Have a look at these five interesting quotes on topics ranging from African militia leaders to Peyton Manning's release from the Indianapolis Colts.

Are you a news hound? Think you've heard it all this week?

Well, have a look at these five interesting quotes on topics ranging from an African militia leader to Peyton Manning's release from the Indianapolis Colts. And if you think you've heard something interesting that should be included in this week's quotables, let us know in the comments below with a short summary and a link.

Video on 'monster' Joseph Kony gets millions of views

AP PhotoJoseph Kony

"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," Col. Felix Kulayigye, the spokesman for Uganda's military, said of jungle militia leader Joseph Kony to the Associated Press.

A 30-minute video by the advocacy group Invisible Children on Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army, who are blamed for the killings and mutilations of tens of thousands in Central Africa, went viral this week, according to the AP.

The video, published Monday on YouTube, calls for Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, to be stopped, the AP reported.

Mass. dad, accused of aiming laser pointer at goalie's eyes at high school hockey game, feels 'like a complete jerk'

"I mean, that's something like an eight-year-old would do as opposed to a 42-year-old," WBZ-TV reporter Jonathan Elias said in a video excerpt on the CBS affiliate's website.

"Right. That's, that's one of the most embarrassing parts of it all," said Massachusetts father Joseph Cordes, who police say aimed a laser pointer at a high school hockey goalie during a game. "I'm 42 years old and my children are telling me, 'Dad you gotta grow up.'"

According to the AP, authorities said Tuesday that Cordes faces a charge of disturbing the peace.

Ann Romney: 'I don't even consider myself wealthy'

(H/T Washington Post)

"I don't even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing. It can be here today and gone tomorrow," Ann Romney, wife of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said on Fox News Monday.

But, The Washington Post asks, "What did she really mean?"

That's for you to decide. Here's the bigger context of her quote from the Post:

“[O]ne thing this disease has been for me has been a wonderful teacher. And with that comes an ability for compassion for others that are suffering. And for me, I want to make my family bigger. Those that are suffering from M.S. or cancer or any disease I feel like I want to throw my arms open and say, welcome to my family and welcome to the place where I’ve been and, so, you know, we can be poor in spirit and I don’t look — I don’t even consider myself wealthy which is am interesting thing. It can be here today and gone tomorrow, and how I measure riches is by the friends I have and the loved ones I have and the people I care about in my life and that is where my values are and those are my riches so for me having done through a difficult period in my life both with M.S. and with breast cancer it has done something to my heart and it’s softened my heart and made me realize there are many people suffering in this country and they are suffering from things that aren’t financial — and some people are suffering from things that are financial, as well — but those that are suffering, for me, I just have a larger capacity for love, and for understanding.”

For Peyton Manning and Colts owner Jim Irsay, an awkward goodbye

AP PhotoPeyton Manning

"We all know that nothing lasts forever," former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said Wednesday at a press conference announcing the Colts would release him. "Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL."

Manning, who said last summer what an "honor it is to go start-to-finish with the same organization here in Indianapolis," hoped he would be able to stay with the Colts, but after 14 seasons and a neck surgery that kept him sidelined for the 2011 season, Colts owner Jim Irsay decided it was time to cut him before he had to write Manning a $28 million bonus, the AP reported.

'Ugly Betty' star America Ferrera to Springfield audience: 'Follow your passion'

Jeff VespaAmerica Ferrera

“I’ve come to realize that it is because I was poor, overweight, brown, ethnic and underprivileged that I was [the] right person for many of the roles I’ve had,” America Ferrera said at the Springfield Technical Community College on Wednesday.

Ferrera, known for her role in ABC's "Ugly Betty," spoke at STCC as a part of the college's 2011-2012 Diversity Speakers/Arts Series. Though she considered giving up acting at 18, a teacher persuaded her to continue because her acting could send a message of hope to other young women who identify with her characters.

Anyone who might have information about the cause of the fire may call the State arson Reward Program at 1-800-682-9229 or the Holyoke Fire Department at 413-534-4514.

The Republican | Greg Saulmon03.08.2012 | HOLYOKE - The scene on Pine Street the morning after the fire.

HOLYOKE - Investigators are still working to determine the cause of a devastating early morning fire that damaged or destroyed four buildings on Pine and Suffolk streets Wednesday.

Lt. Thomas G. Paquin, public information officer for the Holyoke Fire Department, said the initial investigation into what sparked the blaze was inconclusive. Samples taken from the scene have been sent to a lab for testing, and results are expected on Monday.

The fire, reported around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, started in a home at 141 Pine St. Flames quickly consumed the wood-frame structure and spread to an adjacent vacant five-story apartment building at 139 Pine St. and the nearby headquarters of CMS Landscaping at 175 Suffolk St.

The tenants of a fourth building at 133-137 Pine St. were forced into the night when the fire spread to their three-story brick row house, which was adjoined to the vacant five-story structure.

The home where the fire began burned to the ground, and the two nearby apartment buildings were reduced to piles of rubble. The CMS Landscaping building sustained heavy damaged but was still standing as of Thursday night.

The vacant building at 139 Pine St. was a city-owned property scheduled for public auction in April, City Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra said Friday. The city took possession of the building in a September 2010 tax taking for an outstanding principal of $29,842.16. Records on file with the Hampden Registry of Deeds show another tax taking in February 1996, for unpaid 1994 taxes totaling $975.40.

Lumbra said the city would proceed with the April auction, offering the lot for sale.

Investigators said the home at 141 Pine St., owned by Michael A. Ostapovicz, was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Neighbors said that tenants had moved out a few days earlier but may have been keeping possessions in the home. The structure was built in 1910 and the home and land were valued at a total of $67,800.00, according to city records.

The city's water department turned off water to the site on Thursday, Paquin said, and investigators searched the cellar of the home.

Paquin urged anyone who might have information about the cause of the fire to call the State arson Reward Program at 1-800-682-9229 or the Holyoke Fire Department at 413-534-4514.

The state's 3,600 taxpayer-bought vehicles — which does not include state police cruisers — have been involved in more than 1,100 crashes, causing a total of $2.1 million in damage, $810,000 of which has been billed directly to taxpayers.

Associated PressMassachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray testifies befor the Joint Committee on Public Service on municipal health insurance reform, Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at the Statehouse in Boston.

BOSTON — State workers have caused more than $2 million in damage to state-owned vehicles involved in accidents over the past three years.

The state's 3,600 taxpayer-bought vehicles — which does not include state police cruisers — have been involved in more than 1,100 crashes, causing a total of $2.1 million in damage, $810,000 of which has been billed directly to taxpayers. At least 14 state workers were in multiple crashes.

The Boston Herald reviewed accidents involving state vehicles after Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray was involved in a wreck last November that totaled his state car.

A state Transportation Department pickup truck was involved in 40 accidents in one year.

The administration of Gov. Deval Patrick has called for a new policy to punish state workers found at fault in accidents.

Mitt Romney's struggle with white evangelical voters doesn't bode well for him as he moves through the GOP presidential primary, with Mississippi and Alabama just ahead.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shakes hands during a campaign stop at the Port of Pascagoula on Thursday, March 8, 2012, in Pascagoula, Miss.

Mitt Romney's struggle with white evangelical voters doesn't bode well for him as he moves through the GOP presidential primary, with Mississippi and Alabama just ahead.

In the five states so far where born-again Christians were a majority of GOP primary voters, Romney has trailed either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich among evangelicals by an average of 20 points, according to exit polls. About 4 in 10 born-again voters who were asked said it was deeply important that a candidate share their religious beliefs.

Still, exit polls also show an opening for Romney to draw a bit more of the evangelical vote. In Ohio and Tennessee, evangelicals who said shared religious beliefs are less important when choosing a candidate were significantly less likely than other evangelicals to see Romney as too moderate.

The key question for Romney is whether enough of these evangelicals are present in the contests ahead to make any difference for his candidacy.

In the 2008 Republican presidential primary, about three-quarters of Republicans in Mississippi and two-thirds in Alabama identified themselves as white evangelicals. Primaries in Mississippi and Alabama are set for Tuesday, with Louisiana to follow on March 24.

John Green, a University of Akron political scientist who analyzes religion and voting, said he noticed that Romney generally does better, although not well, among evangelicals in larger metropolitan areas. These urban born-again voters are found in greater numbers in states where Democrats and Republicans are more competitive, such as the Midwest. Kansas is scheduled to hold its caucuses Saturday, and Missouri and Illinois contests are scheduled near the end of the month.

However, pragmatism may win out even among some Bible Belt Christian voters, since large groups of Republicans have said repeatedly in exit polls that they are seeking a candidate who can beat President Barack Obama in the general election.

"What these numbers suggest is that he has a chance to expand his support among evangelicals," Green said. "I don't know exactly what it is that Romney would have to say to persuade them, but it doesn't seem like his religion or the things he's been saying are necessarily a barrier."

It's impossible to know how much Romney's Mormonism has been a factor in his weaker performance.

On politics alone, many Republicans are wary. Romney once supported legalized abortion, which he now condemns, and enacted a health care coverage program as governor that many conservatives consider government overreach. In Ohio on Super Tuesday, nearly half of evangelicals said Romney's positions on the issues were not conservative enough.

Romney is also is lacking in the kind of charisma that has buoyed other candidates, especially in the South, said Jim Guth, a political scientist at Furman University in South Carolina. "Evangelicals like their leaders with a little zing — and that Romney doesn't have," Guth said. "And, of course, his social milieu and cultural expression just doesn't match theirs very well."

Many Christians do not consider Mormons part of historical Christianity, although Mormons do. Republicans who say Mormonism is not Christian are less likely to support Romney for the GOP nomination, according to a November 2011 survey by the Pew Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate Rick Santorum smiles as supporters jockey to get their photograph taken with him during a campaign stop at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, March 7, 2012.

Conservatives who consider religion when choosing a candidate have had several other options in the large field of candidates for the Republican nomination. Santorum and Gingrich are Roman Catholics who heavily emphasize religion and moral issues on the campaign trail, although Gingrich's personal history, including three marriages, has cost him some conservative support. The same Pew survey, however, found GOP voters would overwhelmingly back Romney in a general election against Obama. .

In Romney's 2008 bid for the presidential nomination, he openly courted evangelical leaders and directly confronted concerns about his Mormonism, including a major speech in which he promised "no authorities of my church" will influence his policies. This election year, Romney barely mentions his religion unless an issue arises while campaigning.

Instead, he has tried to appeal to religious conservatives by stressing his shared values with them on concerns such as traditional marriage, especially as social issues took prominence in the campaign due in part to the ascendance of Santorum. Campaigning Thursday in Huntsville, Ala., Santorum called the state the "heart of conservatism."

If Romney too heavily emphasizes social policies, he would also draw attention to his former stand in favor of legalized abortion.

Mark DeMoss, a public relations veteran and evangelical adviser to the Romney campaign, said there is no plan to change that strategy on religion as the primaries move through heavily evangelical states in the weeks ahead. He said the former governor will keep his focus on "the state of the economy and uncertainty about jobs."

"I think those issues cross all segments of voters," DeMoss said.

This means missed opportunities for connecting with religious voters. DeMoss said Romney doesn't visit church services as part of his campaign. The weekend before Super Tuesday, Santorum and his family attended Sunday worship at a Southern Baptist mega-church in Tennessee, where the pastor invited them to stand before the congregation and receive a blessing, according to Associated Baptist Press. Romney finished second to Santorum in Tennessee.

"Churches are largely the social and cultural centers in these communities and the minister usually has the largest microphone, so building real and authentic relationships with people of faith is pretty essential," said Burns Strider, a Mississippi native and adviser on faith outreach to Democrats, including Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was seeking the party's 2008 presidential nomination. "It doesn't mean it requires Sunday worship services, but there are plenty of other opportunities."

Even in the untamed world of talk-show blather, "slut" is the new s-word, an epithet that crosses the line whomever it targets

AP Photo/ABCIn this photo provided by ABC, Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, left, is a guest on "The View," Monday, March 5, 2012, in New York, after her stand on contraception coverage prompted Rush Limbaugh to deride her as a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his radio talk show. Interviewing Fluke, from right, are hosts Barbara Walters, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.

By FRAZIER MOORE
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK — It isn't what you say that counts, but who you say it about.

That's a lesson from the firestorm set off last week by Rush Limbaugh when he called a Georgetown University student a "slut" and "prostitute."

But maybe, even in the untamed world of talk-show blather, "slut" already held sway as the new s-word, an epithet that crosses the line whomever it targets and is best avoided altogether by gabmeisters.

That's what left-leaning talk-show host Ed Schultz learned painfully way back last spring. On his MSNBC show he referred to conservative commentator Laura Ingraham as a "right-wing slut." Amid the outcry triggered among Ingraham fans, he apologized, announcing that he and MSNBC had mutually agreed to his suspension for several days.

But Schultz's indiscretion was fleeting compared with Limbaugh's repeated attacks on Sandra Fluke.

The 30-year-old law student had been invited to testify to a House committee about her school's health care plan, which does not include contraception. After Republican lawmakers barred her testimony, Democrats welcomed her to speak to them at an unofficial session.

On his radio show, Limbaugh slammed Fluke as a "slut" who wanted the government to subsidize her sex life: "She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex," he said.

Then, the next day, he added this demand: "If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, thus pay for you to have sex ... we want you to post the videos online, so we can all watch."

For some reason, these assaults agitated many women and men.

Meanwhile, advertisers by the dozens and even a few stations began dropping Limbaugh's show.

Limbaugh's apology — a rarity (however faint-hearted) coming from this cocksure conservative — only fanned the flames.

"I should not have used the language I did," Limbaugh told listeners, even as he blasted the "double standard" he was being held to: "Rappers can say anything they want about women. It's called art. And they win awards."

Did he have a point? You don't have to be a ditto-head to wonder what the fuss was all about. This, after all, is Rush "Excellence in Broadcasting" Limbaugh, who for a quarter-century of radio dominance has gained clout and wealth with his salvos against Democrats, liberals, minorities, the poor and other disenfranchised groups.

Not to mention women. In Rush's provocative view, women in the media are "info babes," women in Congress get away with being fat while the media harp on fat politicians who are men, and, of course, progressive women are condemned as "feminazis."

So what did Limbaugh do last week that was so different? Wasn't this just Rush being Rush? What got everybody stirred up this time?

Odds are, it was the person he chose for these particular tirades.

If high-profile, take-no-prisoners pundit Laura Ingraham earns immunity from an insult like "slut," shouldn't equal protection be enjoyed by Sandra Fluke, a private citizen Limbaugh bullied with unsought attention?

She came to Capitol Hill "intending a brief dip of the toe in the cultural pool," railed liberal host Keith Olbermann on his Current TV show "Countdown," only to find herself "dragged into the deep end by day after day of searing deliberate personal and indefensible attacks by Rush Limbaugh."

There was something familiar about Limbaugh's gratuitous slurs. They recalled an episode five years ago when shock jock Don Imus slammed a group of women who, like Fluke, were innocent bystanders on the public stage, guilty only of doing yeoman duty that thrust them into the spotlight: the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

In a shameful exchange in April 2007, Imus and a radio sidekick joked about these young women, who had been contenders for the NCAA national championship. Imus referred to them as "nappy-headed hos."

Within days he had apologized, but he was fired from his radio show and by MSNBC, which had simulcast him on TV. By year's end, he was picked up by another syndicator and later returned to TV. But despite what appeared to be sincere repentance on his part, Imus suffered permanent damage to his image and career.

Limbaugh is unlikely to suffer any lasting damage, no matter how his foes might wish otherwise. This week, he smugly likened the impact of defecting advertisers to "losing a couple of French fries in the container when it's delivered to you at the drive-thru. You don't even notice it."

But you sure can't help noticing the clamorous debate that Limbaugh's outbursts have ignited: Is a war on women being waged, with Rush the poster boy?

On "The O'Reilly Factor," Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly has conveniently tried to change the subject. He argued that the real issue framed by Limbaugh's Fluke-bashing wasn't women being bad-mouthed, but the presidential race: "Do we want to have an entitlement-state culture — President Obama and the Democrats — or do we want to go back to self-reliance and smaller government?

"That," O'Reilly said, "seems to dwarf somebody making a mistake on talk radio."

Really? Mistakes were made, all right. But with somebody as powerful and raucous as Limbaugh, "dwarf" is a word that never applies.

EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier

A space weather forecaster at the NOAA said the storm reached a moderate level late Thursday, before going to a strong level early Friday.

WASHINGTON — A solar storm shook the Earth's magnetic field early Friday, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems.

After reports Thursday of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field.

"We really haven't had any reports from power system operators yet," Rob Steenburgh, a space weather forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., said early Friday. "But sometimes they don't come in until after the storm."

He said the storm reached a moderate level late Thursday, before going to a strong level early Friday. For most of Thursday, it was rated as minor.

Scientists say such storms don't pose a threat to people, just technology.

The space weather center's website says a storm rated as strong could force corrections to voltage systems and trigger false alarms on some protection devices, as well as increase drag on satellites and affect their orientation.

The forecasters weren't aware of any significant impact to electrical or technological systems, but said there was a two-hour blackout of high frequency radio communications — affecting mainly ham radio operations — stretching from eastern Africa to eastern Australia.

Steenburgh also said that there was another solar flare late Thursday, similar to the one a few days ago that set off the current storm.

"Right now we're still analyzing when it will arrive" and how strong it could be, he said.

The space weather center had reports of Northern Lights across Canada and dipping into the northern tier of U.S. states, Steenburgh said.

While some experts thought the threat from the solar storm passed by earlier Thursday, the space weather center maintained the storm's effects could continue through Friday morning.

The current storm, which started with a solar flare Tuesday evening, caused a stir Wednesday because forecasts were for a strong storm with the potential to knock electrical grids offline, mess with GPS and harm satellites. It even forced airlines to reroute a few flights on Thursday.

It was never seen as a threat to people, just technology, and teased skywatchers with the prospect of colorful Northern Lights dipping further south.

But when the storm finally arrived around 6 a.m. EST Thursday, after traveling at 2.7 million mph, it was more a magnetic breeze than a gale. The power stayed on. So did GPS and satellites. And the promise of auroras seemed to be more of a mirage.

Scientists initially figured the storm would be the worst since 2006, but now seems only as bad as ones a few months ago, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the NOAA center. The strongest storm in recorded history was probably in 1859, he said.

"It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," Kunches said.

Forecasters can predict the speed a solar storm travels and its strength, but the north-south orientation is the wild card. This time it was a northern orientation, which is "pretty benign," Kunches said. Southern would have caused the most damaging technological disruption and biggest auroras.

On Thursday, North American utilities didn't report any problems, said Kimberly Mielcarek, spokeswoman for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a consortium of electricity grid operators. Her office didn't respond to a phone call early Friday.

Astronomers say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, forecast to be strong and ending up minor, still may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity.

The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach a peak next year. Storms as large as the latest one will probably happen several more times as the cycle ramps up to that peak, scientists said.

The region of the sun that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. Another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth.

"This is a big sun spot group, particularly nasty," NASA's Hathaway said. "Things are really twisted up and mixed up. It keeps flaring."

Storms like this start with sun spots. First, there's an initial solar flare of subatomic particles that resembles a filament coming out of the sun. That part usually reaches Earth only minutes after the initial burst, bringing radio and radiation disturbances. Next is the coronal mass ejection, which looks like a growing bubble and takes a couple days to reach Earth.

Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose power.

For North America, the good part of a solar storm — the one that creates more noticeable auroras or Northern Lights — was likely to peak Thursday evening. Auroras were likely to dip only as far south as the northern edges of the United States, Kunches said, but a full moon would make them harder to see.

Solar storms can bring additional radiation around the north and south poles — a risk that sometimes forces airlines to reroute flights. On Thursday, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines sent 11 flights to Asia on a more southern route rather than their more common path over the Arctic. Three American Airlines flights flew lower than normal over the northernmost parts of their routes to Japan and China.

The region received nearly twice the normal precipitation in the second half of year, thanks largely to tropical storm Irene and the October snowstorm.

File photo by Jeff BrownRain from tropical storm Irene flooded the Deerfield River in August and is shown here rushing under the Bridge of Flowers as it over flows its banks in Shelburne Falls.

Despite the historic lack of snow this winter, reservoir and groundwater levels are above normal in most places, the legacy of severe storms in late summer and early fall.

Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the nation and the main water supply for communities in eastern Massachusetts, was at 99.4 percent of capacity on Feb. 1, nearly 12 percent fuller than a year earlier.

And in the Blandford-Granville area, Cobble Mountain Reservoir, the principal water supply for Springfield, is currently at about 90 percent of capacity.

“On average, the reservoir is about 8 to 10 percent higher than what we typically see for this time of year,” said Katherine J. Pedersen, the executive director of the Springfield Water & Sewer Commission.

“At this point, we are not concerned about the water level,” Pederson said, adding “We will see what spring brings for precipitation.”

The period from Nov. 1 through February produced a record lack of snowfall for the region, with only about 8 inches of snow measured in Greater Springfield; until Wednesday, of course, when snowfalls ranging from 3 to 7 inches fell across the Pioneer Valley as March roared in to bring a reminder that it is still winter.

However, the period from Aug. 1 through October produced nearly twice the normal precipitation, thanks largely to tropical storm Irene and the unprecedented Halloween Eve snowstorm.

In its latest hydrological report, issued Feb. 16, the National Weather Service’s Taunton forecasting office noted, “Reservoir levels were generally near or above normal for this time of year” across New England. It added, “Ground water levels were generally normal to much above normal.”

However, snow depths were “well below normal.”

“The only snow found across southern New England was confined to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts and the highest hills in Northwest Connecticut, where above 1,000 feet there are a few inches on the ground,” the report said.

The National Weather Service is forecasting above normal temperatures for March for southern New England. Although March, on average, produces 10 inches of snow in Greater Springfield, there will likely be little snow on the ground for the spring melt, which, along with spring rains, helps to replenish reservoirs for the hot summer months. Typically, the melt comes in late March or early April.

However, the lack of snow cover does not necessarily mean reservoirs will drop sharply in the spring without the added meltwater.

In both the 2006-2007 and the 2009-2010 snow season, snowfall in much of the Pioneer Valley was less than 60 percent of normal. Yet, in both instances, Quabbin Reservoir was fuller in June than it was six months earlier in January.

Here are the average energy prices in the Pioneer Valley for the week ending today.

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The Smith College Bulb Show, going on now until March 18, at the College's Botanic Garden will showcase more than 6,000 bulbs to about 15,000 to 20,000 visitors, the garden's director said. Watch video

The Smith College Bulb Show, going on now until March 18, at the College's Botanic Garden will showcase more than 6,000 bulbs to about 15,000 to 20,000 visitors, the garden's director said.

New Englanders come to take photos, smell the flowers and get a taste of spring before the season officially arrives.

"I think people are surprised when they come here with the fragrance. That's the first thing that hits them when they open the door," Smith College Director of Botanic Gardens Michael Marcotrigiano said.

"It's very much like a complex perfume with all the different species flowering at the same time."

If you would like to visit the bulb show, daytime hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with special evening hours on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m.

Ever since devastating tornadoes struck the country’s heartland last week many local residents rallied in support, remembering what it was like in towns like Monson just nine months ago.

Wilbraham firefighter Jason A. Dimitropolis, of East Longmeadow, is seen in Henryville, Ind., where he went to help tornado victims.

Out in Henryville, Ind., where residents are still reeling from last week’s devastating tornadoes, Wilbraham firefighter Jason A. Dimitropolis was known simply as “Massachusetts.”

Dimitropolis, 26, of East Longmeadow, flew out to Henryville on Monday and got home Thursday night, taking with him supplies and $500 worth of gift cards his brother and mother collected in Monson, which is still recovering from a June 1 twister.

He also took with him his knowledge of being a first responder - he was called in to duty when the tornadoes struck Western Massachusetts last year.

“This is what we train for,” he said.

Even seeing a tornado’s destruction firsthand did not quite prepare him for the level of damage in Indiana.

“It’s a whole new world . . . Everything here is destroyed,” Dimitropolis said on Thursday from Henryville. “There are only a handful of buildings standing.”

“We’re talking an entire town. Everything in this town is gone. Their stores, and their gas stations, everything is gone.”

Dimitropolis said he headed to the Henryville Fire Department, one of the few buildings still standing, where he helped sort equipment and supplies, and assembled packages containing food, toiletries and blankets for the townspeople. He chose the small town – population 1,900 – because of its proximity to the airport.

“The first responders, everything they had is gone. It’s unbelievable the amount of devastation,” Dimitropolis said.

He also spent his time helping residents sift through the rubble of their homes, trying to find personal items. He recovered photo albums, war medals, a coffee mug.

He walked to the nearby town of Marysville, approximately 10 miles away, where the damage was just as bad.

“They lost everything,” Dimitropolis said.

Dimitropolis said his brother Sean, who runs the This & That shop in downtown Monson, and his mother, Brenda Tibbetts, who runs Tibbetts Optical next door, collected the items. His mother’s business sustained tornado damage, and was closed for several weeks for repairs. He said he gave out the cards to those who looked like they could use the help.

“I had the time off and the ability to help. I figured, why not?” Dimitropolis said. “It’s been completely worth it down here. I can’t tell you how many smiles, how many handshakes, I’ve gotten.”

He said everyone is focused on helping one another, and they are trying to make the best of the situation. There were 39 fatalities from the deadly tornadoes that swept through the Midwest and South last week.

Now, his younger brother, Sean, 24, will drive out to the Midwest on Sunday, towing a trailer of goods from Monson.

“My family was affected by the tornado (in Monson). It’s the least I can do to pay it forward. I’m lucky that my mom survived and didn’t get hurt,” Sean Dimitropolis said.

Sean Dimitropolis said his first stop will be Harrisburg, Ill., a town that he said Monson has “adopted” in the tornado aftermath.

Local Realtor Karen King coordinated a Facebook page for that town – Harrisburg Tornado Help - as a way for residents to communicate needs after the tornadoes. King said they adopted Harrisburg because it is a small town like Monson.

She also created pages for Henryville and Marysville on Facebook. Items needed are posted on those pages, as well as on the Monson Tornado Watch 2011 Facebook page.

It will take Sean Dimitropolis 18 hours to drive to Harrisburg. Then he will head to Henryville, five hours away. Sean Dimitropolis said he has more gift cards and cash donations, as well as cards made by Monson students to give to the residents. He said he will be working with the Henryville Fire Department and First Baptist Church in Harrisburg to distribute donated items.

King said seeing the television footage of the tornadoes brought back memories of June 1, and she had to do something to help. Her street angels volunteer group will meet Saturday to pack the donated items. Whatever is not needed will be used for the Monson families still recovering from the tornado, she said.

“They need the same stuff that we did,” King said about the Midwestern tornado victims.

Those items include work gloves, wash cloths, flash lights, tissues and disinfecting wipes. Soap and shampoo are not needed. Donations have poured in.

“There are people who are still really hurting around here, but I think it’s part of their healing. They had to ask for things for nine months. This is their way to help people,” King said.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanRuben and Kimberly Baker work out of their 62 East Hill Road home in Monson to gather items for tornado victims in the Midwest.

The Monson Senior Center is taking donations for the Golden Circle Senior Center in Harrisburg, which was destroyed. Monson Senior Center Director Lori M. Stacy said this is part of the new “seniors helping seniors” effort, and they raised $300 so far.

“This money is coming from our seniors,” Stacy said. “Personally we were so grateful to everyone. Lots of Senior Centers from all over the state of Massachusetts reached out to us after the tornado.”

“You can’t pay back all the volunteers that were here in town, but you can help someone else,” Stacy said.

Kimberly A. Baker has been collecting items at her East Hill Road in Monson for the Midwest tornado victims. She had “minor damage” from last year’s tornado. Baker said she is not surprised by the outpouring of help from Monson to the Midwest.

“I think maybe we realized what (a tornado) does to a community. We’re more empathetic. We know how much it meant to us as a community, to have all these people rally around us,” Baker said.

Bartok is collaborating with Jane Yolen on a young adult novel.

Mira Bartok just won the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography.

Just before lunch Thursday, one of Mira Bartok’s editors told her she should be prepared to win the National Book Critics Circle Award later that night for her memoir “The Memory Palace.”

That book was nominated for autobiography in a field that included Diane Ackerman, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Luis J. Rodríguez and Deb Olin Unferth.

Her editor told her to have a list of people to thank before the New York ceremony began .

Bartok of New Salem said she was just happy being nominated and didn’t consider winning.

But she did draft a list. “I stuck it in my boot.” And then she won.

“I was just surprised. I couldn’t read my own handwriting.” And she said she missed thanking some people she wanted to thank, said Bartok an artist and musician.

“I guess it’s a big deal. I spent most of my life making art and being in the fine arts world. I was a secret writer. I wasn’t like living a dream,” she said.

According a release announcing the winners, “The Memory Palace” was a “a book that rose to the formal challenge of blending her mother’s journals, reflections on her mother’s mental illness and subsequent homelessness, and thoughts on her own recovery from a head injury to create a heartfelt yet respectful work of art.”

She understands why the book has received a lot of attention. “It covers a lot of issues.” Traumatic brain injury is in the news these days with so many returning soldiers suffering from it. Bartok suffered a brain injury when her car was hit by a truck on the New York Thruway in 1999.

Also the book deals with “homelessness, mental illnesses, just going through an illness and the death of loved one. It covers a lot of bases. It’s touched a lot of people,” said Bartok in a phone interview Friday.

She’s hoping that winning the award “opens the door to other possibilities” such as teaching at workshops or low residency programs or paid speaking engagements. With a brain injury she can’t teach full-time.

She said her husband was laid off from his job so it’s been a little tough financially.

Meanwhile, she and Hatfield writer Jane Yolen are collaborating on a young adult novel set around 1901. Bartok will be offering her ideas for the writing part but mostly she’s doing the illustrations.

Westover may lose four reserve and 13 civilian jobs by Oct. 1.

WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE– Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray will bring his newly appointed Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force to Westover Air Reserve Base Thursday for a strategy session in an on-going effort to defend Baystate military installations and jobs against potential federal budget cuts.

It will be the third visit to Baystate military installations by the lieutenant governor in recent weeks who, along with business, labor and Chamber of Commerce officials statewide are gathering data and developing strategy in the attempt to preserve Massachusetts military installations, personnel and civilian support jobs from Department of Defense budget cuts.

The Air Force earlier this week announced plans to cut 153 civilian and 180 military jobs in Massachusetts as early as Oct. 1. The reduction is part of the Defense Department’s plan to trim $500 billion in defense spending over the next 10 years.

Murray, following a task force meeting this week, said “We all need to be clear-eyed there’s going to be belt tightening at the federal level, including the Department of Defense. However, the Patrick-Murray Administration, Task Force and our congressional delegation are all working together because there are opportunities to demonstrate efficiencies and highlight the strategic importance of the missions across the bases and facilities in Massachusetts.”

The Air Force announced in February plans to transfer eight of the 16 C-5 jumbo jet transports assigned to Westover’s 439th Airlift Wing to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas in 2016.

Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said Friday said “Massachusetts is in a good position to build strong support in preserving our military assets.

“Westover Air Reserve Base, because of its location, is more than just a key to national security on the East Coast. Unquestionably, it is a strategic location for defense but also for deployment to Europe.

“Westover is unquestionably the perfect location. We are in a much better location for protection and European deployment than Lackland is,” said Bissonnette.

“This is the best location for deployment overseas for both troops and equipment and humanitarian services,” the mayor said.

In addition to Thursday’s meeting, Bissonnette said he is scheduled to meet with U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass. on March 19 when the senator has scheduled a tour of Westover.

Brown, along with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Mass. are working with Murray and the Task Force to prevent military reductions here.

Murray’s first military tour and strategy session on Feb. 3 at the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield was followed by a similar visit to Hanscom Air Force Base March 5.

He and the Task Force has also met with Massachusetts National Guard commander Maj. Gen. Joseph C. Carter and Air Guard commander Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice this week to their perspective on proposed military cutbacks.

Westover has a total of 2,333 reserve members with 79 full-time reserves and 838 civilian workers. The planned cut is four reserve members and 13 civilians effective with the FY13 budget.

There has been no indication of any realignment or reassignment of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes but the manpower cuts schedule for Fiscal 2013 will reduce that unit by two military and one civilian position.

Rice has said the majority of Air National Guard manpower cuts will target the Air Operational Group assigned to Otis Air National Guard Base.

Otis currently has 895 part-time guard members serving with 146 full-time guard and 265 civilian personnel. The Air Force cut will eliminate 135 part-time and 8 full-time unit members along with 31 civilians.

A look at the political stories making headlines around the country regarding the Presidential and U.S. Senate Race in Massachusetts.

View full sizeThe Oxford, Connecticut company Hero Builders recently released a new round of 2012 Republican Presidential candidate dolls. They are reporting that Mitt Romney is outselling the competition but a talking Rick Perry doll is also popular. (Photo courtesy of http://www.herobuilders.com)

• Elizabeth Warren draws kind words from Cher, criticism from GOP [New York Times]


• Scott Brown impossibly tries to distance himself from former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney [Washington Post]


• Scott Brown wades into foreclosure dispute between bank and black Boston church [Boston Globe]


• Recent polls have some Democrats worried about Elizabeth Warren's campaign [Boston Globe]


• U.S. Sen. Scott Brown talks in-depth with veterans in Revere [Revere Journal]


Elizabeth Warren Talks About Transparent Banking in Charlestown
• Connecticut company makes dolls of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum & Newt Gingrich [Oxford Patch]


• Mitt Romney says regulators should be friends with business [CBS News]


Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown Addresses Americans' Low Opinion of Congress
• Twitter posts tagged #westernma in Western Mass. [MassLive.com]


• Read more News Links »


• Do you have News Links? Send them our way or tweet them to @masslivenews

NOTE: Users of modern browsers can open each link in a new tab by holding 'control' ('command' on a Mac) and clicking each link.

The Dow Jones industrial average has nearly doubled in the three years since its bottom during the financial crisis.

By DANIEL WAGNER | AP Business Writer

Stocks closed modestly higher Friday after the government's monthly report on employment bolstered hopes that the economic recovery is on track. The gains were tempered by news that a big debt write-down by Greece could cause big losses for banks.

Three years after stocks hit bottom during the Great Recession, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 14 points and finished the week with a loss of 56. That was after a 203-point dive Tuesday, the worst drop this year.

The Dow was up more than 60 points Friday morning but lost ground in the afternoon after the trade group that oversees financial derivatives said Greece's bond-swap deal will trigger payouts on bond insurance.

The Dow finished up 14.08 points, or 0.1 percent, at 12,922.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 4.96, or 0.4 percent, to 1,370.87. The Nasdaq composite average gained 17.92, or 0.6 percent, to 2,988.34.

The Dow has nearly doubled in the three years since its bottom during the financial crisis. On March 9, 2009, it closed at 6,547. The S&P 500 closed that day at 676.

The morning's gains were driven by news that employers added 227,000 jobs last month, finishing three of the best months for hiring since the recession began. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent because unemployed people started looking for work again, which increased the size of the labor force.

The hiring was spread across a range of industries, including business and professional services, leisure and hospitality and health care.

Later Friday, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said it had determined that a massive bond-swap by Greece constituted a "credit event," meaning that holders of credit-default swaps on their Greek bonds will be able to claim insurance payments. Traders sold stocks on the news, fearing big losses for banks that had sold the insurance.

Greece convinced most of its private creditors to swap their bonds for new ones worth far less. The deal clears the way for a fresh bailout from Greece's neighbors. Fears of a disorderly Greek default have weighed on the market for two years.

"There's a lot less imbalance and a lot less uncertainty than there was three years ago," said John Canally, investment strategist with LPL Financial Corp. Canally said the odds of another recession have been dropping as the economic recovery strengthens and becomes less vulnerable to shocks.

For the week, the Dow lost 55.55 points, or 0.4 percent. It was the second straight week of modest losses for the Dow, which closed above 13,000 last week for the first time since May 2008.

Canally said investors should be prepared for the stock market's rally to fade after significant gains so far this year. He said his firm had slowed stock purchases because the market had gained as much in two months as he expected it to gain all year. The Dow is up 6 percent for the year, the S&P 500 9 percent.

European stocks added to their gains after the U.S. market opened. France's benchmark indexes closed 0.3 percent higher, Britain's 0.5 percent higher and Germany's 0.7 percent higher.

Also Friday, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit surged in January to the widest imbalance in more than three years as imports hit an all-time high, reflecting rising demand for foreign-made cars, computers and food products.

Exports to Europe fell, raising concerns that economic contraction across most of the continent will hurt U.S. corporate profits.

Some of the stocks that made big moves on Friday:

• Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. plunged 16 percent after its larger rival, Starbucks Corp., said it will start selling single-cup coffee machines. That could deflate demand for Green Mountain's Keurig machines. Starbucks rose 3 percent.

• Texas Instruments fell 1 percent after the chipmaker lowered its forecast for revenue and earnings in the first quarter, blaming weaker demand for wireless products.

• Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. leaped 23 percent after the maker of guns and security systems beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

The increase in net sales was driven by strong sales of military and police handguns and sporting rifles and personal protection and concealed carry pistols.

SPRINGFIELD – Smith & Wesson’s stock shot up Friday on solid earnings news.

The stock, which trades in the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol SWHC, closed the day at $6.95 a share. That was up $1.29 on the day, or a 21 percent gain.

Thursday, the company announced that net sales for its most recent quarter were $98.1 million, up 23.8 percent from the $79 million recorded in the same quarter last year. The increase was driven by strong sales of M&P – it stands for military and police – handguns, M&P sporting rifles and all Smith & Wesson personal protection and concealed carry pistols, according to the company.

Gross profit for the third quarter was $30 million, or 30.6 percent of net sales, compared with gross profit of $19.4 million, or 24.5 percent of net sales, for the same period last year. The improvement in gross profit was driven by increased sales volume and increased overhead absorption due to higher production levels as well as cost-reduction initiatives across the organization, including the completion of the consolidation of the Thompson/Center Arms business to Springfield.

Smith & Wesson’s operating expense for the most recent quarter totaled $19.7 million, or 20.1 percent of net sales, compared with operating expense of $21.3 million, or 26.9 percent of net sales, for the same quarter of last year.

The bill could make some dog owners howling mad.

Photo by Michael DeehanRep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera of Springfield is shown with two of her dogs - Tinker bell, a miniature toy Chihuahua, and Liam, a terrier mix.

BOSTON - A Springfield legislator is seeking to clamp down on people whose dogs are chained all day or tied with heavy logging chains that could injure animals.

Democratic Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, who owns three dogs and is well known for her love of dogs and finding strays new homes, is sponsoring legislation that would create the first state-wide law for tethering canines.

Under her bill, which was heard this week by a legislative committee, dogs cannot be tied up outside for more than 8 hours in any one day. The bill would ban dogs from being “chained, tethered or confined” outside between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

No dog less than six months old could be tied outside at all. Logging chains and certain other devices would be banned.

“It’s to protect the animal,” Coakley-Rivera said of her bill. “It’s a matter of humane treatment.”

She said some pet owners think it’s all right to leave dogs tied up all day in their yards. She and others said it is a problem across the state and can lead to other poor treatment such as a lack of food, dirty conditions and isolation.

Yet, the bill might make some dog lovers howling mad.

Nancy Fisk, owner of Wishing Well Kennel, an all-breed boarding kennel in Bellingham, said the bill could severely affect hobby breeders and sports people such as owners of sled dogs.

In testimony presented to legislators, Fisk said the bill would make it illegal for dogs to be in outdoor kennels overnight.

Kathryn Podgers of Cambridge, pictured with Shannon, her Siberian Huskie, is opposed to a bill that seeks to ban dogs from being tethered outside overnight.

“This makes no sense at all,” she said, according to a copy of her testimony. “If the concern were nuisance barking, it would not apply to me because I have no nearby neighbors and for other dog owners, enforcement of existing noise ordinances would solve that issue.”

New restrictions on tethering could also hurt "mushers," who use tethering as confinement in order to train and condition sled dogs, she testified.

Kathryn S. Podgers, 68, of Cambridge said the bill would force her to bring her service dog, Shannon, an eight-year-old Siberian Huskie, inside at night, where she said her dog would go stir crazy.

She said Shannon is “an outside dog” who has been raised outdoors since her birth. Like other Siberian Huskies, Podgers said, Shannon rarely barks and does not act territorial.

She said the bill fails to discriminate between breeds. A Husky loves to be outside while a Chihuahua may be better off inside, she said.

Podgers said the bill should be changed to protect “unattended” dogs, or dogs that are tethered and left alone at a home. Behavior problems are caused when dogs are left by themselves, not necessarily when they are tethered, she said.

The bill appears to have more than a dog’s chance of passage.

It is being backed by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and co-sponsored by Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo Jr., a Springfield Democrat.

“I support it,” said Puppolo, whose own dog – Zippy the miniature poodle – is a “house dog” except when he goes out for walks. “It’s a good piece of legislation. It will put some teeth into the law.”

Rep. Angelo Puppolo, pictured with Zippy the poodle, is cosponsoring a bill to curb the chaining of dogs.

Rivera said the bill is intended to ban the chaining of dogs overnight or for long periods of time.

She said she is willing to work with sled dog owners or others who might have a bone to pick.

The bill would also control the size and condition of the property where a dog is confined, Coakley-Rivera said. If it is outside, the dog would need to be in a pen, secure enclosure, a fully fenced yard, a trolley system or tether attached to a pulley in a cable run under certain conditions. The dog would need to have adequate space for exercise and access to water and shelter, she said.

If the bill becomes law, people could face a written warning or $50 fine for a first violation. Fines would be higher for subsequent offenses. Owners could be required to give up their dogs under some circumstances.

During a hearing Tuesday by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, Kara Holmquist, director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, testified in support of the legislation, saying that complaints about constantly-chained dogs are common and sometimes heart-wrenching.

It might sound cruel to leave dogs isolated on a chain for lengthy periods, but legally the society can do nothing about those types of situations, she added.

“A dog could spend his or her entire life tethered to a tree and this is not currently against the law,” she said.

At least six municipalities in Massachusetts, including Amherst, Easthampton, East Longmeadow, and Greenfield, have restrictions on tethering, she said. Twenty states, including Connecticut, Maine and Vermont, have some rules against tying or chaining dogs, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, she said.

Catherine Greig is considering pleading guilty to helping Bulger evade capture.

BOSTON — The brother of one of reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger's alleged murder victims says he's been told by a representative for federal prosecutors that Bulger's girlfriend Catherine Greig is considering pleading guilty to helping Bulger evade capture.

Steven Davis tells The Boston Globe a federal victim advocate told him Friday Greig's lawyers indicated she's considering pleading guilty without a plea bargain and prosecutors asked victims' relatives to meet with them Monday.

WCVB-TV first reported Davis's comments that Greig was considering a plea deal.

Messages were left Friday for Greig's attorney, the U.S. attorney's office, and Davis.

Greig has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive.

Bulger and Greig were captured in June in California after 16 years on the run. He has pleaded not guilty in connection with 19 killings.

Catherine Greig

Repairs are expected to be completed by Tuesday.

GREENFIELD - Telephone service to city hall was disrupted on Friday, according to a statement from Mayor William Martin's office.

Repairs to the system are ongoing, and it is expected phone service will resume at the latest by Tuesday morning, the statement said.

In the interim, the Town Hall will be open its regular operating hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The first wife first noticed her husband had moved on to another woman when Facebook suggested a friendship connection to wife No. 2 under the "People You May Know" feature.

By MANUEL VALDES

SEATTLE — Facebook's automatic efforts to connect users through "friends" they may know recently led two Washington women to find out they were married to the same man, at the same time.

That led to the man, corrections officer Alan L. O'Neill, being slapped with bigamy charges.

According to charging documents filed Thursday, O'Neill married a woman in 2001, moved out in 2009, changed his name and remarried without divorcing her. The first wife first noticed O'Neill had moved on to another woman when Facebook suggested the friendship connection to wife No. 2 under the "People You May Know" feature.

"Wife No. 1 went to wife No. 2's page and saw a picture of her and her husband with a wedding cake," Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told The Associated Press.

Wife No. 1 then called the defendant's mother.

"An hour later the defendant arrived at (Wife No. 1's) apartment, and she asked him several times if they were divorced," court records show. "The defendant said, 'No, we are still married.'"

Neither O'Neill nor his first wife had filed for divorce, according to charging documents. The name change came in December, and later that month he married his second wife.

O'Neill allegedly told wife No. 1 not to tell anybody about his dual marriages, that he would fix it, the documents state. But wife No. 1 alerted authorities.

"Facebook is now a place where people discover things about each other they end up reporting to law enforcement," Lindquist said.

Athima Chansanchai, a freelance journalist who writes about social media, said Facebook over the years has played a role in both creating relationships and destroying them.

"It's just the latest vessel by which people can stray if they want to," she said.

O'Neill, 41, was previously known as Alan Fulk. He has worked as a Pierce County corrections officer for five years, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

He was placed on administrative leave after prosecutors charged him Thursday. He could face up to a year in jail if convicted.

O'Neill and his first wife had issues that went back to 2009. In 2010, his first wife was arrested after an altercation with the woman who later became the second wife.

A Facebook message to wife No. 1 was not immediately returned. There was no immediate phone number available for O'Neill and his second wife.

Lindquist said it's unclear why O'Neill and wife No. 1 didn't go through the divorce.

"Every few years we see one of these (bigamy) cases," he added.

O'Neill is free, but due in court later this month, which is standard procedure for non-violent crimes, Lindquist said.

"About the only danger he would pose is marrying a third woman," he said.

Thompson was arrested after firefighters responding to a blaze at his 44 Gail St. home detected a marijuana-like odor coming from the cellar.

Michael Thompson

SPRINGFIELD - Michael Thompson, 28, of Springfield, was released on $500 cash bail Friday following his arraignment on charges of cultivating and possessing marijuana.

Thompson was arrested after firefighters responding to a blaze at his 44 Gail St. home detected a marijuana-like odor coming from the cellar. Police said they found 9 pounds of marijuana wrapped and packaged for sale, and more than 500 marijuana plants.

The fire apparently started with a malfunctioning gasoline-powered generator that was being used to provide off-the-grid electric power for the growing equipment, police said.