Melvin Jones III during a traffic stop, reaction from the legal community was strong. This story reporting on the verdict immediately after it was issued also was among Wednesday's most-viewed – and talked about – stories.

3) Mardi Gras in Springfield gets 13-day state liquor license suspension; will be reduced by payment of fine, by Peter Goonan. The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission has issued a 13-day liquor license suspension at the Mardi Gras strip club in downtown Springfield, but the bar plans to pay a large fine instead to reduce the length of the suspension, according to its lawyer.

4) Approaching snowstorm prompts number of Western Massachusetts school districts to dismiss students early, by George Graham. The threat of a snowstorm – rare for this winter – caught the attention of our readers who wanted to know about a number of school districts in Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut that dismissed their students early.

5) 'KKK' chicken produces bad aftertaste for Massachusetts school district, by Conor Berry. Perhaps it's a sign of the super-sensitive times: A typographical error on a school lunch menu turned a benign-sounding dish called KK Chicken, short for "Krispy Krunchy," into KKK Chicken, creating a major headache for Methuen school officials.

The most-viewed photo gallery

Yesterday's most-viewed photo gallery, seen above, was action from the Western Masssachusetts high school basketball tournament game between Northampton and Westfield. Also popular was the gallery of scenes from yesterday's snowstorm.

In case you missed it:

This story wasn't among the most-viewed, but may interest readers:

Family of Diane Douglas still looking for answers 1 year after her death in downtown Springfield, by Patrick Johnson. As the one-year anniversary of Diane Douglas’ death approaches, her family is still seeking answers about how she died.

Death of a Monkee:

Davy Jones, a pop icon of the 1960s made-for-TV band The Monkees, died of a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 66. The Republican and MassLive.com published one of his final interviews. We also put together a gallery of photos from his career.

Numerous area schools are closed or have ordered delayed openings due to a wintry mix of sleet and snow. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory.

SPRINGFIELD – If you opened your door this morning and heard the sound of sizzling bacon, don't panic — the world isn't on fire. That's just the sound of freezing rain pelting the earth as winter makes its last stand (or possibly first) with spring only three weeks away.

A wintry mix is expected to make for a slow, slushy commute Thursday morning, with sleet changing over to snow and a winter weather advisory in effect until 6 p.m. The weather has prompted some area school districts to close for the day while others will open later than normal, according to abc40, media partner of The Republican and MassLive.

Winter never really arrived in Western Massachusetts this year, but March definitely roared in like a lion as anywhere from two to six inches of wet snow blanketed sections of the Pioneer Valley.

The winter blast, coming just 21 days before the official start of spring, prompted some school districts to implement early dismissals on Wednesday. The same situation exists for today, with Springfield schools scheduled to open two hours later than normal and Holyoke canceling all classes for the day.

The Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Hampden-Wilbraham, Longmeadow and West Springfield school districts also are operating under a two-hour delay, while the Amherst-Pelham, Granby, Hadley, Ludlow, Monson, Northampton and Westfield districts have cancelled all classes. Enfield schools are operating under a 1½-hour delay this morning.

Click HERE for a full list of delays and cancellations.

Today's snow totals could reach up to 5 inches in some parts of the region, according to the National Weather Service.

On the roads, it will be slow-going for both the morning and evening commutes, according to public safety officials, who are urging motorists to take precautions. Their recommendations for avoiding fender-benders or more serious crashes: Slow down and leave space between your car and the one you're following.

In Springfield, there were about half a dozen car accidents during the overnight period from Wednesday into Thursday morning. None of them were too serious, Springfield Police Sgt. Dennis Prior said.

State police are reporting numerous spinouts and accidents, but no fatalities or other serious driving mishaps.

"It's been pretty good so far," a trooper from the Northampton barracks said around 7 a.m. Thursday.

"You have to slow down and give yourself more time to get where you're going," he said.

Scattered power outages were reported across the region Thursday morning, including 421 in Berkshire County, mostly in the town of Florida, accordimg to National Grid.

Western Massachusetts Electric Co. reported 23 outages throughout its service area. Huntington, at one point, had 20 outages but power there has since been restored, according to WMECO.

A woman claimed a man stole cash from her during a robbery on Princeton Street. The suspect was described as a white male, and he was last seen pushing a cart containing a suitcase in the direction of St. James Avenue.

File photo

SPRINGFIELD – A woman claimed she lost $300 during a street robbery early Thursday morning, according to Springfield police.

Officers responded to a 5:20 a.m. report of an unarmed robbery near 101 Princeton St. in the city's McKnight neighborhood.

Police said the suspect was described as a white man, who was pushing a cart with a suitcase and was last seen headed toward St. James Avenue.

The woman, who was not identified, claimed the man took $300 cash from her.

Additional details were not immediately available.

THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate location of a robbery in the McKnight neighborhood early Thursday morning:

View Larger Map

Mount Holyoke College is holding the line on student costs next fall, the first time in more than four decades that it won't cost more to attend the exclusive women's college.

Staff Photo by David MolnarSouth Hadley, 5/22/11, Staff Photo by David Molnar -- Mount Holyoke College graduate raise their sunflowers and cheer during the College's 174th Commencement.

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — Mount Holyoke College is holding the line on student costs next fall, the first time in more than four decades that it won't cost more to attend the exclusive women's college.

The school in South Hadley announced Wednesday that it will not raise tuition and board for the 2012-13 academic year, the first time since 1968 the cost of attending the school won't go up when compared to the previous year.

The decision made by trustees last weekend was based on the belief that the current higher education model of increasing tuition in excess of inflation is unsustainable.

President Lynn Pasquarella said in a statement that colleges and universities cannot continue to threaten access and add to already burgeoning student loan burdens.

Tuition is more than $41,000 this year.

Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said there's no paperwork pertaining to either a show-cause hearing or a subsequent hearing by a judge on file at Central Berkshire District Court in Pittsfield.

Two Pittsfield police officers used accident reconstruction techniques to conclude the crash occurred in the eastbound lane of West Street and that Zuber was drunk during the crash.

PITTSFIELD – Just hours after Meredith D. Nilan, the daughter of Berkshire Superior Court Probation Chief Clifford J. Nilan, was arraigned on charges related to an alleged hit-and-run incident, her attorney filed a motion to dismiss all charges against the Pittsfield woman.

The motion to dismiss two charges — negligent operation and leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident — was filed late Wednesday afternoon by Timothy J. Shugrue, the attorney representing Meredith Nilan.

Shugrue specifically cited the lack of any paperwork associated with the case, including copies of a January show-cause hearing that found no probable cause to charge Nilan and an appeal of that ruling by the Pittsfield Police Department. Also missing are copies of a subsequent re-hearing of the matter by Springfield District Court Judge William P. Hadley, who found sufficient probable cause to charge Nilan with two misdemeanors.

Shugrue said that when asked to see copies of the documentation, officials in the Central Berkshire District Court clerk's office were unable to produce any records. "No one appears to know where they went," the attorney said.

Central Berkshire District Court Clerk Magistrate Christopher Speranzo

Central Berkshire District Clerk Magistrate Christopher N. Speranzo could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pittsfield police claim Nilan, 24, was driving her father's SUV in Pittsfield when she struck and seriously injured pedestrian Peter Moore, 45, on the evening of Dec. 8, 2011. Moore had been out for a nighttime run and walk with his dog on Winesap Road when he was hit from behind by Nilan, who fled the scene and failed to report the incident, according to case records.

Clifford Nilan contacted authorities more than an hour after the incident, but only after first contacting Shugure, according to police. Nilan, a longtime ranking Berkshire County court official, told police that his daughter believed she may have hit "something," perhaps a "dog or deer." Authorities said that "something" turned out to be Moore, a Pittsfield hospital administrator and the son of a retired police captain in Hartford, Conn.

Westfield District Court Assistant Clerk Magistrate Nathan A. Byrnes initially found no probable cause to charge Nilan with any crimes, but that dertermination was overturned in a Feb. 10 ruling by Hadley, setting the stage for Wednesday's arraignment in Central Berkshire District Court in Pittsfield.

Shugrue entered not-guilty pleas on behalf of Nilan, who did not attend the arraignment and was ordered by the court to return for a March 21 pretrial conference. A few hours after the arraignment, Shugrue filed motions to dismiss the charges.

The case won't be prosecuted by the Berkshire District Attorney's office because of its close working relationship with Clifford Nilan in his capacity as the probation chief in Berkshire Superior Court, which is housed in the same courthouse complex where his daughter's arraignment was held Wednesday. Worcester Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Quinlan was assigned as special prosecutor for the case.

Meanwhile, Clifford Nilan and his wife, Lynne D. Nilan, registered their residence on Winesap Road — the street where the Dec. 8 incident occurred — as a homestead, according to Massachusetts Land Records. The homestead declaration was filed on Dec. 15, 2011, one day after Pittsfield police obtained a warrant to search Clifford Nilan's SUV and a week after the alleged hit-and-run incident involving their daughter.

A homestead declaration can protect a primary residence from a lawsuit, though no such action has been filed. Moore's attorney, Michael R. Hinkley, said his client hasn't ruled out the possibility of civil action against the Nilans, according to a report in the Berkshire Eagle.

Even as Mitt Romney launched his effort to address his vulnerabilities, the former Massachusetts governor found himself creating a fresh controversy by equivocating on a Senate bill on insurance coverage of birth control.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a town hall meeting at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012.

FARGO, N.D. — His two latest victories aside, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is working to connect more personally with voters and refocus his campaign on the protracted fight for convention delegates as he tries to recover from a difficult month and answer key questions about the strength of his candidacy.

Yet, even as Romney launched his effort to address his vulnerabilities, the former Massachusetts governor found himself creating a fresh controversy — and irking conservatives anew — by equivocating on a Senate bill on insurance coverage of birth control.

It was an ill-timed hiccup just as Romney — the nominal GOP front-runner for the past year — is trying to capitalize on twin victories in Arizona and Michigan and put to rest concerns within the GOP establishment about his inability to wrap up the nomination quickly, his proclivity for self-made errors and his struggles to relate to his audiences. His efforts to improve on all those fronts were on clear display Wednesday, starting with a town-hall style meeting in Bexley, Ohio.

"By far the most important thing in my life is my wife. All right? Ann and I fell in love young, we're still in love. We have a marriage that is still filled with love," Romney told his rapt audience there after a sympathetic voter asked him to "show the American people you have a lot of heart."

It was one of the most emotional moments of his campaign, with Romney talking at length about his five sons and saying he didn't think his "heart could get bigger," until they married and his grandkids were born. He talked of other personal experiences before pivoting to the American public at large — and making this pitch: "This is a family crisis going on in America, and I think I can help. I can't solve all the problems, but I can make a difference, and that's why I am in this race."

Behind the scenes, Romney's aides — as well as a super political action committee supporting him — spent the day working to recalibrate the candidate's approach to next week's Super Tuesday contests, when 10 states will vote and Wyoming will begin its caucuses, and beyond. In almost all of the future contests in the nomination fight, delegates to the Republican Party's national presidential nominating convention later this summer will be awarded proportionally among the candidates.

Given that, Romney can't rely on momentum alone to carry him to the nomination. His team must gird anew for a long delegate slog as well as the reality that his chief rivals — Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich — are showing no signs of dropping out as long as super PACs aligned with them keep running expensive TV ads on their behalf.

Despite his challenges, Romney has emerged the leader in the fight for the 1,144 delegates needed to earn the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this summer. He has 167 delegates to Santorum's 87. Gingrich has 32 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, also a factor, has 19.

Romney is visiting Ohio, North Dakota, Idaho and Washington state this week — and still may add other states if his team determines victories are in reach. He's devoting time and money to places where he thinks he can amass the most delegates of the 419 up for grabs next Tuesday.

Aides acknowledge that the Super Tuesday fight — waged in almost all regions of the country, in 10 states where buying a heavy week's worth of ads costs about $5 million, industry experts estimate — is tougher because of Romney's rough time in February. He won in Nevada on Feb. 4. But he lost three states to Santorum on Feb. 8, including Colorado — a situation aides now acknowledge was a miscalculation.

To hear the campaign tell it, Romney didn't compete aggressively in that state, which he won in 2008, because advisers wrongly assumed that winning several states in January would give him enough momentum to win there. The campaign also underestimated Santorum, who had struggled for relevance in South Carolina, Florida and Nevada and appeared less of a threat than Gingrich.

The three victories gave Santorum steam, and the former Pennsylvania senator became an immediate threat in Romney's native Michigan.

That month fed doubts about Romney's ability to close the deal with voters. Romney has said he's made his problems worse by making remarks that draw attention to his own personal wealth. And aides acknowledge he's been plagued by the perception that he can't connect emotionally with voters even though those who know him well say that the candidate isn't awkward or out-of-touch at all.

"The candidate sometimes makes some mistakes," Romney told reporters Tuesday ahead of the Michigan primary, "and so I'm trying to do better and work harder and make sure that we get our message across."

One day later, he created a new headache for himself when he told an Ohio TV station that he opposed Republican Senate legislation that critics say would limit insurance coverage of birth control. The comment riled some conservatives. Romney aides quickly sought to fix the mistake and the candidate reversed himself in a second interview, saying he misunderstood the question.

Despite the campaign's quick damage control, the flap highlighted anew Romney's struggles to win over conservatives who make the base of the Republican electorate — and the candidate's challenges ahead.

The crash took the life of 24-year-old Moira Banks-Dobson,

SHEFFIELD - A Connecticut man, involved in a five-vehicle accident that took the life of a 24-year-old Sheffield woman on Route 7 Tuesday night, has been charged by police with motor vehicle homicide - operating under the influence of liquor.

Frederick Weller, 35, of Sandy Hook, Conn., was also charged with drunk driving - 5th offense, Sheffield Police Chief James McGarry said

The crash occurred about 7 p.m. Weller, driving a pickup truck north on Route 7, collided with four other vehicles, McGarry said. Moira Banks-Dobson, driving a Toyota Corolla, was killed in the crash.

Another driver, 52-year-old Russell Brown, was airlifted to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield where he was listed in critical condition Thursday morning, a spokeswoman said.

Brown’s vehicle came to rest on top of Banks-Dobson’s Corolla, McGarry said.

McGarry said Weller was also taken Baystate where he remains under police custody. His condition is reportedly stable.

Weller was also charged with drunken driving - serious injury, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and driving with a suspended license.

Sheffield is on the Connecticut border.

The official said details of the killings Thursday in Southern Afghanistan are still unclear but officials believe there were three attackers, two of whom were subsequently killed.

The Associated PressA U.S. military convoy enters the Afghan Interior Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. A gunman killed two American advisers inside the ministry in Kabul Saturday, officials said, as protests against the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book roiled the country for a fifth day. The commander of NATO and U.S. forces says that all NATO personnel are being recalled from Afghan ministries following an attack at the Interior Ministry in Kabul.

WASHINGTON — A U.S. official says two more American troops have been killed in Afghanistan, the latest in a series of attacks following protests over the burning of the Quran.

The official said details of the killings Thursday in Southern Afghanistan are still unclear but officials believe there were three attackers, two of whom were subsequently killed. He said the third may be in custody.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

A teenager was charged Thursday with killing three students in a school shooting, the first step in proceedings that could see him charged as an adult and facing the possibility of life without parole if convicted.

The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 photo, seventeen-year-old T.J. Lane is led from Juvenile Court by Sheriff's deputies in Chardon, Ohio, after his arraignment in the shooting of five high school students Monday. Three of the five students wounded in the attacks have since died.

CHARDON, Ohio — A teenager was charged Thursday with killing three students in a school shooting, the first step in proceedings that could see him charged as an adult and facing the possibility of life without parole if convicted.

The charges filed in Geauga County juvenile court accuse T.J. Lane, 17, of killing three students and wounding two others in the shooting Monday morning at Chardon High School, about 30 miles east of Cleveland.

He is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault

No motive has been determined. Prosecutor David Joyce has said that victims were selected at random and that Lane is someone "who's not well."

Children convicted of juvenile crimes in Ohio are typically behind bars only until they turn 21 in the most serious cases. But Joyce has already said he plans to charge Lane as an adult, meaning he could face life in prison without parole if convicted of similar adult charges.

Minors are not eligible for the death penalty in Ohio, whether they are convicted as juveniles or adults.

Lane, who attends an alternative school for students who haven't done well in traditional schools, admitted taking a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to Chardon High and firing 10 shots at a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table Monday morning, Joyce said.

The Associated PressStudents and parents march to the high school in Chardon, Ohio Thursday, March 1, 2012, to honor the three students who were killed in a shooting there Monday. The school re-opened to parents and students Thursday and classes resume Friday.

Killed were Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King Jr., 17, and Daniel Parmertor, 16. The motive for the shooting is unclear, though Joyce has appeared to rule out theories involving bullying or drug-dealing.

Hewlin attended Chardon High. King and Parmertor were students at a vocational school and were waiting in the Chardon High cafeteria for their daily bus when they were shot.

Parmertor had just gotten his first job at a bowling alley and couldn't stop talking about how excited he was to pick up his first paycheck later this week, his parents said.

Two other students were wounded. Nick Walczak remains in serious condition. An 18-year-old girl was released from the hospital Tuesday.

Lane was a normal boy who excelled in school and played outside often with his sister, building snow hills and skateboarding, according to Steve Sawczak, a family friend who's a pastor and has worked with troubled children.

He said he never would have allowed his own grandchildren to play nearby if he thought anything was wrong with Lane.

A thief took up to $175,000 in goods from a Massachusetts jeweler, a West Hatfield man was charged with attempted rape, and more from here, there and everywhere.

Associated PressFamily members look on as the body of Washington State Trooper Tony Radulescu is carried by fellow troopers to a memorial, Thursday, March 1, 2012, in Kent, Wash. Radulescu was shot and killed last week during a traffic stop in Gorst, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

• Alleged gang member pleads guilty to gun charges [BerkshireEagle.com]


• West Hatfield man charged with attempted rape [Gazettenet.com]


• Goshen man imprisoned for violating probation [Gazettenet.com]


• Up to $175K stolen from Main Street jeweler [EagleTribune.com]


• Ex-Newton teacher pleads not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting two children [Boston.com]


• Interim director of Harvard primate center steps down [Boston.com]


• Home invasion survivor tells man who raped and killed her friend he is 'Satan' [Courant.com]


• Green Airport expansion a go after airport board OKs pact with Warwick [ProvidenceJournal.com]


• Chatham beach camps face final days [CapeCodOnline.com]


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


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The HRC said that among the reasons for not supporting Scott Brown are his voting record and LGBT legislation that he has not co-sponsored.

Based in part on her previous call for full equality for the gay community, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren was endorsed Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign, a non-profit that pushes civil rights issues pertaining to LGBT people.

Warren is the chief Democratic opponent of Republican U.S. Sen Scott Brown, who won his seat in a 2010 special election following the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign. As a country we should stand for fairness and equality for all our people -- in employment, health benefits, educational experience, or spousal status," Warren said in a statement following the endorsement. "I am proud that Massachusetts has led the nation on equality issues, and it is time for the federal government to end the disparities and discrimination that LGBT people and their families face. I look forward to working with HRC to protect and promote fairness and equality."

The HRC said on its website that among the reasons for not supporting Brown are his voting record and legislation that he has not co-sponsored.

"During his two years in the Senate, Brown has not cosponsored key bills that would advance LGBT equality, such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Tax Parity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, Uniting American Families Act or Early Treatment for HIV Act," the HRC said on its website. "Brown has also taken many positions that would restrict a woman's right to choose."

The last statement is likely a reference to the Blunt Amendment which was killed in the U.S. Senate Thursday. Brown was supporting the bill, which would have allowed any business or insurer to deny covering anything that conflicted with their religious or moral beliefs. The bill gained popularity among Republicans after the president's revised health care mandate required insurance providers to cover female preventative care and contraception rather than institutions and businesses.

Relating to LGBT issues, Brown did vote to repeal the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy which prevented military service members from serving while being open about their sexual orientation. For his backing of DADT's repeal, Brown was honored by the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay-advocacy group within the Republican Party.

And although Brown has spoke against allowing same-sex marriage, including a 2004 vote in the Massachusetts State Senate supporting a constitutional amendment banning it, he has said it is a "settled issue" in Massachusetts.

Warren, on the other hand, called for full legal equality for LGBT people in a column she penned in December. She also created an "It Get's Better" video in late January aimed at uplifting bullied LGBT teens who might be considering suicide.

Brown, on the other hand, was the only member of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation who didn't participate in such a video in July.

Welch is slated to appear in Northampton District Court on March 16 for a pre-trial conference.

Submitted photoRyan D. Welch

EASTHAMPTON – Ryan D. Welch, the man charged with murdering his girlfriend, Jessica Ann Pripstein, on Feb. 20, has been moved from Baystate Medical Center in Springfield to another facility under correctional supervision, according Patrick Cahillane, assistant deputy superintendent of the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction.

Cahillane said he could provide no further information.

Welch was charged Feb. 22 with murdering Pripstein in her apartment. He had been recovering from a self-inflicted wound to his own throat.

Welch was found unresponsive on the bedroom floor of Pripstein’s apartment with an “extensive laceration to his throat,” according to a state police probable cause statement.

Pripstein, 39, was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor, but fire officials determined she was dead, according to the statement.

She died “from a sharp force injury to the neck,” Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said in a press conference last week.

Welch was arraigned at his hospital bed Feb. 22 and slated to appear in Northampton District Court March 16 for a pre-trial conference, according to the district attorney's office.

Jessica Pripstein

Welch told police that he had returned to Pripstein’s apartment and found her on the bathroom floor and then decided to slit his own throat, according to the probable cause statement.

Police received a call just after midnight from Pripstein, who told dispatchers that "my boyfriend is attempting to kill me," according to the state police statement. During the conversation, Pripstein could be heard yelling, “Oh my God” and “Oh my God, please” before the call was cut off, according to the statement.

Pripstein was a licensed aesthetician and worked at Liora Gabrielle European Skin Care in Northampton. It was uncertain how long the two were engaged in a romantic relationship, Sullivan said last week.

Her life was remembered with a vigil Sunday night on the lawn of First Churches in Northampton.

The bill would have allowed employers or health insurers to deny coverage for services they say violate their moral or religious beliefs, including birth control.

Associated PressSen. Scott Brown, D-Mass., talks with members of the media during a tour of Boston Police headquarters in Boston, Friday afternoon, Feb. 24, 2012. Brown is being challenged for his seat by Harvard law school professor Elizabeth Warren. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

By STEVE LeBLANC

BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is defending his support of an amendment that would have allowed employers or health insurers to deny coverage for services they say violate their moral or religious beliefs, including birth control.

The Senate defeated the amendment Thursday.

The Massachusetts Republican said he believed Blunt bill, which he co-sponsored, would have prevented the federal government from compelling individuals, including Catholics, from going against their religious beliefs.

"This is an issue of religious freedom," Brown said following the vote. "I believe it's possible to provide women with the access to the health care they want while at the same time protecting the rights of Americans to follow their religious beliefs."

Brown's chief Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, had argued that the amendment was an attack on women's health care and would have given employers and insurers broad leeway to deny coverage for birth control, while threatening other health care coverage for women and families.

A Warren campaign spokeswoman said the Senate did the right thing by rejecting the amendment.

"Senator Brown took sides with Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and the right wing of his party, against the people of Massachusetts, who in tough economic times rely on insurance to get the health care they need," said Warren press secretary Alethea Harney.

The amendment became a topic of fierce debate in the Senate race, prompting a pair of dueling radio ads from Warren and Brown.

At one point, Brown accused Warren of "dictating to Catholics and other people of faith that they must do as they are told when it comes to health care" by supporting a proposal from President Barack Obama that would allow workers at religious affiliated institutions to get free contraception directly from insurers.

That was intended as a compromise by Obama after Catholic leaders and others rejected an earlier proposal.

Brown also invoked the memory of the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Catholic who held the same Senate seat for nearly a half-century before his death from brain cancer in 2009.

In his radio ad, Brown said Kennedy would have agreed with the amendment. Kennedy's son, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, said his father would never have backed the measure and called on Brown to pull the ad. Brown refused.

Warren said the amendment would have allowed employers or insurers to claim a vague moral conviction to deny contraception or any other health care coverage.

"This (amendment) threatens women's access to contraception, mammograms, even maternity care," Warren said in her ad. "It's just plain wrong."

The amendment was defeated by 51-48 vote margin.

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry voted against the measure.

Kerry said that while he agrees it's not right to force religiously affiliated institutions to pay for contraception if it violates their beliefs, the defeated amendment, sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., would have instead opened up a Pandora's box.

"Its overly broad and vague exceptions could allow children to be denied immunizations, companies to object to mental health services, health plans to deny HIV screenings, and the rejection of maternity care for single mothers," Kerry said. "It's dangerous."

Former Mayor of Boston Ray Flynn, who also served as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, endorsed the amendment in a letter to Brown.

"I find it outrageous that anyone in a position of public trust would trample on the conscience of people of religious beliefs," Flynn wrote. "The world, nation and history will take note of the U.S. Senate's historic vote on this religious conscience exemption."

Gov. Deval Patrick said he was glad the amendment was defeated, calling it "a victory for everybody who cares about access to reproductive health services."

"I respect Sen. Brown, but he's wrong," Patrick said. "The Blunt amendment was not about religious freedom or conscientious objections, it was much, much broader than that and it deserves to have been defeated."

The legislation leaves intact a requirement that patients give written consent before doctors can share any HIV-related medical information.

File photo / The Republican

By BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — The state Senate has voted to relax regulations requiring patients to consent in writing before they can be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The bill designed to expand HIV screening was approved on a voice vote Thursday. It would replace a requirement for written permission with a requirement for verbal informed consent. That would bring the state closer to federal guidelines calling for routine, voluntary screening for HIV infection for all adults and teenagers.

Massachusetts and Nebraska are the only states that require written consent.

The legislation leaves intact a requirement that patients give written consent before doctors can share any HIV-related medical information. Many doctors oppose that restriction.

Doctors say prompt detection of HIV can slow the onset of full-blown AIDS and reduce the risk of infected people transmitting the virus.