The rich environment of learning includes a real push to get students to take advanced placement courses, McNiff said.

Don Treeger / The RepublicanSean McNiff spent Wednesday at South Hadley High School, where he is a finalist for the position of principal.

SOUTH HADLEY – Sean McNiff, one of two finalists in the search for a principal for South Hadley High School, spent Wednesday at the school speaking with teachers and students, touring the building, and meeting with the public in the evening.

McNiff has been assistant principal at Marblehead High School for two years.

He lives in Shutesbury with his wife, an artist, and their four children, ages 2 to 11. He commutes more than two hours each way to work, rising at 3:45 a.m.

On Wednesday evening, McNiff told a group of about two dozen that he had been impressed by the “positive atmosphere” among the students he spoke with during the day, and by the “really rich environment of learning,” which includes “a real push to get students to take advanced placement courses.”

He told one questioner that, like South Hadley, Marblehead High doesn’t get credit for its high academic standards, with some parents sending their kids to private school when they reach the high school level.

“We were ranked 23rd in Massachusetts by Boston Magazine – and we still face questions about academic rigor,” said McNiff.

He said part of this perception comes when a school is also very good in athletics, as South Hadley High is.

He said Marblehead is fighting back by actively going to parents, showing them around the school, informing them, much the way a private school would do to recruit students.

“This school offers a tremendous amount from an academic standpoint,” he said of South Hadley High School.

He said the school has special challenges, including – in a reference to Phoebe Prince, a freshman who committed suicide last year after enduring alleged ongoing bullying from several classmates – “the continuing healing process that’s going on in the community.”

McNiff majored in English at Fitchburg State College and taught in the Fitchburg Public Schools for eight years.

He was assistant principal at Lowell Catholic High School, where he helped create a community service curriculum and directed a community service learning program that involved all students and staff at the school.

McNiff earned a law degree from New England School of Law in Boston.

During his first year as assistant principal at Marblehead High, he and another assistant principal shared the duties of principal when that post was temporarily vacant.

The other finalist for principal of South Hadley High School, Richard Manley, visited South Hadley Tuesday.

The search for a principal began when current South Hadley High Principal Daniel T. Smith announced in February that he would leave his position at the end of this school year.

The Republican | Don TreegerSean McNiff

Tuscaaloosa, home to the University of Alabama, saw entire sections of the city destroyed and hundreds displaced and injured.

View full sizeResidents survey the destruction after a tornado hit Pratt City, Ala. just north of downtown Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people around the region and splintering buildings across swaths of an Alabama university town. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people in four states and splintering buildings across swaths of an Alabama university town.

In Alabama alone, 25 people died Wednesday. There were 11 deaths in Mississippi, including a father killed as he tried to shelter his daughter from the storm at a campsite.

Tuscaloosa's mayor said sections of the city that's home to the University of Alabama had been destroyed by a massive tornado, while a hospital there said its emergency room had admitted at least 100 people. News footage showed paramedics lifting a child out of a flattened home, with many neighboring buildings in the city of more than 83,000 also reduced to rubble.

"The city experienced widespread damage from a tornado that cut a path of destruction deep into the heart of the city," Mayor Walter Maddox said in a statement.

The storm system spread destruction Tuesday night and Wednesday from Texas to Georgia. The system was forecast to hit the Carolinas next and then move further northeast.

"Today is the day you want to be careful," said Greg Carbin of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma.

A state of emergency was declared in Alabama, where Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yasamie August said the death toll had reached 25 for the day.

Around Tuscaloosa, traffic was snarled Wednesday night by downed trees and power lines, and some drivers abandoned their cars in medians. University officials said there didn't appear to be significant damage on campus, and it was opening its student recreation center as a shelter.

Brian Sanders, the manager of an oil change shop, brought his daughters to DCH Regional Medical Center because he felt they'd be safe there. He said his business had been leveled.

"I can't believe we walked away," he said.

View full sizeA tornado moves through Tuscaloosa, Ala. Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A wave of severe storms laced with tornadoes strafed the South on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people around the region and splintering buildings across swaths of an Alabama university town. (AP Photo/The Tuscaloosa News, Dusty Compton)

Austin Ransdell and a friend had to hike out of their neighborhood south of Birmingham after the house where he was living was crushed by four trees. No one was hurt.

As he walked away from the wreckage, trees and power lines crisscrossed residential streets, and police cars and utility trucks blocked a main highway.

"The house was destroyed. We couldn't stay in it. Water pipes broke; it was flooding the basement," he said. "We had people coming in telling us another storm was coming in about four or five hours, so we just packed up."

Not far away, Craig Branch was stunned by the damage.

"Every street to get into our general subdivision was blocked off. Power lines are down; trees are all over the road. I've never seen anything like that before," he said

In Huntsville, Meteorologists found themselves in the path of tornado and had to evacuate the National Weather Service office.

In Choctaw County, Miss., a Louisiana police officer was killed Wednesday morning when a towering sweetgum tree fell onto his tent as he shielded his young daughter with his body, said Kim Korthuis, a supervisor with the National Park Service. The girl wasn't hurt.

The 9-year-old girl was brought to a motorhome about 100 feet away where campsite volunteer Greg Maier was staying with his wife, Maier said. He went back to check on the father and found him dead.

"She wasn't hurt, just scared and soaking wet," Maier said.

Her father, Lt. Wade Sharp, had been with the Covington Police Department for 19 years.

"He was a hell of an investigator," said Capt. Jack West, his colleague in Louisiana.

Also in Mississippi, a man was crushed in his mobile home when a tree fell during the storm, a truck driver died after hitting a downed tree on a state highway and a member of a county road crew was killed when he was struck by a tree they were removing.

By late Wednesday, the death toll had increased to 11 for the day, said Mississippi Emergency Management Association spokesman Jeff Rent. The governor also made an emergency declaration for much of the state.

Storms also killed two people in Georgia and one in Tennessee on Wednesday. Aside from the 39 deaths on Wednesday, one person was killed by the same storm system late the previous night in Arkansas.

In eastern Tennessee, a woman was killed by falling trees in her trailer in Chattanooga. Just outside the city in Tiftonia, what appeared to be a tornado also struck at the base of the tourist peak Lookout Mountain.

Tops were snapped off trees and insulation and metal roof panels littered the ground. Police officers walked down the street, spray-painting symbols on houses they had checked for people who might be inside.

Mary Ann Bowman, 42, stood watching from her driveway as huge tractors moved downed trees in the street. She had rushed home from work to find windows shattered at her house, and her grandmother's house next door shredded. The 91-year-old woman wasn't home at the time.

"When I pulled up I just started crying," Bowman said.

Many around the region were happy to survive unscathed even if their houses didn't. In Choctaw County, Miss., 31-year-old Melanie Cade patched holes in her roof after it was heavily damaged overnight.

Cade was in bed with her three children when the storm hit.

"The room lit up, even though the power was out. Stuff was blowing into the house, like leaves and bark. Rain was coming in sideways," she said, adding that they managed to scurry into a bathroom.

"I didn't care what happened to the house," Cade said. "I was just glad we got out of there."

Rix, principal at South Middle School, said his priorities would be teaching and learning for students, staff support, safety in schools and identifying financial resources.

The Republican | Michael S. GordonWestfield school superintendent finalist Ronald Rix, the principal of South Middle School, said his priorities would be teaching and learning for students, staff support, safety in schools and identifying financial resources.

WESTFIELD – If appointed superintendent of schools here, priorities for Ronald R. Rix will be teaching and learning for students, staff support, safety in schools and identifying financial resources.

Rix, principal at South Middle School, is the third of four candidates to interview for the position before the School Committee. He is the only internal finalist.

“I hope to spend little money,” Rix told the School Committee on Wednesday. “But, I expect to invest a lot in the preparation of our kids for the future, to streamline and reduce duplication within the School Department,” he said.

He said he will “take the lead role in making our budget align with our vision and mission and will take responsibility in advocating what we need. I am confident I can explain the needs and roles of each aspect of the School Department.”

Rix said he has a “solid background” in both public and private education and “I am proud of my educational background and I took classes that are real and relevant” in response to a query concerning his lack of a doctorate degree. Rix was a finalist for the superintendent post here four years ago when the committee hired Shirley Alvira who will retire at the close of the school year.

The middle school principal is one of two candidates who lacks a doctorate, listed as a preference in the job posting by the School Committee. The other was Melodie L. Goodwin, curriculum director for North Adams School District, who interviewed Tuesday.

In addition to being principal at South Middle School, Rix served Westfield as an assistant principal and then principal of North Middle School.

Previously he worked as a director of programming with the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is a former interim director and director of training for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s national volunteer training center. And, from 1989 to 1991 was a regional manager for the U.S. Department of Education’s Northeast Regional Center for Safe and Drug Free Schools.

Rix began his career in education as a science and health teacher at Agawam High School in 1980.

Rix told the School Committee “a superintendent must have the leadership skills to get people to do things on their own, and my background has prepared me for this new challenge.

“I am proud of the accomplishments at our middle school system while being principal, and there is no other candidate that has the passion I have to see our students succeed.”

Rix holds a master’s degree in education from Westfield State College; a bachelor’s degree from Springfield College and has 60 hours of post graduate studies at the University of Virginia, University of Massachusetts, Westfield State University and Fitchburg State University.

The School Committee interviewed Maureen F. Bingham, assistant superintendent in Swampscott, Monday night, North Adams Curriculum Director Melodie Goodwin on Tuesday, and will interview Suzanne Scallion, principal of Napa, Calif., Unified School District, on Saturday morning.

The committee plans to name a new superintendent in early May.

A second victim remains in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center and a third was treated and released.

Republican file photo

WESTFIELD – Police have identified the 23-year-old man killed in a one-car accident on Route 202 early Wednesday as city resident Dzmitry Khotski.

Khotski, driving west near Hampton Ponds, was ejected from his BMW. A passenger, 22-year-old Raman Marozau, also ejected, suffered facial injuries and is in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Sgt. Edward Murphy said.

A third passenger, Dzmitry Maskaleu, 24, was treated at Baystate and released, Murphy said. All three victims share the same address of 917 Southampton Road.

The fatality is the third traffic-related death in Westfield in a week.

Murphy said investigators believe speed was a factor in the crash which remains under investigation by city and state police. “We are still trying to piece the pieces of the puzzle together here,” he said.

Police had a difficult time contacting Khotski’s closest relatives because they all live in Belarus. “There is no next-of-kin here, we had to go through the State Department,” Murphy said.

The crash occurred shortly after 12:15 a.m. The car, a 1998 BMW, crossed over to the eastbound lane, struck a guardrail, crossed back into the westbound lane and then off the roadway.

The BMW came to rest on a dirt pile near the Russian Evangelical Baptist Church which is undergoing an expansion, Murphy said.

Police closed that section of the roadway, also known as North Road, for about 4½ hours while they investigated the crash.

The discovery of the chemicals is the second such incident in the city in a week, Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Moran said.

John Suchocki / The Republican04.28.2011 | HOLYOKE - Emergency workers respond to Northampton St. following the discovery of two milk jugs believed to contain by-products from methamphetamine production.

UPDATE, 1:09 p.m.: Officials reopened Northampton St. shortly after noon.

HOLYOKE - Officials have closed Northampton St. (Route 5) from Whiting Farms Road to Laurel Street following the discovery of two milk jugs believed to contain chemicals used in the production of methamphetamines.

The jugs, each about half-filled with a clear liquid, were discovered on the side of the road between West Glen and Clark streets Thursday morning.

Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Moran said officials believe the chemicals may be by-products from a "meth lab." The discovery of the chemicals is the second such incident in the city in a week, Moran said.

Holyoke Fire Dept. spokesman Lt. Thomas G. Paquin said the department, in conjunction with the Western Massachusetts Hazardous Materials Team, responded to a similar incident in the same area Sunday. Subsequent tests showed the substances were consistent with those used in methamphetamine production, prompting a more significant level of response today.

Paquin said the incidents have been an ongoing issue in the neighborhood. The presence of the chemicals has been a cause for concern among fire officials, Paquin said, because of their potential for combustion if collected by sanitation workers.

Alejandro Sanchez, who lives across the street from the scene, said he has seen similar containers placed in the roadway several times over the past few months.

"It's almost every week that they do that. They always put out two gallons," Sanchez said.

Members of the State Hazardous Materials Response Team arrived at the scene around 11 a.m. this morning.

The discovery of an alleged meth lab at a Bridge Street home in Northampton in October 2010 led to the indictment of three men and a woman on charges that included manufacturing a Class B substance and conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act.

According to a page on the state of Oregon's official website, the production of methamphetamines involves a number of common household items -- including drain cleaners, bleach, iodine, muriatic acid, toluene and over-the-counter drugs containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The process generates a large amount of chemical waste.

This is a developing story. Details will be added as they become available.

Corporate donations to United Way have been very strong this past year. But she also said 90 percent of the United Way’s fundraising comes from workplace campaigns and the majority of that money comes through weekly payroll deductions. Look form more details to follow in The Republican and on MassLive.com

Republican File PhotoSeptember 30, 2010 - Springfield - Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - Editorial meeting with officials from the United Way of Pioneer Valley at The Republican Thursday. This is Dora D. Robinson, president and CEO.

HOLYOKE – United Way of Pioneer Valley has $6.1 million in donations committed through its 2011 fundraising campaign, beating its stated goal of collecting $5.9 million and nearly matching the $6.2 million raised in 2010.

“In spite of the economy, in spite of unemployment, in spite of underemployment and all the challenges we face, this is fantastic news,” said Dora D. Robinson, United Way of Pioneer Valley’s president and chief executive officer.

She corporate donations to United Way have been very strong this past year. But she also said 90 percent of the United Way’s fundraising comes from workplace campaigns and the majority of that money comes through weekly payroll deductions.

“Some people are giving less. But more people are giving,” Robinson said. “People see the need from their friends and neighbors. They see the need in their communities. There is a basic human response to give.”

Robinson announced fundraising results Thursday morning at United Way of Pioneer Valley’s annual victory Celebration at The Log Cabin Meeting and Banquet House in Holyoke.

The announcement comes as United Way is moving to a more results-based means of allocating funding to its various member agencies. Those agencies have been promised level funding through December 2011.

But next year’s funding will be based on United Way’s core strategy of addressing youth and education, health-care and disease prevention and financial security for children and families. Agencies will have to show the United Way outcomes, not just numbers of people served in order to get more money in the future.

“We’ll ask the question: So what?” Robinson said. “Our decisions will really be based around showing that you have moved that needle.”

Raymond Berry, United Way of Pioneer Valley senior vice president for finance said 20 percent of the money raised through the campaign goes to overhead including administration and fundraising costs. But the overall organization brings in some money from other sources, so the overhead portion of its total budget is lower than 20 percent.

Robinson said United Way of Pioneer Valley serves 156,000 people in 2009. It supports 100 programs in 44 separate organizations. 

Gelinas is suing Boisselle for violating his First Amendment rights.

More than a year after he threw a citizen activist out of a public School Committee meeting, former South Hadley School Committee chairman Ed Boisselle defended his actions, saying he was justified in ejecting Luke Gelinas from the buildling.

“I knew at that time that I was in charge of the meeting, and that he was being disruptive, and that if he wanted his full First Amendment rights, they were out on the street. And I think I pointed to where he could go for that,” said Boisselle.

Boiselle's recent comments came during a wide-ranging series of interviews Tuesday with University of Massachusetts investigative journalism students examining South Hadley and the aftermath of Phoebe Prince's suicide. His comments came one day before reports began surfacing that five of the six students charged in connection with Prince's bullying had negotiated plea deals.

Gelinas is suing Boisselle and two police officers who were at the meeting for violating his First Amendment rights.

According to Boisselle, Gelinas was in violation of School Committee policy at the April 14, 2010 meeting. It is against policy to use disparaging or abusive language, which Boisselle said Gelinas did. Gelinas also distributed copies of his speech, which is not permitted unless it is given to the School Committee beforehand for approval.

Boisselle ordered South Hadley police officers Todd Dineen and David Gagne to remove Gelinas from the packed meeting after he criticized the school administration for the handling of Phoebe Prince before and after her tragic death last January.

In a video clip of the meeting, Gelinas is interrupted during his request that the school administration be held accountable by Boisselle’s sounding of the gavel.

“Hold on, hold on,” Boisselle tells Gelinas. At which point Gelinas says, “I was interrupted. Please strike from the record and allow me to continue.” “No, you’re done,” Boisselle responds.

Over a year later, Boisselle stands by his decision to remove Gelinas from the meeting and claims that he was disruptive and disorderly. Boisselle gave two guidelines for the meeting: keep statements to three minutes per person and do not discuss any aspects of Prince’s personal life, claiming a duty as chairperson to honor the Princes’ privacy. Boisselle says that Gelinas did not follow either of those guidelines.

Boisselle insists that Gelinas was out of time and that it was his right as chair to interrupt him in order to maintain control of the meeting. He also says that because of the “emotional tenor” of the meeting, that control was ever more important.

“(He) just doesn’t get it. As to whether or not he has a First Amendment right to say whatever he wants, that could probably be debated and I imagine it will be,” Boisselle said.

Gelinas told The Republican last fall that he did not exceed his time limit and that Boisselle and the officers displayed “schoolyard behavior” and that they should be setting a better example for kids.

Darby O’Brien, friend to Gelinas and fellow activist, said in an earlier interview that after the meeting in question, many South Hadley residents are now afraid to speak freely.

Boiselle dismissed such concerns and questioned why the pair are "obsessed" with the Prince case.

Boisselle said that he has spent most of the time since Prince’s death avoiding the media, claiming that the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe were printing manipulations and half-truths. But now he is ready to tell the administration’s side of the story.

“I think our word has to get out. Not at the expense of Phoebe or her family. But I think it’s important for people to start figuring out what the truth is and what it isn’t,” Boisselle said.

Rosie WalunasEd Boisselle speaks to UMass journalism students about the Phoebe Prince case.

Patrick said he was disappointed that Donald Trump was able to garner attention over the issue.

Associated PressMassachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in the Governor's office at the Statehouse, in Boston, in a Jan. 4, 2011 file photo.

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick says the questions Donald Trump and others raised about President Barack Obama's birth records were "ridiculous charges" and an attempt to marginalize the president.

Patrick told WTKK-FM on Thursday that it was time to move on after Obama released copies of his long form birth certificate that showed he was born in Hawaii.

Patrick said he was disappointed that a "character" like Trump was able to garner the attention he did over the issue.

The governor, a close friend and strong supporter of Obama, said he hoped the American people — and the Republican Party — was "bigger and better than this."

Officer Derek Cook will now be tried on four charges, not two.

Michael S. Gordon / The Republican04.28.2011 | SPRINGFIELD - Police Officer Derek V. Cook in Springfield District Court Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD - Derek V. Cook, the city patrolman who's had criminal charges pending against him for more than three years, appeared in court Thursday to deny charges of illegal wiretapping and assault and battery.

District Court Judge Robert A. Gordon ordered Cook released on his own recognizance on charges alleging he assaulted Lt. Robert Moynihan in February 2008 and illegally recorded the 2008 station-house fight in which he is accused of attacking Moynihan and now retired police Sgt. Dennis M. O'Connor.

The felony illegal wiretapping charge was filed Monday by Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni. Prosecutors also revived a charge accusing Cook of assaulting Moynihan for the Feb. 2, 2008 fight.

Former district attorney William M. Bennett had decided to drop prosecution of the assault case naming Moynihan as victim before leaving office at the end of his term in 2010. Mastroianni said the law gives him a chance to reverse that decision now that he is in office.

Cook was scheduled for trial Thursday on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and threatening to commit a crime for attacking O'Connor, the sergeant was attempting to quell the disturbance. Assistant District Attorney Donna S. Donato and Charles W. Groce, Cook's lawyer, told Gordon all four charges will now be tried together. Both cases are scheduled for a pre-trial conference May 12.

Donato said, the prosecution is "very anxious for a quick trial date" for all four charges.

Mastroianni stressed that the wiretapping charge is not based on any new conduct; it stems from the February 2008 incident.

Cook, an 18-year veteran of the force, is accused of surreptitiously using a cell phone or a personal digital assistant-type device to record the police roll-call meeting that preceded the altercation and the subsequent events, including a confrontation between himself and Moynihan.

The two men were behind closed doors discussing an incident that occurred at the earlier roll-call. Several officers reported hearing the sound of a body hitting the ground, according to reports of the incident. They rushed in, the reports said, and found Moynihan on the floor appearing unconscious with Cook standing above him with a raised fist.

O'Connor tried to restrain and calm Cook, according to the reports. Cook is accused of shoving O'Connor across a room, resulting in the sergeant sustaining a broken tailbone.

Mastroianni said investigators were aware of the recording in 2008, and it had been the decision of Bennett and his administration not to initially charge Cook with illegal wiretapping.

Cook has been assigned to the records division since the incident. He also served a five-day suspension in the immediate aftermath. Once the court-case is decided, Cook will be subject to a departmental disciplinary hearing.

Cook declined comment on the case Thursday and Groce has also declined comment.

Gary A. Porter, who stood talking to Cook outside the courtroom during the wait for the case to be called, said he wanted to make a statement. He initially said his statement was on behalf of "the African American community," then specified he was speaking as president of a group he said is called United to Push Life.

He said there is no upcoming meeting scheduled of the group, which he said has 50 to 60 members and has existed in the city for 25 years. He said he expects as he "educates the community" about Cook's case, there will be "many people who will come forth" from the group to support Cook at court appearances.

"We're taking an interest in this because Derek is a member of our community and as an organization we can see a clear racial component," Porter said. "We'd like to put everyone on notice we will stand behind Derek to insure he's treated equally and gets the same sort of justice his colleagues would normally benefit from."

Porter has previously spoken out in support of Melvin Jones III, the man at the center of an alleged police brutality case that led to the firing of patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher.

Video of the violent storm is coming from every source, including news videographers and citizens with camera phones, onto the Web.

A state of emergency has been declared in Alabama after what officials are calling the deadliest storms in nearly 40 years. But unlike the 1974 storm that swept through the south, this one unfolded before the cameras of hundreds, and its history is being recorded in real time online.

al.com, our Alabama affiliate based in the thick of things, is compiling videos from around the Web, including the video captured above by Christopher England of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide production team. The University is based in Tuscaloosa, which was hit hard by a tornado that grazed the school in its path.

Videographers from The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Press-Register have caught the storm - and its aftermath - on camera.

Kristen Heptinstall is also collecting coverage around the Web via Storify.

While the brunt of the damage hit the state of Alabama, much of the South suffered damage from dozens of tornadoes caused by the storm. The Associated Press reports:

Alabama's state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 131 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 29 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports into Wednesday night.

The storms came on the heels of another system that killed 10 people in Arkansas and one in Mississippi earlier this week. Less than two weeks earlier, a smaller batch of twisters raced through Alabama, touching off warning sirens, damaging businesses and downing power lines in Tuscaloosa, but there were no deaths there then.

President Barack Obama, who declared a state of emergency in Alabama early this morning, released a statement of sympathy soon after, saying, in part, "Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster. "

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley similarly declared a state of emergency and mobilized about 2,000 Alabama National Guardsmen, according to The Birmingham News. They report that he said an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people are without power in Alabama.

"We were prepared. It's just you can not prepare against an F5 tornado," Bentley said.

Information from The Associated Press and The Birmingham News was used in this post. Follow real-time updates from al.com »

Officials have closed Northampton St. (Route 5) from Whiting Farms Road to Laurel Street following the discovery of two milk jugs believed to contain chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine.

Staff Photo by Don TreegerA member of the State Hazardous Materials Response Team takes a sample from a gallon jug half-filled with what is believed to be chemicals from an illegal methamphetamine lab on Route 5 in front of the Calvary cemetery.

• Part of Route 5 closed due to HazMat situation, methamphetamine byproducts suspected [MassLive.com]


• 200 headstones and monuments desecrated at Pittsfield Cemetery [BerkshireEagle.com]


• Gov. Deval Patrick on President Obama's birth questions: 'ridiculous' [MassLive.com]


• Air France Flight 447 black box found in Atlantic Ocean after nearly two years [CNN.com]


• Two Seattle tweens accused of cyberstalking classmate on Facebook [SeattleTimes.com]






• Auburn pilot among nine soldiers killed in Afghanistan [BostonHerald.com]


• Sony faces global legal action over personal data theft from PlayStation Network [Reuters.com]


• Facebook investors look for an exit, seeking to dump $1 billion in stock [Portfolio.com]


• Connecticut police officer found dead in cemetery [Courant.com]



 

• New literary journal emerges from Amherst [GazetteNet.com]


• Looking for the nearest water fountain? There will be an app for that, as long as users submit fountain location [ArsTechnica.com]


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


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The Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee will hold a public hearing next Wednesday

(AP)Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks with reporters from The Associated Press in this file photo.

Gov. Deval Patrick said in an interview on WTKK-FM in Boston today that he and House Speaker Robert DeLeo are still discussing proposed casino gambling legislation, but that no agreements have been made.

Expanded casino gambling legislation passed both branches of the state legislature last year, but came to a halt when Patrick vetoed the bill on the grounds that a provision providing multiple licenses for so-called racinos, or slot parlors in racetracks, amounted to a "no-bid contract."

Patrick's comments come just a day after Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat and co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, told Western Mass. business leaders that Patrick, DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray would have to form a consensus before the committee would take a vote on any bills.

In his radio appearance, Patrick wouldn't say much about whether he planned to budge on racinos (he's said before that he won't). Patrick said Thursday morning:

We're talking. The only agreement we have - and I say "We" meaning the Speaker, the Senate President and I - is to resume the hearings and refresh some of the data that we have. This is much higher on the Speaker's agenda than it is on my own agenda, but we are talking. I think we're going to find our way to something but we're not there yet. Listen to the interview »

The Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee will hold a public hearing in Boston next Wednesday, May 5, on proposals for gambling legislation.

The most popular proposals for expanded gambling in the Commonwealth provide for three resort-style casinos across the state, including one in Western Mass. Two different proposals would build casinos in either Palmer or Holyoke. Read more from The Republican »

Route 5 reopened shortly after noon on Thursday. More jugs have since been found in other areas of Holyoke.

John Suchocki / The Republican04.28.2011 | HOLYOKE - Emergency workers respond to Northampton St. following the discovery of two milk jugs believed to contain by-products from methamphetamine production.

HOLYOKE – Emergency personnel closed a section of Route 5 for over an hour starting late Thursday morning following the discovery of two one-gallon jugs believed to contain chemical by-product from the ilegal production of methamphetamine.

Since then, similar jugs have been found in various areas of the city, including six that were discovered behind the Signs Plus building at 62 Main St. Holyoke Fire Dept., spokesman Lt. Thomas G. Paquin.

“Needless to say they have been very busy,” Paquin said of emergency personnel and responding members of the Western Massachusetts Hazardous Materials Team.

Jugs have also since been discovered by the Department of Public Works garage and elsewhere in the city, Paquin said.


The Route 5 jugs, each about half-filled with a clear liquid, were discovered on the eastern side of Route 5, a foot or so from the inside of the curb, just south of Glen Street shortly before 10 a.m.

Emergency personnel closed Route 5, from Whitings Farms Road to Laurel Street, for about an hour while members of the regional hazardous materials team, clad in protective gear, tested the chemicals.

Holyoke Fire Dept. spokesman Lt. Thomas G. Paquin said the discovery marks the second time this week that gallon-jugs loaded with flammable chemicals, believed to be a by-product of meth production, have been found in that area along Route 5.

“This is a way of getting rid of the waste,” said Paquin, adding the creation of one pound of meth leaves behind about ten pounds of waste.

The first instance, which occurred Sunday afternoon, sparked a lower level response from haz-mat personnel because they were not fully aware of that nature of the chemicals.

Area residents, said, however, that they have sporadically seen such jugs appear along the side of Route 5 for months - if not years.


Walter Bara, who lives on Elmwood Avenue, said he spotted the jugs which prompted the Route 5 response about 7:30 a.m. as he returned home from work. Bara, said, however, that he has spotted such jugs along Route 5 about once a month since January.

“For what reason they are around, I have no idea,” Bara said. “But, I have seen these jugs before.”

Bara said he spotted similar jugs on Route 5 shortly before the start of the St. Patrick’s Day parade last month.

Alejandro Sanchez, who lives across the street from the scene, said he has seen similar containers placed along the side off the roadway several times over the past few months.

“It’s almost every week that they do that. They always put out two gallons,” Sanchez said.

Henry Ingersoll, who lives on Gilman Street, said he has spotted such jugs a number of times, some closer to the K-Mart Plaza along Route 5, for the past three years.

“But, I didn’t know what they were. I thought that somebody left water in them or something,” he said.

After testing the contents of the jugs, which were perhaps 50 or so feet apart from each other, hazardous materials technicians determined that the liquid was similar to that found in the same area on Sunday.

“It is consistent with the remnants of a meth lab,” Paquin said. He declined to name the suspected chemical or chemicals.

Meth manufacturers often leave such waste along the side of a road or near trash barrels in the hopes that a refuse truck may unknowingly cart the dangerous chemicals away.

“And that’s where the issue is, once it gets in the trash trucks it bursts and that’s where the fires start,” Paquin said.

Paquin said he is not aware of such chemicals causing fires in Holyoke. It has been, however, a big problem in Chicago where refuse trucks have caught on fire.

Police Chief Anthony Scott said that investigators, including representatives from the Holyoke police and fire departments, state police and state fire marshal’s office will meet later this afternoon “to go over exactly what happened and what are the next steps.”

The discovery of an alleged meth lab at a Bridge Street home in Northampton in October 2010 led to the indictment of three men and a woman on charges that included manufacturing a Class B substance and conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act.

According to a page on the state of Oregon's official website, the production of methamphetamines involves a number of common household items -- including drain cleaners, bleach, iodine, muriatic acid, toluene and over-the-counter drugs containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The process generates a large amount of chemical waste.

This year's Entertainment Chair weighs in on diversity, commercialism, and Noho Pride.

File photo / The RepublicanHolyoke residents Cynthia Roberts, left, and Deborah Penzias attend an anti-hate crime rally outside the Unitarian Society Building in Northampton on Tuesday, May 16, 2000. The rally was held in response to arsonists who on May 6, 2000 torched a banner hung on the Unitarian Building supporting gays and lesbians before the Pride 2000 march.

The Republican's Fred Contrada reports that a group calling itself Queer Insurgency is raising concerns that Northampton's annual Pride Parade and Rally has forgotten its political roots and that its organizing body lacks diversity. Gerry Scoppettuolo, a gay man who helped organize the first Northampton march in 1982, offered the following comment:

"It’s gotten extremely conservative. There’s no political messaging. It’s a virtually all white enterprise. I find it a radical departure from what Pride is supposed to be."

Interestingly, Scoppettuolo registered similar concerns in 2001, in advance of the parade's 20th anniversary. At the time, The Republican's Patrick Johnson wrote:

Another parade co-founder, Gerry Scoppettuolo, said the event needs to keep its political focus.

"It's become normal, mainstream," said Scoppettuolo, the director for education services for the Southern New Hampshire HIV/AIDS Task Force. "But we are still an oppressed class."

Contrada's article prompted the following response from J.C. Ortiz Calcaño, who self-identified as the Entertainment Chair for the 2011 event (Ed. note: Paragraph breaks have been added; otherwise, the comment is reprinted here exactly as written):

As the only "Black"/"Person of Color" and most senior member in the new Noho Pride organization, i find alot of this so-called feedback regarding "commercialism" and lack of "political" focus unfounded and outright hilarious.

The aim of Noho Pride has always been to support and raise awareness of the the LGBTI community via speakers and showcasing LGBTI talent (both local and from outside state borders). I also find it comical to receive feedback from persons who are primarily "not of color" criticizing the lineup that I have worked hard to put together and strived hard to achieve as much diversity and representation of the LGBTI community.

Since my taking over as Chair of Entertainment, Noho Pride has offered the most diversive entertainment and political speaker line-ups within its 30-year history. This year's line-up include the first transgender artist and 2nd deaf/American Sign Language performer to headline a Noho Pride event. Last year's line-up included the first straight/heterosexual ally as a headliner.

Diversity and inclusivity goes far beyond inclusion of "token" persons of color or representatives of minority groups within the LGBTI community.... Had persons offering "feedback" been involved in the planning process and sought to obtain information from the persons involved in planning, they would have known that Noho Pride DID have people of color included within the lineup of performers/speakers, and that for unfortunate reasons those persons were not able to meet their committment.

As I touched on before, I believe the so-called "protest"/counter rally arranged by the persons mentioned in the above article is both divisive and unfounded. I believe people should spend less time and energy criticizing an event that was meant to bring together our community, and spend more time offering help/support for change and awareness...

That's my two cents... Should anyone be interested in being involved in the planning process for next year's event, they may visit www.nohopride.org or contact info@nohopride.org. Person's interested in performing or speaking at next year's event may contact the chair of entertainment in the fall via entertainment@nohopride.org.


In Pride and with respect,


J.C. Ortiz Calcaño (Entertainment Chair, Noho Pride'11)

Statutory rape carries a potential sentence of up to life, but there is no mandatory minimum without the aggravating factor.

Michael S. GordonDavid F. Oppenheim.

NORTHAMPTON – Arts center founder David F. Oppenheim is facing a potentially lighter sentence if convicted of child rape after a judge agreed yesterday to strike that part of his indictment that constitutes aggravated rape.

Oppenheim, 37, is accused of having sex multiple times with a girl under the age of 15 to whom he was giving acting lessons. The girl had performed in a musical at Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton, which Oppenheim founded. According to prosecutors, the abuse began when Oppenheim was teaching the girl an acting technique called “primitives,” in which the girl was supposed to keep a journal describing her reaction to various physical sensations.

A grand jury indicted Oppenheim for aggravated rape based on a 2008 state law that prescribes a mandatory minimum sentence for convictions in which the perpetrator is ten or more years older than the child victim. The indictment states that the girl was 12-16 years of age in 2007, when the alleged acts occurred.

However, Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Linda L. Pisano told Judge Bertha D. Josephson Thursday that she wanted to amend the indictment because the alleged incidents took place before the 2008 law went into effect. Josephson granted her motion. Defense lawyer David P. Hoose had intended to file his own motion to dismiss that part of the indictment but said it was no longer necessary because of Josephson’s ruling.

Statutory rape carries a potential sentence of up to life, but there is no mandatory minimum without the aggravating factor, Pisano said. The trial is tentatively scheduled for July, with a pretrial conference on June 21. Oppenheim has been free on his own recognizance since his arraignment last June with the condition that he have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.

National Grid is on the way to the scene.

5 p.m. update: Emergency personnel have removed the wire and about 25 children aboard exited the bus uninjured. » Read the story.

WARREN – A power line has fallen on a school bus traveling with students on Central Street in West Warren this afternoon, police said.

The call came in at approximately 3:10 p.m. and police said National Grid is on the way to the scene.

This is a developing story. Our reporter is on her way to the scene and will offer more details as they become available.

The annual service is timed to coincide with the observance of National Police Week.

View full size In this file photo from May 13, 2009, Springfield police stand at assembly by the fallen officers memorial in front of police headquarters.

SPRINGFIELD – Springfield police will conduct a memorial service on Wednesday, May 11 at police headquarters on Pearl Street to honor officers killed in the line of duty.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m.

Commissioner William J. Fitchet, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and others are scheduled to speak as part of the service.

The public is invited.

The annual service is timed to coincide with the observance of National Police Week. Each year, Springfield police honor the sacrifice of 15 officers and one constable who were killed in service of the city.

Parents waited as utility workers cut power to the power line on top of the school bus.

Photo by Lori Stabile. WARREN - Utility workers work on Chapel Street in West Warren after a tree branch fell and knocked a power line down on a school bus traveling with elementary school students. There were no injuries.

Updates a story posted Thursday at 3:29 p.m.

WARREN – A live wire fell down on a school bus carrying approximately 25 elementary school students during a rain storm on Thursday afternoon, but thanks to the quick actions of emergency personnel and National Grid, the problem was fixed quickly and there were no injuries.

“It’s a little scarier when there’s a loaded bus,” Assistant Fire Chief Adam S. Lavoie said at the scene.

The bus, from the Lizak Bus Co., was heading east on Chapel Street in West Warren when a wire, knocked down by a tree branch, landed on top of it, according to Lavoie.

The bus driver made the 911 call from his cell phone at about 3:10 p.m. The road was temporarily blocked so the wire could be removed.

“The students were kept on the bus as a precaution. National Grid got here quickly,” Lavoie said.

Lavoie said overall the children seemed fine, but a few were crying. Parents waited as the utility workers cut the power to the line.

“They were well-behaved,” Lavoie said of the students. “They did exactly what we asked them to do.”

Parents Danielle J. Berry and David M. Kenyon met their son, Landon R. Morris, 11, as he got off the bus. They said they had an idea something was wrong when the bus was late, and then saw a police cruiser go by.

“It was a little heart-pounding . . . a little nerve-wracking,” Berry said.

Kenyon said the police and firefighters had the situation under control, and that some of the students were “smiling through the windows.”

Landon, a fifth-grader, said he wasn’t worried, though he said one little girl was crying because she wanted to go home to do her homework. He said he saw the wire starting to fall.

The tree branch fell between 86 and 76 Chapel St. The incident knocked out power to homes at 86 and 85 Chapel St. Lavoie estimated that the children, who are students at Warren Community Elementary School, were stuck on the bus for approximately 30 minutes.

Obituaries from The Republican.

Salvatore J. Spagnoli

Salvatore "Sam" Spagnoli, 91, a longtime resident of Springfield, passed away on April 20. Spagnoli was born and educated in Springfield, and was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, achieving the rank of sergeant. He was a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and a member of the Springfield Lodge of Elks #61. He also was a resident of Wilbraham, and in his final years he spent summers at the shore in Milford, Conn. Prior to his retirement, Spagnoli was the co-owner of the Hollywood Café in the South End of Springfield for 45 years.

Obituaries from The Republican:

• 
  Abert, Harold Edward




• 
  Alexander, James R.
  



• 
  Barbarisi, Stella (Liquori)
  




• Chapin, Helena
  




• 
  Clark Sr., Lawrence
  



• 
  D'Amour, Jeanne E. (Fontaine)




• 
  Davis, Lorraine (Haarmann)
  



• 
  Filip, Albina E.
  




• Gogol, Eva T. (DeRock)
  




• 
  Gonzalez, Carmen G.
  



• 
  Green, Norman K.




• 
  Jalbert, Winifred (LaBelle)
  



• 
  Kelleher, Elizabeth M. (Pechulis)
  




• Killian Jr., William J. "Bill"
  




• 
  Mann, Irene B.
  



• 
  May, Sederick




• 
  Palardy, John W.
  



• 
  Spagnoli, Salvatore J. "Sam"
  




• Taylor, Alan Richard "Rick"
  




• 
  Turcotte, Laurent G. "Larry"
  



• 
  Wrega, Mieczyslaw "Mitch"

UMass economics professor Robert Nakosteen said one need look no further than unemployment to see how Western Massachusetts is lagging.

File photo / Associated PressA jobs postings board is shown at the Central City Concern employment access center Monday, Sept. 7, 2010, in Portland, Ore.

AMHERST – Buoyed by a brisk high-tech sector, the state’s gross product grew at an annualized rate of 4.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to a report released Thursday by MassBenchmarks, a study of the state’s economy.

Robert A. Nakosteen

“It’s terrific, especially for the eastern part of the state,” said Robert A. Nakosteen, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Isenberg School of Management and an editor at MassBenchmarks. “The growth is not, however, spreading in any meaningful way to other parts of the state or to other sectors of the economy.”

Nakosteen said one need look no further than unemployment to see how Western Massachusetts is lagging in the economic recovery. Springfield’s unemployment fell in March to 12.9 percent, down from 13.7 in February and 14.4 percent in January. Holyoke had 11.3 percent unemployment in March. Unemployment was also 11.3 percent in February, but down from 11.8 percent a year ago in March 2010.

Statewide, the March seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from the revised February rate of 8.6 percent. The unadjusted rate was 8.2 percent statewide, down from 8.6 in February and 9.1 percent a year ago.

“It’s going to take a sustained national recovery before there is sustained improvement here,” he said.

Nationally, gross domestic product grew by an annualized rate of 1.8 percent. “Annualized rate” means that if the economy grew for 12 months as it has for first quarter, it will have grown by only 1.8 percent. Gross domestic product is the sum total of all the goods and services produced in the country.

The 1.8-percent rate of growth was a significant slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate estimated in the final quarter of 2010.

“I really think the national economy has slowed down,” Nakosteen said.

The reasons are obvious. The earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan has hobbled a significant trading partner and trouble in the Middle East lead to spiking oil and gasoline prices.

“High oil prices are like a tax that doesn’t get reinjected to the economy,” Nakosteen said. “It just leaves.”

The state’s economy also has its challenges, according to the MassBenchmarks news release. The housing market is down and the public sector continues to shed jobs.