A ranking Holyoke police officer declined to discuss the case, citing the department's new media policy in which only two dedicated officers can release information about alleged crimes.

Republican file photo

HOLYOKE – Police are looking for three armed men linked to an early Tuesday morning home invasion at 372 Maple St., according to a published report on ABC40's website.

Holyoke Police Lt. Michael Higgins said he could not comment on the incident. "I can neither confirm or deny" that an alleged crime occurred, he said shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday. Higgins said the department has two dedicated spokesmen, and all information must come directly from them. Neither spokesman was on duty Tuesday morning.

The TV station reported that two people were at the Maple Street address when three men with guns broke into the home. It was unknown if anyone was injured or if anything was taken during the incident.

Police records made available to The Republican indicated that officers responded to a 10:35 p.m. report of a burglary in progress at 372 Maple St., Apt. 3A. But it was not immediately known if that incident was related to the reported home invasion.

Mitt Romney is working to seal his status as the Republican presidential front-runner with a thus-far-elusive victory in the Deep South.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters who braved the rain during a campaign stop at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Monday, March 12, 2012 in Mobile, Ala.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Mitt Romney is working to seal his status as the Republican presidential front-runner with a thus-far-elusive victory in the Deep South.

Closely fought primaries in Alabama and Mississippi offer the former Massachusetts governor a key opportunity in a region that has been slow to embrace him. Tuesday's primaries are also poised to render a possible final verdict on Newt Gingrich's Southern-focused candidacy.

With polls showing an unexpectedly tight race in the conservative bellwether states, Romney made a campaign appearance Monday in Alabama — a clear indication he was eyeing a potential win there.

Romney campaigned with Southern comedian Jeff Foxworthy and poked fun at his own lack of hunting skills, saying he hoped to set out with an Alabama friend who "can actually show me which end of the rifle to point."

Battling anew to be Romney's main conservative challenger, Gingrich and Rick Santorum both spoke at an energy forum in Mississippi and took questions on religion in public life at a presidential forum in Birmingham, Ala. They took sharp aim at President Barack Obama, with Santorum labeling the president's foreign policy "pathetic" and Gingrich taunting Obama as "President Algae" for an energy speech in which Obama spoke of research that would allow oil and gas to be developed from algae one day.

Gingrich has focused his campaign in recent weeks on rising gas prices, promising to bring the price to $2.50 per gallon if elected.

The Southern showdown came as new polling showed a steep drop in Obama's approval ratings amid escalating prices at the pump and renewed turbulence in the Middle East.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 46 percent of those surveyed approve the way the president is handling his job, and 50 percent disapprove. A New York Times/CBS poll found 41 percent approval, and 47 percent disapproval.

A win in either Mississippi or Alabama would be an important breakthrough for Romney, easing concerns that the Harvard-educated Northeasterner cannot win the party's most conservative and evangelical voters. Romney did not plan to be in the state during voting Tuesday and was already looking ahead to contests in Missouri on Saturday and Puerto Rico on Sunday.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum visits with supporters during a rally, Monday, March 12, 2012, in Montgomery, Ala.

Santorum, who has angled to campaign head-to-head with Romney, pressed the case again that Gingrich should consider stepping aside.

"People of Mississippi and Alabama want a conservative," he told reporters in Biloxi. "If they want a conservative nominee for sure, they can do that by lining up behind us and making this race clearly a two-person race outside of the South."

Santorum planned to watch returns from Louisiana, which holds its primary March 24. He was also heading to Puerto Rico to campaign later in the week.

While Gingrich insists he plans to remain in the race until the Republican National Convention in August, his campaign's survival essentially rested on winning both Tuesday contests. The former House speaker has pursued an all-Southern strategy, but he has won only South Carolina and Georgia, the latter the state he represented in Congress for 20 years.

Gingrich planned several appearances in Alabama on Tuesday, including remarks to a local chamber of commerce and a visit to the Birmingham Zoo.

He seemed to draw new energy from an enthusiastic crowd at Birmingham forum. They gave him repeated standing ovations as he derided Obama for offering apologies earlier this month to Afghan President Hamid Karzai after American troops burned Islamic holy books, including some Qurans.

"He believes in apologizing to those who kill our young men and women. I will never apologize," Gingrich said to applause and cheers of "Newt! Newt! Newt!"

All three candidates were receiving support from well-heeled independent groups known as super PACs that were helping to finance television ads, automated phone calls and direct mail in the two states.

A fourth candidate, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, was not competing actively in the two contests.

Hawaii was also holding a primary Tuesday, but none of the GOP hopefuls campaigned there.

Romney has more delegates than his rivals combined, and is amassing them at a rate that puts him on track to clinch control of nomination before the convention opens next summer. The Associated Press tally shows him with 454 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. Santorum has 217, Gingrich 107 and Paul 47.

Two of the cases involve police officers who were allegedly assaulted by suspects, according to Holyoke police records.

File photo | The Republican

HOLYOKE – Police here were busy investigating numerous assault incidents on Monday, including two incidents involving officers who were alleged victims.

Three officers were assaulted in a pair of separate incidents, according to Holyoke Police Department records, which indicate suspects were taken into custody in each case.

At about 3:16 p.m., a street stop near 714 Dwight St. led to the arrests of city residents Carlos A. Chaqui and Felix Roque-Centeno, the latter of whom was charged with assault and battery on a police officer. Later, at about 6:41 p.m., a street stop near the intersection of Franklin and Maple streets led to the arrest of Holyoke resident Ismael Lopez, who was charged with assault and battery on two officers, police said.

In the first incident, Roque-Centeno, 27, of 714 Dwight St., Apt 4R, also was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, while Chaqui, 25, of 79 Mosher St., Apt. 1L, was charged with trespassing and conspiracy to violate drug laws. In the second incident, Lopez, 29, of 92 Jackson St., Apt. 4R, was additionally charged with disorderly conduct, drug possession, resisting arrest and failure to stop for police.

Bail information and specific case details were not immediately available on Tuesday.

In another alleged assault case, Holyoke resident William Santiago, 31, of 27 N. Bridge St. was charged with one count of domestic assault and battery and two counts of assault and battery, including one that resulted in a "serious injury," according to police records. Further information was unavailable.

The suspects were expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Holyoke District Court.

The lawyer for a man who apparently killed himself in the Plymouth County jail while awaiting trial on murder charges had begged jail authorities to allow him out of solitary confinement.

BOSTON — The lawyer for a man who apparently killed himself in the Plymouth County jail while awaiting trial on murder charges had begged jail authorities to allow him out of solitary confinement.

Eric Snow was found unconscious in his cell with a plastic bag over his head Saturday and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

His lawyer tells The Boston Globe Snow had been held in isolation since he was jailed in 2007. Snow and another man are accused of bludgeoning two homeless men to death in 2005.

Snow wrote in a letter to the jail's security director on Feb. 27 that he was "losing my mind" and wanted to live in the general population.

Jail officials did not say why he was being held in isolation.

Musicians say slam dancing is part of the metal and hardcore culture.

BOSTON (AP) — Add slam dancing to activities banned in Boston.

Police recently cited a city club for allowing violent mosh pit dancing and vowed a crackdown on what they called "dangerous behavior" and a "public safety hazard."

The Boston Herald reports that police cited the House of Blues for a license violation because of a mosh pit that broke out during a Feb. 21 show by Flogging Molly.

Police say 60 concertgoers engaged in slam dancing.

Police say the dance violated safety rules and the club was cited because security did not intervene. The club has agreed to put up signs that say mosh pits are banned.

Brian Fair, vocalist for Boston band Shadows Fall, called the clampdown "ridiculous." Musicians say slam dancing is part of the metal and hardcore culture.

Revelers celebrated St. Patrick's Day early in Amherst, the scene of public drunkenness and other illicit activity that kept law enforcement officials busy.

(Republican file photo by Robert Rizzuto)An Amherst Police cruiser.

AMHERST – Officials here described a weekend bacchanalia that made downtown Amherst sound more like a town that had been ransacked by barbarians than the proud home of the state's flagship public university and one of the nation's elite private colleges.

"There were drunk kids everywhere. It wasn't a pretty sight." Amherst Police Detective David Foster said Tuesday.

Foster was describing this past weekend's "Blarney Blowout," a St. Patrick's Day-related celebration promoted by area bars that has morphed into a perennial spring party in Amherst. "This has become an annual thing," the detective said.

While police and public safety officials have come to expect the drunken behavior, replete with public urination and vomiting, they do not tolerate it. To that end, authorities made numerous arrests throughout the weekend including an incident involving a University of Massachusetts student and a Hadley man, both of whom were charged with operating under the influence of alcohol for an alleged road-rage incident on Amity Street early Sunday morning.

Foster said the "in your face" revelry included fights, disturbances and other incidents, though much of the mayhem was confined to downtown Amherst and the Meadow Street area of North Amherst.

"If you're coming to Amherst with your wife and kids on a Saturday morning, I don't think that's something you want to be dealing with," Foster said.

Police said much of the drinking began early Saturday, with some local students lining up outside downtown bars and waiting for them to open for the day.

Amherst Select Board Chairwoman Stephanie O'Keeffe said the bad behavior definitely does not help the college town's image, putting the schools and their many students in an unflattering light. "It's appalling to be downtown and to see that happening at noontime on a Saturday," she told the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Police charged both Courtney M. Brooks, a 21-year-old UMass student from Rochester, NH, and Christopher Alviani, a 24-year-old from Hadley, with OUI after the pair allegedly engaged in a road-rage incident on Amity Street in downtown Amherst early Sunday. The incident culminated with a high-speed chase down Amity Street and ended on University Drive, where officers arrested both drivers, Foster said.

Police additionally charged Brooks with marijuana possession, illegal possession of pepper spray and other offenses, including spitting on an Amherst police officer. It was not immediately clear if she is facing any disciplinary action from the university.

"This is pretty typical for us in the springtime," Foster said of the drunken behavior.

The leader of a Massachusetts Girl Scout troop knew something was wrong when she took the cash from her troop's cookie sales to the bank and the teller disappeared to consult with a supervisor.

Gail BurtonDepartment of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talks with Girl Scouts Amya Hurley, left, and Brooke Hunley.

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. — The leader of a Massachusetts Girl Scout troop knew something was wrong when she took the cash from her troop's cookie sales to the bank and the teller disappeared to consult with a supervisor.

She was right.

Dianna Mines, the leader of Troop 60916 in Tyngsborough, was told that four $20 bills she brought in as part of the troop's $258 in cookie sales were counterfeit.

Mines tells The Sun of Lowell she was shocked that someone would take advantage of Girl Scouts.

The troop sold the cookies outside a Hudson, N.H. Walmart on March 4.

Mines thinks the fake bills were passed by two people who each bought two boxes, but used separate $20s for each one.

She says bank employees lifted her spirits by buying a few boxes.

Elizabeth Warren, who also is a consumer advocate and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, told reporters that tax breaks accounted for 90 percent of AIG profits last quarter.

Associated PressIn this Sept. 16, 2008 file photo, an American International Group office building is shown in New York. AIG received the biggest bailout of any company during the 2008 crisis.

By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former members of a congressional panel that oversaw bailouts during the financial crisis blasted the Treasury Department on Monday for quietly granting a tax break worth billions to insurance giant American International Group.

The tax break amounts to a "stealth bailout" on top of the $182 billion that AIG received from the government, and it unfairly helps AIG, its shareholders and executives, former oversight panel chair Elizabeth Warren and others said.

Warren, who also is a consumer advocate and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, told reporters that tax breaks accounted for 90 percent of AIG profits last quarter.

"We think it's time for Congress to end the special tax break," she said.

Companies sometimes defer losses and use them to reduce the tax burden in future years. Companies that change ownership usually face strict limits on how much of a loss they can defer. But the Treasury Department granted AIG an exemption, handing the company $17.7 billion in profit, the former panel members said.

Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren told reporters that tax breaks accounted for 90 percent of AIG profits last quarter. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

AIG received the biggest bailout of any company during the 2008 crisis. The company had sold insurance-like contracts that were supposed to pay out if certain mortgage-backed investments went bust.

When the investments tanked, AIG couldn't afford to pay the companies that had purchased the contracts. The government bailed it out so that it could pay them and prevent a market panic over the potential losses.

Damon Silvers, former vice chairman of the oversight panel, said the tax break unfairly benefits private AIG stockholders, including executives who were paid in stock options, at the expense of taxpayers.

"By doing it this way, substantial amounts of money leaked out to the benefit of private parties who really should not be benefiting from public policy in this way," Silvers said. He said the waiver gives AIG an unfair competitive advantage.

A Treasury Department spokesman referred to a blog post that says applying the rule "made no sense" in the context of the financial crisis.

The rule was intended to stop profitable companies from lowering their own tax bills by buying unprofitable ones, the blog post argues. The government did not acquire AIG and others to take advantage of their past losses, it says.

AIG spokesman Mark Herr said the company is relying on settled tax law that allows companies to offset taxable income with past losses.

AIG has repaid taxpayers more than $45 billion so far "and is committed to taking all possible steps so that American taxpayers can continue to recoup their investment in AIG at a profit," Herr said in a statement.

Also signing the letter were Mark McWatters and Kenneth Troske, who were appointed to the panel by Republican congressional leaders.

The oversight panel disbanded last April, as was required under the bailout law.

Republican Newt Gingrich says he'll campaign for president until the party's nominating convention in August, but his candidacy largely rests on the results of Tuesday's primaries in Alabama and Mississippi.

The Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talks with Rick Burgess during the Rick & Bubba radio show, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, in Vestavia, Ala.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Republican Newt Gingrich says he'll campaign for president until the party's nominating convention in August, but his candidacy largely rests on the results of Tuesday's primaries in Alabama and Mississippi.

The former House speaker is banking on a Southern strategy that so far has yielded victories only in South Carolina and Georgia, the latter a state he represented in Congress for 20 years. So winning Tuesday's contests is vital to sustaining his limping candidacy.

Gingrich was spending the day in Birmingham and planned to address a local Chamber of Commerce and hold a primary night event at a riverside hotel. A scheduled trip to the Birmingham Zoo was canceled due to weather.

Gingrich planned to be in Illinois on Wednesday to campaign for the March 20 primary there.

In Alabama and Mississippi, polling shows a tight three-way race among Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

In an address Monday to a Republican presidential forum in Birmingham, Gingrich implored voters to support him.

"I've stayed in this race for two reasons," he said. "I do not believe the two other candidates can beat President Obama. We have to win in a principled way with a big enough agenda and enough momentum to change Washington decisively."

Firefighters Frank Jimenez and Juan Morales were commended by city officials for helping to save two men from a burning home on St. James Avenue.

Staff photo by Mark M. MurraySpringfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, second from left, presents commendations to firefighters Juan Morales and Frank Jimenez for saving two people from a burning building in January as Mayor Domenic Sarno applauds the men during a ceremony Monday at the Mason Square Fire Station on Eastern Avenue.

SPRINGFIELD – The alarm sounds, and they show up — always and without fail.

"They" are the city's firefighters. And Springfield officials, intent on ensuring that firefighters' 24/7, 365-day-a-year public safety efforts are not taken for granted, commended a pair of career firemen on Monday for saving two people from a burning St. James Avenue building.

Frank R. Jimenez, a city firefighter since 2000, and Juan R. Morales, a firefighter since 2006, were recognized for their bravery and service during a Monday morning ceremony at the Mason Square Fire Station on Eastern Avenue.

"The actions of these two firefighters stand out," Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph A. Conant said, noting that both helped rescue two men from a smoke-filled home at 344 St James Ave. during the predawn hours of Jan. 3.

Jimenez and Morales noticed the head of Alonzo McQueen, a resident of the burning building, protruding from a second-floor window partially blocked by an air-conditioning unit. When McQueen shouted down to them that he was unable to exit his room because of heavy smoke and heat in the hallway, Jimenez and Morales quickly maneuvered a ladder to the side of the building and helped McQueen climb over the air-conditioner and down the ladder to safety.

The firefighters also helped evacuate another tenant, who wasn't identified, from the building, which sustained about $40,000 in fire damage, said Dennis G. Leger, public information officer for the Springfield Fire Department.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said city firefighters never know what's waiting for them at the other end of a call, but they always show up and "put their lives on the line." And, he added, they don't seek attention or praise for their daily heroism.

"Not one of you looks for any kind of award or accolades," Sarno said, thanking Jimenez and Morales for what they do "day in, day out."

Jimenez said he and Morales would continue "giving the city our best."

Conant said even though his men were "just doing their jobs," it's still nice to acknowledge their good efforts.

"My goal, as commissioner, is to award these guys right after the fact," he said. "Once in a while, it's just nice to give them a pat on the back."

With support from the President, the House and now a bipartisan compromise in the Senate, it looks like crowdfunding may soon be legalized in the United States.

View full sizeRepublican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown discusses crowdfunding legislation with Xconomy's Tim Rowe at an event in Boston sponsored by the entrepreneur-assisting MassChallenge and the crowdsourcing website WeFunder.com. (Photo courtesy of Sen. Scott Brown's office)

The chances of a crowdfunding bill passing Congress this year looked better on Tuesday as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., came to an agreement with Senate Democrats to introduce compromise legislation to the U.S. Senate.

The concept of crowdfunding is relatively simple: allow entrepreneurs to attract legitimate small investments through networking and use of the Internet. The practice, as proposed in the legislation, would be overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission to limit and prosecute fraud.

The idea of crowdfunding has grown in popularity over the past couple years since the current system, as dictated by legislation written in the 1930s, allows only accredited investors and investment firms to buy into businesses at the ground-floor with a minimum $10,000 investment, limiting opportunities to make it big to those who've already made it.

"In America, you can gamble all of your money at a casino and you can donate to countless charities around the world, but it's nearly impossible for most people to invest $1 of seed money into someone else's new business," Brown said in a statement. "This makes no sense, especially in the Internet era where everyday we see new ideas, programs and social networks take off."

In his State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama called for a national framework that allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise capital through crowdfunding.

"After all, innovation is what America has always been about. Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses," Obama said. "So let's pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow."

View full sizeMore than 2,700 people on the website WeFunder.com have pledged to invest a combined $6.8 million, annually, in small start-up businesses if Congress passes legislation approving crowdfunding. (Screenshot from WeFunder.com)

The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed two separate crowdfunding bills in recent months, as Brown has pushed his bill in the U.S. Senate.

The compromise CROWDFUND ACT (S.2190) incorporates elements from Brown's Democratizing Access to Capital Act and the Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2011, introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

One of the central differences between the bill Brown introduced in November and the compromise is the proposed cap on investments.

If Brown's original bill passed, investments would be limited to $1,000 for individuals. The new bill at least doubles that number.

In accordance with the new legislation, an entrepreneur can raise up to $1 million per year through an SEC-registered crowdfunding portal while citizens with an income of less than $100,000 per year are allowed to invest the greater of $2,000 or 5 percent of income. For individuals with an income of more than $100,000, investments are capped at 10%, up to $100,000.

"With this bipartisan compromise we are now closer to freeing Massachusetts' small businesses to use the powerful tool of crowdfunding," Brown said. "It's time to level the playing field for investors so that anyone can provide the seed money that will allow the Bay State's innovative startups and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and create jobs."

Similar systems of small investments are already in place in Thailand, Hong Kong and London although they all differ somewhat from the proposed U.S. system. The London system, for example, aims to create jobs in the financial industry while the U.S. crowdfunding push aims to create jobs at the local level by removing roadblocks to investing in start-ups.

Neffinger wanted to adopt a section of state law that would allow the city to set employees' health insurance co-payments outside of collective bargaining.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger has rapped the Town Council’s recent rejection of his proposal to adopt a section of state law that would allow the city to set employees’ health insurance co-payments outside of collective bargaining.

Republican file photoWest Springfield Mayor Gregory C. Neffinger

“I feel it is a loss for the Town of West Springfield. We’ll have to work harder to save money,” Neffinger said during a press conference Tuesday. The council rejected the mayor’s proposal March 5 by a 4-1 vote. Only five of the nine-member council may vote on the issue because the others all get city health insurance.

Councilor Lida M. Powell told Neffinger at the March 5 meeting that if he wants to save money on health insurance he should shop around for another carrier. Blue Cross Blue Shield is the city’s current health insurance provider.

Neffinger said Tuesday that accepting sections 21 through 23 of Chapter 32-B of state laws could save the city at least $500,000 a year. Earlier, he had estimated it might save close to $1 million.

The mayor said it is too late in the insurance planning process to bring the matter back before the council anytime soon. However, Neffinger said he will definitely bring it back to the council, possibly in November or December.

Sharon A. Wilcox, the city’s chief financial officer, said she was told at a recent conference that cities and towns that do not take advantage of the local option of adopting that section of state law may not get as much state aid for next year as those who have.

Neffinger said the state’s rationale is that communities should take advantage of opportunities to save money before asking for more state aid. This year, the city got $23,340,000 in state aid to help fund its approximately $88 million fiscal 2012 budget. The governor has earmarked $23,712,000 for state aid for West Springfield in his proposed fiscal 2013 budget that is now being considered by the Legislature.

Meanwhile, Neffinger said he and Wilcox are continuing to work with department heads to find ways to cut their budgets by 10 percent.

“Most people are looking at non-staff reductions first,” the mayor said. He said department heads are considering reducing staff by attrition before looking at any job cuts.

Gregory C. Neffinger

After last year's tornadoes, the state Division of Insurance received about 50 complaints from people who had difficulties dealing with their insurers.

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanPaula Lazzarri stands in front of her home at 196 Winton St., in the East Forest Park section of Springfield. Her home was damaged in the June 1 tornado.

After the June 1 tornado caused heavy damage to her bungalow, R. Paula Lazzari of Springfield said she experienced problems with her home owner’s insurance that were almost as bad as the storm itself.

Lazzari, owner of a home in the East Forest Park section of Springfield for about 35 years, said a staff appraiser for her insurer at first declined to pay for all the tornado damage. The appraiser offered to only finance repairs for a broken window and replacing siding on the back and on one side of her home, plus a power wash for the rest of the siding, she said. Later, the insurer attempted to refuse to renew her policy.

Lazzari hired an independent adjuster, but the adjuster told her that her insurer was not responding to requests for a meeting.

Lazzari sought help from an advocate at the state Division of Insurance – and came away a happy consumer.

“They really are angels,” Lazzari, a retired teacher from private and public schools, said on Tuesday of state officials. “They listen and they back you up.”

After a state official intervened and negotiated with the insurer, the company agreed to pay for new siding on her entire house, a new stockade fence, reconnecting an electric line, new siding on her one-car garage, five new windows, a new roof on her home and two new ceilings, she said.

The company, which is licensed by the state, also later agreed to renew her policy, after initially saying it would drop the policy, said Daniel Rosenfeld, director of communications for the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, which includes the insurance division.

The insurer reversed a “notice of non-renewal” it issued to her on July 26, citing her history of losses, she said. During a 2010 storm, a limb from a neighbor’s oak tree had broken and crushed her two-car garage. At the time, the insurer had paid for a new garage.

Lazzari credited Solmaria Marquez, director of consumer services for the state Division of Insurance. Consumers might find some help in this guide to insurance for homeowners.

She said she was very upset with her dealings with her insurance company. “The injustice of it got me very angry,” she said.

Lazzari, 64, was among many unhappy consumers who received help last year from the state Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation. The state agency on Wednesday held a press conference to release its top five consumer complaints of 2011.

More than 8,300 calls to the state office centered on auto insurance issues. Another 6,500 calls, the second highest amount, focused on health insurance. That was trailed by 3,200 complaints about home improvement contractors, 2,939 on difficulties with used motor vehicles and 2,300 about home insurance.

Barbara Anthony

Barbara Anthony, undersecretary of the state's Office of Consumer Affairs & Business regulation, said she held the event to educate consumers about the help that is available.

"We're here as a resource and a guide to help you when problems arise," Anthony said.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Joseph G. Murphy, the state’s insurance commissioner, said that following the June 1 tornadoes in Western Massachusetts, the state insurance division received about 50 complaints similar to the issues experienced by Lazzari.

In the wake of the tornadoes, about 1,900 insurance claims were filed to cover damage to homes, businesses and motor vehicles, he said.

“For the most part, the industry responded well,” Murphy said.

About 15 complaints, among the most complicated, are still active, he said.

Anthony, state undersecretary of consumer affairs, said the damage caused by the tornadoes in Western Massachusetts caused a spike in complaints about home insurance policies, with many homeowners frustrated their policies did not cover the full cost to repair or replace their homes.

“Read your policy,” Anthony said. “Update them. You never know when a catastrophe is going to strike.”

The increase in auto insurance complaints, she said, appear to stem from the state's recent deregulation of the market, which more than doubled the number of companies selling car insurance in Massachusetts to 31. The law gave consumers more choice, but it also sparked more complaints from consumers.

Most health insurance complaints dealt with people angry at private insurers for not covering a particular service or procedure.

Attorney General Martha M. Coakley's office, the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Service were also part of Wednesday's event at the consumer affairs offices in Boston.

Those with complaints or concerns can contact the attorney general's consumer hotline at 617-727-8400. The Better Business Bureau, which has an office in Worcester that serves Western Massachusetts, also has a hotline, 866-566-9222 , as does the state consumer affairs office, at 888-283-3757. The state Division of Insurance can be reached at 617-521-7794.

Also, the consumer affairs office runs a separate program for consumers seeking protection under the state's so-called Lemon Law for new and leased motor vehicles.

Assistant Attorney General David W. Monahan, deputy chief of the Attorney General's consumer protection division, said loan modification scams related to foreclosure proceedings were the top complaint received by his office last year.

Such schemes, Monahan said, prey on homeowners who are already in financial distress and struggling to save their homes from foreclosure.

Consumers should dismiss any loan modification offer that includes an upfront fee — because such a fee is illegal, he said. Companies that guarantee new loans or lower monthly payments should also not be trusted because such promises are impossible to make.

Identity theft, high pressure sales pitches, home improvement contractors and 'eye-catching' introductory offers also made the attorney general's list of the top complaints.

"There are people out there who want to steal your money, or steal your information," Monahan said. "They don't have a gun, they aren't breaking into your house, but they are trying to steal from you and you need to be savvy enough to protect yourself from that."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

The electrical fire was reported in a garage on adjacent to the Back Bay Hilton.

Associated PressFirefighters work to gain entry to the garage next to the Back Bay Hilton in Boston, Tuesday, March 13, 2012 as they respond to a transformer fire which sent clouds of smoke billowing into the city streets. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries but streets in and around the city were shut down and people were evacuated from hotels and bars. The fire forced emergency crews to shut off power to a large swath of the Back Bay. (AP Photo/The Boston Globe, Alexandre Isobe)

BOSTON — Power was out in a wide area of downtown Boston on Tuesday night as firefighters battled a multi-alarm smoky blaze in a parking garage housing a 115,000-volt transformer.

The Boston Fire Department's official Twitter feed reported power had to be shut in order to stop the fire that started just before 6:30 p.m. on Scotia Street near Dalton Street. Boston Fire tweeted the fire was in a garage on Scotia Street adjacent to the Back Bay Hilton, and that the fire was creating thick, heavy black smoke.

The hotel was evacuated. The fire department reported a "Massive blackout in area" in a Tweet.

A third alarm was ordered at 7:02 p.m.

The Boston Fire Department tweeted that all ladder trucks were pulled away shortly after 7:15 and that NStar was working with the chief.

The Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority reported commuter trains were not stopping at several downtown stations because of the fire. Massachusetts Turnpike exits leading to the area were closed.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries, but streets in and around the area were shut down, and hotels, bars and some homes were evacuated.

Mike Duran, a spokesman for the utility NStar, said a problem in one electrical substation spread to a second one. He said the power outage was affecting Back Bay, Chinatown, the theater district, Kenmore Square and parts of the South End. He said about 20,000 customers were affected. He said once the damage is assessed the company will begin working to restore power with large generators.

Officials said it could be Wednesday before power is fully restored.

The city used portable floodlights to illuminate key intersections, amid a heavy police presence. Traffic was snarled on Storrow Drive, a major east-west throughfare along the Charles River.

The landmark Citgo sign at Kenmore Square near Fenway Park went dark.

Historic Copley Square was plunged into darkness except for emergency lights, including in the high-rise landmark Hancock building. At the ornate Boston Public Library, closed because of the outage, stacks of books could be seen through the windows of the mostly darkened building. A handwritten note on the Copley train station said it was closed.

Some material from The Associated Press was included in this report

The actor-activist made the trek head of testimony he's giving before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

In this Jan. 9, 2011 file photo, George Clooney stands outside a polling station on the first day of voting in Juba, then capital of southern Sudan. Actor and human rights activist George Clooney made a quiet visit to a volatile border region between Sudan and South Sudan last week, ahead of testimony he's giving before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday, March 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Pete Muller, File)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Actor and human rights activist George Clooney made a quiet visit to a volatile border region between Sudan and South Sudan last week, ahead of testimony he's giving before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

Clooney met with South Sudan's minister of defense and a regional governor during last week's visit to the world's newest country, said Ezekiel Gatkuoth, a government official. He also met with President Salva Kiir, said an official who asked for anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.

Clooney made the dangerous crossing from South Sudan into Sudan's Nuba Mountains region where he met with residents forces to seek shelter in caves because of aerial attacks by Sudan's military, the official said.

Violence has flared along the Sudan-South Sudan border since South Sudan seceded last year, and some experts worry the conflict could grow. South Sudan shut down its oil industry this year after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.

Wednesday's hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will examine the oil dispute and the limited access aid groups are being given to Sudan's southern regions. Aid experts say people who live in Sudan's Nuba Mountains will soon face a hunger crisis.

Clooney traveled to what is now known as South Sudan in January 2011 as the region cast votes to secede from Sudan. The vote was the culmination of a peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war.

After that visit, Clooney helped found the Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery to track military movements and attacks in the hopes of bringing attention to and potentially heading off hostilities.

John Prendergast, the co-founder of the advocacy group the Enough Project, also traveled to South Sudan last week. Prendergast and Princeton Lyman, the U.S. envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, are also scheduled to speak at Wednesday's hearing.

Peacey is one of five candidates seeking two open seats on the board.

Christine D. Peacey

LUDLOW – Christine D. Peacey has announced that she is a candidate for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen in the March 26 town election.

Peacey, who is married to firefighter Walter Peacey, is one of five candidates seeking two three-year positions on the board.

“I wish to work with the Board of Selectmen to negotiate and discuss with town employees and their unions to reduce overall health insurance costs for everyone, and not hurt the workers’ benefits or pockets," she said in a prepared statement.

She said that increasing deductibles and co-pays on certain items could help generate the savings needed.

Peacey added that she also would like to work with the boards of various departments to return staffing levels to approved levels to help residents get the best quality of services in the town.

Peacey said she would search for additional funding such as grants to increase services to all residents, at no additional cost.

Peacey said she would look for ways to grow currant businesses in town and bring in new businesses.

Increased business would bring in more tax revenues which would help residents with tax burdens, Peacey said.

Peacey said she is a Ludlow small business owner of Hair Salon and Spa. Peacy said she also is an active town meeting member and familiar with the challenges Ludlow faces.

“I know that the key to success is not heaping more responsibility on those who are already giving, neither is it to take a hatchet to a budget and denigrate services provided. Rather, it is to create strategies to stimulate growth, which make the entity stronger and more effective.”

Peacey said she was a seven-year AMVETS Auxiliary President at Post No. 12 in Chicopee. For the state she is the AMVETS Department of Massachusetts State Auxiliary President, overseeing all 16 Auxiliaries across the state.

Peacey said she is a Veterans Hospital volunteer at the Holyoke Soldiers Home and a chair of “Fest of All” in Chicopee.

“This involves planning, financing and organizing one of the largest family outings in the communities of Western Massachusetts,” Peacey said.

Some families have engaged in the placing of the chairs to watch the parade for decades.

Photo by John Suchocki / The RepublicanHolyoke public works crew hauls away chairs, placed to save spots to see Sunday's St. Patrick's Parade, that were determined to be blocking sidewalk access.

HOLYOKE – In some places, the return of birds or other animals signals a seasonal passage, an event that plays out here with the appearance on Northampton Street of chairs, milk crates, cinder blocks, overturned buckets, crime scene tape and other stuff.

But this year, the tradition of saving sidewalk spots to see the St. Patrick’s Parade – set for Sunday – is causing headaches related to the annual extravaganza’s booming popularity.

Officials are urging people who have put out rows of chairs and other spot-reservers to leave room for wheelchairs and pedestrians.

Otherwise, public works crews over the next few days will haul away the items to join the dozen chairs and other pieces removed this week deemed to be obstructing access, officials said.

“We got a bunch of complaints that the sidewalks were being blocked by chairs and furniture and folks that walked and used wheelchairs couldn’t get through,” said William D. Fuqua, general superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

Furniture and other sight-line savers began showing up on Northampton Street sidewalks last week, the earliest pre-parade jockeying in memory, according to Fuqua and others.

People need to be sure at least three feet of space is available on the sidewalk for a wheelchair or walker to maneuver, he said.

“It is a public way. We want to make it as accessible as possible to everyone,” Fuqua said.

“It’s something we hope will be resolvable. Don’t bring the living room down there,” he said.

Those who have had furniture hauled away can retrieve it at the public works facility, 63 Canal St., he said.

Anthony Jon Gibbs rolled his wheelchair down the sidewalk past plastic chairs tied together with rope on Northampton Street near Elmwood Avenue. The parade-viewing stuff on the sidewalk isn’t a problem, he said.

“That’s fine,” said Gibbs, 41, of Maplecrest Circle.

The real problem, he said, is working the wheelchair onto the older sidewalks that lack a slope.

Michael J. Pijar, 60, of West Glen Street, pushed a shopping cart down the sidewalk and said walking is fine despite the parade furniture.

“It’s not a problem. In fact, that’s my green chair there,” Pijar said, with the point of a finger.

“I will say this is the first year I’ve seen chairs out this early,” he said.

Pijar said perhaps people were confused about the parade date.

Whatever the reason, Joseph Dupre, of 2074 Northampton St., said his family put out chairs in front of their home Monday after other furniture appeared there last week.

“They’ve been out so early. That’s why we put ours out,” Dupre said.

Paula A. Burke, of Lawler Street, called to say she has 75 people coming over Sunday to watch the parade and no place from which to watch it.

Her family has been putting out chairs for four decades in front of the Barry J. Farrell Funeral Home at 2049 Northampton St. But public works officials told her they were removed this week not only to create access space, but because WGBY-57, the public television station that broadcasts the parade, needed the space for its cameras, she said.

“Now we have no place to sit,” Burke said.

Efforts to reach a WGBY official Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Raymond H. Feyre, St. Patrick’s Parade Committee spokesman, said the committee trusts city officials when it comes to safety and access decisions regarding removal of furniture on the parade route.

“The Parade Committee works very closely with the mayor’s office and the DPW. The parade route is really under their control for safety,” Feyre said.

Interesting dynamic No. 1: Not all the furniture used to reserve a spot belongs to the home or business where it’s been placed.

Reports have been related of pickup trucks last week stopping and furniture being unloaded, Fuqua said.

“It’s coming from all over,” he said.

Interesting dynamic No. 2: Space created Monday by crews removing furniture considered sidewalk blockage was refilled with chairs and other stuff Tuesday, he said.

“We really don’t want to be doing this. We’ve got a whole lot of other things to be doing,” Fuqua said.

The Springfield Fire Department expected to be on the scene for about 30 minutes tending to the injured.

File photo

This is an updated version of a story posted at 6:57 this evening.

SPRINGFIELD – At least three people were injured in a hit and run collision early Tuesday night at the corner of Alden Street and Eastern Avenue in the city’s Old Hill neighborhood, a fire official said.

The Springfield Fire Department was on the scene for about 30 minutes tending to the three people who suffered minor injuries in the crash that left their vehicle flipped on its side, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.

Leger said two people were taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center for treatment; it was unclear whether the third person was also transported, Leger said.

Their vehicle struck near the intersection by a second vehicle, which fled the scene, Leger said, adding that emergency personnel did not have to extricate anyone at the scene.

Staff writer Jack Flynn contributed to this report.

Caucuses in Hawaii were also on the calendar .

An updated version of this story is now available at MassLive.

Photo by David Goldman / Associated PressDanny Cooper, of Chilton County, Ala. waves to motorists outside a polling place, Tuesday in Vestavia Hills, Ala.

By DAVID ESPO

WASHINGTON – Rick Santorum grabbed an early lead in Alabama’s primary election on Tuesday and battled Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Mississippi, deeply conservative Southern crossroads in the struggle for the Republican presidential nomination.

Caucuses in Hawaii were also on the calendar in the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama this fall.

There were 107 Republican National Convention delegates at stake, 47 in Alabama, 37 in Mississippi, 17 in Hawaii and six more in caucuses in American Samoa.

Returns from the first 15 percent of Mississippi’s precincts showed Santorum with 33 percent and Romney and Gingrich tied with 30 percent.

The first 4 percent of Alabama’s precincts favored Santorum, who was pulling 34 percent of the vote. Gingrich had 29 percent and Romney 28 percent.

Each of the three leading contenders faced a different challenge in Alabama and Mississippi, where heavy television advertising was evidence of the states’ unaccustomed significance deep in the nominating campaign.

Gingrich struggled for political survival, Romney sought a strong showing to silence his critics and Santorum hoped to emerge at last as the chief conservative rival to the front-runner.

Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender, made little effort in the states on the day’s ballot.

Evangelicals played an outsized role in both primary states, underscoring the challenge to Romney. In Mississippi and Alabama, roughly four in five voters surveyed as they left their polling places said they were born again or evangelical.

Those voters have been reluctant to rally to Romney’s side in the primaries and caucuses to date. He won 35 percent of their votes in Mississippi, and 27 percent in Alabama, the polling day surveys indicated. His best previous showing in a heavily contested primary this year was 38 percent in Florida.

More broadly, the exit polls showed an electorate that is conservative, determinedly Republican and profoundly unhappy about the government.

In Mississippi, more than eight in 10 voters said they were dissatisfied or angry with the federal government, while in Alabama, 80 percent said they would definitely vote for the Republican candidate against Obama next fall, no matter who he is.

While Alabama and Mississippi are among the most conservative states in the country and share a long border, the exit polls showed significant differences in the voters’ reaction to the candidates.

In Mississippi, Romney had the support of 35 percent of primary voters who earn under $50,000 a year, compared with 27 percent in Alabama. He drew the backing of 38 percent of Mississippi primary voters with no college education, compared with 26 percent in Alabama.

Only about half of all voters in each state said they work fulltime for pay, and they, too, voted differently one state from the other.

Santorum outpolled Romney, 38 percent to 23 percent among that group in Alabama. But Romney prevailed in Mississippi, 35-28.

As has been true in earlier primaries, the economy was the most important issue to voters, and an ability to defeat Obama the most important quality when it came time to pick a candidate.

The exit polls were based on interviews with 1,552 voters as they left 30 randomly selected polling places around Alabama, and with 1,575 Mississippi voters from 30 sites. Each survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The Southern showdown came as new polling showed a decline in Obama’s approval ratings – a reversal amid escalating gasoline prices and turbulence in the Middle East.

The day began with Romney leading the delegate competition by far in The Associated Press count, with 454 of the 1,144 needed to win the nomination. Santorum had 217, Gingrich 107 and Paul 47.

That gave the former Massachusetts governor more than his rivals combined. And while Santorum in particular challenges the mathematical projections, Romney is amassing delegates at a rate that puts him on track to clinch control of nomination before the convention next summer.

Romney, campaigning in Missouri, took exception to a television commercial airing in both Southern states and said Santorum “is at the desperate end of his campaign.” The commercial was backed by a super PAC that supports the former senator, not by him.

Santorum’s camp had earlier issued a memo that dismissed as fuzzy math Romney’s claim that he is on track to amass a delegate majority. “Simply put, time is on our side,” it said.

Gingrich’s aides issued a rebuttal of their own with the polls still open in the primary states. It said the primaries were not yet half over, and the former House speaker “is well positioned to win the GOP nomination.”

The large amount of television advertising was testimony to the importance the contenders and their allies attached to the primaries in both Alabama and Mississippi.

All three candidates as well as super PACs supporting each of them ran television commercials. As has been the case all year, Restore Our Future, which backs Romney, spent more than any of the others. The group put down $1.3 million for television ads in Alabama, another $900,000 in Mississippi and more for radio on Christian and other radio stations as well as thousands of pieces of mail designed to help the former Massachusetts governor.

It was only in recent days that Romney seemed to sense a chance in Alabama and Mississippi, and he responded by increasing his television ad expenditures and his plans for campaigning in the states.

Born in Michigan and a longtime resident of Massachusetts, he told one audience the two primaries were “a bit of an away game for him” and drew laughs from another when he said he hoped to go hunting with an Alabama friend “who can actually show me which end of the rifle to shoot.”

He generally steered away from criticizing his Republican rivals and aimed his rhetoric instead at Obama, whose prospects in both states are as dim next fall as anywhere in the country.

Santorum campaigned against the president and Romney simultaneously as he sought the support of conservatives who have fueled his recent surge.

In Biloxi, Miss., on Monday, he ridiculed the science behind global warming. “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,” he said.

Gingrich spent part of his time pushing back against suggestions – including from his own staff – that he might drop out if he didn’t notch a pair of Southern victories. His only two wins so far came in the South Carolina primary on Jan 21, and last week, when he won his political home state of Georgia.

Initial polls showed the former House speaker in a strong position in both states, but he abruptly canceled a campaign trip to Kansas in advance of the state’s caucuses late last week to remain in the South.

He used a recorded telephone message from Chuck Norris, the actor and Karate champion, for a last-minute appeal to voters in Alabama.

Associated Press writers Charles Babington in St. Louis and Beth Fouhy and Philip Elliott in Montgomery, Ala., contributed to this report.

Thorpe is running for seats on the School Committee and Board of Selectmen.

Deirdre Mailloux, left, and Angela Thorpe will face off in East Longmeadow's annual town election for a spot on the School Committee as a result of coming out on top in Tuesday's preliminary election.

EAST LONGMEADOW – Newcomer Deirdre Mailloux received the most votes in the preliminary race for a three-year School Committee seat Tuesday.

Mailloux won 503 votes followed by former School Committee member Angela Thorpe with 367 votes. The two now move on to compete for the annual town election April 10.

They beat out incumbent Joseph Cabrera who captured 355 votes.

Thorpe is also running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen.

“I’m really thrilled. I think it’s a victory for everyone in this town,” Mailloux said.

Susan DeGrave, a write-in candidate in 2010, received 280 votes while middle school teacher Robert Richardson received 226 votes.

Town Clerk Thomas P. Florence said there was a 9 percent voter turnout with 1,000 of the town’s 11,049 registered voters coming out to the polls.

Florence said after a primary race last Tuesday it’s tough to get voters to come out and vote.

Although the voter turnout is traditionally low in preliminary elections, Florence said it was still more than he thought.

“We called homes and businesses reminding them to come out to vote,” he said. “The turnout out was a little more than I expected.”

Mailloux has three children in the school system and has been a volunteer at the schools for many years. This is her first time running for an elected position.

“I didn’t know what to expect especially with five people running,” she said. “I hope I can bring a new perspective.”

Mailloux said she will work hard and is looking forward to the annual election. She thanked all of the parents and residents in town who voted for her.

“I’m speechless,” she said referring to her position as top vote getter.

Thorpe is running for the School Committee seat as well as a seat on the Board of Selectmen. She will be running against incumbent Paul Federici for the selectmen seat.

Thorpe said running for the two seats was not about power.

“I have a love for East Longmeadow and I think these two boards can work together,” she said.

Thorpe said her goal is to make the town desirable for older and younger families.

“I want to make East Longmeadow a place where senior citizens can live comfortably, young parents can raise and educate children in high performing schools and where every body has a voice and their voices are heard,” she said.