The principle of the council is that by banding together towns can solve problems and save money.

File photo | The RepublicanThe Hampshire Council of Governments building in Northampton.

SOUTH HADLEY – Todd D. Ford, the new executive director of the Hampshire Council of Governments, told South Hadley’s Selectboard recently why membership in his organization can save the town money.

His message was warmly received by the board, which has already looked at regionalization as a key to survival in hard times.

The Hampshire Council of Governments is a membership organization that took the place of the old county system.

So far, the council has 13 member communities, including Belchertown, Granby, Hadley and many of the Hampshire hilltowns.

The principle of the council is that by banding together towns can solve problems and save money on such services as grant consulting, zoning enforcement, website design, building inspection, insurance, accounting, purchasing and electricity.

Ford emphasized last week that he is looking to “revitalize and invigorate” the council, with towns getting results for their membership fee.

The fee for South Hadley to join would be $10,000 annually, with a commitment of four years. Fees vary from town to town, depending on property valuation and other factors.

In the early days of the council, membership fees were much higher. Ford said he believes the fee for South Hadley was $72,000 – quite a difference.

John Hine, chairman of the Selectboard, said that the town did belong to the council in the early 2000s, but withdrew because it wasn’t getting its money’s worth.

Ford made it clear that a price drop is not the only reason to join. He said the council is now run “much more like a business. We have no tax base, so I have to operate like a business.

“We’re open to exploring whatever solution may work,” said Ford. “We can provide direct service or refer you to to someone who can.”

To begin with, he said, any line items over $50,000 in a town’s budget would quickly get the council’s attention.

Ford cited some of the benefits Belchertown got in 2010 by being a member of the council: The cooperative purchasing program saved it $5,078, the electricity program saved it $14,960. In addition, the Belchertown schools saved $13,335.

The council has opened some of its services to all Hampshire towns, even if they are not members, and in fact South Hadley already is taking advantage of its health insurance program for municipal and school employees.

But Town Administrator Paul Beecher said the Selectboard agrees that it wants to be a full partner. “Participating is the key,” he said.

Beecher said afterward that South Hadley will join the council when the new fiscal year begins in July.

Another benefit of joining, said Ford, is that towns together can have a bigger influence on state policies, with the Hampshire Council of Governments “becoming a funnel for political messages we want to send to Boston.”

“This is a fantastic region,” said Ford. “We want to make sure it’s not forgotten.”

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said Patrick’s bill would strike a balance between the interests of unions and municipal managers.

File photo | The RepublicanMassachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray urged legislators at the Statehouse on Tuesday to approve Gov. Deval Patrick's bill to lower the costs of municipal health insurance, saying it would respect union bargaining rights and provide financial relief to cities and towns.

BOSTON - Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray on Tuesday asked legislators to approve the governor’s bill to lower the costs of municipal health insurance, saying it would respect union bargaining rights and provide financial relief to cities and towns.

Murray testified during a hearing by the Committee on Public Service, which aired various, competing bills for controlling increases in costs of municipal health insurance.

Murray said that the governor’s bill would strike a balance between the interests of unions and municipal managers. Murray said it was critical to approve the bill before the end of the month to assure about $100 million savings across the state for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The governor’s bill, filed in January, would give communities and unions a certain amount of time to either join the state insurance plan or agree on a local plan with the same costs, Murray said. Many details would be left to state regulations, making the bill easier for legislators to approve.

“This proposal will give labor a meaningful role in developing the solution and assure that municipal employees have continued access to quality, affordable health care,” said Murray, who testified in the absence of Gov. Deval L. Patrick, currently on a trade mission to Israel.

Unions and municipal leaders also offered their own plans for reining in the costs of health insurance for cities and towns.

Rep. Stephen Kulik, a Worthington Democrat, testified on his bill, which is backed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Kulik’s bill would allow municipal leaders to establish co-pays and deductibles without negotiating with unions. Under the bill, no municipal plan could charge higher co-pays and deductibles than the state. And unions would keep their current rights to bargain over the share of premiums paid by the community and the employees.

Stephen Kulik

“This bill is based on a simple premise: that cities and towns should have the same authority that the state has for designing the details of health insurance coverage for its employees,” Kulik said.

The state insurance plan sets co-pays and deductibles without negotiating with unions.

West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson, who attended the hearing, said he supported Kulik’s bill. In order to reduce costs of health insurance, Gibson said, communities need more clout when bargaining with unions, particularly on co-pays and deductibles.

“Nothing is free at the bargaining table,” Gibson said. “We have to buy out the unions.”

Leaders of public employee unions also offered a compromise plan. The plan calls for unions and communities to set goals for saving costs on health insurance. Unions and managers would either bargain changes to reach the targeted savings or bargain to join the state plan, called the Group Insurance Commission.

The union plan would save about $120 million each year, said Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which has 107,000 members, mostly employees of local and regional schools.

In the first year, employees and municipalities would split the savings. About $60 million a year would be used to offset the increased costs that would be borne by employees.

Linda M. Noonan, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education in Boston, testified in support of a separate business-backed bill that would give municipalities the unilateral power to design health plans.

Noonan said that controlling health care spending is important for education. The business alliance released a study in December that found the cost of health insurance for teachers and other school employees is crowding out funding for books, teacher training and other items that affect student learning.

Rep. John W. Scibak, a South Hadley Democrat and co-chairman of the Public Service Committee, said the issue is very complex. He said any bill would need to account for the differences in municipal health insurance plans.

The tax collector job is up for grabs because most members of the 15-member City Council didn't support reappointing incumbent Robert Kane.

File photo | The RepublicanHolyoke City Hall.

HOLYOKE – A subcommittee interviewed five more candidates for city tax collector Tuesday and the full City Council is set to vote to fill the job March 15.

The Public Service Committee interviewed six candidates Monday for the job, which will pay a yearly salary in the low-$60,000 range.

Incumbent Robert F. Kane has been tax collector since 1993, but failed to win reappointment from the City Council, which instead voted last month to solicit candidates. Kane is among the 11 interviewed.

The city received 29 applications for the job by the Feb. 21 deadline. Acting Personnel Administrator Jeanette Berrios said only 18 qualified for the position and of that total, seven either withdrew or failed to attend scheduled interviews.

The job has a residency requirement, which was mistakenly omitted from the advertisement seeking candidates.

All of the candidates who live outside the city said they understood the residency rule and would be willing to move here.

Six of the 11 candidates interviewed live here. Others were from Amherst, Monson, Chicopee, Agawam and Portland, Maine.

The candidates interviewed Tuesday were:

• Bruce Mitchell, of Holyoke, member of the Historical Commission and a former restaurant manager;

• Karen MacDonald, of Amherst, grants manager with Community Action of Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Regions Inc., in Greenfield;

• Amarilis Arroyo, of Monson, assistant administrator with O’Connell Professional Nurse Service Inc.;
• John C. Pietrzykowski, of Holyoke, staff accountant with the Valley Opportunity Council here and former School Committee member;

• Kimberly Aubrey, of Holyoke, owner of Aubrey Bookkeeping Services here.

Besides Kane, the candidates interviewed Monday were:

• Katharine Johnston, of Portland, Maine, assistant finance director for the town of Gorham, Maine;

• David Guzman, of Holyoke, business development specialist in the city Office of Planning and Development;

• Bridget M. O’Connor, of Holyoke, associate technical assistant-land court supervisor at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds in Springfield;

• Denise Moreno, of Chicopee, daycare provider with Guardian Angel Daycare, of Chicopee, former tax clerk for city of Holyoke;

• Melinda Lane, of Agawam, comptroller in the Police Department here.

Councilors questioned candidates about their ability to handle municipal accounting, including ensuring that cash received equals cash deposited; managing staff; and dealing with conflicts and politics inherent in city government.

Police shot Lewis with a taser when she continued to move toward her husband after being told to halt.

Republican file photo

Denita Lewis was charged with single counts of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and domestic assault following the 6 p.m. incident, said Lt. Paul Kousch.

Police fired a taser to subdue her after she advanced again on her husband after police ordered her not to move, he said.

The husband, also a Holyoke resident, was taken by ambulance to Noble Hospital. His injuries were not considered life threatening, Kousch said. Police did not release his name.

The couple was at the home of an acquaintance when they began to argue, Kousch said. When the argument became physical, Lewis grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her husband, he said.

Hinojosa has worked for PBS, CNN, CBS radio and NPR, and last year launched her own Futuro Media Group.

The Republican | Michael S. GordonPBS "Frontline" correspondent Maria Hinojosa speaks at the Sheraton Hotel in Springfield on Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD - Award-winning public radio and TV correspondent Maria Hinojosa was the keynote speaker when the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts held its annual conference at the Sheraton Springfield yesterday.

Hinojosa addressed a crowd of 450, the biggest turnout yet for the conference, according to Women’s Fund Executive Director Carla Oleska.

Author of two books, Hinojosa is the first Latina correspondent for the PBS program Frontline. She has worked for CNN, CBS radio and NPR, and last year launched her own Futuro Media Group.

Though she is the daughter of a doctor, a graduate of a Seven Sisters college - Barnard - and comes from a family of high achievers, Hinojosa chooses to focus on the disadvantaged members of society in her TV and radio shows.

The title of the Women’s Fund conference was “Leaders Among Us: Women Redefining What’s Possible.” Hinojosa, sometimes slipping into Spanish, told women to get in touch with their power and “trust their gut.”

She said that as a woman and a Latina, she could relate to the struggles of the marginalized. “Every day, as a woman in the U.S.A., we will face a challenge - every single day,” she said. “And if you’re a recent immigrant - every hour. It’s the ‘U.S. Mambo.’ Three steps forward and two steps back.”

The mother of two, said women often grow up with the idea that power is a negative thing, but she talks herself into feel powerful to do her job.

“When I walk into a room, I am representing not just myself, but other women,” she said.

She is tiny, with a towering presence. “I’m Mrs. High Heels,” she admitted. “I wear four-, five-, six-inch heels.” She used to be a dancer. Now she’s a kickboxer. After her talk, she proudly showed off bruises on her shins.

Hinojosa spoke without notes, moving from politics (the U.S. invaded her husband’s country, the Dominican Republic, in 1965) and history (this is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Factory Fire, in which many female sweatshop workers died) to anecdotes from her work and family life, often recited with accents and theatrical flourishes.

She told a story about her mother that she said defined women’s power for her.

Her father had left Mexico to accept work as a medical researcher at the University of Chicago. Later her mother followed with four children under age 7 in tow.

Hinojosa was the youngest. The immigration officer told the mother that the three older children could enter the country with her. The baby, who had a rash, had to stay behind. She would have to be quarantined.

Hinojosa’s mother drew herself up to her four feet 11 inches and let loose with a reply that settled the matter. The baby got in. “It was the first moment when I understood how powerful my mom was,” said Hinojosa.

Women came from all over for the conference. “I’ve seen many of her shows,” said Ileana Cintron, who works for the Community Training and Assistance Center in Boston, “and now I want to see more.”

“It was a thrill to hear her,” said Dee Ward, program director of the Step Forward Program at Elms College in Chicopee.

The library is holding Teen Tech Week, a national program designed to get teenagers more involved in the library.

Submitted photoErin M. Daly, Chicopee Public Library's young adult librarian, displays the library's book recommendation page on goodreads.com, in which teenagers are encouraged to participate.

CHICOPEE - The public library is attempting to draw more teenagers into the building through technology.

This week, the library is holding Teen Tech Week, a national program designed to get teenagers more involved in the library, said Erin M. Daly, the young adult librarian for the city.

The week is run through the Young Adult Library Services Association. This is the first time it has been tried in the Chicopee Public Library, said Daly, who was hired this year.

“Teens are growing up to be citizens and custodians of a very interesting world where technology and community connections will play a large role, so we’re working to build and strengthen those connections now,” she said.

Libraries are a great place for teenagers to learn more about technology and learn how to handle the information overload, she said.

One of the things the library is doing this week is offer expanded hours in its computer labs for teens. Typically, it is only open an hour a week, but this week students aged 13 through 18 will be invited to use it from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

Anyone can use the library computers any time with a library card, but these computers are in a room, typically used as a classroom, and teenagers will be invited to use them without a card, Daly said.

The program also has a “bingo card” with 25 different activities listed on it such as posting a video on YouTube and going to anime.com and creating a cartoon, she said.

“We have wacky prizes like wind-up robots and robot rubber duckies if they do five things on the card,” she said.

One of the most fun activities will be Friday at 2:30 p.m., when there will be a rock band tournament using a video game similar to Guitar Hero. Students will compete in groups of four and must name their band.

They will be judged on the overall score they receive after playing two songs. The groups will get a separate score for the best band names, Daly said.

After the week is over, Daly said she hopes to continue expanding teen computer hours and getting teens more involved with learning how to better use computers.

Jurors are expected to answer an array of questions including about their political and racial views.

Michael Jacques

SPRINGFIELD – The first day of jury selection in open court in a high-profile church arson case will begin today in U.S. District Court.

Prospective jurors were culled down via a written questionnaire on Monday and Tuesday. Michael F. Jacques Jr., 26, of Springfield, was one of three defendants charged with torching the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in November 2008 - hours after the presidential election - to denounce President Barack Obama as the nation’s first black leader.

Two defendants already have pleaded guilty in the case. Jurors are expected to answer an array of questions including about their political and racial views, in court on Wednesday. Testimony and evidence begins March 21.

A poker dealer and two patrons were arrested on Tuesday after an investigation into cheating at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Associated PressIn this file photo of May 13, 2008, one of the slot machine rooms at the new MGM Grand Hotel stands ready for the start of business in Mashantucket, Ct., at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

MASHANTUCKET, CT - A poker dealer and two patrons were arrested on Tuesday after an investigation into cheating at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Connecticut State Police said that 29-year-old Xiuhie Chen of Norwich, Ct. was a Pai Gow, or double-handed poker, dealer and was allegedly colluding with two gamers to rip off the casino.

Guang S. Li, 37, of Braintree, Ma. and Norman Chun Tung Wong, 38, of San Francisco were also arrested following the investigation.

Detectives with the State Police Casino Unit said that at the end of the first week of March, information was developed that there may be a cheating enterprise involving an employee of the casino. After looking into the situation, police say they had probable cause to make the arrests.

All three were charged with third-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, cheating, conspiracy to commit cheating and third-degree larceny. Chen was processed and released on $50,000 bond while Wong and Li were both held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and they anticipate future arrests.

Muammar Gaddafi threatens retaliation over proposed sanctions, Foxborough targets public drunkenness and more of the morning's headlines.

(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)Libyan volunteers gesture as they raise a pre Gadhafi flag on the outskirts of the eastern town of Ras Lanouf, Libya, Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have scored a significant victory, recapturing the closest city to the capital to have fallen in rebel hands. On another front near the opposition-held east, loyalists trying to stop anti-government fighters from advancing toward the capital pounded the rebels with airstrikes and rockets.

• Foxborough sets fine for public inebriation aimed at drunk Patriots fans [Boston.com]


• Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi threatens to take up arms if No Fly Zone imposed [BBC.com]


• Women's rights marchers in Cairo Egypt report sexual assaults by angry mob [WashingtonPost.com]


• Community rallies for Northampton family struck twice by cancer [GazetteNet.com]


• Warner Bros to offer movies through Facebook [Reuters.com]


• Fire in Rural Pa. Farmhouse Kills 7 Kids [FoxNews.com]


• On 14th anniversary of his murder, Notorious B.I.G. is remembered [HipHopDX.com]


(AP Photo)In this March 1997 file photo, Notorious B.I.G., whose real name is Christopher Wallace, gestures shortly before he was shot to death in Los Angeles.
• 7.2-magnitude quake hits Japan [AlJazeera.com]


• Charlie Sheen still talking, now hates former co-star [NYDailyNews.com]


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


• Read more News Links »


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DiMasi is facing federal public corruption charges.

(AP)Former Massachusetts House Speakers Thomas Finneran, left, and Salvatore DiMasi, right, talk to state House Minority Leader George Peterson Jr., prior to the swearing in ceremony for new lawmakers at the Statehouse in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON — A day after his co-defendant Joseph Lally pled guilty, former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi’s public corruption case is back in federal court.

An 11 a.m. pre-trial conference has been scheduled in the case against DiMasi, Lally and co-defendants Richard McDonough and Richard Vitale. At 2 p.m., the court is scheduled to hear a motion from The Boston Globe to unseal judicial records.

The hearings will be held at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston.

Lally, a co-defendant in the public corruption case against DiMasi, pled guilty Tuesday to conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges, pledging to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Lally, who walked into the Moakley Courthouse with the assistance of a single crutch - the result of recent hip replacement surgery - entered his guilty plea on his 50th birthday. Under questioning from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf, Lally said he had been taking anti-depressants for the past year.

"Today I took responsibility for my actions," Lally told reporters during briefs remarks outside the courthouse before stepping into a Ford Expedition and departing. He declined to elaborate on factors that had led him to his decision to plead guilty. "I'm looking forward to moving forward putting this matter behind me. I'm very fortunate to have a loving wife and family and friends, and I will live up to my agreement with the prosecutors."

Court documents obtained by the News Service Monday indicated Lally, charged with helping concoct and support a kickback scheme to enrich himself, DiMasi and other associates, would plead guilty and must cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a two-to-three-year sentence, two years of probation and an unspecified fine.

Lally informed the judge he would prefer to be sentenced after the trials of his co-defendants are completed, and Wolf agreed. Lally's attorney, Robert Goldstein, noted that Lally could argue for an even lesser sentence depending on his ability to assist prosecutors. Wolf estimated the trial of Lally's co-defendants, scheduled to begin in April, would last about two months.

"It takes an incredible reservoir of emotional and financial wherewithal to come to this point," Goldstein said, referring to Lally's plea.

Thomas Kiley, the attorney defending DiMasi against federal public corruption charges, attended the plea hearing and told the News Service he believes Lally succumbed to pressure to plead guilty.

"I do feel bad for him," Kiley said, adding that Lally "has a valid defense." Asked if he were concerned that the outcome of Lally's case could affect DiMasi's case, Kiley said that a plea agreement of the type Lally struck "happens all the time." Kiley later told reporters he attended the session as "an observer" and would have more to say in future court proceedings.

Asked whether the plea would hurt DiMasi's chances in court, Kiley said, "I certainly hope not and I don't think it will … I've always thought my client's chances are very good. There was nothing new today."

According to court documents, prosecutors had alleged that Lally helped coordinate a kickback scheme that paid DiMasi tens of thousands of dollars in order to secure $20 million in state contracts for Cognos, a software company for which Lally worked as a sales executive, and later as a reseller. Lally helped arrange an agreement to funnel funds to DiMasi through a legal services contract with DiMasi's longtime law partner Steven Topazio, prosecutors alleged.

"Through this sham consulting agreement arranged by the defendants, Lally, essentially through Topazio, paid DiMasi $65,000 from Cognos funds," according to an affidavit filed by prosecutors. DiMasi, his accountant Richard Vitale and lobbyist Richard McDonough, also charged in the alleged scheme, have maintained their innocence.

News of Lally's guilty plea this week thrust back into public consciousness a period on Beacon Hill marked by ethical and legal scandals. DiMasi, once arguably the most powerful figure in government who led legislative drives to overhaul Massachusetts's health care, clean energy and child sexual abuse laws, resigned from his post in January 2009 amid swirling speculation about the corruption charges, which would be issued later that year.

His departure fueled the rise of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who was elected speaker that month and sought immediately to squelch public mistrust of state government by pushing an ethics, lobbying and campaign finance overhaul.

Trustee Kathleen Wang resigned in January, but too late for her position to be placed on the ballot for the March 29 annual Town Election.

Republican file photoKathleen Wang

AMHERST - Anyone wishing to be considered for a vacancy on the Jones Library Board of Trustees has until March 31 to apply.

Board member Kathleen Wang resigned effective Jan. 21, but her resignation was too late for her position to be placed on the ballot for the March 29 annual Town Election.

Three are seeking two seats on the board in that election, one of two contested town-wide races.

Incumbents Patricia G. Holland and Christopher J. Hoffmann and challenger Michael Wolff are seeking the seats.

The other contested race is for Amherst Redevelopment Authority.

According to town bylaws, the Jones Library Board of Trustees and the Select Board jointly appoint a replacement, which the boards will do at an April 4 joint meeting at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.

The boards will question applicants – anyone 18 or older who lives in town is eligible – and then appoint a replacement until the 2012 annual Town Election.

Among their tasks, trustees are charged with supervising the library director, but this board will also be hiring a new director. Long-time director Bonnie J. Isman retired in December.

Candidates on April 4 will be asked to explain what they would seek in a new director. They should also be prepared to explain why they want the position and the skills and qualifications they would bring to it, according to a press release from Holland.

Anyone interested should send an application by e-mail to the Select Board at SelectBoard@amherstma.gov. Application letters may also be submitted by mail to: Select Board, Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Ave., Amherst MA 01002.

Wang, who is principal of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, left the trustees because she is too busy to continue serving on the board, Holland has said.

“It’s interesting,” said Valley CDC executive director Joanne Campbell of the widespread criticism. “I think it’s a well-planned out development.”

View full size

EASTHAMPTON – The Planning Board Tuesday heard scores of complaints from residents at a special permit hearing about a proposed affordable housing project.

The Northampton-based Valley Community Development Corp. applied for the permit in December to develop a 4.3-acre lot at 69 Parsons St. The plans call for five buildings with a total of 38 one- to three-bedroom apartments, a community building and a playground.

At a standing-room only public forum, representatives from Valley CDC and the civil engineering firm Berkshire Design Group detailed the project and addressed concerns about density, traffic, drainage and a host of other issues presented by residents.

Valley CDC executive director Joanne Campbell said the project is meant “to assist the city in accomplishing its goal of providing” affordable housing. The city has set a goal for 10 percent of its housing to be affordable.

At the moment, only 6.6 percent qualifies. Campbell said the new development would bring that figure to seven percent.

The biggest issue on residents’ minds seemed to be traffic flow.

The developers said they had conducted a study of traffic patterns in the area and predicted that 19 trips will be made from the new apartments every morning, a number they said would not have a significant impact on road congestion. The plans call for 76 parking spaces, but Campbell said she does not expect all of them will be used.

Julie Ouimette, who lives on Duda Drive across town from Parsons Street, said she is not convinced.

“I work in Southampton and I make four trips a day,” she said. She goes to work, comes home for lunch, then returns to finish her shift.

“It’s going to be more traffic than you can even begin to imagine,” she said.

The designs allow for two units that are fully handicapped accessible, while the rest are only visitable on the first floor, which raised the ire of residents who said the elderly and disabled are being disenfranchised.

Amy Heflin is a member of the New City Neighborhood Association, which has collected about 100 signatures of neighbors who oppose the development.

“Not one single resident in dozens and dozens and dozens is for this,” said Heflin. “If (the project’s approval) was based on community support, it would be slim to nil, if not nil.”

Campbell said there is still time to change the design if the Planning Board makes that request, but that it meets zoning regulations.

“It’s interesting,” said Campbell of the widespread criticism. “I think it’s a well-planned out development.”

“We are meeting a need that has been identified in the city of Easthampton,” she said.

Funding has not been secured for the project beyond a $200,000 grant from the city’s Community Preservation Act Committee. The price tag is $9 million to $10 million.

David Boyle of Autumn Properties owns the land at 69 Parsons St. Sale to Valley CDC is contingent upon the Planning Board granting the special permit.

The next hearing will take place March 29 at 6:05 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall.

The plant's license is scheduled to expired in March of 2012.

View full sizeAssociated PressIn this undated file aerial photo provided by Vermont Yankee Corporation, the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt. is shown.

The Brattleboro Reformer reports this morning that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has passed an annual inspection.

According to The Reformer, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that the plant's performance indicators for 2010 were of very low safety concern. Read more »

Vermont Public Radio reports that federal regulators are "close to issuing a new 20-year license" for the plant, whose license is set to expire in March of 2012.

However, the plant needs the approval of the Legislature to continue operation — approval they lost in February of 2010 when the Vermont Senate voted overwhelmingly against the extension of the plant's license.

Critics says the NRC has never denied a license renewal application. Listen to the story »

Eight Franklin County Boards of Selectmen sent a letter of concern to the officials overseeing the plant, located just over the border from Northfield, about how closure of the plant would be handled. The Republican reported:

The boards seek assurances “that during this post-shutdown period, when the reactor’s radioactive components will be dismantled and removed or stored on site, workers remaining on the site receive the maximum protection from radiation exposure” and surrounding towns will remain safe and informed throughout the process.

“We felt there was nothing wrong with asking,” said Buckland selectmen chairman Stefan Racz. “We wanted to let Entergy (Nuclear) Corporation know there are communities that are watching what’s happening.”

Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith told The Republican in February that the plant is not yet scheduled to be decommissioned, though its license is scheduled to expire on March 12, 2012.

The plan, at $36,490,829, would maintain the current level of services.

Republican file photoWest Springfield School Superintendent Russell D. Johnston outlined various fiscal 2012 budget scenarios during a public hearing Tuesday.

WEST SPRINGFIELD - School Superintendent Russell D. Johnston Tuesday outlined different scenarios for the proposed fiscal year 2012 School Department budget, including a spending plan that amounts to a 4.62 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s budget.

The plan, at $36,490,829, would maintain the current level of services. During the same School Committee public hearing Tuesday, Johnston outlined plans at level funding of $34,878,679 as well as with a 5 percent reduction and with a 10 percent reduction, all at the request of the mayor.

“It is certainly not definitive,” Johnston said of the four plans. “This will be evolving all through the spring.”

The latter two budgets come to $33,134,745 and $31,390,811.

Only eight people attended the hearing. Neither they nor members of the School Committee had any questions for the school superintendent. The department will hold its second public hearing on the budget April 5 as is required by city ordinance.

Shortly after that, Johnston said the city should have a cleared idea of the direction in which it must go as more will be known about state and federal aid.

“The guiding feature we have is classroom teachers’ relationships with kids. We look everywhere else we can (cut) first,” the school superintendent said.

A level-funded budget would require $1,612,150 in cuts to compensate for increases like those in wages and utilities, according to Johnston.

He said that scenario would require the following personnel cuts in full-time equivalents: 2.5 administrators, 2.2 clerical workers, 3.25 custodians, 11 teachers aides and 12 program teachers in areas like reading recovery and academic coaching.

Under the scenario of a 5 percent reduction, he said the department would have to add on the following cuts in full-time equivalent positions: two each in the categories of administrators, clerical workers, custodians, and 7.5 teachers aides, 1.5 pupil personnel staffers, 12 program teachers and about 15 classroom teachers.

Under the scenario with a 10 percent reduction, Johnston said the department would have to add on the following reductions in full-time equivalent employees: two addition people in the categories of administrators, clerical workers, custodians, maintenance and grounds workers, and nurses and up to 40 teachers and or teachers aides.

The last scenario would “truly change to life as we know it,” Johnston said.

In addition, he pointed out that none of the scenarios take into account the cost of funding the unemployment compensation triggered by layoffs, something he put at $330,000 for a level-funded budget.

A hidden-camera video showed an NPR executive calling the tea party movement "racist" and "xenophobic."

Associated PressThis 2008 file photo provided by National Public Radio shows Vivian Schiller. NPR says CEO Vivian Schiller resigns in aftermath of fundraiser's remarks on hidden video.

WASHINGTON — NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday in the wake of comments by a fellow executive that angered conservatives and renewed calls to end federal funding for public broadcasting.

The chairman of NPR's board of directors announced that he has accepted Schiller's resignation, effective immediately.

On Tuesday, conservative activist James O'Keefe posted a hidden-camera video in which NPR executive Ron Schiller bashed the tea party movement as "racist" and "xenophobic" and said NPR would be better off without federal funding. Ron Schiller is not related to Vivian Schiller.

NPR has long been a target of conservatives who claim its programming has a left-wing bias. The budget bill passed by the House last month would end funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports programs distributed on NPR and PBS.

Similar efforts to strip funding from public broadcasting in 2005 and in the 1990s were unsuccessful.

Vivian Schiller was criticized for last year's firing of analyst Juan Williams after he said on Fox News that he feels uncomfortable when he sees people in "Muslim garb" on airplanes. She later said she was sorry for the way she handled Williams' dismissal but stood by her decision to fire him.

"The Board accepted her resignation with understanding, genuine regret, and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years," board chairman Dave Edwards said in a statement. "I recognize the magnitude of this news and that it comes on top of what has been a traumatic period for NPR and the larger public radio community."

O'Keefe, best known for hidden-camera videos that embarrassed the community-organizing group ACORN, posted the NPR video Tuesday on his website, Project Veritas. The group said the video was shot on Feb. 22.

The video shows two activists posing as members of a Muslim group at a lunch meeting with Ron Schiller and another NPR executive, Betsy Liley. The men offer NPR a $5 million donation and engage Schiller in a wide-ranging discussion about tea party Republicans, pro-Israel bias in the media, anti-intellectualism and other topics.

"The current Republican Party is not really the Republican Party. It's been hijacked by this group that is ... not just Islamophobic but, really, xenophobic," Ron Schiller said in the video, referring to the tea party movement. "They believe in sort of white, middle America, gun-toting — it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

NPR said it was "appalled" by Ron Schiller's comments. Schiller had already told NPR before the video was shot that he was resigning as president of its fundraising arm and a senior vice president for development. He said in a statement Tuesday night that his resignation would be effective immediately.

"While the meeting I participated in turned out to be a ruse, I made statements during the course of the meeting that are counter to NPR's values and also not reflective of my own beliefs. I offer my sincere apology to those I offended," he said in the statement.

O'Keefe asked supporters to sign a petition urging Congress to review NPR's funding.

"We've just exposed the true hearts and minds of NPR and their executives," O'Keefe said in a letter posted on his website.

CPB is getting $430 million in the current fiscal year, although NPR only gets about 2 percent of its revenue from the federal government. Government funding accounts for about 10 percent of the budgets of its member stations.

"It is very clear that we would be better off in the long run without federal funding," Ron Schiller said in the video, saying it would allow the organization to become an independent voice and clear up the misconception that it is largely government-funded.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a statement that NPR's executives have "finally admitted that they do not need taxpayer dollars to survive."

Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., introduced a separate bill Friday to cut off funding for CPB.

Mark Meckler, a national coordinator for the group Tea Party Patriots, urged Congress to act in an e-mail to supporters, calling NPR a "clearly biased news organization that is out of touch with Americans across the country."

O'Keefe did not respond to e-mailed questions about the video and his decision to target NPR.

Liley says little in the video, although she can be heard laughing when one of the men says his group referred to NPR as "National Palestinian Radio." She has been placed on administrative leave, NPR said.

She also accused former Springfield civil rights activist Darnell Williams of saying she was under investigation before her arrest.

File photo / Associated PressThis still photo from a surveillance video taken in 2008 was used against former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson who was charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes from undercover agents.

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts state senator convicted of corruption says two black ministers were FBI collaborators against her.

Dianne Wilkerson, scheduled Friday to report to federal prison in Danbury, Conn., said at a forum last weekend that Rev. Ray Hammond of Bethel AME Church and Bishop Gideon Thompson of Jubilee Christian Church reported her to federal agents. She also accused Darnell Williams, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts president, of saying she was under investigation before her arrest.

The Dorchester Reporter first reported the comments. A video of her speech also was posted on UStream.

Wilkerson, once the state’s highest ranking black politician, pleaded guilty to accepting $23,500 in bribes and was sentenced in January to 3½ years in prison.

In a statement, Hammond, Thompson, and Williams called Wilkerson’s charges untrue.

Both Wilkerson and Williams are former Springfield residents. Williams is a former president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP.

Some of the hardest-hit areas were just outside New York City.

Associated PressMaria Elena Gonzalez stands at the edge of flood waters in front of her house, center, where the water stands four inches deep indoors, on the ground floor, on Babbitt Court in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Friday, March 11, 2011. Days of heavy rains led to flooding up and down the eastern seaboard on Friday as communities from western Maryland to New York's Canadian border watched creeks and rivers rise and prepared for the worst.

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. — Flooding washed over part of the eastern U.S., filling basements with water, forcing hundreds of people out of their homes and turning a highway into swimming pools for ducks.

At least two people have died in the flooding, including one in Ohio, where the water was receding Friday. But it continued to rise from western Maryland to Maine, even though the weather turned sunny over much of the affected area, a respite from Thursday's heavy rains.

Some of the hardest-hit areas were just outside New York City, which is emerging from a snow-filled winter.

Flood-prone parts of northern New Jersey were under water, which was not expected to recede in some areas for at least a few days. By midmorning, state police said 1,300 homes in near the Pompton River in Pequannock had to be evacuated, as did about 100 in Fairfield.

A handful of shelters were opened by midday and the American Red Cross was preparing more.

In Woodland Park, N.J., Mel Sivri spent Friday morning preparing for what havoc the Passaic River would cause.

Sivri had hung his daughters' pink bicycles and other items from a series of hooks fastened to the garage ceiling while an industrial pump cleared the four inches of water the floor of his garage. He was also monitoring weather websites to decide whether the family should head to a friend's house on higher ground.

"You cannot pump the river," he said. "You just have to wait for it to go down."

Major flooding was expected along the Passaic, Pequannock, Ramapo and Pompton rivers in northern New Jersey.

Some of the same spots were flooded earlier this week after heavy rains on Sunday.

Gov. Chris Christie was planning a tour of flood-stricken areas Friday afternoon. The governor was criticized when he was out of the state during a late December blizzard. This time, with forecasters expecting floods days before they arrived, he declared a state of emergency even before the rain began falling.

The National Weather Service said no major rains were expected for several days, giving the area a chance to dry out.

In Westchester County, N.Y., ducks were swimming on water pooled on the Hutchinson River Parkway.

In Elmsford, just north of New York City, pedestrians were wading through knee-deep flood waters from the Saw Mill River, which expanded from 15 feet wide to 200 feet in some places Friday.

With her bus not running, Elizabeth Ritter of Elmsford, decided to walk the couple miles to her job as a nurse's aide in White Plains. She forded the Saw Mill in bare feet and tried to hold her black shoes above water while hiking up a pant leg.

"It's cold, very cold. I was worried about stepping on glass. But it's pretty smooth, just concrete," she said. "I had to get to work. They need me."

In nearby Greenburgh, Jessica Dontona was home with her 7-year-old daughter, Samantha, to check on the house. They had decamped in the middle of the night for a hotel as the basement filled with water.

The flood made her think about moving.

"You know, living high on a hill is starting to look really good," she said.

Then she joked about a selling point for her current home, which is inland: "It's ocean-front property."

Flooding caused by several inches of rain was blamed for the death of a Pennsylvania man whose car was swept away by the rising waters.

Schyulkill County Coroner Joseph Lipsett said 74-year-old David Sallada was killed Thursday night after he drove around barricades blocking a water-covered road. Sallada's car was swept into the Swatara Creek in Pine Grove, about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

It was at least the second death of this round of floods across the eastern part of the country. On Friday, Ohio officials said they believe that a death Thursday was caused by the flooding. Sheriff's deputies told The Blade of Toledo that a woman drowned after getting out of her car in a water-logged ditch in Williams County on Thursday.

The National Weather Service says the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania could get as much as 8 feet over flood stage by Saturday near Wilkes-Barre. The city has a levee system, but some nearby towns are vulnerable.

New York state from Manhattan to the Canadian border was under a flood watch as heavy rains and melting snow closed roads. More than a dozen school districts in the Hudson River Valley were closed or delayed because of flooding.

There were scattered evacuations of homes in Deerpark, in rural southern New York state and Preble, near Syracuse.

While the rain stopped in the mid-Atlantic region, it continued to fall hard in New England. More than 2 inches were expected in parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

There, the big concern was that rising water could break up river ice, creating ice jams that can cause flooding.

Friday morning, officials were monitoring a pair of ice jams in Plymouth, N.H. Ice-breakers were stationed on Maine's Kennebec River and in Vermont's Winooski River.

There was also moderate flooding in western Maryland. Both the Conococheague Creek in Fairview and the Monocacy River near Frederick were out of their banks.

In Ohio, minor flooding persisted along the Ohio River. It was about 3 feet above its official flood level in Cincinnati on Friday and still rising.

And March, known for its wild weather swings, was unleashing another kind of weather in Cleveland and northeastern Ohio: There were 8 inches of snow on the ground in some areas by midday.

City Solicitor Edward Pikula is recommending that the city retain an engineering firm to assist Springfield in responding to an ongoing state review of the project

Springfield City Solicitor Edward Pikula, left, is seen here with City Council President Jose Tosado in these file photos.

SPRINGFIELD – The Law Department has advised the City Council, in a new legal opinion, that a proposed wood-burning plant in East Springfield does not require an additional special permit from the council.

City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula, in his prepared summary of the opinion, said he does recommend that Springfield hire an engineering firm to assist the city in submitting comments to the state Department of Environmental Protection during an ongoing state review of the project.

Some opponents to the biomass plant had urged the council to either revoke a prior special permit in 2008, or require the developer, Palmer Renewable Energy to obtain a new permit. The opponents have raised concerns that the project would worsen air pollution and harm public health.

The developer says the proposed plant is safe and will have to conform with air quality and monitoring requirements.

“Based on the solicitor’s legal opinion, it would appear that the City Council has been removed from the process and that indeed PRE does not require a special permit,” Council President Jose F. Tosado said. “The city’s hands are really tied.”

Summary of Legal Opinion on Palmer Renewable Energy

Tosado said he strongly urges the city to hire an air quality engineering expert, as recommended, to have input on the state permit process.

Pikula said that changes to the project since 2008 do not trigger the need for a special permit. The developer plans to burn green wood chips, replacing an earlier plan to burn a mix of wood chips and construction and demolition debris.

Under the current plans, the city's code enforcement commissioner, in considering a future building permit “would be warranted to allow the proposed use on this property located in an area zoned ‘Industrial A’, even without a special permit,” Pikula said.

Tosado, who opposes the biomass plant, said the solicitor’s opinion that no special permit is required is “a shocker.” Councilors asked for the legal opinion.

Pikula previously warned the council that it would have to show “just cause” if it were to revoke the prior council permit.

Massachusetts DEP Draft Conditional Approval of Palmer Renewable Energy East Springfield Biomass Plant Prop...

The suspect fled the scene on a bicycle, police said.

The Republican file photo

An update to this story was posted at 5:49 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD - Police are investigating the second bank robbery in four days at the TD Bank branch at 958 State St., said Sgt. John Delaney, spokesman for Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

The robbery was reported at about 3:30 p.m. Friday

An unidentified man handed the teller a note demanding cash. He implied he had a weapon but no weapon was shown.

He left with an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect was last seen fleeing the scene on a bicycle, Delaney said.

No description of the suspect was available but police are going through bank surveillance camera footage Friday afternoon, Delaney said.

There were reports that dye packs hidden inside the money exploded, he said.

The same branch, located on State Street across from American International College, was robbed Tuesday afternoon just before 5 p.m.

A suspect in that robbery, 35-year-old Sean Moynihan, of Holyoke, was arrested the following day in downtown Easthampton.

People with information are asked to call the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355. Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip via a cell phone by addressing a text message to “CRIMES,” or "274637," and then beginning the body of the message with the word "SOLVE."

Acting Town Manager Patricia Kennedy said she is working with the police chief on job descriptions for the positions.

PALMER - Frederick J. and Wanda Guzik are retiring from their long-time positions of animal control officer and animal inspector as of May 31, acting Town Manager Patricia A. Kennedy announced at Monday's Town Council meeting.

Kennedy said she is working with the police chief on job descriptions for the positions.

Fred Guzik wrote in his resignation letter to Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk: "My wife and I have enjoyed working for the town of Palmer and appreciate the support provided me during the many years we held these positions. While we look forward to enjoying our retirement, I will miss working for the town."

The Guziks have served in their positions since 1994.