The five-member gaming commission is now complete.

Bruce Stebbins

Updates a story posted at 8:33 a.m.

BOSTON - Gov. Deval L. Patrick and other top state officials on Tuesday announced the final two appointments to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission including former Springfield City Councilor Bruce Stebbins.

The five-member gaming commission is now complete and will be responsible for implementing and overseeing the gaming industry in Massachusetts.

Stebbins, a resident of Springfield, is the business development administrator for the city of Springfield, hired by the city in 2010. Previously, he served two terms on the City Council.

Prior to his his city job, Stebbins worked at the National Association of Manufacturers and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development.

Stebbins also served in the Administration of Governor Bill Weld, and earlier as associate director of political affairs in the White House under President George H.W. Bush. He received a bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University and has completed a management program at the Kennedy School of Government.

The other new member is James F. McHugh, a retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

The appointments were announced by Patrick, state Attorney General Martha Coakley and state Treasurer Steve Grossman.

Patrick previously named Stephen Crosby, a University of Massachusetts professor and former state budget chief, to chair the commission.

Last month, Coakley named Gayle Cameron, a former New Jersey state police investigator, to the spot on the panel requiring a law enforcement background. And, earlier this month, Grossman named Enrique Zuniga, the executive director of the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust, as his appointee to the panel.

Patrick, Coakley and Grossman had until Wednesday to make the final two appointments.

Crosby has said it will be nine to 18 months before the commission seeks bids for casino resorts. He has also expressed doubt that any applications will be received during this year for casino resorts.

Western Massachusetts has been designated as the site for one of the resort casinos to be licensed in the state. Several casino companies are already pitching plans, including proposals in Palmer, Brimfield, Holyoke and Springfield. Chicopee has also been mentioned as a potential site for a casino.

Millions of pages of records dating to the days of the Pilgrims are going online thanks to the efforts of a retired couple who spent three decades scouring musty basements in city and town halls across Massachusetts.

BOSTON (AP) — Millions of pages of records dating to the days of the Pilgrims are going online thanks to the efforts of a retired couple who spent three decades scouring musty basements in city and town halls across Massachusetts.

The 17 million marriage, birth and death records dating to 1620 are scheduled to go online Tuesday and will allow people to research family history.

Jay and DeLene Holbrook put the records together. They sold their microfiche collection to Ancestry.com, a genealogical website in Provo, Utah.

Ancestry.com representatives tell The Boston Globe the Holbrooks' trove is the most complete collection of Massachusetts vital records known to exist.

People will have to pay to access them online.

A spokesman for the state points out the records are already public and available for free.

In an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Sen. Scott Brown dished on the presidency, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Brown's own upbringing.

CNN host Piers Morgan talked with Scott Brown about a variety of issues on March 19, 2011, including his childhood, his family, Mitt Romney and his thoughts about one day running for the Presidency. (Screenshot courtesy of CNN footage)

Following a packed-schedule of events across Western Massachusetts on Monday, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., zipped to New york City for an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, where the junior Bay State Senator dished on the presidency, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and Brown's own upbringing.

The interview did begin with a rebuttal, however, as Morgan's other guest was GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's wife Karen, who acknowledged a jab Brown took against her husband on Sunday at the St. Patrick's Day roast in South Boston.

Brown, in a joke apparently borrowed from Conan O'Brien, said that while Newt Gingrich and Santorum were using Secret Service protection on the campaign trail, it was the first time the former Pennsylvania Senator had used protection.

Karen Santorum brushed off the slight, and said it was something she just had to laugh about.

Brown said it wasn't personal, and he "took a whack at everybody."

On the topic of Romney, Brown said he will be the Republican nominee, adding that he is one of the "nicest, most hard-working men" he's ever met.

When Morgan asked Brown about Romney's inability to connect with voters on a personal level, Brown defended Romney's personality.

"I know when it comes to dealing with the economic issues, there is no one I'd trust more than Gov. Romney. He's got a great sense of humor, he's a devoted family man who cares deeply not only about my state but this country and where we're going," Brown said. "Sometimes you need somebody who's just focused on the economy, who doesn't tell a lot of good jokes. These are very serious times and we need serious people."

When Morgan asked Brown if he aspires to run for President, Brown said "no," while redirecting the interview to his U.S. Senate race.

On the topic of the sexual abuse Brown endured as a child, he told Morgan about his reluctance to tell anyone because of threats of the abuser, and the whole control dynamic which abusers tend to have with their victims.

He also talked about his mother's reaction to his tell-all book, "Against All Odds."

"Obviously a lot of her and my dad's problems are out there now. But the one thing I keep telling her is 'Mom, read the whole book,'" Brown said. "What people will get from that is like many other families, we're a work in progress, that you're a hard worker, had two and three jobs to keep a roof over our head and you never quit. That's one thing my Mom gave me, the never quit attitude."

Police say a 17-year-old North Adams youth stole a school bus so he could visit his mother in another town.

NORTH ADAMS — Police say a 17-year-old North Adams youth stole a school bus so he could visit his mother in another town.

Brandon Bolte pleaded not guilty on Monday in Northern Berkshire District Court to charges of larceny of a motor vehicle and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Police say Bolte climbed into the open window of a bus parked in Adams on Sunday. The keys were in the ignition.

The North Adams Transcript reports that he told police he drove to Richmond, more than 20 miles away, to visit his biological mother.

Bolte's grandmother called Pittsfield Police after 5 p.m. and told then her grandson was on his way back to Adams. He was pulled over there.

The bus wasn't damaged.

The Youth Commission was one of the initiatives that came in the wake of the suicide of 15-year-old student Phoebe Prince.

Adam Roberts

SOUTH HADLEY – Adam Roberts, director of the South Hadley Youth Commission, will be the guest speaker when Know Your Town sponsors “Empowering Young People: A Presentation by the New Youth Commissioner,” on March 22 at 7 p.m. at the South Hadley High School Library.

The program is free to the public.

Created a year and a half ago, the Youth Commission was one of the initiatives that came in the wake of the suicide of 15-year-old student Phoebe Prince, a victim of bullying at South Hadley High School.

The commission is composed of 19 teenagers, 11 female and eight male, who meet every other Sunday, and an adult task force that meets monthly. Attendance at the youth component varies, according to the director.

Roberts was chosen after much discussion about whether there was a need for his position. At Town Meeting in May, the proposal for director was finally approved when the position was cut from full-time to a half-time.

Roberts came on board in October. In addition to meeting with members of the Youth Commission, he holds office hours at the High School Monday and Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m.

He said his goals are to empower young people and to make sure their voices are heard.

The achievements of young people in his group have included speaking out in favor of a new public library in South Hadley. In the fall, said Roberts, two students wrote a letter supporting the library, collected signatures of 60 youths in all five precincts in town, and read their statement aloud at a special Town Meeting. Another student is serving on the Library Building Committee, said Roberts.

Another student in the commission started a program to put together packages for the deployed military. This winter two others have been lobbying for a youth center in town (the commission has been meeting on the Mount Holyoke College campus).

In April, two members will be going to the Youth Congress in Boston, where the topic will be prejudice-free schools.

“I’m hoping they are learning leadership skills and how to envision change,” said Roberts of his young charges. “The Youth Commission is a place where they can build a branch between high school and the community.”

All of South Hadley’s young residents are welcome to attend the meetings of the Youth Commission, said Roberts. For details, call (401) 743-1602.

“Our core number might stay where it is now,” said Roberts, but we are always looking for more people to give us feedback.”

The policy applies to all Pyramid Companies properties.

Republican file photoKiosks line up along the middle of the first level of the Holyoke Mall.

HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside and the Hampshire Mall in Hadley are both going completely tobacco-free at the end of May.

The same goes for the Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough or any other property owned by Syracuse-based Pyramid Companies.

That means no cigarettes, no cigars, no chewing tobacco or snuff anywhere on the property, inside or outside, said Brian D. Niland, general manager of the Hampshire Mall.

Short-term tenants in the mall will also be banned from selling tobacco, he said. Long term -tenants with leases will be asked to decide for themselves whether they continue to sell tobacco or not.

Niland said stop-smoking classes will be offered to employees at all the Pyramid malls.

“We just think it is going to be a better shopping experience for our customers,” he said. “That’s why it is being implemented. We think its what most of our customers want.”

One common complaint is that smokers tend to congregate near doors, forcing others to walk through their smoke to get in and out of the building, Niland said.

Mall security will be in charge of enforcing the rule, Niland said.

“You handle it on a case by case basis. If someone is unaware of the policy then you educate them,. If someone takes a different stance, you handle it differently.”

Malls are private property, he said.

A Massachusetts state police spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment regarding whether Pillsbury will be returning to the job.

The Republican | Lori StabileState Trooper Donald Scott Pillsbury is surrounded by media after he leaves Palmer District Court, where he denied a domestic assault and battery charge involving his wife.

PALMER - A domestic assault and battery charge against Massachusetts State Trooper Donald Scott Pillsbury has been dismissed in Palmer District Court.

Pillsbury, who was charged last month after an argument with his wife, was in court on Monday for a pretrial conference before Judge Patricia T. Poehler. Pillsbury, 42, of Brimfield, was supposed to be in court today, but his lawyer, James J. Bregianes, asked that his appearance be moved up a day due to scheduling conflicts.

Pillsbury, a state trooper since 1994, was a member of the K-9 section. He was suspended without pay after the incident.

A Massachusetts state police spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment regarding whether Pillsbury will be returning to the job.

The court file indicated that the case was dismissed "upon failure to prosecute." His wife, Tracey, refused to testify, taking the fifth amendment. Bail of $250 was returned to Donald Pillsbury.

According to court documents, the couple got into a heated argument after a wake for Donald Pillsbury's grandfather in Westborough. Tracey Pillsbury said they had both been drinking mixed drinks at Mulligan's, associated with Westborough Country Club, after the wake.

At his arraignment, Pillsbury was ordered not to abuse his wife and not to drink alcohol as conditions of his release.

Pillsbury was arrested by state police attached to the Sturbridge barracks after Tracey Pillsbury, 40, called 911. She told state police that her husband threw her against the wall and that she was injured.

Pillsbury denied touching his wife; at his arraignment, an emergency restraining order that Tracey had taken out was vacated upon her request.

Pillsbury's lawyer for his arraignment, Joseph P. Kittredge, had said that the fact the restraining order had not been extended spoke for itself.

All 25 of Pillsbury's weapons, including his .40-caliber Sig Sauer P226 duty weapon, were seized after his arrest. His police dog, which was in a kennel at his home, was secured by the K-9 section.

State police spokesman David Procopio had said that the state police internal affairs unit will monitor the court case, but that it also opened its own investigation into Pillsbury.

At least one building in the capital appeared on the verge of collapse.

Associated PressWorkers and residents gather at the Angel de la Independencia square after evacuating buildings during a earthquake felt in Mexico City Tuesday March 20, 2012. A strong, long earthquake with epicenter in Guerrero state shook central southern Mexico on Tuesday, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets.

MEXICO CITY — A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico on Tuesday, shaking central and southern parts of the country, sending a pedestrian bridge crashing atop a transit bus and swaying high-rises in Mexico City. At least one building in the capital appeared on the verge of collapse.

More than 60 homes were damaged near the epicenter in Ometepec in southern Guerrero state, though there were no reports of death or serious injury. Fear and panic spread as a less powerful, magnitude-5.1 aftershock was also felt in the capital, where there were also no reports of deaths.

Other aftershocks were felt around the borders of Oaxaca and Guerrero states close to the epicenter.

"It was very strong, very substantial," Campos Benitez, hospital director in Ometepec.

Police radio operator Marcos Marroquin said there were preliminary reports of 60 houses damaged in the municipality but only a report of a broken arm.

In Mexico City, frightened workers and residents poured into the streets of the capital just minutes after noon local time (18:02 GMT). Telephone service was down in the city and throughout the area where the quake was felt, and some neighborhoods were without power, according to Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who set up a hotline for people to report damage.

About 40 passengers were stranded for a short time on the Mexico City airport air train, but later released. The airport closed for a time but officials said there was no runway damage and they resumed operations.

Samantha Rodriguez, a 37-year old environmental consultant, was evacuated from the 11th floor on the Angel Tower office building.

"I thought it was going to pass rapidly but the walls began to thunder and we decided to get out," she said.

The quake was felt strongly in southern Guerrero state, where the epicenter was located about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the city of Ometepec. Neighboring Oaxaca state also shook heavily.

Governors in both states and civil protection reported strong shakes and some building damage but no casualties.

In Huajuapan, Guerrero, near the epicenter, hotel owner Marco Antonio Estrada also reported shaken-up guests but no major damage. He said it was the longest and strongest earthquake he had ever felt and people ran out of their homes and cars.

"It was very strong, but we didn't see anything fall," said Irma Ortiz, who runs a guesthouse in Oaxaca. She said their telephones were down, and that the quake shook them side-to-side.

The U.S. Geological Survey set the preliminary magnitude of the first quake at 7.4 and said the epicenter was 11 miles underground. The survey set the aftershock at 5.1.

U.S. President Barack Obama's oldest daughter, Malia, was reported safe while on vacation with a school group in Oaxaca.

Groups of women hugged and cried at Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument, where hundreds of people evacuated from office buildings said they had never felt such a strong earthquake. Others typed ferociously on their Blackberries.

Mexico City's airport was closed for a short time but there was no damage to runways and operations were returning to normal.

In Oaxaca, Sylvia Valencia was teaching Spanish to five adult students at the Vinigulaza language school when the earthquake hit.

"Some of us sat down, others ran out," she said. "It was hard, it was strong and it was long."

After the shaking stopped, however, she said they found no damage in their own classrooms, nor outside in the historic center of the city, so they went back to class.

Celia Galicia, who works at the U.S. consular office in Oaxaca, had just flown in from Mexico City when the temblor hit.

She said there was panic in the airport, and a dash for the doors. But she said that she saw no damage at the airport and no one was hurt. She says one building in downtown Oaxaca appears to be damaged and has been evacuated.

She added that they felt two strong aftershocks, and that in downtown Oaxaca most people were out on the street.

"It started shaking badly," she said.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 69 points to 13,170.

By DANIEL WAGNER

NEW YORR - Stocks closed lower Tuesday for only the second time in two weeks after two reports suggested an economic slowdown in China, where blistering growth over the past three years has helped sustain the global economic recovery.

Home prices dropped in 45 Chinese cities last month, a result of government policies designed to reduce property speculation. And BHP Billiton, a mining company, predicted that China will not use much more iron ore in 2020 than it does today.

In the United States, stocks recovered some of their early loss but still closed lower. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 68.94 points to 13,170.19. It had been down as much as 116 points.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed down 4.23 points at 1,405.52. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 4.17 points to 3,074.15.

Brian Gendreau, a market strategist at the brokerage Cetera Financial Group, said traders were concerned about slower growth in India and Brazil as well. That could rein in a rally that has driven the S&P up almost 12 percent this year.

“If there were skeptics out there that the market might have gotten a little ahead of itself, this was all the news they needed,” Gendreau said.

Mining companies, which rely on rising demand from the developing world, plunged. Peabody Energy fell 5.4 percent, Cliffs Natural Resources 2.4 percent and U.S. Steel 0.9 percent. Energy stocks were the worst-performing group in the S&P 500.

Caterpillar, the maker of heavy equipment, led the Dow lower and slid 2.6 percent after it said global sales are growing more slowly. Bank of America, by far the most active stock in the Dow, led the average with a 2.9 percent gain.

Besides the report on home prices and the prediction of weaker demand for iron ore, which is used to make steel, China raised the price of gasoline for the second time in two months. That could hurt demand for fuel.

China’s economy grew at an annual rate of 8.9 percent in the last three months of 2011, but the government, which is worried that the economy will overheat, has set a growth target of 7.5 percent this year.

Commodity prices fell broadly, also because of concerns about Chinese demand. Copper fell almost 2 percent. Platinum and palladium also fell. Gold fell more than $20 an ounce to $1,647 and is down 8 percent this month.

The price of oil dropped $2.48 to $105.61 in New York trading. In addition to the worry about China, oil fell because Saudi Arabia promised to fulfill any shortfalls in global supply because of the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

Yields for U.S. government debt fell slightly after rising for nine consecutive days. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.33 percent, from 2.36 late Monday, but had recovered to 2.36 percent later Tuesday.

The dollar rose against the euro. Traders tend to buy what they consider safer currencies, such as the dollar, when they are worried about the global economy. The euro fell to $1.322 from $1.324 late Monday.

The U.S. Commerce Department released a mixed report on the housing market. Builders broke ground on fewer homes in February, though they obtained more permits to build homes later in the year.

Gendreau said the report’s impact on trading was mild because most housing data in recent months have signaled a modest revival for the industry.

European indexes fell. Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 percent, France’s CAC-40 1.3 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 1.2 percent.

Among the companies making big moves in the U.S. on Tuesday:

• Tiffany & Co., the jeweler, jumped 6.7 percent after it said it expects higher profits and revenue this year.

• Adobe Systems Inc., a maker of graphic design software, fell 3.9 percent after its quarterly profit fell sharply because of higher operating costs.

• Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the movie studio, rose 7.2 percent and hit a one-year high. “The Hunger Games,” a science-fiction action movie opening Friday, could be a hit.

Daniel Wagner can be reached at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.

Secretary of State William Galvin charged the company with baseless puffery in promoting the sale of securities.

William F. Galvin

BOSTON - Secretary of State William F. Galvin Tuesday charged Urban Power USA Inc. of Easthampton with selling unregistered securities to generate money for its rooftop wind-powered electricity generator.

The company's sales offer was backed by a business plan containing
misrepresentations, material omissions, and “baseless puffery," Galvin said in a prepared statement.

The company, organized in September of 2010 and headquartered at 180 Pleasant St. in Easthampton, hired unregistered promoters to publicize the investments through web sites, local newspapers, e-mails, Facebook and industry conventions, according to a administrative complaint filed by the securities division of Galvin's office against the company and its president, Mark Maynard of Easthampton. Here is a copy of the complaint filed by Galvin.

The complaint charges the company with several violations of state securities law including selling unregistered securities, using unregistered agents to promote the securities and employing unregistered agents.

Maynard is a former water quality manager for the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission. His wife is co-founder and director of Urban Power USA. Maynard could not be reached for comment. A phone message was left at his home in Easthampton.

Galvin's complaint seeks a cease and desist order against the company. It also asks the company to make "rescission offers" to Massachusetts residents who bought securities in the company.

The purpose of a rescission would be to bring both the company and investors back to where they were before a contract was signed.

The securities division of the state of Pennsylvania in the fall of 2010 also issued a cease and desist order against the company for selling unregistered securities to Pennsylvania residents.

Galvin's complaint says the company's product is essentially a home-made windmill that generates electricity when mounted on a roof.

"While Urban Power describes its product as low-tech, its promotional materials could lead an investor to believe that these are revolutionary alternative green energy products with infinite sales potential and no downsides," the complaint said.

In the Urban Power case, the business plan used to attract investors projected sales of $1 million in 2011 and $2.9 million in 2012. To date, however, only two wind turbines have been bought for a total of $105,000.

Third world sales projections were to rise more than 162% from
2011 to 2013, but Urban Power has yet to sell a product to a foreign buyer.

The document listed the 2011 year end cash balance as $516,581, though the company’s bank statement showed a year-end balance of $22,189.16.

The business plan was replete with
blanket statements about the wind power industry, but, the complaint stated, “Without any proven connection to Urban Power, these generic statements are non-sequiturs and baseless puffery, serving to materially mislead investors into believing that Urban Power is destined for success.”

The new allegation of sexual harassment came just months after Cykowski found himself in the center of controversy in late December after he made an offhand comment about Puerto Ricans during a City Council meeting

Easthampton City Councilor Donald Cykowski, left, and Springfield NAACP Director, Rev. Talbert W. Swan II

EASTHAMPTON – The head of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP on Tuesday issued a letter to the citizens of Easthampton, urging them to demand the ouster of controversial City Councilor Donald Cykowski, now that the councilor has been accused of sexual harassment months after he was criticized for a remark considered racist.

“I challenge the residents of Easthampton to display moral courage and have the gumption to remove Donald Cykowski from public office,” Rev. Talbert W. Swan II wrote.

Cykowski resigned his seat on the board of the Emily Williston Memorial Library on Sunday following an allegation from former library director Rebecca Plimpton that Cykowski had sexually harassed her for years before she left the post in 2007. The library board has since put in place a policy that forbids any discrimination or harassment toward employees or patrons.

The new allegation came just months after Cykowski found himself in the center of controversy in late December after he made an offhand comment about Puerto Ricans during a City Council meeting. During the meeting, someone was having trouble opening a locked door and Cykowski blurted out, “Where’s a Puerto Rican when we need one?”

The comment was heavily criticized at the time and several – including the NAACP – called for him to resign. Cykowski apologized but ultimately did not resign.

Swan in his letter focuses on the apparent disparity in responses from the public in the two instances. While he calls it commendable that residents responded forcefully to the allegations of harassment toward a white woman, Swan admits being troubled by what he called the “lukewarm response” to Cykowski’s comments against Puerto Ricans.

Cykowski could not be reached for comment.

Open Letter to Easthampton Residents-1

Jones’ lawyers have argued the city kept Jeffrey Asher on the police force knowing he was a “ticking time bomb," with 12 suspensions for excessive force.

Melvin Jones III, of Springfield, is suing the city of Springfield for civil rights violations and use of excessive force in the wake of his 2009 beating by former Springfield police officer Jeffrey Asher, right.

SPRINGFIELD - A federal judge excluded the city and its police supervisors from the next round of litigation related to the 2009 beating of a black motorist by former patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher, but signaled four officers could be in for a swift verdict and days of hearings on civil damages.

Asher – who is white and a 17-year-veteran of the police force – was convicted Feb. 28 of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with bludgeoning a black motorist in the head and face with a metal flashlight during a traffic stop on Rifle Street, which was caught on amateur video by a neighbor.

Asher faces jail time at his sentencing in Chicopee District Court on March 28. But meanwhile, the motorist, Melvin Jones III, has sued the police and the city in federal court for civil rights violations and use of excessive force – exposing Asher, three other officers present and the city to a financial settlements since Jones was blinded in one eye and broken facial bones.

Officers Michael Sedergren and Theodore Triuolo also were named in the lawsuit as being at the stop along with Lt. John Bobianski. According to a transcript generated from the video presented at trial, unnamed officers screamed the n-word during the attack. Bobianski ordered Asher to stop hitting Jones, court filings state, but Asher continued to beat him with the flashlight.

Asher attempted to argue at trial that Jones went for a holstered gun during the struggle after the car he was a passenger in was pulled over. He said he hit Jones 18 times in self-defense. The jury rejected this argument and the video showed Jones simply tried to wheel away from officers’ grips when they had him prone on the hood of the car.

Public opinion was polarized over the issue when the video was made public because the apparent brutality of the incident was complicated by the fact that Jones had a criminal record and drugs in the car. Jones, 31, was released on bail and racked up additional charges including shoplifting and drug trafficking subsequent to the 2009 traffic stop.

He remains held on bail while the trafficking case is pending in Hampden Superior Court. The federal case was scheduled for trial starting May 14 until U.S. District Court Michael A. Ponsor delayed the date during a hearing on Tuesday, pending the outcome of opposing motions between the plaintiff and the city. Lawyers for Jones have been pushing a lengthy trial where both the police officers could be held culpable for financial damages along with the city. Jones’ lawyers have argued the city kept Asher on the force knowing he was a “ticking time bomb," with 12 suspensions for excessive force.

“That’s about a suspension every six months for excessive force,” said Shawn Allyn, a lawyer for Jones, who also noted Asher has been named in 23 lawsuits against the city, although the outcome of those suits have ranged from the recent criminal conviction to settlement to dismissal by a judge or jury. “His propensity toward violence has been directed largely at African Americans, but I don’t think race is his primary problem ... I think it’s use of excessive force.”

Because the U.S. Supreme Court set the bar high for municipalities to be held culpable for the behavior of a public employee, Ponsor on Tuesday separated Jones’ claims against the city from the plaintiff’s claims against the officers individually. The judge denied the city’s motion to dismiss the case altogether.

“This is what we wanted. The court proceeded in the best manner,” City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said after the hearing, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court raised the threshold for municipal liability in police brutality cases in the late 1980s.

William C. Newman, director of the western Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union told Ponsor that even given the Supreme Court’s posture: “If there was ever a case where bifurcation would not be in order, I would suggest this is it.”

Exhibits in the court case show that two police chiefs prior to current Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet had concerns about Asher’s fitness for duty. Fitchet ultimately fired Asher in 2010, one day after Asher won a disability retirement by arguing he had Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome after serving in the first Gulf War and police work exacerbated the condition.

Ponsor pushed the May trial date off indefinitely, and said he could conceivably envision a scenario where he finds in favor of Jones against the police and moves directly to a damages hearing, which may include debate over how much is due for his injuries in addition to punitive damages as a rebuke to the city and police supervisors. Lawyers for the plaintiffs will argue in favor of that in U.S. District Court on April 19.

The mayor called McMahon “the most significant driving force of all the good things that have happened in Westfield over the past five years.”

File photo by Manon MirabelliWesfield Business Improvement District director Lisa McMahon, left, seen Sunday during the Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade where she was Westfield parade marshal, will be leaving her post at the end of the week. With McMahon is Hannah F. Sullivan.

WESTFIELD – Lisa G. McMahon, Westfield first director of its Business Improvement District, will leave her post this week.

“I was here for the labor, and the new person to lead this wonderful agency will be in the position of delivering a beautiful baby,” McMahon said Tuesday, referring to a soon-to-be-completed renovation of downtown Westfield.

The Business Improvement District, now numbering 126 property owners as members, was officially formed in 2006. McMahon became its first executive director in 2007.

“I am proud of where BID is,” she said. “We are at the point where we have a seat at many tables, including the ongoing cooperation with businesses, Westfield State University, Westfield on Weekends, the Chamber of Commerce and the city of Westfield,” she said.

Mayor Daniel M. Knapik called McMahon “the most significant driving force of all the good things that have happened in Westfield over the past five years. She was our go-to person for moving things along in the downtown. This is a very sad day for Westfield.”

“If a city can be represented by individuals who represent its heart and soul, among them would be Lisa McMahon. She has a personal energy and wonderful spirit that will be long remembered. I admire her enormously,” Evan S. Dobelle, president of Westfield State University, said.

WOW Director Robert A. Plasse said McMahon’s leaving is “bittersweet for Westfield. We wish her the best. She is one of the best things that ever happened in Westfield. She is a prime mover of our city. WOW was fortunate to have Lisa with us, especially for her ability for getting people together.”

McMahon is leaving to join Merrill Lynch as a financial planner who will work with businesses to set goals.

“I love a new challenge,” she said.

VIP Director Barbara G. Trant said “Lisa is our cheerleader. She is a big part of the Volunteers in Public Schools as she is with every organization she becomes involved in. Westfield will miss Lisa for sure.”

McMahon characterized her position as BID director as a person who served as advocate and liaison who helped bring businesses together to share issues, services and programs.

“The most exciting thing was the start and now the near completion of our newly reconstructed downtown,” she said, pointing to the $14 million reconstruction of Main, Elm and Broad streets including a refurbished Park Square Green.

Under her leadership, BID brought the Farmers Market to the downtown, summer concerts and a variety of public activities throughout the year in Westfield’s center.

McMahon, a Westfield resident, said she plans to remain active in many projects including WOW.

Smoking cessation classes have been offered to people who work at the malls.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 1:01 this afternoon.

File photos by Michael S. Gordon and Michael Beswick / The RepublicanSmoking is going to be banned at all 15 malls owned by the Pyramid Management Group at the end of May including the Holyoke Mall, at top, and the Hampshire Mall, below.

HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside and the Hampshire Mall in Hadley are both going completely tobacco-free at the end of May.

The same goes for the Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough and all of the 15 malls owned by Syracuse-based Pyramid Management Group, LLC, according to an announcement released Tuesday by Pyramid.

The ban means no cigarettes, no cigars, no chewing tobacco or snuff anywhere on the property, inside or outside, said Brian D. Niland, general manager of the Hampshire Mall. The ban also includes electronic cigarettes.

Holyoke Mall General Manager William J. Rogalski said mall stores at Pyramid properties will also stop selling tobacco products.

Rogalski said the tobacco ban has been in place at Pyramid’s flagship Carousel Center property in Syracuse New York since 2007. Now it will be in force at all of the company’s 15 malls.

“It’s like anything else, there is an adjustment period and then six months from now no one will remember the rules being anything different,” he said. “Obviously the Baystate Medical campus is tobacco free, Holyoke Community College is going tobacco free. We think its the right thing to do.”

He compared it with the parental escort policy Holyoke Mall instituted in 2005 which was controversial at the time..

“Here we are seven years later and its working out famously,” he said.

Both mall managers said they get a lot of complaints about smokers congregating in the entrances making it difficult for customers to come and go.

“People call it running the gauntlet,” Rogalski said. “You just take a deep breath and try and get through it.”

Niland said the new smoking ban will prove popular.

“We just think it is going to be a better shopping experience for our customers,” he said. “That’s why it is being implemented. We think its what most of our customers want.”

Just 15 percent of Massachusetts adults smoked as of 2009, according to statistics kept by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The national average is 20.6 percent.

Rogalski said he’s already told mall tenants about the new rules and offered smoking cessation classes.

“You know, its been mostly positive response,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of success on our staff side and with our retail tenants with smoking session. A lot of people are quitting smoking. At the end of the day, you might save a life. Who can put a price on that?”

Niland said Hampshire Mall is offering smoking cessation classes to employees and employees of tenants as well.

Enforcing the new rules will fall to security staff at the Holyoke and Hampshire malls, the managers said.

“You handle it on a case by case basis. If someone is unaware of the policy then you educate them,” Niland said. “If someone takes a different stance, you handle it differently.”

Rogalski said there are Holyoke Police officers at the Holyoke Mall on most weekends and occasionally on weeknights. Those officers will be asked to intervene if a smoker gets belligerent.

“The fact of the matter is it is private property,” Rogalski said. “But most times it never comes to that.”

Stebbins said he is most interested in how casinos can create jobs.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 10:30 this morning.

Photo by Josh Reynolds / Associated PressMembers of the five-person Massachusetts Gaming Commission attend a news conference in Boston on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, where the last two appointees were introduced. From left the members are Enrique Zuniga, James F. McHugh, Chairman Steve Crosby, speaking, Bruce Stebbins, and Gayle Cameron.

BOSTON - State political leaders on Tuesday selected a Springfield city official and a retired state Appeals Court judge to be the final two members of the five-member commission that will oversee and license casinos in Massachusetts.

The two new members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission are Bruce W. Stebbins, 46, business development administrator for the city of Springfield since September 2010 and a former member of the Springfield City Council, and retired Judge James F. McHugh, who served on both the Superior Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 1985 until he retired this year. The two appointments came the day before the legal deadline set in the state's casino law for naming all commission members. Here is a link to the new casino law approved by the governor and legislators.

Stebbins said he is eager to move ahead on the process of selecting casinos.

"As I said when I met with the attorney general, the governor and the treasurer about this job ... I would hope that the commission can beat everybody's expectations and we get casinos on the road and shovels in the ground faster than some people had hoped for," Stebbins told reporters after he and the four other commission members met the media during an afternoon press conference in Boston.

The chairman of the commission told reporters that under a "totally speculative" schedule, the commission would get back bids from casinos in 18 to 24 months. That could mean that a casino resort might not open until 2015 or 2016, considering a couple of years of construction.

Stebbins said he understands the need for casinos. He said he is most interested in how casinos can create jobs.

"I'm looking at this from a jobs perspective," said Stebbins, who is married with two children.

Sen. Gale D. Candaras, a Wilbraham Democrat who supports casinos, said "it's good thing" that a resident of Western Massachusetts was appointed to the commission. Candaras said people can count on Stebbins to protect the interests of Western Massachusetts including the need for assuring that local workers and vendors benefit from a casino resort.

The final two members were selected jointly by Gov. Deval L. Patrick, Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and Treasurer Steven Grossman. The three state political leaders previously also each selected one commissioner as individual appointments.

The two new members will sit on the commission with Chairman Stephen P. Crosby, appointed by Patrick; retired New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameron, appointed by Coakley; and Enrique A. Zuniga, executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust, who was named by Grossman.

Crosby told reporters that the five commission members are ready to go.

Crosby said that the commission is committed to making sure the process of picking casinos is "fair, transparent and innovative."

"This is a process that is on the level, that will only be affected by the merits," Crosby said. "We will not let the pressure to move forward get in the way of doing this right and well."

None of the five commission members are regular casino gamblers.

Stebbins said he had been in three casinos over the past seven or eight years. He said his biggest net win was $100 and on his "worst day," he lost a net $150.

Crosby will earn $150,000 a year for the full-time job. Stebbins and the other three commissioners will receive $112,500 and will also work full time.

The commission will develop regulations governing the state's casino industry and will determine which developers get licenses to build and operate casinos in Massachusetts. The commission will also be charged with developing a code of ethics.

"I think we've got a remarkably strong commission," Patrick said. "It's the right blend of talents and experience, and I think they'll work well together."

Stebbins also worked as a senior regional manager for the National Association of Manufacturers for 10 years before leaving the organization in February 2010.

Stebbins declined to say if he supports a casino for Springfield. He said he first wanted to see what type of agreement is reached by the city of Springfield and a casino. He said he is hopeful an agreement with a casino would be good for the community. "That's what I hope the city fathers in Springfield will negotiate," he said.

The state's casino law calls for casinos to negotiate agreements with host communities and place that agreement up for a vote by residents of the community.

Under the state's casino law, signed in November by Patrick, the commission could approve up to three casino resorts in different geographic zones including one for Western Massachusetts.

Several companies are already lining up for the Western Massachusetts license. Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas is proposing a casino for Springfield, the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut is proposing one for Palmer and MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas is proposing a casino for Brimfield.

The commission plans to start hiring staff, set up an office, and hold public meetings. One important early task is to write the criteria for determining which casinos receive licenses.

McHugh, a resident of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, served on the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1985 until 2001, when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court. He served on the Appeals Court until February 2012, when he retired as a judge.

Stebbins, a registered Republican, served for two-terms on the Springfield City Council.

He also served in the administration of former Republican Gov. William F. Weld, and earlier as associate director of political affairs in the White House under President George H.W. Bush.

Material from the Associated Press was used.

Exit poll results show Romney was preferred by Illinois primary-goers who said the economy is the top issue in the campaign.

Photo by Steven Senne / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center, greets a Google employee while touring the Chicago Google headquarters, in Chicago, Tuesday. Romney participated in a live-streaming internet discussion during the visit.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Illinois Republican presidential primary, Tuesday, besting rival Rick Santorum in the big-state contest.

Exit poll results show Romney was preferred by Illinois primary-goers who said the economy is the top issue in the campaign.

The former governor also was overwhelmingly favored by those who said an ability to defeat President Barack Obama is the quality they most wanted in a GOP nominee.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

The discovery came two weeks after the end of coyote hunting season.

BELCHERTOWN – Coyotes are not the most endearing of critters.

When they’re not killing cats, terrorizing livestock or frightening adults and children, the predators can be heard braying at each other with that spooky yowling sound late into the night.

Still, the discovery of 14 dead coyotes at a Belchertown lumber yard this week has unsettled neighbors and triggered an investigation by state Environmental Police.

“That’s not something you want to see,” said Janis L. Sugrue, owner of Native Lumber Co. on Rte. 181, where the carcasses were found by a neighbor riding her horse. The property abuts the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, and somebody apparently dumped the animals in the past week, Sugrue said.

A neighbor riding on horseback noticed the carcasses when her horse spooked, Sugrue said. “The horse must have smelled it; now, the smell is just awful,” she said.

Sugrue reported the dead animals to the environmental police Monday, who visited the site Tuesday along with a representative from the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

The discovery came two weeks after the end of coyote hunting season, but Sugrue said she doubts the animals were killed in nearby woods. “They were probably killed somewhere else and dumped here; somebody just drove up and dumped them,” she added.

Investigators have not determined how the animals died, much less where they were killed or who was responsible.

But the dumping appears to illegal. Anyone killing coyotes during the October to May hunting season must report deaths to the state, and dumping animals carcasses on private property is illegal, regardless of how the killings occurred, state officials said.

Marion E. Larson, a biologist with the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said there is a market for coyote fur and body parts, though state law restricts how the animals can be hunted and killed. Based on her agency’s inspection of the carcasses, Larson said it was unclear how they were killed, but there was no obvious sign that they had been trapped or shot.

Voters here twice approved nonbinding casino ballot questions and could face a third.

This updates a story originally posted at 9:45 p.m.

HOLYOKE – The City Council Tuesday rejected a proposal to ask Mayor Alex B. Morse to form a committee to receive and review casino gambling plans.

Some of the councilors who voted to withdraw the order that sought such a committee said it would be time wasted because Morse is opposed to the city getting a casino.

“It does not make sense any longer,” Councilor at Large Rebecca Lisi said.

But others said that it would be foolish of this poverty-gripped city to ignore the $500 million, multi-job investment of a gaming resort and that it was wrong to deprive voters of casino-proposal details, regardless of the mayor’s staunch anti-casino vow.

“We are an urban community. We need the tax dollars and we need the jobs ...,” Councilor at Large Joseph M. McGiverin said.

The 10-5 vote at City Hall to withdraw the casino-board proposal came after all six speakers during the pre-meeting public comment period warned that a casino would divide citizens and increase already bad traffic areas.

“I wouldn’t have moved here if I thought there was going to be a casino,” said Jeffrey Horan, who moved to 100 Southampton Road last year.

Don’t jeopardize the renaissance the city faces by putting hopes in gambling, resident Mary Murphy Ross said.

“I feel that a casino would definitely hold us back,” Ross said.

But another sign that the casino issue has life is that a group of residents is gathering signatures to put a nonbinding question on the Nov. 6 election ballot asking, “Shall a casino be permitted to operate in the city of Holyoke?”

Voters here in 1995 and 2002 approved such a question.

But critics have asked whether those questions were too general to reflect accurate city sentiment. Under the recently established state law that legalizes casino gambling, a city or town chosen to be home to a gaming resort would have vote on a binding question that would identify the casino developer and the address where such a resort would be built.

The casino law establishes a gaming commission and permits three gaming resorts in the state, including one in Western Massachusetts.

Ward 3 Councilor David K. Bartley said people shouldn’t be mistaken about the Nov. 8 election that put Morse in the mayor’s seat. Morse defeated former Mayor Elaine A. Pluta. While it is true Morse carried Ward 7, which is home to many vocal casino foes, that vote was a mayoral election and shouldn’t be considered a city referendum against a casino, Bartley said.

A Sixteen Acres homeowner suffered from smoke inhalation during a garage fire at his 96 Slumber Lane residence, Fire Department spokesman Dennis Leger said

View full sizePhoto by Dennis LegerFirefighters on the scene of a garage fire at 96 Slumber Lane, Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD - A Sixteen Acres homeowner suffered from smoke inhalation during a garage fire at his 96 Slumber Lane residence, Fire Department spokesman Dennis Leger said.

Larry Hendrickson was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center for treatment following the fire, reported just after noon.

The fire appeared to have stated in the attached garage with the electrical components of Hendrickson's Buick Regal sedan.

The fire spread from the car throughout the garage, but fire fighters were able to extinguish the flames before they spread to the attached one-story ranch, Leger said.

The fire caused an estimated $8,000 damage to two cars in the garage and another $10,000 damage to the garage itself, Leger said.

Slumber Lane is located in the southeastern most corner of the city near the East Longmeadow and Wilbraham town lines.

View Larger Map

Returns from 75 percent of Illinois’ precincts showed Romney gaining 47 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Santorum, 9 percent for Ron Paul and 8 percent for a fading Newt Gingrich.

This is an updated version of a story posted at 9:01 this evening.

Photo by Steven Senne / Associated PressRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, and his wife Ann wave to a crowd in Schaumburg, Ill., after Romney won the Illinois Republican presidential primary, Tuesday.

By DAVID ESPO
and STEVE PEOPLES

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – Mitt Romney took a major stride toward the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, routing Rick Santorum in the Illinois primary for his third big-state win in a row and padding his already-formidable lead in the race for convention delegates.

“What a night,” Romney exulted to cheering supporters in suburban Chicago. Looking beyond his GOP rivals, he said he had a simple message for President Barack Obama, the man Republicans hope to defeat next fall: “Enough. We’ve had enough.”

Returns from 75 percent of Illinois’ precincts showed Romney gaining 47 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Santorum, 9 percent for Ron Paul and 8 percent for a fading Newt Gingrich.

That was a far more substantial showing for Romney than the grudging victories he eked out in the previous few weeks in Michigan and Ohio, primaries that did as much to raise questions about his ability to attract Republican support as to quell those questions.

Santorum, who hopes to rebound in next Saturday’s Louisiana primary, sounded like anything but a defeated contender as he spoke to supporters in Gettysburg, Pa. He said he had outpolled Romney in downstate Illinois and the areas “that conservatives and Republicans populate. We’re very happy about that and we’re happy about the delegates we’re going to get, too.”

“Saddle up, like (Ronald) Reagan did in the cowboy movies,” he urged his backers.

Romney triumphed in Illinois after benefitting from a crushing, 7-1 advantage in the television advertising wars, and as his chief rival struggled to overcome self-imposed political wounds in the marathon race to pick an opponent to Obama.

Most recently, Santorum backpedaled after saying on Monday that the economy wasn’t the main issue of the campaign. “Occasionally you say some things where you wish you had a do-over,” he said later.

Over the weekend, he was humbled in the Puerto Rico primary after saying that to qualify for statehood the island commonwealth should adopt English as an official language.

Initial results showed Romney’s victory was worth at least 22 delegates in Illinois.

That gave him 544 in the overall count maintained by The Associated Press, out of 1,144 needed to win the nomination. Santorum has 253 delegates, Gingrich 135 and Paul 50.

Exit polls showed Romney preferred by primary goers who said the economy was the top issue in the campaign, and overwhelmingly favored by those who said an ability to defeat Obama was the quality they most wanted in a nominee.

He won among votes who said they were somewhat conservative or moderate, while Santorum prevailed among those who said they were “very conservative.”

While pre-primary polls taken several days ago in Illinois suggested a close race, Romney and Restore Our future, a super Pac that backs him, unleashed a barrage of campaign ads to erode Santorum’s standing. One ad accused the former Pennsylvania senator of changing his principles while serving in Congress, while two others criticized him for voting to raise the debt limit, raise his own pay as a lawmaker and side with former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to support legislation allowing felons the right to vote.

In all, Romney and Restore Our Future outspent Santorum and a super PAC that backs him by $3.5 million to $500,000, an advantage of 7-1.

In the long and grinding campaign, Santorum looked to rebound in next Saturday’s primary in Louisiana, particularly given Romney’s demonstrated difficulties winning in contests across the Deep South.

A 10-day break follows before Washington, D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin hold primaries on April 3.

Santorum is not on the ballot in the nation’s capital.

Private polling shows Romney with an advantage in Maryland, and Restore Our Future launched a television ad campaign in the state during the day at a cost of more than $450,000.

Wisconsin shapes up as the next big test between Romney and Santorum, an industrial state next door to Illinois, but one where Republican politics have been roiled recently by a controversy involving a recall battle against the governor and some GOP state senators who supported legislation that was bitterly opposed by labor unions.

Already, Restore Our future has put down more than $2 million in television advertising across Wisconsin. Santorum has spent about $50,000 to answer.

Neither Newt Gingrich nor Ron Paul campaigned extensively in Illinois.

Gingrich has faded into near-irrelevance in the race, but he was defiant in a statement issued after Romney sealed his victory.

“To defeat Barack Obama, Republicans can’t nominate a candidate who relies on outspending his opponents 7-1. Instead, we need a nominee who offers powerful solutions that hold the president accountable for his failures,” it said.

Gingrich said his campaign will spend the time leading to the party convention “relentlessly taking the fight to President Obama.”

Illinois fell into Romney’s column far more easily than Michigan or Ohio had.

The night’s vote count was plagued by ballot difficulties. Rupert Borgsmiller, executive director, of the Illinois State Board of Elections, said in late afternoon that 25 counties and the city of Aurora were affected by the ballot problem. He didn’t know how many ballots were affected but said “clearly you can say more than hundreds.”

Romney and Santorum campaigned energetically across the state, and not always in respectful tones.

“Senator Santorum has the same economic lightweight background the president has,” Romney said at one point. “We’re not going to replace an economic lightweight with another economic lightweight.”

Santorum had a tart reply. “If Mitt Romney’s an economic heavyweight, we’re in trouble.”

Anticipating a primary defeat, Santorum’s campaign argued that the race for delegates is closer than it appears.

Santorum contends the Republican National Committee at the convention will force Florida and Arizona to allocate their delegates on a proportional basis instead of winner-take-all as the state GOP decided. Romney won both states.

On Tuesday, about four in 10 voters interviewed as they left their polling places said they were evangelical or born again. That’s about half the percentage in last week’s primary states of Alabama and Mississippi, where Santorum won narrowly. Despite an unusually lengthy race for the nomination, less than a third of those voting said in the polling-place survey they hoped the primary season would come to a quick end even if that meant their candidate might lose the nomination.

The findings came from preliminary results from the survey of 1,555 Illinois Republican voters, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The exit poll was conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research at 35 randomly selected polling places around the state.

As Illinois Republicans voted on Tuesday, Romney raised more than $1.3 million at a luncheon in Chicago.

Illinois was the 28th state to hold a primary or caucus in the selection of delegates to the nominating convention, about halfway through the calendar of a Republican campaign that has remained competitive longer than most.

A change in party rules to reduce the number of winner-take-all primaries has accounted for the duration of the race. But so has Romney’s difficulty in securing the support of the most conservative of the GOP political base. Santorum and Gingrich have struggled to emerge as the front-runner’s sole challenger from the right.